Monterey Bay

I just realized I did not post about the amazing trip my mom and I took to Monterey. 

We celebrated my 25 birthday by packing up and driving down to Monterey CA for a long weekend. We got to the campsite in the afternoon. It was such a nice place, small and quiet! We set up the tent which should have been video taped lol but we finally got it up. Then we headed to Fisherman's wharf for dinner. We had a awesome dinner with a view of the see lions. Hansel came too and was very interested in the see lions and otters. I wonder if he could understand their barking. That night it was pretty cold but we were nice and toasty in our sleeping bags. Hansel decided that he needed to sleep between us with a blanket over him because he was cold. Poor puppy. The next morning we had omelets in a bag and were off to the Monterey bay aquarium.

We had tones of fun exploring the museum seeing all the different fish and creatures. 

 Hansel was not that interested in the aquariums. 

We walked the whole aquarium and saw everything. 

The next day we packed up the camp site and went tide pooling and walked on the beach. 

It was cold but so peaceful! Defiantly one of the best birthdays!!!

Snowman Quilt

I decided that I needed a quilt for may self and with winter almost upon us I should do a snowman quilt! I got this awesome layer cake from moda fabric called snowman gatherings.

I decided to use a pater I found on moda bake shop http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/03/snuggly-layer-cake-throw.html?m=1

I finished forming my 3 layer blocks and just had to lay it out to see what I would look like.

I am so excited it looks so good. I have a lot of cutting and piecing still to do and then arranging it exactly how I want it but I can't wait to snuggle up with it and as good book with a nice warm cup of tea :-) I love winter!!! I'll post it when it is done!

 

I'm a quilter!

I recently got a sewing machine so I have been playing around with some small projects. I really got it to try quilting. Well with 2 of my friends having babies I needed to get started. I am doing a quilt for each of them. It is super easy I was so surprised! 

First pick out 6 coordinating fabricsin fat  quarters or 1/2 yard. Wash and iron them flat. Square them up in to 18 inch squares, if you can't get 18in squares get as big as you can.

 I got 17 in squares. Once they are all cut stack them up. I cut them by placing one square on top of the fabric and using it as a templet for cutting. 

When they are all stacked cut the pile on the diagonal not directly on the corners. 

Take the top piece of fabrics of one side and move it to the bottom like this. Now sew them all back together again. 

When you have them all put back together again iron the seams open and stack back up keeping the same order as before. Repeat the same cut on the diagonal, move to the bottom, sew together, iron until you have all 6 fabrics on each square an you like the pattern. 

This was my last cut. When you have finished cutting and sewing back together square your blocks up to be as big as possible.

Mine ended up being 13.5 inches square. Lay out your quilt and see how you want it to look.

Then sew all the blocks together. Again all the seams are ironed open. Choose a fabric to be your border. I got a 1/2 yard and cut it in to 4 inch strips. 

I sewed those strips on to my quilt. I did the long edges first then the short edges. Iron the seams open and trip up the ends and you are done with the top! 

I am so happy with how it turned out! Here is another one I did. 

The last step is to finish it and make it nice and cuddly. Pick out your batting I used cotton. Make your quilt sandwich with your backing right side down, batting, and quilt top right side up. Use a spray adhesive to stick them all together and pin in place spiciffically along the places you are going to sew. Then I quilted by stiching I'm the ditch. Starting with the middle ditch and moving out, finishing by going around the whole thing.

Square up your quilt so you don't have batting sticking out and it looks pretty. Then choose your binding. I chose a satin blanket binding. Sew one edge on with the machine on the back.

Then hand sew the front and the corners closed. 

That is it you are DONE! It looks super cute and the mommies to be love them!!!

It is official!!!

It is official that I am going to England next year to study at capernwary bible school!!! I am so excited! I leave September 27th 2014 and I will be living in a castle 70 mi from the Scotland border!!! I can't wait to see how God is going to move while I'm there but I'm also excited to see how he is going to prepare me before I go! 

African Library Project

Part of Arts Camp 2013 this year was the Africa library project. We had the kids bring in and donate tones of children's  books. We sorted and packed 1,996 children's books in 25 boxes to send over!!!! It is incredible what kids can accomplish! God is so good!

Beach Camping

The first weekend of October my family went camping at Dylan's Beach.

It is one of my most favorite beaches! The weather was just perfect! We were celebrating my brothers birthday while we were there. We had a awesome dinner of campfire baked potatoes and hamburgers and s'mores and brownies for desert!!!! 

And of course the doggies came and had a fantastic time! 

 The best part for me was being able to spend some good quality quiet time with God each morning. The beach was quiet and so peaceful. 

It was so fun to see Hansel experience the ocean for the first time. The second night we were there we ventured onto the beach to look at the amazing stars. You could see everything! The milkey way was so bright and it went on for ever. If you looked long enough it felt like you could fall into the stars! It was so incredible. As we were walking back to camp I realized my glasses fell out of my pocket on the beach some ware. We looked with flash lights for a half an hour and finally gave up. The next morning I went out there early and praying God would lead me to them I went out on the beach. In less than 5 min I saw this... 

Praise be to God for answering my prayers!!! He is so Good!!!! 

It was such a fantastic trip to celebrate Drew turning 22 and Hansel turning 1! I love my guys!

Colors in the sky

Last weekend the Hot Air Balloon races came to Reno! It is my favorite event in Reno every year! This year was spectacular as always. About 100 balloons all filling and going up in the sky at the same time. Their size is massive as they fill up on the ground. On the bright clear morning they look like massive stained glass windows taking flight! One of the most beautiful amazing experiences ever! Too bad pictures can not capture the massive beauty of the morning.

This is the balloon filling before dawn. They glow from the fire inside them. 

Seeing all these balloons reminds me how creative God is!