summer soccer

Warming up for soccer on a cool, wet summer morning 

on a field nestled in the hills and surrounded by farms.

In my rearview mirror I see dark looming clouds

and am thankful for a front row parking spot with a view of the field

 in case of rain. 

Big puddles surround the field 

and stop balls that miss the goal. 

Planes fly low overhead on their approach to the airport, 

one after another.

Last week sun and a swarm of bees, 

this week rain and planes.

Summer Soccer in the NW!

RW&B scrap quilt

I started this RW&B {red, white & blue} scrap quilt yesterday using fabric I already had in my stash. It was a bit challenging since I really like to use fabric patterns that are a little more coordinated, however, the goal of this project was to use up some of the fabric I have accumulated over the years which will make this a true  
scrap quilt.


✂ ✂ ✂

I am using the Fourth of July FREE Scrap Quilt pattern recommended by my mom and found here. I haven't decided yet if I will make it a 60"x72" lap quilt, as the pattern shows, or change it into a 60" square to use as a tabletopper. Once I have all the squares finished I will figure that out
but for now
it's back to piecing.


✂ ✂ ✂

Tropical Island Cake

I made this Tropical Island Cake for a Hawaiian themed birthday party for our daughter. 

The sand on the "beach" was made with crushed graham crackers. I made 7 minute frosting for the "ocean" so that I could form the waves. Lifesavers served as "inner tubes" and I used Fruit Stripe Gum for the "beach towels/chairs". The palm trees were saved from one of our boys dinosaur cakes which I reused for this cake.

A little 

taste of Paradise

for a 

special birthday!

milk & cookies

peanut butter bars and milk

add a little sunshine

to a 

cool and cloudy summer day

★ ★ ★

  from my list of one thousand gifts

::reset buttons::moving college kids home for the summer::a full house::the return of warm, sunny days::celebrations::evening walks 

picture perfect day

 We spent a fun morning in the country with professional photographer Alyssa Jul. While Alyssa was taking photos of our daughter I wandered around and took a few of my own pictures.

The barn served as a dressing room for a few quick outfit changes.

A beautiful day and location 

for a  

photo shoot! 

Happy Flag Day!

A sunny & fun first day of 

SUMMER VACATION!!!

Gooey Butter Cake

I think this recipe has been around awhile but it is new to me. It was given to me this morning by my mother who highly recommended it so I proceeded to make it immediately after lunch. Our daughter was home early from school today after taking her last test, so to celebrate the end of the year we each had a piece as soon as it had cooled {actually, it was still pretty warm...we couldn't wait}. We both agreed it was  melt~in~your mouth delicious! If you like "rich" then you should try this. I decided to cut it into large squares since it is called a cake but bars might be a better size, although, you might have to have another and maybe one more. 

This is a quick and easy dessert to make and would be especially handy when you're pressed for time. 

Gooey Butter Cake

1 Cake Mix {yellow or white}

1 egg

1/4# butter, melted

• Mix well in mixer
• Pat into 9x13" pan

8 oz. cream cheese

2 eggs

4 C. powdered sugar {1#}

• Mix well & pour over crust
• Bake @ 350º 40 minutes

Happy 

Last Day of School!!!

from my list of one thousand gifts

::clean/organized bedrooms::empty backpacks::celebrations::good news::happy memories::hard work::white roses::the smell of something cooking on the BBQ::the person flipping burgers::funny glasses::friends helping friends::

Grad Gifts

Personalized GRAD Pillowcases

I made this Grad Pillowcase for our niece who graduated from high school last week. I chose fabric that coordinated with the beautiful flannel quilt her grandma {my mom} made for her. This is the seventh flannel graduation quilt mom has made so far. She has made one for each grandchild and is now in the planning stages for the last one. 

left: I used fabric scraps from the quilt {top} to choose the pillowcase fabric {bottom}. 

right: the Grad Quilt in progress ~blocks arranged on the quilt wall in Mom's sewing studio

top: finished Grad Quilt

bottom: Grad Quilt & Grad Pillowcase shown together

These are some of the other Grad Pillowcases I have made.

Other pillowcase details include photos and messages on the back of the cuff and on my nieces I added a photo label which I put on the inside of the cuff. The quilts are also all personalized with their names, important dates, sometimes events/activities and always a special label.

Made with{sew much}LOVE!

♥

Grad Cards

My favorite thing about making cards is that I can personalize them. 

This year for graduation I created subway art cards which included graduation information plus the name of the graduate. I also designed my own paper to use to line the coordinating envelopes. A very fun project!

Also, 

I couldn't resist including this photo I took at the grad party yesterday. A beautiful day for an outdoor party!