What I've been busy with

Why do I feel like it has been crazy busy around here lately? Hmm...probably because it has. This feels like it will be a kind of long post, so sorry, but please keep reading because there is a really cute quilt at the bottom!

First, I had to finish the quilt for my client whose son is going on a mission. I will post pictures probably tomorrow. The quilt turned out so dang cute! Anyway, I had to quilt it on Friday. I got almost all the way done, just needed to turn it for the side borders, when I realized it was 3 PM.

Cousin Nicole's reception/dinner was at 6 PM up in Sundance, which meant that when my parents got here at 5 to babysit we had to hurry and leave them instructions and then be on our way.

So why was that such a big deal at 3? Well, because my house was a GINORMOUS mess! And we still had to iron our clothes, etc. I figured it would probably only take about an hour to turn the quilt and then quilt the borders, but Mike didn't want to push it, especially since it is a 30 minute drive to our house due to crappy construction from Payson clear up to Provo. So I took the quilt off, folded it up in my bag, and we headed home.

We went to the reception, which we thought we would be way super early, but ended up going well past the reception location and had to turn around, so we were right on time. Dinner was lovely, and Nicole and Adam looked wonderful and wonderfully happy. Congratulations, you two! Everything was so beautiful! We left around 7:30 and got home shortly after 8 PM. My parents left, and munchkin was still awake. Ugh! We wrestled him to bed about 9, only to have him wake up and want to cuddle with me on the couch while watching Baby Einstein's Baby Neptune at 12:30. I fell asleep. When I woke up, I made him go to bed. He didn't want to, but I made him.

Saturday I hurried and trimmed the quilt down, made the binding from the leftover backing fabric, and went back to the shop to finish quilting the borders for the mission quilt. Oh it is so cute I can't wait to show you!! We went home, and I attached the binding. Mike was scuba diving in Sand Hollow for Scuba Ted's annual pumpkin carving contest. He didn't get back until around 7 PM, and he had left well before 7 that morning! So Marshy and Ihad a lot of fun playing. I turned on one of my favorite cd's and played it through the tv. He loved dancing to the music (Edward and Bella cd....it's the greatest!) I'm sure the downstairs neighbors enjoyed the thumping and jumping from him, but that's their problem!

At 5 he went down for a nap, and I got him up at 7:30 so we could go to Mike's parents' house to watch UFC. It was okay. The title fight ended kinda crappy. I was disappointed. I almost could've stayed home and not fought munchkin, but left him sleeping. Oh well.

Today I finished binding the quilt. We woke up super late, so we kind of missed church. Mike and Marshy were so tired! Although, it really was my fault, because I was the one who should've gotten everyone up, but I too wanted to sleep longer. My bad! Anyway, we had a fun family day, and played video games, watched movies, and played with Marshy's toys. It was fun.

I also realized that there are now officially less than 60 days until Christmas! OMG! I am totally screwed! I bought the cutest quilt kit from Gracie Lou's back when they opened, and thought about giving it to my Grandma M. for Christmas. It's her birthday and Christmas, so we wanted to do a big GINORMOUS personal gift for her this year instead of the usual flowers, to mix things up a bit.

This is what the quilt will look like, only in way better colors, and even more GINORMOUS:

The pattern is called Jacks be Quick. I found the picture and the pattern for sale here at this site. The kit I bought came with everything I need, pattern included, except the almost 8 yards of backing fabric. HOLY COW! 8 YARDS!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I'm going to die! I'm also unsure of whether the binding fabric was included. Hmm, guess I should look into that, huh? haha

Anyway, I started working on the blocks yesterday while Marshy was taking his nap. I figured that there wer 80 blocks, and 20 blocks to a color set, so if I got 20 blocks done a day, then that would only be 4 days! Then I could piece the blocks 1 day, and sew the 2 borders on another day, and it would be ready to quilt....as soon as I buy the 8 YARDS of backing fabric! Wahoo!

Then I had another crazy idea. Yeah, you know me. Full of craziness! Well, I suggested, and Mike liked the idea so I'm holding him to it so I can buy fabric!...that we make a quilt for my Grandma H. for Christmas too. And possibly make something fun for my parents and my brother. Our reasoning: it's easier to make something than shop for people. Especially my brother. We gave him a gift card to Hollister for his birthday, because we didn't know what he wanted. Sorry, bro! Also, it is a little more personal to make something from the heart than to just go out and buy a gift card (like to Sears...haha. Right Angel?) or some other kind of dumb gift that the person may/may not like.

The quilt I think I'll make for Grandma H. is called Rainbow Rhythm, and can be found in McCall's AMerica Makes FAST Quilts September 2008 issue. I just bought it. It's great. And it uses mostly fat quarters! YAY!

Anyway, I sure could use some suggestions for my family's gifts. My bro is 21 and really likes WOW (world of warcraft....blech!) My parents are big into gardening, and remodeling, and stuff like that. My mom teaches 6th grade, and my dad does something involving HVAC and solar power....not quite sure exactly there. Can you see why they're hard to shop for?

Well, thanks for reading my super-long post. I'll try to avoid them in the future. Or at least for the rest of the week!