Bloggy giveaways!

Have you seen all the give-away goodness over at Bloggy Giveaways? Oh my goodness there is some neat stuff to register for over there!! And some super generous people!

So, I love beads. I'm not really a jewelry person. In fact I pretty much live in black t-shirts and jeans. I really couldn't ever be on What Not to Wear. I'd cry, but they'd never change my mind. But when I wear one of my beaded necklaces like I have over in my etsy shop, I just feel so put together for a change. Yeah, even if I hadn't gotten to take a shower, and the only portion of my hair that is "done" is my bangs,

But when I get my little sparkly necklace on I just feel different. And so I want to share that with you. If you would like to win this one just leave a comment on this post and the Random number picker thingy will pick out a random numbered comment from among them on Saturday February 3rd!

Then get back over to the Bloggy Giveaways to see some more stuff!

Thanks!

Something Fun Coming up!

Watch for more details for what I'll be giving away during the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival!

PS: You'll have to leave a comment - I know people are reading because you are leaving footprints all over the hallway. Wait, that's other people. But I know you're here so for this little carnival you have to leave a comment. Don't worry - you don't have to come out of the woodwork until January 28th. But you do have to wipe your shoes off, first! I'm happy to have you here!

People in cloth diapers who don't like it...

Remember when I said it was ok with me that if someone didn't want to wear the cloth diapers they didn't have to? (here)

Little did I know that day would come so quickly! Today I found this great tutorial on how to make a cloth "pull-up."

Must sew. Quickly!

Yippee!

Sew Mama, Sew picked me randomly to win a yard of free fabric from Sew Mama Sew's Free Fabric Fridays! I picked the new Alexander Henry Baby Berry in Black print - I think it will go with several pieces I already have in the stash. The stash that just decreased by 16 yards this week with the making of the curtains for the girl's room! I am seeing this become the front or maybe pockets for matching aprons for mommy and her cooking girls!

Thanks, Sew Mama, Sew!

I have a banner!!

a real live banner! On my etsy page (here).
(take a little looky and let me know what you think!)

Wow. I have a banner.

An etsy friend (hi Joey!) is learning GIMP (I gave up a while back!) and needed some people to test on, and I volunteered. In about the same amount of time that it takes me to just open GIMP she had a banner made and emailed back to me.

I have a banner! That's even better than the nice people at the public library letting me check out 50 something books today knowing that I'll lose half of them and have 3 weeks worth of fines on the other half. One of these days I'm going to get banned from the library. But none of that matters because . . . I have a banner!

You do what?

We cloth diaper. I have to explain that a million times. It's not necessarily about the environment, although that's important. It's not necessarily about the money, although it helps. It's not about being granola, or hippy, or whatever, although those things aren't negative to me anyway, so throw your silly names at me as you will.

It's more about wet stuff on my babies skin. Wet stuff that has been processed out the wazoo and left full of chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin. Wet stuff that may be cool for doing science experiments and is pretty cool for growing plants in to see their roots. But the more I know about it the less I want it to touch any sensitive areas.

So, yes, we cloth diaper (and we try to live pretty frugally and be sensitive to the environment and it would be cool to abandon it all and live out of a rainbow colored VW van, but we can't find one that holds enough carseats for us all). And we like it. I mean I like it. I think the diapered ones like it. And if they don't they are free to use the facilities - no complaints there. (Some children don't like the feel of wet fabric and it motivates them to more quickly take to using the facilities - I'm counting on that!) But I do like it. So much so that I've probably invested the equivalent amount of cash to several cases of the paper ones in equipment and supplies to make our own cloth diapers.

Which leads me to today, with baby #6 finally (I hope) over the little hiccups (nursing poorly, and a bout with RSV) we need to get back to it. I miss the extra laundry (not really). I'm tired of the paper diaper mess and smell. But having cloth-diapered all the other children for at least part of their diaper wearing career, it's time to start this one and get on with it. Anyway, in the past we have used all in ones with pul/FOE covers or pocket diapers made with pul and suedecloth stuffed with microfiber, and I'm starting to get concerned about the synthetic stuff being wet next to their little bodies. So we're going back to cotton diapers, but I need a better cover because my pul ones wick like crazy. So it's wool for the covers then.

