1 Family x 12 (May)

The last three weekends have been packed full of fun, but I've been missing my peanut like crazy.  In the last three weeks I've had a bachelorette party, backpacking with Chris and Brenna and this past weekend was Meg and Greg's wedding followed by some time at Ryan's families lake house.  We snagged this picture late yesterday just before we headed home.  The weekend was amazingly fun and the weather was beautiful.  We need more 4 day weekends like this one!!

Tumbling Lessons

Last week we took Abby to her first tumbling class.  The class is set up for 18 months to 3 years old and Abby was by far the youngest kid in the group.  The class started a few weeks ago but they let us sign up mid session so on top of being the youngest kid in the group she'd also missed a few of the beginning class.

The little gym was great.  The instructor would demo each of the activities and then the kids would take turns doing them.  It was set up in little activity areas so the kids weren't just standing around in a line the whole time.  It started out with them sitting on the mats and doing a song and dance.  Abby did NOT get it.  This is the very first time we've tried to do an organized activity with Abby so sitting still and listening or sitting in a group didn't really make any sense to her.  We've got rules at home and at the sitter of course, but sitting down and listening classroom style has never been introduced to her so she's got some learning to do.

Of all the activities, "jumping" (read: RUNNING) on the trampoline was her favorite.  They've got a long trampoline that runs the length of the building.  Abby didn't understand the bounce part of it...but man did she love the running part.  As soon as it was her turn she'd run full throttle down to the end with her little knees high-stepping the whole way down.  Ryan could hardly keep up to grab her at the other end.

Her other favorite part was the balance beam.  Her little tiny feet fit on it perfectly so it was almost like she was just walking....ah to be young again.  She didn't really understand the activities where you were supposed to jump in the rings or over a string.  She just picked up the rings from the floor and tossed them around.  She was a little bit afraid of the rings and had no idea what to do with the bars, but you gotta start somewhere right?

The class is 4 more weeks long.  I'm not sure if Abby's just not old enough to "get it" or if she just needs to watch the other kids and practice sitting, listening, and using all the stuff in there.  Last week it seemed more like Ryan was chasing around a wet cat instead of her actually "getting it" but we're going to keep going for the next few weeks and then decide if we'll sign up again.  At least she's getting some of her energy out!

Ms. Pearl (Quilt)

Remember way back when we had our little peanut?  Well, this project started long before that.  Fair warning, if this post is long, it's because there's a lot of love in this quilt and I want to share it with everyone.  Back when we found out we were pregnant, I'd just started reading one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love.  They're pretty famous now, so if you don't know about them, Google it.  Anyways, they'd just had their first baby and decided to do this.

Basically, each week they took a picture of their daughter Clara on a yard of fabric and used Photoshop to add how old she was on her shirt.  You all know I love a good project so I was sold!  I wanted to capture Abby's first year in the same way, but I added my own twist.  And that, is the beginning of this quilt.

When my mom hosted a baby shower for me she asked that everyone attending bring 1 yard of fabric to help build my stash for this project.  I'm SO happy that I asked for fabric from all of my friends and family.  It's given this quilt so much more meaning instead of just being pretty fabric I liked.

That ugly Bears fabric up there (Yes, I'm a Packer backer) came from Ryan's mom....the elephant at the top came from Abby's Uncle Andy (he loves the zoo).  Anyways, having this very personal fabric with stories behind it makes this quilt so much more special.

Each week I took out a piece of fabric and snapped a shot of my peanut on top of it.  I blogged the photo along with a story about the fabric and the person that gave it to us along with some little highlights of our week for our friends and family to follow along.  If you want to check it out, click here.  The hyperlink will start at her most recent, 20 month photo, but if you scroll back to the beginning, you'll see how the project unfolded.

