Lately

It's that rare moment when I'm up before my kids.  This has maybe happened twice in seven years, and while I like the idea of starting my day with peace and quiet, sleep trumps everything.

That inward-turning end-of-pregnancy thing is happening and I haven't had much to say/post as I get ready for this new little guy.  I've been trying to do a better job of preparing the boys for what to expect, and now that it's the third time around I think I have a good idea of what they need to know.  Information often comes to me at dinner or in the car.  Yesterday I realized that I hadn't told them about the possibility that they could wake up in the morning and Chris and I would be gone at the hospital, which is obviously important to know.

Anyway, I think they're ready.  The co-sleeper is ready.  The car seat is ready.  The diapers are ready.  I'm HALMOST (Danny's word for "almost") ready...

I only have one more goal that I want to complete before the baby arrives now that I've finished this quilt for the peeps who fixed my computer...

Here's Danny watching it spin...

And here it is all wrapped up...

This thing was huge and there were a few times when I was cramming it through my machine when I thought it might put me into labor, but I finished it on Tuesday.  It's king-sized.
Speaking of labor, here's a list of things that haven't put me into labor yet...
1.  Unloading 8 bags of groceries.
2.  Kneading bread.
3.  Vacuuming.
4.  Basting a king-sized quilt.
5.  Putting snow-gear on Danny.

Yesterday Danny and I had this exchange...
Me:  Okay, "Thumb in the thumb hole, fingers all together, this is the song we sing for mitten weather."
Danny:  (shoves whole hand into mitten)
Me:  No, start over.  Put your thumb in here.  No.  Here, stick your thumb out.  Now put it in here.  No, here, make a fist, now put your thumb in here.  Feel this spot?  That's where your thumb goes.  No, put it in here.  Feelthehole?That'swhereyouputyourthumb. Dannyrighthereputyourthumbno,stickoutyourthumbputyourthumbin (This goes on for three to five minutes.)
Danny:  (Looks straight in the eye, calmly,)  I don't care about this.
Me:  Oh...    ...  ...  Okay.  (crams hand into mitten and sends him on his merry way.)

Recent Projects...

A flannel robe for Mattie, who is always cold (Pattern from Sewing For Boys)...

He picked out the fabric and it wasn't what I would have chosen, but I'm happy with how it turned out.  He looks very cute in it.

Place-mats (Pattern from Little Things To Sew)...

Mittens from felted sweaters...

Dollhouse food for a handwork sale...

And pear-blueberry crisp with cardamom...

Nap Mat Completed

Well, it took us half an hour, but we finally found fabric that we could both agree on...

I don't love it, but Joe does and that's more important.  I guess.  The core is a foam exercise mat that we got at Target and cut to size...

Also, this egg/banana guy appeared spontaneously...

School Pants for Mattie

Pattern:  Basic Pocket Pants from Growing up Sew Liberated

For the Cape

I think that finding out that we're having another boy has something to do with my recent increase in production of home-made things.  Luckily, these boys of mine like home-made clothes (especially Joe.)  Here are the beach bathrobes that I made for them in between trips to the fabric store for quilting supplies...

Green is for Mattie, white is for my niece, the hoods are lined with flannel...

Mattie only wore his for a few seconds because I accidentally told him he looked cute, but I'm hoping he'll wear his at the beach.  Danny however, was perfectly happy to model his...

The Pattern is by Made...

I'm not quite finished with Joe's.  He wants one without a hood because it will look "less babyish" that way.  I should be able to complete it tonight after kid bedtime since I already cut the pieces...

Which reminds me:  Try to cut through two pieces of terry cloth with these scissors.  Go ahead, try.

YOU CAN'T.

I bought these as a belated birthday present to myself...

Ooooh baby, they are such a relief.

For a Friend

This quilt is for a friend who is moving to Portland at the end of this month...

My studio...

I can't quite get the color right in this picture, it's slightly more muted than comes off in this shot...

Anyway, I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Doll for Danny

I finally finished this doll today...

I wonder if I'll ever make it clothes.

Hula Loop

Joe and I made this Hula Hoop on Wednesday..

New Pants: Sewing Without Tears

People who know how to sew, avert your eyes.
Last summer I bought this serger on craigslist...

The woman I bought it from tried to give me instructions on how to thread it when I picked it up from her in a parking lot, in the rain, so needless to say I didn't retain much of what she told me.  She had lost the manual for it and when I got it home I saw this...

Oh geez.  So I took a class and the next day, I made this!...

But the real goal was pants for Joe because 1.)  He is very particular about fit and style and 2.)  He has the physique of a stick figure and it's hard to find pants that stay up AND look and feel the way he wants.
So I went to Mood when I was in NY last summer and bought some heavy jersy knit fabric, washed it, ironed it and then left it in the closet to "cure" for half a year.  Then we discovered a hole in the knee of one of his three pairs of pants on Friday and the conversation went like this...
Me:  Just wear them.
Joe:  But nobody else has holes in their pants!
Me:  Well, wear them today and I will put a patch on them when you get home.
Joe:  BUT NOBODY ELSE HAS PANTS WITH PATCHES!
Me:  Okay, well...  I'll see if I can find that fabric I bought for making pants and I'll work on them this weekend.

PROMISE KEPT!
And here's why I recommend that sewers avert their eyes...

I don't really know what the heck I'm doing.  But I'm inspired by Elizabeth Zimmerman's book, "Knitting Without Tears" and if I were to describe my approach to sewing, it would be "Sewing Without Tears":  So what if they don't look perfect, I'm not trying to make them look like they came from the store.  I did consider doing a mock-up first, seeing as I had no pattern (not that I would know how to use one anyway.)  But I thought that seemed tedious so I just went for it.
And here was the result...  Note the "I hate these ridiculous new pants" expression.

But, BUT...  After some tweaking and a waistband, the response was, "These feel good, can I wear them today?"

Me to Chris:  What do you think?
Chris:  Well, they look home-made, but they're pretty good for a first try!

Um, thanks.

Thursday's Monday List

Dear Boys,

This week we're grateful for...

::Hand-made gifts...

(this is a hooked rug from my aunt Jane...  my heart melted when I saw it.)

 ::Joe's fantastic violin teacher and the introduction of the 4th finger...

 ::Dinners out with friends...

::The return of all the birds and their songs
::The sounds of melting outside
::Wondering where all the boys went and finding them here...

::Home-made snails...

 ::Watching a coyote run across the frozen river...

Love,
Mom.

Another Snow Day

Dear Boys,

There was a lot of talk yesterday about the approaching blizzard, so much talk that it wasn't until half-way through the day that I realized that Matthew thought that a big LIZARD was coming to Michigan.  Poor guy, you were trying to be brave, but we could see you were nervous.  We got that all cleared up though and this is what we woke up to after a night of snowfall...

That's the sun on the left, by the way.  When it does manage to shine through the almost continuous cloud cover, we try to soak up as much as possible.  But it's been warm enough inside for dough to rise on the counter...

And I made these rice-filled, microwavable boot warmers...

And of course, there's hot chocolate...

I also made this little crown for a new big sister...

Now to brave the snow and get to the post office to mail it off!