Making Ready a Plan

I find myself in between deadlines. Sure, there are unfinished projects (plenty of them), but nothing pressing. So, I am starting a new process, a new project, a new craft. I want to make a quilt coverlet for our bed to replace the tired old store-bought thing we now have. I want it to be fresh, bold, modern, clean. I want it to tell a story and last many years. I dug into flickr for some inspiration and here's what I came up with. It's sort of all over the place but it's a start.


1. Vintage Scarf Quilt by Ouno Design, 2. Birds & Blooms baby quilt back, 3. Two Baby Quilts, 4. The back of Strips and Bricks Quilt, 5. Front., 6. "Box of Chocolates" Quilt_02-25-09_09, 7. quilt, 8. "It Takes A Village", 9. blocks and stripes quilt, 10. Hideaway quilt, 11. Bridie's Quilt, 12. The Tree Quilt, 13. Waves of Green Quilted Wall Hanging, 14. Work Quilt, 15. five blocks, 16. fall, 17. 'proposal moon', 18. The Gobstopper Quilt, 19. DQS8 #1 "Think Spring", 20. Birthday Quilt

I haven't quilted before, but surely I can do this. I know the basic steps but I also know there are a million different ways to do it and infinite possibilities for the end product. I have a little less than six months. I'm aiming for 15th anniversary territory. No time (or money) for a class, I'm going to rely on the wonderful world of blogging quilters (and maybe a book) to figure this one out. Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?

Mommy, you know what's interesting about you?

Wouldn't that make your ears perk up? What? What does Sofia think is interesting about me? Wow, somebody thinks there is something interesting about me. I love the way she started the conversation. She's so interesting to me.

So, what she said was, "Well, you know how when I ask you what your favorite animal is...." and she went on to explain that I always say something about how it's hard to choose and I like cats and dogs and birds... "But," she said, "you are always coming home and talking about how you saw an owl or a hawk or something, and I think your favorite animals are birds." So there you go. The world according to Sofia.

Last weekend was pretty productive. I finished the announcements for baby nephew Sawyer. My sister has them now and she likes them. Yay! I love that gocco - have I told you that before? One thing that doesn't show up well in the photos is that I mixed up the green color with quite a bit of silver ink and so there's a hint of metallic sheen to the color. It's really pretty.

I had planned a Valentine present of pajamas for the whole family but hadn't had time to actually sew, so on Valentine's Day, that's what I did. The pajama bottoms were made using a pattern from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing and some organic cotton flannel from NearSea Naturals. Good pattern, very simple. I decided for our pajamas to put elastic in the back only and use a cotton webbing drawstring for the front side. The flannel is nice and heavy and super soft. These are definitely cold weather pajamas. I bought thermals tops from Royal Apparel to go with the bottoms.
Here I am with the girls (Chris missed the photo shoot) and here's where the project would have benefited from a little better planning and research. I wanted to dye the pajamas somehow - I thought white was too boring and would get dirty and stained too easily (you know how messy Chris can be). I sort of copped out, got impatient and we tie dyed them - except Chris'. He didn't want them dyed. Hmmm. So, now the girls and I have tie dyed pajamas. They're fine. They're just tie dyed. It's not what I had in mind but the problem is that I wasn't sure what I had in mind. I'm sort of wishing I had waited a bit. At least they're just pajamas.

Lots to report

The latest news...Please welcome my nephew Sawyer Morgan, born yesterday December 28th, after about 36 hours of labor. My sister is a trooper and gave birth to this beautiful boy. He weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces and measured 22 inches long.
I met him briefly at the hospital, he is only a few hours old here. We will travel back up north this weekend so that the girls can meet him too.

