Mix and Match

Patience's Garden - Copyright Peter

Sunday afternoon pedicures care of Daddy - Priceless.

Best Friends - Double Trouble...

Three rows for Indian Blanket quilt.

Three rows added to other two bigger rows equals five rows.  Seven more to go!!! 

Crazy bathtub picture must have. 

Warm fleece to become a sleep sack.  

I read several tutorials on line and some of the instructions were confusing to my intuitive brain. 

Finally I said to myself "Forget it, just start and figure it out as you go!".  Which is what I did. 

I cut out the fabric using my already well used sleep sack.  I added inches on the bottom and made the arms bigger and added 1/2 an inch around.  It was my first time putting in a zipper and putting it in on the side saves cutting and sewing time!!!  It went way easier than I thought it would.  Aleana helped me as I don't have a zipper foot and her machine does. 

I used ribbing around the neck and arms.  I loved sewing with the ribbing and was very happy with the end result of it.  

Aleana played with the camara while I sewed. 

So...some things I would do differently...

I used 2 inch wide ribbing in the neck and should have used 3 inch like in the arms - it doesn't look as tidy.  I had that ric a rac in my box and thought it would look nice.  Aleana said it looks weird.  I love color and seemed to have over done that aspect with the result being closer to a clown suit than a nice pyjama ensemble.  The zipper should match the ribbing and not be contrasting to prevent the whole circus look, however in the end - I say "C'est la vie!" as it will keep her from jumping out of her crib and I am super stoked about making another one and making it better.  It took me 3 hours but I know next time it will be faster - and easier!!!     

I would also make the arm holes smaller ( I thought I would have to make them bigger for a bigger size, but I guess her arms really don't grow as much as the rest of her - tehe)  and maybe make it about 1-2 inches shorter.  I would love to make one of these for the summer so that that is all she wears.  Nice and light.  Do you think I would have to make a liner because one layer of fabric is not as durable? 

Maybe in flannel?   

Madilyn was super happy to model her sleep sack.  I was really delighted to have figured out how to make one and I can see a lot more of these rolling out of my little factory in the future!!!  

New Beginnings

Today, I have some quiet moments and I just feel like writing.  I totally weaned Madilyn 5 days ago and I am really sad today about it.  I know it was the right thing to do because all my inconsistency about it was just confusing her and she is sleeping better and is much happier now.  Even though, my mind knows that, my heart is sad.  I miss my time with her and although we still snuggle it's not the same.  WAAAAAAAA.  

Okay, I got that out.  It's extra hard too because she's the youngest and possibly the last one (one never knows what God has planned) so it just makes it although the more hard.  I think this the first baby I weaned from 3-4 feedings a day to zilch and man oh man have my hormones taken a fun loop.  The other day, there was nothing that was going to come between me and my breast pump.  Will learned that the hard way. "Honey, maybe you should just let them (being my bosom) figure it out and leave it?" The coveted flat chested  man carefully said not to upset his ever agitated wife.  Isn't there some song about "Hear me Roar!!"?   Well, Will heard me roar.  Not nice. Thankfully, he was very understanding and appreciated how nice I was afterwards!!   I was just really thankful that my friend gave me her pump to have and to hold for now and forever.  I almost kissed the thing I was so thankful!!!  

Part of me wants to be all grown up and tell you how I solved this problem of feeling sad and how I focused on all the things I was thankful for and then felt better.  Well, that's not going to happen because I guess I'm either really immature or I just know from experience that this feeling will go away - maybe tomorrow or  next week it will get better.  I do know that this sadness is for a good reason.  I do know that I AM VERY thankful for all my blessings and I can be sad at the same time.  I also know that my feelings are real (being sad) even if sometimes they lie to me (eg. Feeling under appreciated etc..).  I do know that God is amazing and that even when something as awesome as nursing ends that He will find something to fill that empty place.  He will be with me and walk me through it.  He has surprised me so many times and I know from our lives that He is always there.   

Even if I feel that no one may understand the blundering blatherings of this Mama, He knows me better than any one else.  Especially when on days like today, for no apparent reason other than those lovely hormones, I FEEL the full force of all the other losses in my life.  The loss of my mother being the hugest (why isn't she here to guide me through this?), the loss of six babies, and the loss of friends to...what? I don't even know, and will probably never know.  Losses so huge that it physically hurts my already aching chest.  

Feelings of rejection, abandonment, hurt and betrayal.  All the real nasties.  They are there, dark and foreboding.  So what do I do with that?  I ask God to help me forgive and I move to the next thing praying that He will comfort me somehow.  That despite this dark day - I can lay these feelings aside, give them all to him and I can open myself up to new beginnings in this over-abundant life.  I ask Him to help me love those put before me with all my heart and that I will love with abandon - not abandonment,  I ask me to help me realize that despite my best efforts to do everything right, it will be tainted and in the end GOD WILL MAKE IT GOOD and it's not up to me.I just have to keep my eyes on Jesus and continue to eagerly await His return - that is my hope.  

Did I end up writing that sermon to make myself feel better?  You know what?  Maybe I did - but hopefully it helps others too and it will show that God is merciful to sinners like me, every miserable part of me that glare and spit at all that come between me and my pump.     

PS:  Thankfully, I've only had to use the pump once.   God is good!!!  

Angled: Indian Blanket Quilt

I am doing something new!!  For Christmas Will gave me money to enroll in a quilting course - he also gave me print ups of all sorts of fun courses I could pick from in the area.  None seemed to work with our schedule.  A few weeks ago I decided to sign up for an online course on sewing with triangles (something I've never been good at) called "Angled" from this lady here:

I have not been disappointed!!  I have long been a fan of this blogger and her style and her modern take on quilting.  And the colors!!  Her use of color is something that I definately appreciate.  Also, the online concept for a course is just what this busy Mom needs.  I can read the info. when I want.  Re-read if necessary and work at my own pace - no pressure.

So...without any further ado I introduce the beginnings of my first course quilt: the Indian Blanket Quilt.
I really struggled with this one.  It's been quite the journey.  On Tuesday, I was working with the fabrics that I had chosen and nothing was feeling right.  I had not started to cut yet, I was just planning out the rows.
I began to get a serious headache.  I had to stop and while I was recovering I realized that the headache was a result of the quilt not working and I had to "scrap" the whole thing.  It was liberating and healing.  My headache went away.  At that point I decided to try another of the five quilts we could make for the course.  
The story continues...That night as I was up with my dear daughter, helping her through the teething process, my mind was happily whirling and dancing up another quilt but with different fabrics.  I then came to the realization that the one from the day before was not working for me because I had chosen the fabrics for the wrong reason.  I chose them because they were there and not because I knew they were meant for this quilt. Does that make sense?  I chose them because I had a stack of fat quarters that I love and needed to use.  So...I started from scratch and decided I wanted to use brights and for every row a light and a dark.  I even chose a theme fabric that I used to pick all the other colors!!  It came together so fast that by the afternoon I could start cutting and no headache this time.  Here is what I came up with and all from my stash (that's the best part!!):  

The brown bear paw print is from our trip to Alaska.  

That's my feature fabric on the bottom.  I love it and it's got me 

super stoked!!! 

I'm still in the cutting process so I would appreciate any suggestions or comments on the choices.  I took the top brown-green strip out as the color didn't seem to flow with the others.  Since I started cutting I've had to change things up because some fabrics are bigger than others.  It's been super fun and I can't wait to see how it's all going to turn out!!