Dreaming of Spring...

We are freezing here in Northern Mississippi! It snowed again yesterday and the snow is still on the ground, which is unheard of. I am so ready for warmer weather. The past few days have been busy, we have been making a lot of hairflowers to post on etsy. I decided to give etsy another shot, since if I don't sell things on etsy maybe I can do a craft show or two this spring.

I also made this

My friend Chris sent me a huge box of fabric a few months ago, and this was in it. This fabric was her grandmothers, and was made into somekind of cover and a table runner, non quilted. I asked her what I could make her as a thank you for the fabric, and she just said anything from the red fabric. So this is what I came up with, I hope she likes it!

We also bought furniture for the sunroom. I found it through Craigslist, and I love it. I can't wait for Spring, so I can work on it to fix it up. They need cushions, which are easy enough to make.

The set is a loveseat with 2 chairs and table. It does need work, so when the weather gets better I need to hose it all down, oil it then recane a few spots. Repainting is the easy part. The hard part is picking out the fabric for the cushions.

Rena had her first Valentines Day party at school on Friday. She loves school, just like her big sister. She is more social though, Evie is my shy girl.

Rena is a talker, her teacher told me "she always has something to add".

*sigh* I hope it gets warmer soon!

Sunday Crafternoon

We watched up again last night, it is a great movie, but everytime I see the opening I end up in tears. Especially the scene where they are wishfully dreaming about children, and then it cuts to her crying in the doctors office. I was lucky, I had my girls fairly easily. I did take clomid with Evie, but it worked for me on the first round.

But I have a lot of friends who are trying, and have been, and are going through rough fertility times. It is not just one or two friends, but about a dozen, and it sucks. I know how badly these women desire children, a family. I hope they all find it somehow. Be it going through IVF, Surragacy or adoption. I wonder who will end up adopting, though I hope for all they end up happy. I know everyone I talk to going through it are going to be wonderful parents when the time comes.

*sigh*

FYI, I also cry at the end when Carl is at Russel's scout meeting watching him get a badge.

Evie has 2 good friends in the neighborhood she plays with, so today we made little purses for them since yes, I am still working to get through all my scraps one way or another!

I embroidered their first initial on the bags, and made a little wallet to go with each. The pattern is a great stashbuster, they are from lazy girl designs, the bag is the Runaround bag and the wallet is the Wonder Wallet, I altered it to put a zip in the back for coins. I have made a ton of these bags and wallets, they make great gifts, and if you do charity sewing the wallets and bags are always appriciated by foster care agencies for teens and tweens (along with tote bags too.) They are really quick to sew. I am a huge fan of LGD.

They loved them, and Evie loved giving it to them! They really are sweet girls. I love that there are girls on the street for her to play with. She has been having a rough time at school with a few girls.

Evie came home Friday and said that there are three girls that tease her and call her names. She said it bothered her sometimes but she walks away. She also said they do it to a lot of kids. I know my Evie, she is sensitive. So I started to write an email to her teacher.

Then I thought about a little girl I once had when I taught Elementary School. She was a fourth grader named Jawhara. In her class there were a group of 4 girls that would pick on some of the others. Jawhara would just ignore them, and still always be nice. If someone needed a pencil, Jawhara would let them borrow one of hers, handing them whichever she was using, even if it was her favorite at the time. One day at Recess, the group turned on one of their own, because she tooted. (this is fourth grade, remember the drama) The girl, Hana, was devistated, crying and yelling at the friends who were laughing. Jawhara put down what she was doing and went to her, took her hand and walked and talked to her. It didn't matter to Jawhara that Hana often teased her, or that Hana refused to lend her an eraser when she had several in her desk. Jawhara only cared that right then, Hana was hurt. By the end of recess Hana wasn't crying. her friends stopped teasing her about tooting. I wish I could say she was nicer to Jawhara after that, but she wasn't. But Jawhara didn't care. She was happy just being Jawhara.

I want that for Evie, for her to be kind to others regardless, be nice and polite to all. To be giving and caring. I hope we are showing her this path with our words and actions. So for now I told her to just be kind, sometimes kids are mean, but don't let it get to you. Of course being mom if things escalate or it begins to bother her I am down at the school the next day...

