Tuesday, July 29, 2008

My secret....a hint

Apparently a woman of my age (thirty something) with a secret can only mean one thing.....so here's a hint: I'm not pregnant and we've had no news about our pending adoption.

Not all secrets revolve around babies!! hahahah!

The secret is quilty related and I'm almost ready to share......

~Jessica

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I've been busy....


Actually, I like the word "productive" better. I've been productive. I started some blocks for a QOV quilt that I'll send to Alycia for her 400 QOV challenge. The final quilt will not be in this exact layout, but these are the blocks I have finished and they looked pretty this way. :P








I also finished the blocks for Ainsley's Quilt. It was supposed to be a Welcome Home Gift to her...she's been home since May. OOPS. You'll see there is a space on the left side of the quilt. I actually have a block done, its just the wrong pink! I'll have to redo the corners tomorrow.
And as if I didn't have enough going on right now ~ I pulled some fabric for a Christmas Gift for my Mother In Law. Its my goal for each family member to have at least one quilt that I've made. I've already taken care of Gramma Todd. I'm not going in any particular order. I'll just start when inspirations strikes. With this fabric I'll be making a modified version of the Bento Box pattern. Stay tuned to see this one come to life!
I also have some exciting news to share, but I'll keep that a secret for a little while longer....:)
~Jessica

Friday, July 25, 2008

I'm alive....really, I am

I have all kinds of things I want to show you pictures of, but Carter killed the camera :( Santa says he isn't going to bring me a new one. I'm crushed.

I've been busy sewing, but I've been even busier playing with one of my bestest friends ever. About 4 years ago a woman named Amy moved into my little small town. We immediately hit it off (her DH is often gone for weeks at a time, just like mine!) Our kids are only a few months apart in age and they've been like brother/sister since the day they met. Then 18 months ago Amy broke my heart. She moved to CALIFORNIA!!! How dare she! (:wave: Hi Amy ~ I know you're reading this!!!)

She's in town this week visiting and we're trying to squeeze in as much time together as there are hours in the day! I knew I missed her but I didn't realize how much I missed her until she came back. She is getting on that great big airplane again tomorrow and flying back to CA and I'm afraid my heart will break once again. I've had great friends my whole life but no matter how old I get, I'll never have another Amy. *sniff, sniff*

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Dontcha Love the Mess?


Here is my quilting corner. I got my cutting table set back up and promptly turned it into a big mess! :) Been cuttin' fabric all day.

Pity Party Over

Do you remember the pity party I had awhile back? Well, its over! First, I decided to suck it up and just find time to quilt and be creative. Jason was home for over a week and it was a fantastic break from our regular routine. We took the boys to Day Out with Thomas. Ben was excited, but I think he's getting a little old (this was his fourth trip), but Carter was just beside himself all day. It was so adorable. The child actually squeaked when we first pulled up and he saw the big Thomas Train!

The next day we left for a three day camping trip over in Eastern Washington. I've lived in this state for almost six years and I've never travelled over the mountains. How sheltered am I? It was breaktaking over there. I told Jason I was ready to move tomorrow! It was sssoo hot, I loved it! That's the one thing I miss ~ there is no scorching hot sun here in the Greater Seattle area. We camped at Lake Wenatchee and I never wanted to leave. We are considering making this our annual vacation destination ~ I could spend forever there. Can you tell I'm in love? :P

Upon our arrival home, we decided to take our house off the market ~ do you see how this is leading to the end of my pity party? We had the realtor come dig up his sign on Thursday and we already have three solid leads on renters for this house. We'll be moving in about six weeks and did I spend the weekend packing and sorting things? NOPE! I spent the weekend resetting up my cutting table & digging through my fabric & just making a big ole mess of my quilting corner! (I was going to post a picture of it, but Carter threw my camera onto the rocks in our driveway the night of the 4th. It still works, but the charge doesn't hold in the battery nearly as long as it used to. When I went to take a picture, it was dead. He also cracked the screen that shows the pictures, so now I have to actually use the viewy thingy and just wait until I download the to see what I got ~ it feels so old school!) :)

I haven't actually sewed anything yet this weekend, but I've had so much fun making a mess of all of my fabric and scraps! Hopefully I'll have some eye candy for you later today! :)

~Cheers,
Jessica

Thursday, July 17, 2008

How gorgeous is this quilt?

