Music to my Ears

I love crafting or reading or sewing or just listening while Chad's playing guitar. It's a daily thing that I do not take for granted. I wish Chad had a friend in New England to play with though. He loved having his brother here to play with, and I loved when Katie came to visit and they got to jam.  Chad gets better at his music by the day and I am a proud woman!! I love this photo because it shows two of my best friends making beautiful music together.

I See the Moon

I see the moon and the moon sees me
The moon sees somebody I'd like to see
God Bless the moon and God Bless me
And God Bless somebody I'd like to see.

It seems to me that God above
Created you for me to love
He picked you out from all the rest
Because he knew I loved you best

I once had a heart as good as new
But now it's gone from me to you
Take care of it as I have done
For you have two and I have none

If I get to heaven and you're not there
I'll carve your name on a golden stair
A way up high for all to see
Just how much you mean to me 

This is one of my very favorite lullabies... and yesterday when I was really feeling down, my mom called me to sing it to me. It made me so happy, and so sad. I've been missing my family too much lately. As much as I want to be and am a big girl, sometimes I feel like I did when I was so little and sad to be away from my mom. Of course I am missing a lot of people this time. 

But I am so grateful to have so many special people to miss. If I made a list of everyone I treasure with all of my heart, it would be long and almost endless. A lot of people don't have that. So why the tears? 

I can't wait to take my trip down to Louisiana and hug all of the family and friends that I miss so much. It will be too short, I know, but I will be so happy to see 35+ family members and plenty of friends. One of the reasons that I love this lullaby so much is that it reminds me that God made me for a reason... gave me this family for a reason... and has me here in Boston for a reason. Everything's gonna be alright.

And God Bless the somebodies I'd like to see!

Snow Day... Sew Day!!!

Today we had another blizzard. We got about 2 feet of snow, so work was called off for both of us. I spent the morning sewing (squaring, pressing) while Chad practiced guitar. It was nice for both of us to take it slow and enjoy our breakfast and coffee for as long as we wanted together.

Chad went out first... and decided to make a "snowhawk" on his car. He was proud of it and came in to get my camera so he'd have a picture of it. So funny!!

Dude, where's my car?

 

Thanks to my sister Bonnie for the wonderful hat, scarf, and gloves! They match my quilt :)

 

All I did to get the snow off my car doors was open and shut them.

It was fun to watch the snow fall in big chunks.

Ta-DA!!! There it is (thanks to my sweet man for helping me unbury it)

Here's what we see from our kitchen window.

And now, for all my hard work! I've been doing a LOT of sewing, trimming, measuring, trimming again, and squaring up. It wasn't so bad when Chad was playing guitar- kept my mind off the repetition of this work.

My least favorite part... pressing seams :(

My FAVORITE PART!! (so far)

Here I am piecing everything together to get the right balance of patterns and colors. I promise I didn't purposely match my shirt and socks with my quilt. It just happens to be made of my favorite colors.

VOILA!! My quilt top- unsewn of course. I can't wait to get it all put together. I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me! Just hoping to get it done before our new couch gets here in a few weeks... it will be so cozy to snuggle on my new couch with my 'real' first quilt. 

Stay warm and safe everyone!! Chad told me that 49 of the 50 states have snow on the ground now... all except Florida. Sheesh.

Dress-up clothes, Quilting, Oh-me-oh-my

My first projects of the year (I like to work on things simultaneously) have been very exciting!

I'm making lovely dress-up clothes for a very special soon-to-be four-year-old's birthday. She loves anything purple, soft, and sparkly. Here is a sneak peek of the fabric:

 

The gift also includes some necklaces and a pink, purple, and white feather boa! I'll post photos of the complete pieces and tips for dress-up clothes when I have it all done. This child will look like a princess if I have anything to say about it!

Now for my quilt!! Thanks to some very inspiring and creative women at Quilt Story and Fresh Poppy Design, I am using a tutorial for the pattern. You can see the style of the quilt here. 

I have been very inspired to get into quilting for a lot of reasons, but Heather and Megan at Quilt Story pushed me to do it. It also helps to have a very talented mother and grandmother(s) who have created some amazing quilts as I've grown up, and I feel like I just have it in my heart to follow in their footsteps! Thanks Momma, Granny Peg, and Alee for providing me with beautiful exposure to the quilting/sewing world.

