18 months.

it's clear we need to get out of the house more....

...because the "dumpter guy" had their full attention for a solid 10 minutes.

"The guy waved mom!"

Happy Monday all!

 

Clearly she has my hair...

Happy Friday all!

Blessed.

for you mom....

Happy Mother's Day!

For the love of owls...

Several  months back, I stumbled upon this fabric at a local store...

...and I absolutely fell in love. 

All I can say is the owls and colors sucked me right in. 

(The fabric is much cuter in person ) 

A few days later I was searching online to see if there were any coordinating fabrics to go along with this beauty, and I came across this...

....and my love affair deepened. 

So I bought 2 charm packs...84 little squares- 2 of every fabric, because there was just no way I would be able to leave any out.  They were made for each other.

My package arrived in the mail and I just stared at my squares for a few days, admiring their loveliness. Not exactly certain what i wanted to do with them....apprehensive of wrecking them.

In the end, I decided to try making a quilt.  A quilt for Stella.  After all, she shares my love affair with owls, and her room is next on my list to finish up.  And the colors fit her personality perfectly.

Since I have zero knowledge on quilting, I just started lining my squares up all pretty, and sewing them together. I'm pretty certain they sell quilt patterns, with special names and styles, but I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't know what to do with a pattern anyway, so I just dove right in my way.  

 I  started sewing the squares in rows of 3, and then sewed 3 rows together- which turned them into squares of 9. After I made a bunch of those, I realized that not only are quilts time consuming, but I would need a lot more of those fetching little squares. 

 I now know why those intricate quilts are so expensive.  Worth.every.penny.

 Well, I got stuck and left it lay in a big scrappy heap for a good 2 months. I didn't really know how I wanted to put it together, I didn't want to mess it up, and I was sick of it. 

This past Saturday, I finally got sick of seeing that scrappy mess draped over my ironing board...and decided I needed to figure out how to finish it up. 

In the end, I pieced it together Natalie style.  Nothing lines up, there is no binding along the edge, I backed it with a cozy fleece, and quilted it together along the edges of the squares.

And  I absolutely love it, imperfections and all.

 Stella loves it too.

And I'm pretty sure I will never make a quilt again :)

Pics of Stella's room coming soon!

just a few pictures...

Austin participated in his first Pinewood Derby race for Cadets. I grew up with all sisters, so this was pretty new and exciting for me as well :)  Tho he was a bit bummed to come in 46th place,  I'm pretty sure he had a really good time, AND learned a lesson on the importance of straight wheels. He's already dreaming up next years car.

Easter.  Best picture I've got.

Target shooting out back.  Clearly the cat was looking for a little excitement :)

and these 2 have already been in the swamp collecting tadpoles :)