I have two knitted covers (from this pattern) and a bunch of wool sweaters I rescued from being under appreciated at the thrift store. I made two pair of longies from the sleeves of two sweaters I fulled or felted (following these instructions), and I still have a bunch of the wool left.

I should add a picture. Here's Molly at 2 months. Don't you just want to squeeze her?

New Year's Sewing Resolutions

General sewing resolutions for 2008:

• Sew from stash.
• Reduce stash drastically. I already have a give away bag started for a lady in my church who quilts.
• Only purchase fabric this year that has an immediate purpose.
  
• Keep track of items sewn, especially the good ones.
  
• Organize my sewing room so that one or two of my sewing children can have space to work as well. This really means - get all the extra fabric off the floor so we can walk in there without stepping on it.
  

Specific sewing:

• Make the curtains for the girls' purple room.
• Abby only wears dresses and skirts (because she's a princess) so I need to make her some play dresses. They must be "spinny enough"
• Emma wants to match Abby all the time so make her some also.
  Maggie needs 2 or 3 spring church dresses.
  
• Sew one quilt, even if it is little. Maybe I should just do a block. One 12"x12"block per month would make a twin size bed quilt top in a year, right?

I think I can handle this. :-)

Gocco

I found a gocco machine at Goodwill this week. Five dollars. No kidding. I did not draw attention to it, just quickly put it into my cart and paid. It's safe at home now. I have to get the ink for it and then I can start playing. I'm very giddy, but in a quiet way. I don't want the Goodwill people to worry about having undercharged me.

Apparently it's former owner, Clarice, only used it a few times to print her signature on greeting cards. Thanks Clarice - I'll take care of it for you.

If you didn't get a Christmas picture from us and you're worried about it....

Ok, everyone get together.
Let Abby hold Molly.
Everyone look at Daddy.Jeremiah, what are you doing to Maggie?
Abby, put your santa baby hat on.

Let Abby hold Molly.

Everyone look at Daddy.

No get closer.
Emma look at Daddy.

Not that close!
C'mon guys.
Look at Daddy.
And y'all smile.

No, Jeremiah, Don't hold Emma up.
Ok let's try this - people in the back crouch down so you're closer to the little ones.

No, not like that.
You look like pirates.
Pirates don't get to be in pretty Christmas pictures.
And smile!

Oh almost.
Abby, hold Molly up.
Daddy said it was blurry.
Try again just real quick, please?

Never mind just stand up.
Look at the camera.
And smile.

Oh that's almost it. Everybody look at Daddy now and do it again!

No, no, no, not like that.
Jeremiah look up.
Don't worry about Emma's lolly.
It's keeping her happy.

No. come on now - look at Daddy!
This is supposed to be a pretty Christmas picture
You all look so nice, just stand still and SMILE.

No nice smiles - let's try again.

Ok, come on guys. Stand up. Look at Daddy and SMILE regular.
Don't be crazy
Ok, just one crazy picture.
Ok, now smile.

Oh, never mind.
(Sigh...)
We'll try again next year!

More October Sewing - I think I'm nesting!

For the first time in a loooong time I feel pretty productive in the sewing department. Here's what's been sewn up and moved out of the sewing room this month:

• baby diapers for upcoming baby - 10 of them already - size newborn from super soft stretch terry (pattern from www.chloetoesboutique.com). Now that I've gotten all this done I need to at least cut out a few more. They really are fast - I know once they are all cut out I can sew up 3 or 4 in an hour. I usually cut one session, sew the soakers in another session, then apply FOE at another time and do all the snaps at one time. Almost instant gratification if you ask me. I've been using the same fitted newborn diapers for the last 4 babies, plus they've been loaned out once, so while they are still functional, they are starting to look a little tired. I just love cloth diapering a little bitty one!
• soft leather baby shoes (also a chloetoes pattern!) for a sweet new little niece, size 3 mos. Again, these sew up SO fast. I cut them out one evening (it took longer picking out which green I wanted to use for the leaf!), then sewed them the next morning. Total time was less than 1 hour.
  
