We get my niece Jaelyn every other weekend! She is such drama lol but she’s my little brown hair brown eyed baby! Friday night I took her home with me and she was exhausted she went straight night night and never made a peep! 

I had plans with my MIL to pick up Brayden the next morning so we decided to leave a little early so we could get breakfast! This girl was so sleepy I woke up got dressed and ready and she STILL was snoozing! She was so cute I took a video of her snoring lol 

She was half asleep the whole time I got her ready! But she was so cute at breakfast 

Off to pamper myself after picking up Brayden.

Curl Up N' Dye the local hair salon!

 Before and after! I felt super weird I had gotten use to my blonde hair! But majority of my friends and family has said they like me better with dark hair and its fall so it will stick around through the winter at least.

"Perfect Princess Pink" polish!

I went next door to the local Vinyl shop and got my mother in law this cute Chic Fi La and earring set for her bday that we were celebrating the next day!

When I was all done I went home to make dinner for Pams neighbors they are always so good to us I just wanted to do something nice for them and while I was at Pams cooking she noticed this spot on the back of my leg...

I'm super allergic to everything and it didn't really itch or hurt much and its normal for me to get really red and sensitive to things so I didn't think much of it. I didn't sleep good that night it was really sore and I woke up the next morning and it was swollen

At this point I started taking Benadryl and some antibiotics I had because it was Sunday and I assumed it was bad poison ivy or bug bite. I went to pick up El Toro for Pams Bday and the credit card I was using was expired so I went to my car to get my wallet and locked my keys in the dang car ughhhh. So Dane had to come pick me up we couldn't find the spare key but we were late to his moms and we were the ones with the food lol I was very hot and BOTHERED and not in a good way!! When we got there his family was kinda freaked out by it and it had gotten worse so we went ahead and went to urgent care, who sent us away to the ER and by time we got to the ER a few minutes away it was spreading up my thigh! Now I was getting concerned

So they took me right on back and got me started on IV antibiotics but it didn't get better so they decided to keep me overnight and draw a line around it.

Long story short it was "Cellulitis" which is just a vague diagnosis of a bacterial infection and they think I got it from one of the salons I went to...so much for pampering myself! But I've gone to those salons for 5 + years and its never happened before I love both of them...I think it was a fluke...anyways I got 9 bags of antibiotics steroids and Benadryl through IV. They drew my blood twice and my white blood cell count was good. Thank God.

 It spread outside the circle overnight but in the next pic you can tell something finally kicked in bc it started healing.

Nana brought me Starbucks and gave me a ride home when they discharged me.

 Shelbi visited me too!

My leg was sore and I missed Monday/Tuesday at work and tried to go back Wednesday but halfway through the day I felt horrible they sent me home on two oral antibiotics as well. I went to my follow up appt and the Dr told me I needed to stay off my leg until Monday! So I basically got a weeks vacay but couldn't do anything fun. I just stayed home and slept and binge watched TV. Mom and Nana brought me some starbucks on Thursday because I was bored to tears lol and Nana helped me change my curtains to get ready for fall! Yay cheered me up some < 3

Another negative test!

Zoey Joy 👑 Dane and I faced many trials trying to get pregnant for so long but we were h o p e f u l and stayed F A I T H F U L. & we never lost our J O Y! My best friend sent this to me and said “Joy remains despite the circumstance” that means everything to me y’all because while enduring those trials God blessed me with a peace and joy that I clung to. Everything about our journey and pregnancy has been the biggest joy I have ever felt and we couldn’t have picked a more perfect name for our baby. &that joy has helped me to find purpose- God gave me this mountain to show others it CAN be moved 💓

Another negative test.... 

Rag Quilt Tutorial!

I started learning to sew when I was fairly little, my Nana and my Aunt Chylon both knew how and I took an interest. The first big thing that I made was a rag quilt when I was 18. I have loved them ever since and always love a reason to make them! (Like a new baby!) Recently I posted a picture of my latest one on Facebook and got some requests to teach them how. So I'm gonna try my best to put together a tutorial for yall. This is perfect for beginners they are seriously so FORGIVING yall. Every one that I've made has turned out beautiful, not perfect. But they're made with lots and lots of love.

