one shabby chick

Best fireworks show ever

And of course I have no pictures! Bowling was fun too - I'm not very good but we had fun and the bowling alley was pretty empty - I think everyone was listening to Billy Ray Cyrus.

Last year's fireworks display wasn't very good since they had set up behind a bunch of trees and it was kinda hard to see the smaller ones. This year though, they had set up in a different spot. And somehow we got front row seats! My eyes still hurt a little from the sparkley-ness of it all.

It was awesome! The guy next to us was hilarious and kept saying "front-row seats, front-row seats" which made us laugh and then half-way through he decided "they are really making up for last year" which had us rolling with laughter because we totally understood what he meant. It was about a 20 minute non-stop fireworks display.

And I have to share this recent conversation between our 6 year old and I.

(he was in the shower singing - the door is somehow always open to our bathroom!)

Him: singing.....for loving you

Me: What are you singing?

Him: I hate myself for loving you!

Me: Where did you hear that song?

Him: The new game

Oh great - what I'm really worried about is when we'll be out somewhere and I'll hear a little voice singing, "Lovin in the elevator, lovin it up while it's going down!"

Quotes

I was looking at some quotes for 4th of July and came across some great ones. I was thinking yesterday how lucky we are to live in a country like America. We really have so much freedom here and are truly a blessed nation.

This, then, is the state of the union:  free and restless, growing and full of hope.  So it was in the beginning.  So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith.  ~Lyndon B. Johnson

Freedom's natal day is here.
Fire the guns and shout for freedom,
See the flag above unfurled!
Hail the stars and stripes forever,
Dearest flag in all the world. 
~Florence A. Jones

We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls.  ~Robert J. McCracken

I finished the binding today...and now it's on the couch. Oh, and I found out that Billy Ray Cyrus is going to be playing at the fireworks display tonight. I'm not a big country music fan but he's much better than who they usually have every year.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Pink quilt top

I'm working on Baby Girl's quilt top.

Bela's is still not quilted but I figure I had better get them both done around the same time or one of them will complain until I finish the other one.

I was almost done with the border but messed up and now have to rip out the last border and just don't feel like doing that tonight. I think I'll start on the binding for this quilt.

Tomorrow we are headed to a nearby army base for the annual fireworks show. We go every year. And we always go bowling before (it's right next to the field where they have the fireworks).

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July. I'm hoping the gyro guy is there - yummy!

These are more pics from yesterday - sorry I couldn't help it :-)

Tank tops and outtakes

Birthday boy is busy enjoying all his new presents. He and the older two are playing with Indiana Jones legos at this very moment. Our friends brought over some more for him this morning - he was so excited.

He also got this...which the adults seemed more excited about than him. I'm not much of a video game player so I didn't play. My sister-in-law who is a musician did pretty well.

He got a cool drum that has been his favorite present. And it's super quiet too! I may have to put on I-tunes while he's playing it so he can get a good rhythm going.

I went to Old Navy the other day to return some pants and spotted this skirt. It is too cute and the tank tops were all super cheap so I bought some for the girls and embellished a couple yesterday and the rest today.

The tank and skirt were so cute together it called for a photo session.

I had to tell Bela to smile.....

and I love this one.

(the black "puff" skirt is from my sister's wedding)

Now around most people, Baby Girl seems like this shy, sweet child. But to her family we know her as she truly is - a Drama Queen.

The drama came out heavy in the pictures!

(I have no idea how she started doing this...I sat her in the chair and was taking pictures and all of a sudden she started making all these hilarious faces. I had to try not to laugh so I could get some pictures!)

Garden Party Sighting!

I know I'm not a fabric blog or anything but I was on Etsy this morning and came across this site selling Garden Party. In case anyone is interested!

I bought some yardage so you may have to wait until she uploads some more listings :-)

Pillow shields

I made some more pillows (shields) yesterday.

I couldn't handle the neatly sewn ones being next to these. These were already cut out and I was planning on using piping around the edges. I even went as far as sewing all the piping. But when it came time to attach the binding, I gave up - it was way more than my brain could deal with. I don't think I'm a piping girl - way too much work!

And my poor quilt - I haven't even started on the hand-sewing.

6 years old

I can't believe my little guy is 6 years old.

Seems like it was just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital (and 3 days later took him to a wedding!).

He is such a sweet guy and definitely has his own way of doing things. I remember when he was turning 3, I thought he'd be in diapers forever - he was in no rush to get potty-trained. About a week later, he just potty-trained himself (while I was in bed, barfing, pregnant with Baby Girl).

He loves blocks and legos so we got him some Indiana Jones and Star Wars legos. Oh and some new trunks for the beach - he was pretty excited about those.

All my friends have 3-4 children each so birthday parties are just impossible now. So we just have family dinners and the birthday boy (or girl) gets to pick the menu. Tonight it's pizza (his first choice was steak AND spaghetti but then he decided on pizza)  and for dessert, an ice cream bar with lots of toppings.

He has a hard time sometimes, being the younger brother. But I'm pretty sure one day he will be bigger than his older brother.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy!

Fabric sightings

Just thought you might like to know (in case you don't already) that Denise Schmidt's new line is out here and here.

And I have this Etsy store saved in my favorites and this morning saw they have Sandi's new line already (and at really good prices)!

Can't wait for Heather Bailey's or Anna Maria Horner's new lines either - fun summer with all this gorgeous fabric!

I have the binding sewn on the Drawing Room quilt and now just need to hand-sew it to the back. I used this fabric...I thought about this one but it seemed like it would make it too sophisticated or something so I went with the yellow instead.

Have a great Monday!

Busy as a bee

I am exhausted.

I tried to cram a lot into today and think it's all catching up to me right now. I have pictures to upload to Flikr and Facebook but just don't think I'll manage it tonight.

I did want to show you my projects from today though...

Coasters for my sewing area

(I have been really needing some and so I just grabbed some scraps and whipped them up - I even used some of my Drawing Room selvedge!)

Pillows for the couch

I am still thinking I'll re-do these eventually but, for now, the new ones are masking all their flaws.

I made an envelope closure and long ties on the back to hold it all securely. I guess my middle son thought they worked great as shields too since I found him using them as shields later in the day.

And I basted the Drawing Room quilt and am almost done quilting it - just have the border left!

I am LOVING my walking foot. How did I not buy not sooner?

They're done

Yep - all of the panels. Woo-Hoo! I spent a good portion of today hemming and hemming. But they're all up and I'm surrounded by little birdies.

There is just one tiny drawback - the other curtains were sheers and let air flow through so it's a tiny bit warmer in the living room than before.

But I think I can just pull them open on warm days and it will be fine (at least that's what I'm telling myself after all my work today!).

(these are my "killer" tie-backs - if you scrape against them...watch out!)

Here's the pile of fabric and ribbons for the table runners.

(thanks to Sandi for the tip on where to get ribbon!)

And a mock-up of what they will eventually turn into (not magically though - I wish!).

I got my batting in the mail today and am working on pillows for the couch so hopefully I'll just keep marking items off my to-do list!