Thursday, May 29, 2014

On Marriage


Derrick and I have been married a little less than three weeks, and it's been nothing short of amazing.

Nothing has changed. We still live in the same home together. We still love each other unconditionally. We still play video games and bicker about one of us waiting for the other in Super Mario Bro's U. At times we're considerate, at times we're selfish. The bottom line is we love each other, we are in love with each other, and we've made a commitment to stay with each other through thick and thin for the rest of our lives.
Marriage is beautiful.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, asks us if anything has changed, if we feel any different, and how married life is. We discussed it, and at times there's a piece of each of us that feels slightly different. It's almost as if we love each other a little bit differently, but still just as much as we did before we were married. It's difficult to explain, almost magical, complete bliss.

Many people gave us well wishes, and marriage advice, but one piece of advice that really resonated with us was; "When you fight, fight with love and respect. If that doesn't work, fight naked."
Sometimes in the thick of things it's hard to remember you love this person more than any other person on the planet. When you are disagreeing, disagree with respect for the other person. Though you may not understand what they're fighting for, respect their opinion, respect them as your husband/wife. As the advice says, if it doesn't work, just fight naked!
Enjoy the rest of these photos, some professional, some not, from our wedding.




I love this sweet photo of my Step Dad and I just before walking down the aisle.


















Tuxter the penguin attended our reception!
Candid moment of my mom and I sharing the excitement for my new marriage


~Hoppi

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Post-Wedding Craziness and The Next Few Days

The day after the wedding Derrick and I had a ton of fun putting our new stuff together while Derrick drank beer and watched {and took a million photos}.






Why yes, that is an unfinished keg of beer behind me that Derrick and I finished in one day.




She's a beaut! 
I'm quite the handywoman if I do say so myself!

Those were the only photos we took, but we had a lot of stuff to organize and build. We are so blessed with such amazing friends and family! 


Over the next few days I'm going to be a little silent on here. I'll post photos of my progress, but not a whole lot of words. 

I have my very first vendor show on May 31st, and I'm working on a billion quilts/wood burned items for the show. To say I am incredibly excited is the understatement of the century.

Here is my progress thus far






I'm undecided as to whether I should add a border to this wall hanging/ accent quilt. What would you do if it were yours? 



Ooops, how did a picture of beer get in here!? Now that you all think know I'm a lush, I will add that I'm totally addicted to jelly roll quilts. I need to find some people in the area to have a jelly roll race with!



I'll be back tomorrow with more photos of my progress! Have any of you done craft shows before? What advice or tips do you have for newbie craft show vendors?






-Hoppi

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Longest Month Ever

I'm back, and I'm MARRIED!

I know I took quite the extended break from blogging, but I haven't had a break from quilting or reading your blogs! Though I've been quiet for a long time, I have been reading a long with all of you!

We haven't gotten our photos back from the photographer yet, but here is a little preview;

For more of our preview go over and like me on Facebook! :)

The day was amazing! It was such fun wedding, and so beautiful. It was nice to finally see everything come together. I will have a full post on the wedding coming soon!

For now... I will FINALLY share our guest quilt with you!





I am so obsessed with this wall hanging. I love the colors, the photo of us, even the straight line quilting which I didn't think I would like. I read that simple quilting on a bold pattern makes it stand out more, and that is SO true in this case. Our guests used Micron scrap booking pens to sign the quilt. Maddie over at BAQS  gave me the idea to use them and they worked perfectly!

Our guests loved the idea of a quilt, and we love that it's on our wall and we look at it every day!

I didn't use a pattern for this quilt, I just kind of went with the flow and let the quilt come together on its own. It's a little wonky and I love it that way. I used Aurifil 50 wt Light Beige to piece and quilt... like butta. I'm so addicted to Aurifil, I can't even think about using other threads! I really need to try what else is out there, though!

My first vendor show is on the 31st, and soon I will share what I'm working on for the show!

~Mrs. Hatton ;)