Almost on the move!

MOV07661
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

He is so close to crawling it is scary...

Holds own bottle (& don't you even think about taking it away!)

Holds own bottle (& don't you even think about taking it away!)
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Now the sippy cup on the other hand is just a baby soaking device!

Kaffe

Kaffe
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

This was going to be my design wall Monday photo, but I pieced the top in the mean time...

Kaffe's Relatives

Kaffe's Relatives
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

In the next post you will see me talk about relatives, these are "some" of the relatives in the next post...

Kaffe with borders

Kaffe with borders
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

So this is my recent "finish." (A top is "finished" for me.) I am actually happy with how the pieces arranged themselves. You see I don't work with a design wall or design floor for that matter. I piece "randomly." To me that means, that I try to not piece "relatives" together. "Relatives" the same fabric in a different color way... I am especially happy when the relatives do not end up next to each other when I join rows (as is the case here) but I don't over work when it happens - that is random...

One finish deserves one start

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Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

So I am playing a game with myself, "Finish something old-ish, astart something new-ish."

I finished a Kaffe charm quilt (Photo will be in a separate post shortly.) now I get to start an I SPY coin quilt.

This is not technically "new" since I have been collecting images & trimming fabric for is for a long while. (It morphed from a different pattern.) I did only "recently" decide to turn it into a coin quilt & I did only recenlt pare down the pile into 224 pieces.

I Spy is my "series." My series will be interspersed with a lot of "gee that has been in my stash for quite some time" & "Gee I'm not 'feeling' Kaffe anymore, maybe I should do something with my Kaffe fabrics now..."

So this is what is on my design wall right now & I am happy with that. (I am also happy to report that since I took this snapshot, I have turned the twosies into foursies!)

MOV07617
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

First try with a sippy cup. He is in his bumbo here, but we also tried the sippy cup while sitting unsupported. :o)

I am home with Jacob today & about to sew while he is napping.

circle

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Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

A good look at 1 fused circle, before I machine appliqued it. (Machine applique is not my forte...)

circles

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Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

This "pattern" came from "The Modern Quilt Workshop" by Ringle & Kerr. Only the pieced their circles. Mine came from an old-ish Paula Nadelstern print. They had been fused for quite some time waiting for me to machine applique them. Well I did & this quilt is off to be quilted. :o)

train

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Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

One of these guys had his first train ride, the other had his first Father's Day.

(The later rode on the red line today. Luckily we were unaffected by yesterday's tragedy. Thanks again to those who asked.)

Weekend Recap

I don't even recall what went on on Saturday it was sooooo long ago.
But Sunday was a day filled to the brim.
About a month or two ago, my husbad said that he wanted to visit his mother in New York for Father's Day & that is exactly what we did.

We go up stupid early (2:45-ish) to catch the 5 something train from Union Station in DC. (While we got up early, we did not get up early enough for breakfast, so we got coffee & food from THE SLOWEST Starbucks in Unios Station.) I got oatmeal. Jacob ate 1/4 of it, he was so cute. I mixed in the dried fruit & took a bite. He saw me & started to act a bit fussy so I offered him a tiny bit, he wanted more & more, so I kept giving him small bites. :o) My portion had a lot of fruit! (he is not ready for raisins, craisins, & dried blueberries.) Luckily, DC is the first stop, so we were able to get a 4 seats - two facing each other & we had space for all of out stuff. The trip up was fairly uneventful, fussy baby here & there, quick baby cat naps here & there, a daiper change, & a stroll (& @ 4 hours later) we arrived in New Rochelle. (I called my dad while on the train.)

So we get to my Mother-in-law's house... Insert family drama...

We leave on the 5:15 train headed to DC. The train was full, but a lot of people leave the train in New York, so we waited for a couple seats while Jacob was able to stay in the car seat/stroller. Jacob slept most of the way back on the train, he woke up in Maryland & we nursed. So the car ride home & betime routine were o.k. if a bit late!

I fell a sleep when my head hit the pillow! (I get to unpack/unravel later today after work.)

Was your father's day that busy?

Memories for Momma (edited)

I just have to jot this down before I forget. (Like the thing that my husband said in the car - all I can remember is he guessed a singer songwriter was Eric Carle - so you know where our brains have been!) He meant to say Eric Clapton!

Two times now we have had to run in the middle of a meal to a grocery/big box store to get a jar of baby food & spoons. (I never quite got comfy with the whole nursing right out there in public concept.)

When Jacob is playing & almost suddenly stops & grunts - guess what is going on.

Both of those happened last night. :o)

Oh & we are seeing the beginings of two teeth!

