Who knew swapping could be so fun...

or addicting!

I signed up for an I Spy quilt square swap a few weeks ago, and had so much fun picking out fabrics and looking at others selections. I got it all cut out, bagged up, and sent out. Then I went looking for another swap!

I have not even gotten back my first set of swapped squares, and I am out looking for more opportunities to trade fabric! I'm like a junkie. I am now on a quilting message board and a flicker group for finding swaps I look everyday for another opportunity.  I get all giddy and excited when I open up the quilt board or flicker group and find that someone posted something new!

I found a swap for "Creepy Crawly" fabrics, and I signed up right away. It is for 6 1/2" squares, but I figure I can cut them down to 5" and easily add them to the i spy squares that are also coming.

I actually had a hard time deciding on what to get for this swap. I was not sure if cute prints were wanted, or really creepy stuff, so I stayed on the creepy side. Want to see what I picked out?

First, the ants. For my 5 year old, ants are the worst of the creepy crawlers! (For the three year old Sweetie Ps, the most fun ever! I find them in the yard letting them crawl all over them. Eekk!)

I looked high and low at the fabric shop, and the frogs are all I could find, and that was in the Fat Quarter bin. 

Now the bats and the spiders are on the Halloween side, but that is hard to avoid when you are talking about creepy! 

I really don't know what to expect with this swap. Hopefully other were able to think outside the box better than I was. I can't wait to see! For this swap I submitted 12 squares for each of the fabrics, so I will be getting 48 squares back. That will make a nice addition to the 112 i spy squares from the first swap and I should be able to make at least two small quilts for Christmas. 

I better get started on that! 

Like I said, I have been searching for more swaps, and did sign up for a doll quilt swap. This makes me nervous since I will have to sew for this swap. I will be making a small quilt (12" x 12" up to 24" x 24") and swapping it with another quilter for a sample of her work. The theme is black and white with a splash of color. I started thinking about summer things that could work, and once it was in my brain, I had to participate in the challenge.

 Wish me luck! 

Charm swap

I finally got my fabric and cut it for the i spy charm swap. I should have it in the mail by Tuesday. I am so excited to get back a little bundle of charm goodness! And I can not wait for the next swap!

This is what I picked out:

Fun selections, right? I really like the butterflies. I have about a 1/4 yard left and I'm trying to think of a fun project for it. 

I was going to use this last one, but decided that the print was too large. Now I think I will use it to back a small i spy quilt I plan on making for my nephew for Christmas. 

Beating the Heat Wave

The past week has been filled with over 100 degree days. I think it was 7 days of 100 to 111 degree forecasts, although I think the high for the week was 108. It really doesn't matter, over 100 is hot and hot is HOT. We normally have lows in the 60's over night, and are able to get up in the morning and open windows, but this week it was 90 degrees before the sun went up.

I'm not much of a hot weather girl. As a kid, I remember playing all summer, and LOVING any time I got in a pool. As an adult, I'm not great at braving the heat, and I burn easily. When you have kids, though, you have to get out. This week, it was hard to keep all the Sweetie P's occupied and happy, so I had to be a bit resourceful.

First, you have to have water play! The Sweetie's love to have the sprinklers on and the lawn was rather thirsty, so a few extra cycles were welcome.

Mr. Sweetie had cut PVC pipe and drilled holes in it so the kids could make their own water fountain creations to play in. Littlest Sweetie P thought it made a great drinking fountain.

But sometimes, just the hose is all you need to cool off and have fun. 

Now Mr. Sweetie can be rather creative with play. When we moved into our home last year, the previous owners left behind a slide. It is the type that would be attached to a play structure, but it was alone in the dirt. Mr. S cleaned it up, propped it on a latter, and made a water slide for the kids. 

While the Sweetie Ps thought this was great fun, I have to admit, I was a bit leery about safety. No accidents, only happy kids.

And of course, no summer with little ones would be complete without swim lessons. Not so great for Mom, since I had to brave the heat and wait for class to be over. We actually skipped one day because I could not take sitting in 108 degree heat. But learning to swim is important!

