Weekly Links and Inspiration

For months, I check blogs and think, "Oh my goodness, that is so cute...I want to make one!"  Then I will promptly bookmark it and file it in my When I Have Time place in my brain  I have accumulated quite a list and love looking back on these fun links for inspiration!  I am thinking weekly, or perhaps just sporadically, I will post a few on here for you lovely ladies.  I know a good number of you love to create, so perhaps these posts will inspire you as much as they have inspired me!

The Gathered Clutch Tutorial at Noodleheads Blog

The Owl Teether Softie Tutorial at The Rubber Punkin

Snowflake Pillow Tutorial at Diary of a Quilter

I hope you have have enjoyed my first installment of "Links and Inspiration" Have a fantastic day!  

Quilting...Perhaps a New Hobby?

Little Monsters Quilt...by far the cutest boy quilt I have ever laid my eyes on!!!

It was designed by Kellie of Don't Look Now and was blogged about here and can be bought in her store on her website.

I have been thinking a lot about quilting lately.  I don't know why or when this happened, but I really want to learn to quilt.  I have seen some fabulous quilts online and think, "WOW, I want to make that!"  For a long time, and don't hate me for saying this, I thought quilting was for little old ladies.  You know, like little old ladies sitting in a rocking chair by the window hand sewing little blocks together, and quilting bees, and such.  That's that the image that quilting used to bring up in my head.  It's cute and idyllic, but not for 20 something women. I imagine it's the same when I tell my college classmates that I sew my own clothes and stuff.  I am willing to bet they think I am the last thing from cool, especially since they are all guys. My time reading craft and sewing blogs has changed my mind on this quilting thing though.  I think quilting is so cool and looks like a lot of fun!  I really want to learn.  I would love to make a little baby blanket or something like that.  I also really want to take all that yellow fabric I bought forever ago and blogged about and make it into a quilt instead of a duvet.  Our bedroom has gone in a different direction (brown and blue), but this will still be used for the guest room.  I don't really have a clue what I need, or what you do to quilt.  I have gathered this much in the way of what goes into quilting...

• you need a rotary cutter and a mat.  (check and check)
• You need pretty fabrics, binding (self-made or store-bought), and some type of batting to make it fluffy (but WHAT TYPE???)
• You need a machine (check)
• something about piecing and a walking foot, which I have heard is hard on your machine if you use it a lot...I know nothing about all of this! 

I also know my machine has some quilting stitches, but I don't know much about them.  So, my question to all of you out there is this...What do I need to start out quilting? 

This and That

Your comments on my last post meant a lot to me!  I am so happy to be back to blogging on a regular basis!  I can't promise I will blog everyday, but I am going to blog as often as I can. 

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!  I sure did!  My mom and I went to Thomas' grandmother's home to have the traditional lunch.  There were a lot of people there...probably about 15...and we had a great time talking and spending time together.  Thomas' dad and I ended up on the couch watching Man vs. Food for about 2 hours!  Ha!  That night Thomas and I took some time to hang out together.  This is something that has really fallen by the wayside with my busy school schedule.  It has been really tough to get everything done, let alone make time for family and friends.  This semester I have had to have my head in the game so much that I feel like I have really missed out on a lot.  I realized I didn't watch any of my favorite Halloween movies this year.  I didn't get to attend my niece's 5th birthday.  I have had a lot less time with my friends and of course Thomas.  It seems like everyday I have something school related to do.  We really needed some time just to be together so it was nice.  We ended up eating some dinner and watching Parking Wars and some other tv programs.  I haven't watched as much tv as I did on Thanksgiving in a while! 

