indulgent

I really hope that you all had a wonderful holiday.  Ours was so nice.  We stayed home, and our families came to us.  We spent time slowly opening presents, building new toys, cooking, eating, and enjoying time together.  It is my favorite day of the year.  Here are my two favorite pictures from that day, I think they are both pretty great.  Christmas with kids is so magical.

 Since then we have been enjoying a slow and indulgent week at home.  This is the first year we've had a kid in school full-time, and I didn't realize how much we missed downtime and a lack of schedule.  It has been theraputic really.  Here are some of the things we have been enjoying:

 

Snow!  We had a tiny bit on Christmas day, but we've gotten several inches since.  Isn't it beautiful?

New boots from Steve.

 

New music.  I don't know why it took me so long to buy this album.  It. Is. Amazing.

 

Lots of reading, as in a whole book in 2 days.  This book was pretty intriguing, but not as good as her first two (which I adore and have read a few times each). 

PJ days.  The kids and I have spent most days in our pj's, only dressing if we have to leave. 

 

And some knitting of course.  One of my closest friends requested a honey cowl, how can I say no to that?  It is such a fun, mindless knit, perfect for a week like this.

As always, I'm a bit sad that Christmas is over, but I'm looking forward to a new year and a fresh start.  I'll be back soon, I'm looking forward to working on a year-end wrap up post. :)

xo, Angela

a quick project.

I was feeling inspired to sew the other day.  It was nice, I haven't been in the mood to sit at my machine lately.  It has been all about knitting, in case you haven't noticed!

I pulled out an adorable layer cake of Farm Fresh by Riley Blake that I bought a few months ago, and I used a pattern called Crackle which is one of Aneela's latests.  When I saw it in her blog a couple weeks ago, I knew I had to make it. 

Now, a couple afternoons later, I have this cute baby quilt top!  It is a great pattern.  It uses a layer cake plus border fabric, and it cuts and sews up so quickly.  Just what I needed this week.  I don't have any plans to finish it up soon, it'll wait until after the New Year.

On the homefront, we have had a pretty good couple of weeks.  I *think* I'm done Christmas shopping, cookies have been made, but I have yet to wrap gifts.  We finally got some real snow a few days ago, probably 4-6", and it was so pretty.  But it is gone now, and I think we are going to be having a green (rainy) Christmas this year.

The boys were all excited of course, and they clocked a few hours of playtime in the snow.  Finley loves to stand on the baseboard heating vents to watch them outside, it is the sweetest thing. 

And last is a cute morning picture.  Lucky girl, she gets her big brother's hand-me-down sleepers. :) 

Hope you are having a nice week!  Only 4 days until Christmas!

xo, Ang

as of late.

Just wanted to pop in and share some of my favorite pictures from Instagram from the past week or so.  I love taking pictures with my iPad and posting them there.  It is a quick and easy way to capture our daily life.  I'd miss so many of the shots if I had to take the time to grab my camara.  If you are on Instagram, you can follow me @fussycut.

We celebrated our 7th anniversary this past weekend.  We were able to sneak away for a night, and it was wonderful and so relaxing.  We haven't done that since our first anniversary!

 

I thought my almost-6-yo was old enough to use a pen on his own but I guess not!  He suprised us with this little drawing.  He said that he was trying to look like a cop or a superhero (????).  I laughed really hard over this one, and have to admit that I was rather impressed. :) 

It has been cold and frosty over here, with the morning temperatures down in the low teens.  I am happy we finally got a bit of snow though, it finally feels like Christmas.

Our little ladies still like to leave their coop, but they definitely don't like walking in the snow. Can't say that I blame them!

They are treating us well still, producing one egg each a day.  We put a heat lamp on them to keep them going during the winter.

 

Finley is loving Hello Kitty!  This makes me so happy.  Here she is giving her kitty kisses.  Having a girl is so much fun.

Lots of movie time during hunting season while Steve is gone.  I watched my favorite the other day, and if you've never seen it, I highly recommend it.  It is very unique.

On the crafty front, I started a new knitting project.  I am making this scarf out of some beautiful Madeline Tosh merino light in Cousteau.  It is the prettiest color, and the pattern is really nice.  I had to learn three new stitches (thank you, knittinghelp.com!).  It is slow going, but very fun.

Only 12 days until Christmas!  I better get back to wrapping.

xo, Ang

can't. stop. knitting.

 Seriously, I can't stop knitting.  I love it, and I already have a mile long list of what I want to make.  See, it is freezing and super snowy here for almost 6 months of the year (remember this storm?).  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but 4-5 months at least.  All of these cozy scarves, cowls, mittens, hats, etc are perfect.  So anyways, I am completely hooked.  But back to the project on hand...

