Birthday, Sewing, Hearts, and Snow...

Yesterday was my oldest daughter's 20th Birthday :)  She is a quiet and beautiful girl who tends to take after me, personality wise(sorry sweetie).

Samantha is my artist, she is crazy good at drawing and painting and in a year or so will be making a career out of it.  Not in the conventional way, with paints and canvases, but as a tatoo artist. She is currently apprenticing and will be liscensed within the year.    
That is her boyfriend of two years in the picture with her... it drives her crazy when he tells her how much she is like me...I think it is hilarious!

  Happy Birthday Sweetie!! We love you and are very proud of you.

 She moved into her own place in December, so I thought it would be nice to make her some things for her kitchen...  I started with some cloth napkins(that is what we use and I know she didn't have any)... and yes, the fabric is the same as the quilt I made in January, I thought she would like the funkiness of it.

And then some potholders, with her and her boyfriend's first initial on them.

And last, an apron... she isn't much of a cook yet, but she can bake :)  and she has been texting me for her favorite recipes... so she is trying.

I already took town the Valentine decorations, but I forgot to post about them. I didn't do much this year, just pops here and there...  this was on the dry sink in the half bathroom downstairs.

And this is by the entryway in the mudroom...

And my Valentine tree in the kitchen...

We got MORE snow last night, about 8" or so, luckily it's light and fluffy.  The picket fence is almost gone...

 There is a grill underneath that lump...

At least it's a pretty view out of my kitchen window...

Thank you al for the advice on my quilt... I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, the house is driving me nuts at the moment. Nothing looks like I want it too and I feel the walls closing in.... cabin fever is here!  Hopefully I will figure things out and once the morning sickness is totally gone, I can get more done.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Not Sure about the Blizzard Quilt...

A few days ago I finished my "blizzard quilt", but I'm not sure if it is what I want for this space. First, I think it is too narrow(and too long, it's tucked behind the couch), and second, I don't know if I picked the right colors. I did want something more Springy, but I'm not sure this is it.

Give your honest opinions please :)  And if you have any suggestions, I will gladly take them... any links to patterns and colors...comment away!!

Thanks,

Tiff

5th Birthday!!

Sunday was Mason's 5th birthday!!  I can't believe he is 5 already and will be starting kindergarten in the fall!  

He is the sweetest and most percocious little boy.  He's witty and snarky and so full of energy. He's also compassionate and cuddly and adores all his older siblings :)  He's my "little boy" I love him dearly.

He never wants a cake for his birthday, only cupcakes, so that is what he gets. This year they were brownie bottom chocolate cupcakes, yummm.

One of his favorite presents... an old fashioned blow up punching bag. (sorry for the sideways pic)

Also love the Hess truck from nana and grandpa...

He asked to go to the movies for his birthday, and unfortunately he wanted to see Spongebob.  That was one of the top 5 worst movies I have ever had to sit through!!   But he was happy and that is what matters :)

Time needs to slow down a bit, they are all getting way too big and old way too fast!!

Tiff

Old Fashioned Blogs

Just wondering what blogs everyone reads and if you could recommend some good old fashioned living or historical/simple living blogs. Maybe even homesteading blogs.

Thank you!

Tiff

Snow Day Projects...

I'm still working on my "blizzard" quilt, the quilting part is killing my wrist, not too mention the sitting part.  But we had yet ANOTHER snow day yesterday and I've been wanting to make some new pillow covers for the family room. So I propped myself, half on half off on my sewing chair(it's a very old wooden office chair, I think I need a new comfy one instead) and made some covers. I used a couple old chenille quilts for the project.  5 new pillow covers checked off my To Do List!

And I also made two new covers for the big floor pillows in front of the fireplace...

I got lucky with this pillow, when I took off the sweater cover I had on it, I forgot that it had a white crocheted cover underneath! Yay!

I've been slowly adding more and more white to the house and after the pillows were done, I decided it was time for a bit more editing and whitening of the  faimly room.  Moved some things around, and turned this into a my sewing area storage cupboard...

And this is my sewing nook behind the couch...

Looking from my sewing area...

Between the front windows in my sewing area...

Because I moved the white hutch, it left a big open wall... I put up a quilt hanger and added a vintage bedspread... oh and I painted the tops of a couple pieces white.

Different angle of the area to the left of the fireplace...

And this is the wall where the new quilt will go. I love the one that is up, but I'm going to use it for Fall and Winter only.

The kids are back in school today(we had a 2 hour delay) and I'm home from putting up the new bulletin boards. Now I just have a ton of huge Dr. Seuss drawings to make for tomorrow(for another school project).

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Blizzard Quilt...

Thank you all for the love of my last post :)  We are very happy and excited!

The kids had Tuesday and Wednesday as snow days, and we were all hunkered down in the house nice and cozy.  I decided it was time to make another quilt. A nice and light colored Spring/Summer quilt to hang on the family room wall.  This was not going to be a two day quilt, but I did expect to finish it up today. (it has lots of machine quilting on it, which is taking awhile). Unfortunately, that will not be happening:(   Last night, when I went to pay our neighbor for plowing our driveway, I slipped on ice and fell down about 6 wood stairs by his front door.  It hurt so bad and I was in tears. I mainly got my left side, my ankle, thigh, and butt. And now I have a huge lump on my left "cheek". It hurts to walk and I can't sit on it.  So I won't be completing my quilt today. No way I can sit and sew.

Here is a peek of it from yesterday morning.  I took my inspiration from the Suburbs quilt by Allison Harris over at Cluck Cluck Sew.  

And I'm sure you all are sick of snow pics, but here are a few from me....

We are expected to have 4 to 8" more tomorrow, it will be a really short week if we have another snow day!

With love,

Tiff

This.....

My Dr. gave me the thumbs up yesterday to announce :)  Would welcome all your positive thoughts and prayers.
Thank you kindly,
Tiff

This Little Piggy....

It's that time of year again, and I participated in Sarah's Valentine Swap.  This year I decided to sew something, and what is better than a bunch of flying little piggies!!??

All packaged up and ready for the mail.  I can't wait to see what ornaments I get in return. It's always fun to see the creative things that people come up with.

Happy Friday!!

Tiff

First Sewing Project of 2015 and Bulletin Boards

It's the middle of January and I definitely have cabin fever.  The days are dragging and I'm just really bored.  So I decided I needed to sew something. I had no idea what, but I had this fabric in my stash for a few years(it's Story book two by Birch) and I really wanted to use it.  I ended up making a small quilt.   It doesn't go with the decor of the house, but the kids can cuddle in it and it is a good size for a car blanket.

Here is the front(prewash)...

And the back, just used a solid piece of the coordinating print...

And after washing, it didn't pucker up as much as I hoped it would after washing, but that is probably because I only did horizontal quilting on it.

I'm pretty happy with how it came out and it only took me two days to make(one morning to cut and iron and another day to sew )


And I'm still doing the bulletin boards at school, here are the last three months worth...

November...

December....

And January...

Hubby and I had a wonderful dinner date for our anniversary last night, but I ate way too much!

Have a lovely weekend,
Tiff

22nd Wedding Anniversary!!

Our special day, 22 years ago I married the love of my life.

We are still growing, learning, and loving with each other.  Thank you dear for being here for me and loving me through ups and downs, joys and trials, and everything in between.  I hope we have another 50 years together.  I love you with all my heart. Happy Anniversary.

Love,
Tbird