So, one could easily say that this quilt, this fabric, and my little Abby are the reasons that I started quilting late last year.  I'd always planned that I'd use the fabric in a quilt, but my original intention was to send it all to a quilter and let someone else do the heavy lifting.  I mean, I'd just spent the last year taking pictures and editing photos, I was ready for my part of this project to be done.  I'm a knitter, not a sewer.

But, sentimentality caught up with me and I decided this quilt would be even more special if I made it myself.  So, I enrolled in the Quilting 101 class at my local quilting store.  I bought a low end Pfaff sewing machine (even the low end is expensive!) and I spent 6 weeks learning how to cut, piece, quilt, baste, back and bind a quilt.  We made three small projects during the 6 weeks and I figured I'd make a few baby quilts before taking the plunge into Abby's giant project.

What I didn't account for was the addiction I quickly had for quilting.  I loved it...I love the precise cutting, I love working on each little block and then combining them all together to make something grander.  I just loved the whole process from start to finish.  I started cutting on my first baby quilt and I realized I just wanted to work on Abby's project.  It was the whole reason I'd started quilting and I wouldn't be happy until it was complete.  I didn't want this project to end up being one of those that I'm still talking about 10 years later.  So, I scoured the internet for a pattern I loved and got to work adapting it so I could use all 50 fabrics I had.  In the end, I ended up needing a queen sized quilt to fit them all in.

Sure, a queen size blanket is extreme for a little girl that weighs just over 20 lbs, but I wanted to get all the fabric represented and I want this to be something she will cherish when she gets older.  I haven't decided yet if we'll use this blanket in our daily lives or if I store it someplace safe until she's a little older and can understand, but I've never been a fan of putting the things we love most behind glass or in the closet and never using them.  To me, its the memories that you create with the things that make them special.  It's the ice-cream drips and grass stains that show that you truly love something.  So, we'll see.

Ok, so enough about the story behind the quilt and more about the quilt itself.  It's made of 132 

"arrows" each fabric is represented 2-3 times.  My favorites (like the Green Bay Packers one above) are included 3 times, while some of the less memorable (ie: I bought them at Joann's just because I needed more fabric to fill out the weeks) or harder to use fabrics are in there twice.  

The pattern I chose is Pow-Wow by Cluck Cluck Sew.  I used a very light blue for the sashing and a minty green (hard to see here) for the backing.  Actually, can see the colors of the fabric better in the pictures below.  I started the quilt in November 2013 and finished it up just last week.  If I'm being honest though, it could have been finished much sooner.  I actually had the quilt ready and sent off to a long arm quilter back at Christmas time.  She had the quilt for about a month and I had it back just after Valentines day.  All I needed to do was finish off the binding but life got in the way and I had those few baby quilts I needed to finish for the showers and this one took a back seat for a second.  

It measures 88 x 100 and is huge!!  I'm so happy with my choice to send this one out to a long arm quilter.  The quilt is so special to me that I wanted it done professionally.  And, my small machine doesn't have the throat space I'd need to quilt something so large (the space between my needle and the machine).  It's bound with a mix of some of my favorite fabrics from the project.  I cut 18 inch strips and ran them all around the edge using the zigzag stitch to machine bind both sides.  I can't imagine how long it would take me to hand bind something this big!

The quilting is a mix of flowers and loops and she used pretty pastel variegated thread.  It's very girly and the perfect accent to make this quilt all "Abby".  I'm so excited to finally call this project done.  It's been a year and a half in the making and it's by far one of the most special projects I've ever done.

1 Family x 12 (April)

 Can you believe it?  A family picture WITH the dogs!  I don't think we've been able to snag a picture with both the dogs and all the people looking since Abby was born!  This past weekend we were camping at Starved Rock with Chris and Brenna.  I'm so glad I handed over the camera to Chris to grab our family picture for this month; he got a great shot. 

Easter egg hunts and camp fires

We celebrated Easter a little unconventionally this year.  Two busy families and a scheduling mishap and we ended up planning a spring camping trip for Easter weekend.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  In fact, I think we'll try a spring trip every year now.