"Hey, I was a kid of the 80's!"

What does that mean to you? What kind of memories does it conjure? (Feel free to answer from the "kid" "parent" or "grandparent" point of view.)

I over heard that quote today & it has me thinking about:
denim mini skirts (In my adult brain, they were not as short as the ones that I see now-a-days...)
keds - or the knock-offs that I had.
walkman - that is all that I wanted, I got a cr@ppy on that only played am radio & was shaped like a smurf.
Pac-Man - I rearly played, but the images were everywhere.
Aqua net hairspray - quite possibly by the case.
The Breakfast Club - my all time favorite movie.
How Wal-Mart completely changed my life forever... My mother up until WM came to town had been a stay at home mom. Then she got a job. That immediately changed her from Kathy to Joan as she had to use her first name at work. Skip the sordid details... My parents got divorced & I got to play the family-go-round...

quilt show photos

Several photos are up on the Black & white quilt challenge blog here. (One of those reminds me of Karen Diane.)
I almost have to post this one, because I love those taupes:

I need to remember that not quite stark/jet black...

This one reminds me of the one that Julie did:

A great way to use an odd assortment of 9-patches.
Love the bees, the log cabin border is made out of a honey comb shaped fabric.
See all bees don't have to have striped bodies!
A chicken made out of a chicken print! (This was a challenge quilt, the quilter had to use that beak fabric in an obvious manner. Those beaks are fairly obvious!)

It did not photograph well, but this was one of my favorites.

I want to do one of these for my son!

Look no facial features (That sure does make the quilt seem less daunting.)

Just turquoise feedsacks!


That would have been hard to do back when feedsacks were readily available!
Pull out your 70's & 80's calicos!

I really like those blues!
My favorite! (If I voted on viewer's choice, this one would have gotten my vote!)
Does anyone have any of this fabric that they no longer want? :o) (I want to do an all blue log cabin for my son & this would be the perfect addition!) BTW I loved this quilt because it used this kind of fabric in a bird!

Many many more photos on my flickr!

Achoo!

A summer cold me be the worst illness ever... & for mine, I can only thank my son. So I have not done any sewing for a good week! I would have sewed on my Kaffe quilt - just so I can be done with it & because it is just past half way done on the blocks in my sewing machine!
It is an old-ish quilt from my stash, which is a good thing & it sure will feel good to have it done.
(I'm kind of making myself work on something old-er along with the newish stuff that I want to do.) At any rate, I completely forgot to take a picture of the Kaffe Quilt.
Meanwhile, I did not go to a local show this past weekend, but I did go to one the previous weekend... I uploaded more than 100 photos on me flickr, but I am not sure which ones I want to post or why...
We went to the Pick your own farm again, boy was that on the radar for everyone to do! The fields were pretty full of people. We got twice as many peas as we had gotten the previous time, but they were harder to find & it must have taken 3 times the amount of time to shell them. Once I did I steamed & pureed them along with a sweet potato & a rutabega for the baby. (He had rutabega for dinner & loved it!)

chatterbox!

chatterbox!
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

At the end of the day, i am probably the only one who finds this cute...

NYC quilt

NYC quilt
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

This was supposed to be my "What is on your design 'wall'" quilt. But Jacob had a bad couple days over the weekend & woke up with crusty eyes on Monday, so I took him to the doctor (cold & another ear infection) & we stayed home the rest of the day after running some errands. With that time my rows were sewn together into a top.
The quilt is a 9x11 arrangement with no black & whites repeating. The yellow is a Moda marble (I so wish I had found a Kona cotton instead.) & is the same throughout. A couple people have mentioned how it looks like pist-it notes which is the scale of those squares! But I am calling this a NYC quilt, because the back has Taxis & NYC landmarks in addition to more of that yellow! It will be bound in yellow.

Sits Unsupported

MOV07575
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

In addition to some family visitation & a brunch picnic, on June 7th, Jacob sat unsupported for the first time!

