The winner of Little Bits Quilting Bee is #71 Kelly O

The winner of the Northcote Range fabric bundle is #35 Leila

Congratulations to both of you! Please email me with your addresses so the prizes can be sent off to you.

In other news, the House on Hill Road shop will be re-stocked on Tuesday, November 29th with a batch of patchwork camera straps. I will close the shop on December 15th or when the inventory is sold, whichever comes first. I am happy to ship overseas, but I cannot guarantee delivery by Christmas.

I'm signing off for the long weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families. To those of you outside the U.S., I hope you have a lovely weekend as well.

13.1 miles.

A huge thank you to Fatty and the girls for supporting me, cheering me on and handing me a banana and taking my jacket at mile 9. Thanks also to Michael for coaching me, listening to my whines and then promptly ignoring them, and making me believe that I really could do this thing. Thank you, Kirby, for running all those miles on Saturdays and Sundays, in the dark and in the sun, telling me funny stories and believing in me. And to my friends who I work out with during the week and that met me along the route, especially Suzanne for running with me when I really needed some distraction. Thanks to Marcia and Kelly for looking for me at the start, waiting for me at the finish line, and commiserating with me about long runs while training. You girls rocked that race! And to all of you, for the phone calls, texts, tweets and emails of encouragement. It was really nice knowing that so many people were out there virtually cheering. Thank you! I couldn't have done it without all the support.

And now I am off to continue celebrating a certain 10 year-old's birthday. The well wishes for her are very appreciated as well.

Cheers!

This week is flying by. Things on my mind:

Margaritas. I was so happy I blogged the big batch recipe - that came in handy this weekend.

Leslie makes and sells the coolest chalkboard placemats. My girls love them and so do I. We do math problems, spelling words, hangman and doodle on them. They would make a lovely holiday gift. You can snatch some up in her store.

I'm completely crushing on Amy Butler's newest fabric line, Lark. Maybe it's time for some camera straps...

Eireann has stocked her store with lots of great paper goods. I bought her calendar last year and have enjoyed flipping the page each month. Go, take a look. You won't be disappointed.

Emily and Molly have opened up habit to everyone this month. It's chock full of magic. Won't you consider joining in? Details here.

I put the garden to bed this afternoon. I was amazed to find tomatoes and peppers still going - I kind of gave up on the whole deal about a month ago. I left a few tomatoes in the beds to see if we get any volunteers next year. I always think that is so cool. And if there are no volunteers, I'll be happy knowing the squirrels had a good meal.

Halloween was here and gone in a flash. It hurts a little to think that Jane only has a year or two left of trick or treating. So bittersweet, this growing up thing.

I have the urge to knit. Big time. Hats and cowl, particularly. Any suggestions?

My second Tova fits! More on that another day.

Two weeks ago, Fatty and I, along with some friends, attended an Outstanding in the Field dinner on a beautiful farm overlooking the Ohio River. It was event that we had anticipated for many months and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful evening. From bourbon sweet tea and local wines, to the foods grown and prepared for us, everything was delicious and more. Tradition dictates that everyone brings a plate, thus allowing everyone to bring something to the long, outstretched table. It was a grand sight and sitting there, watching the sun set over the river, was an idyllic scene. I have always loved the idea behind Outstanding in the Field and I was happy that the experience lived up to that idea. Before too much time went by, I wanted to document that wonderful night. It was the first time in a long while that I felt like taking more than one or two or ten photos. I know this is a photo heavy post, but I had a hard time narrowing down my selections. These are my favorites.

I've been feeling rather quiet lately. Everything is fine. I just need a little break from all the noise.

In other news, the headboard for Jane's room was delivered on Saturday. It's better than I could have imagined. She loves it, too.

I finally settled on a backing for her quilt. Yesterday I sandwiched it and started quilting. It's slow-going, but looking good.

I've been watching The Good Wife - season 2. And after that I am going to take one of the many fantastic suggestions you all gave me so I can finish this quilt. There are so many good options! Thank you.

Once this quilt is finished, it'll be time to paint some furniture and make a bed skirt. Time to get the paint deck out to find the perfect shade. Big surprise - we're going with green.

I feel like there's something else I wanted to say, but I can't remember what it was. I'll be back as soon as I think of it.

You guys are a great source of information. Now I, along with you, have a great dinner prep/freezing resource in the comments of the last post. If you are looking for some great ideas to make meal time easier and faster, read through those comments. Amazing! Thank you.

My dear friend Heather Smith Jones opened Blue Sparrow Press last week. I received my order over the weekend and am so happy with all of her goodies. I knew it would all be beautiful, but in person, it's even better than I could have imagined.

As some of you may have already noticed, I'm hanging out at habit for the month of September. I was so touched when Emily and Molly invited me back. It's one of my favorite spaces. Please stop by.

Did you see Blair's new quilt pattern? I love the subtle chevron those friendship bracelets strips and the neutrals make. I might just have to make one. I'm thinking green.

I'm looking forward to a good, long weekend. Hope yours is great!

This photo really doesn't have much to do with anything. I just like how it sparkles.

Our summer vacation is coming to a close. The girls start school in a week and a half. In some ways, it doesn't seem possible that it's time to start the lunch making and homework again so soon. In other ways, I'm am so ready for a more predictable routine. Either way, it's coming. I think we are ready - school uniforms bought and altered, new backpacks waiting, shoes ordered, school supplies purchased. Now to enjoy the little bit of free time we have left.

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to unplug for the next week or so. I might check email once or twice, but that is about it. If you need me for some reason, please be assured that I will get back to you when I turn the computer back on. I'm closing up the shop this afternoon around 3:00 p.m. Any orders placed between now and then will ship tomorrow. I'll re-open after Labor day weekend.

In the meantime, if you know of any good and educational iPad apps for children in elementary and middle school, would you please share? Kate will be in 4th grade and Jane will be in 6th. My favorite app that I found at the end of last year is called My Spelling Test - you type in the word, record it and then your kids get to take a test just like at school. The girls had so much fun studying their spelling words this way. We also use Stack the States - great practice for all the state capital memorizing that I know is headed Kate's way. Both of these are available for iPhone, too.

And while I'm at it, any good apps for me? I'm looking for a good organizational system for us. And lunchbox ideas that aren't sandwiches. I found this sesame noodle salad (via Molly) that I'll be trying out. Any other ideas that you all have, I'd love to hear.

I guess that's it. Over and out.

The peonies in my yard are blooming. Yippee!

Kids Clothing Week Challenge, days 6 and 7 = FAIL. I kind of thought that might happen. Our weekend was planned out to the max - dinners out Friday and Saturday, 4 soccer games and a piano recital. Not a stitch was sewn, nor any fabric cut. So be it. I'm pretty happy that I managed 2 nightgowns and something else for each of the girls. And for those of you that asked, I will try my best to do a skirt tutorial in the next week or so. It's really easy to make. I just need a little time to make another and write it all up.

With the help of my college-aged neighbor and babysitter, I've been whipping the sewing room and the adjoining playroom into shape. We are *so* close to getting it trashed out. It's amazing how much junk I have in there. I have officially run out of shelf space (again) so I am going to have to get some projects finished or let some fabric go....

Did you see Blair's stump tables? My neighbor took down two huge trees yesterday and today and I'm kicking myself for missing the opportunity to snag one or two of my own.

Geekcraft winner will be announced in a separate post - probably tomorrow.

Hope Tuesday is treating you well.