Busy Fingers

I'm light on blog entries this month but I have actually been quite busy in the crafty/sewing world. And it has ALL been with materials on hand (otherwise known as fabric/yarn I impulsively indulged on years ago but now can feeling thrifty and smug about using because it was already "in my stash"). Right.

Anyway, can't go into a whole lot of details, because most of my current projects are gifts (except this one below, which Amy fell in love with and claimed for her own). More on all the particulars at a later date.

But as always, when I actually get down to sewing, or crocheting, or knitting or any of it I am simply so happy and I have been feeling really good in the last few weeks for actually churning through some projects, rather than just always thinking about them or making excuses about my lack of time, etc. Progress, productivity - a couple of my favorite "p" words.

I also happen to be reading quite a bit these days, too (and staying up way too late doing so). On my current list:

Dewey - which I am reading parts of aloud to Amy, and we are both enjoying.

Some French perspective - come to think of it, perspective is another favorite P word.

Lots of material on homeschooling, like this and this and this. Amy is not old enough for kindergarten this fall anyway, so I'm just collecting input right now.... this subject is on my mind a lot though.

And even though Don has been gone for a few weeks and I have had some twitchy moments in the last few days when I kinda want to run screaming out of the house, it has mostly been really good around here. The kids and I are in a very happy little routine, they are becoming more independent and fun with every passing day, and the weather here is just so gorgeous it is hard to feel twitchy for very long.

Life is good. I'll keep plugging away at those P's and report back here soon. Happy Weekend!

No-Wedgie Zone

Falling into the short-and-sweet-sewing-victories category is the transformation of 4 pairs of Amy's leggings into shorts for the warmer months ahead. She's such a skinny little Bean that these leggings have been the best fitting pants lately. They are worn enough and were getting short enough that they would not be fit for duty by the time it gets cold again, so I decided to whack them all off at the knees and turn them into shorts. Sewing with knits always makes me a little nervous but is never as big a deal as I think it will be. I did manage to find my ballpoint needles for the machine but otherwise just turned under the cut edge once and zig-zagged around from the inside. It worked out beautifully, and Amy can be seen modeling the black pair in the next photo, in true Wilson-Crossett fashion; holding a book in front of her face.

With these little pant-lets as an under-dress option for the summer, we are hoping to avoid Amy's latest displeasure: the almighty wedgie. Those little skorts and scooters that were so cute on her as a toddler are simply uncomfortable now, but a girl still has to have some sort of coverage, you know? Anyway, we are both pleased.

In a completely unrelated note, I simply have to tell about another kitchen addition, or rather, replacement:

That black pot in back has been around since before we were married, and has been one of my best all-purpose pots, particularly because of its strain-and-drain feature. You know how hard it has been to find that same style and size of pot? I've been on the mission to replace it (it was cheap, all the non-stick is chipping off the inside) for at least a year. Finally, finally, good old Walmart came through for me, with a stainless steel one, no less, for a perfectly reasonable $25. Hurray!

Okay, enough about all that. Some fabric I've been needing to complete a quilt just arrived in the mail today and I'm going to see about moving that project along. Have a good one, folks!

Happiness Is...

... a full cookie jar. Of these, made with this. Only I didn't make them jumbo - just regular cookie size, so it is perfectly acceptable to eat 3 or 4 or 5 in a day... right? And I must say: organic butter tastes SO much better than the regular stuff. I have turned into a complete cookie snob. I actually threw out half a box of store-made "bakery" cookies that were, honestly, terrible. My 2012 goal: to become a homemade-snob about more of the things we eat everyday. Secondary goal: find a better word than "snob" to describe what I'm going for here... any thoughts?

Anyway, where was I?

Happiness is... a little bag for Amy's dance shoes (!). Whipped up in less than 45 minutes this afternoon by yours truly. With fabric and ribbon already on-hand. And I performed the how-to-sew-a-lined-bag mental cartwheel without having to look at a pattern. Go me.

Happiness is pulling off both these things on back-to-back days. I might just be on a roll!

Thanksgiving

Took the picture above over a month ago, on our pumpkin picking outing. Found an abundance of really cute pictures on my (new) phone once I finally figured out how to upload them to the computer.

