How does that happen....

I get to the end of the month and feel down, disappointed even, thinking that I have not accomplished very much.  Days go by, I eat, I sleep, I do laundry, and I think this will never end...which isn't true so I don't know why I think it.  I feel not the slightest bit motivated to create quilty goodness.

Then I look back (thank you Lynn) to take stock and find that what I thought was idleness was anything but.  Perhaps I've been time traveling with the Doctor....

That is how my month started....check out this quilt.....


...do you see it?  That is the T.A.R.D.I.S. quilted into it.   I love that my friend chose this for her son's dorm quilt.  It was the first of 11 Tops to Treasures quilts that I worked on this month.  (Don't ask me how....I don't know...squaaaa, squaaaaa, squaaaaa...is that the Doctor I hear?)



That would be amazing all on it's own....but there is more.  I also finished several quilts of my own.



Remember these....that was all this month.

AND, as if that isn't enough, I've also been blessed the people of the blog-o-sphere.....


And had another pattern shared on Moda Bakeshop.



Wow!  Thank you God!!

Ta-Done! NOT

Remember this quilt?

I made it last March for my oldest son's coach.

It wasn't the fabric that I originally had planned for the design.  I was hoping to use Reunion by Sweetwater, but I couldn't find it.

Then I went on a Anniversary walk-a-bout with my beloved and scored some.  It has been sitting in a plastic bag in a box since then.

I finished the top last week and quilted it on Sunday.

 

 

 

The quilting pattern is "Wild Mouse" by Anne Bright

Last night I finished adding the binding.

 

 

 

 

I think I love it....but not as much as these guys.....

 

Ben (14), John (16 1/2), Noah (20)  They are standing on a sloap so they look close in heigh...check out the fence behind them to judge their reall height.

 

they are all back in school now.  I am just a very much jealous of the adventure that is ahead of them.  I hate sitting at home and waving good bye as they head out the door.  So, I keep reminding myself that God isn't finished with me yet.

 

"I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion...." Phil 1:6

 

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  Jer 29:11

 

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them."  Ps 139:14-16

 

When did I get so thick headed that it is hard to remember these things....

How much can you stuff in a Hyundai Santa Fe?

A little more....

I think so maybe.....

Oh yeah, there is a ton of room in there.

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Rain, anxt, crabs, and new tools

As I look out my windows I see a lush green neighborhood. If I lived anywhere else it wouldn't phase me a bit. But in Texas...in August....this is not the norm. This time of year things start to look dead, dried up, brittle, burnt, brown. The kids go back to school because every drop of fun has been squeezed from summer like the last drops of moisture from the lawn. This year seems to be saying, "Not yet."

My oldest heads back to college tomorrow. Today is filled with packing, last minute laundry, and anxt. (Maybe that is just cloudy skies and rain on the windows.)

None the less, I have gotten some quilting in....

I have finished this quilt....but have been waiting for a sunny day to take it's picture. (What was I thinking?)

I quilted it in Deb Geisler's Swirling Crabs....isn't it cute?

 

This is the back. I think it is just a pretty as the front.

I've also gotten some new equipment "installed". Remember, I told you that I was going to a quilt show? What I didn't tell you is that I took my dh with me. He is such a geek. (I say that with great affection.). He fell in love with the Martelli cutting system. (Yes, he does help me with my quilting projects. He won't use the longarm, although he will do manly mantenance type stuff. But he does cut, and iron for me.)

I have a new cutting mat! Yeah! This one doesn't warp when you put your hot cup of coffee or lap top on it. We are told that you can even iron on it....but I won't be doing that...not even with these lovely irons. (Although they would do wonders towards increasing my cario work out while I am working on quilts.)

He also bought some great cutting tools. This 8.5" square has a sticky side that keeps the fabric from shifting when you cut. My trimmed squares came out looking like they were lazer cut. I do wish the rulers were see through, or had guide lines on the back to help line things us....but even without them they are amazing.

To give dh a chance to play with his toys I got out an old project and had him cut for me. On Saturday and Sunday, while doing laundry, watching the Little League World Series, and doing last minute school shopping, I worked on this.

