daddy's quilt

Daddy's quilt

This was a long time coming!

Mark and Moses enjoying the quilt before it's washed and mailed.

I 'gave' this quilt to my father for Christmas the first year Mark came home to Texas with me (2010).  At that time, it was a pieced quilt top and that was it.  Needless to say, my father was less than impressed with my unfinished gift.

Moses knows it's not for him...

I brought it back home to DC with me and it sat for a good long while on my shelf collecting dust.  Eventually (I don't remember when), I got around to doing the quilt sandwich and started stitching.  But my straight lines weren't straight and the quilt was doing that horrible shifty thing quilts sometimes do.  In frustration, I stuck it away for another long period of time.

Last fall, I finally dug it out again and spent several hours with my seam ripper.  I re-basted the quilt and then started the stitches again with my walking foot, this time, smooth as buttah. I bound it, washed it and mailed it to my dad this last Christmas.

I'm so glad it's finally done!  

I quilted dense straight lines across the white sashing approximately 1/4" apart.

The fabrics in this quilt are very meaningful to me.  I am certain most quilters have favorite fabrics that they love to work with. These blue batiks are cut from a few meters that I truly consider some of my most prized possessions. I purchased the fabric from a market in Yogyakarta when I lived in Indonesia almost 7 (!) years ago.  They were probably the most beautiful thing I brought home with me!  I'm sure you can find batik fabric online and in stores that is also lovely, but I still remember haggling with the vendor, adding more meters to drive the price down, stretching my Indonesian language skills, working my mental math muscles as quickly as possible in the dappled sunlight.  These hand printed batiks will be very slowly portioned out for only the most special projects until I can kembali (return) to Indonesia some day!

I love the fact that the quilting isn't perfect.

Although I was afraid I mailed it too late to arrive in time for Christmas, it did finally arrive on time (after being two years late, that is).  Anyway, my dad knows it was worth the wait!

keeping the back simple with a soft solid white sheet.

I got creative and quilted two concentric squares in each individual batik piece.  It was a little bit of a bear to keep rotating the quilt, but I was so happy with the finished product that it was totally worth it.

you can see the quilting I did in each of the squares between rows of sashing.

We couldn't get to Houston last year, my first Christmas away from my family (besides the one I spent in Indonesia). As Mark says, a quilt is like a warm hug.  I hope my dad feels that when he lays in his recliner under this quilt at night to watch TV.

happy quilt!

I was glad to see my dad using his quilt during my visit to Houston.  It is already well-loved!

love you, Daddy!  

oil ranch

Alanna, posing at the entrance to Oil Ranch

my sister Michelle, 'milking a cow'.  sort of.

Friday during my Houston trip, I accompanied my sister Michelle on my niece Alanna's field trip to Oil Ranch.  It wasn't exactly chaperoning, because this is pre-school and the parents almost outnumbered the kids.  But it was fun to be able to do something special with my niece (and my sister).

hen and eggs, being a chain link fence.

feeding the sheep.

Oil Ranch is part amusement park, part petting zoo/dude ranch.  It seems to be a popular spot for elementary school aged children and apparently corporate events?  They have tons of animals (donkeys, geese, chickens, bunnies, cows, donkeys, etc), offer pony rides, train rides, hay rides, and several other interactive children's activities.  It was not a hot day by Houston standards, but the sun was strong, and we really appreciated their picnic pavilions (where we ate our packed lunches)!

bunnies!

pony ride, anyone?

Alanna on a big horse

I really enjoyed watching Alanna be active and interact with other children.  She'll be starting kindergarten in the fall, and I am sure that she will do well in relationships with her teachers and classmates.

my niece and I at Oil Ranch - courtesy of Michelle Herrera

The day was fun, but tiring.  Did I really forget, after all my summers working with children in camps and the year I spent nannying, that children are a lot of work?  My niece was not high maintenance, and I did not even provide much direct care for her, but even trailing around after one child (with my sister) at Oil Ranch was exhausting.  I also got pretty sun burnt, so I must not be used to equatorial conditions anymore.  Or perhaps my whirlwind, less than 5 day trip to Texas had an impact on my energy level?  I didn't sleep in the same bed twice for the five days leading up to our field trip.  Yeah, let's go with that.

Alanna, milking a cow.  for real.

In any case, I already appreciate the memories from this day and hope I get to do something similar with my nephew David in the next few years!

faces from home

Coming home from a vacation is always difficult, but I smartly scheduled a midnight flight on a Sunday evening after a whirlwind trip-- and then an early morning Monday appointment.  Yikes.

While I'm getting my head on straight and jumping back into regular life, I'm going to look through these photos to bring a smile to my face.  Michelle won't like her photo, but we didn't get one together!  And I somehow missed photographing my dad altogether on this trip.  Guess I'll have to visit again soon!

my niece Alanna and I at Oil Ranch

my younger sister Erin and I

finally a good photo of me and my Mama!

my older sister Michelle

my sweet nephew David!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

. . . . . . . .

