Ten on Tuesday

1.  My new niece was born, and is cute as a button!  YAY!!!  My sister lasted until 34 weeks – a week after breaking her water – and all the pain and suffering was just absolutely and completely worth it to welcome Morgan Elizabeth into the world!

2.  Alright, I couldn’t be that mean.  Here is a picture of our newest member of the family:

3.  My sister is going home from the hospital today, without little Morgan.  Ugh.  Even though Morgan weighed in at 6 pounds, she’s still a preemie by 6-weeks and still in NICU although seems to be doing fine.

4.  Elena is not satisfied with just pictures of her new cousin.  She proclaimed today that “I want to see the REAL baby Morgan!  NOT. JUST. PICTURES!”

5.  Julia will not give up her ‘baby’ status to her cousin.  I asked her today if she was my big girl.  She said, “NO, Daddy’s baby!”  Taken aback, I asked if she were *my* baby.  Even more emphatically, “NO! DADDY’S BABY!”

6.  I borrowed my mom’s circle cutter while in Houston and will have a new Valentine’s craft to show soon!

7.  My mom handed over the circle cutter, yet made the point to tell me that she’s just lending it to me, *not* giving it to me.  And not in the same fashion as she lent me her Pfaff sewing machine.  That sewing machine?  It has been in my possession for over 2 years now.  Every once in a while I politely ask if she wants it back, but then make a point to tell her about all the sewing I’ve been doing with it lately.  And thus it is still mine. 

8.  I’ll have more sledding pictures to show eventually, but had to show that we went to the zoo again in Colorado.  The bears were extremely playful, fighting like puppies and then one came in to the water and showed off with a ball and stick.  He really was Right. There.

9.  What cracks me up about this next picture is pretty obvious:  Elena’s eyes!  You can just see her thinking “O.M.G.  That bear is Right.Here.Next.To.Me.  And BIG.”

10.  I took the obligatory picture in front of the bear statue, but the girls only cared about the snow.  Julia kept picking up snow and then crying when it melted and thus was all gone.  She was heartbroken when we drove off and she couldn’t get more snow when her snow inevitably melted yet again.

This *is* a Quilting Blog!

I just haven’t had much time at the machine. But, nonetheless, my favorite long-armer – ok, my mom, but STILL my favorite long-armer – That Quilter has been busy quilting some of my quilts.

I am making an unexpected trip to Houston this weekend so I’ll be picking them up and attaching bindings real soon and should have some completed quilts to show off soon!

In the meantime, to give you some quilty content here and now, here is a cool website my mom directed me to: http://www.laurapetersonquilts.com/.  It is a quilt of a quilt show – very cool concept and looks very well done!

Finally, I am heading to Houston tomorrow to go hang out at the hospital with my sister for the day before her c-section currently set for Saturday.  Her silly baby girl has decided to come early and just won’t be stopped any longer.  (My sister’s water broke last Saturday at 33 weeks — they are simply trying to keep her pregnant until she’s 34 weeks.  Risk of infection, breach baby, etc., are necessitating the c-section in a couple days.  And considering she had 2 contractions that stopped her from talking in the 10 minutes I was on the phone with her today, I think she is desperate for Saturday morning to arrive.)   So good thoughts for my sister and her baby girl!

and because I can’t go without a picture, here’s one of my faves from this past weekend when the girls and I went to Colorado to see my brother & his family and for some sledding!

Pocahontas

Although my quilting has been at a bit of a standstill for now, I have been busy sewing nonetheless.  With my much-needed cleaning of my sewing room recently (still no circle rotary cutter found – boo!)  I have unearthed, and tried to finish, several half-finished craft projects.

