Friday Finish, the early evening edition

Boy howdy it's been a week. Any single moms out there, I tip my hat and raise a cold Dr. Pepper in your honor, because honestly, this is impossible. I mean, it's possible, but it's hard.

Like, really, hard.

Wow, how profound was that. My English professors (yes, I have a creative writing degree) would be ashamed of my lame description. I don't care. My brain cells are frying.

Okay, but honestly, I love it and I loved today. It's been a great day, which is why this post is late.

And I do have a finish. Whoop whoop!

That's right, mark another of the ol' list. My 2nd quarter finish-along list is getting shorter! And it's such a great time to cuddle with a flannel quilt. Um, not really. I'll give it to my husband so he doesn't freeze, poor man.

Gotta say, I like this one a lot.

 'Member how I said I'm famous (in my head) for a gingham binding. Well, I'm also partial to a scrappy binding. Because, hey, I didn't have enough aqua gingham, or aqua chevrons, or aqua polka dots, so I just mixed them all together. Because I can.

 Backed in red flannel. Honestly, this is the last time I back a quilt in flannel. Well, I might try a flannel sheet, but I'm not buying anymore bleeding flannel. And no, I'm not using a British expletive. I mean this flannel bleeds. I pre-washed it. I used a truckload of Color Catchers. I washed it FIVE times. It worked, but sheesh.

Oh, and if you're feeling blue, or taking care of five kids by yourself and going a little batty, please visit Cake Wrecks. Be prepared to laugh until you cry. Don't do it while you're trying to nurse a baby to sleep. The two don't mix. Oh, good times.

Linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict who has a gorgeous quilt with a great story.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Make-A-List Monday Week 8 - Happy Memorial Day

 I am a total sucker for patriotic holidays. Blame my childhood. And my family. Here's the math:

2 grandpas who were career Marines
3 Marine Corps uncles
1 born-on-the-fourth-of-July dad
1 Air Force husband
2 Marine Corps brothers
= one flag-waving, tears-up during the national anthem every time, patriotic little me. And don't even get me started on God Bless America, God Bless the U.S.A., and America the Beautiful. My kids are partial to the Air Force song.

We started this tradition when we moved to Seattle. The Washelli cemetery in Seattle has a very large military section. They do a special afternoon Memorial Day ceremony each year. But before that, early in the morning before that,  a group of people, mostly Boy Scouts (love the scouts!) go and place the flags at the gravesites. And they let my little family participate.

See - here's my awesome husband showing my two oldest how it's done.

And my oldest boy doing it all by himself. So sad we couldn't find a local cemetery to do this at this year. It was a lovely tradition. We'll still go to the cemetery and see who's got flags out and talk about it. It's important to know and talk about.

Yes, this is a quilty blog. But it's my blog. And today, I'm thinking about the men and women who sacrificed so much for my freedom. One day a year isn't too much to ask of me.

But now I will move on to quilting matters.

Here's what I'm working on this week:

Finish quilting and binding this quilt:

(and there would be a picture if I could find my flippin' camera, but it seems to have sprouted little legs and wandered away)

Cut up my charms for the Boy/Girl I-Spy charm swap (pretty sure there are still spots available if you're interested) and the Yummy Sherbet charm swap (I'm in the lime/mango group). The fabric arrives tomorrow.

Clean/organize my sewing room. Again. For the eleventy billionth time.

Finish cutting and start sewing on my daughter's adventure backpack (needed more fabric for this one).

That's a decent little list. What are you all up to this week?

Friday Finish: the one where I'm a little nuts

There are nine children, all eight and under, in my house right now. At 7:05 a.m.

I am officially crazy.

Five are mine. The other four belong to a friend who is moving and she has a boatload of last minute stuff to do before she heads out of town this morning.

Um, I kinda offered to have them over this morning. See, crazy.

Nah, they're good kids, and cartoons make zombies out of them all. Some monkey bread and milk and I'll look like Mom of the year.

Okay, on to my finish. You don't need to know how crazy I am.

I did get something finished this week. Can I get a hallelujah? C'mon, don't leave a girl hanging!

This little red and aqua barn raising quilt has been on my finished but not quilted stack (I'm not the only one with one of those stacks right) for forever. Like, I finished it in Seattle. That was a year and many boxes ago.

So it went to the top of the "Move on it Woman" list (also known as my 2nd Quarter finish-along list). I'm also trying to get as much done as possible while my husband is out of town.

Okay, blah blah blah. Time for pictures.

Just some straight line quilting, backed in aqua flannel and bound with red gingham. If you're new here, gingham binding is sorta my thing. Some people are famous for their sunglasses, others for their shoes. Me, I'm famous (in my head) for my gingham bindings.

It's soft and snuggly and, blast it all, too small. But my baby girl likes it. See:

She had a great time crawling around on it while I was trying to take pictures. See that bright light in the sky? It's sunshine. And we've been missing it!

I've got my other red/aqua quilt to baste (after I clear out the excess children) and then I'm getting to quilting that puppy.

For the record, I don't quilt puppies. So don't be calling the PETA people over that. If they want to haul me in, it can be for bacon consumption.

Have a fabulous weekend! Linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Oh, and hey, you've got a few more hours to enter the giveaway. So get to it!