Preparations for the holidays...
Here are Sofia and Maia in their ski clothes (well, the new stuff anyway). Neither had a suitable jacket or boots to wear in the snow so I had to go searching and found these at Lands' End at reasonable prices (if I had planned ahead a little better, I would have tried to find something on ebay). They had a great time sledding. Skiing wasn't as big a success this time due to bad weather on the day we went, but more on that later.
The annual xmas card production was so much fun. I did this card using Illustrator and then printed using the gocco printer.
And finally, some Christmas twirly skirts for my favorite little skirt wearers. They loved them. Some minor adjustments need to be made (Maia's is a little big around the waist), but overall they were fun and easy to make.

I'm going to get back to unpacking and laundry for now but hope to post soon about our journey up north to Truckee/Tahoe-Donner and the Bay Area. Happy New Year!

Big twirly skirt

Here we are in December and I'm full of things to talk about, but have little time to write about them. I'm down to the crunch time of gift making, card making (yay!), and cheer spreading. I refuse to get cranky about all the stuff I "have to do" because I love doing all of it, but some things have to give, like this blog. So I will tell this quick story and hopefully catch up with the rest later.

A while back I saw a skirt at Whole Foods that I thought looked really fun. Now I don't know about you, but I was having trouble with spending $68 on a skirt from the grocery store, even with all its sustainably-made credentials. But still, it was cute, so I kept looking at it and finally said to myself, I could totally make that. It was a dark gray, heavy jersey cotton. Enter my trip to LA.

Last Thursday I went to downtown LA to the garment district. I had tried to find some cotton jersey fabric on the internet - ordered some samples from a store in New York, and 4 weeks later, I got the samples but they weren't what I was looking for - I thought, this is silly, it's not that far to LA, so I went. I found exactly what I was looking for - a dark, gray, french terry - and it was organic, too. Bonus. Oh and surprisingly inexpensive.
So this is what I ended up with - it's my "I'm 38 years old and I can wear long twirly skirts if I want to skirt". The waist band is about 7 inches and tapered at the back with elastic to hold it up. The skirt is a full circle from one piece of fabric with the middle cut out. I haven't completed the hem yet. I was going to leave it unfinished but the fabric doesn't roll uniformly due to it being a full circle (get it?). Anyway, I'm going to afix some rolled fabric to the hem all the way around to get that unfinished look.
Here I am trying to photograph myself twirling - it didn't go over too well but hopefully you get the idea. I found a pretty pink heather jersey cotton at the same shop in LA and I plan to make a couple more twirly skirts for my favorite little skirt wearers. Better get busy, eh?

Thankful

I've been working on some thankful thoughts for a while now. First, I will mention that our cat, Rocky, or Miss Cat as we sometimes call her, has not been well today and we're facing the possibility that she may have entered her last days. She has been with us for 14 years. I'm thankful for that. And if she goes on a few more days, weeks, months, years (?!), I'll be thankful for that too.

Babies! I'm thankful for babies. Erin and Tom are preparing to welcome their little Nova or Sawyer in December and we just learned this week that another niece or nephew is headed our way next summer. Yes, it's early on so I guess I'll leave it at that.

Good neighbors. There are good neighbors, like those who are mostly quiet, keep to themselves and don't seem to be bothered by any of our activities. And there are good neighbors, like the ones our kids want to invite to their birthday parties (even though they have no children), who invite us over for tea and dinner, who look out for us and call us when we've left the car door open in the driveway (yes, I've done that), and who think to send us a Thanksgiving card (yes, they did). Turns out we have both kinds. Good neighbors and good neighbors. I'm thankful for them.

Work. I seem to remember that a year ago I was thankful for the little bit of work that was coming my way. Not much has changed in the work department and considering how tough things are for some folks out there, I'm thankful for the work that I have. And I might as well be thankful for Chris' work too. I mean, really, that's what is keeping us afloat.

Projects. I have a few projects in the pipeline that I'm really excited about. It's great to be inspired with ideas. My only problem is finding time to do them all. Some vintage fabric came to me via a friend whose grandmother (in law) recently passed away. This fabric is gorgeous (the picture does not do it justice). It's pretty heavy and I'm pretty sure it's cotton. It apparently came from a dressmaker in Hawaii. I'm on the lookout for just the right dress or skirt to pattern after - thinking on the lines of a square neck, fitted a-line dress to the knee.

