I can't find the USB cord...

I've got so many new projects and fun stuff I want to share!

buuuut

I can't find my little cord that's kind of important for getting the pictures

from the camera to the computer.

(It's in a box somewhere- oh, and WE MOVED! <---- fun new thing!)

And I really don't think you'd want to hear about my new stuff,

which probably isn't all that interesting to you,

without a few explanatory pictures.

Am I right?

So, instead of uploading and editing new pictures, I've been going through all the

pictures from the summer.

We had a LOT of fun this summer, and since it's almost over (sniff) I'm feeling the need to document...

And it just so happens that BOTH girls are sleeping right now which means I get to write!

I seriously don't even know where to begin... so I guess I'll start with these:

Why not, right?

We've had some amazing sunset cruises on the lake this summer.

Ah. mazing.

Thanks Captain Dave! (aka Duffman) and Roxy.

Roxy has her own life jacket.

She does.

Not even kidding.

See?

And this is how Roxy measures fun:

She's always down for a good time...

Lake Fun, of course, serves as a prequel to the sunset cruises.

Willow's first tube ride with LaLa.

And so does good food and family.

Willow's version of good food.

Papa Frank, or as Willow likes to call him, "Frankie!"

***

And then of course, there was 4th of July:

Have I ever mentioned before that I LOVE fireworks?

Like, LOVE them. So much.

I wanted them at our wedding.

They cost a lot.

We didn't have them...

I could watch fireworks every day of the year.

Especially the really big ones that you feel in your chest.

The 'Big Boomers'.

Those are the best.

And, if you happen to live in Michigan,

the only- and I mean only- way

to see fireworks is

from a boat.

Preferably a really big boat so that if it's too far out into the river and the

Coast Guard makes you move it

and then it doesn't get anchored properly and starts swinging every which way compromising all the other boats

in the immediate vicinity,

they have to move out of your way, not the other way around.

You know, if that sort of thing were to ever happen.

This boat had a live band on the back rockin' out a dance party. It's what some people like to call 'awesome'.

Sometimes I look around and say, "Really?"

We are some lucky, lucky people...

And if you have friends that are more like family

and invite you to their shindig year after year, where they all fight each other to hold your babies,

you pretty much have it made.

I would know.

Especially when they love your kids and treat them to a mani-pedi complete with snacks and a drink as soon as we arrive.

And what 4th of July is complete without sparklers?

Or grown men doing stupid things involving sparklers in front of small children?

I mean, that's what really makes it a holiday, right?

Basically, I don't want summer to end.

They're just not long enough in Michigan.

Maybe all the gorgeous lakes and pretty sunsets and boat rides are a trade-off for the

few months of warm weather.

Maybe.

Or maybe the trade-off is capturing this face on camera.

Either way, I'm going to be so sad to see Summer go.

Really, very sad.

***

Now for some sewing news, I've been busy.

My two latest nursery sets:

Can you spot the differences?

I am very serious about making my things one-of-a-kind.

But I'm learning that the

more and more the word gets out and the more people I make things for,

the whole 'one-of-a-kind' thing

gets harder and harder.

Remember this nursery set?

Well, ever since then I've had lots of mommas wanting one

(which is awesome!)

To keep to my promise of only making one-of-a-kind bedding,

I've been making little changes here and there on each set.

I want the overall look that people are

originally drawn to

to be the same, while still making sure everything is

original.

So far, so good.

Patchwork is almost always one-of-a-kind,

but I still like to

switch up the quilt backs and bindings

to set them apart from each other just that much more.

So thanks to everybody out there who keeps my little tiny business going...

I love what I do!

I think that's all I have for today...

Did I Mention...?

Baby Cash is still not here...

I believe that would make him 5 days overdue.

My sister has tried everything in the book.

No luck.

And it's like 100 degrees in Texas.

I just want to see him.

I'm sure she does, too.

And I want her to snuggle him up in these:

Cash's Crazy Quilt

My sister really liked this crib bedding set, so I used some leftovers from that and pulled a few other fun fabrics from my stash to make this one.

I think it's about 30x30"

Lots of AMH prints, some Joel Dewberry, Amy Butler, Michael Miller, Patti Henderson, and even a little Laura Gunn.

Cassian Blue Quilt

And then I wanted a more subdued, sleepy quilt, so I just grabbed a bunch of already cut 5" squares in blues from my seemingly never-shrinking pile of squares.

I love patchwork.

Simple quilts.

I whipped them up in a hurry so my mom could take them with her on the plane.

Yeah, they're cute and stuff, but they'd look WAY cuter with a baby in them!!

COME ON CASH!!!

***

Willow is a computer wizard.

That's right- wizard.

This pic was taken quite a long time ago, but maybe she was a computer whiz then...?

Don't believe me?

For example:

She can scroll, she can double click, and she can 'poof' applications off the menu bar like nobody's business.

She can navigate YouTube.

And by navigate I mean find her favorite videos to watch.

Such as this and this.

And watch them.

And replay them.

And even pause them.

She's eerily good at it.

I don't know how she does it.

I think she just scrolls until she finds what she's looking for.

She can also run Photo Booth like it's her job.

Seriously, pictures 180-371 are all of Willow.

That's 189 snapshots and 2 videos.

