Mikaela is 40 Weeks Old

Mikaela turned 40 Weeks Old on October 26th. We spent the weekend at my dad's and she was busy playing outside with dad's kitties/cats. I swear there are more every time we go there. I started calling him the Old Cat Man. I counted 18!

We went to the park on Sat and even though it was cold, Mikaela got to swing.

She looks like she's ready to punch me.

She went down the slide.

She hung out with her daddy! We were waiting for the cattle the family was driving north. Check out her little pink/camo boots I picked up in MN at Fleet & Farm.

We also went to the Milesville Halloween Party. Mikaela was a puppy.

She picked a duck from the duck pond, did the cake walk, and bowled.

She threw the ball through the hole.

We had a fun weekend at my dad's doing things we normally don't do.

Mikaela is 9 Months Old

Mikaela turned 9 Months old on October 19th! I can't believe how big my little girl has grown. She's all full of smiles and enjoying everything around her.


She doesn't like to pose for mommy.

But she loves to play with her feet!

I just love when she smiles. She looks so good in the shirt Colleen got for her. Her daddy's Chief's even won a few games!

She's such a little cutie!

Mikaela is 39 Weeks Old!

Mikaela turned 39 Weeks Old on October 19th.

She's got just two teeth still, but it sure feels like the next ones are getting closer to coming in.

I just love those two front teeth. She loves the little Nuk brush that rubs her gums. It really seems to sooth her.

I picked up this onesie for a couple dollars and since her daddy's a carpenter, it just fits.

WIP Wednesday

This has been a busy week! I haven't gotten nearly as much sewing/quilting done as I would like since we spent the weekend at my dad's hunting. I was able to make the baby blanket for our friend Jory's new baby boy Bridger. I personalized the knit Mossy Oak camo material with his name and birth date. The embroidery is hunter orange, so it really stands out. I would have liked flannel instead of the knit, but all I could find was knit or twill, so I went with the knit. It's super soft! I really think it turned out well.  I backed it in a green minkee. I wanted a brown, but they just weren't the right shades. I burped this one and top stitched with a green/brown variegated King Tut and light green Bottomline in the bobbin.


I've also started teaching quilting classes again, so Wed. night's I'm always teaching. Last night I prepared for the class and gathered all the supplies. When I got done I pulled out my Buggy Barn pink/brown leftover HST's and played with a new arrangement. I'm having a hard time doing them scrappy.

I think it's because the brown sticks out so much, but I'll play with them some more before I decide what I'm going to do with them. I really like this block layout though and it's much smaller than my other wall hangings. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how I could rearrange them to make it look better.

My UFO Sew Down is taking off! Jacque has already finished one of her UFO's and since I worked on one of mine last night I feel great.

I pulled out the one I want to finish the most this year. It's a wolf applique piece I've been working on for 3+ years now. I need to just buckle down and get it done. I think I'm more afraid of the quilting than actually getting all the layers put together. When I pulled it out last night I found my black gripper and my applique press sheet. I couldn't find them for the longest time!

This is the pattern and how it's kind of going to look. Mine will have more orange in it.




Ongoing projects Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Wall Hanging - 2
Buggy Barn Pink/Brown Extra Blocks
Ed's Crown Royal Quilt
Mocha Meringue Wonder Blocks
Cressa's Cowgirl Quilt - Hand Sewing Binding

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Blush Quilt
Mom's Halloween Pumpkin
Jim Shore Quilt

No progress:
Pokey Little Puppy Book
Numbers Sewing Book
Linda's T-shirt Quilt
Paul's Wolf
Mom's Pink Ribbon Quilt
Linda S. Friendship Block
Jen V. Friendship Block
3 Mug Rugs

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 1
New projects -0
Currently in progress - 16
Finished this year - 112 projects + 10 Receiving Blankets & 20 Burp Clothes

I'm linking up for WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Mikaela is 38 Weeks Old

Mikaela turned 38 Weeks Old on October 12th. We spent the weekend at my dad's and she spent some time in the swing. She has learned how to put her feet down and stop herself.


She's still in her PJ's as she sits in front of the pellet stove, staying nice and warm.

She loves to swing, but she's getting a bit too big for it now.

Jen made a NEW Sew Down Button

Jen made a new button for the UFO Sew Down! It's so awesome to have friends with so much talent. I just am not good at making these things. Grab a button and join the 2011 UFO Sew Down!

MY SEW DOWN UFO's

I have lots of UFO's but I'm picking just a few to focus on for the next month. I think a few will be manageable and I might even stretch myself if I can find the time.