I'm still plugging away on the linen/wool sweater, there are booties (and now more booties!) to make, and there's that kitchen wall chalkboard frame I need to get back to.
Last, but certainly not least. I'm thankful for my friendship with Chris. Some time this year, Chris and I started to meet each other for lunch at our local Peet's coffee shop. It was probably around the time things had settled a bit with Maia's treatments and around the time work got reallllly slow for me. We always pack a lunch, order lattes and sit for an hour or so to talk. It's fun and good and nice. And I'm thankful for it.

On Friday, Chris turns 40. I'll be back around then to show you a little something I made for him. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Happy Halloween!

We did our Halloween preview photoshoot this afternoon.
I may switch Maia to a long sleeve white shirt and leggings so that she won't be confused for a penguin angel - seriously, a passing neighbor said that (??) Anyway, they both love their costumes, and that is really all that matters.
Oh my goodness, you put a little lipstick on her and she looks 15. Yikes!

Meanwhile, after my last post, Regina gave me a tip to look at these crowns by Bitterbetty. I took one look and knew I had to make them for Sofia's party. I had been planning something less spectacular, like a couple steps up from a 1970s Burger King crown, but her tutorial seemed pretty simple, so I went for it. I ended up deviating from her process because I couldn't find the right gold leafing powder, but I ended up with something very similar. And again, Sofia loves them, so there you go.

Halloween and Birthday Preparations

Any guesses what Sofia is going to be?

Maia is going to be a white dove. She had originally wanted to be a robin and I'm not sure what changed her mind, but it's pretty much the same costume, different color. I'm hoping to be done this weekend so I can move on to preparations for Sofia's birthday party the day after Halloween.

We are going to have a Kings and Queens Brunch. There will be just a couple friends and Maia. I'm thinking of making crowns, but they're going to have to be pretty simple. Then they will have brunch, restaurant style with a menu, a couple games and we'll call it a party. Sofia has requested chocolate mousse. Oh my. Where does she get these ideas?

After Chris' backpacking weekend extragavanza I was looking at my pictures from my Summer Field trip back in 1994. I decided to scan my favorites in for archiving purposes. It's funny how few pictures there are from those film days. We spent 8 weeks in the Inyo National Forest near Treasure Lakes, and then Saddlerock Lake. Chris came up at least a couple times and we climbed Hurd Peak during a break. We also took a side trip to "Dogtown", the family vacation house that is no longer, near Coulterville. I really enjoyed the scenery while I was up there but I spent a lot of time writing to Chris about how miserable I was. I ran across those letters recently too. Tee hee. So silly. Anyway, here are the pictures.

Bike MS

We did a little Bike MS photoshoot this weekend. Maia can be a bit of a pain about photos, especially when you really need her to smile for the camera. I won't repeat here what we were saying to finally get her to laugh and smile, it was on the verge of potty talk (the things we'll do for a picture!).

Chris will be riding the Southern California Bike MS charity ride October 3 and 4 put on by the Multiple Sclerosis Society. It's a total of 160 miles. This is his second year and this year he'll ride with his cycling club, Fast Friday. Last year at this time, we didn't know that Maia had an autoimmune disease. We were still wandering through the red tape at Kaiser trying to figure it out, although we had pretty much given up on our doctors and had decided to move on. Now that we know, we have found that Maia's treatment is similar to that of other autoimmune diseases. It seems even more fitting to try to raise money and awareness for research that may eventually help Maia and people like her. For more information on how to support Chris and the MS Society, check out Chris' Bike MS page.
Ahhh, I love it when I have an idea and I'm actually able to get it done in one day. I made this tote today for Sofia to carry her ballet stuff. It's lined and cute and just what I had in mind. It's made of scraps from recent skirt and dress projects. She had her first ballet class last week and she really enjoyed it. Now she's all outfitted with a blue leotard, pink tights, pink slippers, and a really cool tote!

