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!

willie is learning to read!

Will is learning to read, and for the last couple of night we have been reading Go Dog Go together. 

I am loving it.  I feel like the legwork was done in kindergarten the last two weeks and all of a sudden it has clicked and he is ready to take off!

after taking on the y seams…

Another peek at my Pillow Talk Swap pillow front. The Y seams just about killed me, but now that I have a couple of days distance, I think they were worth it!

(Tip:  I was a little nervous about doing such difficult piecing with linen, so I starched it until it resembled a french fry and it behaved just as well as a normal quilting cotton after that.)

nicke - my gracious! that is stunning traci! i need to make one of these for myself.

alexis - gorgeous!

Nicci P - Beautiful…it looks perfect!

Tania - Hi Traci, I think it is absolutely gorgeous, and your colours are divine, really beautiful xx

Fran - Wow! Just gorgeous! I could NEVER make one of those! Amazing!

A.J. Dub - WOW! I mean WOW! SO very gorgeous! Y seams!!! Yikes! Great job!

Jacey - Seriously? I love this to bits. I really want to try it for myself.

Audrey - It is beautiful! I love the description of the french fry fabric, too.:)

Alli - It’s beeyoooootiful!

Natalie J - I’m so impressed! Beautiful work. I aspire to be as accomplished one day! 🙂

Jenniffier - Wow. That is just wonderful.

Peggyann - Simply stunning. I have ever liked stars before. Until now.

I will be working with linen, for the first time….a double wedding ring, all hand pieced. For my daughters wedding in June.

Looking for any hints working with linen, did you pre-wash?

strange bedfellows

Will never took to a ‘lovey’.  As much as I hoped he’d adopt any one of the numerous adorable stuffed animals as his number one guy, he never really took to any one in particular.  He loves quilts, and insisted on sleeping under a bunch of them, but no one in particular was his Linus blankee.

So it is with great curiosity that I have watched in the last few weeks/months as he has taken up a bedtime companion.

Is it the adorable dragon?  The super cute bunny?  The knight quilt I made him?  Or the cars quilt?  Or the tiny pillow his granny left behind on one of her visits?

No.

It is a cheapo 2” paintbrush from Home Depot.

It has been around the house for the two years that we’ve lived here, and migrated to the play room for a while.  And then I noticed that it had moved up to Will’s room…and then I started regularly seeing it in or around his bed, often on the pillow when I check on him at night.  And then I began to notice that he quietly seeks it out before crawling into the covers.  As if he knows that a paintbrush is a totally bizarro comfort item and doesn’t want anyone to know about it. 

I’ve had my suspicions, but they were confirmed tonight as he tried to hand me something with his hand that was also holding the paintbrush as we got ready to read stories.  I started to take the paintbrush from him, wondering if the mystery of its bedtime presence was going to be solved, when he yanked it back with a reflexive “No—that’s mine.  You have THIS.” and gave me whatever it was he wanted me to have.

It’s a mystery, but I’m guessing he’s rubbing the bristles against his face as he falls asleep.  Which makes me feel really badly for him because it is a CHEAP paintbrush and we could definitely invest in a much softer one.  😛

a little lone star action

Chugging away at my partner’s pillow for Pillow Talk Swap 6!

I’m using the Little Lone Star Quilts book paper piecing templates, a book I found at our local library!  🙂

Audrey - I love the colors you are using, and it is looking beautiful! I have always wanted to do a lone star quilt.:)

Adrianne (Little Bluebell) - Eeek! So pretty!!!

Jacey - Lone Stars are so beautiful, and the fabrics you’ve chosen look amazing so far!

Alli - O_o How tiny are those squares? It looks great!

nicke - it is beautiful!!!

Kristie at OCD - wow-y. looks spectacular 🙂

:)

i’m happy. i love my kids. my house is getting under control. i’m rocking my class. i’m up to date on my accounting. i am wearing my skinniest of skinny jeans AND eating popcorn and chocolate thanks to villa.  i have faith that everything will always work out to be okay.

here we go…

This month Ellie added “no” and “mine” to an extensive vocabulary that previously included only words like “happy” and “sunny.”  The terrible twos are starting early.

Although I do like it when she calls Will “my woahwee”