Let me introduce to you....

The newest member of our family: LEGO

Lego is 3/4 Mastiff & 1/4 Lab. He is 8 weeks old and weighs 23 lbs. My boys are over the moon excited!

Again???

I thought we've covered this already? SNOW??? My son is in afternoon Kindergarten. The school district has an automated phone call that goes out at SIX A.M. to all families to notify of school closures, delays, etc...Seriously, why are afternoon K families on this list? I think by 1:00 in the afternoon I'd be able to figure out whether not my kid has school. Is it really necessary to wake the whole family up? ugh...

For Tiff's Good Stuff Thursday post I wanted to show you what I picked up at Goodwill last week. Another cracker tin (.99), some beautiful vintage corning ware ($1.49), a 100% cotton twin sized flat sheet ($1.99) and a great graphic printed pillowcase (.49). I also found a Battleship game for Ben. He's been wanting one for a while now and we found it on Amazon for $14.99. He was saving his quarters and counting them out nearly everyday. While at Goodwill I asked Ben if we should look at their games. We found an almost brand new game with all of the pieces for $2.49. He was so excited! I'm passing on the thrify genes to my kids! :) (game is not in the picture because it has been played nearly non stop since we brought it home).

I'm so excited about this top sheet. I feels great, its a good quality cotton and its equivalent to close to three yards!! Oh, you want to see a close up? Ok, here ya go:

Now, onto an update of my WIP Challenge:

• Barney's Blocks ~ still need to piece the backing (but I've at least pulled it out and its sitting on the ironing board).


• Alycia's QOV Project ~ 14 pillowcases are made and ready for shipping. The blocks are done and I've started putting them in rows. I ran out of bobbin thread and then lost steam after that. I'll continue working on it this afternoon.


• Ainsley's Quilt ~ blocks are done.

Superior Thread Giveaway!

Mother Superior Blog is hosting a giveaway of a $100 gift certificate (HOLY COW!!!!). I sure hope I win! :)

Mountain Baby Blankets

I recently discovered a new blog and I immediately felt a call to DO SOMETHING. As if I need another project on my plate, but this one is too dear to me and I can't let it go. I've been thinking about this all weekend and trying desperately to think of something to do. I'm not so overly ambitious that I feel like I can just whip something up and put everything else on hold. I know better. It would just end up in that pile of WIP's that I'm currently working on. So, for now the best I can do is share it with you guys in hopes that maybe one of you is available right now, or has an extra quilt hanging around that you might want to share. In the meantime I'm continuing to work on my WIP list and then this little project will become front and center.

Have you seen the Diane Sawyer special on the Appalachian Mountain Region. If you haven't, you must watch it. I had to watch it in parts because it just moves me to tears and tears tend to freak my little guys out. I grew up in KY and while I wasn't in eastern KY, I was only a few hours away. I went to college with quite a few people from "mountain country" and I'm humbled to see that this area is not being forgotten about. Please, take the time to watch the special and if you aren't too busy with life take a moment to say a prayer and maybe whip something up for a baby in need.

God Bless

~Jessica

Update...

Update on my WIP Challenge:

• Barney's Blocks - need to piece backing and baste/quilt it
• My QOV top for Alycia's QOV challenge - all blocks are finished.
• My stack of QOV pillowcases - 5 pillowcases done. I have several more cut.
• Ainsley's Quilt - all blocks are finished.

All in all, I've made a dent, but I'm not as far along as I'd hoped. My most pressing WIP right now is Alycia's QOV stuff. She asked that if I'm only donating a top that I get it to her sometime in March. My goal is to have the top complete and pillowcases done and in the mail by next week.

I took a break from sewing this weekend and the boys asked to do a craft. We had picked up a box of foam airplanes at JoAnn's earlier in the week so this is what my kitchen table (aka my new sewing desk) looked like this weekend:

Ben wanted his to look like a Blue Angles airplane ~

Carter's started to take on a Picasso ~ esque look. I wasn't sure either one of them would ever dry.

And all of my sewing stuff got pushed aside to the very edge of the table....

Another Winner....

Do you guys remember this giveaway from months ago? I finally got the gift made and in the mail and I know the winner has received it so now I can show it on my blog! CAB won my giveaway when she was several months pregnant with a little girl, her FIFTH child! She told me her favorite colors at that time were pinks & browns. (and she made the cutest little quilt for her baby, too ~ her first quilt, I might add ~ in those colors). I had some pefect fabric in my stash so I got to work making her a bag. I made the straps extra long so she could fling the bag over her shoulder keeping her hands free for the rest of those kids :)

I'm so glad you like it, CAB!

And the winner is.....

