Rouenneries Valentine Quilt

Right now I am on a "use what I have kick".

I have a tendency to buy fabric just because I like it, even if I don't have a particular project in mind.

For example, at least a year ago, I bought a rouenneries charm pack, and immediately after,

 it was buried & forgotten.

Last week I was digging around in one of my fabric drawers and it was rediscovered.

 I still liked the fabric, but what do you do with just one charm pack?

Based on the color palette of this fabric line, and my complete lack of any Valentine's decorations

 for our home, a little light bulb came on.

I cut all of the charm squares into quarters to make the heart and borders.

I didn't have any fabric for the binding.  Since I am in the process of "de-stashing",

I used decorator weight ticking.  I wasn't sure how it would wash up, but it worked perfectly. 

 And, since this is just a wall quilt, the stiffer fabric won't be a comfort issue.

It's a little cheesy, but for Valentine's Day, I think it works.

(Finished product measures 28.5 x 33)

Sunset Basketball

It was warm enough today to shoot hoops outside.

But not actually warm by "normal" standards.

Only warm to energetic 6th graders.

My son was out with some buddies and he came running inside yelling, "Mom, come quick!" 

I jumped up thinking, Oh, no. 

Then he said, "Bring your camera...the sky is prettier than ever."

He was right - so very pretty.

I miss sunsets.  I miss a lot of things.

When you get excited about temperatures in the 40's, you know you've been inside for too long.

I am ready to defrost.  Oh, so ready. 

Zig Zag

A couple of years ago I made this quilt:

My mom has always liked this fabric line (Peace on Earth).  Last time she was over, she mentioned it again.  So,  I finally decided it was time to use that extra jelly roll I've been hanging on to: 

Most of the zig zag quilts I have seen use half square triangles.  I was happy to find a tutorial that used strips instead.

Mom, this one's for you.

Didn't quite finish it time for Christmas, but I'm thinking a quilted valentine might be a good possibility!
(just waiting for the yardage I ordered on eBay)

Washington Part II

(Quinalt Lake)

I am trying to catch up. I already showed you pictures of the beautiful beaches on theWashington Coast, so now I'll share the rest.

 We stayed at Seabrook, a sister community to the place where we stayed in Oregon.  However, we didn't really spend much time at Seabrook - there were too many interesting  places to see up north in Olympic National Park.

We fell in love with Quinalt Lake and nearby waterfalls and hikes:

This is what a lake house looks like in the Rain Forest:

We also loved the Hoh Rain Forest area:

(the massive, moss covered maple trees were absolutely amazing!)

And, since we were in the area...

 (view of the Puget sound from Alki Beach/West Seattle)

Four days wasn't nearly enough time to see everything.  It is such a beautiful part of our country, we would love to go back someday.

* I am starting to see why I ran out of photo storage space :)

Winter Greetings

 (our frozen valley)

It's been a while since I've been here, and I have rather poor excuses to offer. We've been busy, but so has everyone else. Doesn't it always seem like busy is the one consistent word we all use to describe the holiday season? I wish it wasn't so. I would trade it for peaceful. Although, years from now when our children are grown and enveloped in busy lives of their own, I will probably remember with fondness these chaotic years with little ones.

When things finally calmed down enough to post again, I was informed I had used up all my photo storage space with blogger, so I couldn't post pictures (I guess updating our family blog sucked up the last bit of memory). Posting seemed kind of pointless. Especially when considering it was with a promise of more pictures to come that I last signed off. So I stayed away even longer, and have been hibernating instead.  Laying low for a bit is how I best recover from the holidays.
Besides, it has been too cold to go anywhere!

However, I think I have finally fixed my picture posting problem, so I'll  be back again soon, with pictures as promised.  Meanwhile, I hope you all are staying warm!