1 Family x 12 (January)

A few weekends ago we ventured into the city with the girls to check out the Shedd Aquarium.  We had a great time and now we're looking into yearly museum memberships for the family.

Oh, and pigtails....let the cuteness begin!

A special gift for a special friend (Quilt)

You guys, I am so in love with this quilt.  It turned out better than I could have hoped.  Plus, the bright rainbow colors help to brighten up these cold, dark winter days!

The back features Dr. Seuss fabric because the recipient of this quilt is an avid reader just like me and I knew she would love it as much as I did.

It's been a LONG time since I finished a quilt.  I think my last quilt was for Baby Brennan and I finished it when I was on maternity leave with Hazel.  I've spent a ton of time this past year knitting and I'd almost forgotten how much I loved to quilt.  This one came together pretty fast once I had the fabric cut.  Each of the squares was 2.5 inches (2 inches finished) and the blocks are made of "scrap" fabric.

Scrap quilts sound easy right?  You just use what you've got on hand....which, while that is true, this one proved especially hard because I was trying really hard for contrast within  my blocks.  So, not only did I need 13 different fabrics for each block, but I needed to colors to be similar.  So similar greens or reds...meaning I had to cut a LOT of fabric to get to this point.  I figured, as long as I was cutting I may as well cut enough to make a few so, I've got piles and piles of 2.5 inch squares ready for my next scrap quilt.

I've learned that I really enjoy scrap work when it's organized, like this quilt.  It's just a random mish-mash of fabrics, but it's coordinated and used as the focal point by incorporating a lot of white space, allowing your eye to focus on the bright spots.  I've also learned that I love working with 2.5 inch squares.  This is the third quilt I've done in this size and they blocks are just big enough that they are fiddly.  Finally, if you can't tell by now, I love color off set by a good neutral.

After quilting for nearly 4 years now I'm finally finding my groove.  Here's to 2017 being the year of the quilt.  Hazel's photo project quilt is on deck next and I've already picked out the pattern.  Next step: cutting.  So. Much. Cutting.

Christmas 2016

Yes - I'm a little late in posting this, but it was too good to keep for myself.  Christmas was just as magical as I'd hoped.  I took very few pictures because I wanted to be there, soaking it all up and not worried about getting it all on film.  But, I had to get at least one of these two cuties by the tree before the present madness began.

Santa brought two big scores - a Hatchimal, which Abby desperately wanted ever since she saw the add on the front of the Target toy book.  Of course it was the years hottest toy and Santa had to work extra hard to get on for her (of course...).  The second big winner of the year was Sky High Bridge Jump.  It's a Thomas the Train toy that involves a train jumping nearly 3 feet to the next track.  Both the kids (and the dad's) loved it.

We spent Christmas day at home in our jammies with our most favorite people...our family.  We ate way too much food, drank a few too many beers and enjoyed our tiny little bubble of Christmas.  It was amazing and Abby is already asking how many more days until Christmas again.