I want it, I want it, I want it.....I sssooo want it! Have I mentioned that I want it? I want it bad enough that I'm actually contemplating putting a video of myself on YouTube in order to get more chances to win it! :) Read more about it here.



Thursday, July 10, 2008

Silent but Deadly

There was an elderly couple sitting in church last week and the husband leans over to his wife and says "I just let out a silent but deadly fart, what do you think we should do?" The wife turns and says "I think we should get your hearing aid checked"


HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

How Sweet is This?

Ok, so I can't find time to quilt ~ but maybe I can take a few seconds out of my day to help an ill child. There is a little boy at a Children's Hospital in Las Vegas and he's collecting business cards. He's trying to get into the Guiness Book of World Records. You can read more about him here. I'm trying to get a bunch of business cards from my friends to mail to him ~ why don't you do the same?

Why is my blog called "Jessica's Quilting Corner"?

Apparently I don't quilt anymore....I miss it :(

I find a small (very small) consolation in the fact that a lot of other blogger friends seem to have slowed down quite a bit since summer started....

Funny thing is ~ having the kids home doesn't really cut into my quilting time much. Afterall, Ben was only in school three days a week for 2 1/2 hours. Not much changed around here when summer started. Its our house, and the fact that its on the market. See, my house has two personalities: Its either spic n span or its a complete total mess. When its spic n span is when I love to sit and sew. There is no laundry calling my name, the dishes are clean and nestled together in the cupboards, my sewing desk is cleared and just calling out to me. But its sssoo clean that I don't want to start sewing for fear that the second scraps start flying the phone will ring and the voice on the other end will say "Hi, my name is Racheal Realtor and I have some clients that would like to see your home. We're standing in your driveway, mind if we take a peek?" (yes, its happened. Names have been changed to protect the not so innocent).

On the other hand, when my house is a complete total mess I really enjoy losing myself at my sewing machine. Once I dig my desk out from behind the laundry, the kids summer workbooks and whatever else is sitting around I can completely forget the state of the house. I can get lost in my 1/4" seams. I can watch my humble scraps turn into something beautiful that will someday be wrapped around a loved one, a homeless person, a sick baby or an injured soldier. However, with the house on the market I don't allow myself the luxury of forgetting what the house looks like. If there are dishes in the sink I can't relax, If there is laundry to be done, I can't relax, if there is one toy out of place I can't relax (the kids love it, let me tell ya!). So instead of losing myself in my sewing I sit and stew and feel guilty and get frustrated and walk away to go clean something.

I want to be a four year old and throw myself on the floor and yell "ITS NOT FAIR!" but instead I won't. I'll be a mature 30-something woman and scream and yell on the inside while I wipe down the counters one more time; pick up the little green army men one more time; fold another towel; sweep the front porch; vacuum the dog hair ~ one more time.

I promise, someday soon, I'll start sewing again. I'll have fun pictures to show. You will be amazed, dazzled and even in awe of the creations I make (ok, maybe not but its my fantasy, I'll write the rules). Just stick with me and this will turn into a "quilting corner" again. ~Jessica

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy 4th of July!!!!


The boys and I just had a relaxing day around the house today and this evening some friends (also "dadless" today) came over for dinner and a playdate. Ben discovered Sparklers!!!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Do you like my new look?

I've been getting sick of how starkly cold my blog looked. While I still don't love it, I think this look is much better. Its way more "me".

I really want to switch to one of those fancy smancy blog templates, but I've heard horror stories about losing everything once you switch....so I'll have to do a little more research. Stay Tuned!
~Jessica