Quilt show this weekend

I am going to a quilt show tomorrow (Jacob is staying home with daddy) with a friend for her birthday. It is in Chantilly, Virginia at the Dulles Expo Center. It is a local show, but it rivals a national show & has always been worth going to see.
Quilters Unlimited of Northern Virginia.
Bonnie Hunter of quiltville will be teaching, but I haven't taken a class, nor have I thought about taking a class in years... (Based on the previous post, I have enough already without adding to it...)

what to do, what to do

Well earlier this week I had a meeting where I was only there to answer "technical" questions. Which in essence means that I was there to listed ot a few hours worth of "jargon." (My work is scientific & requires peer review.) I did not have to pay attention, I just needed to be there in case there were any questions.
So I made a list or two...
1. Based on the quilt in the magazine
a. scrappy using civil war with shirtings
b. black on whites with brights
c. black on white with 1 color
d. taupe light & dark
2. finish sewing black & white with yellow blocks, cut squares for the back, piece the back blocks
3. Piece the Kaffe quilt
4. Liberty & shott cotton 9-patches (?)
5 I SPY
a. cut large squares for the back
b. cut 5 inch squares, get lavendar pressed
c. count 2.5 x 4.5 rectangles & cut more to get to 450
d. determine how many 2.5 x 5 rectangles are needed for coins quilt, then try to determine how many 2.5 inch squares are needed for the border - count how many are ready now, cut more
6. applique (by machine, maybe just top stitch) purple circles
7. mini log cabins using bright "nickel" scraps (no lt./dk.) (Magazine pattern/inspiration)
8. flock of geese, get white pressed (orange, brown, yellows)
9. Bento box, get white pressed (blue, green, brown)
10. log cabin (no lt./dk.) large blocks made from 2.5 with strips
11. "Once upon a time" (x2) get blues & yellow pressed
12. two square - blue/green (?)
13. Amy Butler bricks ("Boy" fabrics)
14. Amy Butler fabrics - what to do?
15. Tiddlywinks - what to do?
16. Spirograph flowers - what to do?
17. red & red quilt....
18. Taupe snowballs
19. Taupe card tricks
20. Taupe kit
21. Taupe BOM
22. Brown kit
23. Joel Dewberry Magazine quilt

These were off the top of my head & in current thought there are a myraid of other quilts - 2 CW UFO's, pieced cat UFO's, etc. & If I were to actually go diving into my stash/stewdio many other items would percolate to the list(s).

Off the top of your head what does your list look like?

reading

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Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

This is an older photo, but I wanted to show Linda at Quilts & Kids how we read daily. Jacob loves his books, especially the touch & feel variety. This page has "wiry whiskers."

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Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

I'm sure the baby is thinking, "What did I do?"

I once worked for a guy who loved to tell stories about his son...
When he son was in diapers, they were at a big family picnic & he was carrying his son in a manner very similar to this.... The diaper leaked! (He told it far better, but...)

Sunday, the day that was.

To be brutally honest, I got up & pumped at 2 a.m. I also fed the cats att his time, because if you are going to get up & out of bed, you are going to feed the cats.
I then went back to bed & rose at about 6 or 7, fed the baby & decided that I wanted pancakes. So we showered & headed to IHOP. Sowhere in that time frame we founf out that the sugar snap peas were ready for picking at our local U-pick (Or PYO if that is what you call them.)
So after IHOP, we went home & readied ourselves for picking.

Jacob slept while his parents picked.

In the background before the trees - raspberry plants getting ready for my return. :o)

I picked a lovely pea flower to photograph.
We picked about a pound & a half of peas - which when shelled equals about 1 cup, which when pureed equals 2.5 servings! (Did I have to shell sugar snap peas?)
Jacob ate his peas by noon! Sine he was wearing abit of peas, I washed him & slathered him with sunblock for his first visit to the pool! But first a little nap:
He likes to lie on his side & twist up in the blankets just like his mommy.
To the pool:

In the pool!





Bath time (I have to use sunblock & I dislike the feel, so I shower after using it, so I bathe Jacob after using it as well.)


Insert errands & leftovers for dinner with a blondie sundae finish (Did I mention the U-pick place sells baked goods?)
to play time with daddy

To proected the less than innocent, I'll skip what happened between play time & bed time...

Add in all of the other mundane stuff of life, you know why I wanted to sleep in again today & why I pack in so much on a vacation - my life is already packed full!

I sewed!

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Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

These had been cut out & waiting for a very long time. (The I SPY's caught my attention in the middle of this project.) What you cat see in this pile are 95 different black & white prints with the same yellow centers. The blocks finish at 9 inches. This is my black & white challenge project. I have 4 more to piece so that this will be a 9 x 11 layout. I was going to mix in 10 blocks with a black & white center & a yellow frame, but those will end up as back art instead. Along with NYC Taxi Cab fabric as that is what this color combination reminds me of. I also have a pretty NYC fabric that will also go on the back. Both of those will be big pieces so that the images will be complete.

BTW a lot of this sewing took place in the wee early hours of the morning as I had to pump overnight & could not get back to sleep.

The moral of that story is: It is a good thing that I have my sewing machine set up in the living room with 2 ready to sew projects handy.