instagrams and some thoughts

- having money is amazing. spending our tax return is one of the best feelings ever. does that make me shallow? don't get me wrong, we paid off a good chunk of debt first (so close to being debt free!) and put some into savings. then we partied. we each got a chunk for ourselves to spend on whatever we fancied. i'll post my purchases later.

- hung wallpaper this week. it wasn't too hard, and the result is the sexiest room ever! now i need a                          bed skirt and some night stands for the guest room.

- had a much needed date night to sushi and clothes shopping for husband. during conversation we both agreed that the past 6 months have been one of the hardest of our marriage. not marriage-threatening hard, but just re-assessing how to meet each others needs and such. could this be the seven year itch? marriage is hard.

- haven't been doing so hot on ww. need to jump back on the wagon. this week baby! i want to get to a certain weight before my new york trip in april. that way clothes shopping will be less traumatic:)

- also planning a trip to virginia beach in may for memorial day. excited to see my brother and his family. also hoping to make it to arlington to see mark's grave.

- starting my third quilt on my list. after that's finished, i need to finish carter's and start one for paisley.

- daffodils are blooming everywhere and they make me so happy. remind me of my childhood in the perfect way.

scarlett olivia

i don't have any words for how precious my new niece is.

david's sister, jackie birthed a perfectly beautiful, sweet, baby girl and we are so excited for her!

here's her quilt in the works:

and here it is finished:

once again, my pictures are way off. i had to take them at night so i could send it off early the next morning. sorry! the colors are so amazing in person. all of the fabrics are from my scrap pile and i love the mix of patterns! jackie isn't too girlie, so i hope she likes a baby girl quilt that's more diverse than purple or pink.

i found the backing fabric at joanns and quilted it myself with simple straight lines.

the binding is a coral color with small white dots.

i know i always say how much i enjoy making each quilt, and this one was no different.

in fact, there's something about going through my scrap fabric that makes me really happy. i can look at each square in this quilt and remember what past quilt i used that fabric for. and each past quilt brings memories of what i was doing in my life at that time and who i was making them for. i love that.

so here's to jackie and sweet baby scarlett.

love, your aunt shay shay

instagram

instagram is obviously my new favorite app. i love my real camera, but there's something about picking up my phone to snap a quick picture in the moment. you see, my phone is ALWAYS on me, and my camera is usually upstairs, or somewhere else inconvenient. i really treasure these snapshots. 

in other news:

- husband got his old schedule back. yay for days!!
- tax return should be here any day. par-tay!
- k had his first (and hopefully last) lesson in stealing. toys from school.
- didn't run for over a week and felt it when i resumed. i really need to keep that consistent.
- i'm craving a vacation. to new york.
- i have really great friends here and i count myself really lucky.
- scarlett's quilt is almost done!
- i have so many projects in my head that it hurts.
- husband put me on a tight budget. it's about time we crack down, although it'll be excruciating.

nicole's quilt

a good chunk of my high school friends got married this last year. yay for them! now they all just need to start having babies so i don't feel like such an old lady:) i've known nicole since 7th grade and i have fond memories of staying up late talking about matt trettin. that boy stole her heart freshman year of high school and he's had it ever since. that's right people, they've been together for over 12 years! they both saw me through many boyfriends, stupid mistakes, and lots of fun. i love those two. they had a beautiful wedding in california in september, which i unfortunately couldn't make. need proof? check out this amazing wedding video!

their wedding colors were purple and orange, so i went with those for their wedding quilt.

i decided on some wonky block with white sashing in between:

the pictures aren't amazing, but you get the idea. i didn't know it would be so difficult to find cute orange and purple fabric! apparently they aren't the most popular colors. they should be though, because look how cute they turned out together. for the backing, i asked nicole if she wanted to incorporate the fabric she used on her tables, so she sent me 4 cloth napkins worth and here's how the back turned out:

i love the quilt, but had a very difficult time quilting it myself. i did about a gazillion horizontal straight lines. i just can't seem to figure out centering the back when i quilt myself and basting is a mess for me! the quilt sandwich is never pulled taunt enough!  anyone have any tips for me?! 

besides quite a few mistakes on the quilt, i loved the color combination inspired from nicole and matt's wedding and hope they will enjoy it. so sad i couldn't make their wedding, but i feel so lucky to have known them as a couple from the beginning. congrats you two!!!

i pretty much love my friends

cari, jessica, katie, chelsea, me, and jayme

jessica's birthday dinner 

feb 2012