Double the fun

A couple that I got to know through my small group had twins recently. These were children prayed for and long awaited. So, my response? Make them quilts, of course!
You can see some of the castle peeps fabric in there (that I used for the finger puppets) and lots of other fun fabric.

And that's the end of the baby quilts for now. The back of the one was pieced, clearly. A pretty red, floral that I liked but wasn't quite big enough. The other was a nice yellow and brown plaid that was big enough. I did pillowcase bindings on these so they weren't waiting around to be bound for ages and ages.

Little things

There is this super fun line of fabric that has people and castles and various other fun prints. I've used it a few times in quilts but somewhere on the interweb I saw that someone had made finger puppets out of one of the prints. I had some fabric left over and decided to make some. They turned out super cute. And I made some backdrops as well with the castle prints. Also very cute. I took one set with me when I went to visit friends last month. Another set got mailed off today to some other friends.

Ah Ha! Found the reference post here: http://lizzyhouse.typepad.com/lizzyhouse/2010/07/cpsc-first-session-activity.html

More Christmas

Last Saturday I had a friend over and we made ornaments. It was nice. I made scones and whipped cream and chorizo and mulled cider. And we ate off of my awesome luncheon plates.

I've been working on the ornaments for a while and have continued to do so this past week. I think you saw the trees on Wednesday. There are a few more sprinkled in.

Hmm... also you can see my white branches. Painted and put to good use. People are always asking "Where did you find your branches?" and I reply "Outside." So, yeah, branches from outside.

You may recognize the frame from earlier projects. I was determined to use it to hang ornaments as well. I think it looks super fun. And my Christmas Cactus is doing its thing. This is all on my fireplace mantle. It's shaping up.

Turning

Somewhere along the way, in the midst of Thanksgiving, I turned 35. A significant birthday on another holiday is pretty much a sucky kind of a thing. Most friends head to the four-winds and the dear ones that I had been spending the past several Thanksgivings and Easters with have moved back home to CA. If I had known about my brothers defection from Christmas with my family a bit sooner I might have flown out East. But I did not. Oh well.

An invitation came from a friend at work and I asked if there would be birthday pie. There was. And her crazy in-laws and surly teenagers.

The day before I braved Wh0le F00ds and bought myself a cake and some lemon sorbet. I have a chocolate and lemon cake thing. It may sound strange but trust me, lemon cake with chocolate icing or chocolate cake with lemon frosting, they are delicious. I also indulged in some gorgeous lilies, giant, deep pink, fragrant lilies. When my friend J. came over that night we had some cake. She also beat me at Scrabble.

The next day I hightailed it out of town to visit good friends and give their kids hugs. It was a good present to give myself.

Turning 35 was different than 30. 30 was crazy amounts of friends, an enormous bash, family in town for Thanksgiving. I didn't wonder about where life was going at 30. At 35 (and 25 for that matter) I wonder where I'm going and know I'm nowhere near where I would like to be. I am not a mother yet and have done nothing on that front. I have a mediocre career that needs to be refocused. I'm church-less and have far fewer good friends nearby than I would like. My parents are getting older and I am terrified that they will need me close by sooner than I would like. God knows my brother isn't going to take care of them. See? I am full of half-way-to-70 angst.

On the positive side, I have a job that, while not perfect, can be very, very rewarding. Graduation is next week. I enjoy the folks I work with and they are pretty good to me. I live close to work so I don't spend half of my life in the car. My apartment is rather fantastic. I do have good friends, even if they are not always close geographically. I have parents that love me and occasionally spoil me in a ridiculously fun fashion. They sent small packages, a few each day, for the week leading up to my birthday. My mom was trying to replenish my Vera Neuman scarf collection that accidentally got trashed during the move. I know the brother loves me too. The cats make me laugh. It's a much better life than many people have.

Wordless Wednesday - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas edition

More baby goodness

Among the flood of baby gifts made recently was this bit of gorgeousness. I apologize for the crappy cell phone photos. I took them before I quickly wrapped it up and delivered it to mom and dad.
I was tired of quilting so I crocheted this little guy in a monochromatic grey scheme. It's neutral enough and chic enough to go with a variety of color schemes. In fact, I now want to make myself one. I love it that much.
I think you can see in this photo the yarns used; a solid grey, a solid white and a combined white and grey. The white was to give it a bit of pop, only two rows at a time as opposed to the four of the greys. A year or so ago I got wise to the weaving in of the ends. The process goes SO much better with a large tapestry needle (think second grade yarn projects). I have to say this went much more quickly than the whole quilting thing. The simple giant granny square scheme makes this a pretty mindless thing to make. No cutting, measuring, sewing. Just some balls of yarn and crochet hook. I can almost work on this without looking at it. It was the perfect antidote to the quilty angst I was feeling.

Shortly after I left from my visit my friend posted this on F@aceb00k. I don't think I realized exactly how big it was. But seriously, don't you want one too?