• baby hats for the upcoming wee one (I must have gotten into a tossing out frenzy after the last baby because there were NO baby hats in the house, and it's cold, and if the baby comes now he or she needs a hat) - and since we don't know what gender of baby we are having we have 2 white, 4 blue, and 4 pink. That should cover all the bases. Don't get real excited, these hats can be sewed assembly line style at a rate of about 8 an hour. 8 hats per hour, not bad, I say.
• toddler aprons - I've been toying with the apron idea in my head for so long I've passed several kids' sizes up already. So we start with the small ones and go from there - this is a lined apron with a fully adjustable strap which is continuous from the waist ties through the neck. I initially traced off a freebie kids apron we received from a local home improvement store to get the shape right. Only one tie to fiddle with. These will also be for various nieces and nephews for the holidays. There were 4 of these but 2 went with our Christmas shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
  
• More things for the nieces and nephews - name pillows - I've been making them for birthday presents after getting the pattern from YouCanMakeThis.com and they have been a tremendous hit! Don't tell my kids that mommy is making them one as well. These are just representative of the ones made for all of them. And hey, will someone tell my sister and sisters-in-laws to pick shorter names for their children??
• Fall Festival outfits - I just sent off a box of dress up clothes for a friend's family including skirts, waist cinchers, old-timey mob caps (think Dolly Madison), peasant shirts, gypsy pants and a pirate outfit. After that, I was kind of sewed out. And after a day of thrifting my kids found Power Ranger Zeo outfits and princess outfits that only each needed a few modifications to be suitable for dress up wear and the Fall Festival at our church. So, a Cinderella dress got a new petticoat, 2 power rangers (a gold one and a red one) got custom fitted face masks, and a little golden fairy princess got a peasant-style dress to wear under her pretty skimpy fairy outfit. The little golden fairy wants to be sure to wear golden sparkly make-up that night (of course!), because she is a princess, you know. And, knowing me, there is actually only one picture of all of this - the golden princess. Who just happens to be modeling in my newly cleaned sewing room. Wait, don't look at the stack of stuff on the right. That all does have a place, it's just not in it yet.
  

What's next? Well, the bitty one is due this week on Thursday, so that will put a hold on production for a while. The good thing is I have gotten most of the things done I planned to do before baby comes. And my kids are all still alive, fed, clean, and happy. Which is what is really important!

Cute and Crafty Things without a standard name

Apparently all the names I thought these were called are all different. We have a birthday to go to this week and I thought a notepad holder would be a cute gift (that was not a toy, not plastic, and not made in China - my designations, not hers) for a sweet girl in our homeschool co-op. Of course, my kids all agreed it would be a great present on the condition that they could have one as well. Yes, just not today. I can only handle giving the baby one or two baths a day because she found the big kid markers for embellishing her legs.

So far there are 4 binder covers (steno pad covers, padfolios, note pad cases, call them whatever you want) made, all of which already have designated recipients. Ideally I could get several more made in the next few weeks (hey, I've made 4 in 2 days and still fed the kids and kept up with our schoolwork and house work) to have on hand for impromptu gifts.

Oh yes, the bright pink one is for the younger birthday girl, the green one for my mom, and the red and blue one for my midwife, both of whom share a birthday. Did I say 4? Child #3 who was most attentive to me during the whole process got his first. He's sleeping with it now. I think that means he likes it.

Preemie sleepers

Here are a couple of sleepers I made for some sweet babies who are yet to be born. I used the pattern from here, changing it by lengthening the torso and eliminating the legs. I used my new KAM snap press to apply the little pink snaps, and the trim for the neck and sleeves was heart printed FOE. Makes me want another baby! These were really quick and easy. Sewing time was about 30 minutes total. The longest part was applying the trim around the neck and cuffs. I made a newborn size, so they may have to grow a bit or they may fit just right.

First Quilt Block

Here's my quilt block. This is my very first quilt block ever. It needed to be made of red, white and black fabrics on any kind for the Quilt for MS that AMITE is putting together. It seems that the magic of making blocks is in careful measuring, accurate cutting, and sewing in a straight line. I need to make a few more of these and then send them around the world to be added with the others.