2nd Grader

Wow, who could imagine having a second grader. She looks so grown up. She's wearing her new uniform, which is basically khaki bottoms and several different colored shirts for the tops. We were not proponents of going to uniforms for many reasons that I won't go into because, well, it doesn't matter at this point.

This is Peace Montessori's 3rd year and as expected each new year brings changes and hopefully improvements. They've hired 3 new teachers who already seem to be working well as a team and making some positive additions. I'm most excited about the Peace curriculum, which will include conflict resolution, community building, and non-violent communication. Imagine that, teaching Peace. I love it. I have to admit I pretty much wanted to sign up for the school when I heard it was going to be called Peace Montessori, but of course there's more to it than a name and these teachers seem to be committed to providing an education befitting a school called Peace.

In a strange scheduling mismatch, Maia doesn't start school until the 9th of September, which means she will be missing her sister and looking for things to do. Chris is going to take her camping for a night, a promise he made to her last winter when he took Sofia skiing. Right now though, she isn't feeling well. She's had a nasty cough for over a week and last night she started to have some stomach issues (i.e. no one got enough sleep). Could be a virus I guess, but I can't help worry a little. Some. Ok, a lot. Is her medicine making her stomach upset? Is her cough related to scleroderma? I know it's unlikely from what I've read, but still. Then there's all the talk about H1N1. Now we have to get another vaccine? Of course, right? What if she gets swine flu? Turns out I have a lot on my mind regarding Maia. The pokes aren't going so well lately either. Four weeks in a row, she has protested quite dramatically, which makes things difficult. Chris has to restrain her and she's so tense. I suppose these phases are to be expected but it's not fun. Edited to say: Ok, so I talked to the ped rheumy fellow today and he didn't seem too concerned about the cough. Amazing what I can conjure up in my mind. Probably should have kept it to myself.

Work? What work? I'm trying to stay positive, but geez, this is ridiculous. So, I have been working on this (from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing):I meant to have two slippers ready for Sofia's first day of school (they are allowed to bring slippers to school to wear in the classroom). But I had to fiddle with the pattern, which is sized for adults, and unfortunately, I didn't fiddle enough. I finished one and it is too big. Argh. But, the good news is, I have plenty of fabric and now that I've done the pattern once, doing it again won't be hard. Famous. Last. Words.

Summer's Winding Down for Us

After our last visit to the ped rheumy (pediatric rheumatologist), we decided to try decreasing PT (physical therapy) to once a week. When we started all this back in January, it didn't occur to me that driving 15 miles to Agoura twice a week would start to get really old, really fast. The condition was that we would do some type of PT activities at home. So the first week I was rather unorganized which led to Maia not cooperating, me getting frustrated and giving up and doing a yoga video, which wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Then last week I got more organized and purchased a couple of really useful props and we ended up with a 20 minute session that is really all I could hope for...

We did a little competition where we picked up little metal balls with our toes and then there was walking around with a big elastic strap around our feet so that we had to try hard to press our legs apart. Finally, I made a little obstacle course where there was plenty of balancing, bending, and turning. Sofia joined in the fun. Hopefully it will be enough to keep the progress we've made and maybe even make some more.

Here we are at the Getty Center yesterday. We were a little surprised that they've increased the parking fee to $15 but all in all still a very affordable and fun-for-all afternoon. We like to walk up the hill (forgoing the tram) and I'm happy to report that Maia walked the whole way up - something she couldn't have done last summer. We tried to recreate this picture from couple years ago... my, my, my how we've grown. Sofia's going to be taller than me any minute now.
We have a friend turning 5 this week, so I whipped up a peasant skirt and a little head scarf for her. The scarf pattern is from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing. I made the top a little less wide and shortened the elastic to fit a child's head. Sofia is modeling for me and it seems to fit her fine. She and Maia have put in several orders for their own scarves and I have a few to make for myself, too.

