It feels like that's all I'm managing to do this week...just run around in circles.
Bug is better, but still feeling under the weather if his reaction to school this morning is any indication. He loves school. LOVES it. And this morning he had such a massive freakout that we ended up back in the car ready to just go home. I think his teacher was a little surprised that I refused to walk out of the room and leave him there while he was in a full on I-want-my-Mommy meltdown. She gave him a hug and tried to wave me out of the room. Um, no. That's not how we do things around here. Anyway. Once we got out to the car, Bug calmed down, asked for pretzels and said that he wanted to go back inside and color. I told him that we could go back inside, but that I couldn't stay and color with him and he said that was fine. So we went back inside, he got a little whiney when he saw that the colors had been put away, but cheered right up when he realized that it was snack time. He kept his snuggly pillow with him today, though. I hope he's okay. I felt terrible leaving him today, even though he knew when I left. I'm guessing that we'll be snuggled up watching Clifford and Thomas this afternoon to soothe any still-raw nerves.
I wish that I had something neat to post about, or some cool pictures of finished products, but I seem to be running short on both at the moment. I've got a lot of projects going at the moment but haven't managed to finish any of them this week. Project ADD and sick toddler and all that. I'm really close on a few things though, so maybe I can get something finished while Bug is at school tomorrow.
I keep getting this crazy urge to post about our little garden, but when I really think about it it seems a little silly. For one, it's hardly a garden. We have a couple of vegetable plants in pots. I think I'm mostly just excited that they're still alive almost three months after we planted them. And it looks like we might actually get a tomato or two this year. But our lawn is in desparate need of mowing and I noticed this morning that the leaves on the tomato plant are looking a little yellow. So maybe I should hold off on congratulating myself for the time being. I certainly want to hold off on taking any pictures.
And now I think it's time for me to end my little woe-is-me post. As I see it, I can sit here and complain about how little time I have to finish anything...or I can get out of this chair and get something done in the time I have left. And the latter sounds like a MUCH better plan to me.
Maybe I'll even have some nifty pictures to show for it. :)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Parenting is Scary
(Pre-post disclaimer: I'm typing one-handed with an almost-asleep toddler in my lap. There will probably be quite a few typos.)
Having kids is scary. I know this, and some days I'm still blindsided by how very true it is. This week, I'm thinking that my kids will likely be the death of me.
The other night, Richard and I were sitting around talking and Bug was in my lap. After awhile, he looked up and told me "It's bedtime, Mommy". This kid will do just about anything to avoid sleep so I was a little surprised, but it had been a busy day and he'd been nodding off for awhile, so I didn't think too much of it. I put Bug to bed, Richard and I finished our conversation and I stayed up way too late trying to organize and settle my thoughts. I went to bed at about 3, gave Bug a kiss and eventually fell asleep. (I'm a really crappy sleeper. Always have been.)
It was about 5 when Bug started to get really restless. He was talking in his sleep, which isn't unusual, but he seemed really bothered, too. I put my arm around him and he was HOT. This is a child who's really only been sick twice, so I was really surprised that he'd come down with something so quickly, much less a crazy-high fever. He slept poorly until about 7. We got up then and he was sleepy again by 8. We slept until 10:30 and he was sleepy again by noon. This is how our day went. It was kind of scary. At bedtime last night, his temp was 103.5. We slept poorly and he was still fevered, though not quite as warm, this morning. He also wasn't quite so lethrgic, though he's obviously still feeling really off. No complaints of headache or sore throat or tummy issues or anything, thank goodness.
Shortly affter breakfast, I realized that Jillian had been really still for a really long time. Like, she hadn't moved at all since yesterday afternoon. Coupled with a handful of other weird things that wouldn't have been troublesome by themselves, I started to worry a little bit. (Okay, a lot.) I called my midwife, who seemed concerned. I tried not to freak out when she asked me to meet her so we could check for a heartbeat.
The next half hour or so - trying to get a still-sick Bug dressed, Richard off to work and then out the door to the birth center - was possibly one of the longest in my life.
I tried to keep in mind that we went through this twice with Bug before he was born. My midwife said that was good to know and pulled out the sonar. It had barely touched my stomach when we heard a good strong heartbeat. I cried. My midwife almost cried.
She told me that she'd been really concerned when I'd called. She mentioned that things always seem to come in groups. That all of the births at the center will be going very well and then someone will hemmorage. And then the next three people will hemmorage. That type of thing. She said that she had just realized that it had been several years since a baby had spontaniously died when I called and it had terrified her. Thank goodness we weren't the start of that trend. At least, not today.
