Stockings to Stuff

I cut out most of the pieces for our Christmas stockings last night, hooray!  I'm using a Simplicity (I think) pattern for it, and these were the SMALLEST of the options, at "only" 14 inches long.  The 19 inchers were a  little silly and the 25 inchers I could fit a small child in.  Not this Christmas, thanks.

I ran out of green.

I also ran out of kitty.  There should be two kitty stockings, but I guess it works having one as the flexible one...I know we'll always have at least one cat and one dog, but the third pet could change depending on how things go in the future.

I'm claiming dibs on the grey one, I think.  I think I'll make the blue/stars one Nick's, and the multiplaid one Grisgris'.  The other two are self-explanatory.  :-)

Design Scrapbook Monday and Friday Night Sew In Report

So I just realized most of my FNSI pictures are actually on the camera that's at home right now, so for now these will have to suffice.  I got all the placemats finished, sewed and pressed all the triangle squares I had started (which is about a quarter of what I'll eventually need) for the colonial quilt, finished the Valentine's top, and basted the Christmas quilt.  Phew!  All that, and it was only a 3 hour night, since I also made cookies and chicken baked in fig sauce (see my cooking blog for yummy details). 

The colonial quilt squares.

The stack of everything completed.

Saturday, I got this in the mail.  That, folks, is 350 4x6 prints from our wedding.  Note it's almost as tall as the base of my sewing machine.  Gulp.  I've since organized them into several piles (friends, family, us, key moments, and misc - horizontal and vertical of each) and have started sorting those piles into a rough timeline (rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, morning of prep, pre ceremony, ceremony, post ceremony, formals, reception...yes, that took a long time).  And then I took a break and went to Micheal's, where I found this:

Feel free to add your own punchline.

3 trips to Micheal's, one trip to Joann's, and 2 trips to Target/Ritz Camera later, I exploded across the couch, in hopes of being less anti social.  This had the adverse effect, as Nick didn't want to touch anything (lest he mess up the system) so he and Kini went and watched TV in the bedroom.  I even put Firefly on to lure them back in, but to no avail.  I wallowed in lonely, nerdy scrapbooking for a solid 4 hours last night. 

I've gotten as far as the morning of prep, and only about a third of the way through that, but here's the progress.  The above picture is actually sideways, but I'm too lazy to fix it right now, sorry.  That's the front cover of the album.

First page.

Rehearsal.

More rehearsal. Love the pictures of my grandmother and her great grandson...too cute, huh?

Rehearsal dinner.

More dinner.

Morning of prep, bride and groom.  You'll notice that, while I was spending 4+ hours getting dolled up, about 3 hours in Nick came by to steal some food and try to get a sneak peek.  He was still in jeans and a t shirt.  Boys have it so easy.

My brother, without whom the wedding would have gone very differently...I may have walked down the aisle nekkid, and definitely without as big a smile.  He's the best brother ever.

While I was scrapbooking, Nick was out making the house pretty.  We have a new banister on the front porch now!  The next step is adding a little fencing to prevent Kini from bolting into the driveway (I predict confusion the first time she encounters it).  Didn't he do so good??  :-)

Facial Hair

Finally got back in the sewing room and made some headway on the mustache placemats from the giveaway...I'm sort of terrible at this blogging thing.  Sorry it's been so long, Keeley.  They'll be shipped this weekend though, I promise!  Tomorrow is Friday Night Sew-In, and that's top of the list (if I don't get them done tonight even). 

Best dog ever.

I digress.

On the docket for Friday night:
* Finishing what's to be finished of the placemats.
* Piecing the back and basting the sandwich of the Christmas quilt. 
* Making serious headway on our Ohio Stars quilt (hoping to get at least all the triangled squares sewn and pressed...that's the worst of it, the pressing.)
* If there's time, maybe I'll finish the top of the Valentine's quilt.  That's still in a box, and I have like 5 rows left to sew together to make it a finished top.  Really should just get that done.  Don't need to baste it or anything, I just want the top done.  Maybe I'll move that up the list some. 

I need to figure out a couple of Christmas gifts too...I want to do more handmade stuff this year, but I'll be honest...I'm a little nervous about making stuff for MOTU's family.  I don't know what kind of precedent to set and all that. 

Oh that reminds me...I should start on Christmas cards too.  I have ideas.  That's another precedent I need to set right.  Yikes.  No pressure. 

