Update and Grand Re-Opening!

Hard to believe it's been over 15 months since I've posted here.  Here's a bit of an update.....

After going full-time with a set schedule, I got busier. Then I took a transfer a year later, moving to nights and with a husband that worked, let little else time for sewing.

My older son Sammy is almost nine and in February started suffering from epileptic seizures. It's been a VERY difficult road as he cannot be left alone for any period of time. This next week he is getting a VNS implant to help.(at least we hope)  I'm not sure what we're doing about school in the fall.  Probably enrolling him full-time and then possibly hospital homebound or maybe half days.

My younger son  Henry had been going to a preK program that was sapping my time and energy since it was just 3 hours and 20-25 miles away......meaning I spent almost as much time in the car taking him and picking him up as he did at school.  Henry will be going to Kindergarten.  I can't wait, he's so incredibly ready.

I was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in February and have been treating for it since April.  I've been off work since late February though.

So, I'll have lots of time for myself and two boys in school.  As of now, we are moving to a first floor apartment to make things easier for me and Sammy.  I'll have a dedicated sewing place (which I have now, but it's in our bedroom).  I'm excited to be able to sew again, I've been wanting to just sit and cut squares.  I have some new design patterns in mind as far as square placement.

Thanks for sticking with me!!

LMAO

time management skills needed ASAP.  that is all.

I'm coming back

I swear.....this time is for real.  I made an agreement with the hubby to be able to blog or sew a minimum of one hour per day.  Which right now means blogging mostly.  As soon as I can get my sewing area set up, I'll be doing more of that.  Yep, I finally re-arranged our bedroom for my own little space.  He has his space with the computer and now I have space in the bedroom.  The bedroom is ultimatley the safest place given we have a preschooler and a delayed first grader.  Neither of which knows what it means to "stay out of mommy's sewing stuff".  This way I can lock our bedroom door and not worry when I'm not here.

That said......having had the boys out ToT'ing last night, I have a renewed interest in bags as well as quilting.  I have SIX Santa sacks ready to be sewn, just have to find the time.  Wish me luck, the next 12 days are already jam-packed.

No-sew Mickey cape

Materials:
One stained t-shirt
Pair of scissors
Permanent marker
Small coffee can
Sippy cup

1. Cut t-shirt along side seam, around sleeve seam and neck ribbing, hen down the opposite side.
2. Place small coffee can upper center of cape and trace.
3. Trace bottom of sippy cup on each side of head.
4. Fill in with color.
5. Place on happy 3yo.

This was a first-effort. I didn't use a permanent marker and the shirt was one of my 7yo's, so the neckline is a bit big.

276 squares cut out tonight

Holy cow, I love my new Olfa cutter!! Thanks to a 50% off sale at JoAnn's, I got a nice new rotary cutter that is just awesome. The rotating mat and template are Fiskar's and often used. I got a small cutter with it and honestly, it sucked. Barely cut through ONE piece of fabric. Tried my mom's Olfa and fell in love. Now I have my own!!

The project for the afternoon. Pink and green for a custom quilt. And the crazy patterns? That is something my mom helped me pick out and Eric and I decided to use for our own room. We'll see how big I can get it! 276 squares total. I haven't cut squares in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time, my forearm and elbow (in which I have pins) are both very sore.

The layout of our quilt. Rather than a traditional over one, down one cascade, I tried something different since I have five fabrics. Over two, down one. I just think it breaks it up a bit better. I'm actually really pleased with it.

A closer look at the fabrics.

Fabulous place to get fabrics (and other things)

I often check out the actual pages my friends are liking on Facebook. When I saw a friend liked The Fabric Fairy, I knew this would be great!

All sorts of great fabrics and the ideas that started popping into my head. My brain is already filled with new ideas for quilts, bags and since Sammy lost his first tooth this afternoon, I'm thinking about Tooth Fairy pillows as well.

So, head on over to the new Fabric Fairy site!!!

I don't listen to his music, but.....

I saw an interview with Eminem the other night (60 Minutes I think)......and he talked about how he always has songs or lyrics or even a few words that he wants to use bouncing around in his head. He showed Anderson [Cooper] his box of papers he's written things down on. I feel like Eminem lately. I have all this great material and in fact I'm in the middle of three projects and I'm still planning others out.

It's not even about the actual quilt, it's the designs and unlike Eminem, I cna't just jot them down. I'm a visual learner, I need to see the layout in color either on paper or a computer for them to really stick in my head.

One idea I came up with while at JoAnn's the other day was to do a 4th of July/patriotic theme on a larger size quilt to be used when we go watch the fireworks. I have to say, though, while I do like the larger size because it might just be a bit more versatile, they are harder to work with. Especially if something goes wrong in a seam.......that's more thread that has to be taken out and redone.

I'm working on downloading a program that I can upload pictures of the fabric into and then play with the designs. Cascading is relatively simple and I love doing it. But, I really liked the double-icon quilt I did for Maggie and the 'Bama quilt actually had a unique design within the cascading. I'm looking forward to seeing the ladybug/bee quilt come together. Even though it's been laid out, I won't know how much I like it til I see it 100% finished.

Well, it's 12:35a.m.......two of the Chilean miners have been rescued and I'm heading to bed with prayers all goes smoothly for the remaining 31 miners and their rescuers.