And so we come to Pocahontas x 2.  I purchased this great fringed brown suede fabric during the after-Halloween sales at Joann’s, and fully intended on having Native American costumes for my girls to wear for Thanksgiving.  You can never forget how much my girls like playing dress-up! (and yes, I also planned it for then because it would be a chance for me to show off both my adorable girls and my sewing skills in front of my family…)

Needless to say, the costumes weren’t finished for Thanksgiving.  I had them cut out but never managed to sew them.  But there is no time like the present (especially when the patterns are cut out and my girls are always growing – yikes!), and the dresses/costumes are now done and I took my two Pocahontases out to the park for some good old exploring yesterday.

By the way, you might notice that Pocahontases have a lot of stick gathering and poking to do.  Who knew?

Julia’s dress is New Look 6796 yet again.  You might remember this pattern previously with her pink sugar-skull dress, as seen here.  This Pocahontas costume is actually the third dress I’ve made with that pattern, and most likely won’t be the last.  It is easy and it is super-cute.  (I still need to show the 2nd time I made it — it’s coming, I swear!)

The ribbon at the bottom was applied with some Steam-a-Seam and then sewed down.  The dragonfly is a button just attached with a safety pin.

Elena’s dress is Simplicity 2677.  This was the first time I made this pattern and I was pleased.  Don’t be surprised if you see it again too.  Instead of making a fabric band & bow on the bodice as on the pattern, I used some Native-American-esque trim from Joann’s.  To stop the rampant fraying, I applied Fray Check to the cut ends and then also ironed it onto the dress with some Heat ‘n Bond Ultra (I know, different stuff than what I used on the other dress but I’m tricky like that), and sewed it down yet again.

My biggest problem with the dresses was getting good pictures of Elena in  hers!  Anyone know how to get a 4-year-old to smile prettily?  I’m totally serious here!  This is what I always get these days when I ask for a smile:

What’s with that tucked chin???  And then this is what I get when I ask her to look at me:

Um, okay.  (Julia’s helpfully showing her why I am – ha!)

Meanwhile, Julia was a perfect picture-taker yesterday.

But I soon stopped torturing the girls and just let them explore:

Sunday Stash

I have spent the better part of this weekend cleaning my sewing room in the attempt to find my beloved Olfa rotary circle cutter.

Isn’t it beautiful?  Just think of all the perfect circles you can cut with nary a problem!

The upside of this task is that my sewing room is in good condition, and things are pretty much where they belong!  YAY!  The downside?  My circle cutter has yet to be found.  I am at a loss of where to look next.  I did find all of its’ replacement blades, so I’m set!  kind of…

But on to happier things!  My stash has been enhanced over the last month what with Christmas gifts and the like, and I just know you’d love to see it!

First, look at these great Kaffe Fassett/Phillip Jacobs/______(one other designer whose name I forget) fabrics.

I received these because I “won” a yoga mat in the family Christmas exchange.  My mom generously returned the yoga mat to the store for me and instead used the money to help out my ‘I will make a Kaffe Fassett quilt’ declaration come closer to reality.

My sister then bought me a couple quilt books, one of which I have been yearning for, and collecting fabrics for for quite some time!  Can you tell what might hopefully be going up on my design wall soon?

I am SO excited!  And the next book I didn’t know I wanted, but it is still great!

Finally, I won part of a giveaway over at Fabric Hound and got this great charm pack.

I’d have opened up the charm pack and spread out its contents, but Elena has decided the whole package is just delightful and it has become one of her treasures for now.  She even took it to a sleepover at a friend’s house Friday night!  Yep, you heard right, my 4-year-old daughter took fabric to a sleepover.

Joy in the New Year revisited

I admittedly only joined the Joy in the New Year challenge half-heartedly, as seen here.  If you remember, the challenge was to actually finish as many UFOs (unfinished objects) as you could before January 1st.  So you could be joyful at your clean slate at the start of the year.  And there were prizes drawn for those that reported finishes.

Well.  Hmmm.  It was only half-heartedly, remember?  I only reported 3 Christmas quilts initially as my UFOs.  And I never reported any finishes.  Because I have no finishes.  BUT, I have been working on one of those reported 3 Christmas quilts!