Design Wall Monday - Early Christmas

Just a quick post between chores and work.  :-)  Last week I started this top, and over the course of maybe three 3 hour nights, I finished it.  And in my world, "3 hours" accommodates a lot of  "oh look at the kitty" moments, so it was probably more like 4 or 5 hours of actual work.  I haven't decided if I want to add a border or not, but I got material to do so...it's in the wash right now though, so pics will have to wait. 

Anyway, I used this pattern from Moda Bake Shop, but used Crazy 8 instead of Awesome.  Honestly, I kind of like these colors a lot better...I feel like there's more contrast but less busy-ness.  But that's just me.  :-)  Either way, it was a fun and cute pattern, and used up about 98% of the jelly roll, which is awesome. 

 Also, I found a pretty little vase in among the wedding gifts (thanks, Blankinships!) that holds my bouquet perfectly while we're looking for a time capsule box to put everything in.  :-) 

Doing Stuff

In an effort to do something mindlessly creative, I decided to follow my first quilt pattern, and use a roll of Crazy 8's (thanks Mom!) to make this quilt.  I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I like the way it's coming out.  It's a cute Christmasy line, which is perfect for the coming season.  I think I'll call the quilt "Awesome Christmas".

Everything all cut out.

Squares sewn, then sewn in sets of 3. That's as far as I got last night, but I'm hoping to finish the top tonight. Maybe I'll run out and find some Christmasy flannel to use for the backing on my way home...maybe I'll use that as a reward if I go work out tonight.  :-)  Gotta start somewhere.

Quickie Post

Just a quick update between mustaches to throw some pictures at you guys. If you're friends with me on FB, don't worry...you've seen them. :-)

These are all courtesy of the fabulous Margaret Prisco, of Margaret Michaels Photography. In no particular order:

 Worst Sherpa Ever, James Frikkin Brown, and The Boy, all doing the YMCA.  This is maybe my favorite party picture. Except JFB didn't have the horse yet.  That brought it to a whole new level.

 My grandparents and all their kids, together in one place for the first time in about a decade.  I was so unbelievably honored they all made it out for this...it wasn't easy for any of them, but they all made it happen.

 My brother and sister in law.  By definition, they'd have to look good together, since they look like me and MOTU. 

 Ah, there's the horse.  Told you, it's a whole different crime scene here.

 The ring bearer (whose nickname is also The Boy, but in a different circle of the family).  I only posted this because you can't really see much of his face, except the adorable smirk.

 Typical brother/sister shot.  Hello Cha Cha Slide!

 My gorgeous mother in law and mother.  I am such a lucky girl to have these two women as role models. You have no idea.

 The boys, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

 You can't see the bridesmaids trying desperately to hold MOTU up here, but there's a reason we're all giggling.

 Off bonding with the groomsmen.

 Isn't my dad a handsome fella?  This was at the rehearsal dinner.

 JFB walking my mom down the aisle.  He was my bridesman.

 Here we go.  The bridesmaids had a harder time holding MOTU up than the boys did holding me up.  JFB ended up grabbing him in a bear hug around the chest.  Priceless.

 A couple of pages of the guestbook

 Dad dipping my mom at the end of their dance.  I had them go out onto the floor as the "host/hostess" dance, but didn't tell them I'd arranged for the DJ to fake play "Just the Way You Are" then play Annie's Song for real...their DJ over 31 years ago played the former song instead of the latter...so they never got to dance to their first dance song!  Sad!

 The only things that got me through that morning.  Can you see the horrific bags under my eyes?  Post hair, pre makeup.  Yikes.

 The back of mini Helen.

 Jen helping me with the jewelry.  Seriously, as far as in laws go, I'm the luckiest.  :-) She was amazing through the whole process and kept telling MOTU I needed to "be meaner". 

 The artsy dress shot.  Love this dress.

 Demanding a smooch at the rehearsal dinner.

 And giving one before I walked down the aisle.

 MOTU wasn't allowed in the salon, so my mom brought him some of our breakfast instead.

 Our first dance.

 Watching MOTU's sister's slideshow at the rehearsal dinner.

 Fixing my daddy up before I put my dress on.

 Close up of my gorgeous mother.

 Close of up Aunt Margaret.

 An in process shot of the guest book.

 Probably my favorite posed shot, out of all of them. 

 Typical sibling faces.

 And finally, a pretty shot of the rings (and corks from the vineyard). 

Phew!  Sick of wedding junk yet???