March Friday Night Sew-in

Doesn't a night all to yourself with nothing to do but sew sound great?  Then save the date for the 19th - the day of the March Friday Night Sew-in.






Grab a glass of wine, a project or two, and enjoy a little "therapy" in the comfort of your sewing/crafting room!  I know I am looking forward to it, and with the 8, yes EIGHT, projects I cut out this weekend, the problem won't be finding a project to work it, it'll be deciding which ONE to work on.  And go check out Heidi and Bobbi's blogs in the meantime!

Can't wait!

I won! I won! I won!

I am SOO excited!  I won Day 4 of Buttercuppity's week of giveaways!  I never win ANYTHING.  And my fabulous prize you ask??? A Charm Pack of Kate Spain's brand spankin' new 12 Days of Christmas for Moda!

Isn't it just loverly!?!?  I can't wait to make something out of it.  I am thinking something for me this time.  Oh, the possibilities!  Any suggestions?

I am just beside myself with giddiness... :)

My Funny Valentine

I got to spend Valentine's Day this year in a very nicely decorated suite, with one of my favorite people in the world!  We had the suite all to ourselves, I could order room service whenever I wanted....  sounds lovely, yes?

How 'bout no.  The Peanut decided he needed a few days alone with Mama, and got himself admitted to St. Alph's in Boise while the Rowdy Bunch and I were visiting Grandma.  My poor little guy had a pretty bad case of RSV.  The "cold" he had that had been getting better got very, very worse Saturday night, so I took him to Urgent Care.  They told me with his age that he needed to be seen at the ER.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200 - straight there.  When we got there his fever was 100.1.  At 100.4 in babies his age, they get to go through a whole bunch of tests, including a spinal tap. *shudder*  The ER doc wanted to be very proactive, so he had all of the tests done, except the spial tap.  If we still couldn't figure out what was causing the fever after all the tests, then he'd need the spinal.  Thankfully we got the positive RSV result, and got to forgo that one.  Because he was having a little difficulty breathing, even after an epinenphrine breathing treatment, we were admitted to the hospital for observation.  The ER we went to wasn't actually connected to the hospital, so Nicholas and I had a fun ambulance ride to downtown Boise.  There's nothing like being strapped to a gurney while you hold your infant.  Kinda makes you wonder what would have happened if we'd been in an accident.
When we got there, he was hooked up to a continuous O2 monitor.  They wanted to make sure his sick little lungs were still getting enough oxygen.  He did good until about 8 that night, and then were dropping into the low 80s for too long of a time period.  He wound up on oxygen for the night and most of the next day.

 

 Told ya my date was a cutie!

He did better the next night, to the point that we got to take him off the oxygen.

 

After being told we'd probably be there a few more nights, he surprised the pediatrician, and she let us go home to Grandma's on Tuesday!

The older 2 had been having fun with Daddy and Grandma, camping out in the living room.  Can you tell which one is the night owl and which one isn't?

 

The Peanut is doing better.  He's still coughing his head off and sleeping a lot, but he's no longer having a hard time breathing.

Oh, and Peanut, if you're listening, Valentine's Day was a little too reminiscent of Christmas Day.  Your Daddy and I talked, and we'd really appreciate it if you didn't spend every holiday in the hospital this year.  thanks!  xoxo

Giveaways Galore!

While I am waiting on my machine (I bet you are just on pins and needles, like me, huh?) I thought I would tell you about a few giveaways I found!

First up -  Jandi at Jandi In Stitches moved her blog from Wordpress to Blogger and wants to get the word out with a fabulous MODA giveaway!!!

Then, 44th Street Fabrics has their weekly giveaway here.  It's also some fabulous Moda fabric - this time the Love U line... I love the snails in it!

Also, Buttercuppity has a giveaway everyday this week (sorry, the week is half over... I just found out about it too, darnit!).

Oh, and stay tuned to see pictures from my wonderful Valentine's Day with my oh so cute date!  (there really is some sarcasm in there... you'll just have to wait to see where!)

The waiting game...

My dear sweet Elna has gone into a coma.  Whether or not she will come out of it remains to be seen.  And while I am mourning the loss of a good friend, I find myself anticipating a new relationship.  I am chomping at the bit to meet my new friend... I think I know who it will be.  This is who I think will be entering my life soon.  I am very excited, yet nervous!  I've never had a friend this sophisticated or fancy.  I don't want to hurt my new friend.  But I do so very much want to play! I've been waiting since mid-January.  I only have a couple more days to go though.
  The Rowdy Bunch and I are taking a road trip on Saturday to visit Grandma.  It's there that I am hoping to meet my friend, and bring her home. Don't let the name fool you, for I know in my heart SHE is a kindred SISTER spirit.  Besides, a girl can only take so much testosterone in her house, you know?!?!

