{Quilt #1}

I realize this blog post will make this blog about 4 years out of date/order, but I'll catch up on the last 4 years another day. ;) Here's simply a post about quilting, now that my first "real" quilt is done! :)

It all started with my MIL inviting me to CA for a week long quilting retreat (I promise to blog about this later as well, it was a wonderful, fun week)! I had heard about these and wanted to go, but I've never had time in my schedule (not to mention, absolutely ZERO experience in quilting...easy sewing projects, sure! A couple small baby gifts, maybe! A quilt!? Not hardly). However, after working 60+ hr weeks during tax season, I had accumulated enough time off to make it happen in November 2012. I was terribly sad to leave behind the hubby and pup, Tucker, but hubby had a surprise project for me (another blog post for another day) so he planned to be as busy as I knew I would be, and the time really did FLY by (but I did miss him...and Tucker)!

So the quilting process started by picking a pattern/idea for the quilt. I searched online, and finally decided on a Raw Edge Circle Quilt I found and fell in love with on Pinterest. Here's the picture of the one I loved:

Thankfully, that picture came with a very detailed blog tutorial as well! :)

Next was picking out the fabric. I can't remember how many different fabric patterns or yards of fabric I ended up with -I do remember the calculations making my head spin ;) - but it was pretty fun picking out the fabric! Most of the fabric is from Moda's "Oh Deer" collection, and a few other collections from Moda. I think maybe one or two were from something besides Moda. 

Here are some of the fabrics I chose for the quilt; 

fresh from the quilting shop!

First step, cutting out the squares and circles (I did this and the step below before leaving for CA to be a little ahead of the game)! 

Next, sew the circles onto the squares. Mix and match the fabrics... (this was extremely different for this "right-brained" accountant!!) ;)

Once all the circles are sewn on the squares, cut into sections of 4. 

  Then, mix and match the small squares to make one large square (4 pieces). This was one of the most difficult parts for me, because you wanted them to be mixed up as best as possible, and there were SO many options!! Thankfully, we had the wall to help as a visual. I must have spent HOURS getting this *just* right! Once you have them grouped together like you want, sew them together.

Getting advice from one of the most creative women I've ever met (more about this later)!!

Sewing the small squares together.

Finally getting the rows started!! This is when I could finally see progress being made! :)

Once each of the strips were sewn together, then you sew each row together, (see below) which almost makes the complete quilt top!

Borders and cornerstones were next. 

THEN! :) I sent the quilt topper to the quilter! She did a wonderful job!!! It was custom quilting for the center because each circle is a raw edge. I was so impressed with her work I was almost in tears when I received the package back. Here's a link to her website: Sew Shabby Quilting I highly recommend her!

Finally, the binding. My least favorite part to complete, but it is definitely necessary...it's a great project for long car trips, I must add, though! ;) I didn't get any pictures of this part, but I pieced a bunch of my straps together to make the 2" binding (next time I will do 2.5"). This helped use a lot of the fabric I had remaining and adds a variety of color around the border. The hand stitching was my least favorite task on this project. I'm not skilled in hand stitching and it felt like FOREVER to get this last portion done. I will likely try machine binding next time...or at least a long car ride to do nothing but hand stitch! :)

After the wash, the raw edges really show up! :)

I can't finish this blog without a HUGE thanks to my hubby, MIL, Tim's cousin Lisa, and all the women at the quilting retreat as well as the ones at my local quilt shop, Thread Bear Fabrics, who helped me through this entire process. I had a lot of "hand holding" but was glad for all the input and advice to complete this without pulling my hair out! It was a lot of fun, I learned a LOT, and I'm looking forward to the next one. Hopefully it won't take 9 months to complete!! ;)

3 Days 'til Closing!

We are set to close on Thursday!! Packing is going...pretty good. I'm so thankful for a helpful hubby! Even after working over 40 hours last week, he still came home each night to help me pack up. Just a few more odds & ends to pack up and we'll be ready!

