Christmas

Celebrating Christmas in Pierre this year! We are having a great time together-it's just so joyful! Jesus was born to be our Savior let us Glorify His name!

And other reasons we celebrate-Family 

Pheasant Opener

Pumpkin Patch

We visited the pumpkin patch in Parkston this weekend. It's such a cute little set up right off the highway. They had the cutest options and we ended up with some unique finds 

Wade enjoyed pumpkin shopping but mostly liked the pumpkin patch props they had set up throughout the field. 

Our little pumping patch excursion made me realize I didn't post anything about my pumpkin patch block from Farmgirl Vintage. I used the 6" block to make a simple zipper bag to carry around my wallet, keys, snacks and diapers. I love these small zipper bags that I can switch up each season. 

Golden Birthday Party

Wade turned one! It was his Golden Birthday so we had to make this one extra special! We went with an Olympic party theme with red, white and blue to go with his Gold medal smash cake! 

I enlisted my mom to help me plan and execute the party. She made be adorable chocolate chip cookies filled with frosting.   She put them in a clear bag and tied them with a ribbon and made it look like a gold medal. She brought all of her red white and blue longaberger baskets and balling a to fill with helium. 

I made a cupcake torches just topped with red flames, A gold medal smash cake and a Golden set of Olympic Rings to string my favorite pictures of Wade. 

It was great to have both sides of the family there and I think Wade really enjoyed digging in and eating some chocolate cake. 

Acreage Quilt

Today is the day I finally get to post my final project using the Acreage Collection. YAY! So, you've probably seen some of my progress posts on my Acreage Quilt, but if you haven't, you can see them here and here.
When I first saw the Acreage Collection while browsing the Moda Fabrics website, I instantly became obsessed. I loved this collection, the colors are so vibrant and the bike prints are so stinking cute. Shannon Orr, the talented designer slash maker, asked her Instagram followers to participate in a blog tour I thought my chances were a long shot. One, my blog is not followed by an insane amount of people and two, I consider myself an amateur quilter. So when she included in the tour, I was so excited I could hardly contain myself! Shannon sent each participate a large box of "scraps", but we aren't talking measly scraps we are talking decent size cuts of fabrics! 

After folding, organizing, re-folding and dreaming long and hard about what I should make, I was finally inspired by a pattern (Shimmer by Cluck Cluck Sew) sent in my monthly Sew Sampler Subscription Box. (Yes, a Bark Box for quilting enthusiasts) I started prepping my fabric pieces right away and let me tell you, I spent any spare moment I had measuring, cutting and organizing pieces for my blocks.  Late nights after my baby fell asleep and lunch breaks in my office behind a closed door were prime prepping time! 

I will be the first to tell you, that I struggled making some of the blocks and they definitely are  not perfect. Some, okay most, of my corners were slightly off and I would never take a picture of the back of any of the blocks, but I loved how each one turned out!  This fabric is so cohesive and the colors are vibrant! So even though I wasn't perfect, this fabric collection makes it easy to make a good looking quilt. 

Between my busy work schedule in August and planning my son's golden birthday party, I chose to send it off to be quilted by my favorite local quilt shop in Pierre, The Quilt Locker. They did a great job quilting it and I was pleased with the results! I added my scrappy 2" binding and quickly whip stitched it and have  been cuddling with it sense. 

 I cannot wait to get my hands on more of this beautiful fabric from Shannon's Acreage Collection. I already have another quilt in mind- it might have to be on my 2017 list beings it is basically Fall, but I'm still obsessed over these Pineapple Blocks similar to the Mini-Quilt version I made at the beginning of the summer. The Acreage yellows are PERFECT for a traditional version of this trendy block. But you can use pretty much any of the fabrics to get creative, cause who doesn't want a pink or orange pineapple too?! I used 2" squares to make these 6.5"x11" pineapple blocks. Probably 16-20 of these little guys could make a fun quilt for my couch.  

Don't forget to continue to follow the Blog Tour and show some Moda Love to the below maker's too to see what they have been up to! I am anxiously awaiting the chance to purchase more of this fabric for my stash not only because it is beautiful but because it will always have a good memory behind it! Then anytime I use a piece of the Acreage Collection, I can reminisce on this wonderful experience on the tour making my Acreage Quilt.

