Getting ready for fall...

These aren't done yet but today the boys, nana, papa, Jason and me got crafty in the name of Halloween! I love this time of year - little ghosts and spiders :) 

Cute kiddo decorations coming soon...

I just need jiggly eyes. And cute lettering... 

So fun! 

 

In other fall news, I finished this pumpkin pillow.

Yay for fall and yay for creating things. I'm on this kick these days - must. make. things.   I need something to distract me ;)

 

 

Xoxo all- CB 

Stars, stars, stars...

I talked myself into making 9 of these bad boys and so far I have 8 done... The 9th star is only going to take me about another hour then I'm onto the struggle of figuring out how to make these stars into blocks. 

I'll get there :) 

Here's the progress... 

 

 

 

 

 

One more to go...

Progress feels good - so does seeing all those little points come together neatly. Oh, and you should see the backs- they're so fine. Always a good thing when you love the back of the block as much as the front. 

Okay nite nite yall- xoxo CB 

1 hour later:

 

Each star takes me about 2 hours to make... 1 hour for cutting, pressing and pinning and another hour for all the sewing. 

That means, you're looking at 18 hours of work on that wall.  So much love in stitches on that wall. xoxo

Lonestar Quilt

I think I should rename this blog to "boys & quilts" because they are how I spend my free time if I'm not eating and drinking my way around San Antonio and Austin! 

The creative junkie in me has started a new quilt. I saw this super cute wall hanging and I decided I needed to figure out a way to make it! 

 

Do you see that one in the middle on the top row? That's the one I fell in love with!

Little did I know how complicated it is to put this thing together... But as with all these projects,  I'm learning new tricks & that helps keep the process fun and fresh! 

This is absolutely precision work. I have to cut the fabric on the bias - it gets stretchy and out of shape really easily if I'm not careful. Then trying to match up the strips on points that are not nesting, basically means I'm sewing them together blind. 

 

There are in incredible amount of intersections and points that have to lineup and I am definitely not a professional in that category but I'm getting a ton of practice! Tons and tons of pins! 

 

I've managed to finish 2 - I'm going to keep making them with the navy blue but change the alternate color. Next up mint or aqua or grass green. I'm thinking stars in ombre colors. We will see! 

And no, I don't know who this one is for. It'll be a surprise :) 

xoxo, CB

 

Barrett's Quilt

Finished on the Summer Solstice - only fitting for my little sunshine. 

Months have gone by and some of the most elaborate quilting I've done thus far... Barrett's quilt is done.

This one is so special - I've never done quilting like this before. I've tried free motion quilting some, but this is something else lovely. It's crinkly and so so heavy with thread and it is so magical that it came out of nothing. Just sheets of fabric, chopped up and then loved on for hours on end and (soon to be) passed along to my sweet little boy to keep him warm. 

I'm such a weirdo to get so excited by all this but after all the cramped fingers, and strained hands and eyes... I am just in love with it. 

Enjoy... 

 

 

 

 

Sweet dreams all - xoxo CB

Drakes party and Father's Day weekend

It's been a busy busy weekend. We drove to Houston to celebrate Drakes 6th birthday.  We started with Mexican food and had some sweet cousin time. 

 

I can't believe it's already been 6 years. Pump it up was a blast. The kids were so exhaustingly happy. 

 

 

Ashley made some award winning cookies:

 

And they all had a great time celebrating the "king!"

 

 

 

 

There was a big group and it was awesome getting to see some of the Alaniz family!  Uncle Fino, Uncle Chy, Aunt Hilda and Valarie all came down to see Drake. 

 

What else... We went swimming yesterday and this morning we took another long bike ride followed by hours of playground time. 

Right this minute the boys are washing off their fresh haircuts by running in the sprinklers and they're playing in the baby pool.   It's been a great weekend. 

Barrett is bundled up with me because he's so cold. Sweetness. 

 

On the drive home I made a tag for Barrett's quilt and soon enough it it'll be done. 

Happy Father's Day all - especially my 2. I love you both so very much. 

xoxo, CB 

Quilty goodness

It blows my mind how much color variation comes from taking pictures in different lights, but I am so excited about the latest quilty goodness.... 

 

This is the first time I've done squiggly lines with free motion and at the very end, it finally started to feel, almost comfortable.  I had cramps in my hands in the beginning and by the end it was much much easier. 

