Just Like Dad

My kids for sure take after their daddy.

Layton is 21 months old and knows how to build a fire. Is that weird or what? He crumples up the newspaper, puts it in the stove, collects the kindlin' that Gavin has cut and puts that in the stove. Then he gets the matches down and knows how to strike them!!! (He isn't quite strong enough to actually strike a flame yet so we will need to move those out of his reach before he sets the house on fire.) And when he is outside he will pick up the ax and try to chop wood himself.

Timber is 6 months old and is ready to run her own chainsaw and she'd rather be outside than anywhere else. Sounds like someone else I know!

Fall Sale

I'm having a Fall Sale in my Etsy shop! This is the perfect time to get some of that Christmas shopping started or just to pick up something nice for your home as the cooler weather sets in!

For all purchases over $200, take $30 off!
For purchases from $100-$199, take $20 off!
For purchases from $50-$99, take $10 off!

The sale will run starting today and go through October 19th! Happy shopping!

For My Mom

My mom is always saying, "I want to see more pictures of the kids!!" So here ya go- get ready for picture overload!! Oh, and a brief warning, the pictures at the bottom here will have a dead deer in them. If you don't like seeing dead animals, I'd suggest skipping those shots! :)

He's All Boy

Layton: Enjoys playing with cars, trucks, trailers and tractors. Enjoys driving any of our real vehicles whenever possible. Will play in the van or truck for an amazing amount of time at the steering wheel. Eats like he has a hollow leg. Watches his brother play football and can do an amazing re-inactments of it. Watches hunting videos with Gavin and knows full well what a buck and a gun are. Climbs, ladders, jungle gyms, stairs, or anything else that can go high with absolutely no fear. Plays in the dirt. And the final clencher.......

Had to be taken to the ER yesterday for a pannel screw stuck way way up his nose and didn't even cry when the Dr. stuck a huge pair of tweezers up there to fetch it out!

Yep, he's all boy....rip off the nob and beat on the dash!

A Time for Everything

I used to have a little part in my profile in my Etsy shop that said something like, "most of my quilting is done in the winter when the rain keeps me indoors, summer is time for gardening, being outside, etc....." but I then took it out when I amazed myself with how much quilting I actually accomplished this summer. But as we turn to fall, I now see why I had that comment in there and realized that I should have said that fall was my away from quilting time!
I just canned 14lbs of green beans this week and am currently dehydrating pounds upon pounds of apples. I haven't touched my machine or a piece of fabric in over a week- maybe two! So while I am enjoying the great fall weather that we have here and all the other fun things I have to do, part of me is looking forward to this winter when we will probably be getting close to our yearly average of 6feet of rainfall, keeping me indoors with my stash and my machine.
I did list a new item in my shop this past week though. I actually finished it over a month ago and just hadn't taken the photos to get it listed. It's yo-yo Christmas tree garland! Take a gander....


What a fun way for us fabri-holics to add something great to our trees this year!

Wordless Wednesday

Well, today is Wordless Wednesday but, I'm sorry, I can't be worldess today. I wanted to post a tribute to someone very special.........

Please take a few moments to read his letter and then the article about him.

Read his letter here.
Read the article about him here.

Thank you Bruno for making a difference. Thank you for being the man that you were. You will be missed.

It's tonight!

The Quiltsy trunk show is this evening and I cant wait!!!!!!!!! It's going to be so much fun!
I just got two new quilts listed this morning and I'm working on listing my third one right now. Hopefully it will be up before the show. If you would like to join in the fun this evening but don't have an Etsy buying account, remember to set one up! Here's a link for you:

https://www.etsy.com/register.php

It's totally free to sign up! Then you can shop until your heart's content! :)

SUPER BLOGGER

That's the award I am bestowing upon myself this morning! Because even if no one is reading it all, I'm still typing it all! :)

Gavin is off hunting as of yesterday. Deer season opens tomorrow and he and his brother are making their yearly pack into the Trinity Alps in the hopes of filling their tags. Now, for all of you "bambi lovers" out there that think that hunting is wrong let me just say that we do not trophy hunt, nor do we condone it. We hunt for food. It helps to feed our family through the winter. Plus, I would always take some natural, wild deer meat any day over some of the gross meat you find at the grocery store. Blech......