Monday July 11th Brooke Sellmann of  Silly Mama Quilts

Monday July 18 Anna Marks of Crazy8Farms

Monday July 25th Melissa Shields of Quilting Room with Mel

Monday August 1 Michelle of Island Life Quilts

Monday August 8 Jayme Christensen of Finding Sweetland

Monday August 15 Briawna Hugh of Purple Poppy Quilts

Monday August 22 Peta Peace of She Quilts a Lot

Monday August 29 Lani Padilla of Simply Fresh Vintage

You are Here! Monday September 5  Loryn Lichty of  Sweet Sassy Strong

Monday September 12 Jemima Flendt of  Tied With a Ribbon

Monday September 19 Anne Boundy of Said with Love

Monday September 26 Staci Barrett of A Vintage Fairytale

Monday October 3rd Blog Tour wrap up by Shannon Gillman Orr of Eva Blake’s Makery

Acreage Collection by Shannon Gillman Orr for Moda Fabrics

@ebmakery #acreagefabric #sewingmakesmehappy #showmethemoda #inshopscomeseptember

12 months old!

It was fun to finally put together all twelve months of photos that we took on each monthly birthday! Each month I set him on a quilt or blanket and made him a hex for his onsie from our wedding fabric (B&C's Happy Go Lucky) Happy birthday to my little guy! I love being your mom! 

Golden Birthday

Wade is officially a "Golden Birthday Boy", he is now one year old. It is true what they say, "It goes so fast." It seems like only yesterday we were waking up in the middle of the night to nurse, practicing tummy time, rocking back in forth in anticipation to crawl and practicing our balance together before the first big steps.
It makes me sad to think Wade is one already but happy at the same time. We kept him alive for a whole year! What an accomplishment as a parent. There were some days where Kyle and I just looked at each other in disbelief that all of this was happening, praying someone would take care of us again especially when Wade was sick and we caught the same bug. But through it all, we survived. And now we have a wonderfully spunky little boy that has 8 teeth, walks around, explores, learns, says dadda and mama and smiles continuously.
I love him more than anything and already gave my husband permission to save Wade's life over mine any day of the week. I have dreams for this little boy to be a great man of God, sharing his word and inviting friends to know Jesus. I dream of Wade playing to trombone or being on the swim team with long arms and strong shoulders. We want him to go to School of Mines to be an Engineer, probably electrical knowing his fascination with cords. BUT whatever he decides to do will be great and I will be there to cheer him on no matter what. 

Happy Golden Birthday Wade! 

Mom Time

Moms are the best. And that's true for mine. She visited this past weekend and was very helpful! Helped plan Wade's Golden Birthday Party, babysat while I caught up on work, cleaned my house, and quilted with me!  It was a fun special weekend and very helpful! The best part is, now Wade's quilt is all quilted! 

Summer Olympics

I am loving watching the summer olympics in Rio this past week. My favorite sports to watch are of course women's gymnastics, swimming (all sorts), sand volleyball and tennis. It's been a real treat to watch these athletes compete almost every night on NBC prime time. But what I'm really loving is following the olympics in social media like Instagram (@nbcolympics) and snap chat! Their stories and memes are absolutely the best! They give highlights and thoughts every normal person has during the course of watching someone complete a triple flip, full twisting layout. 

I'm excited to watch again tonight and GO USA! 

Lazy Weekends

Lazy weekends are my absolute FAVE! I love lounging and cuddling and taking naps. This weekend we started off a little shakey with an early appointment at the clinic and a prescription for antibiotics to fight off an ear infection. But a lazy weekend was just what the doctor ordered! 

Acreage Quilt Progress

I'm working on prepping my binding as my Acreage Quilt (that's what I'm going to call it) is out getting quilted by my favorite quilt shop-The Quilt Locker- in Pierre. 

I folded my quilt top and backing and sent her off and cannot wait to get her back to bind. I will say I have gotten more sleep this past week than the previous few because I had a very aggressive schedule to get the top pieced together. 

Since I would still call myself an amateur quilter, I am still perfecting my binding skills. My concern with the binding for my acreage quilt is that with the scraps I have left I am only able to do a 2"binding instead of my usual 2 1/2" pieces. It'll come together as I'll just play around with my seam allowance as I sew my binding around the perimeter. 

Essential Oil Bug Spray

I heard some mom friends talk about making their own bug repellent sans harmful chemicals to use on their babies. I had to jump on the bandwagon since I am a fan of essential oils right now and decided to try my own homemade recipe. I purchased citronella, patchouli and lemongrass all great mosquito and gnat repellents. 

In a small 3oz spray bottle I mixed 2oz distilled water, 1 oz witch hazel and the following essential oils.  

20 drops purification 

10 drops citronella 

3 drops lavender

3 drops patchouli

3 drops lemon grass 

We used our home made mix at the softball fields last night while we watched Kyle play outfield and it kept all the pesty bugs away! And it smelt great! 

