Spring Crafting

I'm happy to report that my crafting mojo is back! However, my usual antics of starting multiple projects at once and flitting from one project to another is also back. Ah well, that's just the way I am. As the summer approaches, and the thought of Pat being home full-time for three months comes with it, I am constantly adding on to my "to do" list. My greatest desire is to really make this house a home and add my personal "Katie" touch to each room with handmade items. There is also some dark paneling that really needs to be painted over! So, I see much painting, sewing of curtains, and quilting of wall hangings in my future!

There are also several birthdays coming up! Ben's is May 3rd (I can't believe how quickly this year has passed!), mine is May 7th, and Matthew's is June 4th. I purchased some "Very Hungry Caterpillar" material to make into wall hangings for Ben's room, plus have plans for birthday decorations and a birthday crown for each boy. My goal is to make a (simple!) quilt for Matthew for his birthday, but I don't want to get ahead of myself too much yet. :)

Several weeks ago I received boxes of back issues of quilting magazines, fabric, and miscellaneous patterns from my mother-in-laws collection. I have since spent the weekends going through and organizing it all. The following picture is what my corner of the office/hobby room looked like on Friday (I have since cleaned it up fearing my husband would divorce me):

In one of the boxes were many small fabric scraps. I couldn't bear to throw them out, so I started investigating Crazy Quilting. I am really enjoying the handwork involved, as well as the endless possibilities of patch placement and embroidery. Coincidentally, I went into our local quilt store on Friday and was told there is a Crazy Quilting class starting next Saturday. There was one more spot left, so I signed up right away--an early birthday present to myself! :)

(Aren't the little apples so sweet?)

I've also started an afghan that was meant to go to a very special person to celebrate his college graduation a year ago. Oops! Hopefully I'll finish it by Christmas...

Spring Break

Last week we went on our first family-of-four trip to visit family in Tucson. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and it was great visiting with our loved ones. I'm also happy to report that we all survived twenty hours in the car together! We tried to time the longer drives during naps, stopped plenty of times, and enjoyed listening to sing-alongs and read-alouds (courtesy of Barefoot Books). It was fun to do something different and get out of town, but I always enjoy coming home.

Of course I took some projects along for the ride, but I honestly hardly did any handwork at all. I was afraid that I lost my crafting mojo until I started looking through some of my mother-in-law's back issues of quilting/crafting magazines (my husband rescued them from the house before my FIL threw them away). Even though the magazines are anywhere from ten to thirty years old, there are some things that are simply timeless. I've been especially inspired by the quilted wall hangings and table runners. Perhaps there is some sewing in my future...

Family pic in front of the Catalina's (Matt was having a bit of a rough time)

Ben had just stuck some wood chips in his mouth--the little stinker!

Matthew loved playing in his uncle's trailer. There were many tears when it was time to leave.