I have to say, one of the unexpected outcomes of this (almost complete!) 17 weeks of OCS and single-parenting is how much more I love my kids. That sounds a bit odd as I write it, because of course I've always loved them like crazy, but after all this time flying solo I have found a confidence as a Mommy that I didn't have before, and somehow that has freed me up to appreciate and enjoy the little munchkins that much more.

I am thankful for my kids.

I am thankful for a tiny little bit of sewing time found over the last few weeks, and a how quickly this little quilt top (pictured in-progress) came together - satisfying! Not totally sure of the final plan for this quilt, but of course, I've had this fabric collection for.ev.er. and it was time for something to be done.

I am thankful for big trees and all the open space we are enjoying these days here at my parents' house. I am thankful for another holiday season to spend here. I am thankful for a big chunk of weeks to really settle in and enjoy the time with my family.

And of course I'm thankful for my amazing husband, who is holding the number one position in his class and is just two short weeks away from becoming a commissioned officer. I couldn't be more proud.

There's lots more. We are very blessed. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

This Family Update Brought to You by Robin Hood

This is, sadly, just about the only thing I've sewed in months. Amy has been bugging me for quite awhile to make her a Robin Hood costume (to go with her Maid Marian costume, which she still wears at least twice a week). I kept putting her off thinking she'd forget about it, but she's Amy - she never forgets about anything. So, thankfully, my idea for how to make a RH tunic, belt, and hat as simply as possible actually worked, and she was satisfied. Of course she really needs someone else her size to wear this costume so she can be MM and fall in love with RH... usually her stuffed Clifford ends up wearing the Robin costume. My my, it's not easy.

Anyway, I'm feeling otherwise short on bloggy material this week because there has just been so much else going on. Sniffly, feverish girl at the beginning of the week, nearly-walking boy, broken air conditioner, errands to run, house to clean, blah blah blah. But the biggest news from this past week simply must be shared: After six months of waiting, we finally received word on Don's OCS (Officer Candidate School) application...

... and he was accepted!!!!!!

I am so incredibly proud of my husband on this huge honor and accomplishment. He devotes a staggering amount of energy to his job and has the drive and vision to serve in a capacity far beyond where he is now. We have talked about the OCS possibility for the whole five years that he's been in the Coast Guard, and even before he joined, so the fact that we now know that it is going to happen is really amazing. We'll have most of the summer together, then he'll be away for four months of training, and then we'll be moving to places unknown.

So that's the scoop. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers for those of you who have known about this process. We can't wait to see what's next.

Wrapping Up April

My goodness, it was seriously just yesterday that I had Amy strapped into this infant helmet and balanced on the front of my bike. (That carrier is awesome, by the way.)

We had a happy Easter weekend with lots of pretty eggs, fun surprises (of the $1 bin variety), chocolate, flowers, and two cute kids who were very well behaved for a loong church service in a hot sanctuary.

In a burst of motivation I finally executed an idea I had for adding some color to a large blank wall in our dining area and simultaneously making a place to display some more of Amy's artwork. SO pleased with how it worked out. And that top row - all the paper towels from our egg-dyeing.

And lastly, I made some time for sewing and completed this little project:

My mom gave me a big knitting needle roll that she had made way back, and while I love it, I don't have many straight knitting needles (I prefer circular when I do knit, and I usually don't - crochet hooks are my weapon of choice)... so I had the idea to cut off the portion of this roll that was useful for my tools, and rebind the edge. I wish I had a picture of the whole thing, but this is what I finished up with:

The white binding is the original edge, the red binding I made out of some fabric also from my mom. It simply makes me happy. Nostalgia and usefulness all rolled up in a nice little bundle. I can't think of a better kind of project.

Happy, Birthday, Quilt

Happy:

::A brand-new box of 120(!) Crayola crayons, just for me.

Okay, okay, I'll share with Amy...

:: Two visits to the beach this past weekend.

:: My handsome, perfect little boy who is 10 months old today. How did that happen?

Birthday: (mine, today!)

:: My mom made me this beautiful bag for my birthday. It is made from fabric samples, and I absolutely love it. (The crayons are from her, too).

