What a Difference a Year Makes

Happy Holidays from our little family to yours!

To blog or not to blog...

I have been driving myself crazy the past few weeks debating whether or not to continue this blog.  I haven't been posting much recently because frankly I haven't been sewing a whole lot.  Also, when I do have some free time I feel like I should sew instead of blog.  However, being really honest, lately I'm so exhausted the only thing I feel like doing is looking at blogs and admiring others work, hoping that one day I'll have the energy to quilt again!

The main culprits for my sleep deprivation:

These two little angels!  While they are adorable and have so many other wonderful qualities, they do. not. sleep.EVER!  To make matters worse, we live in a tiny urban home, so my darlings are now sharing a room.  I'm literally up with one or both of them at least 5 times a night!  Don't get me wrong I love my children more than anything!  My husband and I had to wait a long time to have our first child, so having two little boys has been a dream come true for both of us!  But now, we dream about sleeping, and sending them off to college (just kidding...kind of)  :)

The more I thought about my blog though, the more I realized I'd really miss it if I stopped.  I don't have a ton of followers, but I have to admit when someone comments on one of my posts I'm absolutely thrilled!  I love sending my thoughts and pictures out into the great unknown and having someone respond to it!  There really is nothing else like it.

So, long story short, I'm sticking around.  Please be patient with me while my little family and I work through these growing pains.  I know we will make it through this, it's just going to take a little time!

I can only hope that as I find more time to sew and spend more time with my awesome local quilting groups (this one and this one) I will be back to blogging more regularly in no time!

Take care everyone and thanks for listening! 

By the way, I have reached two milestones recently: my one year blogging anniversary and writing my 100th post.  For those of you that love a giveaway (who among us doesn't?), be on the look out for one soon!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Went fabric shopping of course!

What else could a girl separated from her sewing machine for ten days do?  I was very lucky to be visiting beautiful Interlochen, MI during the local shop hop.  Two afternoons while the boys were taking their naps Mommy did some shop hopping and it was fab!

My first stop was at the delightful Interquilten which is less than a mile from the family cottage, how lucky is that?

While it is a small shop, the employees were so friendly and I was able to find some fabric that I "needed".

I found a cool Red, White and Blue stripe that I think will work as a binding for a Quilt of Valor I'd like to make soon.  After all the Christmas presents are made...

I also found a Dr. Seuss panel that I am going to use with the leftovers from this quilt to make a quilt for a friend who is expecting her first child in January.

The next day I made the trip to Cedar, MI to the lovely Liberty Bell Quilts.  This was another little shop, but they really had a lot of beautiful fabrics!

I have been eyeing those pink and red apples on blogs for ages, but I couldn't resist them once I saw them on the bolt.  I fell in love with Henna Garden much later than everyone else, so I'm slowly building my collection.  I snatched up the yellow as soon as I saw it!  I also fed my French General addiction and picked up two fat quarters of this blue print from Rural Jardin.

My final stop was Quilt N Bee in Traverse City.  Oh Mama, what an awesome shop!  I enjoyed all of the stops, but this one was just my type!  I ooohed and ahhhed over every bolt, and display...

I will start with the fat quarters.  More Henna Garden, more French General, and some from the new Children at Play line.  I'm not sure what I will do with any of these, but they sure are pretty.

Another impulse fat quarter buy.  I just couldn't resist this red, white and blue bundle...so cute!

Then there was the Pips.  I already have a fat quarter bundle of this line that I'm dying to cut into, so I went ahead and got enough for backing and binding for a future project.  This line is so adorable!  I can't wait for Little Apples next month!

I had a great time fabric shopping on my vacation, but I promise we did lots of fun, family stuff:

Sitting on the dock by the lake (I miss this view already)

splashing in Lake Michigan

and going for canoe rides

Vacation 2011 was fantastic!  I can't wait to see what we get into next year!  Now back to the laundry and unpacking...sigh.

WIP Wednesday #14

After a little break from sewing I'm finally able to give an update on my WIP's.

1.  The Dr. Seuss quilt.  That's right it still isn't finished.  I re-pieced the back, layered and basted it then lost steam.  I am determined to quilt it today during naptime.  Here are more pictures of it:

I promise to not post anymore pictures until it's completed.  (It is cute though)

2.  The Postage Stamp Quilt Along:

I have made two of the strip sets.  Only fourteen more to go!

I am absolutely falling in love with pre-cuts after working on this project!  I would have had to throw in the towel if I'd cut everything out myself!  I was thinking about giving this away as a gift, but I'm definitely going to keep it for myself.  I hope I'm not always so greedy!

Of course there has been plenty of this:

and this:

and a little of this:

to keep me busy the past two weeks! 

We just got word that Graham is coming home this week (probably Friday)!  I know that my works in progress will come to a screeching halt for a little while after that, but it will be so worth it!  I better go work on that quilt right now!

Go see what everyone else is up to at Lee's!

Happy Halloween!

I can't believe it's over!  This year was so exciting because Hurst got to go Trick or Treating for the first time.  We didn't go to many houses, but we did hit a few!  He is still too little to say "Trick or Treat", but he was able to get out a word close enough to treat!

Here's a picture of the little fireman at his grandmother's house.  Good pictures were hard to come by because he didn't want to keep his hat on and he had a little bit of a sugar rush!!

We had a great time on Saturday picking out our pumpkins!

Picking up the straw was also a highlight!!

The best part was definitely the wagon!!  (Hope Santa was paying attention, this might be a good Christmas present!!)

Hope everyone had a very Happy Halloween!

I did work on a couple of small projects this weekend.  Will post them when they are finished!



This Weekend

The Burnett Family had a fantastic weekend...how about you?  The weather was gorgeous, maybe a little hot for our taste, but beautiful just the same.  We took advantage of the sunny, cloudless sky and went to the National Zoo and had a blast!!  This was Hurst's first trip and he had a big time!

Here he is in front of the big lions at the front entrance!

The highlights of the trip were the meercats:

the elephants:

and an adorable bear statue that Hurst just couldn't get enough of!!

After two hours at the zoo all three of us were wiped out!  We went home and took a much needed nap!