This weekend has been very lowkey.  Saturday, I literally laid in my bed ALL DAY LONG!  I was simply exhausted from the amount of work I have been doing for school and needed a day to relax.  I watched Ice Road Truckers for most of the day, then I watched some movies I had been wanting to see on HBO (Leap Year and It's Complicated).  I fully admit that I have funny taste in tv programs.  I love all those reality shows like Storm Chasers, Survivorman, and Ice Road Truckers...I could want them for hours and very often do!  :)  It's my guilty pleasure!  Today, I have been having a hard time getting motivated.  I have an 8 page paper due on Tuesday and I really haven't started.  I am so over school, but need to press through until the end of this week.  After next Tuesday, Dec. 7th, I will basically be done with all of the big things.  I will only have a couple finals left, but they won't be too bad.  I better get to work since this paper isn't going to write itself. 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!  Oh, and I almost forgot that I have taken a little time over the past couple weeks to work on some crafty items (gifts for little ones), but unfortunately my camera is at my brother's house 3 hours away and I have to wait for it to come to me in the mail so I can take pictures of it all!  I also have some other fun things to show y'all too, so don't let me forget!  I hope everyone has a great week, and I'll try to pop in a couple times to say hello.   

Back to Blogging...

Well, maybe not quite back to blogging as I haven't finished the projects or semester yet.  But I just have been feeling the need to blog again.  Maybe you noticed, but for a while I have been in a major blogging funk.  I lost some of my inspiration and was having a hard time finding it again.  I have to say that the past (almost) month has been good for me.  I am missing blogging more than ever now and feel refreshed about it. 
Sometimes I feel like my blog is a catch-all with no real defined point.  I'm not a wife (yet) or a mother, so it's definitely not about my family quite yet.  I'm not even really good about journaling like so many of the blogs I love to read, so I don't really use this blog to document my life as I would like.  I am not consistent with my crafting and sewing, nor could I pull out a dress or embellished knit or {insert item here} a day...heck I am good if I pull something out every month! There's no way I could really be a craft/sewing blogger.  I have extremely limited my shopping because let's face it, a college budget only goes so far, there are more important things for me to be spending money on than the newest beautiful clothes in the boutiques, and honestly I have far more clothes than I need or deserve.  Other than Lilly Pulitzer, my knowledge of clothing designers is slim.  I shop more regularly at the Goodwill than at the mall (forget about fancy stores) for goodness sake...so I am definitely not a fashion blogger.  I have very little information about the nicest restaurants in my town, and I certainly don't eat there on a regular basis.  In fact, I much prefer Olive Garden to a fancy meal any day.  I don't get invited to fancy parties, or rub elbows with the elite in my town.  I don't travel abroad on a regular basis, or stay in exquisite resorts.  I usually curl up on the couch with Thomas, Lucky, and a large pizza on a Saturday night, so I am definitely not a lifestyle blogger. 
What kind of blogger am I?  Am I the only one who has asked themselves this question?  I feel like I am all over the place on here.  Sometimes it's sewing, others it's crafting, then I have a slew of recipes, once in a while I will spend a week and actually document what we did, and every now and then it's wedding, fashion, or whatever.  And then I have my heartfelt posts...which embarrass me to put up but make me feel so much better when I get them out.  I worry about what to write.  I worry if anyone cares about what I wrote, or if they just found it was boring.  I worry about offending people.  I worry about sharing too much.  I worry about not blogging often enough.  Honestly, this blog has become a bit of a stress to me.  Why have I let it worry me?  At the end of the day, I created this blog for me.  I wanted an outlet to write about what matters to me.  Somewhere along this road, I lost sight of that.  I started thinking that it was for the audience.  In ways it is, but really and honestly it's for me.  I want this to be a document of my life.  I want to be able to make this into a blogging book one day and go back in 30 years and say, "Wow, look at all the stuff I did back then and the mindset I was in."  I want in the very near future for this to be a document of Thomas' and my first years of marriage.  How neat would it be for our children to be able to look at that when they are grown.  I want to talk about what I want to talk about, whether that be what I am sewing or crafting, or what I am doing or participating in, or purchasing if I feel like sharing.  I don't have to box myself in as I have felt so inclined to do recently.  So, this is me.  I'm getting back to blogging for me.  Thanks to those who have stuck through with me over the past few months.  I know I have been a bit of a drag.  I've had some big changes and soul-searching going on.  It's my age and it's good.  It's how you grow.  This change in myself has been magnified to me through this blog.  So, here we are.  No more editing.  No more boxing myself into a niche.  No more blogging for an audience.  Just me. 

