Steps

In case I forgot to tell you, Daniel took his first steps close to a month ago. He wouldn't take any while we were in SA, but he's picked it up again since we've been home. He took 8 or 9 yesterday, without any coaxing from us.
He also said his first words, Bye-Bye (to Rajan) and Dada (to Tommy).
He'll be 11 months Friday.

Ragged Squares Quilt Finished!

I started this quilt about 6 weeks ago and finished it about 1 week ago. The binding took quite a bit of motivation. I made 2 inch binding, mainly because my only ruler at the time was only 2 inches wide. It was tight to work with, but came out nicely and went faster than the green faux quilt I made.
I didn't post this sooner because whenever Daniel naps I've been working on two other quilts. And since they are both gifts, I can't show you pictures either! One is a Bento Box and the other is a Disappearing Nine Patch. The Bento Box needs to be basted, quilted and bound. And the Nine Patch still needs more squares to finish the top.



This will be for Daniel when he moves up to the toddler bed.













I love how it came out, so bright!












My corners still need some work...











See its progress here. Thanks so much to Crazy Mom Quilts for the tutorial.

Catch-Up

It's been a while. I know. We've been busy. Okay?
On July 3 we went down to San Antonio for my granddad's 80th birthday. My whole family was there. We actually got a picture of it. And Blogger is importing it sideways. Sorry. If you know how to fix that, leave me a comment.




















Then on the 4th, we met my mom in Boerne for a Tea Party. As in Taxed Enough Already. It was... interesting. I think as a Christian Christ deserves our allegiance, not our country. Though I'm sure most in attendance would say that they don't worship America, it sure comes across as worship to me. Tiffany wrote a good blog on patriotism here.














Daniel and I stayed in San Antonio almost a week after Tommy left. We visited Amy and Eleanor. Check out their growth here.
















We also spent a few days with my cousins so my Aunt and Uncle could go on a mini-in-town-vacation-date. We had fun swimming, watching movies, and walking Scottie, the new dog.















































Then Saturday my mother-in-law drove Daniel and I back home and stayed a few days to visit. on Sunday we took a train ride from the Stockyards and visited the Water Garden.














And on Monday we went to the Botanic Garden and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.














We had a great time and Daniel was an excellent sport. But it's nice to be home, where it's childproofed.

Wordless Wednesday

Ragged Squares Quilt

I think I'm in love. With Quilting.
I am working on a Ragged Squares Quilt for Daniel's toddler bed, though I think it will be done well before he's ready for a toddler bed. My strips are sewn, and tomorrow I'll sew them together to make the top. Then I need to make the back, which will be a pieced back with some blue orange flame print! I'm not looking forward to the binding. Not sure what fabric I'll use, but I'm not excited about hand sewing it.
What do you think? Isn't it beautiful?

First

My mom was gracious enough to give me her sewing machine. I am so thankful and so excited. I have wanted to quilt for a while, but am quite intimidated. For years I have loved making collages with magazine and paper clippings. To me quilting is similar, but with fabric. I see how so many women when left unchecked can amass such large collections of fabric.

When mom passed off the machine, she included some fabric. Alot of it was already cut into squares and rectangles. I started Sunday and finished today. It's not exactly a quilt, more of a patchwork blanket. But I am inspired.I'm taking a basic sewing class next week and hope to look into quilting classes sometime.

A received good instruction regarding binding from two other bloggers:
Crazy Mom Quilts - if you have a moment, look at some of her other work, I can't wait to make some of these
Turning*Turning


you can see my binding here, my first ever attempt, so the corners aren't too sharp, everyone talked about mitering, but I never bothered to look that up





one side has all the seams exposed and snipped so they fray and look ragged, this is kinda nice cause if your seams are wonky, no one will notice, but my poor fingers were dying by the end







Daniel gives it the seal of approval

Water Gardens

Realizing that we've only got a year left in Fort Worth I came up with a list of things to do before we leave. Today we hit the Fort Worth Water Gardens. I thought it was pretty neat, and free! Here are a few of my favorite pictures, check out Facebook to see more.

Family Focus

After the wedding... Ignore Daniel's face, the rest of us look great.














We went with the Veltri's to check out the new addition to the River Walk. Thank goodness I had some sunscreen in my purse. My shoulders got burned, but Daniel was safe.



















A proud grandpa lovin' Daniel's new doo!