I enjoyed putting all the pieces together. Since we homeschool we are always playing with "pattern blocks" and tangrams. So I had a basic idea how the pieces would work together, I just haven't ever SEWN the pieces all together. There are only 2 places where it doesn't perfectly match up, but after consulting with some quilters I know what to do to fix that now and how to help it not happen again. Now that I know how to do this I think I'll attempt to help the homeschool sewing class learn how to cut and piece. There's a first time for everything and if they are learning to sew it would probably be easier at 9 and 10 years old than waiting until after 35.

Quilt for MS

I'm making a block for MS. My mom has Multiple Sclerosis. She was diagnosed when I was 4 or 5. All I remember is that she was in the hospital in Houston for months at a time. My sister and I lived with my grandparents in Beaumont for those months at a time. My grandfather would take us at least once a week to see her. I was so little I remember curling up on the floor of the backseat of his car as we made the hour and a half trip. I don't really remember thinking that my mom was sick at that point, but since this has always been a part of our life I have done research here and there, especially as it relates to the condition my mom has. For the past 10 years or so she has had "episodes" every 6 months or so, which seem to last at least a month or two. Then it kind of fades and she is OK for a while. And then before you know it the MS starts again. Her parents have always expressed how fortunate she is to have done so well for so long (many people with MS degenerate quickly). She turned 60 last fall, and you know you never know how long you get to "keep" someone. She knows that, too. This past week she told us she realizes it's not going to get better. I hate that because she's always been a fighter. My husband says she is the most tenacious person I know.
So, I'm doing a block. I emailed my mom (she lives 6 hours away and we don't get to see either of our parents much). She said she'd do a block. I don't know what postage is to Australia, but if anyone else wants to do a block and send it to me (they will probably fit in a regular yellow envelope with 80c postage to me in Texas) I will take care of the cost of getting them to Australia. There is a pdf file on their amite blog, so you just download that and make your pieces. They will then auction the quilt on ebay and the money goes to MS research.
Oh, yeah, I'm not a quilter. So this is a first project. I know in theory how it all goes together. So in doing this I am learning something new as well as honoring my mom in a roundabout way. I'll post pictures when I get mine done for this. You can find the link to the Quilt for MS project at Amite on my sidebar.

Putting away the Christmas

But not before I show off these little towels I embellished. Can you see the little sparkly beads that look like ornaments? They just needed a little something else to perk up the trees. Thanks to Beki for the idea and inspiration. I've got to say that I made some for myself, too. And no one ate the beads off. Not that that has ever happened before, mind you. Really.

Sewing Class update

This past fall I attempted to teach a small group of homeschoolers at our Enrichment Class coop to sew. These kids were 9-12 years old. Great kids. I did not anticipate that it would take us 4 minutes of the first class to learn to thread a needle. We had 10 sessions where we learned basic hand sewing skills, and we completed a few items. Some of the kids had an easier time than others, but several of them, plus several new ones, signed up to sew with me next semester!

We made bottlecap pincushions, wee's, tissue holders, grocery bag keepers, and cool ties. There were a few girls who got done with their projects earlier than others, so I had several different hot iron transfers ready for them to practice embroidering. I was really pleased with how well they all did. Several of the moms mentioned to me that their girls were happily spending their free time with a needle and thread. That makes it worth it, don't you think?

My husband has a blog. Did I mention that he's brilliant? Click over here if you want an intellectual cup of coffee. I did finally tell him about my little ol' blog, but his is on another level.
I don't think I've seen one sarcastic thing on it yet, though. Hmmm.

