“I fall in love with any girl who smells of library paste.” -Charlie Brown

Wordless Wednesday

Appreciating all of Life's Moments

Priorities! I feel as though the word "priorities" sums up my definition of life. There are always so many things to do and never enough time or energy to get them done. Friday morning brought with it a glimpse of clarity. Rarely do I purposefully wake during the 5 o'clock hour, never am I alert if I do, and to do so on my own without "reason" is so preposterous it doesn't warrant a mention. However... I awoke last Friday morning at 5:00 AM, fully charged, gloriously cheery and full of life. When you wake up to this, how could you not?

I proceeded to the kitchen where I brewed myself the most charming Cup of Joe, I filled the mug to the brim with an exorbitant amount of Coffee Mate creamer and I practically skipped into the living room to watch the world wake up in my back yard.

I found myself completely mesmerized by life. The sky is so gorgeous in the morning. It is magnificent, colorful, and pure. The birds begin their morning routines, they chirp and sing, fly around as if in dance and feed their babies. Although terrible for my house (I know), there is a mother bird who built a nest in my attic eaves through a hole in the wire netting that serves as a vent for my roof. Despite the damage the birds may have caused, I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to wake to that first thing every morning. To hear the babies chirp and watch the mother swoop in and out bringing them food, so precious and such a reminder of the beautiful things right outside my window.

As I sat there that morning I was reminded of how special life is, how quickly it comes and goes and how simple it should be. Finding that moment every morning is my goal for this summer. Taking those few beautiful moments to think about my day, enjoy me, enjoy my backyard, enjoy being a mother yet also having some special quiet time alone.

I think we all need to be reminded sometimes to stop and enjoy the beauty around us, smell the lilacs, play with our children, teach them to pop the heads off dandelions, throw pine cones, weave blades of grass, sift sand, climb tree houses, swing, laugh, love.

Liam's favorite thing to do with Mom is to move rocks from our diminishing rock wall around the property. He likes to carefully select a rock, proclaim loudly how heavy it is and carry it to where we are working. He then takes all precautions to find the perfect spot to toss the rock. He helps me fill the space with mulch careful to make sure mom ends up with some in her hair and on her clothes. It may not be perfect but it's perfectly us!

This weekend I took the above old vegetable garden from the previous house owners, pulled out all of the grass and overgrown weeds. Put down some fresh soil and filled it with mums and other assorted flowers.

I am no gardener by any means but I think I created something that would make Grandma proud (my Grandmother is the historian for her chapter of the garden club, her gardens put my feeble attempt to shame). I finished with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment!

 I even planted two adorable planters for the front porch.

I think too often we spend our entire lives waiting for the next step, the other shoe to fall, the door to close, the window to open, the man of our dreams, the perfect woman, the newest addition or the next big thing. We should instead constantly remind ourselves to live in the moment because in the words of today you only live once (YOLO) so make it now!

To Chenille or not to Chenille... that is the Question?

There is no type of quilt I adore more than one made out of flannel for a baby. They are so soft, cuddly, cozy and always the most used. For this quilt I used a chenille technique and was so happy I did because it makes the perfect texture for little ones to play with.

I was actually able to use a completely random placement of the various blocks (a first for me)! This quilt was for the baby's Grandmother to use at her house when the baby came to visit. It's always nice to have things at all of the various places that are familiar to children.

Some of the back fabric says "I love Grandma" HOW ADORABLE!

There are little turtles and hippo's on the other side.

The blocks were 6.5" x 6.5" and consisted of two flannel fabric pieces sandwiched around a piece of 6" x 6" batting. I quilted two lines diagonally across the block then sewed the blocks together with all of the seams on one side of the quilt so the baby had at least one non-chenilled side to lay on.

Once the quilt was assembled I took the next few hours making snips in all of the seams. I sewed a line around the outside of the quilt and chenilled the outside as well. Lastly, I popped it in the washer and dryer gave it a quick cuddle (perhaps Liam loved it a little too) then I presented it to the baby's Grandma with love!

Finish it up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts!

Too hot to handle

I am 100% completely in LOVE with these potholders! I made this first set for my long-time favorite friend and god mother of my baby for one of her Bridal Showers. The binding might be my favorite part!