A Trip To The Dentist...

If you are a long time blog reader, you might remember about a year and a half ago I was told I needed a lot of dental work.  About $7K worth!  YIKES!  I knew I couldn't afford it at the time.  There was no way to pay for it all and I wasn't in pain, so I just ignored it.  Sad, but true.  I knew I would be off my Dad's insurance soon (didn't pay very much dental) and I fortunately work somewhere that I can get health insurance as a part-time employee.  I knew as soon as I had my own plan, I would get a second opinion.  That time came a couple weeks ago.  I went to the dentist and got a full report of the damage.  7 cavities...all in my molars...due to me having braces for 4 years and inconsistent cleanings.  This sounds terrible right?  Well, it's not so bad.  This dentist I went to quoted me approximately $240 to get them all fixed.  The practice is well known in the area and not a fly by night set-up, so I know this pricing is legit.  Since I have no pain, he is hoping that simple fillings will be fine and no root canals will be needed.  Of course, if a root canal was needed (one tooth in particular is worse than the others) the price would go up, but still...the estimated price is so much less than my first opinion!  Of course, the $7K price included a root canal worst case scenario...but I still cannot for the life of me understand how 6 cavities and a root canal could add up to that.  After talking to a few people I know who have some knowledge of dental pricing, they couldn't understand it either.  Yes, I have a new insurance plan.  Yes, the first dentist wasn't on the preferred list (which I wasn't told until time for payment! $350 for a check-up! I think that is awful they didn't tell me!)  Yes, this quote doesn't include a root canal.  BUT, I still just don't get it.  I am so happy that I got a second opinion.  This is something that has been gnawing at the back of my mind for a year and a half.  What a blessing to find out it isn't going to cost the original horrendous amount!  So, all of this is to say that I have set up appointments to get everything fixed this month.  It is going to take 2 appointments to fill them all.  4 the first time and 3 the next.  I am a scaredy cat about anything medical related, but dental is the worst.  I have been worried for at least a week about this week's appointment.  Please say a prayer on Friday that I get through the fillings without much anxiety and that everything is able to be fixed with simple fills. 

In other news, school is still busy!  I ended up having to talk to my professor last week because my project had gotten so large.  He was in shock that I was trying to do so much and suggested that I cut it down in certain ways.  Now, I am in such a better spot with that project!  I am so relieved and getting a lot of work done on it.  I miss blogging and sewing and doing all my normal activities...I can't wait for this semester to be over!!!  I am still trying to read blogs as much as possible since we all know I need a break from time to time, and I snuck in some sewing time this past weekend to work on this pattern. 

View C made in a tan, white, and black wool that ravels like crazy...which I am working with and making a raveled edge.  I've seen this on a couple blogs recently and was inspired!  I tried it on last night and it is a bit too tight, so hopefully I can let it out a enough.  Unfortunately, I snipped the side seams already, so I only have the back zipper area to work with.  Wish me luck! 

P.S. I have tons of new purchases to show y'all!  I have sewing things on the way, my CSN stores review coming up (which I teased about in July or August...I'm on the ball, huh! It is sewing related, so sure to be fun), and lots of fun stuff I have been collecting for the future C home!  I am really excited about my new initial...so I have pretty much registered for everything monogrammed I can! :)

For the rest of this month...

I will basically be trying to survive.  I have 3 major projects all due on or before December 7th.  I am not worrying about even trying to find time to blog right now.  Come Christmas Break, I will get caught up with y'all, but for now school calls.  Miss y'all!