Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Summer Angst (and a Mini Quilt)

A quote that Amy put on her blog today - I swiped it....



“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”
--Anna Quindlen (Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)


I love that reminder - I always need to keep in mind that it is the journey, not the destination. And we can create memories as well as beautiful things....


So I didn't go too crazy when my destination was a tad late for mini quilt Monday - we went to the pool and playground yesterday.

This little quilt has a very important job.
The boys' games live here in the family room. I hated the doors when we moved in and removed them. But now I have to look at this mess all the time.


So I covered it! They just have to lift up from the bottom to pull out a game.


I tried to finish the binding on the back by machine instead of hand. It was a bit of a disaster, so only the top was machine done. But it did help get the velcro on securely. The picky side of the velcro was attached to the top edge of the game cabinet area.









I added a wonderful iron on label from Sweetwater. I won them a bit ago - they are so pretty! (so pretty that your eyes will never wander over to that nasty little fold on the back)

Ahhh, so much better!

In case you want to make one yourself, I modified a pattern from the book "Livin' Large" by Heather Mulder Peterson. I love her patterns!

A quick, funny Kenton story if you care to continue....

A letter arrived yesterday from his last year's teacher. He was the best teacher ever! I thought Kenton would be excited, but he looked worried.

Am I being held back?

What? Of course not! (he got all A's, the silly kid)

still not opening... You're sure - they wold have told me by now - right?

Kenton was quite relieved to find the nice thank you note inside. Such are the worries of a 5th grade boy!

9 comments:

Dresden Quilter said...

What a great idea and the mini quilt is so beautiful. I love the quote. I have been trying to remember that more this summer.

Laura said...

I love the mini quilt. What a great solution to the storage problem!

Leslie said...

that is such a beautiful quote....i always need that reminder because that resolve to live in the moment slips away too quickly. i love the quilt. What a great idea to cover that cabinet. it looks beautiful

Isa said...

I think I said it before, but I'll gladly say it again.
I love your quilt, it's beautiful!
And the little quilting detail around the bird is just great!
The quote is a good reminder :-)

One Flew Over said...

A fantastic quilt that does sucha useful job! I need to 'live in the moment' a lot more with my kids...

heather said...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!!!!!!! I can't say it enough! It looks ULTRA FANTASTIC!! I wish I had an area that I could do that with. I have one going into sixth also and he would have gone to the same conclution and he's a good student also!!:) Funny boys!:)

Anonymous said...

Is today an official parenting day? Your is the second blog I've been to this morning that had a deep quotation about appreciating one's children.

And the quilt--is stunning and brilliant. What a great way to keep big chunks of big prints together without having just big chunks of big prints. I'm gonna swipe it myself.

Amanda Jean said...

what a great solution for your games! the quilt looks so great there!!! it's just beautiful.

Doris said...

Poor kid, I remember the sickening feeling I had in my stomach on the last day of second grade when I carried my report card four VERY LONG blocks home, reading at the bottom that next year I would be in...2nd Grade...AGAIN! Turns out it was a just a typo, but my Lord, had about a half hour of absolute sikness, fighting tears and dreading my Mom's reaction. She fixed it all with her "Mom Magic" a phone call to the teacher.