Jack-o-Lanterns

Today was the walkathon at the school by my house, (which I attended as a child) so Myra and I had a wonderful two mile walk, which is equal to four laps. She hooted at flowers and laughed at the children's faces as they passed her. We went largely unnoticed amongst the cliques of parents: Some PTA, some neighbors, some carpool buddies. Only a few people acknowledged our presence (usually when Myra was being particularly charming) but only for a short time, they were so into themselves. I don't remember it being like that when I went there, but a child under ten has a different perspective at these events. We got bumped, cut off, and passed quite a few times. I spoke to Myra about everything from the weather to politics to discipline; I mean, why not chat it up with a almost-five-month-old? She was the only one listening.

I'm almost finished with the quilt! I have the front made and attached to it's batting, now I just have to sew a simple pattern into the backing as well, something I can accomplish on a Kenmore 10 from the 80's (something straight or very, very slightly curvy. Here is a picture of what I have so far:

It's my pride and joy, since I started it a very long time ago, before I could even cut squares roughly the same size (boy, that took some fixing). There's no pattern, they're all just sweet lace-y, fuzzy, or sparkly representations of my love for my baby girl. I wanted to get a simple sweetie feeling from this quilt, which I think I have accomplished.

As for my pumpkin, it's just as haphazard and adorable:

It's a cupcake, done without a stencil, without much of a plan, during nap time. The lines of the wrapper kept breaking off, and they weren't showing up well so I peeled the ones that fell off to give it more contrast. Same goes for the "cake" part, which is lighter but not cut out. I don't know if you can see it, (I need to photograph during the day, these night shots are terrible!!) but in the middle of the frosting blob, there is a little heart cut out. Of course, I had to add a cherry on top because it was screaming for more decoration, and that didn't show up too well. All in all, I'm excited for next year, when I intend to do a heart themed one with the help of a pre-planned pattern.

 The days are, if not easier, at least more fun. Myra is such a sweetie who loves to play with Mommy. I'm excited for her to be old enough to help with the crafts I do, I have so much to teach her! ♥

Halloween

It's the Friday before Halloween and I've been trying to get in the spirit of things. Finishing my first quilt (first one finished, not first one made!) has been a priority, but keeps getting bumped by projects like baking these pumpkin-ginger cupcakes with rose frosting:

or laying out new patterns for quilts I have in mind. (I think I'm going to merge an idea for a tree I saw in Disdressed's archive for February 2008 with the ever popular owl quilts available at Target).

Myra is getting bigger and is starting to recognize exactly who she wants to be with. Last night her dad was holding her after she awoke crying in her crib, but when she caught sight of me she leaned out perilously towards me, extending one arm in a reach while using the other to push against my husbands chest. needless to say, he was a little hurt at the sudden appearance of this preference.