Quilt:

Finally, finally, I finished this quilt! I finished the binding and sewed on my tag last night, and sent it through the wash today. I'm so pleased. I designed it entirely myself to use a set of 16 fat quarters from Anna Maria's Good Folks collection. All I really wanted was a design that let the fairly large-scale patterns and colors shine, and to make the most use out of the expensive fabric. Honestly, at this point I don't really remember what my math was, but I made 12 over-sized blocks made up of squares and rectangles, the rectangles being equal in size to two squares. Within each block the arrangement was totally random.

I pieced the whole top in record time; within weeks of purchasing the fabric. Then it sat... I decided on batting and fabric for the back and binding, and pin-basted, and it sat... A few months ago I started free-motion quilting it on the machine, and while I've had plenty of success free-motion quilting before, but this quilt was just too large (60"x80") and the batting too thick (supreme loft cotton), and the fabrics too pretty to be scribbled over.

So it sat...

And at last I decided to try some straight-line quilting instead, and used the walking foot on my new machine. Wonderful! So that settled it; I ripped out the squiggles and ran my stitches up and down the blocks and in the ditches, making a grid of stitches about 4" apart. In my haste there are a few areas where the top fabric got a little pushed over on itself and bunched up, but since this is a quilt for snuggling, not scrutinizing, and one featuring the fabrics, not necessarily workmanship, I think it is okay. I'm not really sure where I will use it yet; I had started with Amy's bed in mind, but she really has plenty of covers and afghans and such already, so I'm leaning toward keeping it in the living room for general use, and possibly as a starting point for some redecorating??

So that's my Happy, Birthday, Quilt update as of this very luxurious bit of free time on my birthday afternoon. Curious George will stop entertaining Amy soon, and William will be up from his nap, so I shall sign off and wish you all a very beautiful and happy spring day.

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day was yesterday, you say? Then apparently you haven't seen the movie. Around here we just keep doing the same kind of day until we get it right. But that's really not a bad thing, as our days are, for the most part, quite pleasant.

I know of a little boy who is *this* close to out-right crawling, and will soon be into EVERYTHING that he isn't into already. This same little boy also cut his first two bottom teeth this week...

... likes to hold boxes or books up to his face and laugh...

... wants desperately to take part in anything his big sister is doing...

... and generally charms my pants off whenever he gets the chance. Including the hours of 12, 3, and 6 am. He has also grown (by my measurement) two inches in less than two months, so maybe I can give him a pass on all those middle-of-the-night feedings... maybe.

I also know of a not-so-little girl who still loves to dress up like Cinderella, and sort through my scrap basket...

... and help me with any project at hand. This project would be going through my bottom dresser drawer and saying things like "have I ever worn this pair of fuzzy Santa socks?"

I have also declared my sewing room re-organization complete (post to come) and we are now open for business. First project up: Curious George Napping Pants for my little man. Found this on the remnant pile before Christmas and snatched it up because Amy L.O.V.E.S. Curious George, but realized it would be the perfect fabric to make some comfy pants to change William into when he goes down for naps. I made a similar pair for Amy (of different fabric) back in her napping day and they saw tons of wear.

Lots of baking has been happening as well, as I've made it my personal resolution to keep our family in homemade cookies at all times. Shown above are a variation on a pan cookie, which, with the addition of applesauce and quick-cook oats turned into a very moist and cake-like cookie-bar creation. Yum.

So there you have it. A quick catch-up on our many Groundhog Days this winter. Despite the moments when I might get a bit nutty from the "rinse, repeat" feeling, I really do treasure the chance to soak up all these daily moments, and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas

Thought I'd do one more catch-all post before I sign off for 2010. I must say once again what a delightful advent season this has been for us. The time since Thanksgiving has gone quickly, but the weeks have been full and fun with just the right amount of busy. There has been some project or event nearly every day that has kept us all very much in the spirit of the season.

So without further ado, here are a few more from the "miscellaneous" Christmas pile:

Note to self for next year: Don't take on a mass-production edible Christmas gift idea until the recipe and technique has been fully vetted. This peppermint bark involved a lot of near-cursing, and I was not fully satisfied with how it turned out. Tasty enough, yes, but not quite what I envisioned.