In the afternoon, we mostly stayed indoors, praying the the A/C could keep up with the heat. Staying inside means Mom has to come up with something to do or the Sweetie P's will watch Dora all day. 

I remembered seeing a pin on pintrest about an air fort.  It seemed simple enough, and the Sweetie P's love to play in forts. I simply weighed down the sides of a king sheet with anything I could grab in the play room, and then put a box fan on the open end. Turned it on, and the kids were amazed!

They grabbed pillows and blankets and loaded up the fort with all kinds of comforts for a few hours, off and on all day.

I took another pintrest idea, and had the kids drop colored vinegar in a tray of baking soda. I had picked up the baking soda at Winco in the bulk food section, so I got a bag for little cost. I scooped about 2 cups in each pan, and gave them droppers to drop in the colored vinegar.

 I asked the kids to mix colors and see what they came up with. Some how, brown was a favorite.

I had not planned to give the littlest Sweetie a try, but she was interested. She did, however, get more soda into the vinegar than the other way around! 

I had told my oldest it was a science/art project, so when he was done, he asked how long it would take to dry. He was not at all disappointed when I told him we would take a photo to save and dump the rest in the sink.

Over all it was a successful project,  fun for the kids and not too messy. They enjoyed the bubbles and fizz and watching the colors mix and change.

Now last, but not least. One of my favorite ways to cool off. Popsicles!
A few years back Mr. Sweetie invested in a Zuko Quick Pop Maker.

At first, I thought it was a lot of money for popsicles. I mean, you can just pop some juice in an ice cube tray and get some toothpicks, right? But I have to admit, this thing is fun! And, the kids only have to wait about 10 minutes for popsicles. I make them from juice, pureed fresh fruit and yogurt, so when they ask for a second, not only do I not mind, but I have it done before they finish the first! 

Something about popsicles and kids that screams summer! 

So, how are you getting along in the summer's hottest days?

Free Shutterfly prints.

I love a good bargin, and I love to put our memories and photos into scrapbooks. So I really love when Shutterfly is giving away free prints! Check out this for Shutterfly deals, as well as 101 free prints using code 101prints.

I have used this offer before. You just pay tax and shipping and you are good to go.  I have been reading that if you only order 99 prints, the shipping is a bit lower making it a much better deal per print. And I love Shutterfly for my photo printing. Quality is good, and ship quickly. When I did have a problem with some black and white photos coming out a little green, customer service was right on it. They suggested ways I could get a better quality print, and refunded the cost of the greenish prints ASAP.

I totally recommend them!

I use the 101 free print offers to get cough up on my kids books. I have been scanning my the oldest Sweetie P's Pre-k art work and now I can print it free and finish off his school year in the scrapbook! If getting the time was only so easy!

Example of Sweetie P's artwork. 

My first BOM square

With school out and summer in full swing, I have not had much time to get my craft on. Actually, I just keep falling asleep with the kids and missing my normal craft time. I finally finished my BOM square!

I learned a few things:

1. I need to remember to be more carful with the pieces I was using. I ended up sewing some of the 2 1/2 inch squares when I needed 2 7/8 white squares, and had to cut more. I should have cut and pieced the whole thing at once.

2. I am out of practice. Some of my seams must not be a 1/4 inch, since it is not laying flat and is a bit short on one side. I lost the foot I normally use, so that may be why I am off. (It actually fell INSIDE my machine, it you can believe it. I guess I need to fish it out!)

3. I need more sleep! Or maybe I just need to pay more attention to the directions. I had a problem getting the bottom red triangles in the right direction, and had to take it apart and re sew it. I hate redoing things. I have to say that the directions were clear and had great illustrations, I just had a brain outage.

I still think it came out all right, but I may end up making another in it's place. Practice makes perfect, they say. Since I had to recut a few pieces, I don't know if I have enough of the cream fabric for a second square. The Fat Quarter Shop is so generous with the fabric, that I will probably have extra at some point in the year.

Well, that's it. My first attempt! I can't wait for the next one to show up in the mail! It's like getting a homework assignment. They send me something to do that I didn't pick out or in vision, and I complete the task as asked. Only, I give myself a grade and get to keep the finished work.

My grade today, I'd say a B-. I'll do better next time, I promise.