Sweetwater's Reunion...and my "#Shit Doc Says" pattern. This is the way I envisioned the quilt to begin with. I have to say.....LOVE IT!

Did you notice the design wall?! Another step in the evolution of design walls without walls! One of my brothers is closing down his business....a photography studio...and was selling off his gear. Dh purchased a z-rack and moved my curtan design wall onto it. The result isn't as large as the other was, but it is much easier to use. I think it might also come in handy when taking photographs....drap quilt over rack....roll into spot lights...you get the idea.

Aside from all that...I've been contemplating the start of a design company....to sell my quilt designs via PDF files. I love giving things away for free....but I need a bigger challenge....

 

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It is that time again....

I can hear the marching band practicing at the high school down the road.

John, my middle son, a Junior in high school, and a lover of football (American for those of you who are thinking Soccer) is up early (5:45 AM) and out the door for two a day practices.  He is taking his little brother along with him.

Ben, my youngest, is now a Freshman in high school and a member of the student athletic training team.  The teams practice in the wee hours of the morning to beet the Texas heat, a great idea, however, when I get up at 7:00, the house is quiet and empty.

Weird.

In another week my oldest will be headed back to college.  Noah is always a joy to have around...but he has seemed out of sorts.  Poor guy has spent much of the last month and a half with his mouth either numbed up or recovering.  Last Friday he had 5 teeth extracted (4 wisdom teeth and a molar that got in their way.)  That combined with suddenly realizing you are an adult makes life a bit different.  I remember the feelings and try to help where I can, but know it is his to figure out....which he will.  In the mean time I let him sleep and heal and dream of the day when he will not be my broken boy, but a man in his own right.  I can smell it on the horizon....or maybe that is just his dirty laundry.

Noah turns 20 in September.  That is weird too.

It has occurred to me that this will be the first time in about 14 years that I haven't gotten up with my boys to see them off to school.  I am used to them driving themselves...Noah drove his brothers for a couple of years and now John is.  It is the hour that they leave that has me balking.  Ya, I could get up at 5:30 in the AM, I could do a lot of things....like dye my hair orange and wear plunging neck lines....but I don't think it is going to happen...any of it.  I do however, look forward to greeting them when they get home in the afternoons.

Back to school has always been an exciting time of year for me.  I love buying school supplies.  I love organizing lockers and notebooks.  I love learning new things.  I LOVE the change in the weather.  This year I feel ambivalent.   I no longer look at those long stretches of time all to myself and think, "oh the things I can get done."  I am pondering what next.....

Hmmmmm .... maybe I should make a list.  What would you put on that list?

Still trying to wrap my head around it....

My dear husband will tell you that this is classic Cindy.  Put an event on the calender, plan to attend, make all of the necessary arrangements and then balk at the last minute.

I didn't want to go on Saturday, but I did.  Now, I would highly recommend the experience to anyone visiting Dallas.

The Dallas World Aquarium is amazing.

Dallas Texas in August is not the sort of place you want to visit. It is hot, and hazy, and did I mention hot?

The city is like a huge concrete slab baking in the hot summer sun.  The skyscrapers, monstrous glass buildings that stretch toward the sky reflect all of that heat back into the city.

To say that the following....all housed inside one of those very buildings...was mind boggling, is an understatement.  Check it out.....

Hello, glad you stopped by.....

taking a dip in the penguin pool....oh so refreshing. 

You say it is hot outside?  Really?!

Sticky orange tree frogs

Shark boy!

The shark tank had a tube through the middle that you had to walk through.

Looking down below the walk through I could see even bigger sharks and rays.

A rattler.....eeek

His unconcerned neighbor.

I really think this one was stuffed.

Silver fish the size of dinner plates.

Pink flamingos....such pretty creatures.

A tiny ray

Wouldn't it be nice to have this in your living room?!

He was in the trees on an island at the bottom of the falls.

 The otter pool was one of my favorite spots....although it was a bit crowded...

A black necked swan - swam around in the pool beneath the water fall.  Down below there was a manatee. (That big grey blob with the white splotches on it.)

At the end of the day I was still amazed that this is all inside, in the middle of a big, busy, hot city.

I wonder if it is cooler if you drive around in a car like this one?