Went out to the house yesterday to get some pictures for our insurance agent, so I decided to post some more. These are just a couple of the outside of the house, as that's all the agent needs, AND we couldn't get in the house (obviously).





Check back for updates; I'll try to get this blog updated with pictures of the "moving" and "unloading" stages. :)

Strawberry Jam Makin'

So I'm supposed to be packing up the house today...but instead I get an idea to prepare meals ahead of time (in hopes that it will help with "moving week") AND make strawberry jam! So, off to the grocery store...by 11 am, I had 10 "jars" of strawberry jam made, and enough lunches & suppers prepared for the entire next week (oh, can't forget this part: AND the kitchen completed cleaned up!) Whew! Oh, the things you can get accomplished with you are determined. :) About half way through making the meals for next week, however, my hand slipped while trying to cut an onion w/a VERY sharp knife...no stitches needed, but that did put a dent in my day...trying to cut, cook, slice, chop, clean up, etc. with one hand isn't as easy as it sounds. But everything's done, so can't complain too much!

And, here I sit...still not packing up the house. Guess I better get to it so the hubby can tell something was done today. :)

Here are some pictures of the strawberry jam makin'! :)

Finally, an update!

Wow, it's been a MONTH since I've posted. Where does the time go??

We are back in school (obviously) and still staying busy with work. It's officially tax season, so I've been working longer hours. Which, by the way, is fine w/me b/c I love my job. In other news, Tim made the Dean's list last semester! I'm so proud of him.

Tim just celebrated another birthday! I will post pictures soon. We had dinner w/my parents on Tuesday and then went to the Cheesecake Factory on Thursday. He's been dying for his Grandmother's lemon cake, so I made it today. Hopefully it will taste like hers used to.

We had worker company again a few weeks ago. So nice to have Charles & Bob, even if it was just for supper. :) We will miss Charles but are looking forward to having Richard back.

I had girls' lunch w/Mom, Cindy, & Britta the other day. And of course, Liam. :) He's such a sweet baby. :)

We are starting to plan a vacation for our 1st anniversary in June - any ideas?!?

Can't think of much else that's been happening here. More later! Look back for pictures soon.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a happy and safe New Year! T & I are off for New Years' Day so we are headed south to visit K & B! :) We haven't seen them since September, so we are very excited! I imagine there will be lots of games and wedding planning going on! :)

Workers!

We had our first worker company on our 6 month anniversary (Sunday)!! :) Linda & Megan came for supper and the night. I'm highly disappointed in myself - I didn't get any pictures (I should have at least gotten some pictures of the apartment - I don't think it's EVER been so clean- lol) !! We had a fun evening, though! We played Boggle and Megan showed us a new game on the Internet - which is very addicting (and somewhat educational, I must add), so I won't share. ;) We were so excited to have them!

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!! We are planning on spending the day with my family. More later!

Happy Anniversary!

The main reason we went on the cruise was to celebrate my grandparents' 50th anniversary!

Here's a wedding picture.

Here they are after 50 years of marriage!

Happy Anniversary, G'pa & G'ma!! And thank ya'll for the cruise!!

Cruise!

We had a wonderful time on our cruise! We flew to Ft Lauderdale and met up w/my great-aunt & uncle (Jerry & Barb) as they were surprising G'pa & G'ma on this trip. 

