I Love You Because...

Dear Mom

Dear Mom

You left yesterday and we all miss you already. Thankfully I know you're always just a phone call away. Download 01 Bridge Over Troubled Water (Singl

I am one of the lucky ones. I have a Mom who does everything in the world that she can to support and be there for me in everyway no matter how far away I move. When I had to deliver a little early she was able to hop on an earlier flight and be there for me, holding my hand while I cried, making me laugh through the frustration or pain and comforting my babies when I couldn't. I've had four kids and I am possitive I couldn't have gotten through the delivery (or first weeks) of any of them without her.

I've loved having her here for the last 2 weeks. She's encouraged me, she's cleaned, she's calmed me, she's worked on projects and taught me.

She's kissed on our babies, she's read to them and entertained them, she's woken up in the middle of the night nights with them, she's been more then an extra pair of hands, she has been the best example of motherhood ever.

Mom, I love you. I know you sacrificed so much to be here with me during this time and I am so grateful for every second. I hope someday to be even a tenth of the Mom you are. 

Love always,

JJ

 

Hiking w/ Grandma

After being cooped up in a hospital room all week we're enjoying the beautiful Springtime weather with a Sunday afternoon mini-hike with Grandma... and it's making me excited for Waterton this summer! 

 

Isn't it ironic...

It hasn't been enough time at our house for me to be able to laugh about it quite yet but, I can now at least see past the anger and see the irony of posting this and the next day disovering our Little Miss did this....

Good thing her Grandma has some amazing home-fixes up her sleeve because otherwise we'd have a daughter grounded for life. So how exactly does one get out ball-point pen out of heirloom quilts (or any other fabric for that matter? Good question. According to Mom you soak it in hairspray for 10 minutes, then scrub it out with a cotton rag and repeat until it's gone then you wash it as usual adding a splash of vinegar to the load... guess what? it works! 

Now the quilt is clean and the punishment begins.... this little girls room makeover I mentioned last week has been put on hold until further review of her behavior.

 

oh the joys of motherhood, right?
Joanna  

 

Lorali's Quilt - Dardanelles

In an effort to get every room in the house settled in before Baby Cameron comes, this week we're focusing on Lorali's room. We have big plans in here for both organizing and decorating but we're lucky because we have some key pieces to the room that are perfect and staying just the way they are. Her Quilt is another amazing  treasure we have from Grandma that we're designing the entire room around so I'll start there. It's my favorite quilt pattern ever... Double Irish Chain in just pink and white. The details on this one are just as amazing as the details on The Hudson Bay Quilt. The fabric Mom chose is white/pink flowers and pink/white polka dots and so the quilting is daisies (another favorite) in each block. Mom alsop names all of her quilts. This one is named 'Dardanelles'.  The Dardanelles is an area in Waterton, Canada that we go to often to picnic or for a quick hike, my favorite memory of the area is going for Canada Day with my Grandma when I was about 8 or 9. It's an area known for the amazing wildflowers growing in the fields and she walked me through the fields teaching me/quizzing me on all the names of the different flowers growing there. It's the perfect name for a perfect quilt for a perfect little girl! 

Hudson Bay Point Quilt

I have been planning Owen's Room since before he was born but as soon as we moved into this house I already had a lot of the decor ready to go. The thing I didn't have was the perfect quilt. Owen's room has a Waterton/Canadian Parks theme and the only appropriate blanket I could think of was a Traditional Hudson Bay Point Blanket. (When talking about it to friends hereI learned that most people in the South have never heard of them. Seriously!) The problem with the Hudson Bay Blanket was that 1) it's wool... which means it's not only harder to clean with a 3 year old using it regularly but it's also itchy and frankly it's not until you're an adult that you start to really like it. 2) Thos puppies are expensive! I had to hold back and remind myself that this was for a 3 year old and spending $200-$600 on a non-washable bedspread might not be the brightest of all ideas and 3) we don't live in the canadian rockies (huge problem), we live in Georgia... the need for a super warm (HOT) wool blanket is pretty much zero. So with my heart set on a real/authentic Hudson Bay Blanket I had to get creative.

The month before we moved in my Mom come out for a visit and I had her help me bring my idea to life. 

Just a 1/4 yard fabric in the classic Red, Yellow, Green and Black with a cream Queen Size sheet and The Hudson Bay QUILT came to life in just one night. (Remember? I told you my Mom was amazing? This is just more proof of how insanely talented she is.)

