Just A Reminder: Moving the Blog

We've moved!

In real life and in bloggy land. 

From Montana to South Dakota.

 From "Grizz 'n' Dove" to "On the Banks of Frog Creek" 

Please Join Us!

http://banksoffrogcreek.blogspot.com

The Time Has Come...

We are in the process of moving from Montana to South Dakota. We have loved our time in the Big Sky Country and we met so many great friends while living there. However, it was time to head back to our rural roots in SD... where we can be closer to family and enjoy some good ol' country living.

Since we are transitioning in our real lives, I thought it was time to transition here in bloggy land as well. You will continue to see our adventures 'n' creations, however, they will now be posted on our new blog. "Grizz 'n' Dove" will continue to reside here, and you can always come back to reminisce about the quilts, baby gifts and hiking trips if you like :)

But, without further ado... we introduce "On the Banks of Frog Creek!"

We want to thank you for following us when we were "Grizz 'n' Dove," and we welcome you to our new lives... hope to see you there!

Warning: Lots of Peanut Pictures

Little girl is growing up. Here she is with Daddy's hat, thinking that "life is sooo tough" after eating, and hanging out outside while Daddy is practicing his archery. She still loves the jumperoo and the bouncy chair AND she is even tolerating the swing... as she grows up, she is more willing to put up with things she may not like as much... well, until she's tired, and then anything we do could set her into a whining fit ;)

She has so many fun facial expressions! She takes after me that way... the other day, at a going-away party, she even did an Elvis expression. Silly girl :)

One night, Grizz went to a free Christian concert with friends. Peanut was already having a rough day, so I wasn't going to drag her to a concert on top of that... so, it was a walking night for Peanut and Mommy. She loves to be outside. She will calm down the moment we bring her outside. We think she just gets bored inside and loves to look at all the interesting things outside. Sometimes, if we don't feel like walking during fussy evenings, we'll just put a quilt out on the balcony and sit with her out there. She loves it!

We have tried some oatmeal cereal here and there after her 4 month appointment. She doesn't fuss (surprisingly!), but she doesn't swallow much either. I think we'll try some veggies soon.

Bathtimes are getting even more enjoyable! She seems to be loving the water more and more. I finally bought her her first bath toy... a rubber ducky of course! She loves to suck on it while we scrub, scrub, scrub... Drying her off is her least favorite part. She will try to roll to her tummy the entire time we're trying to dry her. Of course, as soon as we let her roll over, she's happy again.

Since we're moving soon, we've been trying to get out and enjoy all that this city has to offer. We've been out for a few jogs on the bike trail. We really do have a lovely bike trail along the river... perfect for evening or morning runs!

For awhile, she would stay on her hands and knees if we put her down like that... then she'd fall to her tummy and push up with her hands. Such fun exercise! Well, now she can get up on her hands and knees by herself! She may not be moving like this (although she is starting to squirm her way toward things she wants), but I'm sure she'll be crawling soon.

It is fun to see her playing with her feet. She has tried to eat them once, but other than that, she usually just grabs and pulls on her socks a bit. If you recall, she always refused a bottle, so now we are trying to give her a sippy cup every once in awhile. She can get the milk out easily - we have the kind of cup where she kind of has to bite and suck, but then she just lets it fall out of her mouth! Sometimes she'll look at me with a face that clearly says "why is that coming out of this chew toy!" I'm sure she'll get the hang out of it sometime. She loves to chew and suck on our water bottles, too :)


Sorry for the overload, but if I don't share and comment on the pictures, I'm sure I'd forget the details soon! Time flies!

A Bit Past 5 Months

 Smiley girl is a couple weeks past 5 months. She's growing, growing, growing!

She is getting so much more coordinated... well, you know, coordinated for a 5 month old :) She's turning and reaching for things she wants and she's getting up on her hands and knees! I just know that she'll be crawling soon!

Finally, we got a decent picture of her little teethies that have been in for over a month now! Now, we are just biding our time until the next ones want to make an appearance :)

I know I usually have a list of tidbits about what Peanut is up too, but this month I'll be doing it in pictures... that post will be up on Thursday! (Until then, I'll be packing and cleaning - we're moving on Friday!!)

Two Baby Quilts

Both of these baby quilts have been finished for quite awhile, but I haven't posted about them yet! They are both made of 5" patchwork with a 4" border; they are quilted on my simple Brother with a walking foot about 1/4" from each seam.

 Low Volume Vintage Sheets 

The patchwork was a giveaway win and then I used my own stash for the border and binding. I found the perfect backing at a rummage sale or a thrift store - I had just enough for the back!

 This quilt was quite girly and because we didn't find out Peanut's gender before she arrived, I kept telling myself that I'd donate it if Peanut wasn't a girl. I was happy when I was able to use it ;)

Seaside!

 I still can't believe I let myself buy Seaside (October Afternoon for Riley Blake). I couldn't help myself - it was just too cute! And then two months after the purchase, I found out I was pregnant and I knew exactly what I'd make with the two charm packs and the two half-yards! This was gender neutral enough that I knew it would be used no matter what. The backing is a JoAnns' flannel that I purchased on Black Friday two years ago.

