Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

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  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

in the last twelve months

We have had two car crashes and two hospital visits in an ambulance.  From four separate occurrences. 

I attempted to do battle with a curb today.  So upset with myself.  It snowed a decent amount last night, but Woodmen was completely clear and I’d been cruising on it for 15 minutes and was just totally on autopilot when I turned off onto a very side road, which was packed snow and ice.  I just wasn’t paying attention and it even took me a while to realize that yes, indeed, my car WASN’T turning right.  Everyone was okay (“okay!” Ellie shouted back when I asked the kiddos) and when I got out to inspect the car I was thrilled and shocked that there was no visible damage.  Less thrilled and less shocked to discover the terrible wobbling in my steering wheel. I limped it home since I wasn’t able to reach Nic by phone, text, or email.

We’ll likely have the car towed tomorrow.  I am praying so hard that it’s a little alignment fix versus a costly suspension or steering fix.  Google is not my friend.  For every $80 bumped curb at 20-30mph there’s a $3000 version.  And deciding whether or not to tow it is wearing hard.  If it’s a cheap fix it’s stupid to increase the cost by so much, if it’s not a cheap fix I might as well since it’s covered by insurance after the $500 deductible (that we already paid on Nic’s car last January)! 

Of course we were just joking this past weekend that if I want a bigger car I just need to roll mine like Nic did his.  I’m pretty sure Nic’s secretly thinking that this was just my half-hearted attempt at totalling my vehicle so I can get a station wagon. 

Here’s hoping the next 12 months will bring exactly four fewer costly insurance claims.

christmas towels

These stay put towels are a huge hit.  That post has been on pinterest more than any of my other posts!!  (Which cracks me up because the tutorial isn’t even mine!)

I made a couple for Christmas gifts and I just love how they came out!  (All of the towels are from Target.)  For the first towel I’d really wanted plain kelly green, but Joanns was running VERY low on their green ribbon (much to my annoyance) this week and these polka dots were the best I could do.  I’m totally in love with the pom pom trim, though!

THE TUTORIAL FOR THESE TOWELS IS LINKED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS POST

Krista - Those are indeed super cute. I’ll have to go check the tutorial out!

Tara B - Wow you are talented! what insiring, fun, and cute ideas!

Lisa polk - Love it all

Susie at ProsperityStuff - Awesome. I’ll be making some of these … thanks for the tutorial link!

a christmas quilt a decade in the making

This one was officially in the realm of the UFOs.  Occasional sightings were made in the last decade of this project, a log cabin quilt I started in the final month of my senior year of high school, but for one reason or another, it would always find its way back to a drawer.

In October our guild had a finish-it-up type pledge where you got to choose what you promised to finish.  This was that project for me, and I was so excited to show it.  When I started making it a decade ago, it wasn’t supposed to be a Christmas quilt–the fabrics aren’t overtly Christmasy, but as it came together I was definitely feeling a Christmas vibe, which Will brought out for me when I was basting it and he walked by and said “Thank you for making that Christmas blanky for us!”

So I finished it up in October, stuck it in my closet with the rest of the off-season quilts, and brought it out again the day after Thanksgiving.  I love it!

This is what happens to quilts in this house.  They are really truly beloved.  My helper Will was holding up the quilt, and as soon as we were done Ellie ran over to claim it.  Here is what happened in the following 60 seconds…

Amanda - Great quilt and story…beautiful backing material! Adorable pictures with your girl and quilt.

Sandra in WA - I love the story and the photo journaling of this quilt! Your blog entry has brought me hope that one day all of my UFOs shall also finally be completed!

JoanieinNC - This is so sweet! Love the pictures. The quilt is so cute with great choices of fabric and colors.

Little Bluebell (Adrianne) - That whole series with Ellie is so cute!!

Sheila - I love that you finished a long lost UFO! I have a few of my own that I still hold out hope for…

And the photos of Ellie are great! That’s exactly how a quilt SHOULD be used, in my opinion. 🙂

Mac - Love your log cabin quilt and the story behind it. I finished a quilt at least 10 years plus in the making for a Christmas present last year. Yours hasn’t dated, unlike mine. Have always wanted to make a log cabin quilt.

Susie at ProsperityStuff - Super! Glad I’m not the only one who’s ever had decade-old quilt projects … I finished one like that a couple years ago. And I’ve got another one that I love that’s been at least a dozen years in the making now, and I’m planning to finish it this year.

Today we went to Eddie Bauer in Briargate.  The last time we were there was with Granny and Poppa.  So we walk in the door to the shop and Ellie starts shouting at the top of her lungs “GRANNY!”  “POPPA!” as if they have simply been stuck in the checkout line for the last two weeks and she expected them to pop out from behind a rack of flannel shirts at any moment.

The look Nic gave me at dinner today when I was describing what exactly is involved when an OB strips someone’s membranes makes me think that when I’m an L&D nurse I won’t be allowed to talk about work while he’s eating…

happy.  very happy.  🙂