So we're all keeping our fingers crossed that both the boys will get a deer in the first few days so that they can come home! Being a single mom of 3 kids is so not fun! Plus, I desperately already miss my husband who has now been gone for less than 24 hours. Life is not the same without him here.

Just a Quick Reminder

That the Quiltsy trunk show is THIS COMING MONDAY!! That's September 22nd at 7pm EST or 4pm PST. Lauren made up a treasury with some of the door prizes available to win! Check it out:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=26101

Yes, that's right, you can win one of those fabulous items just for coming to the show! And if you think winning just one of those is great- think of how terrific the GRAND PRIZE would be to win! One lucky shopper will be chosen to win it big! So bring yourself on over on Monday- can't wait to see you there!

Sample Week!

Apparently this week is quilt sample week because I have 3 quilts that are now waiting to be bound! I gave ya'll a quick sample of Fall Splendor earlier this week and now here's a quick peek at my 1930's Tumbler and Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilts. I hope that you enjoy them! You can check my shop out this next week to see the completed quilts.

Quiltsy Makes the Front Page Again!

Another fabulous treasury made by a member of the Quiltsy team on Etsy!

Congrats to everyone who was on it!!

Wordless Wednesday

** I know this post is supposed to be wordless but this picture reminds me of Dave Slott's (from Drive Thru History) motto, "Safety Third." **

A Small Preview

Here's a snap shot of my Fall Splendor quilt that I'll have listed in my shop by next weekend!

I am currently finishing the binding on it. When you bind lap and baby quilts by hand you soon forget the amount of time it takes to bind a queen size quilt!
This quilt was made with the fabric collection Oak Leaves and Reel by Moda. It was introduced last year but is one of my absolute favorite collections so I couldn't resist using it. The quilt pattern is called Strip Twist. I have never done a quilt like this before but really enjoyed putting it together. I enjoy quilts that have different looks, depending on how you view them. The back of this quilt is an absolutely gorgeous red fabric with oak leaves and acorns.
I'm especially partial to Oak trees. They are my favorite tree. I could just plant them all over our property and be delighted to have an Oak tree forest! Unfortunately they are one of the slowest growing trees so in planting a forest of them, it would take a good 25 years before any real results were seen. But ya know the old saying, the best things come to those who wait! :)

Another one!

Timber is now cutting her second tooth! She now has her two bottom front teeth! Yikes!
No, really, it is scary nursing a 6mo old with teeth. Sometimes I think she just comps down to see how strong her jaw really is. Trust me, it's strong. Ouch................


But just look at how cute she is! :)

Canning and Football

Yep, it's Fall alright!

Here's Wyatt and his game jersey. I don't think he is loving football but he is tolerating it It's a good experience for him though. He was the one who decided that he wanted to play this year and following through on commitments is, in his mind, an unfortunate part of growing up. Shortly after practice started he said to me, "Mom, I think next year I want to play soccer."



I spent another full day on Tuesday canning with a good friend of mine. Look at the sample of all the pretty things we canned! Hopefully this will help to get us through winter without having to buy so many things from the grocery store.

Wordless Wednesday

7 Treasuries!

O.k. so I'm not quite sure what is going on with Etsy right now and I haven't had the time to look through the forums to find out but, the number of treasuries allowed right now is at 700! That's up from the normal 333 in the main treasury. And, T-West is now allowing 600 instead of 222! Wowsa!
Well I guess people were scrambling to make treasuries today and grasping at any item that fit what they needed because I am featured in 7 of them! 4 in the main treasury and 3 in t-west!
Wow, that totally made my day! Or actually my night seeing as it is 8:43pm right now.
I wish that treasuries would last forever so that I could just post a link and you'd forever see it but they only last 2-3 days so I'm not sure there would be any point in doing so.
Well, o.k. I'll post 2 for you but keep in mind that by Friday the links won't work. Here ya go!