I have since purchased Sasparilla (again...October Afternoon for Riley Blake) with a gift certificate from a giveaway win)... you know, just in case Peanut ever gets a sibling, I wanted to have another cute, gender neutral quilt all ready ;)

Linking up with Linky Tuesday, Fabric Tuesday and Link-a-Finish Friday.

Bored is not in my vocabulary!

But, one day, I was bored (gasp ~ horror ~ shame). 

You see, I was waiting for the weekend sales at JoAnns to purchase a few items so I could continue sewing the one project that I had going on... which meant that I didn't have anything to work on! The dishes were done and the laundry was put away, and I didn't know what to do with myself!

Grizz is usually the antsy one who gets bored easily. I am usually never bored, since I always have several projects to work on - but most of my sewing stuff is already in SD! All it took was Grizz laughing at my bored self once, and I was diving in to my available scraps.

 Scraps!!

 I took these 1-1/2" squares...

 ... took them to machine...

 ... and created this...

 ...which turned into this...

 ... followed by this (thank you antique store 75% off vintage fabric!)...

 ... my project kept building and I took less and less pictures...

 ... here I thought I was done...

... but it needed a strap! Now, I have a fun little purse to use when I get to go out without Peanut :) 

(otherwise, all I need is a diaper bag!)

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Linking Up...

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Antique Store Sale!

 Craigslist is an amazing thing, isn't? We have been able to sell some furniture, and it lets me know about garage sales... AND it informs me about sales at local antique stores! Woot!

Case in point: a vender in a downtown shop was selling out... everything in his booth was 50% off - BUT the Christmas things and linens were 75% off! I'm not kidding... vintage linens were 75% off :) I was a happy lady when I saw that Craigslist post :)

Then, Peanut was in a crazy mood - there was no way she was settling down for a nap anytime soon... this always means we get to go on an outing! We drove downtown and I strapped her into the front-carrier. It was time to browse :)

We found the booth, and although I could have purchased many more items, I restricted myself to these goodies... an embroidered table runner, 3 fat quarters and more than a 1 yard cut of vintage fabrics. Happy me!

I also found this Little Golden Book in another booth. Not on sale, but I *need* it in my future sewing room ;) My entire purchase was under $10!

When Mom was in town in August, we made sure to make quick stops in several antique stores and fabric shops. Well, I had never heard of this store, so we missed walking by it because we turned around one block too early! Oh well, I took a few pictures of items I knew she would be interested in and sent them to her. It's almost as good as shopping with her :)

Throwback Thursday

More pictures from the aunt! 

These will be the last Throwbacks for awhile, but eventually I hope to start scanning more once I get my old photo albums from my parents' house. Then you can see me in all my glory... sports, dress-up, pigs, clothing projects, etc ;)

A cousin's wedding.

I was the flower girl!

Mom and Grandma made my dress :)

Ohp, there's another cousin...

And there's Mom, in shoulder pads, cutting the lovely cake!

I love weddings!

PS: I must have been in a no-teeth-showing-while-smiling faze. Weird.

Hand-Pieced Quilt Along... Finally Finished

Way back in January 2012 (yikes), I started Erin's Hand-Pieced Quilt Along. I loved it! It gave me something to look forward to each Friday when she posted the next block. Well, I had the top pieced together last summer, and this summer, I finally decided to get it quilted and bound. This WIP is finally finished.

Here it is!

 It will hang in my sewing/craft room someday, and I hope Peanut asks about it. Then I can talk to her about...

• loving what you do
• doing what you love
• not everything will come out perfect
• even if it's not perfect, you can still be proud of it

You see, there is no way I'm ever going to wash this wall quilt. I'm pretty sure it would fall apart. I'm not kidding. Sorry there are no close-ups... it's wavy, some triangle points are completely cut off, and the stitches are totally uneven.

 BUT, I still love it and I will be proud to hang it up. I started something and I finished it. And I'm OK with it being perfectly unperfect :)

PS: The scrappy binding is definitely my favorite. It took awhile to hand-sew the scraps together, but I managed to use scraps of each of the fabrics I used in the blocks to create the binding. I love it!

Linking up with Connie's Linky Tuesday and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday and a new one that I've found called Link a Finish Friday over at Richard and Tanya Quilts... Links are on my sidebar!

September Goal

It's about that time to make my September goal! 

It's another small one due to our upcoming move, but I want to take these fabrics (JoAnns) and make this with it...

A Bright Corner's Holly Jolly Tree Skirt pattern 

... it will be a wedding present for a lovely friend! I'll only be able to get the top pieced and the binding cut, but I hope to have that done by the end of the month. I'll quilt it and finish it up after our move sometime!


Thanks again to Melissa and Shanna for hosting such a wonderful series... "A Lovely Year of Finishes."

 

I Just Couldn't Resist

I know, I know... I'm moving in less than a month (and switching blogs at the same time... more on that later, though!), and my sewing machine transitions between the ironing board and the floor... but I just couldn't help myself!
I've twisted myself into another blog hop "Let's Twist to the 60's with Batiks!"... this time we're being cheered on by Miss Mary! Many thanks to Madame Samm for continuing to organize such fun events! 

I've got my batiks (and some non-batiks... shhh!!!) bought and the pattern prepped. Now, bring on the nap times :)