How did it get to be April 6th?

I am sorry I have disappeared for so long. The last time I posted was the weekend before the week before spring break. Did that make any sense? Anyway...the week before spring break was also the Scholastic book fair at my daughter's school and yours truly was in charge of it. Fun, fun, fun. And to top it off, I subbed at the kindergarten on Thursday and at DD's school on Friday. We had a lovely spring break in Tennessee at my parent's house. The kids "helped" Papa build a tree house. It might have been quicker without their help! Me and my sister even got to have a day out together with only one of the five kids tagging along. Have you ever tried shopping for bras with an unhappy 22 month old? Exciting!

Yesterday I got to sew for about three hours straight! It was so peaceful! I managed to get these hearts machine appliqued onto the backgrounds while at my mom's house. Came home and found the perfect material for the sashing and borders. I like how it turned out. Plus it used up 2 yards from the stash and another 3 yards for the backing! I am hoping to get it onto the quilting machine today and maybe even finish it up this weekend.

I am a little surprised that Nine's hasn't tattled on me already! On my day out with my sister, we stopped by one of my favorite quilt stores in Goodlettsville, Tennessee and of course they were having a Shop Hop. They had a whole row of beautiful fabrics on clearance - most for about $3.99 a yard. I found a backing for my hand-dyed curves quilt. That purchase was legal! Then I found another blue that I fell in love with. OK, I fell slightly off the wagon. Just a little bit. But I climbed back on. I also grabbed a couple of fat quarters for Nines and for my mom (for watching the kids while me and sis went out!). When I got to the counter, the cashier told me that the fat quarters would be regular price unless I bought 20, in which case they would be a dollar a piece. I told her thanks, but I don't need 20 fat quarters. Later, I happen to look at my hand-written receipt and notice that I had bought 8 fat quarters for $2.50 each. 8 times 2.50 equals $20. Did she bother to tell me that I had already spent $20 and I should go pick out some more FREE fat quarters? NO! So I went back to the store on Friday on my way home and showed the manager my receipt. She very kindly told me I could go pick out my 12 free fat quarters. It would have been nice if the cashier could have told me this the first time around.

The thread in the picture is from Joann's. It is 40 wt. cotton quilting thread from Signature. Going to try it on the quilting machine. It is all variegated. Started off at $35. Marked down to $14.99. Rang up at $7.50! Good deal!

The white fabric is to make hand print quilts for the kids teachers. I am subbing in DS's class for two days in a couple of weeks. I plan on doing their hand prints then.

And this is my daughter, the artist. Last fall, she had a piece of artwork chosen to be in the Superintendent's Art contest. Each art teacher and principal picked one piece from each grade to represent their school. Then the district's super picked the pieces to go onto the state. Maddie was one of her school's representatives. Now she has had another piece (the cows behind her) chosen to be in an art show for the school district. They had a opening reception on Tuesday night. I think Maddie was more interested in the free chips and cookies!