A Little Update...

This week, I have been:

Reading this book.  It's silly.

Chatting with some girlfriends at a jewelry party for this amazingly adorable company.

Enjoying this show... I'm so psyched that its back!

Having a cold... so watching a lot of this.

Finding a lot of junk in our house, as we continue to pack up our lives to move.  One of my favorite packed-up things? This big guy, who has lived in our common room for a year now!

Using up as much stuff as possible at work so that I don't have to move much to my new room.  Among the things that I'm not moving, this fun little project that my kids adored.

Going out for some ice cream at this little local spot... So sad that we're leaving it behind in the move!

Thinking about how great Moose Room is going to be this year at the Center!  I cannot wait to work with my kiddos again... and meeting some new little ones, too! (Sorry, no link here, just excitement!)

Finishing up lots of things... like the end of a terrific year in Reindeer Room at work (and saying good bye to some of my favorite kiddos... good luck in Kindergarten!), a beach quilt that I started and finished for myself (I'll post pics soon!), and some major packing hurtles (the dreaded dining room closet!).

Planning for the big move to our new home!  I cannot believe I will be sleeping there in two weeks!

Just a little update to remind myself that God is good, life is good, and little lingonberries are everywhere.

House Hunted

It's been a while since I have been on, and to be perfectly honest, its because a lot has been going on in my life and I have been pretty overwhelmed by it all.  I promised myself I would not use this blog to be angst-y, so I think I will just say that for a while, I was seriously wondering how much more I could handle before I just broke down.

But God works in mysterious ways, and I have seen even when I doubt He is near, He is carrying me through.  (It sounds sappy, but that is genuinely how I feel.)

It all started last week when we went house hunting with our realtor on Monday.  We have been looking for about 3 months and have only found really, really, super gross properties  without much luck.  On Monday, we only had plans to look at two properties.  The first was a house in a nice neighborhood with which we were unfamiliar.  The second was a house we had seen before and had initially written off, but we were now willing to look again.

When we pulled up to the first house, I have to admit, I got chills.  The neighborhood was really sweet; the kind of place where there are basketball hoops in the driveway and kids riding bikes in the street.  A Lutheran Church was on the corner entering the neighborhood and I thought how lovely it would be to walk to church on Sundays.  We have typically been looking at the worst house in a nice neighborhood, but this house was different.  It was vey clean and polished looking.

The inside was even nicer.  Hardwood floors, 4 bedrooms... it was truly a great starter home... and potentially more.

There was something even more special about it.  It reminded me so much of my Nana.  The house itself smelled like her.  I could see how much the people who had lived in the house had loved it, just like my Nana had lived in my father's childhood home until she died.  I felt like Nana was watching over us.  One of the really hard things about searching for a house since her death was the thought that she would never come visit us in this house.  But this house put my heart at ease a little; I strongly felt that she was walking through the house with me.

When we left, our realtor told us, "If its meant to be, it will be." On Wednesday, we returned to the house with hubby's parents and the first thing out of my mother-in-law's mouth was, "This house smells so welcoming."

All I could think was, "It smells like Nana."

It seems meant to be.  On Thursday, we put in an offer.  On Friday, after (potentially too much) talking,  we accepted their counter offer.  This coming Thursday, we have a home inspection.  I know that she'll be there, too.

Proof that life is good.  God is good... and little sometimes huge lingonberries are right in front of you.

Getting Life Back with a Few Mini Projects

Two weeks ago, incredibly unexpectedly, and very sadly, my Nana died from complications of leukemia.  In some ways, her death was a beautiful tribute to her life, with all of her children, children-in-law, and grandchildren (and her one grandchild-in-law) around her to say good bye at the hospital and then celebrating her life throughout the week at family dinners, the wake, and the funeral.  However, to say that the loss of her has left me feeling empty, exhausted, and heart sick would be the understatement of the century.  I'm not sure I will ever heal from the loss of her; all I know is that I now have to figure out how to live my life without her in it, and that makes me even sadder than thinking about the loss of her.  She was just that special.

