A Friendly Visit

I finally had a chance to visit a friend a couple weeks ago. It was so nice. We used to live not even 5 minutes from each other when our kids were smaller. We used the same curriculum for them and often ended up at each others' houses by the end of the week or day, whichever was most needed:0)

She is my best friend, but over time we have (literally) moved away from each other and our lives and responsibilities have change and we find ourselves going longer and longer with out having a chance to see one another or even talk. We only live an hour away from each other now, but I'm usually only able to make time once every few months to go see her - she has 3 kids still at home plus 2 she is fostering and I live in a 700sq ft home, so coming to me is a bit harder!!

A couple weeks ago we had planned to start school, but the weather the week before had been so wet (as in flooding) that my dd hadn't been able to play outside much and we ended up stranded at home for the whole week. We did start school that next week, but instead of starting on Monday, we waited until Thursday. We went to a movie, shopping and out to lunch one day, had a day at home to finish up planning for school, and...

FINALLY had a visit at my friend's house:0)

It is amazing how we can go so long without seeing each other, but as soon as we're together, it's as if we had never been apart. We just pick up the conversation and the time flies by. She is a wonderful friend and an incredibly giving person. I have to admit that when she went into respite/foster care, I was jealous. I wanted to do that too (for various reasons, it isn't possible right now) and as she talked about it and planned for it I was struggling with trying to find my place to help.

In the end I did decide what I could do that might bring a little comfort to the little ones that go in and out of the program she works with. I could make blankets. It's a small thing to do, but something that I do have time for in my life right now, so that's what I'm doing.

I wanted to have the 2 blankets done that I had been working on before I went to visit her, but I wasn't quiet done with the second one. Thankfully I had time to work on it while I was at her house, so I was able to give them both to her that day.

The second blanket that I finished, a girly one:)

Both the 1st and 2nd blanket. One for a boy, one for a girl.

She's not sure yet who will receive these. I told her to do whatever seemed right to her. I had also hoped to get more of these done this year, but I have another in the works, and am hoping to do at least one more before the end of the year:0) It makes me happy to know that even though I can't do something big to help out, like being a foster parent, I can do something small like this.

Queen Of Hexies (Not I!!!)

 

Another wonderful blog hop idea from the BLOG HOP QUEEN herself... Madam Samm. This hop has been hosted by Debby, who has done a wonderful job of encouraging us and keeping us all organized!! Thanks ladies for all the work you do!!

 

Okay, on to my project. I have to make a confession here. I chickened out big time with this. I had a big project in mind for this. I even went out and bought all the materials that I would need for it. Then I waited and waited. The hexies scared the 'hex' out of me:) In the mean-time I found a cute little 'cheater' project that I wanted to try out.

 

Found inspiration for this project at THIS blog.

 I really liked this idea, but when I went to check it out on the owners blog, I couldn't read anything on that blog:) I'm not even sure what language that is. So while it looks like the original was made with fabric and sewn on, I really cheated and used felt and glued it on. You can't see it, but the white has glitter in it and it is so cute!!! I did sew up the ornie and added the ribbon.

 

Way too late in the game (like this past weekend) I found another little hexie project that I figured I could give a try. I knew I wouldn't get this one finished in time (actually it'll work for the next blog hop, so I'll be showing off the finished project soon), but I did want to show that I figured out how to make the hexes and that I actually enjoyed doing it. Now to start sewing them together!!! We'll see how that goes:)

 

Thanks for taking a look:)

 

Here is the line-up for the rest of today's bloggers...

 

We Shall Sew  

  

Life@RuffHaven

Pieced Brain  

   

Den Syende Himmel 

   

Creatin’ in the Sticks 

   

Meadowbrook 

   

Sandra Kaye Designs  

   

Let’s Patch it Up 

   

Sew Many Yarns  

  

Around the Homestead 

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much

 

HO HO HO!!!

Oh, how excited I am to show off what I've been working on this past month. First a HUGE thanks goes out to Madam Samm of Sew We Quilt and Carol (she was our Christmas 'Carol') of Just Let Me Quilt for working with us and coming up with these wonderful and fun blog hops!!!

My project was another Pinterest find. This pattern is free for the taking (or the making) and can be found at Red-Brolly. The designer is Bronwyn Hayes. It is such a cute and simple design, and easy to put together too!! Also, take a look around this site because there are SOO many free designs and they are OH SO CUTE!! :)

I chose to take on a learning project for me this time. First I wanted to do something with embroidery as I am just learning to do this. I have to say that I really am enjoying my embroidery projects. It is so nice to pick up some needlework and not have to have the chart nearby.

Then I wanted to make sure I learned a few new stitches. This project had the running stitch that I had been using, but also had straight stitches, satin stitches, blanket stitch and herringbone stitch. I'm pretty sure I didn't do the satin stitch correctly. I couldn't get it to look right without outlining it first, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I'm also pretty sure I didn't get the corners right with the herringbone stitch, but again, for my first time with it, I'm happy:)

This project took me a bit more time than I figured on so I just finished sewing on the patches tonight. My intent was to make this into a wall hanging for the holidays, and I had just enough time to finish it up, but then realized that I left the backing fabric in the bedroom and my hubby had already gone to bed:( Oh, well!! I made sure to fold it over so that it would look just like it will once it's made into a wall hanging so you could see what it will look like all finished up.

Please visit all of today's HO HO HO bloggers...

August 7

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio

From This to That

I Like To Quilt Blog

Leah @ L3designs

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much?

Just Quilt It

Meadowbrook

Peanut’s Patchwork

Around the Homestead

Feathered Nest Studio

In The Boon Docks

MO Broker, My Creative Side

August Monthly To-Do List

Wow, the month of July just flew on past. The County Fair has come and gone, and what a long but fun week that was, and school is just around the corner. I really didn't get much done this month, again, so I will need to refocus and try, try again to get my goals completed!!!

Here is what I got to last month...

1. Got the quilt top all put together.

 

2. Took dd to one extra activity each week. We've gone to a public pool, a water park, a movie and a whole week of the county fair.

 

Umm, well, that was all:) 

 

My goals for this month are...

1. Finish and post Ho Ho Ho blog hop projects.

2. Start, finish and post Queen of Hexes blog hop projects

3. Sandwich and start quilting on my patriotic colored quilt.

4. Stitch and sew up a couple ornies.

5. Finish the embroidery on my 2 birds piece.

I should probably stop there as I'm sure I won't quite get all this done as it is:) Here's to hoping I can stay focused and get some of these projects finished up!!!