So, for the sake of saving time at the airport, T & I packed light. We were planning on carrying-on our luggage...(aren't you impressed? I had the 3oz liquids in the 1qt baggies and everything!) However, at the last minute, Dad talked us into just checking our bags since the rest of our group was checking their luggage anyways. So, my luggage is ALWAYS last. It doesn't matter who I'm traveling with, where we are going, but it's ALWAYS last off the belt. So when we get to Ft Lauderdale and my bag is the only one missing from our luggage stack, I don't stress b/c I figure, once again, it's going to be last. However, this time it was different. For some reason, my luggage (and yes, ONLY mine!) ended up at the Miami airport instead of Ft Lauderdale. Very convenient, I know. After my suitcase is found in Miami, the Delta attendant (who, by the way, is way too happy for this early in the day, especially to be talking to someone who isn't so happy that her suitcase is 45 minutes away) reassures us this is not a big deal, someone from Carnival cruise will pick it up and take it our ship, but first we must check in w/our cruise line before they will do anything. (Are you thinking that she's making this sound ALL too familiar?? -- yeah, me too!) Once we checked in and talked to several cruise reps, I learned that my suitcase was on a van w/ "all the other luggage and it's on its way to port right now". "All the other luggage" at this point in the day made me feel somewhat comforted...I guess I wouldn't have been the only one on the ship wearing a turtleneck, long jean skirt, cotton tights, and snow boots in the 80 degree weather for the next 5 days! Anyways, to make a long story short, I got my suitcase about 4 hours later just before we left the port. *whew!* I must add that I didn't start really stressing about this until about 1 hour before we left the port...aren't you impressed??? Somehow I knew I could trust the Carnival reps w/my dearly beloved suitcase! lol :) 

Anyways, we really did have an awesome trip, despite the missing-for-6-hours suitcase.

We left from Miami, went to the Bahamas, Half Moon Cay, & Grand Turk. 

In the Bahamas we visited Paradise Island via ferry from Nassau. On the ferry we learned a lot about the island, who lives there, owns it, etc. In the slide show below there are pictures from the Atlantis (on Paradise Island). We toured the Atlantis and did some shopping at the market.

Half Moon Cay is a privately owned island about 79 miles from the Bahamas. And it's just beautiful! The water is so pretty!!  We spent the day soaking in the sun and enjoying the beautiful beach. There are also some pictures below.

Lastly, we went to Grand Turk. It is known for it's snorkeling and beaches...and also it's shopping. We went shopping and also visited the beach. We would have liked to tour the island but didn't have much time to spare after shopping. :) 

The last day on the ship we spent the day at sea. Thankfully, the seas were "smooth sailing" that day. We learned how to make towel animals, watched as a large block of ice was carved into a swan and just relaxed. And of course, ate a LOT! :) 

Enjoy the pictures!

Semester Fall 2008: COMPLETE!

Yay!!! We have officially completed another semester!! And our grades are posted: all A's & B's for both of us! We are very happy!

So in the midst of studying my brains out this week, I met a man who can't read and write. I was (and still am) in complete shock! T & I were dogsitting this week and the couple's house we were staying at, is getting some additions/repairs done on the house. So it just so happens that the garage door installer shows up (thankfully T was there!) to install the garage door and the keyless entry. The owners had left a list of instructions posted in the garage, in case the contractors came while we weren't there. So T & I greet this man and he tells us what he thinks he's supposed to be doing. Just to verify he was doing what needed to be done, I walked over to the list and said, "Well, here's a list, maybe this has something on it that applies to the garage door". He preceeds by telling me that he can't read and write and asks if I would mind reading it to him. I have to say I probably paused for a complete 5 seconds just trying to grasp the fact that a 50-something year old man can't read and write. I have to say, since then, I have given a lot of thought to this. I honestly can say I believe him, I don't think he was lying to me. But how can you not know how to read and write by the time you are 50-something? This is America! Most education is FREE! So, while he worked on the garage, he talked to T & I - told us about his family, how he was looking forward to Christmas, his daughter just had a baby (girl) and how excited he was to see her again during the holidays. Just a good 'ole Southern man! I have to say, this did put a damper on my stressing for finals. Here I am, stressing about finals, trying to complete a college degree and worried about making a B in a class and yet, there are still people (in America!) that can't read and write. Wow...

