Thursday, January 29, 2015

Take Two Baby Quilt

As I was looking for the fabric for the baby girl quilt that I made earlier this week. I found the left over blocks from Kyle's bed size quilt.  Instead of leaving them in the box, I decided to sew them into a small quilt for a friend who had a little boy a couple of months ago.







The fabric is from a line called Cogsmo.  I bought the fabric when we found out that we were having our first boy over 7 years ago!  I love the cogs and the circuits.  Kyle likes the red fabric that is on the back, and the flying cars.  I kept the fabric until I made Kyle's bed size quilt for his 4th birthday, 2.5 years ago. 

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Zoo Atlanta

Our family was given a family membership to Zoo Atlanta for Christmas.  We made a family trip on January 17.  Mercy didn't remember the last time we went to the zoo, so it was fun to watch her see all the animals for the first time!  Adrian took all these pictures except of the ones of with him in them and the two of Sophia.

Checking out the flamingos!



Playing on the lion statues!



 Adrian helping Mercy see the Warthogs.





Kyle said that this gorilla looked menacing.  I agree!


Sophia being herself!



The Red Panda is so cute!


 Adrian helps Kyle get a picture of the Tanuki.




I think I have a picture of Kyle in this same position from every time we have gone to the zoo!


Beautiful Keira!


 Mercy being silly!
 

 Adrian was walking with Mercy around the island with the lion statues.  Suddenly, Mercy decided she did not want to walk around anymore.  I love this picture with each of them trying to point out what they want.  Mercy won and went her way!


We had a great day!  The weather was nice, and even though it was a Saturday, it wasn't too crowded. 

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Baby Girl Quilt

My mom and I were talking about the up coming baby shower of a friend who is having her first baby.  We weren't sure what to get her, but as we talked, I remembered that I had some strips leftover from Mercy's quilt.  I dug them out of a box, and put them together to make this little baby quilt.

Keira did a great job holding the quilt for me!


I love the texture!


Here is another angle on the quilt.  There are a lot of different fabrics in this quilt.  Some are designer fabrics, some are just ones that I liked.  I love how all the colors come together.


Monday, January 26, 2015

Playing with ISO

Adrian wanted to see how long it would take for the ISO to start showing grain or noise in the pictures, so he took this series of Mercy while increasing the ISO.  There were so many pictures in this series, and this is as far as I could narrow it down!  I LOVE Mercy's faces for the camera!

(My favorite is #8!)












Saturday, January 24, 2015

Two by Adrian

Adrian enjoys playing with the new camera when he gets a chance, he took these of the kids playing.






The Fourth Week: 365 Project

I think I did better taking pictures this week, but I didn't stick to the 30 photo challenge as well this week. 

Day 18: Your Shoes



As is typical for the Lord's Day, I had trouble even thinking of picking up my camera.  But as I took my dog out before breakfast, I saw a squirrel just sitting in one of our trees.  He looked so content hanging out there, that I decided to try to get a picture of him.

Day 19: Something Orange





As I cut up the oranges for breakfast, my son, Kyle reminded me that we were supposed to take a picture of something orange.  Kyle, Avalyn, and I quickly grabbed our cameras and took some pictures of our breakfast!

Day 20: Bokeh


My sister and I made a quilt for a friend who is having her first baby.  In the process of taking pictures of the finished product, I got this great shot of the texture of the quilt!



Day 21: Faceless Self-Portrait



I only grabbed my camera to get a last minute picture.  This is the gift for our friend.  (You can see the quilt peeking out behind the book.)  I love the texture of the little elephant!  It is so soft!

Day 22: Hands


I actually think this is great picture of hands!  I again waited until the last minute to take a picture for the day, but I got this one of my daughter, Avalyn, diving into a newly borrowed library book.

Day 23: Sunflare






The sun didn't come out at all today!  I didn't mind as I had cleaning and organizing to do.  These are some of the shoes that don't current fit anyone in our house.  Can you tell that I like converse?! 


Day 24: Animal


As I was pulling out the strips of fabric for my friend's baby, I found these blocks that I had made for Kyle's bed quilt.  They were left over, but I couldn't get rid of them.  I was able to throw these blocks together quickly, and this little quilt will be for another friend who had a baby a couple of months back.

So this week, I think I got some good pictures with interesting perspectives.  I also got some run of the mill shots.  That is ok as I am working on improving over time!

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Project 365: Week 3

I didn't do as well following the 30 day challenge ideas, but I though I did fairly well taking pictures, until I looked and didn't take any pictures on the 11th!

Day 11: Something Blue

I have no excuse other than it was the Lord's Day.

Day 12: Sunset

The sun hasn't shown itself in days, so a sunset was not going to happen!  I decided to take a picture of something red.


Day 13: Yourself with 13 Things


I played around with focus and aperture.  There are about 5 fabrics in the picture, though you can only really see two or three.

Day 14: Eyes


I really love paper and diagrams and different colored markers and pens.  This diagram is of my next quilting project!

Day 15: Silhouette 


I took quite a few pictures of Mercy playing with her favorite cousin, Clayton.  It was interesting to see the difference in white balance between pictures with more inside and more outside.  Obviously, it is something I'm going to have to read up on and play with.

Day 16: Long Exposure


 I actually managed to take a long exposure!  I was near Freeman's Mill Park and stopped for a few minutes to take some pictures of my daughter near the mill and to capture a few pictures of the waterfall.

Day 17: Technology


Today was such a beautiful day, that Adrian and I took the family to the zoo!  I didn't get to take many pictures because Adrian wanted to use the camera.  I did get this one of Adrian helping Kyle get a good shot.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Project 365: the Second Week

As I started this challenge, my oldest daughter, Avalyn (9) decided to try it as well.  She has done better taking pictures every day than I have, but I will use the excuse that she is not pregnant! :)

Day 4: Something Green  The Lord's day is always a hard day to get pictures.  I didn't take a picture of something green, but I did get a couple of the kids sitting on our new bench that Adrian and Kyle built.






I couldn't pick just one because the kids' expressions are so funny!  I love it!


Day 5: From a High Angle (I understood this to mean that I needed to by higher than the subject of my picture.)


My dog, Dylan, can be really attentive when bribed.  He was a pretty good subject and sat really patiently waiting for another treat!

Day 6: From a Low Angle (I understood this to mean that I needed to be lower than my subject.)


Sophia has always loved to climb, so it only seemed right to get a picture of her climbing on our second floor banister.

Day 7: Fruit  I wasn't feeling well on Wednesday, so I didn't manage to take any pictures, let alone one of fruit.

Day 8: A Bad Habit


 Keira has always picked.  She used to pick at her fingers so badly that they would bleed.  We had to tape each of her fingers to help her stop.  For a while, she seemed to be doing better, but recently, she has started picking again. She has been picking at her lips and some at her fingers.  Giving her some chapstick has helped!

 Day 9: Someone You Love


 This week, Kyle has asked me to take his picture.  He didn't want to be left out as I took pictures of two of his sisters.  So today's theme was a good one for him.

 Day 10: A Childhood Memory  I couldn't think of anything that seemed to fit a childhood memory!  Avalyn said, "What am I supposed to take a picture of?  I am a child!"


I took several pictures of my most recent sewing project.  About a week ago my sewing machine stopped working.  Adrian took it apart and seemed to fix it, but when I went to use it, it gave a different error.  Adrian took it apart again, and managed to make it work!  I started with a simple patchwork quilt.

So as you see, I haven't been completely consistent, but that is not what this project is about for me.  I want to take more pictures.  I want to be more aware of the little things that make up our lives and document them.  I want to learn to use my camera better.  From that, I am doing well.