Goings-on

Hi! I didn't realize how fast this week has gone! I didn't realize it was Friday and I thought it was the 23rd instead of the 24th and I had to fast forward my thinking clock and get straight with the days! Plus, Little A has decided that 25-40 minutes is a good enough nap for a growing baby which makes the days seem so much longer and this mama so much more wore out at the end of it.

This kid loves wal-mart! Maybe it's the lights, the warehouse like sounds, the many strange people that are often too loud and talk about things maybe only their diaries should know about, or the many colorful toys, balls, and balloons found on every other aisle. Whatever it may be, if she's having a bad day a trip to Wally is always a cheer-upper! And there is ALWAYS something you need to pick up at wal-mart.

I've been really into hats lately. Crochet or fleece doesn't matter! The fleece punch out so much faster than the crochet ones, but I get the same amount of satisfaction from both. I made myself, Little A, AND Virginia matching fleece hats. Who's Virginia?

This, my friends, is Virginia. It was actually an accident that Virginia came into a hat of her own. I was making Little A her hat and I cut on the wrong side which didn't allow stretching (is that the bias side? I'm still new to the terms of fabric and sewing), and it was cut just perfect for size so it wouldn't fit right. Virginia's head is plastic so she doesn't need much stretch because she won't cry when I have to hold her down to squeeze the hat over her ears. So I made a new stretchy one for Little A and sewed down the old one for Virginia.

I just wanted a picture to show everyone in your matching hats! I'm sorry I made you cry by setting you on the couch for a picture and holding your baby next to you. I promise I won't set you on the couch unless you ask me to ever again!

E wanted some curtains for the kitchen window, have I told you this? After we remodeled the kitchen door and repainted he threw the old ones out and then began to complain about how he wished we had curtains again. Doh! I had a print in my mind and have been searching for something close for about a month and a half to two months. I found the sailboats and piers fabric above at Hobby Lobby. Oh, just saying the name of the store makes me happy because there is so much I'd love to buy and make stuff out of it with! I also got a hunter green to go behind it to block out some sun. On Wednesday, after E went to work, I put Toy Story 3, out new favorite, on for Little A and set to make my curtains. Measuring, cutting, planning, sewing, not in that order. Phew! But here they are!

I forgot to add width to it to make pleats when I put them up. :-( But! I do like the way they came out.

My mom's response to the sailboat print? "My grandma had curtains like that." Thanks mom... Haha! I'm sure (I think) she was joking, but I think it's fun and they look great! Measuring and calculating sure was back aching work, I think I made E give me a back rub.

We had to go to a new doctors' office for E to have a check up and they had the coolest thing! A bird "cage" instead of the traditional fish tank! I should have gotten a close up but I was getting strange looks and felt uncomfortable. They had finches, diamond doves, a canary, orange check something or other, and gray waxbeaks (I think). It was so cool!

I've been wanting to share this with you! There are 157 (3 extra) 5 1/2x5 1/2 squares cut from scrap fabrics from a lot of the quilts I've made. I'm so excited I could pee myself! Ok, maybe not, but you get the idea.

E helped me lay them out, as let me tell you, that man has an eye for color combos and positioning! He's way better at it than I am! But don't tell him, but it's a present for him/me for our wedding anniversary next month! Yay! It's four years, forty? Four hundred? Hehe, just kidding! Though it has only been four years since the "I do's" it seems like a blink of an eye as well as if life was always like this. Bliss is what they call that I believe. I'm over half done with the quilt top, which is my favorite part.

So last week I mentioned an idea I had for a new project. Lucy at Attic24 has a great tutorial for the granny stripe pattern on her blog: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/granny-stripe.html
I'm SOOO sorry, I still don't know how to link via my iPhone and we still don't have home Internet, but I still hope you check it out by copy and pasting. But I was thinking of making a granny stripe for my home for somewhere, probably the basement, and wanted to see if any of you would like to crochet along with me? I'd be happy to post your progress pictures along with mine if you'd like! Right now I'm working on a sample blanket (above pic) used from left over yarn from this blanket:

Hexagons for my new nephew! Due in October. This pattern can also be found at Attic24 under 'hexagon how-to.'