{this moment} ritual from Soulemama

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

. . . . . . . .

{this moment} ritual from Soulemama

wild horses

welcome visitors!

wildlife everywhere!

a warning. we didn't see any horses do these things, though.

Assateague National Park has been on my trip list for awhile. Besides wanting to explore the National Parks from coast to coast, this particular park has the allure of wild horses. While we were at the beach several weeks ago (you know, during the whole month of April when I never wrote?), we took a few hours and drove out to the park.  We got lucky because it was National Parks Week (free admission) AND because we saw horses everywhere!

no fees during National Parks Week!

there were several horses chilling on the beach near some campsites.

nap-time: 30!

she needed a backrub.

this fellow may be a horse, but I think you can still describe him as 'emo'.

Horses were definitely a highlight at Assateague, but we saw all kinds of wildlife.  We pulled off on one of the park roads to see a bald eagle snatch something from a marsh and take off.  We saw marine wildlife scooped from the water by rangers giving a demonstration.  And there were several types of birds with which I was unfamiliar.

bald eagle in flight

shrimp!

white heron? egret?

there were clouds of these butterflies.

We enjoyed our Saturday visit so much that we made a visit on Sunday, as well.  We weren't as lucky spotting horses on Sunday, but it was still a beautiful day and we were able to explore another area of the park.

Dave took this photo for us.  I didn't get any photos of Dave and Leslie at Assateague!

so peaceful.

oudoor shower doesn't look so bad... especially when it's on the beach!

Assateague has campsites, and Mark and I discussed going back to camp on the beach. This is just another reason to be excited about the impending summer-- camping is one of the things I have learned to look forward to the most when it comes to seasonal activities.  I am certain we will have a camping adventure at least one weekend this summer!

these look like strawberry flowers

family successes

This entire post is not particularly related to handmade things except for the lives we make every day. Mark and I recently celebrated some personal successes and I'd like to share!

Last semester, I took a photography course at American University to help me understand how to use my digital camera better. Or, at least that was why I thought I took the course!  It turned out that I actually developed (pun intended!) a love of black and white film photography. My digital skills were enhanced by the experience I had with Mark's film camera. Our final assignment was a series of 8-10 images with a cohesive theme. I chose the seminary: my home, my work, my community-- and explored with my camera corners I walk by every day. My images were on display this spring in the seminary's gallery (with other contributions from the community). I've never been part of an exhibit like that before!

posing with my seminary photographs.

a photo of my favorite photo.

Also related to the seminary (and much more exciting), we celebrated Mark's recent success: admission! He will begin his seminary studies in the fall, and joins basically his entire family in theological study and contemplation (really. Mark's brother Josh is a pastor, his wife and my friend Ashlinn and I are MTS grads, Mark's grandfather is a local licensed pastor, and Mark's father is currently a DS in the United Methodist Church).

Mark opens his admission packet...

Congratulations! Excitement!

the excited admitted student and future seminarian.

a day to celebrate love

my love, dressed to the nines

And also, a day to be spoiled by the one I love, apparently!  My day was filled with flowers (first at work, with instructions not to bring my lovely tulips home, then again at home with a pink mixed bouquet!), Trader Joe's chocolate, a special song written by my love and then the excitement of a real dinner date.  We got dressed up.  I wore high heels and make up.  Mark wore a tie.  The meal ended with chocolate cake.  Now that's a date (am I right?)!

Although I appreciate being treated to all of the special things Mark did, I have to say it is always my favorite when he writes me a new song.  The first time he played me a song he wrote, we weren't even officially dating yet.  I was turning 26, home to Texas for a week with my family and spending my birthday in the hospital, where my mom was admitted for dangerously low blood pressure.  I was having a pretty crummy day, and very worried about my mother.  Mark had been texting me and told me to check my email, that he sent my gift to my g-mail account.  It was a recording of him singing New to You, posted privately on YouTube.

I had never received a more thoughtful gift and know that the ways he expresses himself is one of the reasons I fell in love with him.

Since my birthday song, several written in the distance of a long term relationship, and his proposal song, I've enjoyed hearing him play on a regular basis.  I think, though I appreciate his music in all its forms, that I can't help but appreciate the songs he writes for me the most.  What can I say?  I love to hear how he sees us.

After six months of marriage, it would be easy to get to that state of comfort where romantic notions cultivated during wedding planning are a thing of the distant past.  But Mark knows just how to take how we are and how we've changed and make it sound like, well, we were meant to be this way.  He's real about us in a way that doesn't make me feel either like we are over-romanticized or that we need to somehow overcome how we are.  But, he also makes me love us even more than I already do.

Here's to a day celebrating love that is cultivated through the work and partnership of both of us, everyday!

I clean up okay, too. 

I love it when he wears dress shoes.

playing my valentine's day song

before we left for dinner

"But I love Italian!  You sure I can't come?  I wish I had a Valentine..."