Fifty

My in-laws, Elmer and Lib, recently had their fiftieth wedding anniversary.

So, over the weekend we threw an open house for them.

And by we, I mean Dwayne, myself, and Dwayne's brother, Darren and his wife Cheryl.

There were lots of folks who showed up to celebrate with my in-laws.

It was exhausting, but worth it.

We hired good help.

Good help is hard to find these days.

Some dear friend of Elmer and Lib's came for the weekend.

It was great getting to know Elmer's former Air Force buddies.

We ate well.

Cheryl made this beautiful cake.

We had a slide show going too.

Runner

Runner.

Not Indian Runner but table runner.

This post is not about ducks, chickens, dogs, or kids.

Yes, this is another quilting post.

I still can't believe how much I enjoy quilting.

I decided that since I'm still without my sewing machine, I'd do a hand quilting project.

This will be a table runner made with hexagons.

A lot of quilters call these hexie quilts.

The method is called English paper piecing (or EPP for short).

It's how I did the boys and dogs for Nolan's quilt.

I started off with a bunch of 2 inch squares from my scraps.

Then I printed and cut some templates from wax paper.

I prefer wax, but you can use any kind of paper you like.

Wax paper is like a secret weapon for quilters.

The wax will melt and adhere to fabric when it's ironed.

Simply peel it off the fabric when you're done with it.

The punched holes are to make it easier to remove the templates.

(I haven't tried it yet, but it sounded like a good idea.)

Once the template is secure it can be basted.

All basted and ready to put in the pile with the others.

There should be 230 hexies.

The process has gone very quickly so far.

One of the boys has a dentist appointment today.

I'm hoping to finish basting these while I wait.

My goal is to start sewing them together sometime this week.

So stay tuned for update photos.

The Tree Skirt

This is the status of the Christmas tree skirt.

It will be cut into a hexagon after it's sewn together.

That's the plan for whenever I get my sewing machine back.

I really am trying to wait patiently...

but it's getting harder.

My quilting itch is getting stronger.

I may either start hand piecing or start cutting another quilt.

We'll see.

First Day of School 2016

Yesterday we had our first day of school.

This our eighth year of homeschooling.

Eight. Who would have thought that?

Not me.

The year before we started homeschooling someone asked me if we homeschooled.

I said, "No, absolutely not!" thinking we're not one of "those" strange families.

Well, one year later, we were one of "those" families and we liked it.

Sometimes I feel like a seasoned homeschooler and other times I feel like I have no clue!

Especially since officially starting high school this year.

(We got our feet wet with Algebra I last year.)

Transcripts, class descriptions, credits.

Sounds intimidating but it's not.

I'm a spread sheet junkie.

Transcripts are just spread sheets, right up my alley.

Piece of cake.

We took our traditional by-the-cabinet picture.

I also started taking a "school" picture on our first day.

I discovered if I didn't do this right away, it never got done.

This was after several tries... the dog kept trying to join the fun.

We had a good first day.

One day down, only 179 more to go.

I'm hopeful for a good year.