whew!

A lot of busyness going on, living every minute with as much oomph as I can muster!  A little trauma in our lives last week when Ian had to have a tonsillectomy, not a good experience for a 2 year old that has no concept of what's really happening to him!  After surgery, he stayed overnight with his papa, mama and favorite things near:  pillow, blankie, trains, ipad, juice, monkey and videos to distract from the soreness and strange surroundings.  Recovery has been a rocky road at home, with the most irritable and hard-to-please child that I have seen in forever!  Well, he is progressing, and that is excellent.  The tonsils had to be removed due to hypertrophy, causing airway and swallowing problems.  So the fact that he will be able to sleep without apnea and snoring is wonderful!

And while big brother was struggling, Baby Jack was giggling!

I got to spend a lot of time with Jack over a few days, which was great.  And now I'm playing catch-up with getting 3 patterns ready for display and purchase at Bear Patch.

These use the new 2014 Quilt MN fabrics, and are part of a large display and collection at the store.  If you want to know more, head on over to the Bear Patch blog where I will be showcasing projects over the next few days.

16 In Between is a makeover of a pattern I made 4 years ago.  I enlarged the blocks to be able to use the 2 1/2" strip packs and the pictures panel that are part of the fabric group.

16 In Between

 This pillow is probably my favorite thing that I have made lately, I enjoyed the process and the result is pleasing.  I have some good tips in the pattern for getting a really nice professional finish to not only the pillow top but the back, as well.  I have to credit my mom with helping me come up with the name "Stix Mix".  I was sitting in her kitchen with my computer, working on writing the directions, and pondering variations of pattern names.  We were looking for words rhyming (since that is my thing!) with sticks or stripes or strips.  She was mixing up something, as is usual for her, and up popped Mix and Stix, and it stuck!

Stix Mix

 And thirdly, Ring-A-Ding, a twofer, since I have both a circular and oval tabletopper in the pattern.

Ring-A-Ding

And to make things easier with pattern-writing, I had a great view of Silver Lake from the kitchen window and deck.  This is a small lake in the middle of farm country in northwest Iowa.  The town of Lake Park is situated next to the lake, and houses surround part of the shore.  But there is a state park and city park and undeveloped land on a large portion of the shoreline.  It's not busy with boat traffic, although the occasional pontoon, motorboat and jet-ski can be found.  It's a tranquil spot.

Silver Lake, Iowa

And then it's back home to enjoy my own little spot of tranquility, with the not so tranquil city and bustle nearby!  One final word of advice for all of you--make sure you have a working carbon monoxide detector in your house!  Last Saturday, ours detected CO and alarmed.  Not life-threatening levels, but not good for your health.  The fire department came and verified that it was a legitimate alarm on their meter, as well, and they summoned the energy company who narrowed it down to a problem with our oven.  It's the same oven I had before the remodel, but it had been disconnected for about 2 months, then put back into place and something is amiss.  Anyway, I'm glad we had the detector in place!