Oldies but goodies

While I was at home in Chicago, I had the chance to take some better photos of the quilts I made for my dad and sister in 2007.  I love going home at taking the time to pour over them again, studying, remembering, reliving the making of both quilts.  It's different then seeing the quilts I have around my house that are just part of the backdrop of my daily life.  I miss these quilts, but I'm happy they provide color for the backdrop of my parents' house.

Crosses - front:

Crosses - back:

I loved this fabric and I'm so glad I used it here because if not, it would probably still be in the stash..

Comfort Star for Lori:

This was my first attempt at crumb blocks, and "making" fabric for the 9 patch center:

a close up.  I could stare at this quilt for hours:

Whenever I go home my sister patiently listens as I retell her about every patch in her quilt.  Where it came from, how long I had it, if I used it anywhere else.  She is so patient with me.  I guess she has the patience of a quilter, but she has the gift to spend it on people instead of fabric and stitches.

It's good to be home

so good it seems, that I'd rather be cleaning, sorting, playing, sewing, cooking or just enjoying my home and my family than playing catch-up in blogland.  you know I haven't even signed into facebook in weeks?  Some times real life is just too much fun..

The munchkin and I have been working towards finishing another quilt, one for George this time.  It's adorable when he walks into the sewing room and says, "It's a quilt, for ME!"

Vay-Cay

Dee said she wanted to see some pics from our "vacation" (funny to call it that, 5 weeks is a long time to be on vacation), and I was caught a little off guard, I hadn't been planning to post any.  I guess in my head I'm so wrapped up in quilty thoughts that it didn't occur to me to share the scenery from this corner of the world. 

But, I guess it wouldn't hurt..

George at the beach in Nea Makris

An evening stroll

The view from the car as we drive from the house to the beach (little winding mountain roads; this year we discovered that George gets carsick..)

Is he too young to appreciate the sunset?  That's why I take pictures..

ok, that's all for the first installment.  I'd love to promise I'll post them all on flickr, but honestly, I don't think I'll have the time.  All free time must be spent sewing to preserve sanity.  Sometimes 5 weeks with the inlaws can really focus a girl on her quilting...

Video

In case you were wondering what we do in Greece for Easter..



And our cousin said, "Just don't make him a real Greek, ok?"  I guess he meant one who dances traditional dances?  It's strange though, because I know a lot of very real Greeks that don't do that.. hmm.

Home is the most important place in the world.

thanks IKEA for reminding me.

Things have been different around here since my MIL came to stay with us at the start of February.  I'm definitely appreciating the help, but I'm not in any sort of pattern or routine anymore and this makes me a bit insecure and uncomfortable.  I just don't seem to be in control, and I'm not getting as much done as I used to.  Oh well, we all have trade offs, no?
I was thinking about it a bit more today as I started packing for our trip to Greece and I realized that when I'm home alone with George, I have a lot of things going on in my mind, but they're all figured out and in some sort of order.  When he's down for a nap (like now), I can run back and forth and mentally check things off my list, or sit down and physically check things off my paper to-do list (do you keep one?  I have a big notebook and whenever most of the things are crossed off, i start a new list.).  When I'm on my way here I'll drop that off, if I'm going upstairs, I'll take that with me.  If I go to check my email, I'll bring these cans to the recycle bin in the office.   If I'm paying bills I might as well sort some filing then too.  But this system of home organization often means that there's piles of stuff in places until my daily movements give me the chance to shuttle them to where they belong.  It works for me, but having someone else in the house has disrupted my balance a little.  I do more chatting and less shuttling.  The result- I bet she thinks my house is a mess!  Anyway..

So, I had intended to write this post last week and I have another post floating around in my head that I hope I can get written down before we board the plane on Thursday.  If not, maybe when I get back.  I went to a quilt show over the weekend.. lots to see, do, and think about.  I really want to share..

But George just got up and has come to find me, so I'll end now with a final house and thank Jen for turning me into a house-block addict.  I made this one for her month of the Rosey Little Bee.

January 12

We had a very wonderful, restful and peaceful Christmas followed by a relaxing week at home and a fun filled trip to Virginia for the New Year.  Photos were taken, snowmen were built, friends visited & I even got to a quilt shop.. All posts I could have written but probably never will.