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July everyone! I hope your time off is as fun as mine is so far! I'm spending time in the black hills at my parent's Rochford cabin and taking advantage of the Mickelson trail! Biking and hiking are a must and of course Brats and Burgers! Nothing says Red, White and Blue like family fun together! Even got to make a American Flag block quilt sandwich using my scraps! Enjoy and be safe! 

Sewing Makes Me Happy

So many fun things going on over here! Not only do I get to participate in The Acreage Collection blog Tour this summer (official project post on September 5) but my fabric from designer Shannon Orr for Moda arrived  on the same day my custom wall hanging from KCwooddesigns (https://www.etsy.com/shop/KCwooddesigns )Match made in heaven! Can't wait to get all this set up in my sewing room! 

Acreage Blog Tour

I was chosen to be apart of the Acreage Collection by Shannon Gillman Orr for Moda Fabrics Blog Tour this summer to showcase her super fun and fresh collection due out in September. 

Myself and 12 other bloggers will be working on a project using fabric from the 

Acreage Collection and will post a few pictures to promote this new line! I am honored to be apart of this since I am completely obsessing over sewing and quilting right now!

 The blog tour will begin on July 11th and the bloggers below will be posting projects using the Acreage Collection. My official post date for the tour is September 5 right here-but of course I'm going to be showing previews throughout the summer! Make sure to check out my Instagram @lklichty  

Shannon's fabric is just perfect for a summer project! I just wish I had more right now to do a bigger quilt! 

Can't wait to see what the ladies below do for their projects! 

Monday July 11th Brooke Sellmann of  Silly Mama Quilts

Monday July 18 Anna Marks of Crazy8Farms

Monday July 25th Melissa Shields of Quilting Room with Mel

Monday August 1 Michelle of Island Life Quilts

Monday August 8 Jayme Christensen of Finding Sweetland

Monday August 15 Briawna Hugh of Purple Poppy Quilts

Monday August 22 Peta Peace of She Quilts a Lot

Monday August 29 Lani Padilla of Simply Fresh Vintage

Monday September 5  Loryn Lichty of  Sweet Sassy Strong

Monday September 12 Jemima Flendt of  Tied With a Ribbon

Monday September 19 Anne Boundy of Said with Love

Monday September 26 Staci Barrett of A Vintage Fairytale

Monday October 3rd Blog Tour wrap up by Shannon Gillman Orr of Eva Blake’s Makery

Acreage Collection by Shannon Gillman Orr for Moda Fabrics

@ebmakery #acreagefabric #sewingmakesmehappy #showmethemoda #inshopscomeseptember

Stay-Cation

Yesterday, I had myself a little stay-cation. It was glorious! I usually have to use vacation days from work to have a long weekend for our trips to visit family or friends but yesterday I decided to treat myself and use one of my vacation days for me. 

I was really blessed to have my mom, dad and little sister in town to take care of Wade while I took care of myself. That was so sweet and wonderful of them.

First off, I slept in until 7:30am. Yes. That was refreshing. Kyle got me my favorite Panera bagel for breakfast and then we rushed off to our tee time to enjoy a round of golf together. I love golfing and haven't gotten to play for over a year and a half! Even though it wasn't my best round it was nice to get out and walk and drive the golf ball again. For the rest of the afternoon I spent in my sewing room cutting my Acreage Fabric by EB Makery for my upcoming blog tour post. Cannot wait to post a sneak preview soon! Finally, to cap off my stay-cation, Kyle and I traveled to Sioux City to watch Dierks Bentley and Randy Houser in concert. We had VIP tickets and got to go in early for an acoustic concert by Dierks before hand. He was literally <10ft away! Even though I wish I would have brought hearing protection for the actual concert since we were right by the speakers I had a blast with Kyle and it was our fist date night where we were out late enough where we didn't put Wade to sleep. We missed the little guy but had so much fun together

Fat Quarter Shop's Simple Zipper Bag

https://youtu.be/zH_BRLsV_4o

This Simple Zipper Bag from Fat Quarter Shop featuring Sherri McConnell from www.aquiltinglife.com is the perfect quick weekend project. It probably would only take an hour to complete start to finish if you don't have a 9 month old on your hip or sitting on your lap while trying to sew! Wade was a good sport and let me get this large zipper bag finished using a Mini Charm Pack from Moda Gooseberry, mini pearl bracelets in red and a fat quarter I had for the lining. This quick project gave me a chance to work on ironing my patchwork correctly and my machine quilting techniques.