And last, this bird has been coming around lately. I've seen them before but rarely. Any guesses you birders out there?

Hello Blog

I have written so many posts in my mind since my last post but somehow they haven't managed to show up here. Summer time kind of kicks my butt.

There's the one about my sister, Erin - pregnant - yay!! And all the stuff I want to make for that new baby coming to us in late December. I mean, it is OUR baby, too. Can't wait, really, I'm very excited.

There's the one about this sweater I started. And the wonderful linen-wool yarn I found at the LYS in Encinitas while we were visiting last month. I could go on and on about this project, mostly because I seem to be having some trouble reading instructions... or paying attention or something. I have started this project over twice and fixed several major mistakes involving going back several rows. But, I guess the bottom line is that I must really like knitting because I don't really mind. I mean, I hope to get a wearable sweater out of this eventually, and hopefully sooner rather than later, not that I need it now - hello July heat - but it's the process, man.

Then there's the one about some sewing I did back in June. My niece and nephew turned 3, so I made a "Kai's Shirt" and a "Smocked Sundress" from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. There are so many projects I want to try in that book but so far I haven't made it back to sewing. And since I didn't want to leave out big sister Shealyn, she got a peasant skirt. Shelley sent this picture of them in their outfits, so cute!!


Then there's the one about how much I hate the poking. And I'm the poker. Not the pokee. Enough said of that.

And the one about our 4th annual 4th of July party with friends, neighbors, and family. There was a pack of wild animals here, too. Actually it was the crowd of 6 and 7 year old girls. They had so much fun but they sure are loud! I put together a little craft project that was a bit too ambitious but it all worked out. Next year, I'll make something ahead of time so I can socialize a little more. The project was in a nutshell, a half of a toilet paper roll wrapped around a LED tealight, with a piece of white German kite paper wrapped around and taped to the other end of the tp roll, which was decorated with stars of various colors (this part was done by the kids). It made a fun light saber sort of thing for the kids to take on the walk over to our fireworks viewing spot. Pictures? No, darn. But it was a hit from the 2 year olds on up to the almost 13 year old boy.

Well, that's going to have to do it for this evening. I'm off to make some chamomile tea, and hit the sack. Tomorrow we've got a blood draw for Maia in the morning (didn't we just do one of those??), maybe a trip to Pandora's Paintbox as a treat, and swimming in the afternoon.

Summer!

We're in the thick of our first week of summer. Still scrambling a bit to figure out the new routine - like how to squeeze in swimming lessons, physical therapy, work, summer camp, and some lazy summer days. I made a new housework schedule about three weeks ago and recommited to sticking with it. So far so good. It feels much better, and hey, my house is clean(er)!

We were treated to a wonderful show at Peace Montessori on Friday for the last day of school. (I can't believe the school year is already over) They did yoga for us - it was so fun to watch. Then there was a play in Spanish, which I didn't understand but it was cute, too. And finally, a they played several songs on their recorders. I was very impressed. There are a few photos here.I'm a little late with these gifts, but the recipients probably won't notice. Twins, Connor and Sienna, turned 3 last weekend and so I whipped up some summer garb for them. I'm working on a peasant skirt made with the leftover fabric for their older sister, but it's not finished yet. They are "Kai's Shirt" and "Smocked Sundress", both from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. The dress was especially simple - I wish I'd known how to do this a few years ago. I'm eyeing so many projects in that book - I can hardly stand it!

I got my hair cut - ahhhh, no more ponytails for a while. I like it - still very low maintenance, and just a little more hip. Now Sofia wants hers short too - we'll see. Well, we're off to the Hillman folks this week, before summer camp starts. Just the girls - maybe a walk or two to the park, a trip to the beach, and some visiting with Grandma and GrandDad.

