Weekend joy and a pillow case

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! 
I filled it with the things I love the most...family, sewing and being outside. 

Backyard soccer session!

The little garden gnome

Working on some new landscaping...it was a jungle out there.

New house project number 101...getting ready to put up a new privacy fence.  The work is never ending!

My older crew hit the creek banks in the morning, ushering in the first day of fishing season and I took Malcolm with me to complete some errands before his second indoor soccer game of the season.  Part of my job as the FACS teacher is taking sewing machines for repair and picking them up, so I lugged three machines back to my van and made a few more stops before going to my LQS.  

I was searching for some Robert Kaufman Architextures Crosshatch fabric for a special project, but had no luck.  Instead, Malcolm found a kit for a cute soccer themed sausage pillow case.  I thought, why not!  After sitting down around 8:45 PM, we had a pillow case about 20 minutes later. 

He loves it!  Unfortunately, the pictures where he looked enthusiastic about it were too blurry from all of the excitement.

This pillowcase is actually a project that the students in my school district do in 8th grade.  Most of them tell me that they still use them when they get to my class at the high school.  I really love this project because it can be personalized to fit anyone.  I think I will be making these for kiddo birthday parties this year. 

Anyway, I was looking for the Crosshatch fabric to tie my blocks together for the #TellMeAStoryQuilt sew-along over at During Quiet Time.  Amy's new book Intentional Piecing is stunning!  You should definitely pop over to her blog and check it out!

 I've made a few blocks so far, but I really want to make a quilt top and the ones I've made so far are just a menagerie of scraps from my old projects.  I was hoping to use Crosshatch, but I'll probably use plain white instead.  It will be easier to find in my little town and I'm too impatient to order online.  We'll see...

My first and favorite block so far!  Coffee is the story of my life!

These paper-pieced blocks come together so quickly and they are really fun to look at and to make.  I have been admiring all of the blocks that have been posted on Instagram.  So much talent out there!!

Where have I been?

So, it has been quite a while since I've sat down to post something substantial.  I promise I haven't been sitting around being lazy...quite the contrary.  

For the past two years I have been adjusting to my new role as the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at my high school. 

(Haha!  Obviously a posed picture of me ironing a whole lot of nothing!)

German was phased out and as sad as that is, I am so lucky to have been given the chance to teach yet another subject that I LOVE!!  I actually get paid to teach kids how to sew, cook, live a productive life and be good parents.  It doesn't get much better than that! It surely has been keeping me busy.  It's kind of like having a whole other house and family. I'll talk more about that in a different post. 

I missed blogging and making stuff that didn't pertain to school, so I recently had the genius idea (haha!) to combine the two.  My blog will still be my creative space, but maybe with a slightly different focus.  I can't wait to give you a glimpse into the day in the life of the Home Ec teacher!  I can show you all what I am doing with my students in class and hopefully as I learn the tricks of my new trade, I will have more time to sew things that aren't for school, too, that I can share. 

Sewing still remains my passion!  I have done a little sewing for a local craft fair and I  just joined the #blackandwhitequiltswap on Instagram.  That is the first sewing swap that I've done in years.  I'm so excited to start!  It feels so good to get back to what I love to do!  I hope you'll continue to follow along with me on my journey.  

Easy does it...

Hello and happy spring!  Just checking in with a recent photo.  I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.  To my defense, I have been a little busy.  :)  

I have missed my blogging community though!

Boys

Look who turned two yesterday!  Sweet Baby M!  I guess he is actually no longer a baby, is he?  How time flies!   Here are a few recent photos of the boys.  I can't believe how they have grown this year!  I am now eye-to-eye with my 11 year old!

Peek-a-boo under the covers- Baby M's favorite game!  He laughs every time!

Daddy's little snow shoveler!  There sure has been lots of snow to shovel!

New hats and scarves knitted by Aunt Cindy!  Thank you!

 

My three sweethearts!  Baby M is blowing a kiss your way!

 

I hope you have all enjoyed the holidays and are looking forward to a terrific 2013.  Do you have any fun resolutions for the New Year?  I think I should make one to post on this blog once a week!  I have really missed it, but just haven't had much spare time.  Believe it or not, these boys are pretty busy! 

From our house to yours, Happy New Year!  May this be the best year yet!!

I Spy Swap

Hi everyone!  Although I haven't been blogging much or swapping much, I am still alive.  In fact, I just signed up for an I Spy Swap at Midnight Maker.  I figured that I could handle this kind of swap since I don't actually have to have a finished project.  There are still a few spots open, so if you are interested, hop on over there and sign up!

 I am definitely looking forward to summer though, when I will surely have more time. Baby M is running all over now and keeping us all pretty busy.  Between him and school, there isn't much crafty time left.  I have gotten my knitting needles out for the winter months though.  It is easier to pick up and put down than sewing is.  Hopefully I will be able to successfully complete the sweater that I have started and share it with you.  There are so many things including a first birthday that I have neglected to post.  I will have to share some sweet baby pics soon!

 I hope that you all are doing well and finding lots of sewing/crafting time!

Zip pouches galore!

      Back to school tomorrow... yes, I got my job back.  I am still the one and only German teacher in our school district.  I am very happy to be employed, but also a little sorry to see summer go.  

     It has been a strange summer to say the least.  Not quite as relaxing as I am used to.  My beloved father passed away after a long battle with brain cancer.  We all miss him terribly, but we are happy that he is not suffering anymore.  He was truly a man of integrity; someone that everyone looked up to.  

