Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I will never make that mistake again...

Yesterday I pulled out my sewing machine and got a little station all set up at the kitchen table to start sewing the little bird ornaments from the fabric my Gramma gave me. I started sewing and quickly realized that I had cut out the pieces WRONG! And I had used up ALL of the fabric so there isn't any extra for me to re-cut. I sat there just staring at the pieces I had in my hands on the verge of tears.



But all is not lost and I can still use the pieces I cut. I am thinking I will use them to make a little mini Christmas quilt that I can use on the coffee table or kitchen table. Or I could even hang it on the wall as a wall hanging at Christmas time. I am still very determined to make those little bird ornaments so I stopped by the quilting store in the harbor on my way home from work this morning and bought a few very pretty fat quarters that will make perfect Christmas birds. And this time I am going to make extra sure I cut each piece correctly. A good thing is I know I will never make that mistake again! :)

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Family gathering...


My husband's brother Taraz flew in from Colorado this weekend and his sister Ruhiyyih and her husband Matt drove over from the east side of the mountains. We all gathered in Renton at my sister-in-law Laurel's house. We enjoyed good food, good company and Matt and Ruhiyyih's wedding video. Their first anniversary is November 7th. Taraz was his usual goofy self and had us all laughing. He even had himself in stitches! :) I know we all wish he lived closer.



On the drive over the boys were playing some techno music and Daniel really liked the beat. Here's a cute video of it.


Friday, October 22, 2010

Switching gears...

Fall has definitely arrived and with it fall weather. With the changing from summer to fall I find myself switching gears. It's time to hang up the hiking poles and pull out the sewing machine. I have all kinds of sewing projects waiting for me that I put aside when spring arrived. Once the sun comes out and the air warms up I tend to be outside either in the yard or hiking somewhere. Though I do still plan on doing things outside this winter. I hope to do some snowshoeing up at Mt. Rainier and I am sure my hubby and I will do some snowboarding.

Yesterday I pulled out a couple little projects I had put on hold and I finished cutting out all the fabric pieces. They are both from Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts. I am making a bunch of the little bird ornaments you can see on the front cover. My Gramma gave me a bunch of fat quarter fabric a couple years ago for my birthday and I just couldn't figure out what to do with it. Then when I saw those little birds I knew exactly what I was going to do. The fabrics are different shades of greens and reds. Each one on it's own doesn't look Christmasy but when you put them all together they do. I am working on making a flock of these little birds and I will string them up on a garland when the holidays arrive. They look like a country Christmas. I will post pictures when they are done. I am also making something else out of this book but I can't post about it yet since it is a present for my little nephew Charlie and I don't want his mama to see it yet. :)

I bought this Schoolhouse Tunic pattern from Sew Liberated last spring. I am very excited to try it! I already have the fabric for it. I want to make one that is lined with flannel to make it more cozy for winter time. One of the reviews I read about it said that is also makes a perfect maternity shirt since it has an empire waist. No, I'm not pregnant but when the time comes these will make very cute and comfy maternity shirts. I ordered a big roll of tracing paper so I can trace out the pattern onto a different sheet that way I don't cut into the original pattern. Then I can use it over and over without having to buy a new one.




I also plan on making some more pants for Daniel. I will line them with flannel to make them nice and warm for winter. I am also going to buy thicker elastic for the waist band since the thin 1/2 inch elastic doesn't hold the pants up very well especially on a very energetic little boy who is on the verge of walking.

These are some pictures of Daniel before he was one. I forgot how straight his hair was. It's full of curls now! Time flies by so fast!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Sweet baby...


A couple weeks ago I had a baby shower for my sister-in-law Mai and little Charlie.


Aunt Karin sent Mai some of Ben's old baby clothes for Charlie.

Charlie is now 1 month old and starting to really notice his surroundings and he has the cutest little smile. Mom did a little photo shoot yesterday.

Charlie with his Auntie Annie. I sure do love that little guy! :)The boys.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I love this mountain...

(My dad took the majority of these gorgeous pictures.)
Dad, Daniel and I did some more hiking up at Mt. Rainier this past week. We went up to Paradise and then we went to the other side of the mountain to Sunrise. At Paradise we hiked part of the Skyline Trail and the Golden Gate Trail. The fall colors were absolutely spectacular!

The fall colors were spectacular!


We also saw a total of NINE bears! It seemed that each ridge we came across there were bears on it eating berries! It was amazing. The only time I was ever nervous about it was when we were hiking through the woods and some brush for a little bit. I really didn't feel like startling a mama with her cubs. But they were beautiful to look at from a distance. We didn't get pictures of all of them and some of the pictures weren't the best.

We were blessed with another gorgeous fall day so we headed up to Sunrise on the other side of the mountain. Same mountain, different view! :)



Daniel was a happy little hiker as usual. Just the other morning I took him with me when I went to grab something out of the car and he got all excited and kept saying "ike", his word for hike. He thought we were leaving on a hike and got all excited! Too cute! I have a feeling these might be the last hikes for the season. You never know though, if the weather holds we might have to fit another one in!