Back in the Saddle

Suffice it to say, I have not pieced or quilted much of anything for months now. I have a lot of projects in mine... projects put together in baggies with books and fabric... quilts designed... stuffed animals I love... I have the inspiration, but I have severely been lacking the motivation.

I don't know when or how it happened. In February I went to our guild retreat, and I had a grand time there working on things. However, I worked on a few things I didn't WANT to work on, and that kind of took the fun out of it for part of the weekend. And, when I came home again, life picked back up and my tub of retreat items is STILL unpacked. (Yes, I realize it is July now.)

So... I was excited but concerned when my pastor's wife asked me in May if I would be willing to put together a quilt for her. I loved the idea of it, and knew I WANTED to do it... but I have had a serious problem really finding my "groove" at home since I have become a mother. Something else is always more important (seemingly), and my craftiness goes by the wayside. However, I told her I wanted to do it, and she said she would go buy "it". I thought "it" was the pattern w/ a piece of fabric, and then I would be "in charge" of going and picking out fabrics for her, running them by her, etc. But no... "it" was... the pattern, the focus fabric, coordinating fabrics, batting, AND backing... the whole kit and kaboodle! Wow!

This wonderful bag of goodies sat on the guest bed and then on my quilting table for about a month and a week. June was busy for us... a funeral, vacation, and all sorts of other activities, and quite frankly, I was very fearful of even finding the time to get started on this quilt, and I told her it might be a while.

But, lo and behold, my mother-in-law happened into my life this week by way of an email asking if she could visit Julia, and suddenly I was left with TONS of free time. I mean, TONS. I wasn't looking for it. I certainly didn't ask for it. And, had it been any other week or weekend or anything at all... if I hadn't figured a way to clear our schedule so that Julia could be home from daycare, I'm not sure that it all would have worked this way... but, imagine my surprise when Thursday afternoon rolled around, Julia and Buscha (grandma) were out of the house, my house projects for the day were done... and I didn't know what else to do!

So, I spent about an hour and a half cleaning up my quilting area, and then I pulled out The Pastor's Wife's Quilt. And, an hour and a half later, I had all of the pieces cut out (it is a wall hanging). And... later that night, I started piecing.

And then, something delicious happened last night. After Julia went to bed, I sat down and told myself that I could finish the entire top before I went to bed.

Sure enough, I went to bed with a big smile on my face and a renewed joy for my favorite hobby... a hobby that quite frankly, I had actually considered giving up and clearing out of my life simply so that staring at it day after day didn't lead to depression.

Wouldn't you know, by way of a visitor and time to do whatever I wanted, I found myself drawn back to doing one of my favorite things. And here's the kicker... really, I didn't spend THAT much time working on it while Julia was awake. Truthfully, it would have been very easy to cut out the quilt during her nap on Thursday. And, all of the rest of the piecing I did while she was asleep. So who said I didn't have time for my hobby? Who said I couldn't make room for it?

My spirit is renewed and I am feeling excited about my hobby again. Other projects are calling my name and I am ready to respond! I have this quilt top to quilt now, but I have a plan for it. And, I have a few other projects that I am feeling really motivated to work on... so I am excited to dig into those! YAY!

In other words... I'm back in the saddle again. :)

Here's a few pictures of the top:







erin

Sepia: Goat and Sheep

I am pretty sure I was spending time with my Grandfolks Schroeder when this picture was taken. I remember having a 5 x 7 of this in a frame while I was growing up... or at the very least, it's in my picture bucket. (Which I am excited to dig through again one of these days!)

erin

Quilt Guild Picnic... Rain and All

Tonight was our annual Pella Area Quilters Guild picnic.

Our program committee and board decided a nice progressive picnic would be fun, and board and committee members took on the task of hostessing / cooking for everyone.

Yesterday, one of our hostesses, Jean, mentioned to me that it very well could rain tonight. We discussed it for a minute and decided, rain or shine, the party would go on.

Sure enough, around 3:00 pm today, it started to sprinkle. Throughout the night, we experienced... sprinkles... rain... DOWNPOURS... and even a double rainbow! YAY! :)

We had appetizers and salad at Jean's house from 6 - 6:45. This started a discussion of needing to put together a guild cookbook, 'cause dang, we have some good cooks in the house. ;)

Then it was off to Esther's (out in the "country") for the main dish. It was Italian-themed, of sorts, and delish. We were there from 7 - 7:45. We had a bit of a downpour right when it was time for me, Julia, and Janice (my carmate) to leave... but we braved the rain and left anyway. We were blessed with a double rainbow on the way back into town.

At Esther's, Julia found some chairs "just her size" and had a ball with them...


At Esther's, we all were treated to table seating... yay!



At my house, we had dessert. Two other wonderful ladies helped by making a frozen raspberry dessert and a yummy peaches and cream dessert. I followed up with lemon bars and ice cream. At my house, we also had our challenge block contest.

In March, I challenged the ladies to use pre-cut packages of squares to make a block... you got one square per two packages and could only use the fabric in the package. We were all amazed and blessed with some beautiful blocks... it is amazing what the creative mind comes up with! We received 26 blocks. They will go into a charity quilt for Teen Challenge, which has a women's home here in Pella.

The ladies voted on their favorites, and our winner was Jean. She took home a book. Other book winners included Susan, Karen, Janice, and Nancy (J.). All of the other participants took home a fat quarter of her choice. (If you are reading this and turned in a block and weren't able to attend, you can pick up a FQ the next time I see you!)

