It does work!

This afternoon when I walked into the kitchen, I found my two boys coloring with Sharpie markers. I guess they got bored with paper and "repainting" their cars because they moved onto coloring themselves. I found Sharpie on their faces and on their arms. My husband was concerned that they'd have to go out in public with fading marks on their skin. I immediately put them in the bath tub, then googled "Sharpie marker on skin" and found several sites with info on how to get it off. Know what works?

Dish detergent!

Emma Lavens Carmichael arrived March 16, 2009 at 3:31 am. She weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long. She is the first girl born into the Carmichael family since 1918.

Welcome Emma! Contratulations Bill & Allison!

Quilting for the boys

While I was working on a baby quilt as a gift, my boys asked me to make them one. So I stole another idea from my friend Melissa and took the boys to Walmart to pick out some fabric. We got 1 yard each of 2 prints of fabrics for each boy. That was two weeks ago. I finally finished them Saturday morning.

I discovered basting adhesive. This made it so much easier to quilt. You just spray it on your batting then attach the fabric. Turn it over and do the second side. This eliminates having to pin it together or use a basting stich on your sewing machine.

This was my first attempt to quilt anything. In the past, I've taken my quilts to a lady in FL who would use what is called a long arm to quilt them. Very professional. I've found out that quilting with my machine is actually fun. For Jonathan's quilt, I followed lines already in the print and did a cross hatch from both directions. Turned out pretty good. For Joel's I followed the race track which made for an interesting design. And the boys were thrilled with them.

It took me about 8 hours total to complete this project. It was definitely worth the time and effort to give my kids something that I made. In the future, I'll plan some cool bed quilts.

Hunter's quilt

I finished a baby quilt today. Or, my friend Melissa finished it for me. I got to visit with her today as she helped me get the quilt quilted and the binding put on. The boys had a great time playing and Melissa and I got to relax and chat. Melissa and I were room mates before we both got married. She is a dear friend to me, but lives too far away - way down in Tallahassee!

A couple in my church were expecting a baby and I wanted to do a quilt for them. I found out that they were going to name him Hunter and decorate using camouflage. So first I picked out some fabric -


Then I pieced the top together -

Here I am with the finished product -

Another picture of just the quilt -

Then Joel wanted to pose -

And the best thing is that Hunter and his parents are coming home tomorrow. So I got it finished just in time. Thanks Melissa for all the great help!

Next one is for my niece Emma - she's expected March 17!