toomer's oaks

on april 20th, auburn had their annual a-day game. this day was unlike any other a-day game day because after the game was over, everyone walked to toomer's corner to roll the toomer's oaks for the very last time. after two years, efforts to save the trees after they had been poisoned by a crazy person ended. they were to be removed and the toomer's corner would get an entire face lift including new oaks. those trees were a part of auburn's tradition and i was glad that i was present for their last hurrah.

 our day started at chappy's deli for breakfast. mq and i love this place.

because this is such a picture heavy update, i'm hiding them all behind a link - click to see more!

things that make me happy

here are some things that make me happy: knowing i'm less than a week away from moving back to auburn for the rest of the year; nashville; this video of a cat wearing a shark costume on a roomba hanging out with a duckling; upcoming projects for mq and i; seeing my family in a week and a half in florida.

also all of these pictures (some old, some recent):

i don't know what it is about north alabama winters, but i'd see the above scene nearly ever day. so many birds flying together always, you never see a single one on it's own. it's kind of captivating.

this was taken one weekend while i was home in auburn. there is a stray cat (or maybe a neighbors? we don't know) that comes around and we call it "chief tirewater" after he (he's really a she) kept drinking water out of a tire that was near our front yard for awhile. well, chief likes to visit us but tallulah doesn't really know what to think of it. in my dreams, they become best friends and chief comes with us when we move.

judging by jeremy's jack's cup and the ripped open case of beer, i'd say this was taken the morning after a porch party. porch parties usually consist of jeremy, mq, me and lots of guitar playing. it's our favorite.

we have a kite we named 'samson' and we take him to the park sometimes. this day it was kind of a bust but it was still so nice to lay out in the sun during a cold winter afternoon.

snow in downtown decatur! well not really snow. i mean, real snow, but it wasn't like it accumulated or anything. sadface. i was way too excited and eager about this.

i found this shirt in a thrift store in decatur but didn't feel right wearing it. it was a little too cheesy, but at the same time i love light houses. because it was super soft, i decided to make a pillow out of it. my plan of action for the rest of the shirt is to cut out the individual light houses and make them the center of some log cabin-esque squares for a quilt. we'll see what happens. hopefully i can work on it soon.

this was taken at work. that guy is BRAVE for being so close to the edge (he was tied off to an anchored point). because this coming week is my last week, i might be able to be escorted up on top of the building and i'm really excited/scared.

one weekend i drove up to nashville to do a little shopping. i have never been to the city before so i was very excited. i made sure to visit the parthenon while i was there and it was so cool. the park that surrounds it was packed with kids taking prom pictures, people reading on blankets with their dogs, college kids tossing around a frisbee. it was such a refreshing sight to see. i'd love to live in that city.

camping!

back in november between exams and thanksgiving break, michael and i drove to mississippi to meet some of his friends in meridian, a city close to the alabama border. i've never been to mississippi so it was quite an experience.

on our way home, we saw a dog playing in a dog bed right next to the road. it was a residential area so i figured it was someone's pet but who leaves their pet (and pet bed) on the side of the road? we thought maybe it was just put out there for someone to pick up and when we slowed down, it ran into someone's yard. weirdos.

it's done! i finished my first quilt.

i finally finished it!! this process has been going on since last summer when i was co-oping in huntsville. due to an incredibly busy fall semester, i didn't pick it up until i came back up to north alabama to do my last co-op this january. i was determined to finish it before this semester ended and sure enough - i did! now that i am done i can't wait to start on my next one. i have so many ideas and i have been collecting some beautiful fabrics.

i've never had a really great sewing set up. last summer, i was working on a tiny little sewing table in a tiny little room. this semester, i have been using the above set up, using a barstool height table for ironing and sewing. it's a small table so i can only manage to do one thing at a time on it. i actually really love the height though, so i am standing the entire time i am working. usually, sitting at a desk will give me really annoying back/shoulder pains. i still get a little bit of a sore back while i am sewing and standing, but that's usually because i've been at it for hours. i just enjoy it significantly more than sitting, so i think my future permanent sewing set up will have a standing height table.

sewing on my grandma's old singer from the 60's. it's an industrial machine and i love it. it doesn't do anything other than a straight stitch but that's all i really need.

  

and here it is! all done. don't look super close or you'll see all my mistakes. this quilt is not a work of art and it won't be hung on the wall, it's going to be loved on and brought to picnics and cuddled with.