I was warm (70's), sunny and perfect for camping.  There were no bugs and the camp sites were relatively open.  The trails were packed with families trying to enjoy some of the first warm days of the year but once we got a few miles from the visitor center, the people thinned out. 

After we returned from our hike I figured it would be a good time for an Easter egg hunt with Abby.  I didn't go crazy, just 6 eggs conveniently filled with Ryan's favorite candies.  She needed a little help from Daddy about the "point" of the whole thing but at about egg #5 she got it.  Then, when she realized there was something sweet inside, well, all bets were off.

Next year, the Easter egg hunt is on!  I'm excited that she's finally starting to understand and enjoy holiday traditions. 

Wild Blue Wilderness (Quilt)

Another baby on the way, another finished quilt to share with you!

I made this quilt for Ryan's cousin, Jenny.  She's having a baby girl at the end of the month and I'm so excited that someone else in the Muprhy/McGrath family is joining the baby train.  Sadly, Jenny and Jack live in Nashville so Abby won't get to hang out with her new cousin as much as we'd like....but I'm so excited to have another baby in the family to shower with love.

I think the back of this quilt is actually my favorite part.  Isn't that fabric cool?  There's a close-up a little farther down, so keep scrolling.

I used a pattern called Square City and this quilt went together really fast once I got the fabric cut.  The pattern is out of a  book I bought called "Weekend Quilts".  The idea of making an entire quilt in just one weekend is blasphemy.  I mean, if you had the fabric cut, and counted making the TOP of the quilt as being done, then sure.  But the whole process takes some time.  I started this one back in January and finished it up just in time for her shower last weekend.  Weekend my A....well, you know what.  :O)

When I talked with Jenny back at Christmas they still didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl and she told me she really wanted lots of gender neutral items.  I was excited because I'd fallen for this fabric long before talking with her so I took the opportunity to work in something other than pink for their little girl.  

The fabric is from the Indian Summer line by Sarah Watson (Spirit Lake palette).  My go-to fabric store is called Stash Modern Fabric on Etsy.  I LOVE the bundles they put together.  They often take their bundles to the next level by incorporating fabrics from a few lines/designers into one bundle making your quilts look great and pop!  If I'm being honest, I'd tell you that I just ordered another package of fabric from them yesterday.  I'm sensing a "problem" here!!

I'm so happy with the binding I picked for this quilt.  It's called Darts Nior and is from the Minimalista collection.  I think it is the prefect finishing touch.  In the picture above you can see I added a little accent of 3 inch squares to the back of the quilt to help break up the busy pattern....and to hide the seam (shhhh!  Don't tell anyone!  I need someone to teach my how to match up the pattern when seaming....anyone?  anyone??  I'd love a tutorial!).

I did the actual quilting on this one much less dense then I did in my last quilt.  And, I choose a thread that matched very closely.  I'm still experimenting with what I like best and I think if I had to do over again I'd pick a thread that would really pop instead but I sort of like the tone on tone look for this quilt and how it lets the fabric pop instead of taking over.

The large squares got a heart balloon detail in them (which you can see surprisingly well in the above picture) and the smaller squares got a curly flower and leaf (see below).  This type of quilting was much harder than the free motion loops I did in my Pink Raccoons quilt so I was definitely tackling something new when I tried my  hand at an actual design.  The light colored thread helped to hide my mistakes which calmed my nerves while I was working on it.  But, after doing a few of them you sort of get into the groove and they go pretty fast!

A video tour! (Basement Remodel)

You know what?  They say that pictures say a thousand words, but I think a video (with my random narration) tells a better story.

After yesterday's post showing the progress in the basement I figured it might be sort of fun to do a video tour for you all.  Plus, it helps to really show how the rooms/spaces flow.  Don't mind the umm's and uhh's in the video or the fact that I didn't think to turn all the lights on before the video.  It's amateur, and I'm ok with that.