And we're off to Valdez!

Whew! Let me just sit down for a minute, before I tell you about our amazingly crazy whirl-wind weekend.

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Okay, so it seems that before every work trip I try to cram in as many things as (not) humanly possible. So, here is a snap shot of my weekend.

Friday: 

Gym, grocery store, errand to drop things off to the husband (all of which were done kid-free thanks to the mercy of my mother!), then out to run more errands, during which Ascher fell asleep, and then was very grouchy upon waking up once we got home.

The middle of the day wasn't too bad.. the kids and I played, we even had some quiet reading time (aka mommy is asleep on the floor while the kids play on/around her) in the twins' room.

Hubby and I went to a work bbq (his work, not mine) while my Mom came back over to wrangle the kiddos! She is so wonderful! (Love you Mom!)

Saturday:

OH BOY! We decided to brave the Alaska State Fair (with ALL the kids). I was a little worried..okay a lot worried about how everyone was going to behave. We had a great day though, and only a few minor melt downs. The nice thing is that at the Fair there are kids having meltdowns on every aisle so ours weren't the only ones!

Ms. Alia and I even got to ride the Ferris Wheel, which has become a bit of a tradition for us! She was so excited and even stood in the loooong line mostly patiently to ride!

Ms. Alia was excited to be "so high up!"

We spent pretty much all day at the fair, but of course in true Enjoli fashion, I had cut out a new bag on Thursday night, which I had to finish by Sunday morning, because Gertrude needed to be packed up and ready to go!

So, Saturday night after the kids were all in bed, what did I do?! I started sewing.. into the wee hours of the night! BUT ...

Sunday:

I got up and finished my new Mini Professional Tote! I have been trying to find the perfect project to make with that Echino fabric and I think I found it! I was inspired by my sisters' class of students this past week. They all finished beautiful bags!

And, of course once I was done sewing, Gertrude gathered up her belongings and waited patiently for me to load her up (in her box, of course) for the ride to Valdez!  

We will be in Valdez through next Monday, so make sure you stop by the blog next week to see what we've been up to! We are going to have a blast, and have some awesome projects we'll be featuring there! 

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (and Gertrude) 

A little sewing time..

This weekend I finally got some good 'ol quality time with Gertrude! It seems like it has been forever! I've been squeezing in a few moments here and there, but just to prep for the classes I'm teaching at the store. Even though I have been working on finishing up my Jaybird Mini quilt from the first class, it was so nice to be sitting with Gertrude and enjoying the bright lights and warm iron of my sewing room!

Jaybird Mini Quilt - Mini Disco (so close to being done!)

I even spent a few minutes whipping up a fabric coaster to keep on my sewing table. I always bring up a glass of water (along with my coffee) when I sew, and it bugs me to no end to have water rings on my sewing table! I figured I'd grumbled about it (to myself) long enough and just made one!

I made it out of flannel so that it would soak up the water and not bead off!

Yay, no more water rings!

We've been getting some fun new goodies at the shop and so of course I had to do some shopping. I picked up these goodies this weekend! 

The book is : Beyond Neutrals by John Adams. I'm scheming a baby quilt! 

Shape by Shape is FINALLY here!  And of course gotta have the Moda Mochi Dots FQ bundle.
They are beautiful linen polka dots! 

In other exciting news, Gertrude and I will be packing up next week to head to Valdez for the Valdez Quilt Festival! I am super excited that I get to bring Gertrude! We will be working on some fun, new projects while we're in Valdez. If you are going, stop by the Seams Like Home booth, which I will be running with my sister!

Come by, say "Hi" and take a photo with Gertrude! I'll make sure she has her best smile ready!

Happy Sewing,
Enjoli (and Gertrude) 

Seward: An improvement on Homer

So, if any of you recall the post about our Homer trip in June, you know that packing up and heading out camping was not at the top of my to-do list again for this year! Alas, that is what we did this past weekend! This time we went to Seward (not quite so far), and rented a cabin with my in-laws (who, I am lucky to say, are AWESOME!).

It is amazing the difference a few months can make, not to mention a huge attitude change on my part (that's a whole other story)!

We packed up on Friday morning and headed for Seward! We totally scored and the twins napped for the last 1 1/2 hours of the trip; perfectly timed to wake up to their grandpas' smiling face (their grandpa's are their favorite people in the whole world - no joke!).

Despite the rain, we managed to make it down to the beach Friday afternoon, which resulted in three very wet, very muddy, but VERY happy kids! Needless to say, we made use of the cabin bathtub that night!

This is what results when you let three little adventurous girls splash into the ocean, and jump into every puddle they can find:

The twins were even so tired on Friday night that they didn't even fight us at bedtime! I was feeling pretty good, thinking "Wow, things are really looking up this trip!"

And then 2:20am rolled around....

Miss Ascher decided that she didn't want to be asleep anymore, and was going to scream and cry until someone rescued her from the pack 'n play in her room. The gods took mercy though and Avalyn slept through her sisters screams; I, however, was not as lucky, and was up with her for who knows how long trying to get her back to sleep. I finally wrapped my arms around her and held her to me until she passed out (NO NO just kidding); she finally fell asleep with me on the couch.. I have no idea what time it was.

