Life Lately...

I have been pretty busy the last few weeks with lots of things. There has running, fall decorating, machine quilting practice, enjoying the outdoors with my family, charity quilts and customer quilts. Yup, just life in general. 

I rarely seem to have the time to write full blog posts. I am however really, really liking Instagram. Feel free to follow me on Instagram for little snippets of my life and projects I'm working on. You can also see a few of the latest pictures from my feed on the right hand side of my blog.

I love autumn in the south when it is so much more enjoyable to be outdoors. I hope you are enjoying the changing of the seasons as much as I am!

~ Norma

blog.petitdesignco.com

Still Plugging Away

Mini Me

Lately my little girl (age 5) has taken a major interest in drawing and coloring. She’s always liked coloring but her drawing skills are really blossoming. She very adoringly tells me “Mommy, you’re an artist.” I don’t know if I like to refer to myself as an artist but I’m not going to argue with her! :) Then she proceeds to tell me how she’s going to be an artist just like me when she grows up.

When I was still working on my DQS 12 version two, I walked into her room to find this taped to her wall:

which she made after she saw me working on this:

I think I have a future quilter on my hands! I love her intuitive color combos.

~ Norma

Overheard in The Car + Giveaway Winner

Today was a long day. We got up early and drove the new car an hour to Birmingham (AL) to the nearest Mazda dealership. Oh, yeah we finally got a car for me since the untimely death of my beloved '92 Nissan Maxima (see previous post.) We knew we'd drive her into the ground, but we weren't expecting it so soon. She was replaced by a 2001 Mazda Tribute (same as the Ford Escape.) All week I've been driving the new car around to various places to get this checked, this fixed, registered, etc etc. I had to drive it to the dealership for some recall issues that were never performed on the new car. The re-calls were issued in 2003 and 2004, one was of a particularly scary possibility of the car stalling at high speeds. I'm glad it's taken care of and I can now drive it without feeling tense the whole time :)

On the way back home the kids were talking and playing in the back seat. I tuned in to their conversation at one point and heard this:
Ellie Mae: why do they call it Birmingham?
EJ: I don't know... maybe because they like to burn ham there. Mommy do you know why they call it "burningham" is it because they like to burn ham there?
Ellie Mae: yeah why do they call it "burningham"?!
At this point I was laughing hysterically. We've lived in AL for 2 years now and I just wonder how long my kids have been calling it "burningham." Gotta love kids and their fun take on life!

... and the winner of the quilting services is Lucky #51

MELANIE!!!
"I follow quilty giveaways. I would have to make something that small. I have a niece that I need to make a quilt for:) Thanks for the chance!"

Have a great rest of the week!
~ Norma

Snowed In

We've been "snowed in" since Sunday afternoon. 3 inches in Alabama was enough to bring our little city to a grinding halt. School has been shut down since Monday and tomorrow will be the third day of no school for the kids. Mr. PD was lucky enough to get today and yesterday off too! It's been nice to have a babysitter around 24/7. Sometimes it's nice to live in a town that doesn't have a snow plow.





 The roads make for fun sledding when they're completely covered in ice. Who needs a real sled when you've got a super ingenious husband? Some rope, a piece of counter top, and a few minutes in the shop and, wala, a one of a kind sled!

... and sometimes it's not cool. I was working on a quilt #1 from my to do list (bottom left.) I was on a really good streak making really good progress...




I had all the blocks squared up and I was cutting up the sashings when I ran  out of the Kona Bone I was using. I couldn't run out and get some because every road in the city was officially closed. So I waited until today in the late morning when the roads were melted and I had Mr. PD drive me to Hobby Lobby.

Once there I had a moment of stupidity. Instead of buying Kona Bone, I came home with Kona Snow! I didn't even realize it until I had cut up the sashings and was about to start sewing them together. Ugh. Lucky for me Mr. PD was willing to drive me back to Hobby Lobby, I think it was the cabin fever talking. Hopefully tomorrow, since we once again will be "snowed in" I'll be able to finish the top.

Have you ever done anything silly like that?

~ Norma

One {Wo}Man's Trash...

I spent the better part of 2 mornings this week raking up pine straw off my lawn. Now if you don't live in the south then you are not familiar with the natural phenomenon of pine straw. You see the south has really tall skinny pine trees. No, not at all like the pretty pines of the west, you know the real pretty fluffy ones that look like Christmas trees. No ours look like scraggly toothpicks. Well once autumn rolls around they drop their needles like crazy! They fall already dried out and brown and this my friends is what we southerners refer to as "pine straw."

this pile was at least 25 feet in length and 2.5 feet tall, and that's only form 2/3 of my front lawn

Like I said I spent the better part of two mornings raking it all up into piles, then loading those piles into the wheel barrow and dumping it at the curb. That's what you do in my neck of the woods, you pile your yard debris and large trash items on your front lawn. I've been known to pull over and grab rescue picture frames, chairs, etc. from the curb. Eventually, about once a week, a big dump truck will drive by and take it all away to the dump. Don't worry this is all in addition to regular trash pick up day. We're not barbarians down here, we do have trash cans!

Some "crazy" people, like me {probably all transplants/non-natives} can't stand the sight of pine straw. Then there are other "crazy" people {everyone but me! LOL} who pay for this stuff by the bale {just like straw} and use it in their landscaping just like mulch.

Yesterday I came home to find a nice man raking up all my pine straw into the back of his pick up truck. "I hope you don't mind," he yelled at me as I got out of the car. I told him that I didn't mind, but in my head I was thinking "why in the world would I mind? But I would mind it a whole lot less if you would come and do the raking next time!"

~ Norma

I've turned into...

The other day I realized I had turned into...

a soccer mom. Next thing you know I'll be driving a swagger wagon. {where my kids at?}

This would explain my lack of posts in the last few weeks. Between games, practices, and other commitments I've been pretty busy. It's been fun to see both of my children progress over time. Sadly it will all be over this Saturday. I really have enjoyed watching the games, snacking on the picnic blanket, cheering, giving pep talks and yelling {encouragement, give me some credit, I'm not one of "those" parents!} I can't wait for spring soccer!

Are your kiddos into sports? How do you manage your schedule and get it all accomplished, especially the homework?

~Norma