Now the big question is what to do with the borders. I have 3 layers to figure out, which means I'll probably sit and stare at this for another month or two. 

 

Anyway, I'm tickled at the progress and soon enough I'll give up and call it done... And then my little B will have his very own quilt. 

Sweet dreams everyone -

xoxo

Party time!

My boys are turning 2! How did this happen so fast??

I loved the party for the twins... Bug themed and it was so much fun seeing all our friends!

Happy birthday Barrett & Pierce! 

CB 

Blue Jean Monsters

Travis and I have a running joke that The Jean Fairy comes in the middle of the night and puts holes in the knees of his pants. 

He knows it's not a joke but I realize there is very little hope I'll be be able to stop the kid from playing and scuffing up his jeans so I've come to accept (with loud grunting and downward looking faces) that holey jeans are going to be a part of being a boy mom.  

So now, the kids gone through, I don't know 10 pairs of size 4 jeans and I am annoyed with all these crappy jeans. So I got crafty today and this is what happened:

Say hello to the Jean Monster! 

 

I can't wait for him to wear them. I think they're awesome and I'm on the hunt for the next pair to "fix up."

Love them!!

xoxo, CB 

Barrett's Quilt Part 2

Here is Barrett's quilt with borders 

(I'm officially so-uncool... I quilt until midnight onFriday  nights) 

Sweet dreams. I'm off to bed 

CB 

Toddler Quote du Jour

"Barrett! Don't touch the fire ants! They'll buurrnnn you!!"

- Travis 

Toddler Quote du Jour

"Barrett! Don't touch the fire ants! They'll buurrnnn you!!"

- Travis 

Barrett's Quilt

Barrett is getting a quilt!  His process has been the most fun of all the quilts I've ever made - it's a pattern I designed after seeing a picture of a beautiful floor. 

I saw it on the Instagram page of Joanna Gaines (from Fixer Upper) then visited the floor in Waco at Magnolia Farms. 

I really love the Spanish look of it and it's so geometrical, and frankly I've never seen a quilt made in this pattern so I decided to try to figure it out. 

Much sketching later, this is what I came up with. 

As you can see, I was playing around with the idea of filling certain blocks and with Tammy's advise, I decided to keep it all consistent. 

Then came weeks of mustering over colors and the big question of "HOW do I do it?"  Geometry is exact and I didn't want to mess it up. So I waited and waited and finally on Saturday night I just started cutting. I really didn't know how it would look and if I could make it work, but step by step it started to come together. 

There are blocks that don't fit and a lot of sizing errors, but it is coming along really well!  Lots of teenie tiny little pieces blocked together...

Overall, I'm very happy. 

I can't decide yet how big to make it - I really hated wrangling with Pierces quilt but now that it's done, it's kind of great that it is so big. He can really cuddle up with it. 

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you have a great Spring Break week!!

CB 

Crinkly glory

Pierces quilt is finally done! 

Here it is in all its crinkly glory. Can't wait for him to get home and see it. 

Definitely the most complicated quilt I've ever pieced, and much larger than I realized... Which with my home machine is just too difficult to quilt without a long arm. Maybe one day!!

Now the design process begins for Barrett's - woo hoo! 

CB 

Cabin Update

Our little Rockport cabin has been going through some very nice renovations and they're almost done!  

New windows have been put in and the outside has been repainted.  We have done most of the interior touch up painting too and it's getting back to normal!  I can't tell you how nice it is to have windows that open and close and lock.  We've had the windows open and you can hear the ocean... when the boys aren't screaming over it.  Ha.  This crazy life.  

Here's the new color - it's BM Woodland Green and the trim paint is Madison Milk Paint (a custom color for some builders down here.)   The front door will be painted to match the trim - it's darkened quite a lot since we painted it a few years ago and I think it's too yellow looking now.  

Here's what it looked like a couple days ago

On the inside, it's a circus.  

Huggies boats and fancy hats.  That's how we do it down here.  

It's been a wet couple of days so I am so glad we finally got a day of dry so we could get the paint on... Jason's elbow is probably going to fall off from all the painting - he's a trooper and he is FAST.  I am slow, and meticulous - it drives him nuts.  Marriage.  Yep.  

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve and enjoy the last hours of 2015!

xoxo, CB