Tis the season

I am definitely in the mood now...

Thanks everyone! Now I'm off to work on another panel of the quilt...

Tidy bobbins

I don't know about you, but my bobbins are unruly. Sifting through my handy-dandy pegboard drawer is perilous sometimes. But no more! After reading a tip in Threads, and a trip to the hardware store, my bobbins went from this...

to this!

I used 3/16" vinyl tubing (but if I were to do it again I would get bigger tubing, the 3/16" tubing only went a bit more than halfway around), cut it in approximately 1/4" rounds, opened them up with an exacto knife and wrapped them around the loose end of the bobbin thread.

New pets!

Ali and Devin have been wanting pets at our house for some time, and we decided to get a pair of geckos for Ali's birthday (since they both got bikes for Devin's birthday). Lucky for us, we stumbled upon a gecko breeder who is local and totally knowledgeable (she even co-wrote a book about leopard geckos - the kind we ended up with). So, without further ado, let me introduce you to...

French Onion...

and...

Larry.

Both girls. They're nocturnal, so I had a hard time getting a picture of them that showed their cool markings. French Onion (Ali's) is lavender and yellow striped with black dots, and Larry (Devin's - and whose full name is Larry Rich Buttock) is mostly yellow-orangey with black dots. Mike and I have been having as much fun with them as the kids, and I even missed them while we were away for Thanksgiving. I've gotten them to eat wax worms off my finger, which are apparently like junk food for geckos, and they seem to be acclimating themselves to their new surroundings with ease. I can't wait to hold them!

I swear... they're for the kids...

Future's So Bright Quilt progress

Three panels down on the Future's So Bright quilt that I'm quilting in sections, with thrifted sheets as the backing. I am very pleased with how it's turning out. Thanks Amanda Jean for sharing your pattern!

Can you tell that I've been doing most of my crafting lately at nighttime? Geez, these pics are bad...

Yipes

Is anyone else freaking out a bit that it's almost December? Ok, so it isn't yet for two weeks or so, but that's nothing for someone who has three quilts, pj's, lots of knitted items and many other unmentionables yet to make. This feeling is oddly familiar... seems like I've been in this situation before... hmm...

The odd situation with all this Christmas crafting is that I can't actually show you much of anything I'm working on, because a lot of the soon-to-be recipients most likely read this blog (thus the rather extended blog break). What I can show you is some of the special orders I've been putting together.

I made an all pink pencil roll...


And a couple coffee sleeves for a coworker's poker-playing husband and dad...


I've also been putting the last touches on my Christmas CD swap that 62cherry put together, which should be in the mail on Friday.


I participated in the first swap which was great, and was excited when she put together a holiday themed one. When I went to fetch the link, I discovered that she's doing another swap in December! It's a Shuffle Swap, which is such a cool idea. You set your iPod or iTunes or whatever to shuffle and grab the first 10 songs. Looks like there's still room, so go check it out! I love being introduced to new music, and several of the ladies in the swap are from Australia so some of the bands I have never heard of. Especially on one of the Christmas CDs... who knew there was an Aussie version of the 12 Days of Christmas?

So what else have I/we been up to? Wrapping up a very successful soccer season... (whew)

Going trick or treating with a very scary skeleton and a hip witch...

Successfully participating in the Mariposa Crafters Holiday Boutique... Not only did I make money, I came home stocked with delicious homemade jam (Strawberry Rhubarb, Apricot Pineapple, Quince, Jalapeno and Indian Peach). The boutique was amazing, there was very little advertising as far as I could tell, absolutely nothing on the internet (shock! gasp!), and it was packed. Apparently people in town come every year (for the past 25(!) years) and know when it is so there's no need to advertise. The miracles of small towns, I guess.

Celebrating 7th and soon-to-be 10th birthdays with a first-ever-all-together bike ride...

And exploring science with really fantastic birthday presents from loved ones...

Triops and a hand-held microscope.