Brendan & Tiffany Sullivan » Activities

Snapshots of Keweenaw Bay

tiffany — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:00:28 +0000

I promise I’ll post pictures of our place soon, but here are some shots I took on the drive up of our new home. Enjoy! (and ignore the bug guts on my windshield).

I'm told that's a snow mobile trail along the road

Love,

Tiff

P.S. I was safe and kept my eyes on the road, these are only a small fraction of the pictures that actually turned out semi decent.

Cupcake Potholders

tiffany — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:00:43 +0000

During my last week in Tennessee, in between packing and painting, I did a tiny bit of sewing. I decided my new apartment would need some new kitchen potholders! I used two different patterns from my two sewing books that were birthday presents: One-Yard Wonders and Amy Butler’s In Stitches. The fabric came from my stash. The pink cupcake fabric and brown polka dot material comes from Jo-Ann’s. The colorful stripes fabric was a clearance fabric at Hobby Lobby.

The Amy Butler one features wonky patchwork squares on the front. It is quilted with a diamond design and has a pocket for your hand.

front

back with pocket

The One-Yard Wonders potholder has a hanging loop and I free-motion quilted it.

front

back

quilting

I am pretty pleased and can’t wait to use them in our new place.

Love,

Tiff

P.S. Maybe the cupcakes won’t look too terrible in our orange kitchen, there is some orange in this fabric…

Titanic Museum

tiffany — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:04:40 +0000

My dear friends, Lelia, Katie, and Misty, took me to the Pigeon Forge Titanic Museum last Saturday, August 21st. It was wonderful.

I have always been fascinated by the Titanic tragedy. I remember learning about it in elementary school and then watching the old black and white film with Mom and Dad. The sail date, April 10th, always stuck with me for some odd reason.

White Star Line

The museum was very cool. You are given a boarding pass with a Titanic passenger’s name and some background information. As you walk through the museum, you could possibly find artifacts related to your person. At the very end, there was a list of all of the survivors and those who died. We each had the boarding pass of a survivor.

It took us about three hours (?) to get through the exhibit. Katie was my reading buddy. We read almost every single post. There was also a portion “outside” the Titanic with an iceberg and a water trough containing water the temperature of the ocean the night the Titanic sank. It was so cold on just my fingers, I cannot imagine anyone surviving after being submerged in it.

I purchased a book, Sinking of the Titanic:Eyewitness Accounts, as my souvenir. It was originally published in 1912, and it makes for an interesting read. I made my girlfriends write in it when we went to lunch after the museum.

I am so thankful for my thoughtful friends. I will cherish the memory of this day.

Love,

Tiff

The Titanic Museum Attraction

Bible Story Quilt

tiffany — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:00:46 +0000

A missionary came to our church in Tennessee (West Hills Presbyterian). He had a Bible story cloth with him. The International Mission Board makes fabric panels of forty-two pictures of stories from the Bible. These panels are used to spread the gospel to the non-literate peoples of the world. Missionaries teach the stories of the Bible using the pictures printed on the fabric. Each panel comes with a paper listing the corresponding scriptures.

I ordered a panel to make a quilt for my niece Aeris. On the back, I used flannel. The center is baby Hello Kitty framed by purple gingham. Jeremy and Kristin said that they preferred purple over pink, and I’ve always purchased Hello Kitty items for Jeremy.

cozy flannel

I made the bias binding and stitched it to the back by hand.

mitered corners

quilting around the picture blocks

This little blanket will be prefect for teaching Aeris stories from the Bible. When she outgrows it as a blanket, it will make a nice wall-hanging. I hope Baby Aeris likes it.

Auntie Tiff loves you Aeris!

Love,

Tiff

P.S. I will be selling these Bible Story Quilts in my Etsy shop!

Paper Crafts

tiffany — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:08:19 +0000

I absolutely LOVE my paper craft book from Japan. Thanks, Jeremy and Kristin!

aren't they pretty?

Misty already requested some in yellow for her bulletin board. I’m too happy to oblige!

Love,

Tiff

More Lanyards

tiffany — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:00:28 +0000

My sewing circle (and English teacher friends) decided to tackle lanyards. I made each one of us a cupcake lanyard for our school IDs and keys. This way my sewing circle friends can remember me when I’m in Michigan.

This is my sewing circle.

Lelia, me, Katie, and Misty

Love,

Tiff

Cades Cove

tiffany — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:00:06 +0000

Before Brendan left for Illinois/Michigan, I asked him to take me to Cades Cove one last time. He was happy to oblige since it meant he got to drive his new truck. =-P

8/10/10

We saw wild turkey,

galloping horses,

and deer.

Best of all, we saw two little black bears. Isn’t it cute?

I got a picture with the bear. Can you see it?

It was so pretty I had to take multiple pictures.

Goodbye Tennessee!

Love,

Tiff

Flea Market

tiffany — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:00:33 +0000

Brendan and I decided that most of our possessions were not worth keeping, especially when the cost of moving it all to Upper Peninsula Michigan was researched. On Saturday, August 7th, we sold a large portion of our worldly goods at the drive-in movie theatre flea market.

This is our living room/dining nook before the sale.

8/5/10

Our stuff all lined up and ready for new homes.

8/7/10

My family (Mom, Dad, and Jeanette) came to help us for the weekend. We asked them Thursday evening, and they came late Friday night. That is love.

Jeanette was awesome at pricing things and chatting up the clientèle.

Nette, 8/7/10

Dad and Brendan looked so cute with the monster truck. We had three FULL loads of stuff.

Rich and Brendan, 8/7

Brendan and I are kind of disgusted with the amount of “treasures” we had accumulated. I think in the future I will consider how necessary an item is before purchasing it. Too often I buy stuff because it’s a “deal” or on sale. (Note: I am NOT going to curb my sewing purchases. Those items are ALWAYS necessary and perfectly reasonable.)

We made a nice chunk of change, and were glad to get back to the empty and air conditioned apartment.

Love,

Tiff

First Trip to Michigan

tiffany — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:55:03 +0000

Brendan left for Michigan this morning. I helped him load up the truck. He is going to stay with his family in Illinois, and then he and his dad are going to look for a place for us in Michigan. Brendan will stay there for two weeks before he comes to get me at the end of August.

BLS, 8/12/10

loading up the truck

I am going to miss him.

Love,

Tiff

P.S. Yes, Jeremy, he really is going to come back for me.

Fold-Up Shopper

tiffany — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:00:44 +0000

This weekend, in addition to the lanyard, I made a fold-up shopper. The pattern came from my new handbag book.

all folded up!

I used materials that I had on hand: the black polk-dot remnant (look familiar?), some white material, and a red button from my button bucket.

unfolded

ready to be folded into a "wallet"

I like it, but the construction was a little weird in some parts. If I make it again, I will be modifying the pattern.

Love,

Tiff