190/366: My Days Since the Fourth

This is a beautiful baby girl that I was thrilled to capture on film (technically not film, but electronic file) yesterday.  It was a highlight of my five not so great days.

You see, on the Fourth, I was in the wrong place and took a rogue roman candle to the thighs.  It hit my right leg and bounced to my left and danced around in my dress before dying out.  When it happened, I thought of my dress.  That cute dress I had just gotten.  It had a huge hole right in the middle.  It wasn't until I was told to go in the house and make sure my legs were okay that I actually felt any pain.  I was so mad about my dress! 

To make a gross story safe for your reading pleasure, many days with my skirt hiked up to my pickachu and ice packs on my thighs.  We are in the tightening, scabbing stage, so although it's uncomfortable, it isn't messy with lotions and creams.

I have no moral to this story.  Well, yes, if you are going to light fireworks, be safe with them.

This leads me to 12:30 am July 5th...with ice packs on my lap our new backyard neighbor was STILL blowing off illegal explosives, and they were loud!  I thought I had a slight case of PTSD.  Every whizzing sound followed by a pop had me reliving the earlier demise of my thigh skin. I wanted so much to call the cops, but that would mean I would have to rise from my location with my ice and get the phone.  That, and the grapevine told me that he was just released from a correctional facility.  I'm not messing with that one.

The major works subsided at 12:45 am.  Which was nice. 

Until 1:28 am, when he sent another one off.

Quiet again.

Until 2:41 am, when he sent yet another one off.

Quiet again.

Until 3:47 am, when yet another friggin shot woke me.

Quiet again.

You'd think I would call the cops at this point.  I was so tired.  In so much pain, I just fell asleep again.

POW!  SHOOOOT! KAPLOOEY!

4:21 am the final shot.

37/366: On the Hook

I was looking back through my posts and noticed something.

I hadn't been showing you the hooky love.

Currently on my favorite Rosewood hook, is a precious little cardigan sweater in Silk Bamboo yarn by Paton's.  I love this yarn.  It is so silky and soft.

Things on my mind:

• Micro March
• Crochet Along Blanket (begins Feb. 15th) with Bernat
• Month of finishing all those works in progress
• A wedding gift I have yet to construct...I'm still working it out in my head
• A winter vacation to somewhere warm and sandy with my kids and my husband where we don't worry about money or work or school or fighting....

Anything on your mind?

Carrie at Four Months

This photograph appeared on my refrigerator the other day.  I assume my husband found it (when he also found my passport! thanks, Tom!).

When I was a kid, all we had were plastic beads on wire to play with.  Have you seen those jump around play stations?  Yowser.  No wonder my kids are bored at age 5.  They've been spoiled with all the fancy schmancy baby toys.

Back to sticks and stones

and plastic beads.

I Got Lost

Lost in the days.

The days that became weeks.

The nights that turned into days.

I feel like I've been so busy caring for kids and myself and work that the last several weeks have whisked by and I can't remember much.

I was ready to show you all the cool things I made for my soon-to-be-born niece.  Guess what?  I never took a picture of the nappy bag...it was a vibrant green with white cherry blossom like flowers with a nice green and blue stripe inside.  Even the guy cutting that fabric for me at Joann's was impressed with my combination.  I think I'm 'gettin' it.  He was going to buy the same fabrics, not sure what he will be making...hat?  apron?  pillow case?  Who knows.

This is the little sweater I made with the Silk Bamboo yarn.  I made a matching bonnet...with no picture.

I also finished a boat load of flannel burp cloths.  My o my, there were a lot of them.  I'm sure they'll be used.  I remember always needing more towels and things to wipe and protect and snuggle on with my boys.

I love that little girl already!

Coming up...

So much for tidying up my closet.  Missed that week on Simple Mom.
This week is papers.  Those, I have plenty of.  Maybe tomorrow.

Working on another big bag for a great gal.  I'm just really slow.  I need to work on that.

Thing A Day: 18

Again, I apologize for the candid photos and descriptions.  I just can't wait to show you what I've made for my new niece.  YES...I'm getting a brand new niece.

I am overjoyed for my brother and sister (in law, I don't like that term). 

I can't stop making.

Really...every day I come up with a new idea I want to make.  Everything is handmade coming from me. 

So, I finished that "project" with the Silk Bamboo yarn.  What a dream that was.

The boys and I are hoping to make some Presidents' Day decorations tonight...I hope to show you those tomorrow.

And I'll be able to show the entire thing...not just a close up!

Thing A Day: 17

I know this doesn't look like much, but I spent my lunch hour yesterday ripping up fabric.

If you haven't ripped fabric, you should.  It is the most fulfilling sound.  And the straightest line of separation you can get.

This is a lovely set of cuddle flannels that I picked up last month when there was a big sale at Joann's.  All in preparation for lots of sewing.

Family on the Couch

Our favorite thing to do lately is to borrow a couple books on CD from the library and pile on the couch in our Snuggies.  This is my original Snuggie.  The boys got some from Grandma and Papa and Tom has the honor of having a 'homemade with love' snuggie.

I wanted to show you something I've been working on, but I don't want to show TOO much, wink wink.  I will say that this yarn is a dream.  Not so much to work with, but to touch and to hold.  If only this yarn came in bigger spools.  It is Silk and Bamboo. 

I have been trying to explain this, sitting here, typing, deleting.  It's so hard to think of a comparison. 