The color theme stole my heart, I love these colors together. Her kitchen has gorgeous Red and Aqua accents and it is just sooooooo adorable, the potholders make a lovely addition.

She was thrilled when she opened the present, but let's be honest, who wouldn't be?

These ones I made for my step mother, she has a sunflower themed brand new kitchen and they fit so nicely with the rest of the decor.

I seem to have a very hard time giving up potholders. I always want to keep them for myself, more so even than quilts. I think it is because I have a LOT of quilts and I have yet to make some adorable pot holders for myself.

I used a pad of the Insul-Bright heat batting and surrounded it by two pieces of normal Warm and White batting to absorb moisture.

I want some STAT!

 

Finish it up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts!

For the love of Purses

Wordless Wednesday

"The most important things in life aren't things." -Anthony J. D'Angelo

Last summer, I was asked by a very good friend and co-worker for a quilt request she could barely put into words. I was relatively unfamiliar with the details of her situation but after speaking with her it was a double quilt request I wouldn't think to refuse. 

When my friend was younger, much younger, her boyfriend and her had been involved in a fatal car accident. Her boyfriend did not make it and she was left to carry the emotional scars of that day for the rest of her life. As she picked up the pieces, she saved a few (particularly his clothing) as a final reminder of his life and the relationship that had once been so real and tangible. 

Old clothing holds special value. Clothing has been worn, it holds memories. Clothing has captured smells, it contains reminiscing scents. Clothing has a style, it can tell a story as vague as a stain to the passerby or as deep as a relationship to the well-trained eye.

I always cringe when asked to create quilts from old clothing. As some are aware, clothing stretches and shrinks, warps and moves, it bleeds, puckers and never matches up. It is textured, silky, slippery, holey, stained and used. Old clothing is worn and in being so is the most beautiful, precious and sensitive fabric on the face of this planet and this situation was no different. 

My friend had kept a box of his old clothing tucked away for safe keeping, awaiting a time when opening it would once again flood the mind with memories and flood the senses with a slightly bitter pleasure of past love and loss. 

You see, the man that once wore those clothes had a sister, and she was now pregnant. She was pregnant with not one but two beautiful babies and her baby shower was fast approaching. The task at hand was to create two quilts from his clothing in a months time for the showering of well-wishes on the expectant mother.

Stipulations included:

1. The quilts need to be classy, pretty, baby-like without being overly so.

2. The quilts should match but one was for a boy and the other a girl. This needed to be done without using classic baby fabrics of pink and blue.

3. The quilts should not be glaringly obvious of containing clothing, the use of clothing should be subtle enough to be tasteful but obvious enough to provide meaning. 

As I dug amongst the array of old worn T-shirts, jeans and flannels I was completely overwhelmed. How do you capture all of those feelings in a quilt? How do you pick and choose, which ones should I use? What shirt meant the most or pair of slacks held those sleepless nights. As I started to plan out my design I began to see the symbolism forming throughout the quilt.

I started with the center. I used a well worn and loved navy t-shirt to sew into the center of every block on both quilts reminding them that love will always be there, in the middle of everything, to give you peace.

I wrapped all the center blocks with new fabric, fresh fabric, fabric representing new life, opportunities and birth.

 

Although the pictures make this hard to see, I next used a white t-shirt to attach the blocks to one another. All of the vertical strips on both quilts were made from the same white t-shirt. The vertical strips surround the new fabric linking them to each other and bonding them for life.

 

On the back of both quilts I used strips of his old jeans, laid horizontally to be the foundation for them to grow on, love on, live from. And on the front, in adjacent corners, I put his initials, a tribute from my friend to hers.

These quilts were made with love, tears, patience, determination and in haste but they were made! I love them both and I am so thankful to have been chosen to be a part of such a beautiful gift. 

 

I will leave you with a quote from Pericles...

 

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."

 

Be that which leaves you feeling satisfied with the marks you leave on this world and those around you. Spend not one day living in regret, and be constantly thankful for all of life's blessings because they are sometimes so quick to disappear.

 

Check out Finish it up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts!

My Baby Boy and his Mommy

Wordless Wednesday!
Photos by Meredith Austin of Elm Circle Photography.