There's Another Dr. in the House!

Please forgive a little bragging, but we are so proud of this boy! Just a week before his 32nd birthday, our middle son Andrew successfully defended his dissertation for a PhD in neurobiology.  And he did it while he and his wife were having four children, including this little sweetie just 6 weeks ago:

Andrew has accepted a job at the University. Though it's not an ideal position, he will stay there for a couple of years and get more experience. And you know what that means - we will have them near us for awhile longer! Yah!!!

PS. You might remember that our oldest son received a PhD in philosophy in 2012. I know, we don't know where they get it either:) But I have to say: home schooling works!

Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt and Pin Cushion

I have been wanting to make a log cabin quilt similar to the one made by Mias Landliv. (Her blog is closed  now, but you can see her quilt on Pinterest.) I went through my scraps and pulled out the colors I wanted to use. Not enough. So I made the trip to my not so local QS and picked up mostly French General prints. Perfect! I had forgotten how fast and easy strip piecing can be. It went together just like I wanted and in a few days it was ready to be quilted. But it will have to wait. I'm quilting another one right now and want to get it finished first.

While I had those pretty fabrics out I decided to make a pincushion based on one from Heidi Staples new book. I changed it up a little and added a place to put my quilting thread. My husband says it was about time I made something like this as we are always searching the sofa for lost scissors or thimbles! I love having everything handy in a cute place.

We took our grandson down to Turkey Run State Park on Saturday. We usually don't go there on the weekend but we thought the rainy weather would keep most people away. Wrong!!! Anyway, we had a wonderful time with this enthusiastic, smart boy. He loves nature just like his daddy and uncles, and it brought back so many memories as we hiked along the creek. We love this boy, and can't wait until the twins are ready to do this as well!