Well anyway, I feel like I've babbled a lot today, I think I need to post more than once a week or when I've finished a project, this feels like it's going to be long! So sorry! But I leave you with my chocolate face slide baby! I hope you have a great weekend!

Until next time!

Things We Want

(Above: Little A eating her first dum-dum)

As many of you know, this passed Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. It's a fasting and abstaining day that is followed by a Mass in which the priest marks the people of the church with the ashes from the previous year's burned palms from Palm Sunday. The ash is placed on the forehead. This is a tangible way to remind us that we come from ash and shall return to ash one day. If you didn't already know that. That marks the beginning of Lent. Lent is a time for setting aside things that distract us from spiritual growth and prayer.

This year I gave up the biggest distraction for me, Facebook. That's right! I moved the app on my phone to the back page so I wouldn't be tempted, which happens to also be by a rosary app, and everytime I feel the urge to fb I say a prayer or read a passage, or sit down and say the rosary. It's been good so far! But it's only been 4 days. For personal growth I gave up pop and cursing. Only one of those has been accomplished.

Now that you have the back story I can tell you what I mean to tell you. Wednesday, we didn't go to mass because it was being held right at A's bedtime, we got fried shrimp from the local burger joint and all I could think about was a frosty Dr. Pepper to go with it. I'm a sucker for it! Just like a little child I yearn for the things out of my reach. I get cranky and the thought of what I want stomps all other thoughts. The same thing happens when I feel the urge to crochet or quilt and have no time or supplies with me to do so. But this is exactly what God is jealous for. I'm not a religious fanatic, but I am spiritually rooted. God wants our thoughts to be centered around him and The Word and not more on worldly things. Anyway, I know you didn't come reading to get preached to, but just thought I'd share my thoughts.


Speaking of things we want... Thursday little A would not nap in her crib. I had to go in there and lay her on my chest in the recliner we have in there and try to get her to sleep. The eyes told me she wanted to go to sleep but just couldn't. I pulled the red blanket over my head to make a little tent to block out the sun. She fell asleep within five minutes. The whole time we lay there (an hour and a half) my stomach grumbled and protested against the lack of food to bully. All I wanted was a sandwich and an ice tea maybe a little crafting too. But then I looked at her sweet sleeping face with her half open mouth and her slack cheeks and pink eyelids, her button nose, and sweet breath. How a mother's heart yearns for moments like these. I was exactly where I wanted to be. Even if my arm was tingling from the weight of her head in the crook of my arm. I took a picture and sent it to E and he said, "Aw! She just needed her mommy!" And we all know need is great than want.


But this little adventure required a solution. Though I thoroughly enjoyed that tender time together, I know she sleeps better in her crib, so we took a trip to our favorite store... HOBBY LOBBY! I used my best Oprah voice for that, I hope you noticed.

Little A helped me pick out the perfect fabric for her curtains.


Isn't it pretty? I splurged a little on this though, it was a seasonal fabric and not on sale, but it was the one she liked best. I got a dark purple to go behind it too and made them from my own measurements and preferences. The two fabrics were hemmed sides first then bottom. It's a double fold hem on the bottom measuring appr. 2". Then I made the tabs for the top and pinned them between the two fabrics and sewed the tabs and two fabrics together to form like an upside down V. So if you look at the curtain it looks like two curtains but it's just one. It's not pitch black in her room with the curtains drawn but it is very dark. E asked me to make some for the rabbit/spare room too. He must like them. :-)



I am still waiting for my official followers to tell me where to send their little cosmetic bags! They're free to you, no cost of shipping or anything! Just let me know where to send them.


And look! It's your tutorial! Coming later today! I have time because E is at the dentist and I have nothing to do, well not really, nothing that can't wait until tomorrow! So..

Until then!