So stay tuned!  I hope to have her resting upstairs soon! :)

Child's tote bag

For this EASY, lined tote bag, you will need 2 coordinating cotton fabrics.  1/2 yard of each will be more than enough.  I haven't gotten great at figuring out exactly how much fabric to get yet, so I always wind up with extra.

From here on out, the bag EXTERIOR will be called Fabric A.  The bag INTERIOR will be called Fabric B.

Seams are 1/4" unless otherwise noted.

You will need:
a. (2) 14" x 14" pieces of Fabric A
b. (1) 6" x 10" piece of Fabric A
c. (1) 5" x 5" piece of Fabric A

d. (2) 14" x 14" pieces of Fabric B
e. (1) 6" x 10" piece of Fabric B
f. (1) 5" x 5" piece of Fabric B

for the handles you will need (2) 4" x 14" pieces of EITHER fabric.  I used Fabric A.

First you will make the pockets -

take b. and e. (the 6" x 10" pieces) and pin them right sides together.  sew around 3 sides, leaving a short side open for turning.  clip the corners, turn right side out and press.  do the same with c. and f. (the 5" x 5" pieces).  If you have directional fabrics, make sure that you are cutting and sewing them the way you would like them to be on your bag.

Then you will attach the pockets to the bag:

take one piece of a. (bag EXTERIOR) and center the larger pocket on it.  pin in place and sew around 3 sides on the bag front with 1/8" seam allowance.

take one piece of d. (bag INTERIOR) and center the smaller pocket on the top 1/3rd of the bag.  pin in place and sew around 3 sides on the bag inner back with 1/8" seam allowance.

Next, construct the interior and exterior of the bag:

line up the 2 a. pieces, right sides together, making SURE the pocket is facing what will be UP, and sew 3 sides together.  I chose to box my corners with a 1" box.  you can forgo this step if you'd like.  to do this though, line up your side and bottom seams, pinching them together.  from the point that you have just made, measure in 1" and mark a line across the corner.  sew along this line.  repeat on the opposite side.  you will want to turn the bag exterior right side out to ensure you are happy with your boxed corners.  turn wrong side out again and clip the corners, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. turn exterior right side out.

repeat for the bag interior, but make sure you leave a large opening on the bottom for turning the bag right side out.

To make the handles:

take one handle, fold it in half wrong sides together along the long edge, press and then folded each edge into the center and press again, and then fold it along the original press line and stitch closed and around end and other side using a 1/8" seam allowance .  repeat with remaining handle.

To complete the bag:

pin your completed handles to the outside (right side) of the bag interior, about 1/3 of the way in from each side.  repeat on the back side of the bag, so you will have one handle pinned to the front and one side pinned to the back.
place the bag EXTERIOR into the bag interior so you have right sides together.  stitch together around top edge of bag.  turn bag right side out through the opening in the lining and sew the opening closed by whatever method you prefer (by hand, machine, etc.)  push lining into bag and then top stitch around top of bag using 1/8" seam allowance.  voila!

this is an adaptation of this crayon tote bag.  I left off the crayon pocket because my nephew doesn't like to color ( :? yeah, I don't get it either) and did the handles differently.

When Less is More... and More is More

Last May, we got a wonderful, albeit shocking, surprise.  To our surprised delight, we learned that I was pregnant with the Peanut.  Why was this shocking you ask?  Because the Munchkin took us 4 years, and more medical procedures than I care to count or remember, to conceive, and Gus-Gus took us more of the same medical procedures to conceive.  So we weren't thinking there were any more small fry in our future.  Apparently we just weren't thinking.

On to the less is more thing...   we have this diaper bag.  Specifically,

this diaper bag.  Don't let it's tiny thumbnail-not-loaded-down-with-everything-in-sight size fool you.  When it's loaded, you could lose small countries in there.  And it's next to impossible for me to carry when I am all by myself with the Munchkin, Gus-Gus and the Peanut in his car seat.  I would need to morph into OctoMom (no, not 8 kids - 8 ARMS) to be able to do it.  My solution???  Make my own bag!

Voila!  A smaller bag, that is still large enough to hold stuff for 2 in diapers, but small enough that I can manage alone.  Did I mention it is cuter than cute, too? I am loving it, and have gotten lots of compliments on it.  The best thing?  I made it! :)

And the more is more thing?  Well that's self explanatory!  I have more kiddos, more love, more everything!  And I am loving every minute of it!