However, one project that turned out even better than I pictured it was this Christmas dress for Amy's bear, Shuffle:

Shuffle is the Build-a-Bear Amy made about six months ago. She named her "Shiffle" at the time, and it morphed into Shuffle. I have no idea where she came up with either name, but it has stuck, and Shuffle is a good buddy to Amy. Over the last month or so I've found that I can secure sewing time during the day if I am using it to make clothes for Amy's dolls or critter friends. She gets an idea in her head and instantly we drop what we're doing as she says "Mommy, let's go make a dress for Shuffle!" As long as William is napping, this is all quite doable.

I am having lots of fun with these doll clothes because I can use material from my stash (this happens to be leftovers my mom gave me from a print she used to make me a Christmas dress when I was three years old). And, because they are small, they are really quick to do, but with all the techniques for full-size clothes, so I am learning a lot about garment sewing in general. Oh, and I even figured out how to do that little tail opening just like the purchased Build-a-Bear clothes.

Moving on. I went by me-self to the dentist yesterday, and before leaving I tasked Don with removing the dryer vent to clean out any crud that might be accumulating - maintenance long overdue. Since I wasn't around to make him stop, he proceeded to take apart the entire dryer to see how it works. Everything was back together (and functioning) when I returned, but he did fess up, and even took this picture mid-project. Yikes.

Earlier in the week Amy and I did some coloring:

Pretty good for a three-year-old, you say? Yes, it would be. Not so good a twenty-seven-year-old. I can do many things; drawing is not one of them. Too bad, because Amy is always asking me to draw things for her, and her requests are very specific. Here she wanted to draw the Nativity Scene, complete with Shepherds in the Field, an Angel, the Wise Men holding Gifts, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, and an Extra Diaper (very important), Donkey, Sheep, and a Flying Camel. I prompted her on none of this.

Yesterday while I was out I noticed that Kohl's had already moved their remaining pink trees to 70% off status, and since Amy has ooh'd over this one all season I thought I bring it home for her room. I assembled it while she was out shopping with Don later in the day, and told her all about the two Elves that appeared at our front door carrying this tree for her. I showed the Elves which room was hers, and well, there you go. Magic.

But of course Amy is always one step ahead of me, and immediately needed to decorate her new tree. She found a few odd bits to use as ornaments last night, and I promised her some crafting time today to make something suitable.

Circles traced on scrap poster board, paint, glitter, yarn, patience, and by this afternoon we had 24 pretty things to hang on her tree.

Now. To shift gears a bit, and wrap up this looong post, I'd like to share something that's been on my mind all month. In addition to this Christmas season being full of cookies, sewing, trees, lights, music, and fun, it has also been for me a season filled with a new level of contemplation about the birth of Jesus. Stories that we read every year, like this one, or songs like this one, have been making me downright misty.

I think a lot of that has to do with my own Boy Child. Our Lord and Savior was a little baby, a newborn in His mother's arms. An infant, a toddler, a boy, a man. Did He have rosy cheeks when He was seven months old? Did He like to grab his toes? Did He make Mary smile every time He looked her way? What could it possibly have been like to be the mother of God, and not just the mother of a little boy who makes mommy's heart melt anyway, with his every breath?

There is no way I could possibly know, but I like to think that my own babies are helping me understand Mary, and all of the beauty and magnitude of Christmas just a little bit more that I ever have before...

...and with that, I shall simply wish a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

Advent

I really thought I had JUST updated my blog, when I took a closer look and realized it was last Wednesday that I posted - more than a week! Where have the days been going??

Oh wait, I know:

Right now I have:

- Christmas presents in the oven.

- seven orange post-its stuck to my desk.

- a Santa hat on.

- a song called "Christmas Monkey" stuck in my head (be glad you don't).

- finished more sewing projects in the last week than in all of 2010 (I think).

- and still way too much on my to-do list between now and December 25th.

But, I'm not stressed or complaining about any of this - crazy busy, yes, but mostly self-imposed. An ambitious list gives me great direction and purpose for these days leading up to Christmas. And particularly in the sewing department, it feels so good to be working on so many things, and actually completing them at a steady pace.

Speaking of which, I better check the oven then trot on up to the sewing "closet" before the evening slips away in blog-land!

Merry Christmas!