Videos.

They are all hilarious.

She even knows how to use the effects.

These are just a few of my faves:

I have no clue how she knows to put your hands up. She's never been on a roller coaster in her life.

The Warhol-esque pics- I love the tongue sticking out...

Her face cracks me up in this one; she found a new effect and she likes.

And this is just too funny. She obviously thinks she's the bomb. And she is.

Oh, and please disregard my trashed fabric storage/studio/dumping ground in the background.

After I saw these pictures it was immediately remedied.

Anyways my point is...

however funny this is, it also scares the crap out of me.

So much so that the hubby and I decided to password protect her out of the computer.

Really.

Just in case you missed that:

We had to password protect our 2 1/2 year old child from using the Mac...

See what I mean? It's scary!

That's not even the funniest part.

No, that would be when she stole my phone the very next morning while I was still sleeping and used it to update my facebook status to 'WTF'.

Not. Even. Kidding.

You think she was trying to tell us something?

Yeah, I think so.

Needless to say, I would never ever post that. Ever.

And thank goodness Drew caught it only about 30 mins after she did it so I could fix it.

Little Twerp.

Oh, and a few days later while I was putting away laundry or something super-fun like that,

I heard the storm door slam shut.

Not good.

That means there's been a security breech.

By the time I got outside

-I'm talking maybe 10 seconds-

I found Willow

stripped naked,

covered in chocolate syrup from head to toe,

flashing our poor old neighbor who was innocently mowing the lawn,

while sticking her tongue out.

I obviously avoided any eye-contact with elderly Mr. James as I swooped my charming daughter back inside.

He probably thinks we're heathens.

And he might not be too far off...

Happy Friday to you all!

Wow! 10 Days! No Way...

Yeah, so I haven't posted in 10 days, call me a slacker if you want, but I've been a busy little bee. For example I took a sad, lonely, white hutch and turned it into this:

and plopped it right into my kitchen for some MUCH needed counter and storage space. I haven't found knobs that I like yet, so that's why she's knobless...

She was also topless... uh oh! We can't have topless furniture gallivanting around the house, so I had to make her this...

I'm planning on getting together all of my art glass in this teal color and making shelves to display it all above my new fave piece of furniture!

I also finished this baby boy quilt a bit ago but never got the pictures up because my camera decided it wanted a vacation so it pooped out on me...don't worry, I showed it who's boss. It cut it's vacay short :)

I really like this quilt. It's different. I used a lot of my favorite blue and green fabrics for this one, and then added in that Michael Miller guitar print. I'm a fan. I also really like the back of this quilt and the way it looks with the binding...

That simple green fabric is from JoAnn's and I just love it. I bought all they had and I'm almost out :(

I was planning on trying out some organic line quilting on this quilt for the first time, but I don't know if it was my lack of motivation or lack of time or what, but that's not what happened. Instead I just quilted 1/4" on either side of the seams. It looks very nice I think. Here's a close-up:

Also, my dad came to visit this past weekend! Yay! He lives in Virginia, and I hadn't seen them for almost a year. I also got to see my stepmom and stepsister (and meet my niece Gabi for the first time) and my three youngest brothers. It was short, but fun. I wish we would have had more time together. We all got together for a Family Reunion in Saginaw. With the help of some special "lemonade" we all managed to get through it :)

Willow was also very sick this past week. She had super high fevers for a few days, but she's finally back to her crazy self!

Wow, I guess I never realized what happens in a 10 day period...

This is What I Did Today...

So, I was a busy little bee today. And lucky for me, my little Willow adjusted her 1000-miles-a-minute self accordingly. Thanks Baby! I hemmed by Ikea curtains to fit my windows and I painted my walls ORANGE! I love 'em! They used to be ugly old beige. Beige with scuffs and marks and blah all over 'em. Now they're super fun and fantastic and great. They go a little better with my lime green kitchen and my bright blue living room now :)

I also found these AMAZING ottoman/cube thingys that I swear someone just plucked right out of my brain. I dreamed these up when I got rid of our coffee table and wanted to replace it with something kid friendly (aka: no glass, no corners, no fingerprints, no breakable, no stuff on top). After passing up many a table at Ikea, Target, and everywhere else they have tables that don't cost an arm and a leg, I finally found these at T.J. Maxx of all places. There they were, just calling out to me. So, of course, I got them and hurried them home where they could live happily-ever-after in my front room. Ah....pretty.

I made this Greens and Guitars quilt top for someone at work to give to their friend who just had a baby...

Last but not least, I wallpapered my mega-ugly bathroom wall with brown paper grocery bags. I'm not quite done, but the result is WAY better than I expected. It kind of looks like suede or leather on the wall. SU-per in love with it. All it takes is a TON of paper bags, even more Elmer's Glue and water, and voila. You've got a great way to recycle all those paper bag shoved between the 'fridge and the wall and it looks sooo cool.

So, yeah, that's what I did today. I also did laundry...but nobody wants a picture of that.

EuroBaby Quilt

I made this quilt for a gift at a baby (boy) shower. I fell in love with the Joel Dewberry fabrics and had some others in my stash to complete the quilt. I thought it had a little handsome European flair to it.

This backing matched my colors perfectly! It was a match made in heaven...