I'm stll pretty worked up about it - and quite thankful that Boo has given me few strong, swift kicks this afternoon. Bug is in my lap, overheated and sleepy and I'm not sure that I'm willing to let go of him at all.
Having kids is scary. I know this, and some days I'm still blindsided by how very true it is. This week, I'm thinking that my kids will likely be the death of me.
The other night, Richard and I were sitting around talking and Bug was in my lap. After awhile, he looked up and told me "It's bedtime, Mommy". This kid will do just about anything to avoid sleep so I was a little surprised, but it had been a busy day and he'd been nodding off for awhile, so I didn't think too much of it. I put Bug to bed, Richard and I finished our conversation and I stayed up way too late trying to organize and settle my thoughts. I went to bed at about 3, gave Bug a kiss and eventually fell asleep. (I'm a really crappy sleeper. Always have been.)
It was about 5 when Bug started to get really restless. He was talking in his sleep, which isn't unusual, but he seemed really bothered, too. I put my arm around him and he was HOT. This is a child who's really only been sick twice, so I was really surprised that he'd come down with something so quickly, much less a crazy-high fever. He slept poorly until about 7. We got up then and he was sleepy again by 8. We slept until 10:30 and he was sleepy again by noon. This is how our day went. It was kind of scary. At bedtime last night, his temp was 103.5. We slept poorly and he was still fevered, though not quite as warm, this morning. He also wasn't quite so lethrgic, though he's obviously still feeling really off. No complaints of headache or sore throat or tummy issues or anything, thank goodness.
Shortly affter breakfast, I realized that Jillian had been really still for a really long time. Like, she hadn't moved at all since yesterday afternoon. Coupled with a handful of other weird things that wouldn't have been troublesome by themselves, I started to worry a little bit. (Okay, a lot.) I called my midwife, who seemed concerned. I tried not to freak out when she asked me to meet her so we could check for a heartbeat.
The next half hour or so - trying to get a still-sick Bug dressed, Richard off to work and then out the door to the birth center - was possibly one of the longest in my life.
I tried to keep in mind that we went through this twice with Bug before he was born. My midwife said that was good to know and pulled out the sonar. It had barely touched my stomach when we heard a good strong heartbeat. I cried. My midwife almost cried.
She told me that she'd been really concerned when I'd called. She mentioned that things always seem to come in groups. That all of the births at the center will be going very well and then someone will hemmorage. And then the next three people will hemmorage. That type of thing. She said that she had just realized that it had been several years since a baby had spontaniously died when I called and it had terrified her. Thank goodness we weren't the start of that trend. At least, not today.
I'm stll pretty worked up about it - and quite thankful that Boo has given me few strong, swift kicks this afternoon. Bug is in my lap, overheated and sleepy and I'm not sure that I'm willing to let go of him at all.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
First Bit of Sashiko Done!
I wasn't planning to post about the sashiko inspired project again until I was completely finished with it, but I needed the distraction today...so, here we are.
The basic idea was to practice hand-stitching and it seemed like a better use of my (very limited) free time to make something useful at the same time. We're a paper towel-free home, so we go through lots and lots of little cleaning rags. The ones we have now are generally all of the terrycloth variety and getting pretty ratty looking. I hate handing something stained or torn or otherwise ugly and asking Bug to wipe his face on it. So I figured I'd make a set of little finger wiping / spill picker-upper cloths.
I chose a couple of fat-eighths that I wasn't in love with from my stash and dug out the embroidery thread and got to work. I'm finding that, as I work on these, I really really start to like to the fabric.
Today, I had misplaced the almost-finished orange and yellow floral so I grabbed one of the other fabrics when Bug went down for his nap. I don't really dislike this fabric so much but it hasn't been speaking to me either, so it was fair game.
The stitching on this one is very, very simple. I just stitched over the vertical center lines of each vine and left the rest of the fabric alone. I'd considered accenting the darker leaves somehow, but I kind of like the simplicity of the almost-straight lines.
When I'd finished with the vines, I folded the fabric in half, pressed it and stitched it closed. I top-stitched the edges to give it a slightly crisper shape. I've purposefully chosen not to square up the fabrics before I stitch them. They were all cut (before I bought them, not by me) a little wonky, so they're not stitching up completely square. For our purposes and because that seems to fit quite well into our wonky lives, I kind of like them that way.
(I skimmed a book titled That Dorky Homemade Look, by Lisa Boyer, the other day and these evoke that feeling in me. I think I love them because of their imperfections. And I think buying the book is in my not-too-distant future.)