Number Four: Amandajean. Just email me your address and the newest addition to your stash will be on its way. :)

WIP Challenge

Ok, I've let my list of WIP's get out of control again. Last April I did UFO Personal Challenge. and it really got me moving. Sadly, some from that list are going to be included in my new challenge. OOPS!
I dug all of my WIP's out and I'm going to get those finished before I allow myself to start anything new. That's gonna be hard! I have so many projects in various stages of completion. I'm also counting anything that I've started since the first of the year a "new project" so they are getting pushed to the bottom of the list. Here we go, anyone care to join me?

• Barney's Blocks
• My QOV top for Alycia's QOV challenge
• My stack of QOV pillowcases
• Ainsley's Quilt ~ that poor girl still doesn't have her quilt!!

These are my most pressing projects that I want finished and out of my sewing room. Once I get through these, I'll post another list of projects that I've recently started and get those finished up. If you care to join me, just let me know and I'll post a list (with links to your blog) and we can cheer each other on. I plan to keep this challenge going until the end of March. I should be able to get through (both) lists by then. I hope. Who's in??

Freaky Friday Fabric Giveaway

In honor for it being Friday the 13th. I am hosting a Freaky Friday Fabric Giveaway (and if I remember, I'll do one in March, too). Up for grabs is two half yard cuts (basket not included) of "At Water's Edge" fabric by Moda. I believe this line came out last Spring. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post and tell me if you believe in superstitions and what are some that you currently practice? (unfortunately due to the cost of postage, I must limit this to USA residents only, my apologies). Make sure you leave your email address or some way for me to contact you in your comment (if your comments aren't already hooked up to an email). And in stealing an idea from Amandajean, who stole if from Camille, I'll give you an example:

Hi, I'm Jessica. I am very superstitious. I rarely walk under ladders and when I was playing volleyball in highschool, I had a lucky pair of socks and a lucky sports bra. I would make my mom wash them for every single game.

See, easy peasy! I'll leave this open until Sunday evening at which point I will draw a number by random generator (or maybe pick a name out of a hat, haven't decided yet!). Good Luck!

Something I've been working on...

I got a random idea one day to try to make a floor game out of a quilt. So....I made up some squares and this is as far as I got

I think I'll finish it off, quilt in the ditch and I plan to make some "checkers" out of yo-yo's. What do you think?

I bet you thought I forgot, huh??

So, I posted Step One for a coupon tutorial and then *POOF* I disappeared. But I never forgot. If the truth be told, I could have used some serious coupon butt kicking these last few months. I completely let my coupons get disorganized, piled up and effectivelly useless. Shame on me. But...that's in the past. I am reorganizing them now and will have my tutorial updated shortly. So, if you want a refresher, I'll repost my first step:

As promised, I am starting a coupon/grocery shopping tutorial to help you make your dollars stretch. And who couldn't use a stretchier dollar in this economic environment?! I'm gonna do this in steps so as not to overwhelm you. I will add links to the steps in my side bar so you may refer back to them at a later time. Good Luck & Happy Savings!!!
The very first thing one must consider when grocery shopping is attitude. If you truly want to make the most of your coupons and your money, you really have to shift your thought process. Most of us make a menu for the week, then make a grocery list. This works for some people, but its not very cost effective. The most frugal way to grocery shop is to check out the sales and make your grocery list accordingly, matching the sales with coupons (but we'll get to that later). Once you have made your grocery list, look at the list (and what's already in your pantry) and make your menu based on what you own and what's on sale.
This one step alone, will make a noticable difference in your grocery budget. I will end step one here and allow this information to sink in. As this truly is the most challenging part of changing your habits. Once you have started to look at shopping in this light, the rest is easy.
Oh, and someone asked about doing these trips with kids ~ both of my kids are with me for 90% of my big shops. I'll have some tips on how to make this less painful in the following steps.

I promise, I won't leave ya hanging this time!

Hotwheels get a lot of miles around here....

...and ambulances, and Army trucks and Thomas tracks. Just about anything with wheels, my boys love. And that is why every pair of PJ bottoms in our house look like this:

I've taken a short break from quilting to make these, as I felt my children should have warm knees. Even if only temporarily.

I have a few more pairs to make and then its back to quilting!!

Just checking in....

I've been knocked off my keister recently and this amazing man has been holding down the fort. He is truly my best friend. I didn't do a proper tribute to him on our anniversary. See, we picked the most busiest time of the year to get married. It all starts with Carter's birthday at the end of September. We get through October and Halloween and then my birthday in the beginning of November. The holidays get started and soon we're looking at Thanksgiving. The red & green are in full swing and we have to take a break from it to celebrate our anniversary on Dec 10. Christmas rolls around and we aren't done yet! I've barely caught my breath and then its Jason's birthday on January 10 (he requested I not dedicate a post to that this year). We take a short breather and then its Ben's birthday in March. We have a six month reprieve and then we start all over again. Phew...

All this just to explain why I didn't do an anniversary post this year :P I've got some sewing time all planned out for these next few days and I can't wait to show you guys what I've been working on.