First WIP

I thought it would be a great idea to start linking up to WIP Wednesdays:

Hopefully this will give me some more motivation to get my side-projects finished. 

 

Finished:

Jersey skirt for The Toddler. 

Screen printed Easter shirt and dress up tutu, also for The Toddler.

Train roll & Thomas the Tank Engine lovie blanket for a cute little birthday boy.

A green jersey nursing tank for myself. Haven't taken a photo.

No progress:

My tshirt quilt. Really, me? Come on.

MIL's Asian curtain/quilts. They WILL BE QUILTED this coming week.

On hold:

SIL's baby clothes quilt. Waiting for photos of the kids to print for the final three blocks.

In the closet:

My 2nd Anniversary Wholecloth quilt. Yes, we are celebrating the 6th year this year. It's king-sized and hand quilted. I was overly ambitious.

Probably during the week I will think of some more projects I haven't added to this list.

It's been rough a go this week though. First, pink eye. Second,  a nasty chest cold. Third, The Toddler learned how to move the dining room chairs and can now get into everything in the kitchen.

Yikes.

Happy Valentine's Day

First - the important news: Baby Trent was born on the 11th. His family got to love and snuggle on him for almost three hours before he went back home. Too precious to stay on earth for very long, but a big enough blessing to reach all of us in such a short time.


I'm told he had a full head of hair :)


We had a nice dusting dumping of snow last week that's still sticking around. I'm very happy that winter finally decided to visit us in the Great White North. 


Our church hosted a Date Night Challenge this past Friday which the hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed. This weeks date will be the usual, but I'm going to think up something different for next week! Probably. Hopefully!


I was so excited yesterday to get my first customer review of the nursing tank I have up on my Etsy store. The customer loved them. Yipee! What's better in business than a happy customer?

Trent's Quilt

It took a little lot longer than I had anticipated, due to sickness and my general s.l.o.w. hand embroidery, but Trent's quilt is all done.

I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and so is A. Every time she sees it she yells "DOGGY". I hope Trent's family loves it at least as much as I do and that Mr. Trent himself gets some nice snuggly time in it.

The warm weather here means everything outside is super soggy, so indoor photos will have to do:

 

Thanks to Heidi (Boys, Buttons, and Butterflies) and Tracey (TraceyJay Quilts) for the inspiration. They are both amazing quilters and even more amazing women.

I Has a Headache

I've had a migraine for the past two days. No amount of aleeve is killing it, but I'm ok. 

My blog is mostly used to organize my brain.

Tonight, I am going to use my blog to ease my heart.

A few days ago, an online friend asked for prayers for a friend of hers whose unborn baby boy was diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta  type II, or brittle bone disease. The type this baby has is the most severe form and is considered "incompatible with life". Translation: these parents who only found out a few months ago that they would be welcoming a child into the world have to prepare for the possibility that they will not get to take that child home.

When I heard this, it immediately came into my thoughts to offer to make a quilt. I make baby quilts all the time for friends and family, and used to make them for the children's hospital when I belonged to a quilting guild. Since I quit the guild though, I haven't made any to give away. 

Thankfully, my friend took me up on the offer and so now I am making a little quilt for baby.

This quilt is breaking my heart.

Whenever I work on it I cry. I remember the babies I lost and I cry - and I never even got to feel those babies kick, or hold their hands, or kiss their head. I think of the parents whose world has come crashing down around them and I cry.

Don't get me wrong here; I don't cry for the baby. He is such an amazing little soul that his work on earth will be done almost before he even has to start it! He is one of Jesus's very special little children - the ones who get to spend all of their time with Him. What a lucky little guy to bypass the pain of the world and go straight to Heaven and sit at our Lord's feet.

I cry for his family though, and the heartache they are and will feel until they can join him. It ripples, the sadness of losing a baby. People who don't know you, people who will never meet you, cry over your loss.

This shared sadness is what brings us together though. It makes us examine our lives and appreciate the blessings that are heaped on us every day.

So when I cry, I rejoice as well. I thank God for this little baby boy and the good works he is inspiring. I thank God for my living child and my ones already gone, because without them I know I would not have the close relationship with Him that I have. 

Most especially, I thank God for giving us the most precious gift of Jesus, so that we can know death is not the end for us, but only the beginning.

Tomorrow I will finish up the applique on the quilt top and get it quilted. I'm going to ship it this week to a very special family I will never meet on earth, but I'm praying I get to hug them in Heaven.

Mustard Post

I need to catch-up, but do like some variety in my condiments!


1. Naps are back. With a twist. Little A likes to have herself a nap now, but in having her nap also likes to stay awake until around 10pm at night.  Yes, that's right, my 18 month old toddler likes to stay up later than most adults. Le Sigh. 


2. I have yet to quilt. My days are taken up with baby chasing and apparel sewing. Obviously, I don't have any downtime at night to sew. I put A to bed and then go to bed myself right after. Hubby thinks this is funny.


3.  The apparel sewing is going well. Not so much on sales, but hopefully that will come. I am finding that I enjoy sewing clothes even more than I though. I used to get so frustrated at my lack of skills, so I stopped sewing clothes for a few years. The quilting has helped my sewing skills so much. Thank you quilting!


4. Yeah that's all!

Breastfeeding in Style!

So in my 18 1/2 months of breastfeeding A, I've worn every type of shirt I could think of.

Maternity tops (ugly, and made for round women, not to mention hideously expensive)
Regular tshirts (bulky, unflattering, difficult to pull up)
Nursing tops (mostly ugly and even more expensive than maternity wear)

I've been wanting to sew my own nursing clothes for a while now. Uhm, like a year now. In fact, last year I told my mother-in-law that I wanted to start a clothing line of pretty, affordable nursing clothing.

FINALLY I got to it this week! Well, one top, at least. But we all have to start somewhere, right?

Introducing my first nursing top: Milky

And the requisite shot showing the nursing access (which I hate, it's so embarrassing!):

I also realized I have red highlights in my brown hair. Weird.

Naps are for Wimps

Today I am making it official. Naps are for wimps and babies. Apparently, 18 month old A is neither. I will sorely miss the few hours of nap time a day that I used to enjoy.
Not to sleep, but to sew. 
Why is it that kids don't value sleep like adults do? If someone told me I could sleep as much as I wanted every day, I'd be all over it! I can take a nap at 10am and go to bed at 8pm? Oh yeah!


Oh a happy note (because A dropping her nap makes me very, very sad) I finished a few pieces this week.


Lace leggings:

Valentine's day crushed velvet dress:

and a wallet made from duct tape and fabric.

I was pleasantly surprised this afternoon that A will actually sit with me and sew without pushing the buttons on the sewing machine! It could be that the machine I have set up on the table doesn't have an automatic thread cutter, and thus the buttons are so terribly boring to push. But she happily sat on my lap for about 10 minutes before getting bored and pulling something apart out of view.

I didn't have a chance to photograph them, but I did get two blocks of baby clothes finished for my sister-in-law's quilt. Will try to get pics of them soon. The quilt is going to be a surprise and I cannot wait for her to get it.