My wonderful father-in-law took mercy on me at 7:30am (when Ascher was up again) and stayed with her so I could go back to sleep!

Luckily the rest of the day turned out better, we headed to the Sea Life Center and got to spend some time with my sister and her husband!

Sunday we even got some sun and spent most of the day like this:

All around, I can say Seward was quite the improvement ...almost enough to erase the scars left from Homer!

Sadly, I had no time to sew during the weekend, though I did go by the Quilt Shop in Seward! It is a cute place called, "Sew N Bee Cozy".

I hope you all got some sewing time in this weekend, maybe on the rainy days?! If not, at least make the rounds to the quilt shops and do some fabric therapy!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some sewing time this week! We'll see!

Happy Sewing,
Enjoli (and Gertrude)

P.S: I will deny the following comment if asked, but I am kind of looking forward to winter just for opportunity of more sewing time! :) Anyone agree?!

Quilty Habits!

This week I've been thinking about and planning out my classes. On Wednesday I start teaching a series on Free Motion Quilting! I love teaching this class because I really love Free Motion Quilting! For me, it's like sitting down and chatting with a good friend! Just like with a friend, I grab a cup of coffee, head up to my studio (see I'm calling it "my studio" now! YAY!) and get myself ready to listen, share and enjoy time spent in quiet conversation.

I was driving home from the book store today when it hit me that I have this "quilting" routine. I realized looking back that there are things that I pretty much always do.

1. I always bring up a cup of coffee!

2. I turn on all the lights in the studio! (Including Gertrude, cuz she has great light too!)

3. I turn on my iPad with either my Sigur Ros or Once Radio Pandora stations! These are my quiet, soothing stations!

4. I clear my sewing table and gather up all my quilting supplies/project to quilt.

Once I've gone through those steps, I usually lay my project out on my table and grab my quilting books. I sit with my books, look a designs and drink my coffee! It's quite relaxing! 

(Assuming my kids are all in bed and not downstairs screaming & playing!)

a few of my favorite Free Motion books

Lately, I've taken to drawing in my Angela Walters Workbook when I can't get up to the studio

My family all knows that when I'm quilting, the time, the sounds, the "quiet" of my machine running is for me! No interruptions are allowed! 

When I'm quilting, I'm usually only partially focused on my design (once I've decided what I'm doing) and am just letting my mind wander with my machine. I find that I can work through a lot of decision making, family scheduling issues and general life confusion while I am just quilting along! 

As always, even though my life is quite busy, I realize that when I come out of my studio after "quilting time" I have simultaneously made great progress on a project and solved like five problems! I come out with a triumphant spirit, determination and readiness to put my "solutions" into action! 

"Quilting time" makes me a happier Mom, happier Wife and in general much nicer person! I guard the time I spend in my studio, quilting (or sewing or whatever!) jealously, and try not to feel too guilty about it! Hey, we all need a break from reality once in awhile right?!

I hope this week finds you getting some time in your studio, whether that be an entire room, your dining room table or hidden in a converted closet! And I hope that you too are guarding it jealously! 

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (and Gertrude) 

P.S: I'd love to hear about any great "Quilty Habits" you all have! Or any ways (aka excuses, tricks) you have to ensure you get your creative quiet time! 

P.P.S: If I'm tackling a particularly intricate quilting project, I head out and grab my favorite coffee drink of choice: Blackberry White Mocha! Yummy! I highly recommend it! 

(And now you all know what to bribe me with!) 

What A Week!

This has been one of the craziest weeks of my life! It was one of those where I thought I didn't have much going on, but as it turned out life had a whole other plan for me!

So, here is my life in photo this past week!

My big girl Ms. Alia gets her FIRST official hair cut.

It was FROZEN night at Barnes & Noble! Oh My some of us were excited! 

(Hubby and I decided that this kind of looks like a bad Prom picture! :P We'll save it for her senior high year book!)

My babies turned TWO! I can't believe it! Where have the last two years gone?! We had a Despicable Me birthday party which was complete with craziness and one sick kid! The sick kid portion of the program is why you only see Ascher messy with cake.. Avalyn decided that she wasn't too interested in her cake and just wanted to be held by her Grandpa! 

And last but not least, I found a few spare moments to sew up a brand new bag for myself! It even gave me an excuse to buy a new little accessory for Gertrude.. the #10D foot, which is the edge stitch foot for dual-feed! A MUST have for this bag, because there is a lot of topstitching! 

This bag is the "Bye Bye Love Bag" by SewSweetness! She has awesome patterns, which sew up very easy and very "finished" looking.. if you know what I mean! You do right? Like people ask me where I bought it looking.. like they look really good.. okay yah you get the point! :) 

Hope you all had a great week, I'm off to cry a little that my babies are not babies anymore, and also rejoice that I will slowly regain more sewing time!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (and Gertrude)