Before and After

Click on the images to see enlarged photos.

A new project

I was supposed to do a really simple quilt for my second try. I had the squares all laid out and everything. Then I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden I had to do something completely different and harder. After 1 month, I finally have the first block sewn. It is a little crooked looking, but hopefully I can fix that as the quilt top comes together. I wanted this one to be all about pink. It should be finished around 2015. Meanwhile look at how TwoTimesLeaves is showing me up here.

Ok if you liked that last game.....

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Our wooden family is getting bigger

Here are the latest editions, can anyone guess who they are?


I showed them to Lincoln just a minute ago and he immediately recognized them. The one in the yellow shirt just read him a story before he went down for his nap.

Do you think it looks any better?

This week I had a wonderful breakthrough in the world of home organization. I am not extremely good at keeping my house free of clutter and I usually just adapt to the mess and forget it's there. Last week when we came back from vacation, I realized something could actually be done to improve the disastrous situation that we call home. I selected one area of our house to focus on which happens to be the craziest, most cluttered area I have ever seen. Let's see if you agree that the buffet is an improvement to the "organization" I had before.

The before shot:



And, the after:



I really love it.

Burp Cloths

These turned out really well. I like that they were started and finished in less than an hour and I even managed to use freshly laundered cloth diapers and less recently laundered fabric. I was proud of myself for washing and ironing both the fabric and the diapers. I guess it's good to take those small victories when they come along.

Washington trip

We recently returned from visiting my family in Washington for a week and a half. It was such a nice visit with wonderful food, beautiful weather and the very best company. The weather was gorgeous and we got to spend lots of time outside. I actually got to see all 5 of my siblings in the same place at the same time which hasn't happened in about 4 years. It was so fun! We saw my sister, her husband, and baby sealed in the Seattle Temple and it was a very special day. They were all glowing, but especially baby E. This is the sealing outfit I made for him. It wasn't the easiest project I've done to date, but like always, I learned a lot in the process.


The shirt is so light and delicate! My favorite is the corduroy pants, I love corduroy!

A return to older days

This is my first attempt at headwear. I did have some guides to help me along the way, and I think it turned out very well. This will be for Pioneer Day on July 24th, but I'm not sure I can resist wearing it around much more frequently. What a great way to beat the Texas heat while gardening!

This is my last effort

I haven't given up yet, but I am getting close. I bought a new tomato plant, some cucumbers, a dill plant, and a cilantro plant. I also picked up another package of beans. I wrapped the garden in plastic chicken wire and used tent poles and shoelaces to keep it from falling in and smashing the plants. I purchased some plant food and sprinkled it around the plants. I will do my best to water them daily or every two days.

Fruit Salad

6 cups sliced fruit
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix yogurt, honey and cinnamon. Pour over fruit. Serve immediately, the fruit doesn't look good after refrigeration.

Some baby blocks

I briefly skimmed a tutorial the other day that taught how to make cute soft baby blocks. I decided to use 2 layers of foam and a jingle bell inside. These are just my first tries, but I was thinking I could applique all kinds of neat things on the different sides.



Oh, and for anyone who likes seeing where people do their creative work, this is my end table. I purchased it a year ago at a garage sale for $5. I use it as my sewing table so I can sew in the living room and watch tv while I sew. I can't really watch tv while I sew, but I still like being somewhere that is so open. I sit on the couch with my table in front of me and my sewing box on the couch next to me. The table has room for the machine, scissors, and a pin cushion. It works beautifully.

The tutorial I mentioned can be found here.

Our mini family!!!

I keep seeing such cute wooden dolls around in stores ($$$!) and on blogs so I decided to make some for Lincoln. They are in a rough state right now, Lincoln played with them before the hands and finish could be applied so Daddy especially is in a bit of a bruised state. I'm afraid I probably won't touch up those scars before finishing them up. Lincoln really loves them. He likes to make mom and dad kiss and the family went to the zoo and drove the bus the other day.

The garden update

I'm afraid there isn't much good news with regard to the garden. It isn't doing so hot. The birds? ate all but one cucumber plant before this picture, it has since perished as well. The dill died out, the cabbage plants died out, the cilantro is barely hanging on. The onions and radishes are doing relatively well. The beans, well, I'm not sure what's going to happen. There is a lot of damage, but also some growth. We'll see. I haven't gotten around to putting a fence up around it yet, but I may miss my chance. Oh, and the tomato and pepper plants seem to be maintaining their size without too many leaf losses. I tried to replant some cilantro and dill, but those lasted about a week before dying in the house and then outside.

A tote for Kate

I already sent it to her and she has received it so now I can post the pictures I took. Unfortunately, I packed it up before taking these pictures so I had to unpack and repack it.



Oh, and it's reversable.



The dinosaur didn't come with the bag, he was just exploring.