Below are some pictures of the blocks...

The winning block...


Other winners...






The blocks altogether...








Also, I'd like to say thank you to Phyllis and Janice, who were instrumental in helping me set up at my home... being 30 weeks pregnant (almost) and having a little one to run after is not ideal for setting up for a picnic... and the rain doesn't help either. Phyllis came over in the afternoon to help with the main setup, and Janice was my carmate and helpmate throughout the dinner, and also helped pin blocks and such. Couldn't have done it without those two wonderful ladies!

Also, a big thanks to Dottie and Phyllis for supplying and serving dessert... YUM!

And... everyone else who helped out the other ladies tonight... helped clean up... everyone deserves a big thanks. It is times like this that I am so very glad to know such a great group of women and see them work together so well and have such a good time together... raining or not!

erin

One Step Closer to Real

Surprise!

I had an ultrasound today.

After two months of thinking that I would never have one this pregnancy, measuring big this last week warranted one and I had an ultrasound at the hospital this morning.

First, I have to say, the hospital remodel is amazing. AMAZING. I am really glad I will not be left to wander in there on my own when this baby is due, as I'm pretty sure we'd be giving birth in the middle of the hallway because I would be lost forever in the new arrangement of the place. Everything has been moved... even OB! We might need to take a refresher class just to go on the tour again. Ha!

Second, I don't think I could ever EVER tire EVER of having ultrasounds. It is amazing to see inside of there and see something that really DOES look like a baby! (By the way, I'm going to wager that this one is every bit as cute as Julia, based on the pictures I saw today! Ha!)

Third, I must have a curse on me. Regardless of the fact that I wanted to find out, the tech could not tell with any real certainty whether this baby is a boy or a girl. Seriouly, what gives? Ha. You would think that a hex had been put on me or something... almost 30 weeks, and that butterball was curled up so tight in there, the tech couldn't really see much of anything very well. Shoot.

The computer and printer were working a bit wonky today, so I only got a few pictures, but they are cute!





The baby was sticking its tongue out at us quite a bit, moving around like crazy, and pretty much its hands and feet are all together on my lower left side and its butt is up on the upper right side... which means that sore rib from Julia's pregnancy is going to be in for it in a couple of weeks.

The baby has pretty long legs, and the tech asked if my husband was tall. The baby is right around 3.5 lbs, which is a good weight to be at 30 weeks (I will be 30 weeks on Thursday). She said it is a little late to do a sizing ultrasound, since at this point, babies grow at different rates and whatnot, so I could be due anywhere from September whatever to September whenever. Ha! I am due the 17th, but the sizing showed the 12th... but, that could be up to a few weeks off. So, I doubt we will change course very much!

Regardless, I am excited to start the planning of the actual birth date...! For a while I was kind of bummed about all of this being a planned C-section and whatnot, but what's the point of a bad attitude? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, so now I am excited about it, and I suppose really, it fits my personality better anyway! Hopefully we will know more in August.

My next appointment is July 22, when I will be just shy of 32 weeks. Then I start going every other week... wow!

The title of my post... well... I have to say, hearing the heartbeat... the kicks and jabs... I *know* there is a baby in there... but seeing it on the screen was really a "WOW" moment for me today. In less than 10 weeks, we are going to meet our new little child. WOW.

erin

Zebra Girl

It was really hot on the 23rd... I had a good excuse to dress Julia in this cute little short and tank outfit... zebra style!



erin

Swimming Playdate

On the 23rd of June, we went to our friend Melissa's house for a swimming playdate. Melissa and her husband have two girls (4 and 1.5 years old). Julia really seemed to enjoy the pool and it prompted us to buy our own baby pool (I'm sure there will be pictures of Julia in that to come!).







erin

Basketball

Julia really thinks that the basketball hoop is something special, and Adam and I helped her out a bit last night so she could make some baskets... (the ball is very small and hard to see!)

Shake Your Groove Thang...!

Julia, jammin' out to the They Might Be Giants "Here Come the 123's" CD.

erin

Playdate!

Last night Julia and I had a playdate with our nearly-neighbors Racheal and Cora (Racheal is the mom and Cora is the little girl... she is 3.5 months younger than Julia).

We took the girls over to the Christian grade school playground and let them play together. It was a riot! It was a classic case of "Monkey See, Monkey Do". Whether it was the going down the slide, swinging, eating rocks, poking at bugs, or sitting and laying on ledge, if one was going to do it, so was the other.

Mommy, can I PLEASE swing on the big swing!?

Cora and Julia together.

Playdates with Cora are FUN!

In this last picture, you can sadly see the bruise on Julia's face from her fall at lunch on Tuesday -- ouch! That is sadly NOT dirt.

erin

More Pictures of Julia... Just Because I Can

Have I mentioned yet that we spend a lot of time outside? I'm sure I have. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS this last week, so my pregnant self had NO problem being outside with Julia. And, when caught in the right moment, she is cute and photogenic!

This first picture is of her on our deck... I am sitting on the stairs, twisting around, and looking at her she she is "hiding" in a spot between the grill and the deck.

Here the wind has caught her, and she thinks that wind and air blowing wildly is quite funny and a little odd. You can see the wind has caught her hair.

Who knows what she is looking at, but I simply love how wistful she looks.

Julia loves the flowers and sniffs them quite often. Sometimes she pulls the heads off of them, and sometimes she takes a stick to them. It all depends on the day. This picture was particularly cute to me, because as she bent over to smell the flowers, she kicked up one of her legs behind her.

erin