BabySchep's Monster Quilt: Part 4

Great news!  No, my new machine hasn't come in yet, although I should probably start trying to come up with names for him.  Hmm...maybe a contest is in order?  We'll see.  No, I'm here to share the next two finished blocks for BabySchep's birthday quilt:

Love the glasses.  A lot of Antonie Alexander's patterns include bespectacled folks.

It's okay to have a girly monster in a boy's quilt, no?

These monsters are a lot of fun to make.  In case you missed it, here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. 


This post marks the halfway point for the applique blocks.  I now have 8 more monsters to finish--at this point, they have all been fused and are ready for their embroidered finish.  This particular quilt calls for simply pieced borders, so I'm likely close to the actual halfway point for this project.  I will keep y'all posted.


Recent Reads:


Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am predisposed to love everything Crichton, and can't wait to introduce his work to my children, and my parents did for me. I'm also amused that they keep pulling these out of the vault, so to speak, which is a testament to his work ethic. Despite its tantalizing cover, this book does not fall into the Jurassic series--it's historical fiction about the early days of digging dinosaur fossils. It was a fun read (or listen, in my case) for anyone, and just about the only way you'd get me to read a Western, lol.

View all my reviews


Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History by Ben Mezrich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, this was a book I judged by its title. Sorry, but my prudish upbringing leads me to outright reject books with the word "sex" in the title, regardless of how many times it pops up in my recommended books list. I finally took a closer look at it--the audiobook is read by Casey Affleck. Ugh. Another year of ignoring the title. Finally, I found myself in between books, and this one was available without a wait. The first third of the book was rather dull--I mean, can't you just hear Affleck's voice droning on and on about Mormons and teen marriage? Then, it picked up. What a crazy story! What really gets to me is how I never knew about the moon rock heist when this guy was caught practically in my backyard, housed in the jail I drove past almost daily! I found I could relate to this tale--while I never interned at NASA, I've participated in other geeky away-from-home adventures, so I could picture the scene. What I failed to understand was how easily his coconspirators agreed to help him. Short but interesting.

View all my reviews


My Story by Elizabeth Smart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Elizabeth's ordeal happened when I was still in high school, so it was very illuminating to read it as an adult. I felt like she was rather defensive at times, which is really a shame. Overall, I was fascinated by her story, and am now much more alarmed for my children's safety.

View all my reviews


While I purchased a few new board games recently, none of them have made their way onto our tabletop.  Now that our team is out of the playoffs, I'm sure I'll have a title to share soon. 





Linking up with Finished or Not Friday this week. Until next time, God Bless!

Crafty Goodness Bonanza

My husband and I follow a pretty strict (yet rather generous) budget.  I completely busted that budget this month on crafty retail therapy.  There was a deal on the Cricut EasyPress machine:

"Oooh, wait until Daddy sees the bill for this!" -BabySchep

Very cool doodad.  I hope to use it a lot in the future, but that will require some dedicated sewing time.  I also purchased next school year's Abeka Book curriculum for the boys:

We buy the unbound books to avoid those pesky perforated pages.

The 3-year old curriculum appears to largely reinforce the concepts introduced in the 2-year old program.

Lil'Schep is pretty excited about his upcoming memory verses!

And the biggest purchase of them all: 

If you're reading this, you likely have an idea of the price tag on this guy.  (I know most of y'all refer to your machines in the feminine, but my machines are boys!)  I saved up for a while to be able to afford him.  I bought it from Gigi's Fabric Shop in Brandon, Florida.  Gigi offers lots of perks and support when you purchase a machine from her shop, so while she's not paying me for saying this, I feel that we quilters should support our local shops when we can.  It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm excited about picking it up in a week or so (and having Gigi show me how to thread it!). 


So, no finished blocks or projects this time, but still quite a lot going on in the sewing room.  The Stanley Cup playoffs are currently occupying just about every other night of my time, so I'm trying desperately to get a little bit of handwork done while on the couch. 


I'm hoping to have another monster or two to share soon.  Until then, God Bless!

Hexies and Pizza

No finished blocks this week.  (Or last week, for that matter!)  A nasty cold knocked me out for the count, rendering me (practically) useless for a week and a half.  Remember when I mentioned all those CLEs I had coming up?  Well, one required an overnight stay at the Orlando airport.  Never again.  Perhaps my negative feelings about that airport are exacerbated by how darned miserable I felt, but it made me appreciate the gleaming, pristine, Tampa International Airport so much more.  Why do I mention this?  Because I planned to baste some hexies during lectures, and managed to baste ZERO! 

Not to be completely defeated, I did get some more basted during another CLE back home:

I've been using one of those plastic zipper pouches that pillowcases are sold in for this project.  A little cramped, but it'll do until I get properly organized.

 And that's the extent of my sewing related post.  Then again, this blog isn't strictly about sewing, is it?  I'm also documenting the crafty things I get to do as a mom of two boys.  This weekend, we made pizza:

The spread.  And the excited kiddo who kept eating the ham before we got started.

His idea of evenly distributing cheese.

After mom's intervention, we could move on to more toppings.

The final product pre-baking. 

Proud kiddo with his finished pizza.

This one is mine.

We had fun making mini pizzas, and the little miniature crusts from Aldi were perfect.  We made meat lover's pizza this time, but we'll add veggies next time. 

Now, I know y'all are dying to know about the books I've finished over the past two weeks!

102 Minutes CD: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers by Jim Dwyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short, sad, and angering. Listening to this book was a little like watching the news coverage of the attack all over again. Seventeen years ago, I was too young to appreciate a lot of the information that came to light about the buildings and rescue efforts. Now, it's simply heartbreaking. If you're going to read this, just be ready to be sad and mad for a while.

View all my reviews The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one I'd save for print. Even though this audiobook was read by the author, the subject matter is just too detailed to adequately absorb on the first listen-through. I'd never even heard of the enneagram before this book, so it definitely piqued my interest, but my experience with this book will probably keep me from checking it out any time soon.

View all my reviews


On our tabletop:

I hope to have more monsters to share with you soon.  Until then, God Bless!