Postcard Frenzy

I finished my third and final postcard for the Fall/Halloween Fabric Postcard Swap. This is addictive!


The other postcards I sent through the mail as is. How exciting to pull a fabric postcard out of the mailbox! But this one has buttons. Should I risk it?? Maybe I should slip him into an envelope??

If you are interested in the Christmas version of this swap, signups are open until tomorrow (the 30th)!

Spooky

Things at work have been busy, but I'm on a deadline for the Fall Fabric Postcard Swap so I needed to get sewing! Postcards can be Halloween-themed or Autumn-themed. So far I've done one of each.




One more to go before Friday!

And Charlie picked a bunch of our limes to make a Key Lime Pie. He went ahead and sliced some mini-wedges. Too cute.




The next few weeks will be extra hectic with preparations for Quilt Market and the usual work business, but I'll find something to post!

P.S. I am wearing a sweater today. Yay fall temperatures!

-- Post From My iPad

Happy Fall!

It's now officially fall, although you would never know it with the balmy 90 degree weather we're having (in fact it just started pouring in that tropical weather way).

Last weekend we took a short road trip to my grandparents. During the 65 mile trip we enjoyed lovely views.


Once there we took in the sites both inside....


....and outside.


We walked through the bamboo forest...


...and marveled at the height this "grass" grows.


Great Pappaw helped Jaxon use the old water pump....


....and we relaxed by the river during lunch.


A good day!

MEGA Finish!

I started this quilt way...back...here. Yes, that says January 2007. And now it's COMPLETE!


So not all of the points are perfect...or even near perfect....


...but I had fun with some funky quilting...


...and I am glad to have it off my to-do list!


Speaking of lists, I've kind of forgotten about the lists in my sidebar, both my WIPs and my books read. There is no way I'm going to remember what I've read in the interim. Perhaps I should just start over...

And please keep my friends in The Plains and Athens in your thoughts. Multiple tornadoes touched down in the area last night, causing quite a bit of damage. We only heard a bit of rumblings here with lots of rain. Amazingly no one was killed.

If you look though the linked slideshow you will see some photos of the high school concession stand, or what is left of it. A friend was sheltered inside and, again, amazingly only sustained minor injuries. The photos of campus buildings destroyed are not of my campus (OU), but of an extension campus of OSU -- who are not back in session yet for fall.

Sucker.

On Friday, I noticed the next round of Old Red Barn Co.'s quilt along had begun. I took part in round one and round six, but hadn't planned on taking part in this round. There is just much too much going on. But there also seemed to be oh so many reasons to join in....

1. Size. This round is a wall quilt/table topper -- less than 3 feet square.

2. Theme. I'm a sucker for Christmas-themed anything.

3. Availability. Not only do I have everything I need on hand, but I had been lamenting the fact that I hadn't used this fabric line yet. The clincher: I seldom buy charm packs but I had one from this line, and of course this quilt calls for a charm pack.

So despite all the other crafty things I need to get done, I started another project. I auditioned colors for the inside strips today and I think I am going to go with the teal linen (from my Krakatoa! project).


Fingers crossed I have this done by the end of the week!

Life with a Golden

Attention cat people: Skim through the dog portion of this post and you will be rewarded with a funny cat picture.

For those of you who don't know the joys of living with a Golden Retriever, they are friendly, cuddly, and eager to please. The downside? The double coat. Our old lady sheds her undercoat twice a year; once in the spring and once in the fall.

So twice a year we go through a ritual (besides the extra vacuuming): two days of combing followed by a bath. Here's our first day of combing:


If you didn't know Miss Samantha Belle LaRue you would think she is relaxed and calm. Actually she's shutting out the world around her. Brush time is no fun!

And all that brushing yields:


A Jaxon-sized pile of hair! Day two will yield a lot loss fur and then the dreaded bath!

But don't think Samantha gets all the attention around here! Artemis tried to relax in the box bottom while Jaxon was playing Chutes and Ladders. He's a little too big to be inconspicuous.


Once Jaxon discovered him relaxation time was over!

Despite the torment of our pets, we've had a good weekend. Friday evening we welcomed our new graduate student class with a picnic at a colleague's farm. Every year we take a hayride around the farm. This year when we stopped at the crest of a hill, another colleague's daughter decided to go for a run and Jaxon went after her.



They made it pretty far.


And Jaxon was wiped out on the ride back.


Saturday we went to a football game. This was Jaxon's first college football game and he made it until halftime. We stayed long enough to see the marching band, and as a band geek, and an alumnae of this particular marching band, that was fine by me.



Charlie worked all day today, so Jaxon and I spent the day cleaning and crafting. It's amazing how a four-year-old thinks he is the wisest person in the house. As we were straightening up his room he asked "Mommy, I can't find my goggles. I responded, "This room is such a mess, I can't say where they are." Jaxon looked me straight in the eye and as clearly as possible he said, "GOG-GLES."

Oh, that's how you say that.

Back to School

I had a big to-do list for today, in preparation for the start of school tomorrow. I *really wanted to get one of my long term WIP quilts off the list. I machine sewed the binding on the front this morning, but I did not get the hand sewing done. Pictures forthcoming.

I did get a couple of things ticked off the list:

Reupholster old rocking chair to donate to Jaxon's preschool:

Fabric from IKEA.

Make a Quilt Around the World block:

Paper piecing pattern here.

Bake some zucchini bread with the sixty tons of zucchini we have from the garden:

Okay, this is banana crunch bread. I bought a bunch of bananas forgetting we already had a bunch.

"Special" Wedding Gifts

How do I define a "special" wedding gift? One that is heartfelt, interesting, and easy on the wallet. As a college professor, I get invited to a lot of weddings of former students -- usually I only know one of the happy couple, and even then not too well. I could buy something from the registry (if I even know where they are registered), but it seems strangely impersonal and personal at the same time:

"Congratulations, Mr. And Mrs. Smith! Mr. Smith, you did very well on last month's final. Here's a set of towels, think of me when you are drying off."

So here is my recipe for a "special" wedding gift. Find an Etsy seller who specializes in prints that strike your fancy -- and our reasonably priced. My favorite is Jellybeans. You might recognize her prints from my Mother's day gift.

Then take your new print to Hobby Lobby (sorry international friends!). HL puts their frames on sale for 50% about every other week.

This set went to a former undergraduate student and his bride.



Notice how well our lime tree is doing? And how I need to sweep the deck? This set cost me $20 for the prints and $15 total for the frames.

And this one went to a graduate student. She and her husband have a son a little younger than Jaxon.



This was $15 for the print, $1 for the matte, and $10 for the frame.

Yay for heartfelt, stress-free gifts!

My laptop is in the shop getting a new USB port, so I have been emailing, surfing, and blog-commenting a lot less. But I have been spending a lot of time with my iPad, and now that my camera connector has come I'm about ready to write an iPad review from a blogger's perspective. Stay tuned.

And some housekeeping:

Could someone make me this sweater? I don't have $400 for a Mario Bros. sweater. Thanks.

I really want to make these cupcakes, but Charlie doesn't like mint chocolate so I would eat them all. Want to come over and share?

-- Post From My iPad