Brandon's graduation

A couple of weeks ago. Matt and I traveled to the great Smoky Mountains with the sole purpose to see his brother graduate from Richlands High School in Richland, Virginia. In order for Matt and I to get to Richlands we had to fly into Knoxville, TN and then drive to Virginia. Since we were in Knoxville we decided to take a little detour through the Smokies and Asheville, NC. The Smokies were beautiful and did nt disappoint in the 'smokiness' aspect. It was great to see a whole new ecosystem.

I fell in love with all the rhododendrons, which just happened to be in bloom. I always loved the azaleas in Louisiana, but these rhododendrons are indigenous to the US and the plant itself (without the flowers) has a lovely shape. My favorite ones were the orange flowers. Great color. How often do you see such abundance of orange in nature!

One of the projects I was working on was a college quilt for Brandon. He got accepted to Virgina Tech. I was a little hesitant about making this quilt since the colors were orange and maroon. It was definately a challenge identifying good fabrics. I worried about making it too Virginia tech and also too picnic table cover. In the end I think it turned out alright (even if Matt's brother finds it kinda cheesy).

Finally!!! Congrats Brandon!

Baby number 3

This is the next (and last) baby quilt I have in the plans. Next in line-- Matt's brothers graduation quilt (Virginia tech).

This quilt is for my dearest, Brooke and Brandon. Brooke was one of my roommates and great friends while I was doing my Master's in Madison, WI. She is such a wonderful and beautiful lady. She provided me such support and love during my rough time in Madison. Her husband is an avid mushroom hunter and grower so I thought I would do a bright little quilt that highlighted mushrooms. I am not sure what the sex of the baby is, but I thought that this was gender neutral enough (a little to the girlie side, but mostly playful).

I need to also complete the quilting and binding process.  I see a trend here.

the finished product!

Quilt top #2-- Cottey baby

 This is my latest baby quilt. For all of you who didn't know, I went to an all woman's college for two years called Cottey College. It was in a little, middle-of-nowhere town in Missouri called Nevada. It was filled with traditions, silly songs, and female bonding rituals. One thing common was the iconography of ducks and daisies. We had duck jackets, duck passdowns, and a daisy ceremony. This needs more explaining than I willing to do right now, but it was like an huge college sorority.

Anyway, my roommate and suitemate, Betsy is having a baby at the beginnning of this month so I decided to make her a little ducks and daisies Cottey quilt. I just need to finish the quilting and binding-- easy enough- right :)

www.cottey.edu

Quilt top-- halfway there!

I decided to take a lesson from my mother and learn some quilting skills (plus I seem to have a lot of pregnant friends). I have taken one class on rotary cutting and am signed up for the 1/4 inch seam class. On my own I tried to do a quilt top following the tutorial on Cluck Cluck Sew, Road trip quilt.

I  just finished the quilt top last night and will try to get the backing and batting done this weekend.  Then I will be on my way!

2011

I have been randomly reading blogs only to realize how self-indulgent they can be. Oh well, I suppose I knew that, it just has become so apparent on Jan. 1st. 

So I may just play along, and write my accomplishments from 2010 and how I am going to top them in 2011.  Or I may just write a short list of things I am hoping to get done for 2011. In all actuality I was never a fan of making resolutions, not because I don't think I have things I need to improve about myself just a new calendar year never seemed like to time to think about these things-- the spring equinox seemed a more appropriate time for contemplation and rebirth.  Believe me I have tons of things I need to resolve.

List of 2011 resolutions
1. Make a resolution-- not sure why, but maybe I will shake my sarcasm, dry humor, and overall under-achievement to rise to higher and higher levels of betterment. Maybe I can fill out this form that evaluates my year and then set goals for the next year (ok- I am obviously not gonna succeed in this bullshit resolution........my cynicism gets the better of me).

2. Visit Meredith and Julie. It has been way too long since I have seen these two lovely ladies and we need some quality time with each other.

3. Get a paper submitted. I have several potential papers from my dissertation or work-related research. I need to get something out there.

4. Practice my harp 30-45 minutes a day. Matt and I have discussed the possibility of a performance sometime this year.  That would be super fun.

5. Get back into a good cooking schedule. I was quite lazy this year.

6.  Continue sewing and knitting-- I have no specific goals except to enjoy myself.

7. Give back to the community more- be it through handouts on the streets, volunteering at food banks, plant some trees, knitting hats, supporting the arts, etc.

Ok-- well I guess I am done. Off to making some black eyed peas and cabbage.

more sewing practice

I also whipped together a couple of wine bags. This was fun because I had to make a lining. It took me about 45 minutes to understand what the instructions were telling me to do. I only hope that the bags get reused over and over. This makes me what to sew some produce bags for the grocery store. I just need to find the right kind of fabric.

Ruffles and more ruffles

For my next sewing goal I wanted to learn how to make ruffles. This goal tied in well with the fact that I also wanted to give me sister something to wear while she bakes. (Note: She has recently started baking and decorating some awesome cakes..mmmmm.)

So I signed up for an ruffled apron class at Sew Crafty. And this is the final project (not ironed I know).  It was fun and I had a good time making it. Plus, it looked cute on my sister.

Next task- baby quilts!  I have three friends expecting this spring......whew.