 

taking pictures of a twin sized quilt by yourself without a tripod or a helper was kinda hard. i'll work on this.

i used the machine binding tutorial from red pepper quilts (found here) and it was super helpful. the binding didn't turn out perfect - the back of the binding varies in width here and there - but i am happy with it. i'll get better with practice!

i used a thrifted white sheet as the backing fabric. i know some quilters will shy away from using vintage sheets for quilts because the needle will actually pierce a hole in the fabric instead of having the fabric shift and move around the needle. i decided to just go for it and see what happens since this is my first quilt and i'm open to making mistakes (and thus, learning from them). it is really soft and i'm happy i used the sheet instead of some rough hard fabric. also i'm poor and this was cheaper. college logic.

i think the grid quilting looks pretty cool on the back of the quilt. it kind of reminds me of a downtown street layout.

well that's it for my first quilt, buddies! can't wait to get started on my next one. i have so many ideas. :)

fabric post - sew, mama, sew!, bloomerie fabrics, and pink castle fabrics

sew, mama, sew! is a blog that i have been reading for awhile. they posted a contest a few weeks ago to choose twelve fabrics from the sew, mama, sew! store that represented spring in a fresh, fun way. the winner would be given a fat quarter pack of their chosen fabrics and also it would be available in their store for other people to buy. it sounded like a really fun contest so i entered and actually became one of the twelve finalists. you can see my fabric picks here. i didn't win the contest, but sew, mama, sew! had a giveaway with the winning fabric picks and i actually won that! here are some pictures of the fabrics i won. thanks, sew, mama, sew!

i think the three above fabrics florette crystal, teja blue, and peacock feathers turquoise are my favorite out of the entire bunch. i love the vintage look to them.

how cute are those ice cream cones? so adorable!

green is my favorite color in the world so i can see me using these fabrics a lot. a lot a lot. 

well.. after that i got the fabric bug and was soon on the hunt for more pretty fabrics to add to my stash. i really don't have much in the first place and all i have to shop from in auburn is a hobby lobby, so i found some good websites that had REALLY cute fabric.

i ordered these fabrics from pink castle fabrics and i am so in love.

floaties and sinkies in coral

jam in leaf

nigella in multi

modern meadow herringbone in grass

architextures crosshatch in tangerine

typerwriters in parchment

sewing guide in cream and apple

botanical in cream

confetti dots in charcoal

next on my list was bloomerie fabrics and i am also in love with everything i chose. it will be hard deciding on when to actually use these for something instead of oogling at them.

type, typerwriter keys

lucy's crab shack, kite ties in cream green

kids, forest life in retro

holiday, spatter dots in aqua

flora, secret window in turquoise

2wenty thr3e, kodachrome in pavement

then i did a little last minute shopping this past week at hobby lobby and came across these cute prints in the seasonal section. 

brother sister design studio

didn't write this brand down. will have to go back to hobby lobby to check brand.

this fabric reminded me so much of the liberty of london line at target. i bought a dress that had a print very similar to this fabric but i don't have it with me so i can't compare it side by side. i am in love with it though! i almost don't want to cut it up for anything.

brother sister design studio

i was planning on making a cute pillow out of the last two fabrics but it probably wouldn't match any of my current living room decor so i have to think of a new project for it.

that's all for now! i can't wait to get back to auburn to organize everything. i imagine once that is done, i won't be able to do much cause all i'll be doing is staring at my stash. so prettyyyyyy.

things that make me happy

here are some pictures of things that have made me happy recently.

we made a fort in the living room when i was home in auburn a few weekends ago (like five year olds (that drink beer in their forts)).

my kitty, tallulah! it bums me out that i am not living with her these days. i miss my buddy. my allergies don't.

homemade buttermilk biscuits made by michael - they were so delicious. i'm going to have to convince him to make these all the time. but with gravy. that has sausage in it.

my new couch! i got it from the habitat for humanity thrift store in auburn for only $35. there are a few imperfections, such as a rip at the bottom of the frame and a worn spot on the armrest, but neither of these are hard to fix/cover. it was such a steal, i saw it the second we walked in an it didn't take long to convince myself it needed to come home with me. i'm obsessed with the print.

cat approved couch

two thrift store mugs and my basil and sunflower baby plants that i am trying to grow. they might not turn into good looking adult plants, but look! little baby plants that i grew!

eggs and potatoes for breakfast. all that was missing was some homemade buttermilk biscuits from michael.