So, here's the first of the sashiko-inspired cloths.
This first picture shows the color of the fabric the best.
And here's a detail, showing the pattern of the fabric and the stitching a little better.
More on these as I finish the others. I'm planning on four. I think.
(PS - Bug has given this one his seal of approval. I handed it to him and asked him what he thought and he immediately wiped his face, then wadded it up and handed it back. Success!)
The basic idea was to practice hand-stitching and it seemed like a better use of my (very limited) free time to make something useful at the same time. We're a paper towel-free home, so we go through lots and lots of little cleaning rags. The ones we have now are generally all of the terrycloth variety and getting pretty ratty looking. I hate handing something stained or torn or otherwise ugly and asking Bug to wipe his face on it. So I figured I'd make a set of little finger wiping / spill picker-upper cloths.
I chose a couple of fat-eighths that I wasn't in love with from my stash and dug out the embroidery thread and got to work. I'm finding that, as I work on these, I really really start to like to the fabric.
Today, I had misplaced the almost-finished orange and yellow floral so I grabbed one of the other fabrics when Bug went down for his nap. I don't really dislike this fabric so much but it hasn't been speaking to me either, so it was fair game.
The stitching on this one is very, very simple. I just stitched over the vertical center lines of each vine and left the rest of the fabric alone. I'd considered accenting the darker leaves somehow, but I kind of like the simplicity of the almost-straight lines.
When I'd finished with the vines, I folded the fabric in half, pressed it and stitched it closed. I top-stitched the edges to give it a slightly crisper shape. I've purposefully chosen not to square up the fabrics before I stitch them. They were all cut (before I bought them, not by me) a little wonky, so they're not stitching up completely square. For our purposes and because that seems to fit quite well into our wonky lives, I kind of like them that way.
(I skimmed a book titled That Dorky Homemade Look, by Lisa Boyer, the other day and these evoke that feeling in me. I think I love them because of their imperfections. And I think buying the book is in my not-too-distant future.)
So, here's the first of the sashiko-inspired cloths.
This first picture shows the color of the fabric the best.
And here's a detail, showing the pattern of the fabric and the stitching a little better.
More on these as I finish the others. I'm planning on four. I think.
(PS - Bug has given this one his seal of approval. I handed it to him and asked him what he thought and he immediately wiped his face, then wadded it up and handed it back. Success!)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Bug's Adventures and a Sashiko-Inspred Sneak Peek
Having a two year old is awesome. Bug is not-quite-27-months old and is SUCH a personality. He talks pretty much constantly and has a wicked sense of humor. It's amazing to see so much of his own personality showing through now that he's voicing his thoughts so very clearly. (People stop us quite often to ask how old he is because he's been speaking in sentences for awhile now. It didn't occur to me that that might me odd at his age.)
One of Bug's favorite things to do right now is drive. Or ask to drive. Every time we leave the house, he smiles his charming little smile and asks in a hopeeful tone "I want to drive?" He's not deterred at all by the answer always being some version of "I don't think so". He always restates the desire when we fet home again. "I want to drive a little bit." On our way back into the house, it's generally easier to accomodate the request. He'll hop into the front seat (keyless, lest anyone thing we're terrible parents), readjust theseat settings, turn the radio and a/c knobs for a little while, flash the lights, open the trunk, and generally have a grand old time.
Today, I stepped away to toss ourbags into the house while he was 'driving'. I didn't shut the door very well when I stepped back to the car and two of the cats got out. They're big chickens so this wasn't really a big deal, but it did cut Bug's driving time. He hopped out to help me shoo the cats back inside. Pie, our old man, had been eating grass so we stopped to pick some more grass to take inside for the cats. Bug very nicely handed a little bit of grass to each cat, then exclaimed "I eating grass!" And he was. Ew.
Being the good helper that he is, Bug ran to grab the broom when he was done chowing down on his greens, to clean up the scattered grass bits that the cats had left behind. I was downloading the camera. Silly mommy. The grass wasn't quite enough of a mess for the sweeping to continue a pleasing amount of time...so Bug dumped the cat food bowl and swept that up, too. I like to think that if I hadn't been distracted the cat foodwould haves stayed in the bowl, but probably not. And at least he swept it up, right?
Now, to completely change gears...let's talk about sashiko!
I've seen sashiko before and always thought that it was beautiful. I wasn't terribly inspired to acutally give it a whirl myself until I saw this pillow over at The Purl Bee. (They have several nice tutorials. Search for 'sashiko' and take your pick!) The non-traditonal color choices grabbed me immediately. I did some reading on the history of sashiko, looked at a bunch of tutorials and a boat-load of pictures (check out Flickr's Sashiko pool for some great photos) before deciding to try it out myself.