Little Artists

Just popping in to share the latest bulletin board offerings from Sofia and Maia. We try to keep their artwork limited to this space (believe me though it is hard). They are very prolific artists, knocking out at least several offerings per day. Their abilities seem to change daily. Maia especially has taken some great leaps lately, and has been drawing lots of people, hearts, and flowers. Her people are really starting to come to life. Sofia draws lots of family portraits, horses, and princesses. I just looked over there this morning and thought a picture was in order. Please go to flickr to get the full effect with notes and everything.

I am working on another skirt (the curtain skirt) I was almost finished when I pulled a couple dingbat maneuvers. The zipper I bought was a little too long so I trimmed it from the top (first mistake). No big deal, right? I hand sewed it into place (hand sewed!!) because I don't have the right presser foot for an invisible zipper. Well, I failed to sew stops at the top of the zipper and while fiddling with the waistband, I accidentally pulled the slider off the top of the zipper. Ack. Couldn't get it back on. So I'm off to Joanne's for a new zipper, which I will trim properly from the bottom, SEW A STOPPER, and re-handsew back into the skirt, which is turning out very cute and I can't wait to wear it. :)

Unfinished Business

But first...

It Ain't Easy Being Green
I spent Saturday at our local Arbor Day/Earth Day fair. I was helping out a friend whose craft studio had a booth for kids to decorate a canvas snack sack. Green enough, right? There was the usual mix of businesses and groups marketing their "greenness", local gardening groups and such giving stuff away like plant cuttings or seedlings, local government giving away oil pans for when you change your oil, vendors selling various wares (green and not so), fair food (no, not fair trade food, crappy fair food) and jolly jumpers powered by gasoline generators. Wha? I'm kidding right? No, sadly no. I suppose the argument could be made that in order to attract people and their children to the event, one needs such entertainment. And all these trinkets and reusable bags being given away? Made in China. So, in my humble opinion, we, in the land of many oaks, have a long way to go before we can truly call ourselves green.

Some might say I'm being too picky. It reminds me of an article I read recently (wish I could remember where...) about how the "green" movement is and always has been hampered by all the guilt-laden, end-of-the-world, people-are-so-evil rhetoric. Maybe so, but I guess I like to think of it as my religion.

On Sunday, I spent some time finishing up some long overdue projects. I had started a set of napkins for Erin and Tom but got busy and ended up giving them the first half in December (ahem). So those are done and on the way. Then, I finally got around to making some throw pillows for the girls' bed, you know that one we got way back in August of last year. The fabric was some left over Ikea curtain fabric and an Ikea duvet cover we weren't using. I still have a bunch of that groovy curtain fabric - and I'm eying it for another skirt. I'm either becoming very creatively frugal or I'm losing my mind.

Coming along... going away

My skirt is almost finished and I think I might actually be able to wear it! Just needs some buttons and a hook but it'll have to wait. I decided at the last minute to take the girls up north for the rest of the week to visit some family since we're on spring break.

Don't Count Your Chickens

I finished the girls' Easter skirts in record time (record time for me anyway) and I was feeling so smug having completed the skirts with few mistakes or redos, and I decided to start another project right away. I'd been eyeing these pillowcases in our linen closet for years. Maybe I could make a quick skirt for myself in time for Easter too... (why Easter skirts? No reason, just something to do).
Such cute fabric - Chris says they were his sheets as a kid, at least that's how he remembers it. I brought them out and convinced him that since we hadn't used them in the last 14 years of living together, that we probably should use them for something else. He agreed somewhat reluctantly. I started by searching for a tutorial on pillowcase skirts and found plenty but then realized that this fabric has a direction and all the tutorials use the fabric in the vertical orientation - of course, it's supposed to be a simple skirt.

So I had to think of plan B - no problem. I cut the top off the pillow case and would use it for the waist, then I cut the pillow case open along the bottom, sewed the side, hemmed it, and attached it to the top using the same gathering method from the girls' peasant skirts, put in some elastic at the top. Finished!

