Sunday, February 28, 2016

Black Apple Doll

This is supposed to be my Friday the 4th post, but since I loaded the pictures last Sunday, it keeps moving my post to that day. Oh, well. 

I made this doll for a birthday party Martin was invited to. I have had the pattern printed out for over four years now. I found it on Martha Stewart's website. 

It took me fewer than two hours to make her. I look forward to making more (in another four years probably - ha). 

Friday, February 26, 2016

Diapers

I told myself I would at least publish something on Fridays and I had some post set up ahead of time, but they are all saved in drafts half finished. So, instead you get a few photos off my phone and some notes about diapers. How exciting. Maybe on my next free night I'll finish the posts. I have a bunch of projects and recipes that need to be posted. 

Sometimes your sister tells you about a really good diaper deal and you drag the baby out into the misty night to pick them up (we were at the Target end of town using our Chick-fil-A calendar cards - a Christmas gift from my parents every year - thanks, mom and dad. It is always a treat to not have to cook once a month).  Instead of $19.99 a box they were $8.77. 

Diapers don't go bad, thankfully. I won't need any for a while since we only use disposables at night and when we are out of the house. I am still in love with my Bum Genius cloth diapers when we are at home.  I calculate I have saved about $2000 between the two boys. That's not to shabby. It is a little work, but I also like not throwing so many diapers away. It is amazing how fast diapers fill up the trash can. However, it is also nice to not have to worry about cleaning a cloth diaper while out in public and knowing your children will sleep dry through the night. I am not firmly in either diapering camp (like so much of my parenting, I find benefits from both sides). 

Also, Target has the best, deepest child seats! But even still, the baby was less than thrilled. 

Saturday, February 20, 2016

I love these two.

Some days they play together and get along for a bit. The baby unconditionally adores Martin, even when he is pushing him over and taking toys from him. 

I have to sneak pictures of them getting along. :) 

Today they stared out the window together at the cars driving past. Then they took all the shoes off the shoe rack and put them back on (with some prompting). 



Friday, February 19, 2016

Jeremy Fisher

Again, sorry about the night pictures. I always forget to take pictures until right before bed. 

This is Mister Jeremy Fisher from Beatrix Potter. I hand sewed him the night before Christmas. Ugh, why did I wait so long to start?!?

Martin loves this story.  It is his absolute favorite book.  He would have it read several times a day to him if I agreed to it. He loves all of the Beatrix Potter books (we only have the first 11). Maybe I will buy the rest of him for Christmas this year.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Favorite quilt (nautical themed - Daysail by Moda)!!

Well, I finally finished the quilt for my new niece. First it was a shower gift. Then it was bumped to a second shower gift. Next I moved it to Christmas. Finally, I buckled down and finished it for my sister's birthday (last Sunday).  I feel like I have been working on it forever, but it has only been seven months.  FYI: These pictures are in reverse order.  

I started the design of this quilt back in the spring. My mother-in-law bought me a bunch of the fabrics (mostly from the Moda Daysail collection) for my birthday and I started the actual sewing shortly after that. I already have a Moda problem. So, it is good that no shops around here sell it. However, this may be my favorite line Moda has ever made. I am in love with almost all the fabrics and it was hard to narrow them down to a few for the quilt. I ended up giving my sister the charm pack and having her select her favorites.

The background fabric actually has all sorts of nautical terms printed all over it. They call the fabric grey... Originally, I had planned to have a more greyish feel to the quilt. Then the fabric showed up and it was cream... I ended up liking that better. I can't believe how much background fabric I used up.  I ended up having to order even more of it. I think I used 2.5 or 3 yards of it. Crazy. Thankfully, when I reordered it was on clearance because it is the fabric that no one wanted out of the fabric line.    

When I picked the pattern for the quilt, I didn't realize how hard it actually was, which is good because I probably never would have attempted it. It is from the Moda Bake Shop called Stacks of Stars (I first saw it here with Daysail fabric). 

I really wanted to end up with the light blue flowers as the wide boarder. I thought it would be more girly, but it just didn't look right. It clashed with the greeny/teal anchor blocks on the inside of the quilt. So, while I love the dark blue, I never intended it to be the outside board. But I do love the way it turned out.

I also only intended on having two boarders, but it needed to have all three colors.  The reds got lost without a thin pop of red around the outside. It was too distracting to bind it in red. It took forever to figure out what colors and where to use them as boarders. Thanks to my patient husband who measured and cut them all for me. 

Also, thanks to me other sister who helped me figure out what blocks to put where. I send her pictures of the blocks before I sewed them together and we moved them around over text message. I really like the way the colors all ended up balanced (you know me, I love symmetry). And I love how some of the blocks pop out and some fade into the background. 

Okay, enough rambling about how much I love it. :)   


This is the back. Please, forgive the night time pictures. I was just about to wrap it up and I remembered that I hadn't taken pictures and the sun had already gone down. :( 

My awful "handwritting". I need to stop free handing these. I should write them first with a pen and then stitch them.  Oh, well.  It is character. 

Here it is being quilted. I stand up and quilt. I love it. Jared made me my quilting table over the top of our stairs.  It is one of my favorite places in the house. 

Here is the top just finished. 

Here are the blocks just finished and I was trying to decide which anchor block to use and what the boarders should be. 

Here are stacks of little blocks being turned into big blocks. 

The first four blocks I finished. I was so tired of sewing these blocks at the point. I remember thinking that I would never finish another 8 of them.

I hope my niece gets many years of use out of it and can even have it when she starts a family of her own. It has won over the place of favorite quilt. Happy birthday (three or four months late), Julianna! We are glad to have a girl cousin that lives close by. I hope you like nautical themed stuff like your parents. :) And we all can't wait until you are big enough to play with us. 

Monday, February 08, 2016

Tomorrow he is 3...

Tomorrow he will wake up and he will be three.  I have had the privilege of being his Mom for three whole years. Tonight I tucked him into his bed for the last time tonight as a two-year old, a toddler, the last little bit of baby. He is now almost all boy.

He can almost dress himself consistently. He puts on his own shoes. He is potty trained. And he talks up a storm about everything. He asks why more times a day then I can answer, but I always try (because I know what it is like to be curious). I try not to give him too hard of a time when he breaks something or ruins something when I can tell he was "just figuring it out". His brain will stop absorbing information at such a rapid rate now. I hope I have taught him everything he needed the first three years.

It is a whole new adventure for all of us (it always is, but this one is hitting me harder than the rest). The side will be taken off his crib. He gets actual sheets and pillows. We will put away the little potty.

I wonder sometimes when he will stop wanting to read books in my lap. I wonder when he will stop running up and randomly saying, "hey, I love you!" throughout the day. When will you not want hugs at night?  I try not to think about it. Will you still hug me when you are grown? Please, do.

Martin, I love you. As you have gotten in the habit of saying recently, "I love you forever!" I pray for you often. I don't know what the future holds or how long I will be allowed to be your mom. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with time with you. You are the best oldest son I could have ever imagined. You have taught me so much about life, about depending on God for strength and wisdom, you challenge me to think about more than myself, and especially you have shown me how to rediscover my sense of wonder for the little things in life. Look to Jesus in everything you do. He will always be there for you, even when I am not (or when you don't want me). Love Him. Cling to Him. Depend on Him. Trust Him.

Happy Three day!
I love you, Mr. Baby.

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Finishing up some quilts

148 blocks all ironed flat. Now on to sewing them into bigger blocks. 

This is while I was in the process of sewing the blocks.