Looks like life will change quite a bit around here, say, around March or April!

A gift from God that we are very thankful for, and of which we feel very undeserving.

Well, I am so happy to announce that Ivy’s is finally finished, too. (Along with some fresh-for-summer gingham sheets from The Company Store.)

(sorry about the dark pictures.  we’re having sunshine/clouds/sunshine/clouds weather today.)

So now that the quilt is done, I think I’ll take a break from sewing for a little while.  Who knows…I’ve said this before and ended up making something anyway.  For now, I’m happy with just adding away to my sewing wish list.

::  this will be near the top of the list.  Don’t these look wonderful?  Citronille.  The name alone makes me want to move to the French countryside, live in a stone farmhouse and dress my children in whites and pale blues.  (And I’m happy to have a husband who knows a little French.  There is hope for figuring these patterns out!)

::  I’d like to make something from these fabrics.  Can’t decide what, though.  New quilt for a little niece?  Twirly skirts for the girls?

::  I recently acquired this book, One-Yard Wonders, and I think I’m going to really like it.  Most books like this I always feel like the project ideas are time-wasters, but I liked a lot of the ideas in this book.  First pick from the book:  a sewing machine cover.

::  sewing aside, this looks like a lot of fun.  a paper city you can color?  with stick people?  yes, please.

::  I’ve been wanting to do this as a piece of art for Scott and myself, but I wonder if the girls would enjoy a little version of their own?  A poster of things they love, via MommyCoddle.

We ate lots of ice cream

(it was pretty hot),

played on the World’s Largest Slip-n-Slide,

shot potatoes across the river,

took rides behind the tractor mower,

hugged a great-grandma Jane,

and smothered a sweet baby girl with kisses.

We had a pretty great time, and it was so nice to spend time with family we don’t see very often!

Making handbags is pretty fun.  Not much fabric is required, and after you make a couple of them, you probably won’t even need the directions anymore!

This is from a pattern off of Etsy, and after making a couple, I’m loving the bags more and more.

(both of these bags are on their way as gifts for friends)

And I finished Ivy’s quilt!  (uproarious applause)  This is pre-quilted (so, just the quilt top), but in a few days I hope to have the entire project done, washed, and on her bed.  We are looking forward to finishing out the summer with a fresh quilt on her bed.

In other sewing news:

::  I have a new dress pattern that I have really wanting to try out (New Look 6887).  I have my eye on style B, in a light blue cotton blend.  Love that ruffle on the neckline.

::  Another new dress pattern that might get made this summer (New Look 6778).  It seems to be a good idea to just go ahead and pick up a pattern, if I see one I like and will potentially use one day.  Patterns seem to go out of print so quickly.  I am getting to the point where I need an alternate storage solution for my patterns.  Any ideas?

::  This isn’t sewing, but after seeing some fantastic silhouettes of my niece and nephew at my sister-in-law’s house (made by her sister!), maybe it couldn’t hurt to try making some myself?

::  Scandinavian designs are so beautiful, aren’t they?  Makes me want to read Kristin again.  I’m starting to make use of these embroidery patterns (from So September, one of my favorite blogs to read).

Another treat has been that record player we picked up at the thrift a few weeks ago.  After a minor repair (thanks, dad!), borrowing records from friends, and finding more records while thrifting, we’re pretty giddy about our new little player.  And the dancing that goes on in this living room.  Oh boy.  Old bluegrass records seem to be the best for dancing, just in case anyone else felt like gettin’ groovy.

Here are some angels, as promised.

Sweet Charlotte.  She loves her kitty shirt.  And performing interpretive dances to The Oak Ridge Boys records.

If anyone has any ideas on how to teach children to sew (with a real, full-sized machine) I’d love to hear them.  Ivy is ready, for sure.  She and I stood in the thrift store today, and had a lengthy, serious, very grown-up conversation on what fabric we should choose for quilt-making.  Her best friend is apparently going to “make a quilt”, and Ivy wants to give her some fabric to help.  She knew exactly what kind would be good to use, and how much she would need to get. (And yes, it was a pretty great moment.)

Asher is trying to decide if he should be a cowboy or a pirate when he grows up.

He went to a rodeo while he was at Gramma and Grampa’s house, and now he wears his new cowboy hat all the time.

Pirate…cowboy…pirate?…cowboy?…   Life can be tough, I know.

“Don’t worry, Mommy.  I won’t be a bad pirate.  Just a good pirate, who loves God and shoots bad men.”

The pattern is McCall’s 5153, apparently out of print.  Note the “Easy” written in bright red, which you must ignore.  This was one of the most difficult patterns I have ever sewn.  However, the results were worth it:  pretty cute, don’t you think?  This was also the smallest size in the pattern, size newborn, so that probably didn’t help with the difficulty level.

And, don’t you love this pretty house?  One of my favorites…it’s near our house and it always looks so lovely and comfortable.

(it is hard to get a good picture from a moving car.  maybe someday I’ll stop in and meet the owners, and get a better picture…)

From Knowing God.

“…[W]e are able to apply to ourselves the promise that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28).  Not just some things, note, but all things!  Every single thing that happens to us expresses God’s love to us, and comes to us for the furthering of God’s purpose for us.

Thus, so far as we are concerned, God is love to us – holy, omnipotent, love – at every moment and in every event of every day’s life.  Even when we cannot see the why and the wherefore of God’s dealings, we know that there is love in and behind them, and so we can rejoice always, even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong.  We know that the true story of our life, when known, will prove to be, as the hymn says, ‘mercy from first to last’ – and we are content.”

Ten years ago today, I waltzed down the aisle and he slipped a ring on my finger.  I didn’t know then how happy we’d be as man and wife ten years later, and how much I would change being married to this wonderful man.

I love you, Scott.  Your children and wife adore you.  You have made the past ten years the happiest in the world for me.  Here’s to fifty more together.

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”

-Robert Browning

But today.  Today was not one of those days.

Now, let me just type a little disclaimer here:  this does not happen to me very often.

I promise.

Love this book.  It’s oversized, and the illustrations are absolutely wonderful.

Check out this roller coaster!

Next thrift store visit, we’ll be scrounging around for children’s records.

I’ve finished a couple of exciting projects these past couple of weeks, and I am so excited about them.  First is a monster.  On a shirt, of course.  I sketched some aliens/monsters/robots up a couple days ago on paper, and transferred the drawings to fabric.

Fun is had by all. I am so pleased with how these turned out.

Best of all, Asher loves them.

Here is my above-mentioned friend, Dawn, with her beautiful baby girl.  We all love this baby so much!

And here is a little quilt that I stitched up, finished just a couple of days ago.

The center squares are from a favorite etsy shop of mine, whimsiedots.  Vintage bed linens, cut into three-inch squares and framed with Kona cotton (can’t remember the name of the green for this).