Treasury 1
Treasury 2

A Funny

I just had to share a funny from my grocery shopping experience today.

I'm in line, and the cashier starts to check me out (as in scan my food, not have the hots for me!) and he says as he is swiping items, "Wow, you eat healthy."
Hum, I didn't know what to say. No, I don't have Ding Dongs and Lucky Charms in my shopping cart but really, does it all look that healthy? I guess so. That's o.k., it just made me laugh to myself.

Oh, and P.S., I forgot to buy stamps!

It's Monday

Welcom to Monday morning. Here's your list of things to do today:

Go grocery shopping
Go to the bank
Find and buy the specific binder that your 10 year old wants for school
Go drop off the blue shirt at the graphics store
Mail off some orders (Yahoo!) at the Mail Room
Try and work on your quilt blocks for the block swap that are due this next MONDAY!
Nurse a baby
Feed a toddler
Change diapers
Finish up the laundry that you didn't finish over the weekend
Don't forget to buy stamps!!!
Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, for the 1000th time
Dig up the carrots from the garden to get ready to can tomorrow morning
Pick your 10 year old up EARLY from school- don't forget!!
Work on the books for your husbands business
Pay some bills

And so on.............

Here's hoping that you get it all done and have a great time doing it! :)
Good luck.

Trunk Show!

The Quiltsy team from Etsy is putting on a virtual trunk show!

When: September 22, 2008 - 4pm PST, 7pm EST

Where: Etsy Virtual Labs Treehouse

What is a virtual trunk show?

If you love quilts, bags, and quilted home decor, this show is for you! Over fifteen talented quilters and fabric artists from the Quiltsy Team on Etsy will be presenting their work for sale, as well as sharing some of their creative process.

You will be eligible to win fabulous handmade door prizes from this talented group of artists just for attending the show.

In addition, a grand prize will be awarded to one lucky attendee who purchases from any one of the quilters anytime during the show.

Come get a head start on your holiday shopping!

Here are just a few samples of the beautifully handmade items that will be for sale!

So mark your calendar and come join us!

Wordless Wednesday

A friend of mine used to have a feature on her blog called "Wordless Wednesday." It was a day that she would post a picture that spoke for itself, without a typed entry. I always liked looking at it. Sometimes it was pretty, sometimes it was funny.

Anywhoo, I decided to add it to my blog as well. Just because I recently seem to have quite a few pictures that say enough all by themselves.

So here goes my first Wordless Wednesday. And yes, I realize that this one technically isn't "Wordless" since I just wrote out that whole explanation, but you get the picture!

Progress

Yesterday was a family work day at the homestead. We had Mom and Dad, Uncle Rocky, Auntie Shanna and Grandma and Grandpa all here working! The men worked in the back clearing the ground, making room for the new garden and adding more room to our backyard. Aunt Shanna and Timber worked in the yard cleaning up areas that had been long neglected. Mom and I canned corn. Mom had made a roast to bring over for lunch. Grandma had baked a chocolate cake for dessert. I provided the sweet tea.

I am soooooo excited about this new area in the back! It is going to allow for one heck of a garden next year. I was originally planning on a space about 16x20 but now that we have all this room I'm gonna go for broke and see just how big I can make it before Gavin says, "Uh, honey- that's big enough!" Besides, he's going to be the one fencing it so that the deer and chickens don't completely ruin it, so I guess he has some say in it's size!

I took a few pictures yesterday to share. I obviously couldn't get a better shot of Gavin topping the tree because the best place to take the shot was where the top was going to fall. I did what I could. Hope that you enjoy them!

The Two Newbies

Here are the two new quilts listed in my shop! I guess I could technically say that I got them listed this weekend since today still counts as part of the holiday weekend! :) Hope that you enjoy them! I'll be adding a Christmas quilt next week and then Fall Splendor and my 1930's tumbler in the next 2 weeks!

Oh, and by the way, I desperately need a new camera! Does anyone have any suggestions on a good one?