the finished mixed up but not crazy quilt

I did it! This year I finally finished my entirely hand sewn and embellished mixed-up-but-not-crazy quilt (pattern found in the quilt book Batiks and Beyond) in time to enter it in the county fair! I am very pleased with how it turned out though I still don't know where I'm going to hang it.

I had a very hard time getting the lighting right on this quilt. The fabric is in general so dark that the brighter colors in all of the photos are a little over exposed. I was in too big of a hurry to mess with my camera setting until they were just right, so you'll have to imagine richer, darker colors where the overly bright reds and oranges are and non-glaring whites where the laces are.

engagement photos

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking some engagement photos for one of my good friends and her fiancée. The combination of her abundance of artistic ideas, my excitement about taking "just a few more photos," and his patience and good humor (in spite of allergies) made for a long photoshoot and many great photos. They are an incredibly adorable and fun couple, and I thoroughly enjoyed the all time I spent capturing some memories with them. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Delayed Project Spring Clean: Boys' Room

Project Spring Clean went by the wayside after I was unwell for about a month and had a couple more months full of extenuating circumstances. By that time we were in the middle of remodeling the kitchen and it was pointless to try to clean because of the construction dust. However, I'm finally picking up this loose life-thread and continuing on with a much delayed Project Spring Clean.

Last week I tackled the boys' room. Little Man had been sleeping in the living room since sharing a room with an infant who woke up three times a night just wasn't working for him. The boys' sleep schedules are getting closer and closer to being the same, though, so it was time for him to move back.

Both boys have recently changed clothes sizes, so the clothes were already organized. All I had to do was a bit of dusting, hanging up already clean curtains (I should have ironed them too, but I was lazy), and rearranging the toys and beds.

No matter how many time I rearrange (which is frequently--the boys' room is the most rearranged room in the entire house) or how many clever new storage solutions I come up with, their room always seems so cluttered and shouts with a cacophony of colors. I think it's about as good as it's ever going to get right now, though, so I'm going to be content.

(Little Man was such a good help with lining up the shoes and picking up and sorting toys while I was cleaning their room. He's becoming such a good big boy helper!)

Monday Menu

Hooray! I'm back in menu-planning land. My stove and sink are finally installed again, and I can plan meals better now. Here's what I'm planning on cooking this week:

M-minestrone soup and rolls

T-ginger lime stir fry

W-spaghetti and meatballs (triple batch of meatballs for putting in the freezer and using in the future) with mixed vegetables

Th-tacos

F-frozen pizza and salad

What are you making this week?

jarred summer

left to right:

peach pit jelly syrup, tomato soup,

canned peaches, white peach jam, and pluot jam

Mum and I have been working hard.

2 1/2 bushes of peaches, yellow and white,

1/2 bushel of pluotsk and 1 bushel of tomatoes

have all been reduced to splendid fragments

of summer-in-a-jar.

During long, dark winter days,

we'll savor the sweet and the salty,

remember warmth and bounty.

moments and milestones

[picking raspberries at Grandma and Grandpa's]

Upon seeing a mouse running through our house, I shrieked a little shriek. After finding out what my deal was, Little Man who has learned (and is now relearning as Brother is going through the shrieking stage) not to shriek, seriously instructed me: "Mama, don't scream at mouses."

When his Daddy came home, Little Man narrated very excitedly: "There's a mouse in the house and it scared us and mom screamed!"

Later in the evening he got out some Lincoln logs and began building what he designated as a house for the mouse

I am proud of Little Man's budding bargain hunting skills. We went yard saling last weekend and he got the following for $2: a duck figurine that he loved, a little nerf "shooter" (it kinda looks like a tiny cannon with two plastic missiles), a nice stick horse, a Little Man-sized wooden chair, and a book about ostriches.

Little Man enthusiastically to Brother: "You know what? God made you!"

Brother has been holding onto whatever is supporting him with just one hand and walking around. Sometimes he'll even let go and take a little step or two unsupported, but he still likes crawling the best.

Little Man finger painted for the first time this week.

[being silly with bows from Brother's birthday]

["helping" with the kitchen remodel]

Brother almost climbed onto the couch all by himself.

Brother drew his very first "picture" this week using colored pencils!

Brother has started standing up from the floor without any support.

Some friends gave us a big box of pluots (a cross between plums and apricots). The boys both love them, but Brother's affection for them is special. I think he would eat nothing but pluots if I let him. Anyway, one day he discovered the box, and we found him covered in pluot juice eagerly devouring pluots grasped in each fist.

[Daddy's arrival home from work is the highlight of their day.]

mixed up but not crazy quilt

I introduced this quilt in this post, so I won't belabor the details again. Just let me say that I decided to make a wall hanging quilt entirely by hand. I started it (I think) over four years ago. Obviously, progress has been very slow. It seems like every summer, I have a spurt of productivity on it and determine to finish by fair time. And every summer my passion for hand sewing quickly fades.

This summer is different, though. I think I really will have it done in time to enter it in the fair. In the last few weeks, I have finished assembling the remaining squares, embellished them, sewn all the squares together, and tied it using fancy buttons. All I have left is the binding. I love how it is turning out. To say that I am excited about being so close to finishing it is an understatement!

button bobby pins

Inspired by the fellow farmer's market vendor who made these flower hairpins (she also made some with antique button on them), I embarked on a simple and fun project last week.

I looked through my collection of antique and vintage buttons and picked out some of the prettiest.

Then I gave them a good bath in warm water and mild soap. For some reason my great-grandma stored a tiny sample tin of moisturizing (greasy) hand salve with her buttons. It was in a cute little tin , but over time some of the contents leaked out and combined with dust to make an icky coating on the buttons.

Then I attached the buttons to bobby pins with a few stitches and secured them with super glue. And voila! I have an assortment pretty bobby pins for pinning back my bangs during the 25-50% of the time I don't like them. I love the vintage button pins. I thought about giving some of them away, but I'm not sure if I actually will...

Update: Please note that using the dab of super glue that I recommend will make your button and bobby pin inseparable friends for life. One commenter suggests using hot glue instead, which would probably yield more temporary results. I have an unreasonable aversion to hot glue, so I'd rather use super glue, but you might not, so there you have it. : )

flowers from my guys

Little Man picked these pretty little yellow flowers for me while out with his Daddy. I was delighted when he proudly presented them to me and immediately found a tiny vase in which to put them.

Benjamin surprised me by delivering these beauties in the middle of his work day on our anniversary. I just love the deep yellow, coral, and orange in the oh-so-fragrant roses, and the yellow daisies are reminiscent of the very first bouquet Benjamin ever gave me.

Don't you think my flowers are a lovely addition to my piano-top decor?

moments and milestones

This week's moments and milestones post will highlight Brother's new haircut. I don't like the expense of getting a beautician to cut our little boys' hair, so I cut it myself. Usually I just give them buzz cuts with our clippers. However, much to my surprise and delight, part of the way through Brother's haircut, it actually looked a bit like a decent taper cut. I'm more than a little glad that not all of his beautiful hair is gone.

Brother had beautiful brown curls before his haircut.

I was so sad to cut them off, but he really was starting to look like a girl...

Trim, trim, trim.

Brother had dramatic mood swings during the haircut process.

First he was okay with it.

Then he was most definitely not okay and wanted Daddy to rescue him.

Finally he calmed down enough to eat a graham cracker

and actually smiled for the camera.

After his haircut.

What a big boy!