Counting Down, Negotiations, and more

It seems like we're constantly counting down to something...2 days till I pick up the popcorn for delivery...12 school days until Christmas break...22 days till Christmas...29 days till the launch of another (possibly 2 more) blogs. All this counting down seems to take up a lot of time, which I seem to have very little of lately.

A couple of projects I've worked on over the last few days:

Taylor's quilt.
I'm almost done, I just need to get some more red bias tape to finish the edges. For any professional quilters out there, please don't scold me if using bias tape is unacceptable in quilt making! I tend to just make things up as I go, and 1/2 double fold bias tape is what I'm using because it's easy! I'm not sure if this could be considered a quilt, or just a blanket. With the exception of the toile fabric, I used navy, light blue, red, and cream colored sheets for the top, a white sheet for the middle layer instead of batting, and a red sheet (navy for Landon's) for the back layer. Total cost averaged out to about $20 for each one, and I still have plenty of fabric left over for other things!

Isn't Gretta (the green sewing machine) beautiful? I'll have to take a better picture and introduce her properly.

The other project I finished was a quick one. I have a small collection of thimbles, and have been looking for a way to display them. I have an old window from the farm hanging in our living room with tin frames on either side. So, I decided to try and make a "window sill" for my thimbles to sit on. It was hard to match the color, but I came close enough, I think!


If you're curious the pictures in the frames are as follows: Left frame top to bottom - windmill from the farm, the boys in their overalls a couple of years ago, and one of the autogates on the road that leads to the farm; Right frame top to bottom - fence at the farm, the boys' 2006 summer photo, the chair I'm in love with!

And a closer view of my thimbles (and yes, that is a dead dandelion on the window - it was a gift from Landon). Not that you can really see any details, but they are from left to right: Platte River Road Archway, Seattle, Ruby Red Slippers, Eisenhower Museum, my grandma's, my great-grandma's, Canada, Tijuana, Oregon Coast, and the Greyhound Hall of Fame.

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We live in a very small house. It has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, an eat-in kitchen, a living room, and a creepy basement we use only for storage. We could easily fit 3 more of our houses in our gigantic yard, though! The boys decided they want to share a bedroom, which leaves 1 bedroom open. For the last couple of years, this has been known as the "computer room" or "dad's room" because this is the room that Jeremy has all his crap. He has recently realized how nice it would be for all of us if I had my own craft room. Right now, my sewing table is in the living room. It's actually a pretty decent sewing table that we got from Wal-Mart a few years ago. When it's all closed up, it looks like an actual piece of furniture. Look here for pictures of it.

Anyway...the other day, my wonderful husband said that he's been thinking about giving up his man cave so that I can have it for a sewing/craft room. (Happy Dance!) But, he wants me to get rid of the piano so he can have a recliner in the living room. (thud!) I will NOT give up my piano. No way, no how. However, I did point out to him a few other places where he could stick a recliner - two of which are actually in the living room. He's been thinking it over for the last couple of days, and I'm cautiously optimistic that I may finally get my own sewing room!

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Now, I NEED YOUR HELP!!! I have figured out all of our Christmas gifts for this year except one. I have been wanting to make as many gifts as possible this year, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what to do for my 1-year-old nephew. He has more stuff than any child could possibly figure out what to do with. I made him a nice warm blanket for Christmas last year, so that's out, and I've looked through my craft & sewing books, but haven't had much luck. I thought about making him a stuffed turtle (he used to stick his pointy little tongue out all the time, so he was nicknamed "Turtle Tongue" for a while), but other than that (and possibly a t-shirt that says "Aunt Heather ROCKS!), I'm clueless. His sisters are each getting an apron, a crayon roll (filled with crayons), a sketchbook, and a bag to put it all in.

Any suggestions?