Now George and I are in Chicago and my father is undergoing his second surgery in the past 5 days.  I don't have words to really describe this past week, and the cute photos of George my sister has been taking don't really express the mood of the post.  I'm finding peace in Travel Quilt #2, thank god.  One stitch at a time, one breath at a time. 

A day in the life

Amy invited us to play along and tell about our daily schedules.. here's what a typical weekday looks like around here:

7:30  George wakes up.  He has probably started to stir about an hour earlier, but I pacify him with a boob and we all get more sleep.  We know he's really awake when he starts poking our faces or trying to dive head first over us to get out of the bed.  Lately I've started putting him down on the floor and trying to get a few more minutes of rest.  He likes to play with the sock bin in my closet, but he also gets into things he shouldn't too, like C's glasses, or this morning when I found him crawling underneath our bed..

7:45  Sneak away while George is playing to brush my teeth.  I can't do anything in the am until my teeth are brushed.

7:50  Pick up the munchkin and head to the kitchen to make coffee for Costas.  He gets tempted to stay home and play with George so I try to give him a push out the door- on good days I make coffee and lunch.  On bad days I make him hold George and make his own coffee. 

8:30  Breakfast for the 3 of us.  Usually cereal for the adults, yogurt with fruit and/or oatmeal for the kid.  C and I use this time to chat and catch up on the day's plans.  I really like that we have breakfast together.

9:00  George and I head out to Stroller Strides or a playdate.  Today we went to a music class at Orly's Treehouse.  After class we have snacks (read: coffee) with other moms & babies. 

12:00  Naptime.  I try to plan to be on my way home from somewhere around noon so he can fall asleep in the car.  Once we get home I make a pot of coffee, check my email, and try to get some school work done.  I used to sew during naptime, but now it's coming down to crunch time in the semester-- I've got an exam on Thursday so i shouldn't even be blogging now..  I have quilt projects all lined up for winter break though.

1:30  Lunch for George, when he's done we play for a while.  If I was lucky, I threw in laundry before breakfast so there'll be a load to fold together in the afternoon.  He's getting really good at laundry.  While he plays I can usually sneak off and check my email.  I may get 10 minutes before he's banging on the office door.  We catch up with family and friends with phonecalls in the afternoon, and in general just hang out around the house.  Twice a week though the babysitter comes for 2 hours so I can get some more focused studying done.  Thank god for that!

4:30  Maybe a second, short nap, if he's worn out from playing. 

5:00  Start dinner.  Depending on the meal, I usually start chopping and measuring while he's naping so I can saute and throw stuff together once he gets up.  We eat all of our meals at home (Costas takes left overs or a sandwich 5 days a week for lunch) and I'm getting much better at meal planning, shopping for what we need (less frivolous purchases), and using what we have.  This is a huge step for me as a housewife.

6:30  George gets dinner and I'll probably get a snack.  Then more playing (and some mindless tv) til Costas gets home.  Twice a week he gets a bath, but no more than that due to pretty bad excema.

8:00  Costas gets home.  He plays with George for a while and then maybe we'll have dinner as a family, but if George didn't get the second nap, I'll let Costas eat first while I put George to bed. 

8~9:00  Bedtime for the monster.  Definitely flexible, depending on when he got up last and when C gets home from work.  I hate to put George to bed without seeing Daddy, but sometimes Costas has to work late.. 

9:30  Unwind in front of the TV with C.  Sometimes I try to study, sometimes I go hide out in the sewing room, sometimes I do both.  Lately I can't handle more than 1 hour before changing activities so if I have more than 2 hours to myself I tend to bounce back and forth between sewing and studying.  Of course I can also blow 2+ mindless hours playing on line, but then I go to bed feeling more tense (neck soreness) and very unproductive. 

12:00 Bedtime.  Sometime around midnight George will wake up and I'll go get him and bring him to bed with me.  I let him nurse as much as he wants through the night and we all sleep better. 

Our days are long and it's often exhausting keeping a 13 month old stimulated, happy and safe all day.  But he's a happy kid and these days I'm usually a happy mom.  There are ups and downs of course, but I'm thankful for the recent upswing, especially during crunch time at school..  This week has been unbalanced in terms of school work to sewing, but that's ok.  Overall, I'm really glad that I found a good balance this semester-- taking time to sew keeps me more focused on schoolwork when it's study time. 

Birthday!

Not much sewing around here lately-- with the exception of George's halloween costume which he wore for his BIRTHDAY PARTY!