Going completely against type, I opted to work on my hand stitching before taking on a huge project. Once upon a time, I could do really beautiful hand stitching. But that's a use-it-or-lose it skill, and I haven't done much with it since getting pregnant with Bug. I pulled out some fabric that I'm not overly fond of, some emboridery thread, and got to work.
Here's a little peek of the peice that I've been working on.
Obviously, the stitching needs some work. But I'm absolutely thrilled with how it's coming together so far. And I find it really interesting that while this particular bit of fabric didn't really do anything for me before, I'm kind of falling in love with it now that it's embellished. I'm excited to keep working on it and looking forward to seeing how the project comes together.
One of Bug's favorite things to do right now is drive. Or ask to drive. Every time we leave the house, he smiles his charming little smile and asks in a hopeeful tone "I want to drive?" He's not deterred at all by the answer always being some version of "I don't think so". He always restates the desire when we fet home again. "I want to drive a little bit." On our way back into the house, it's generally easier to accomodate the request. He'll hop into the front seat (keyless, lest anyone thing we're terrible parents), readjust theseat settings, turn the radio and a/c knobs for a little while, flash the lights, open the trunk, and generally have a grand old time.
Today, I stepped away to toss ourbags into the house while he was 'driving'. I didn't shut the door very well when I stepped back to the car and two of the cats got out. They're big chickens so this wasn't really a big deal, but it did cut Bug's driving time. He hopped out to help me shoo the cats back inside. Pie, our old man, had been eating grass so we stopped to pick some more grass to take inside for the cats. Bug very nicely handed a little bit of grass to each cat, then exclaimed "I eating grass!" And he was. Ew.
Being the good helper that he is, Bug ran to grab the broom when he was done chowing down on his greens, to clean up the scattered grass bits that the cats had left behind. I was downloading the camera. Silly mommy. The grass wasn't quite enough of a mess for the sweeping to continue a pleasing amount of time...so Bug dumped the cat food bowl and swept that up, too. I like to think that if I hadn't been distracted the cat foodwould haves stayed in the bowl, but probably not. And at least he swept it up, right?
Now, to completely change gears...let's talk about sashiko!
I've seen sashiko before and always thought that it was beautiful. I wasn't terribly inspired to acutally give it a whirl myself until I saw this pillow over at The Purl Bee. (They have several nice tutorials. Search for 'sashiko' and take your pick!) The non-traditonal color choices grabbed me immediately. I did some reading on the history of sashiko, looked at a bunch of tutorials and a boat-load of pictures (check out Flickr's Sashiko pool for some great photos) before deciding to try it out myself.
Going completely against type, I opted to work on my hand stitching before taking on a huge project. Once upon a time, I could do really beautiful hand stitching. But that's a use-it-or-lose it skill, and I haven't done much with it since getting pregnant with Bug. I pulled out some fabric that I'm not overly fond of, some emboridery thread, and got to work.
Here's a little peek of the peice that I've been working on.
Obviously, the stitching needs some work. But I'm absolutely thrilled with how it's coming together so far. And I find it really interesting that while this particular bit of fabric didn't really do anything for me before, I'm kind of falling in love with it now that it's embellished. I'm excited to keep working on it and looking forward to seeing how the project comes together.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Some of My Favorite Blogs
I don't have much to say today.
Well...I do, but I'm not quite ready to delve into that yet. And I don't have pictures of the stuff I want to show off, and I'm feeling very pregnant-tired today. So that leaves me with very little to say.
It's one of those all-I-want-to-do-is-sit-around-and-look-at-inspiring-websites days.
So I'll share some of my favorites. :)
Sew,Mama, Sew - Always an amazing site for inspiration, ideas and tons and tons of tutorials. This month is Quilt Month II, so there's lots of quilt-y goodness going on right now. Be sure to check out the blog on Fridays and enter to win the weekly fabric giveaway! (Ahem... They also have a store and forum, but I always get side-tracked by the blog.)
A Stitch in Dye - Malka - from here in Texas! - does some of the most beautiful work! Her fabric and dying are breathtaking and I love, love, love how she uses color and visual texture in all of her projects. I think I'd love to buy just about everything out of her Etsy shop. I'm saving my pennies for some of her fabric. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.
See Katie Sew - Quilting, pretty fabric creations...what's not to love? I'm currently working on convincing myself that I don't need to join in the vintage sheet swap. I DON'T. But...they're so pretty...