     There were so many wonderful people who comforted us and helped us out.  My mom has some really great friends from the school where she works.  They helped out by keeping my older boys entertained while we were there.  They took them to the movies and swimming and gave them other kids to play with.  It was so wonderful and such a big help!  It really helped the boys keep some normalcy during that time.

     My mom and I wanted to do something special for the women who helped us, so I made them all a back to school pouch and my mom is going to fill them with some supplies since they will all be going back to school at the end of this week.  I really like how the pouches turned out.  

  

 I love the dark denim with the contrast of the white thread!  I'm not sure why, but I find it to be very appealing.  I wish the weather would have cooperated a bit more for the photo shoot, but it is what it is!

The pouches are great scrap busters.  The next pouch is for my sweet J.  Originally I had made him this one, but he offered to give it to a friend.  He decided that he would like a Tom and Jerry one instead.  Not my kind of fabric, but perfect for an 8 year old boy!  

Lucky me!

Wow!  I was the lucky winner of an apron from Kari at Craft Happy during the May Giveaway Day at SMS.  Unfortunately, the apron that Kari made for me the first time was lost in the mail and I received an empty torn open envelope that had been taped shut with a lovely letter inside.  Kari was so generous and made me a new apron that is equally as awesome as the one she made before.  Thank you so much Kari!  I love it!  It matches my kitchen perfectly!

Now if I could just win a Go Baby! :)

Cutest baby in my book!

Baby M had one busy day today and is now sleeping like a champ!  He had a photo shoot in the morning and a cutest baby contest in the afternoon.  I think the judges needed glasses though, because my little sweetie pie didn't win.  What a day for a six month old! 

And of course his crazy mom brought him home and took even more photos of him in the grass.  Doesn't his expression just scream "Enough!"? 

Baby M, out!

Poppyprint made me do it!

A few posts back over at Poppyprint, Krista made a sweet, little "wee loopy blankie" for her new nephew.  This project has been on my list of things to make since before Baby M was born, but it kept getting shoved to the bottom of the list.  I saw her post and I had an extra block from this post, so there was no time like the present!  Thank you, Krista!  Baby M loves his new little blankie!

The top is pieced flannel.  It is so soft!  The back is the super-soft fleece that I used for the afore mentioned blankie. For some reason, I didn't have much ribbon or trim lying around, so I also used various fabric scraps to make some of the tags.  Baby M really likes to look at it. He inspects it quite thoroughly.  It must be the bright colors.

  

Baby M also had his first buzz cut.  It was sad to see his beautiful long hair being shaved off, but it was time.  It kept falling out and getting in his mouth.  I think we are all much happier now.  And he is still just as cute!



Blankie for a New Baby

 To go to my SMS GIVEAWAY please click HERE.

Every cute, new baby needs a cute, handmade blankie!  This one is for a friend's new little girl.  She's joining her two big brothers, and I'm sure they aren't spoiling her. (yeah right!!)  Her mommy is not so fond of pink, so I chose lime green and purple as my main colors.  I haven't given it to her yet, so I hope that she will like it.  I love all of the smiling bugs in the center!

The center block is made from really soft flannel.  I blanket stitched the block to the fleece.  A very simple project, but also quite cute.  I like the way that it turned out.  I had planned to tie the fringe around the outside, but I decided that it would have made the middle too small.  Instead, I sewed in about 2 3/4 inches in all the way around the blanket and simply cut the fringe.  This will make a great stroller blanket or a great place to play on the floor.  The back is solid purple.

In other news I took the day off today to go on my second grader's fieldtrip to the zoo!  I went from one zoo to another!  :)  We had a great time, although I always feel so sorry for the bored and annoyed looking animals.

This was the first time that the rhino was ever standing up when I have visited.  He definitely didn't disappoint as he went potty in front of us.  The boys thought that was totally cool.  Gross!!

Here's hoping that your evening is not a "zoo"! 

A little something for the teacher

My boys gave all of their teachers some pretty pansies for an end of the year gift.  I was quite impressed that they were all delivered in one piece and with very little dirt missing.We potted the pansies in some cute spring bowls that we found on sale at Kmart.  I decided to keep it pretty natural by using a stick for our sign post. The boys signed the tags and the teachers loved their pretty posies!

One Sweet Package!

I am a very lucky girl!  My friend Bobbi at Crafty Vegas Mom sent me the most amazing package ever!  She REALLY spoiled me. 

First, she made me this super nice bag to carry Baby M's things.  I really love it.  The colors are just perfect!  Bobbi did a great job making this bag...it is so perfect!  I even got lucky enough to take some pictures on one of our rare sunny days here in PA.

 Baby M really likes his bag and says "Thank you, Bobbi", but he wasn't going to smile for anything when I was taking this picture.

 Bobbi even made matching burp clothes that were stuck inside the bag's pockets.  We can definitely use those.  Baby M is notorious for spitting up.

She also sent me these really cute potholders, which will also be put to good use.



All of these goodies were also in my package from Bobbi-  a pin cushion, a crocheted dish cloth, recipe cards and a notepad.  She even included a Hoover Dam mug (which somehow didn't get photographed).  I absolutely LOVE everything!! 

Thank you so much, Bobbi!  You are the best!

Wow! Excitement!

Click here to go to my 100th post giveaway!

Wow!  I was so excited when I checked one of my favorite blogs today!  Made by Rae had a picture of my dear, sweet J in her knit and crochet for boys picture pool! 

His hat is definitely not the coolest one in the pool.  Go over and check out the headphone hat! 

I love it!

Sneak peek for a friend

These are supposed to arrive on Friday.  I thought that you might like a little preview.