{Colorbrick} a beginner’s Quilt-Along

My friend Rachel over at Stitched in Color made this incredibly stunning colorbrick quilt that I have been coveting and drooling over since the first time I layed eyes on it.

Well, now she is going to teach me how to make one of my very own! Okay, maybe not just me;)
You should go take a look at it and think about joining me and then we can have fun quilting parties together. Yep.

Never in my life did I see myself as a quilter...until now.

Colorbrick Quilt, here I come!

Here's the link to the quilt-along info

Soccer moms kick grass!

I am a soccer coach. I never intended to become a soccer coach...it just sort of happened.

I coached gymnastics for 7 years and LOVE working with kids; teaching them new things and seeing that "light bulb" moment when they finally get what you are saying. Bliss.

Soccer is one sport I never played growing up. Truth be told, it scared me to death!

My daughter plays soccer...she's pretty amazing.

She will run right up to the biggest boy on the other team and take the ball from him. Bam!

She will get tripped and jump right back up.

She will run until she's too tired and then will keep running.

I'm not saying she's perfect, but she puts her whole heart into what she is doing.

She tried gymnastics and didn't like it. She tried dance and wasn't a fan(she wanted to freestyle instead of following direction). Last spring we asked her if she wanted to try softball and she replied that she would rather play soccer.

To make sure that she got the same coach that she has had the last 2 seasons I signed up to be the assistant coach, thinking that I could just help out a little and make sure she had a coach who would teach her what she needed to know.

He signed up to teach our U-8 team as well as a U-10 team and has assistant coaches to help on each team. It started out that the plan was to have both teams practice together, but when we realized that they just have too many skill level differences we decided to split the teams up.

That makes me the main coach now for our team. Yikes!

Thankfully I have parents on our team who have actually played the game before to help me teach the kids. This book has also been very helpful: How to Coach a Soccer Team by Tony Carr. 

This should be an interesting season and I am sure that I will continue coaching.

Sew...

There are so many things that I want to be able to do for my family and for myself. One of those things is learning how to sew. I have never wanted to know how to do this, but lately I have had this urge to be more creative and to make the most of what we have; to stretch our resources. Sewing is one thing I can do to accomplish that goal. I want to make clothes for my kids, and costumes, and baby gifts, and quilts, and.....Hmmm, maybe I should learn how to thread a bobbin first? Ha! I signed up for Sewing 101 at a local fabric store and I also signed up for a little girl dress workshop where I will make a dress for Brooklyn. I am so nervous! I am a perfectionist. In the past if I couldn't do something perfect then I didn't do it. 30 has changed me. I am seeing that failure is just as important as success and that you learn so much more when you have to pick yourself up and try again. I still don't like to fail, but I will keep trying.
It helps alot that Brooklyn has so much faith in me and my abilities...she already has a list a mile long of things she would like me to make for her! I have decided that once I get my bearings I will bring her to a few classes for kids and she can make some things for herself.
My first class is on Tuesday and I keep getting daymares in which I touch the sewing machine and it comes to life and spits needles at me and hisses. I will let you know how it goes...hopefully everyone survives.