Juicy Bits - I don't think there's anything that Jessica doesn't do beautifully and at 115%. Seriously. Look at her photos. Sewing, baking, crafting, birthday parties, she does it all and it all looks straight out of a magazine. Takes my breath away.
Oh, Fransson! - I mentioned Elizabeth's blog the other day. It's a haven of quilt-y goodness, amazing tutorials, quilt-a-longs and beautiful, beautiful work. She's doing this week's Block-a-long at Sew, Mama, Sew, too. Fun stuff! (And be sure to check out her shop. I bought the pattern for her Canasta quilts and will be eternally thankful for her easy-to-follow directions. I'm not sure that even *I* will be able to muck up this quilt.)
There are other blogs that I love to frequent, but five links seems like a good place to stop for now. I'll save the others for the moment. :)
Well...I do, but I'm not quite ready to delve into that yet. And I don't have pictures of the stuff I want to show off, and I'm feeling very pregnant-tired today. So that leaves me with very little to say.
It's one of those all-I-want-to-do-is-sit-around-and-look-at-inspiring-websites days.
So I'll share some of my favorites. :)
Sew,Mama, Sew - Always an amazing site for inspiration, ideas and tons and tons of tutorials. This month is Quilt Month II, so there's lots of quilt-y goodness going on right now. Be sure to check out the blog on Fridays and enter to win the weekly fabric giveaway! (Ahem... They also have a store and forum, but I always get side-tracked by the blog.)
A Stitch in Dye - Malka - from here in Texas! - does some of the most beautiful work! Her fabric and dying are breathtaking and I love, love, love how she uses color and visual texture in all of her projects. I think I'd love to buy just about everything out of her Etsy shop. I'm saving my pennies for some of her fabric. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.
See Katie Sew - Quilting, pretty fabric creations...what's not to love? I'm currently working on convincing myself that I don't need to join in the vintage sheet swap. I DON'T. But...they're so pretty...
Juicy Bits - I don't think there's anything that Jessica doesn't do beautifully and at 115%. Seriously. Look at her photos. Sewing, baking, crafting, birthday parties, she does it all and it all looks straight out of a magazine. Takes my breath away.
Oh, Fransson! - I mentioned Elizabeth's blog the other day. It's a haven of quilt-y goodness, amazing tutorials, quilt-a-longs and beautiful, beautiful work. She's doing this week's Block-a-long at Sew, Mama, Sew, too. Fun stuff! (And be sure to check out her shop. I bought the pattern for her Canasta quilts and will be eternally thankful for her easy-to-follow directions. I'm not sure that even *I* will be able to muck up this quilt.)
There are other blogs that I love to frequent, but five links seems like a good place to stop for now. I'll save the others for the moment. :)
Monday, April 5, 2010
Fabric Collecting
I can admit that I have a problem with fabric. I like it. A lot. I have way.too.much.fabric in my house. (As if there were such a thing!) But sometimes something calls to me and I have to take it home. And sometimes I end up spending a good long time admiring it before it tells me what it wants to become.
And, sometimes, the project comes first. Such is the case for our bedroom quilt.
As recently stated, I'm new to this whole quilting thing. But I'm hooked. The idea of doing a big, bed-sized quilt has been attractive - and really, really scary! - for awhile, but I've decided to take the plunge. To that end, I've chosen a pattern (one of the Canasta quilts from Oh, Fransson!) and started amassing fabric. It's going to be a process, because I know what I want but the idea of dropping that much money on that much fabric all at once makes me feel a little faint. To be honest, I'm not even going to *think* about backing fabric until the quilt top is finished...and that's a ways from happening.
So, I go admire my pretty new fabric now and again and look at pictures online trying to decide which bit to buy next.
Thus far, I've collected:
These are from Nature.ology by Studio E. Purchased from Bratpacks Fabrics awesome Etsy shop. The prints are: "Birds" in brown, "Blowing Leaves" in neutral, "Birds of a Feather" in brown and "Through the Forest" in turqiouse.
These are "Mingle Cocoa" by Robert Kauffman and "Words" in olive from the Nature.ology collection. Purchased from Fashionable Fabrics. (Who also has an Etsy shop, but I purchased these directly so that I could tweak the order request.)
Four yards total. Half of the printed fabric that I need for the quilt top. Once it's all here, I'll decide on coordinating solids and plan to buy that all at once. And then I can get this baby underway!
Until then...I'll just keep staring and petting and imagining how pretty the quilt will be when it's - someday - grown into a quilt.
