whirlwind

The last month or so has been crazy busy 'round here. Crazy expensive too, really, but that was planned and budgeted for. I'm pretty much so tired I can't think straight, but as of the end of September I'll have my life back to myself.

We're in the home stretch to my best friend's wedding, which has been taking up a lot of my time lately. Lots of running around with last minute business - finding a local seamstress, trying not to freak out over the fact that David's Bridal left no seam allowance in my dress and my alterations ended up being a little more substantial than just "letting the seams out an inch" - because there wasn't an inch to let out. I picked that up over the weekend, so that's done.

Work's been crazy lately. It's a busy time of year and that's been reflected in scheduling and leaving me super drained. I'm pretty unhappy with the number of hours they're giving me and if things don't let up soon I may in fact lose it.

Luckily, I have stress relievers. We're re-watching Doctor Who in the evening while I sew (although we're nearing the end) and running next door for a hit of cute baby crack is always guaranteed to make me smile. The little man is growing like crazy and the things he can do are mind blowing. Plus, seeing my macho man husband turn to marshmallow goo any time he gets near the baby just melts my heart. He's gooey with the baby. For realz.

Plus, it's motorcycle season which means I get race weekend. Nothing is quite as good as that.

happy mail

So last you heard about where I was at with the quilting, I was contemplating the purchase of some additional fabrics to go with the turquoise for my niece. It needed more contrast. So, I set her wild on the Fat Quarter Shop website, showed her what I had in mind, and told her to go ahead and pick any two fabrics she liked that she felt would go with her quilt. Then, since I only needed a half yard of each, I added in some extras I thought would go with her choices and picked up some fabrics for future projects. After that it was just get my hands on the credit card and wait.

Last Wednesday was practically Christmas morning in our house, as the fabrics arrived even before I woke up.

So what all did I get? I shopped with some sense of purpose and with the plan to spend exactly $100 so I could get the most out of my shipping money. The first priority was fabrics for my niece but after that I have two projects in mind. My brother will be next on my list and he's asked for reds in his quilt, and there's a red-and-blue quilt featuring many, many flying geese percolating around my head for him. Then there's the Swoon I'm planning for Bunny and my bed eventually, featuring eggplant purples and greens.

Excusing the mess in the background, I got all of this

I had a pretty good haul for my brother. Masculine designs and fabrics are hard to find, but I found some cute prints and interesting geometric shapes. I think a semi-improve flying geese quilt will do exactly what I need it to.

For Flying Geese

these houses are my favourites

The next fabrics are really just for me. I mean, Bunny has to like them, but who am I kidding. They're mine.

perfect colours, and from some of my favourite lines

Then, because I figure I'll always have a use for them, I picked up some neutrals. Apparently I like black?

more houses!

I also might be developing some favourite designers and fabric lines ...

such as V and Co (I really should have picked up the Ikat Diamonds in eggplant too)



and Sweetwater (I pretty much want the whole Road 15 collection)

Then, of course, there's the pile of fabrics for my niece:

The purples she chose ... and the wrong side of the turquoise I'd been using

 And the black and grey print will also feature, just a little, in her quilt.

for accent blocks. I love the damask and honeycomb prints.

That's probably enough gratuitous fabric pictures for one day. I should have updates on the actual quilt top in the next week or so. I've definitely already cut into the purple solids and started playing.

catch up

Well, I just dropped off the face of the earth there, didn't I?

And the question you've all been wondering I'm sure, is what happened? Well, the usual really. 42. Life, the universe, and everything. Being busy. Snuggling my nephew, getting input from my niece on her quilt, late nights cuddling and sewing, friend visits. Nothing out of the ordinary, but the ordinary certainly filled my days.

When your days are same old, same old day in and day out there's not always much to share really. Even when the things that you're doing with your time are fun and enjoyable.

I've also been busy trying to get my few last minute things together for my friend's wedding at the end of the month. And while I'm very happy to get to be part of it all, and for the two of them, I'll be glad when the whole event is over, really. One less to do to be concerned about.

I'm hoping to have some more updates, and pictures, and reviews and a recipe or two here soon - they're in the works, I promise. But life's kind of got a hold of me. You know how it goes.