Definitely not done yet, but just LOOK at these cute snowmen getting some personalities to them, and all of these paper-pieced trees!

This is not the final arrangement at all, but I am happy with my progress!  This quilt *will* be finished some time, I swear!  It is not being put away!

Crafty Advent Countdown Finale

I know!  I am still stuck on Christmas and it is mid-January already!  Enough!

Well, not enough yet.  I never shared my newly-received Christmas craft from my Mom.  This Christmas, it was a snowman, as presented by Elena (Go Irish!)

!

She wants to show you his snowflake charm,

and his cute buttons,

and wants you to know that he BELONGS TO HER!

“help me!”

Thanks for coming along and seeing the Christmas crafts!  As I put them away, I figured out what year some where made (the years were written on some of their boxes), so I’ll be updating my earlier posts with dates for the few I know.  Really just for my own records.

A Christmas Ten or so

Yikes!  I had this half-written for last week, but it just didn’t happen.  The girls were afflicted with fevers & colds & whininess, and I was just plain old afflicted!  The girls were on me 24-7 it seemed, and man, that is exhausting!  Julia’s fever finally quit on Day 7 (yes, 7!!!), and both girls are finally on the mend.

But, let’s remember happier times just two weeks ago!

1.  Elena *so* believes in Santa and Rudolph and everything, and it is so much fun!  On Christmas Eve she very earnestly spread out the reindeer food they gave her at her Mother’s Day Out program (dry oatmeal and glitter) over the whole yard:  “I’m putting it in the front yard so Rudolph sees it with his red nose!  He’ll see the sparkles!  Our Christmas lights will tell Santa where to go!”

2.  Instead of jumping up and down Christmas morning, Elena examined it all and told us all about it.  She was puzzled that she never heard the sleighbells, but opined that Santa must have tiptoed in to get past her!  That had to be it, she assured us, because she would have heard sleighbells because she kept waking up waiting for morning!

3. Elena waited very impatiently for Julia to wake up Christmas morning. We let her open one present (which has been one of her favorites), and then when Julia did awake we tortured her by taking pictures in front of the tree. Desperate to be done fast and to start opening presents, Elena tried to keep Julia (who was a bit groggy & confused by everything) in check.

4.  “LOOK!   Santa put Princess candy canes on the tree because he knows I love princesses AND candy!”  (will have Santa help decorate with candy canes again — was fun and both girls noticed right away when they woke up.)

5.  On Christmas, I’d say the dress-up outfits got some of the most use and play.  Their favorite gifts have changed in the following days.

6.  Julia’s favorite gift has been a set of three Thomas the Train engines for the bathtub.  They have been everywhere.

7.  Elena’s favorite gift has been a wooden treasure chest from Joann’s.  It has been everywhere, and she has already painted it.  She also immediately spied it under the tree since I didn’t disguise it.  (Wrapped it, just didn’t put it in a box or anything.)  It was the first gift she opened, quite happily, while Julia still snoozed.

8.  Elena’s new princess collection has also been very popular with both girls. She  got ALL 9 Princesses, plus Prince Charming.

9.  We went to the childrens’ play at church on Christmas Eve instead of mass.  I know, I know.  BUT, the girls like the story of Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus, and they get a lot more out of it seeing it acted out with little kids than spoken by the priest during mass.  ANYWAY, Mary was up at the front with lights all around her and Julia was standing on my lap to see.  When she saw Mary like that, she got down and found a picture of Mary in the pew.  She then stood back up on my lap and held up the picture of Mary as high as she could, so happy she found the real person to match the picture!

10. What pretty girls for Christmas Eve!

11.  Elena made us feel guilty for not letting her be part of the Christmas play, constantly asking why she couldn’t be with the other kids.  She leaned over into the center aisle as much as she could get away with and was thrilled anytime an angel’s wings touched her.