Baby Bottom
Rose Petal
Cloud
Dove wings


Oh, I've got it!  If feels like the fur of a Samoyed Dog that just won best of show at Westminster.  It's that lovely.

Baby Quilt: The Reveal

My friends Judy and Dave are expecting their first bundle of joy. Since we are pretty close, I asked her if there was something that she would like me to make for her baby. She mentioned a heirloom type blanket or quilt that could be passed down from child to child.

Heirloom...no pressure, right?

My first thought was that in order to have an heirloom be an heirloom, it must start with something that carries meaning and history.

I asked Judy and Dave's sisters to send me something from each of their families that could be added to the quilt. I got a little blue knit outfit that Dave wore as a baby; a scarf worn by Dave's mother; a doily from Judy's mother; and a tatted doily made by Judy's grandmother. Four things that held meaning. A great start to an heirloom.

To add the love of Judy and Dave, I added a block with their hometowns. A tree for making roots and an owl because owls are cool. Some blocks with simple stitch textures added to the dimension of the blanquilt.

As you know I'm quite the procrastinator - this time I had a good reason - but nonetheless, I didn't have a box or bag to put this in and stopped at our grocery store at 11:30 pm. Wow...$6 for a bag? So, I made one. I know, I know...bags are easy, though. And fairly quick.

This was a fun project that I really enjoyed and learned a couple things from, too.

To Judy and Dave...I hope you make many memories with this blanquilt as you wrap your children and your love with it.

Baa Baa Baby Shower

On Saturday, we celebrated pending birth of a very lucky baby. Great parents, a super cool sister and a room full of lambs. I made the bag with Gretchen's superior cutting skills late one night. With some spare fabric, I made the changing pad and it was begging for something adorable on it. I tried my hand at applique. It was a lot of fun. Surely it could have turned horrible, but apparently, I do my best work after a 9:30 pm nap.


The amazing thing about this fabric...it was the first one we picked up. The floral on the outside was perfect for Katie (maybe not so much for Mark). It took us a very long time to find a liner fabric and so settled on gray. We grabbed the matching stripe for the inner pockets and the changing pad.
I hope she likes it and more importantly, I hope she uses it.

Up next...commission purses and perhaps a Christmas stocking or two.

Baby Julia Blanket

Good friends of ours are expecting a little pink bundle of joy.

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What to make...should I just buy something? So much easier.

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There were plenty of options on the registry, but nothing spoke to me. I didn't see anything that was scrumptious. Not a word usually associated with a baby registry, but I think you know what I mean. Something to last, something to curl up in, something to grow with the baby and not be donated three months after the first use.

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I was browsing the web or my self proclaimed: blogumping: to jump via links from one blog to another. I found a gal that made simple burp cloths out of flannel material. Cute idea. Then, I found some really adorable vintage looking fabric with children playing with dolls. After concluding my blogumping for the day, I couldn't find either site. Note to self, mark as a Favorite before blogumping again.

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I wasn't overwhelmed with my choices of fabric at our local chain store. I knew that the colors for the baby's room were lots of pink, with brown accents. The store shelves held lots of typical white flannel (no mother would gift to a new mother anything white - especially something intended for spit-up) with baby blocks in the usual pastels, little chicks, and Spiderman. Oh, and deer heads mounted above a fireplace (there has to be a project for that fabric).

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Then, I found it. White and green toile. Perfect. What girl doesn't like Toile?. Even if it is often pronounced incorrectly (twall as in fall). It is sophisticated, historical, and heartwarming. The toile led me to the coordinating stripe, which became the back of the blanket after I chose it as my favorite over the toile. I picked up a polka dot in green and pink and brown solid flannel. I know, here you go thinking I am crazy with the brown. It's a girl, I know. But the brown chocolatey goodness with the pink is perfect. And, it is a burp cloth, not a dress.

I had a great time making the burp cloths. Measured them by feel and fit. On my shoulder for the standard position. On the floor for a diaper change. Over the head for a mid-day snack (after second reading, this sounds pretty funny, no I don't eat snacks with a towel on MY head). They were all different, backed in opposing fabric and pink thread. Yes, pink thread.

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Then the blanket. Hmmm. What to do. I didn't have much left in the way of full pieces of fabric. Thoughts of my sister-in-law came through (Hi, Brooke!) and her amazing quilting. If you know me, you know I don't follow rules. It is no surprise that I can't quilt in the "perfectly measured-1/8" seamed-matching corners" kind of quilting. Brooke's work is breathtaking. She has a great eye for colors and patterns and her corners are PERFECT! Since I am not Brooke, I did it my "estimated-eyeballed-close enough" way. I stitched some triangular strips of fabric down the long side and after a couple cuts and lines of stitching, came up with this top. I wanted to keep it soft and thin, but warm and didn't sandwich my two layers around anything (neither batting nor interfacing). I think the final product came out great. My edges were a little wacky and a couple too many puckers, but I loved it.

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I think Julia will love it, wacky edges and all.

Two Notes:

I finished the night before at 11:38 pm, time to spare (and sleep).

I used Photoshop on the first pic with my eldest and the blanket. The light from the window was too strong.

Check out my new blog find: Tula Pink. I am also adding it to my list on the right (it's a Quilting Blog, Brooke!)

And welcome baby Ferris (his mom will be carrying his bottles in the pleather-skulled messenger bag!).