Where's the picture? Well, I put it on and Chris said, "how about if you...?" and "what if you...?" and "will it stop poofing out like that?" Hahahahahahahaha. It's not his fault, because even if he hadn't said anything, I probably still wouldn't have worn it. So, I'm back to the drawing board. Coming soon, a cute skirt made out of cute fabric, or not.

Spring Project

What started out as a "free" project has blossomed into a little more than free. I was just going to use up some cotton yarn that I had in my stash and make a cute little shirt for Maia (pattern at Soulful Hues Hobbies & Random Thoughts). And if it worked out, tweak the pattern to make a bigger one for Sofia. My mistake was asking the opinion of the intended recipient of the project... which led to a new yarn purchase. Oh and then I decided to make skirts to go with the knit tops... I went to the local big box fabric store with 40% coupon in hand and left thoroughly disgusted with their selection. I ended up at the local quilting shop, which has oh so much more to offer in the way of pretty fabric. So much for free.
Don't laugh, but I had to tack on the green because I had miscalculated how much of the blue yarn I had. It looks a bit like green grass under a blue sky, so I added the flower to increase the chance that Maia might actually choose to wear it without some sort of bribery involved. She is quite selective these days about her clothing. If it's not a pink dress, it's got a snowball's chance in, well, you know.Hopefully my pattern adjustments will work out for Sofia's version. She may need a camisole underneath if the arm holes ended up too big. I'm thinking about a simple wrap around pattern for the skirt found here. Or a may do an even simpler 3-tier peasant skirt.

Happy Bird for a Happy Day

Here's a happy bird to give away on a happy day. I settled on a slightly different bird for the exchange, but this one is a favorite of the several test birds I made. She is inspired by a bird I got from my grandmother as a child, seen here.

Leave a comment by Friday 5:00 PM PST and I'll pick a random winner. Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, and you don't have to be part of the bird exchange to win the free bird - so please leave a comment.

It must be almost Christmas...

I've been super busy finishing up some projects, but fun busy. Here's a quilt top for Sofia's doll cradle...

The cradle was a hand-me-down from a friend, which I decoupaged. No pictures of the cradle yet, as I haven't had too many moments to snap pictures of the gifts. And here's an almost finished fairy pagoda for Maia.

I made it from a pattern found here. I started this in early 2008 but had to put it away in the closet for months before I could bear to take it out again - too much satin stitch. It is very cute though and Maia will love it, especially since Santa is bringing some little fairies.

Lastly, there's been some gift bag making to supplement what a friend gave me last year. So far, we haven't used wrapping paper - yay! I'm sure it will remind some people in my family of my Nana, who used to wrap gifts in any old bag she could find, even a trash bag, but hey, I figure it's saving me time and money and makes me feel less wasteful.

We were supposed to leave this afternoon to begin our annual tour of California, also known as visiting our extended families. But, Sofia and Maia both came down with colds and Sofia has a fever and a stomach ache, so we decided to wait until the morning to head south and then north. What would a long car ride to visit family be without the threat of vomit? Ahhh, the holidays!

Merry, merry!

Big Changes Coming Our Way

Sofia has several loose teeth and the first is ready to go in the next several days, really just as soon as she gives it a good tug (I have no interest in doing it for her). I have been thinking about the big changes coming for her. Big girl teeth for one. I can't imagine how she is going to change in the next few months, with those big honkin' teeth coming in. No more baby face. First grade for another. I am so happy we kept her at her school for the three year program, the way it was intended. It seems like such a logical time for her to move on to the next phase. She is so clearly not a preschooler anymore. It's all very exciting and a bit bittersweet. I never knew that I'd feel sad about losing teeth.

Oh, and I finished up the tooth fairy fairy this weekend. She is made from wool felt, cotton embroidery floss and wool stuffing. She has a little pocket to hold the tooth for the tooth fairy and just enough space for a Sacagawea dollar. I modified the pattern for these tooth fairy bears to get the basic shape and made up the rest.