(By the way, I highly recommend purchasing from both Bratpacks and Fashionable Fabrics! Both transactions went beautifully, with excellent communication, and I got the fabric really quickly. I'll definitely be shopping in both locations again! Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson! is also quite awesome. I am ADDICTED to her blog.)
Links:
Bratpack Fabric: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bratpacksfabrics
Fashionable Fabrics: http://www.fashionablefabrics.com/
Oh, Fransson! (Etsy shop): http://www.etsy.com/shop/OhFransson
Oh, Fransson! (blog): www.ohfransson.com
And, sometimes, the project comes first. Such is the case for our bedroom quilt.
As recently stated, I'm new to this whole quilting thing. But I'm hooked. The idea of doing a big, bed-sized quilt has been attractive - and really, really scary! - for awhile, but I've decided to take the plunge. To that end, I've chosen a pattern (one of the Canasta quilts from Oh, Fransson!) and started amassing fabric. It's going to be a process, because I know what I want but the idea of dropping that much money on that much fabric all at once makes me feel a little faint. To be honest, I'm not even going to *think* about backing fabric until the quilt top is finished...and that's a ways from happening.
So, I go admire my pretty new fabric now and again and look at pictures online trying to decide which bit to buy next.
Thus far, I've collected:
These are from Nature.ology by Studio E. Purchased from Bratpacks Fabrics awesome Etsy shop. The prints are: "Birds" in brown, "Blowing Leaves" in neutral, "Birds of a Feather" in brown and "Through the Forest" in turqiouse.
These are "Mingle Cocoa" by Robert Kauffman and "Words" in olive from the Nature.ology collection. Purchased from Fashionable Fabrics. (Who also has an Etsy shop, but I purchased these directly so that I could tweak the order request.)
Four yards total. Half of the printed fabric that I need for the quilt top. Once it's all here, I'll decide on coordinating solids and plan to buy that all at once. And then I can get this baby underway!
Until then...I'll just keep staring and petting and imagining how pretty the quilt will be when it's - someday - grown into a quilt.
(By the way, I highly recommend purchasing from both Bratpacks and Fashionable Fabrics! Both transactions went beautifully, with excellent communication, and I got the fabric really quickly. I'll definitely be shopping in both locations again! Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson! is also quite awesome. I am ADDICTED to her blog.)
Links:
Bratpack Fabric: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bratpacksfabrics
Fashionable Fabrics: http://www.fashionablefabrics.com/
Oh, Fransson! (Etsy shop): http://www.etsy.com/shop/OhFransson
Oh, Fransson! (blog): www.ohfransson.com
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Easter Goodies and a Sneak Peek
Happy Easter!
Bug's goodies:
An outfit for Boo and her basket fixed up for Richard:
And a sneak peek of a project that Bug and I have been working on for Boo. I hope to be able to finish it at nap time today.
Bug's goodies:
An outfit for Boo and her basket fixed up for Richard:
And a sneak peek of a project that Bug and I have been working on for Boo. I hope to be able to finish it at nap time today.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
LITJ Quilt Block Swap, and a New Bag for Me
Mrm...so much for cleaning the house. Bug just went down for his nap and I'm running out of steam. So I'll post about an exciting project and then go join him. I'm allowed to nap at will while growing another person, right?
Awhile ago, a parenting group that I'm a part of did a craft swap. It was awesome. Roughly each month (I think it was a five week cycle, actually), we had a different theme and crafted for someone specific within that theme. It was awesome. Truly. It was really amazing to see the love that we had for one another flourish into tangible expressions of friendship. I was particularly amazed to see how people who didn't consider themselves to be crafty or artistic came up with some of the most amazing (and beautiful!) projects. And, within the framework of the friendships we'd built, a lot of people really stepped outside of their comfort zones to create some impressive tokens.
Life being what it is and some downtime to the website kind of put an end to the craft swap. It has recently been reborn though (yay!) - though this time it's been designed as a quilt block swap. Aside from a few people who have some experience with quilting, the rest of us are new to it. I've done a psuedo-quilt or three, but never attempted an actual, honest-to-goodness quilt. It was more than a little terrifying to add my name to the list, but I love these women and knew that it would be an awesome experience, so I did.
Unlike a more traditional block swap, which usually has a deadline of one block per month, we're focusing on one member per week. Our first mail-out day was February 25, and we will wrap up on June 3. Keeping in mind that my hands ended up terribly swollen and I was unable to sew (or hold a pen or tie my shoes or much of anything else) during the last half of my pregnancy with Bug, I've tried to get ahead of the game with my sewing. We have a list of who we're focusing on by week and what their likes/dislikes are, so I've been able to get ahead on my blocks.
