Pillow Pal

I try to take those decorative pictures of finished my projects, the ones that look all pretty and inviting. Instead they just end up looking like regular stuff. So here is Sydney's pillow. I think the yarn I used was fatter than the yarn in the pattern. Maybe next time I'll just adjust the pattern. I do try to follow the pattern the first time through though. That way if it doesn't work out I know who to blame.
Everyone is just now home from football practice and getting ready for bed. I may sneak into the sewing room for a few minutes after they are settled in. After I write a chemistry test for tomorrow, and tidy up the house a bit, and finish up that last load of laundry. Well, maybe not tonight.

Mergers and Aquistions

The new fabric I bought Monday had worked it's way through the laundry cycle by this afternoon so I took few minutes to get it ironed, trimmed and settled into my stash. Most of these are for midget blocks, but I loved the butterflies and thought I might use them as an inspiration to help Sydney choose a new theme for her room.
It's an continuous process of introducing fabric to go with new and ongoing projects while trying to creatively blend in the extras and work them through the system to produce finished quilts. While I love the quilts that come from perfectly matched and coordinated lines of fabric, It's much more fun to collect little bits and pieces along the way. I had seen a tutorial for crocheted pillowcases a while ago on You Go Girl! and had been saving it in the back of my mind. So before the kids hopped off the bus this afternoon I put one of those together with the butterfly fabric and started to work on the blanket stitch edges. I would have finished it off, but the kids got report cards today and wanted to go to Krispy Creme. They heard a rumor that they could get a free doughnut for every A. Can you believe that they got 6 free donuts each and wouldn't share a single one with me? The machine was very cool to watch and kept them all fascinated for ages.
So, this morning I popped my oatmeal into the microwave. I like to use a mug instead of a bowl because it's easier to carry. When I came back to check on it, it had boiled and exploded over the edge. I grabbed the camera, because I thought it was a funny sight. The kids guessed immediately that I was going to put a picture up on my blog. They thought it was a strange thing to do, but still knew immediately what I was up to. Sometimes when I read other peoples blogs they seem so polished and professional. It's a little intimidating to think about the shiny perfection that they portray. My life doesn't look like that at all, mine looks more like an exploded bowl of oatmeal.