Two Winter "Projects" Finished

So, I have lots to tell you, and lots of pictures to show, but lately not enough time in front of the computer. Since I have last blogged, a week ago today, a lot, I'm talking, a lot, has happened in my little neck of the woods. I have been to California and Indiana and back again and in between, but that's not what I am blogging about today. That will all have to wait until tomorrow. Today I introduce the newest member of my extended family, Norah.

She is Joe and Amanda's fourth child, and she fits right in to the beauty of their family. She also fits right in to my arms. ;) She let me hold her a long time on Friday, and didn't make a peep.

So, while Amanda has been working on Norah all winter, I've been working on a present for Norah all winter. I made my first quilt. It's a baby quilt, so it's small, and I didn't officially quilt it in the sense of sewing millions of little stitches to hold it together, but I did piece the top part together and the batting, and the back fabric. I chose all flannel because I know Amanda likes soft things. I placed all the little triangles together on the dining room table and took pictures to see how I wanted to pattern to look. This is the pattern I chose.

I liked it because the colorful fabric that I liked the best looked like pieces of candy with the green fabric looking like the ends that you unwrap.

It was hard to keep this project a secret from my blog, because I really wanted to share my progress. I spent many winter weekend days at the dining room table, trying to remember my mom's advice of "so shall you sew, so shall you rip."

John says I shouldn't tell you that all the corners don't match up perfectly, but it's my first one and I did the best I could. The flannel is thick, so it was hard to sew some of the pieces where a lot of fabric came together at one spot.

almost finished

finished



This is one of my better corners. I tied the three pieces (the top, batting and bottom) together with embroidery thread.


This is Norah on the quilt. The quilt looked small before Norah was on it. Now it looks like she will grow into it just fine. I guess I shouldn't say, "two winter projects finished" because even though my part is done, Amanda and Joe's job has just begun.

Sweet!

Last weekend we had another Game Night, and we played this Napoleon Dynamite Game where you pick two cards that have names of animals on them and you have to draw them to make one animal and the other people on your team have to guess what you are drawing. I thought it would be much harder than it was, especially playing against Chuck but it was fun, and I think the girls even won.

This is one of my drawings. The game is timed, it's like pictionary only with animals, so the animal I drew wasn't complete. Can you guess what it was?

Yum-O

I've been wanting the share this video with you for a long time. I think it might have come recommended from Mike, but if not, Mike, you're going to love this one.

You Are A Huge Nerd

This video is one of the funniest things on the internet, and probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen. It never gets old. John and I quote it quite often. This is the first and only thing I have seen Triumph the Insult Dog in, but I love it. Matt, you would also love it. Anyway, I'm bringing it up because today I did what John (and I) would consider a pretty nerdy thing. I talked on the Martha Stewart Station on Sirius Satellite Radio to Gary Vaynerchuk. Two of my favorite things wrapped up in one. My head almost exploded.

I have an ongoing discussion; disagreement, about corks, or the smelling of. I had dinner last fall with some wine people and one of the ladies said she could smell cork taint by smelling the cork, which I thought was absurd. I was never taught to smell the cork, in fact, I was taught that smelling the cork was useless. So, I disputed that she couldn't smell cork taint on the cork, and then someone else at the table agreed with her. I couldn't believe it. Ever since that fateful night, I have been obsessed with the cork smelling debate. So, today on the radio, I asked Gary Vaynerchuk what he thought, and I didn't tell him what I thought first, and he agreed with me, that smelling the cork is part of wine snobbery and is "phoney baloney."

I'll be the first to back down if I'm not 100% sure about something, but when I am sure and not believed, I beat the topic like a dead horse. I should probably put this discussion away now, because, you see, I won ...but I won't. Next time you want to get me all fired up, smell the cork. I dare you.

E: How should I caption this picture?

J: Deeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzz Nuuuuuuuuuts

silence.....sigh....

E: What else besides Deez Nuts?

J: What do you mean "besides deez nuts?" There is no "besides Deez Nuts."

I'm pretty sure this is how he feels about every single picture I take of him.

Do you see an egg?

Get the egg!

Where's the egg?

A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King.-Emily Dickinson

Mother Nature prepares to rear her ugly head at me. I do what I can to hold my ground (literally and figuratively.)