This week, we mailed out our sixth blocks. The pictures that people have been posting are very inspiring. Already, confidence is building and - as a group - we're pushing ourselves to work outside of our comfort zones and try new things. These are going to be some beautiful quilts when they're done!
With the concern of swollen hands, I opted not to create a new block for everyone. Instead, I spent some time designing one block that I feel expresses my love for the group as a whole and have been choosing fabrics, colors, etc each week based on the recipients personality and requests. So far everyone seems to be happy with their blocks and I've been able to sew through our mid-May deadline. I have three blocks left and I'll be done with the block construction. (Oddly, embroidering my initials on the blocks has what's been the toughest for me.)
So, anyway. Here are the blocks that I've created so far. (Clickable thumbnails as I'm still having issues with resizing photos.)
Laura's week was first and my camera was still in Arizona, so I don't have a picture of the very first quilt block.
This one went to Amanda D:
Trinity:
Karo:
Tiffany:
Micael:
(Note that these pictures were taken before the blocks were trimmed or embroidered.)
Coming up next, will be...
Ella:
B:
Jen:
Colette:
Jenn:
I have fabric chosen for Amanda L, Carrie and Paula, but haven't gotten the blocks done yet. Soon. Soooooon.
This week, I felt the need to pause and create something for myself. Mostly because my purse - a hardworking little canvas bag - was on it's last leg.
It came together quickly, thank goodness. I chose and washed the fabric one day, prepped, patterned and cut the next morning and, that afternoon when Bug came home from school, we stitched it together. (He's getting to be a really good little sewing helper. Have I twisted him at all, do you think? How many just-turned-two-year-olds come home from school and ask to sew?)
It's not perfect and there are things that I'll change when I make the next one, but overall I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.
And that's all for now, folks. I'm going to go snuggle up to Bug and try to get in a decent nap.
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Awhile ago, a parenting group that I'm a part of did a craft swap. It was awesome. Roughly each month (I think it was a five week cycle, actually), we had a different theme and crafted for someone specific within that theme. It was awesome. Truly. It was really amazing to see the love that we had for one another flourish into tangible expressions of friendship. I was particularly amazed to see how people who didn't consider themselves to be crafty or artistic came up with some of the most amazing (and beautiful!) projects. And, within the framework of the friendships we'd built, a lot of people really stepped outside of their comfort zones to create some impressive tokens.
Life being what it is and some downtime to the website kind of put an end to the craft swap. It has recently been reborn though (yay!) - though this time it's been designed as a quilt block swap. Aside from a few people who have some experience with quilting, the rest of us are new to it. I've done a psuedo-quilt or three, but never attempted an actual, honest-to-goodness quilt. It was more than a little terrifying to add my name to the list, but I love these women and knew that it would be an awesome experience, so I did.
Unlike a more traditional block swap, which usually has a deadline of one block per month, we're focusing on one member per week. Our first mail-out day was February 25, and we will wrap up on June 3. Keeping in mind that my hands ended up terribly swollen and I was unable to sew (or hold a pen or tie my shoes or much of anything else) during the last half of my pregnancy with Bug, I've tried to get ahead of the game with my sewing. We have a list of who we're focusing on by week and what their likes/dislikes are, so I've been able to get ahead on my blocks.
This week, we mailed out our sixth blocks. The pictures that people have been posting are very inspiring. Already, confidence is building and - as a group - we're pushing ourselves to work outside of our comfort zones and try new things. These are going to be some beautiful quilts when they're done!
With the concern of swollen hands, I opted not to create a new block for everyone. Instead, I spent some time designing one block that I feel expresses my love for the group as a whole and have been choosing fabrics, colors, etc each week based on the recipients personality and requests. So far everyone seems to be happy with their blocks and I've been able to sew through our mid-May deadline. I have three blocks left and I'll be done with the block construction. (Oddly, embroidering my initials on the blocks has what's been the toughest for me.)
So, anyway. Here are the blocks that I've created so far. (Clickable thumbnails as I'm still having issues with resizing photos.)
Laura's week was first and my camera was still in Arizona, so I don't have a picture of the very first quilt block.
This one went to Amanda D:
Trinity:
Karo:
Tiffany:
Micael:
(Note that these pictures were taken before the blocks were trimmed or embroidered.)
Coming up next, will be...