Paul's Wolf - I really would like to finish this for him by Christmas, so my goal is to get all the applique done in the next month and be ready to quilt it the following month. I've put this one off for 3 years because it scares me to death! I'm not real good at applique, but I've just gotta do it!

Ed's Crown Royal Quilt - I have about half the blocks made, all the fabric bought, and all the Crown Royal squares cut out, I just have to buckle down and work on it. I've been making a few blocks a night when I have a chance and that seems to help. I don't get as bored with it. It's supposed to be his Christmas present, so we'll see. I'd like to finish the top during the Sew Down!

Those are my two Sew Down goals, but if I have some extra time I'll also work on these other UFO's:
Blush Quilt - Top is done - needs quilted
Mocha Meringue - Blocks are done, needs laid out, pieced, borders, quilting
Mom's Jim Shore Quilt - Top is done - needs quilted
Mom's Pink Ribbon Quilt - Blocks are done, needs pieced, borders, quilting

I have a few other quilts cut out, but they aren't this far along and these are the ones I'd like to finish by the end of the year. I have a few other projects, like a baby blanket, and fabric books that aren't UFO's that will get finished during this time as well.
I'm looking forward to a great UFO challenge and hope you'll join me in the 2011 UFO SEW DOWN!

2011 UFO Sew Down

Quilting season is in full swing and it's time to get out those old UFO's out and start working on them. This year the UFO Sew Down will run from October 10-November 11th. The goal is to complete at least 1 UFO! Everyone who participates and completes at least one UFO, will get a small prize from me. You may just get a prize for every UFO, we'll see how many we can complete.
How to participate! Set a goal of any UFO's you'd like to finish by making a blog post or Facebook post about it. You can use your own definition of finish. It might be doing all the applique on blocks, finishing a top, making a bag, or quilting and binding a quilt. It's your choice. This isn't a high stress competition, just an opportunity to have encouragement from fellow bloggers on completing a UFO or two!
Email me a link to your post and I'll include your link on my sidebar with participants. You don't have to list every UFO, just a few you'll be working on. I'll update everyone with a post about the groups progress each week.
If you'd like to include the logo for the SEW DOWN, it's below. Let's get down and sew down for the next month!

A new button from Jen!

Catch Up projects

I realized when I was working on my journal that I was missing a few pictures of projects I had completed over the past few months. This is the block I made for Cindy in Oct., her month in the Friendship Block Swap. I love the churn dash block and she does as well. I had to remake part of it, to make sure I got the wood grain going the right direction.

I also made this zipper pillow for Groovy Girls for Oct. I actually had it done in Aug. as it was for a presentation at the fair.

For Sept. Groovy Girls I made this Kindle Cover. I just love how it turned out. It's from scraps of the Maxine fabric I had laying around.

It's a simple cover to make and I love how the binding is put on so you don't have to double sew it.


I'm trying to keep up with all my projects, but it just seems like some get put to the side every once in a while.

Williams Family Reunion

The Williams family (Mom's dad's family) had their annual family reunion picnic this Sat. in Mitchell. We had a great time and enjoyed the company of 2 great aunts and lots of cousins.
Mikaela got to see her great-great aunts for the second time, since we had visited them in May.
Daddy and Mikaela hung out and visited.

Mikaela was a tired little girl after lunch and needed a nap.

Grandpa Hugh and Mikaela hung out for a while in the afternoon. She even wore the hat Great Aunt Jane made for her (usually she throws it off). Her new little onesie says Grandpa's Girl. Cousin Molly was running the whole time. She's a very busy 3 year old!

Uncle Jim gave her lots of horsey rides.

Great-Great Aunt Mildred just had to hold her.

It was such an enjoyable day and we really had a good time. We even got to spend Sunday at Grandpa's house. I worked on lots of embroidery and hope to finish up a few projects in the next couple weeks. Daddy went hunting with my brother and dad. We'll be back there this weekend as it's open pheasant hunting weekend.

October Groovy Girls

Friday night was our October Groovy Girls night. We showed pillows and different ways to make the pillows. It was so fun to see all the variations to the pattern. 

We had a large group of ladies there for the evening.

Hannah was our helper and she showed how to do the tube turners to make the rosettes.

After it was over we stayed and sewed. We had a great time and really enjoyed visiting. I was able to get the borders on this UFO of mom's. It's going to the Terra Sancta retreat center.

I have to make a backing for it now and get it quilted.