He was a scarecrow, easy-peasy except for the hat which I ended up making out of craft foam and stitching by hand. He wouldn't keep it on -- not even for a picture..

My sister has been here for the past week and there is NO WAY I could have pulled off the party without her. It's great to spend time together and the extra hands/eyes are a Godsend!

We went all out for the desserts-- cupcakes (idea came from a family magazine I read in the Dr's office waiting room last month, snapped pics of the recipe with my camera phone, but I don't know which magazine it was, sorry!), an eclair cake, and a birthday cake:

George enjoyed it all, and so did the rest of us.And thank you for the many peaceful wishes.. My mother has been in the hospital for the last 2 weeks and it got quite scary there for a few days. She is doing better day by day though, came off the ventalator yesterday and may move out of the ICU this week. She has a long-term illness which I'm not quite ready to answer questions about yet, but thank you, thank you for your prayers and good thoughts.

Pulling in all together

Isn't it cool when you cross things off your "to do" list faster than you thought you would? I have been pretty productive in the last two weeks-- a mega-trip to the post office including 2 quilts to 2 long armers (ok, well I just sent new backing fabric to shannon, she already had the top), phone calls and apointments are all taken care of, textbooks are purchased, school stuff is in order, and..I finished these two pillows for my cousin's dorm room:


Foundation pieced, no quilting, but very cute with lots of sentimental fabrics, like the green raccoons that my grandmother (?) made into dresses for her 6 daughters, and the green giraffes that became pants for our cousin in high school. If she ever asks, I can tell her the story of all these fabrics.. that's just the kind of quilter I am. :)

Well, this post has been sitting in my drafts pile for too long, I could say more but time to post is limited. I start classes again tonight, wish me luck!

pictures, travel, and stories

aagh! no substantial posts for almost a month! I'm ashamed that I stopped documenting my life like that, how will I ever remember what we did with June?

Things We Did in Chicago:

+relaxed with family
+drank tea
+sang songs from my childhood
+spent time with Aunt Lori

+Practiced crawling
+Played with cousins (and got our first taste of rough-housing)

+went to garage sales
+Learned about dogs

It was a very good, relaxing 2 weeks with my family. George traveled well, but didn't sleep that great once we got there. It took him a few days to get into a rhythm (me too). I love love love my family, it was good to see them.

Things We Did in Boston:

+enjoy the ultra-posh hotel Costas booked
+learned to sit in a high-chair


+Played with Japanese girls


+George went to his first wedding (and the bride fell in love with him!)


+and he wore a suit!
+Visited lots and lots of friends in just 3 days
+Enjoyed the roadtrip~

Summer travels aren't over yet-- next stop= Athens. George's first international flight (any advice for how to spend 10 hours on an airplane with an 8 month old?), more family, more food, more fun. I have no idea what the status of the internet connection is at the house in Greece, will post if I can. I pieced a lot of stars in Chicago and more while Costas drove to and from Boston, I'm sure I'll keep at it through the rest of the travels, let's see how big it gets by september..

Smith Reunion 2009

It was well worth the drive...

It was great to stay on campus again (In case you're wondering, we were in Chapin). I loved being able to see Amanda walk through campus as though it were her home, because it is, and it was my home for 3 years too. I love that she and I will always share this familiarity and common experience...

Amanda's parents and brother came for the weekend too and it was great to hang out with them. Uncle Tony is my mom's oldest brother.

Everybody was more than willing to hold George for a while and he loved the attention, especially from Alex, who would lift him up high in the air over and over.

The best part of the weekend was Ivy Day, which I think is my favorite holiday, btw. The alumnae parade through campus, past rows of seniors dressed in white. George and I marched in the parade too. He got to see his first marching band...



and a lot (a lot) of white skirts and pants..
The Junior ushers carry long ropes of "ivy" (I think it's laurel) and join the procession after the alumnae. When they are in place, the seniors walk through the "ivy" for the photo-taking-glory of all the parents waiting in the quad..

There were lots of receptions and activities going on all weekend, so we always had something to do. At this reception I let George try grapes for the first time (i bit it in half, held on and let him suck on it for a while). He wanted my brownie, but he's a bit young for that still..

Aunt Molly and George with Paradise pond in the background. Smith does have a truly gorgeous campus.
(George did a photo-shoot especially for Grama..)

In downtown Northampton there is a mural painted on a building next to a parking lot.. It shows the history of women in the town. I only captured one corner, the most important, imo.