This weeks projects

Sew..... I have  been busy this week, I finished this table runner

The pattern was called Dutch Treat and was a pattern with fabric I bought in the quilt shop last year. It was fun and fast to do. I also started working on my sister in laws wedding quilt, which I just started cutting out, and while trying to get through my scraps, I found I had A TON of steelers fabric, so I threw this togther

It's lap quilt size, so I am going to add a black border to get it closer to bed size for my nephew, since I made quilts for the girls and my neice this past fall.

I also did this for Serena, since S day was today

She loved it! I need more practice with applique, and want to take a turned applique class eventually. I just realized with this project that if you put stabalizer under the tee shirt it is easier under the maching. I should have known that! Oh well, live and learn!

Serena has a class pet "Hopper". He's not real, (thank goodness) but we have to take pictures and write what Hopper and Rena do this weekend. His first trip was after school to the Chinese Buffet. Fridays Kevin works from home, so he comes with me to pick up Rena from school and we do lunch.

So when we got home this afternoon, we read about frogs. Rena decided he was cold and needed a blankie, so we went through my scrap bag to see what a from would like, and Rena chose this fabric, because it would camouflage Hopper so no one would eat him when he was asleep. We also made him a little pillow. He had a nice nap with Rena and is ready for what the rest of the day brings.

The other thing that has occupied my week has been this amazing book, Mississippi Quilts, but Mary Elizabeth Johnson. The Mississippi Quilt Association did a heritage project, and documented quilts around the state, putting them cronologically in this book, telling the story not only of the families that owned these quilts, the women who made these quilts, but also of Mississippi and the nation itself. I am so glad they did the project, I have learned so much from the book.

Wrote a song about it, wanna hear it? here it goes....

I don't know why I have been thinking about this David Allen Grier character for a while, maybe it is reloctating to the Blues area or America.

But anyway, It's Friday. Kev works from home on Friday, and both girls are in usually in school in the morning, so it is quiet time. However, today there was no school because we have been hit with a wintery mix (cold rain with some slush). So we are all at home chilling. Kev is still unpacking the office, Rena is playing cars in her room, and Evie is in her "art studio", which is the sunroom that has been overtaken with the girls craft supplies and some toys.

Evie was all sorts of upset today when there was no school. Mainly because she just got her new Bento Box last night for lunch.

During the week, I can only really sew at night, after the girls are in bed. OK, so here I sew a bit on Monday and Weds and Friday mornings if I don't have errands and both girls are in school. It is a little piece of heaven to be able to go to the grocery store by myself. Anyway, this week I did a few little projects, the first being last night when we got Evie's Bento Box. I made napkins from some scraps.

This is Evie's BentoBox from laptop lunches. For the past few weeks, I have been trying to make reusable snack bags to go into the lunch bag I had made her. I have been making sandwich wraps for a bit, and thought it would be great to be able to pack a lunch that was less wastefull and saved money (baggies are expensive, and when they go in school lunches they end up in the trash) soooo.... after finding out that reusable snack bags are cute and good for occasional use (I'll still use them for Rena's snack) They are a complete pain to clean, and sometimes things get crushed. A friend from the mommy board I am on suggested laptop lunches. Evie picked out the flower one, and the set came with everything you see (except the napkins, which I made) for $40. I used the code ideal55 for 20% off.

The napkins are just 2 12 1/2 inch squares sewn together. I made about 8 last night just because I love using up my scraps!

Here is a table runner I made for my sister in law. She changes her decor often and for each holiday, so I have made her a few runners for her buffet or dining room table. This is from a kit my mother in law bought me last year from The Quilting Squares Quilt shop in Franklin, TN, where we lived at the time. If you are ever in the area, it is the best shop ever! Seriously, They have a dollar fat quarter bin that is always full, and a clearance area. This kit was 50% off because it was after Valentines Day. Plus the ladies there are awesome. Can you tell I miss the shop? It was my second home when we lived there!

This isn't the best pic, but I made a charm school bag from keykalou designs.  I love her patterns, my favorite of hers though is still the lots of pockets.  The fabric came from my friend Chris, who a few months ago sent me a huge surprise package of fabric she had. Some of them are huge pieces, some fat quarters, but nothing was smaller than a fat quarter! Some was her grandmothes, some she had bought for projects and never got around to using. This fabric she had the most of, over a yard in pieces. I like how the bag came out! It was a project for my mommyboard, they have a fit club and us crafters donate prizes for the winners.

I am also working on another table runner, I hope to be able to post it next Friday!

Sew, what is on your cutting table?

Happy Weekend!