Cooking for large families

Did I mention that I have 5 children? I don't know where they came from! But they sure are cute! On alternate weekdays, though, they can put away the food. There is a new cookbook written by the MOMYS that ought to help us out. I'm getting pretty good at doubling the recipe for most things that I still use a recipe for, but this cookbook already has done the work for you. Another one I really like, even though it's not specifically for hordes of hungrys hamsters (I mean children) is La Leche League's Whole Foods for the Whole Family. Great recipes, great information, and tips for using all the healthy grains and vegetables we ought to eat. One more thing on my wish list is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I've heard that there is a lot of information here that can really help us to overcome dependence on "modern" convenience foods. My current diet may already be pretty close, with the exception of biscuits and and chicken fried steak. I really need to experiment to get the shortening out of those. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

The Messy Bits

Recently there has been a discussion among the crafty-blogger-types about some people not being "real" on their blogs and not ever talking about anything hard, or messy, or "real". I think you can blog about whatever you want (within the limits of the law and morality) and if you want to bog about all your messy bits, go ahead. I'm not showing mine unless it is part of a process I am trying to document, because I don't like the messy bits myself. I am more at peace when things are neat, tidy and in their place at home. I'm here pretty much all day long (how many places am I going to try to go with 5 small children, now, really!) and nothing is ever completely neat, but we approach it somewhat regularly. Even if it is just one room at a time. I'll tell you I have a problem, but I'm not going to show it to you! Maybe I'm still haunted by those pictures my mom took of my room years ago and threatened to show my boyfriend. HAHAHA! Paul, are you scared? He's seen bigger messes by now! Back then I wasn't allowed to use the KITCHEN!

For several years now I have operated under a modified Flylady approach, in order to keep things sanitary and somewhat decluttered. Then we moved and bought a house. I know we tossed a bunch before we came, as we unpacked, but there is still no room for it. The problem must be that there is too much stuff. I hate doing garage sales. Every once in a while I freecycle a bunch of stuff. In the last 3 months I have sent about 10 good sized boxes to Goodwill. It's hardly a dent, though. I still keep the bathrooms and kitchen clean. But homeschooling makes a l0t of clutter - I can probably do something about that. Right now we loosely follow the curriculum plan set forth in The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. And we have multiple copies of things because we have multiple people involved in the same lessons. And lots of plain paper around. And boxes of colored pencils, regular pencils, crayons, and markers. I should have spent some time this summer streamlining. Oh well.

And sewing has it's own problems. My room which is supposed to contain it all leaks. It leaks into my bedroom, the kitchen, the dining room and the study. I've severly limited the fabric that leaks to the laundry room, since I'm not increasing my stash anymore I don't need to do all the prewashing of new fabric. I think I really need to downsize the stash, though. I know what my upcoming projects are, even for the next few years. I have been bad about acquiring fabric just because I like it. Even if I had plans for it at one point I have forgotten them. What I did the other night is write out a big list of things I needed to get sewn for the fall and winter. I did stop my Ottobre subscrition for a while - it's not in the budget right now until we are out of debt. I have about 4 years worth of their pattern magazines, which is enough to get me out of any children's clothing crisis. But I could seriously destash. I've been on the "use what you have month" for the last 6 now, and I've hardly made a dent!

Anyway, back to the messy bits. I don't want to see anyone's mess. I see my own all the time. I love the magic of being able to photoshop things out. I know that beneath the cute little table is a basket full of odds and ends, just like mine. And the picture you took of your child's room was taken in the middle of the night or when they were away at Grandma's. That's ok. I promise to look the other way when we come over, and help pick up a bit when we leave. As long as you do the same with me. Right now my little ones are picking up their own bits so they can ride bikes outside later. I need to go finish some of my own picking up, too. But I might show you a picture when it's all clean!

Diapers Diapers Diapers

One of these days no one in my house will wear diapers. Or maybe they'll be in diapers so long they'll just put mom and dad in them when they finally all potty train. Oh well.

Emma, though, has brand-spanking-new Chloe Toes diapers! All her roly poly bottomness is now contained in these diapers that I made from Catherine's diaper pattern. I had some that I made before, but between the time I cut them out and finished them up she grew. It's not that it took that long to sew, I just kept putting it off. Once you get going, you can do a diaper bag full in no time. Just so you know, they are sandwich PUL (no chance of the poly touching) on the outside and white alova suedecloth on the inside, bound with white FOE. Yes, we do like colorful things here, but I just love white diapers. I use a microfiber towel in the pocket between to soak things up. I am hoping that we may be able to make it through the night in one of these - the cloth diapers that have been using didn't have the same stay-dry feel that the suedecloth has and I had a wiggly wet one a couple of times a night. One step closer to not using any paper dipes at all.