So, T & I were talking about this later and he said he that heard once that there have been studies that show that there are people who graduate w/a high school diploma and still can't read and write. Being an education major at one point and having completed a minor degree in education, this was never mentioned...so now I'm interested...are there really people out there like this?

What an eye-opener week! Now to get ready for the cruise... :)

End of another semester...(well, almost)

Can't believe we are approaching the end of another semester. In August, this week of finals seems so far away!

Tim is done with his finals and awaiting his final grades to be posted. However, we know that he made a 100 in his Stats class!!! Yes, that's a FINAL avg!! :) I'm so proud of him! I just wish I could go to class w/out the textbook, pen/pencil, or calculator, and not take any notes, not study, wait until the NIGHT before a project is due to START on it (and make an 98 - and have the professor ask to keep it for future examples!) and have no problem making straight A's! Hopefully our children will have his learning abilities!

I have one final down, two more to go. I, too, am waiting for my grade to be posted. Thankfully these professors have a deadline for this or we (students) would be pulling our hair out with anticipation! My accounting final (Thursday) is the only one I'm dreading b/c it's cumulative. I'll be glad to get it over with, no doubt! Thankfully, my boss is a CPA and understands how overwhelming this is and therefore is letting me off early tomorrow so I get some more studying done! :)

We are looking forward to our cruise next week when we can RELAX!!

Now back to studying...

Catch up!

It seems like forever since we've taken the time to blog! And it also seems that our blog always starts with "we've been staying busy with school and work", and yes, that's the excuse this time too! However, we HAVE found some time to attend get-togethers, play tennis, play disc golf, laser tag, and go bowling with Jeremy & Scott, help one of Tim's co-workers with his car (rebuilding a motor), attend Girls' Night Out...oh, the list goes on!

Tim had to work, but I went to the Hick's GTG a few weekends ago. It was lots of fun (as always)! Alvin & Joann were also celebrating their 50th anniversary! :) Enjoy the pictures...

Tim & I decided to try tennis a couple weeks ago! We discovered that we live very close to a park with tennis courts! :) Neither one of us have ever played but it was fun, nevertheless. :)

We also got to go bowling and play laser tag with Jeremy & Scott a couple weeks ago. It was loads of fun. The next day, we played disc golf with them! I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to this...but it ended up to a lot of fun. We have gone back since then and I think we are "hooked"! 

Cameron & Scott - doing who-knows-what??

Amber, Amanda, Cameron, Jeremy

Tim - in action! Scott in the background

If I wasn't looking forward to playing disc golf, you can only imagine my reaction to helping one of Tim's friends rebuild his motor. :-/ However, I learned so much "helping" them (without having to get too greasy/oily/dirty in the process) and actually gave them an idea that solved a major issue (imagine that!? a girl's idea working??) ;) I also got to know this guy's wife, who happens to be a teacher! Now the car is up and running, so everyone is happy!

This week we had Girls' Night Out at The Melting Pot in Duluth. After we figured out the menu (I still agree w/Melissa, you need a PhD to eat there!), we had a fun night. :) We used to do Girls' Night Out more often but haven't for a while. Britta suggested it, so we threw it all together kinda last minute and it turned out to be a blast! I forgot my camera in the car, but here are some pictures I "stole" from Mom...

All the Ladies

All the Ladies again

Britta's Birthday

Well, that will catch us up for a while now. Next week it's Thanksgiving Holidays, then finals, then family cruise, then Christmas!! I know the time will fly! Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Wedding!

Well, TnT are married! :) I promised to post some pictures, so here goes... I'll try to add some more w/Slide later. Enjoy!

The Kiss

The Cake - Natalie did a wonderful job! It was her first wedding cake ever! The cake was delicious -- chocolate raspberry!

Table Centerpieces - Pumpkins w/fall flowers

:)

Close up of flowers

The most updated pic of the family (minus 5)!

T-n-T

Leaving in Tim's 55 Chevy

Rings

Almost the whole crew!