She seems to have forgotten that just a few weeks earlier she was an angel at her Mother’s Day Out Christmas play.  And she didn’t smile.  Or sing.

12. Elena learned some Christmas songs at Mother’s Day Out. And while she neglected to sing at her Christmas play, she has serenaded many a friend and ALL of Target with “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” I love that she knows Christmas songs this year.

13.  The girls LOVED the Christmas lights everywhere.  Whenever Julia saw some this season, she would yell KISMAS!!  IGHTS!!! and then would often sing some Christmas song apparently known to only her.

14. On Christmas Eve morning we continued the tradition of decorating cut-out cookies.

Part of the non-spoken tradition is everyone working really hard on their cookies, icing and sprinkling and having fun…to a point. Then Mommy gets to finish them up on her own while all others find other things to do.

*whew* Had a lot to say and save for my own future memories! Hope yours was merry!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope you all are having a great Christmas day!  I trust I am!  (um, yeah, wrote this a couple days ago!)

For your Christmas enjoyment, one last Santa to share.

This is my elegant Santa, by my Mom in the late 1990s. She even went totally out of her normal crafting zone and molded and painted his face.  Isn’t it fantastic?!

She also chose Santa’s accessories based on the person to whom she was giving the Santa.  Mine therefore has some very girly paraphernalia, such as the doll and roses and pearl accents, and of course a mini quilting book.

Each robe was different.  Some were red velvet with fox fur trim, some had all black robings, etc.  I think mine was the only Santa clothed in cream robes.  As you can kind of see from the following back shot, his robe is crazy quilted:

Such a great Santa, I saved him for last.

Again, Merry Christmas!  And I’m sure I’ll show up again soon to show what I received this year.  It’s sitting under the tree teasing me now!

Crafty Advent Countdown: 1 Day

Okay, I have been through all my pictures and I have *more* than enough to make it through the countdown.  SO, today you’ll get 3 crafts for the price of one, and on Christmas Day I have the most elegant Santa of all to share.  (don’t worry, I’ll be busy opening presents — really am scheduling this to appear properly this time around and y’all can find it when you hit some ‘me’ time coming up!)

First, a little stocking made by Knit One Quilt Too!  A couple years ago I won a giveaway of hers by properly guessing her childrens’ Christmas-y middle names!  (And by the way, I *so* wanted to give Julia the middle name Noelle in honor of her December birthday, but didn’t win that battle.)  I was blogless at the time I won, so never shared with the great Internet.  I don’t knit, so this little stocking is cherished.  And isn’t it cute?

Next, a little snowman quilt made by a quilt guild buddy.  Several years ago at a guild auction (a fundraiser for the guild), I tried to buy a snowman quilt just like this.  I lost the bid, but the lady knew how much I wanted it and surprised me with one she made just for me!  Yay!

And finally, a wallhanging by my Mom.  It has not been on the wall, but instead on back of the couch, because I can’t find it’s stick.  Oops!

Hee — I like my helper’s legs sticking out!

Crafty Advent Countdown: 2 Days

Now here is a definite bedtime Santa, and another of my all-time faves.  (I have a lot of those, don’t I?)

I know his poor hand looks odd carrying around that gold dish.  But he has a great candle!  Really great!  It came off in the unpacking process, and I put the candle somewhere “safe.”  And then of course I couldn’t figure out that safe place after I pulled out the hot glue gun.

I did finally find the candle here a couple days ago (um, bathroom counter?), but since I already had successful pictures downloaded, I didn’t go take anymore.  But the candle is supercute!

And just look below at the great quilt Santa is dragging along.  I bet whoever made Santa that woogie is very happy that he is using it, as all quilts should be loved and used!

And again, it should be pointed out that my Mom also made the mouse!  SO much work in these things!

Poor Santa just looks all tuckered out after his busy season.  Makes me tired and ready for bed too just looking at him!