To keep busy over the last few weeks, with her continued illness weighing on my mind and then her death, I have needed some distractions, and so I have turned to my escape, sewing.  I have completed three little projects.

The first was a placemat and napkin set for a girl at my work who got married.  I don't know her that well, but wanted to celebrate her wedding by giving her a "dinner for two."  For the placemats, I used a pattern from Fresh Picked for all Seasons, a book I found tucked away in a local quilt shop.  I think they were simple, but sweet.

I then made some simple napkins (a big square, folded twice on every side and stitched).

Some women at the office are pregnant, and everyone chipped in in order to get them a gift basket full of stuff.  I made some baby bibs as my contribution.  They turned out very nicely, I think.

My husband, who has been wonderful through this whole month and will do pretty much anything to make me smile, thought they made better Noodle capes than baby bibs. (Noodle would be the beloved stuffed dog in the pictures below):

Admittedly, Nana would have smiled, too.

Life is good.  God is good.  Little lingonberries are everywhere.

Mystery Solved

Tonight I finished the mystery quilt featured in the last three McCall's Quilting magazines (buy the magazines here).  This was a quilt that I started in February and, at the time, I thought it would be my first-ever quilt made completely by me. Of course, then I got ambitious for Lauren's wedding gift and made a quilt in the interim... and that quilt was bigger and more challenging, so this quilt seemed a little anticlimactic, but still really fun to finish.  (You can read about the first two parts here and here.)

One thing that I changed from my initial post was the color of the secondary fabric.  I loved the striped fabric that would make up the big blocks.  I had initially chosen a corresponding fabric from the same collection that featured hippie birds with peace signs and trees, but because the quilt didn't really have a purpose (and so, therefore, could end up staying in my life or going to a grown-up person or going to a kid) and since there are not a lot of little girls in my life, I decided to use scrap fabric from my stash that was floral (the small squares above).  I think that it came out pretty nice with the new fabric.

One thing that I did not like about the assembly is that in order to keep the mystery alive, the directions for assembling the quilt were kind of strange.  So for me, that means that not every line matches up the way I would want them to.  This makes me kind of grumbly.  Still, I think it looks pretty cute... here's some proof:

I think that I will hang onto this right now, but I'm going to do some research on places where you can donate quilts, as well.  Maybe somewhere, someone would like to curl up with it.

Until then, this quilt is snuggly proof that God is good, life is good, and little lingonberries are everywhere.

The House Hunt Begins

The hubby and I spent a fabulous sunny Sunday together going to some open houses in search of our first house.  We have been talking about looking for a house together since about February, but up until recently, we have made absolutely no headway towards actually doing anything about that.  Meanwhile, I can feel the walls of our little apartment closing in around me and I continue dreaming of our first little place.

In case you have never looked for a house before, the entire process is completely overwhelming and not very clear-cut.  We spent two months trying to figure out what our first step was (every website and book we could find listed a different "1st Step to Home Ownership").  When close friends recommended a realtor to us in early April, we felt like it was a sign to move forward. Our realtor has been so fabulous (and patient) with us, that we are feeling much less crazy.

With clearer heads and armed with the addresses of homes in our price range, we jumped in our car to spend the day together.  Two of the houses on our list were showing today, so we actually got to go inside.  Another house was supposed to show today... its not really clear why the doors were locked...

There were no clear favorites today, so the search will, of course, continue.  I don't think either of us was expecting to see THE house today, but it was nice thinking of ourselves somewhere new.

As for our apartment, the excitement over looking for a new house has encouraged me to make the space a little less cluttered and a little more livable.  Last night, I revamped our living room and got rid of some miscellaneous furniture taking up room.  It feels roomier now, and we're going to try to keep it that way.  Right now this place is home, and we need to make it feel that way.

Today was a perfect of example of just how good life is.  God is good, too.  And little lingonberries are everywhere.