First your are going to want to pick 5-6 coordinating patterns. You could do less it just depends on how big and how many patterns you want.

I loved this combination so much! This quilt is going to my niece for her first birthday and I just thought the colors and patterns were so sweet and fun. I picked up four mixtures for this one because I had some leftover material at home I was hoping would coordinate.

 This quilt is going to be "lap size" or maybe close to crib size. I don't have an exact measurement I just lay the squares out and do what feels right. I stink at math. I have no idea how to figure out how much fabric you need for "x"  size. . .or exactly how much of each fabric you should buy. Trust me, you do not want my help in the math department. I usually depend on the ladies at the fabric store for all those questions.

When buying material keep in mind you have to have enough for the back as well. I got 1/4 yard in the orange and pink dots and 1/2 yard in the multi pattern because I just love how funky that one was, and I also got 1/2 yard in the aqua dots which I wanted to use for the back mostly. I did end up coordinating some in the front and still had enough to use for the back mixed with a black damask pattern I already had at home.

Next you're going to want to cut your squares! I personally wouldn't do smaller than 8X8 squares. This is a RAG QUILT so the seam allowance comes to the front so we can fringe it for a shabby chic finish. That being said I use a larger seam allowance so it is nice and fluffy. About 3/4 in. usually. Cutting is not my favorite part so I would rather make them bigger and cut less of them.

So back to cutting, you will need the following:

Rotary cutter, found in the sewing section at Hobby Lobby or Walmart.

Rotary mat (I'm not sure where mine came from it was my nanas)

Quilting ruler- This is to help you cut straight. 

I failed to get a picture of the actual cutting so here is a generic one from pinterest!

Use your rotary cutter, mat, and quilting ruler to cut out the fabric into the squares, they will look something like this! Voila-the worst part is over!

This is my pattern for the front, and the back is black damask and aqua baby polka dots.

Next you will put your front and back pieces together RIGHT SIDES FACING OUTWARD-

I don't bother pinning them together its time consuming and I don't find it helps me much. But pin if you want! Now that you have the front and back together you're going to sew an X from one corner to the other! Super simple and room for mistakes. I used a mixture of white and baby pink thread because I already had it. It blends in with all the patterns you really can't tell.

After you have completed all of your squares, it is time to start sewing them together. Pay close attention to your pattern so you are sewing them together correctly!

I group them together as follows:

The first square of the first row & the first square of the second row-

Sew together right sides facing outward*** with a seam allowance of about 3/4 inches.

Lay it back in its place on the floor. Pick up the-

Second square of the first row and the second square of the second row

sew them together the same way you did the last. Lay them back in their place.

Next step:

Pick up the pieces of two you just sewed together and now combine them to make a piece of four

I just LOVE how the black from the back pops with all those colors! Ta-Da! You have started to piece together your quilt, it goes fast now. You continue those steps until you get to the end of your row. Then you will combine your rows together,  it will start to look like this:

Once your rows are all attached you will sew one straight boarder around the whole quilt! I usually use a smaller seam allowance for this like 1/2 inch.

**Tip: Place your quilt under the presser foot, sew almost to the end and stop do a back up stitch to reinforce then leave your needle DOWN, lift the presser up and just turn your quilt the needle keeps it in place (: place the presser back down and continue sewing. Gives you a nice clean boarder without trying to line up with your last stitch.

Then grab your best scissors ( Fabric scissors cut sooo effortlessly, I need to invest in a new pair)

Put on a movie or show you've seen a thousand times and snuggle up, you will be cutting for awhile! This is where you "fringe" all of your seam allowances! and the boarder.  I made cuts about 1/2″ apart. You want to get close to the thread, but MAKE SURE YOU DON’T CUT IT!

Another quick tip** these quilts become more beautiful with every wash, but the first 3-4 washes the extra threads come out of the fabric wash it ALONE and inside of a pillow case! (: You will thank me later.

Here is our finished product! A beautiful and very forgiving rag quilt. I promise ya'll, my stitches are not perfect. But you'd never know!

 

            Here is the back! Love this too its just so classy

                               

This is my brother JX2517 sewing machine. I love it, and it came from Walmart as a wedding gift from my Mother in Love! I don't believe they make this exact model anymore but there are very similar ones.