This was another one of those projects that made Husbandface feel like I was crazy or he didn't get the concept of it until it was actually done but 1) that's becomeing a trend and 2) he doesn't have the same love for Hudson Bay Blankets as I do so of course he didn't get quite as excited.  (We actually did this the same week as we refinished the chairs and we were packing so to his credit, the timing was a little bit questionable.)  In the end I'm pretty sure Doug loves it just as much as I do.

This quilt was super simple in concept/design but it's the little touches and small details that make it perfect.

Like the Custom Gold Embroidered Patch...
(that name it an official Wallace Point Blanket from the Boundary Bay Company)

And the 5 points added to it, making sure everyone can see the authentic quality/status...

And the AMZING quilting done by the BEST machine quilter I know. ... Mom came up with the idea of maybe putting a reference to bears in the quilting and Dixie (the Quilting genius) came up with these!! 

Hundreds of 'hidden' bears quilted onto the entire quilt! It absolutely made it spectacular and now not only do I love, LOVE the finished project, but so does my Baby Bear!! 

There you have it! My First Custom Designed Quilt. 

Thanks for reading!
J 

 

Missing Grandma

My Mom was in a pretty serious accident this afternoon and it's times like this I kick myself for living so far away. I hated getting random updates and not hearing her voice. I hated myself for not being able to jump into the car and head to the hospital to sit by her side. She is my best friend in the entire world and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. As much as I hated all the bad news and scary thoughts pouring in, I LOVE that it has all ended with some great news. She is okay! A few cracked ribs so she's in pain but it could have been WAY worse! Her car is totaled but at least she will be home soon. I can't wait to talk to her and make sure she knows just how much we ALL love her! 

Homemade Gifts 2011

Speaking of traditions, this one is another one of my all time favorite traditions... HOMEMADE GIFTS! Every year My siblings and I homemake our gifts to eachother. Every year it's different and fun and always heartfelt. It just brings such a personal touch to the gifts and puts their personalities in our lives and in our homes. We went to Florida a few weeks ago for my nieces baptism and it was so fun to see the same decorations and family themes decorating their house too. As I was getting ready for this post I realized that in EVERY room in my house you can see evidence of homemade gifts over the years.... 

A tableloth pieced by Teri in Owen's room.

In our living room, Sean's Photography... (I wish I had more!) 

In my kitchen, Emily's recipe boxes (she took all my Grandmother's and Mother's recipes, typed them up, printed them and laminated them for us one year... This is probably the MOST USED GIFT EVER!!) 

In our entryway, from April and Gentry the ledges (he made those!) and from Spring and Sean the Santa cross-stitch (yeah, crazy, I know but, I love it!) and that picture of Christ? It's cross-stitched as well, My Mom made it for me 15+ years ago. (now are your starting to see where we get the craziness from?) 

and in every bedroom, This year Teri and Chad gave us Christmas Pillowcases... (the kids are so mad at me because I took them off today to wash them.)

This year my Mom also made me a Santa Quilt, it's in Lorali's room and it's so beautiful. Santa's from around the world, all appliqued on, I LOVE IT! ...

This year Sean and Spring gave us a super thoughtful gift, it's a little candy cane countdown to Christmas, exactly like the one I grew up with (makes me smile every time I see it.)...

Then Emily really out-did herself this year, I have no idea how the heck she found the time to make this with her busy schedule but, I'm not complaining it's perfect and I have the perfect spot for it this fall in my entryway...

and what did I make this year? All November my dining room was turned into a leather workshop, Yep, more leather projects just like last year. I now realize how my Grandpa had it as his lifelong hobby. It's addictive! I already have ideas for projects to keep me busy all year. This time it was just for adults... Blank Leather Books. Fishing Logs, Hiking Logs or Journals, whatever they're used for they're all personalized. 

I've already made some for most of the grandkids but decided not to give them at Christmas but to give them to the kids one at a time for thier birthday's this year...

and for Dad's birthday I made him a few more Fly Fishing Reel Pouches... 

Now, I'm off to start planning for next year! 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandma and Santa

Ethan's quote of the day, "I think, Maybe Grandma is related to Santa. Because he's almost as good as her and spoils me almost as much but not quite... and she has a house kinda like in the North Pole."