I finished my eternity scarf last Friday!  I enjoyed every minute of this project.  I used the softest Malabrigo yarn in Roanoke, and it was a joy to work with.  This went well and quickly, and I have already worn it few times.  It is a pretty huge cowl, perfect for around here.  You can see more details on Ravelry.

I started another honey cowl the other day.  My mom tried to steal my burgundy one the other day, so I thought it would be a nice Christmas gift.

And yes, I had to make a new project bag for this one.  Because I'm like that. :)

xo, A

PS - Did you see my friend Jeni's new pattern for her lined drawstring bags?  It is fantastic, and I need to make one of the big ones!!

Christmas decorations overload.

I'm definitely the kinda girl that decorates for Christmas, and I'm glad I finally got to pull out my Starry Eyed quilt last week.  I had so much fun making this quilt for the Moda Bakeshop, and it is about time I get to use it!  If you are interested in the tutorial, you can find it by clicking on the following picture:

If you make this quilt, please let me know!  Several people have sent me pictures of their versions, and they are amazing.  Seeing your pictures is the best.

We get to use this pair of Christmas pillows again.  They got pretty dirty last year (thank you,  kids/husband/dog), so it is a good thing they were removable covers!  They washed up quite nicely.

The stockings and bunting are hung, and now we are ready for some gift wrapping.  Well, after I go buy some. I love this part.

In farming news, Amanda and I decided a holiday break is in order.  If you are sewing along, please check out this post in our flickr group!  All of the details are there.

Okay, back to knitting.  Happy Monday!

xo, A

week 27 - FWQAL

I picked out fabrics for 10 Farmer's Wife blocks the other day, so there has been lots of farming going on this week.

See how super organized I am??  I shove all of the necessary fabrics into the book, and I keep the templates in a ziplock bag.  Um, yeah.  :)

 

I had a love/hate relationship with the five blocks that I made so far this week.  I love how they all turned out in the end, but I didn't enjoy making them all.  Note to self: don't make so many difficult blocks at once.  Geez.

106 - Wild Rose & Square.  This is one of my two favorites from the batch.  I really really like this block, and these are some of my favorite fabrics. 

102 - Whirlpool

107 - Windblown Square.  These two were fun, same block with fabric variations.

105 - Wild Goose Chase.  I love those little geese and the fabrics.  But let me tell you, this block was not my friend.  I don't know what my deal was, but this one drove me nuts.  I used my seam ripper way too many times, and I seriously began to doubt my ability to make a FW quilt during the creation of this block.  Like I said, I don't know what was up, but this block was no fun to make.  I do like the finished product though, thank goodness.  (Sorry for the complaining, just keeping it real!)

99 - W.C.T.U.  Love this one, had fun making it too.  This is my other favorite of the batch.  This was a great one to end on, and I was much happier after this one was done.  Phew.

I have 5 more blocks ready to sew, and I get to work on them tonight.  I am sewing with some friends this evening, and I am really looking forward to it!  The blocks I am doing next are much easier, so it should be fun.

Happy Friday!

xo, A

This post is part of the Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long, please feel free to jump in at any time!  More information and previous posts can be found HERE.

recovering

I think I'm in recovery mode after the long Thanksgiving weekend.  It went well, the meal and everything, I'm thankful for that.  The day went off without a hitch, and we all really enjoyed ourselves and each other.  After the long weekend (the kiddos just went back to school today), I am ready for a some restful days! 

I squeezed in a bit of crafty time admist the chaos.  I made this quick and easy bunting out of some of my favorite red and green fabrics.  It was a nice afternoon project. 

I think this little bird is my favorite out of the whole thing.  I wish they'd reprint this line!! 

I did quite a bit of knitting.  Big surprise right?  I am thoroughly addicted!  This cowl is getting so big and squishy.  I should finish it up in the next day or two, so I'll share more details then.

I also finished up my Swoon quilt!  It has taken its rightful place on our messy bed... Along with my Flea Market Fancy quilt, of course. 

As soon as the weather breaks (it has been rainy/snowy here!) I will get some full shots of the finished quilt.  I can't wait to share it with you. 

Be back soon!

xo, A

finished.

I finished my honey cowl the other day!  It turned out so nicely, and it is super soft and fuzzy.  I've been wearing it every day since then.  It was good timing too, since it cooled down since then and has been very wet and rainy.  More pictures and details are on Ravelry.

Now I'm off for a Thanksgiving feast at Weston's school and a day spent in the kitchen.  And maybe a little bit of hand sewing. :)

xo, A