Homeschool Quilt

March 20 was National Quilt Day. I resisted all the "sales" that came to my junk e-mail account and stayed home to....quilt! I finished up this quilt.


We did this for a homeschool activity. I had over 30 kids and several mothers over one afternoon to tie this quilt and put together higene kits for Church Humanitarian Services. With the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, it seemed appropriate.

I had a lot of faith in the kids tying quilts. I think I went over the quilt for about 2 hours after everyone left to fix all the strange looking ties, and that's after a couple moms had already been over it! It got done though.

It was great walking into the Bishop's Storehouse with 38 Humantiarian kits and 1 full-size quilt. The missionaries there asked if we did it as a church project, they were impressed when I told them it was a homeschool group.

Way to go Southsiders!

Double Hourglass quilt

All my life I've loved quilts. I grew up playing under my grandma's quilting frames and it's something I've always wanted to do. I pieced one a few years ago and hand quilted the entire huge thing. I'm still not done with the binding. When I do finally get it all done, I'll probably blog about it, but today, here's a quilt I have finished.

This quilt was my first attempt at machine quilting, and I must say I was very happy with the results.


I used this tutorial for the blocks. It came together SO easily and I didn't buy a stitch of fabric for it...all stuff I had on hand.

I quilted it in a swirly pattern, definitely not perfect,


But when I washed it, it went into a happy puckery-ness that I love!


Even the back was cute!


And like almost everything I make, I didn't want to part with it, but I gave it to a friend who is expecting her first baby any day. She loved it.

The Dog

I love this dog! I think he is so cute! I made him in about a day using Fiona's Rufus Dog pattern. When I saw the pattern, I knew I wanted to make one (or five!). So, thanks to a sale in my Etsy Shop, I was able to get it as well as a pattern for Jack Rabbit, whom I fully intended to make for Easter, but didn't quite make it. I wanted to make it out of the wool flannel the pattern called for, but I either had time to drive across town to get the fabric, or make the dog. Creativity won over driving. He got made out of some black Kona I had on hand.


Well, back to my dog. I made him from my awesome brother-in-law for his birthday. His family is really into dogs, all his brothers and his parents have one, but he doesn't, as he and my sister live in a little townhouse, so I thought I would make him one. I worked hard and got it done and sent in time for his birthday.

Rumor has it my Brother-in-Law liked the dog. He said he would take him riding in his truck. So maybe he made it to a good home after all.

Who could resist this little guy though....seriously?

Blessings of Conference

Lately I've been in a rut...well maybe more a ditch (and not my brother-in-law's!). Sometimes I know there needs to be a big change--in schedules, or maybe just attitudes. I've known this for awhile, but it takes time to figure out the best change and even more time to implement it. I feel like I'm running, with not much time to spare, so we've been doing our same old stuff just trying to stay afloat...

Back in college, I had an awesome Religion professor at BYU named Reed Benson. Every Conference time, he suggested that we make a list of 5 things we had questions about or felt like we needed help with. Over the last 10+ years, I've tried to make these lists. This Conference, I did...

1. Homeschooling (help!)
2. Babies
3. Scripture Study
4. Preparedness
5. Family Organization

I was amazed. I think over half the talks at Conference focused on the importance of teaching your children at home! By the end of the first session, my heart was so full! I realized that I can do this! Homeschooling is important! The Lord will provide a way for me to succeed! I think I need to print out Sister Beck's and Elder Ballard's talks and read one of them every day, along with thoroughly studying the Conference Ensign as soon as it arrives!

There were a couple of amazing quotes that I need to print out and post up. They were both from the talk by Elder Bradley D. Foster. The first one, he quoted President James E. Faust: "There is no greater good in all the world than motherhood." This one needs to go in every room of my house. The second is "The distraction doesn't have to be evil to be effective." This one needs to go on my computer!

It was a great weekend, to be able to put everything aside and to listen to our church leaders for two days. Wow, what a spiritual feast! I needed it.

Now I feel like I can be proactive about my day instead of reactive. I even got up before 7:00 this morning. That's a big thing for me, and the day has gone so much better!

Well, I'm walking away from this distraction now and working on some birthday surprises for tomorrow. Sarah turns 10--Where did it go?

I'd love to hear your insights about Conference too!