Ella:
B:
Jen:
Colette:
Jenn:
I have fabric chosen for Amanda L, Carrie and Paula, but haven't gotten the blocks done yet. Soon. Soooooon.
This week, I felt the need to pause and create something for myself. Mostly because my purse - a hardworking little canvas bag - was on it's last leg.
It came together quickly, thank goodness. I chose and washed the fabric one day, prepped, patterned and cut the next morning and, that afternoon when Bug came home from school, we stitched it together. (He's getting to be a really good little sewing helper. Have I twisted him at all, do you think? How many just-turned-two-year-olds come home from school and ask to sew?)
It's not perfect and there are things that I'll change when I make the next one, but overall I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.
And that's all for now, folks. I'm going to go snuggle up to Bug and try to get in a decent nap.
Bug and Boo
I have about ten million things I want to - and have been planning to - blog about. I'm a little frustrated by the trouble I've been having resizing pictures and, as lame as that is, it's one of the main reasons that I haven't updated in a little bit. No worries, I'll get over it. But probably not today since tomorrow is Easter and Richard will be home and I have a TON of cleaning that I'd like to get done today so it's not hanging over us all day tomorrow.
So, for the moment, I'll keep this brief. And photo-less.
To make things sit a bit easier in my head, I will be referring to my family not as C, J, and R but Bug, Boo and Richard from this point forward. It's what I call them at home and I think it's a bit easier to follow than just initials.
BTW, we had our ultrasound last week and Boo is a girl!
So, for the moment, I'll keep this brief. And photo-less.
To make things sit a bit easier in my head, I will be referring to my family not as C, J, and R but Bug, Boo and Richard from this point forward. It's what I call them at home and I think it's a bit easier to follow than just initials.
BTW, we had our ultrasound last week and Boo is a girl!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Worst. Blogger. Ever.
Yep...that'd be me.
I've certainly *thought* about updating the blog quite a lot, but we've had quite a lot going on, too. Obviously, since it's been about a year since I've really written anything. Sheesh.
A few big things, though.
1 - We've moved. We're in a HOUSE again - yay! C has a super duper awesome playroom and, to be honest, we live in this. Seriously. We wake up in the morning, come in here, and we're pretty much in here until we go to bed at night.
2 - We got a dog. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I had forgotten my big major dog rule though: NO MORE PUPPIES. So, like a fool, we adopted an 8 month old lab mix. Mostly because C absolutely loved her and she was awesome with him and that was a pretty big deal because he was well on the way to developing a fear of all dogs, especially the larger ones. At the time, he only liked chihuahuas and that was largely because he thought they were cats.
So, Hope entered the picture, thanks to Second Chance Pets. We love her. She's awesome. She gets along well with the cats and she'll let C do anything to her. I've seen him pull food out of her mouth while she's eating and she didn't react at all. She's also a really big, really rambunctious puppy. And she eats anything that doesn't run away from her. Like the sofa. Gah.
3 - I'm pregnant. Didn't see that one coming but we're quite pleased about it.
There have been some good projects going of late and our camera just made it's way back to us after I managed to leave it in Arizona, so I'll be taking some pictures and getting stuff posted asap.
Links:
Second Chance Pets - www.secondchancepets.org/index.html
I've certainly *thought* about updating the blog quite a lot, but we've had quite a lot going on, too. Obviously, since it's been about a year since I've really written anything. Sheesh.
A few big things, though.
1 - We've moved. We're in a HOUSE again - yay! C has a super duper awesome playroom and, to be honest, we live in this. Seriously. We wake up in the morning, come in here, and we're pretty much in here until we go to bed at night.
2 - We got a dog. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I had forgotten my big major dog rule though: NO MORE PUPPIES. So, like a fool, we adopted an 8 month old lab mix. Mostly because C absolutely loved her and she was awesome with him and that was a pretty big deal because he was well on the way to developing a fear of all dogs, especially the larger ones. At the time, he only liked chihuahuas and that was largely because he thought they were cats.
So, Hope entered the picture, thanks to Second Chance Pets. We love her. She's awesome. She gets along well with the cats and she'll let C do anything to her. I've seen him pull food out of her mouth while she's eating and she didn't react at all. She's also a really big, really rambunctious puppy. And she eats anything that doesn't run away from her. Like the sofa. Gah.
3 - I'm pregnant. Didn't see that one coming but we're quite pleased about it.
There have been some good projects going of late and our camera just made it's way back to us after I managed to leave it in Arizona, so I'll be taking some pictures and getting stuff posted asap.
Links:
Second Chance Pets - www.secondchancepets.org/index.html
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