My Very 1st Quilt... Going to a Great Friend

So... something special is in the air... spring has sprung... and I finished my first quilt (quite an undertaking) for a good friend who is getting married and whose shower is Saturday.  Thank goodness I finished on time.  There was never any doubt that I would finish on time, but still, it's kind of amazing that its done and beautiful!

The pattern I used was the cover of Fons and Porter's Easy Quilts for the Spring 2012 issue and when I saw it, I knew it was perfect for Lauren and Mike!  The groomsmen and bridesmaids at their wedding are wearing steel gray and holding bright yellow, orange and pink flowers.  So this just seemed perfect!

Here are the fabrics I chose:

Then, I cut them to look like this:

Then came a lot of sewing and some more cutting and I created some really pretty flowers, if I do say so myself:

Then came time to piece it all together.  That was one long Saturday before Easter, but it was completely worth it!

This weekend, while on a trip to fabulous Austin, TX, along came the flower quilt to sew the binding.  I think the people on the plane must have thought I was nuts... but only the best people are ;)

Last night, I finished the binding and my husband helped me take some "walking quilted" pictures.  Here they are:

I can't wait to give Lauren the quilt on Saturday!

Life is good.  God is good.  Little lingonberries are everywhere.

Yet Another Pillowcase Frenzy

I promise that I sew more than just pillowcases... however, I have made a handful since I my last post.

My Nana is undergoing chemo for a rare form of Leukemia.  She's a fighter and, although the treatments have left her feeling tired and sometimes nauseous, she has remained a trooper.  I made her a set of pillowcases for days when she just needs to rest her head.  I thought that having something special to nap on might make the exhaustion a little more tolerable.  I also, admittedly, really miss her, and wanted to do something that would remind her I was with her in spirit.  I didn't take a picture before I put them in the mail, but they were brown and purple and made of really snuggly flannel.

My husband's friend's little boy turned four today and we went to a bounce gym to celebrate (a bounce gym is a gym where there are lots of blow-up castles, ball pits, etc.).  We were expecting to just watch the little guy and his friends jump and jive for two hours, but we found out that all of the bouncy blow-ups were suitable for grown-ups, too.  This made the party very fun!

The birthday boy is really into superheroes and villains, so I thought I would make him some superhero pillowcases for his big-boy bed.  Here they are!  Dun-na-nun-na-nun-na-nun-na BATMAN!

The fabric was so cute, but I had a lot left over, and (let's face it) no other little Batman fans around, so I thought I would make him a little pillow to match (I have a secret stash of pillow forms on hand... there's not a good reason why).  I dug through my fabric stash and found matching gray, teal, blue, and orange fabrics for the pillow.  I really just slapped it together last night, but I think it came out so cute!  Here's the finished product:

We had bought the little guy a Batman action figure to go with the pillowcases and it ran us $13! (Can you believe a little piece of plastic costs that much?!)  After finishing the pillowcases and the little pillow, though, I felt like he had a nice gift without the plastic, so my hubby and I were psyched to return the action figure and give him something soft and homemade.  Here is the whole gift:

I think it came out really cute and soft!  I hope he likes them when he curls up at night!

Ah, yes, but 2 sets of pillowcases are hardly a frenzy, right?  Well, I thought it was about time that I made myself some, too (and my husband agreed!) so I have two more sets in the works.  One made for me, which features polar bears ice skating.  It's exceptionally girly, but I love the fabric and I love polar bears.

The other pillowcases are for my husband and the band of the pillowcases (on the Batman pillowcases above, the band is navy blue) will be made from my husband's favorite pair of pajamas... which met their untimely end this year with a big whole in the seat.  I was nervous to cut the band for these pillowcases because I was only going to get one chance for success with them, but it was surprisingly simple.  They are shaping up to be very sweet, actually.

Sewing makes me so happy.  God is good, life is good... and little lingonberries are everywhere.