spring green

Wow, it's really been a long time since I posted and I bet you've been wondering what I could possibly be doing. Well, I think I mentioned that my sewing machine has been calling my name, missing me . . . so we have spent the last couple of weeks getting thoroughly reacquainted. Suddenly I've taken on some huge projects; the first being recovering our really awful looking, but very functional sofa. I wish I had taken some "before" shots so you could appreciate the transformation. It once had a really nice white, professionally made slip cover that I ended up having to throw out after a few years of dog and babies and bleaching it so many times that it disintegrated. The original cover is covered in various stains and such and a few large tears. So here is our new and improved couch!

The cushions I actually did sew; and the arms - the bottom and back I covered using my new handy dandy staple gun ( that was really fun; I highly recommend it). It is very very far from perfect but I think it looks pretty decent if I may say so myself. But man what a work out. I used a heavy duty duck cloth in hopes that it would stand up to our family's wear and tear and it was a real beast on the sewing machine.

It has been great practice, however, and has made my next project seem comparatively simple. I'm now in the midst of piecing together my first quilt!! I finally started a quilting class last week and our first assignment is a patchwork quilt top with at least 64 six inch squares of at least 5 different fabrics. So far I've done 80 - which I thought would be it, but I decided today to add another row all the way around to try to make it close to a double bed size quilt.

Honestly, I'm in heaven. The quilting thing is great because I get to play around with fabric and color, my most favorite thing right now. Funny, I used to spend all my free time reading cookbooks and cooking magazines and trying out recipes - now I'm only interested in quilt patterns, fabric designers, and embroidery videos on YouTube. At some point I'll try to tie it all together. It just feels good to be learning and doing something entirely new.

Other than that, we've just kinda been horsin' around, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather (despite the allergies that come along with that.)

I'm glad I could document some proof that these boys can actually be sweet to one another every once in a while. Sharing apples on the the playground . . . I relish these moments.