I got giftcards to JoAnn's and Michael's for Christmas from Chad and Mom-R and Dad, so I spent those on starting my quilting tool collection. Then I blew my Saturday night babysitting money on fabric. SO FUN!!! Here are the fabrics- I decided to leave yellow out and add more brown. The fabric on the bottom will be the backing. I'm almost done cutting my squares, so next I'll begin sewing triangles. A LOT OF TRIANGLES!

Part of my birthday gift from my mom is a very special pin cushion- an heirloom that I will treasure for as long as I live.

It may not look like much to you... but inside of this is my grandmother (Alee's) hair! She made it herself many years ago, and says it keeps the pins from rusting. She was a home-ec teacher, so I'm sure she knows what she's talking about. It's kind of strange, I know, but I think it's neat (and makes for a cool story.) So I can't use a pin without thinking of her. She will be 90!!! in March. She is the one who first introduced me to the sewing machine as a kid and was incredibly patient with me as I made doll and Barbie clothes.

So there it is! My fun fabric for my current projects. I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Best,
Sarah

Getting Back Up

Dear friends and family,
OOpps!! I let the holidays take me over and have not updated my blog in FAR too long. One of my new year's resolutions is to keep up with it better.

More than that, I am going to try so hard to make this not only a place for you to see what Chad and I are up to, but to be a light of inspiration to readers. I have a goal to complete one creative project a week (unless it's a BIG project that requires more time) and document my efforts through my blog. I am completely amazed by numerous beautiful women who inspire me on a daily basis through their blogs, and who take time to reveal to the world things that keep them going. So I'm sharing a couple of my goals with everyone. Feel free to give me crap if I don't do what I say I will.

Life is beautiful!! That's for sure! There are so many times that I get discouraged- allowing myself to miss out on noticing the simple things that make life worth while. I got to ring in the new year in Vermont... on a mountain. It was wonderful!

I'm not going to go into details of the holidays yet, but I had a bit of a revelation while (attempting to) ski on New Year's Day. I had not done this since I was 9 or so, and I was nervous as anything. We didn't start on the bunny slopes. Perhaps we should have.

The first go down, I fell and fell and fell. I had trouble getting up. I cried. I complained. I was mad at the three-year-olds zipping past me. I was not enjoying it. Chad was awesome... encouraged me and helped me up. He's pretty great on the slopes, so he had to be really patient with me- instead of satisfying his "need for speed".

I didn't think I'd get the courage to go again, but I pushed past the fact that I'd already twisted my legs in so many crazy ways and fallen in every way possible... and I went for round two. This is after I took a break to let Chad go down alone so he could go fast and not stop to help me every two seconds. Every time I went... I got better and better, falling less with each trip. I was so proud of myself!

 

This is when I realized that this is just how life is! I get excited about things, although incredibly nervous... and it doesn't go the way I anticipate. I fall down, I get hurt, I cry, I think I can't go any more. Then I get back up and go again. 

I owe so much to Chad for being there for me... not just skiing, but everything. I make things miserable for him sometimes when he could very easily go the more fun way alone. But he believes in me, and he encourages me. And he reminds me that I CAN do it!

I was so happy by the end of the day. So tired! But so thrilled by the exhilaration I felt when I was able to stay up and (halfway) control myself.

Sometimes we just need to step back and see things the way they are. Life has its rough patches. I WILL fall down again. But then I'll get back up and get over it. I'll end up with a smile on my face and a feeling that I conquered something. That if I do it again, I'll be better at it.

Life throws stuff at us to challenge us, to make us better, to bring us to the bottom so we know how great the top is. God knows what he's doing when life is tough. That's where EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON comes into play.

I could easily have given up after the first time down the mountain. And I would have hated skiing forever. I would always feel unaccomplished in that area and regret the fact that I tried.

I should NEVER regret having tried something!! (you know, within reasonable limits) Next time I face a challenge, I'll see it from a new perspective. I'll remember how I felt on the slopes when I got used to it and stayed up. I'll have faith in myself and God that I can not only get through it, but I can be smiling by the end of it... with confidence.

With this new year, I challenge you to see hard times as not something to knock you over; rather view it as a contributor to the puzzle your life is. Let it happen- believe in yourself. The pieces will fall into place.

Love Sarah