A Skirt For A Teen

Elena was in need for another church skirt so we found some pretty fabric from my never ending mound of stash fabric that passed her approval.Of course, she did not need to twist my arm to whip this up for her this evening.





When I was Elena's age I just loved to sew and spend most all of babysitting money on fabric to make some crazy creation. Most of my creations did not turn out actually wearable in public but some did. Elena is not as fond of sewing as I am. She loves music,reading,texting,cooking,and talking.Her craft of choice is working with paper,not quite scrap booking but paper fashions. She is very good at it. She is a very good writer as well.I usually do not want her to read over my shoulder when I blog or email because she sees my many writing mistakes.Her interests are very similar to her father's.BUT Elena asked to sew up a pair of flannel pj bottoms all by herself sometime.We have the pieces all cut out and hopefully she will get to them soon. It will be fun to sew with her.

Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

Another HeavenWord Handlers Performance!

This evening the HeavenWword handlers had another great performance! They performed during our own Waseca boys varsity basketball halftime.

Thanks for the video Elena!



Grant also got his basketball team pictures today. Grant is #4. Handsome young man that Grant it. Just like his dad. Next Thursday will be Grant's last game of the season. Alan finished up his season this week.



Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

Just plain Thursday Cute!

My goal tonight (Monday the 1st) is to catch up on all my posts from the past week!Where does the time go!!!

I'm off to a great start with this cute as a button little toddler...



Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

A Bunch Of Random Thoughts About Random Things

I glimpsed at the first line of my post yesterday and it made me laugh. I am sure you know I was not REALLY juggling my laptop and a dish as I went down the stairs. For some reason the picture of me actually juggling the laptop and dish as I walked down the stairs in my old taped up shoes made me laugh. In my mind, it would look sort of like a Dr. Seuss book. The kids do say I am kind of weird,though. So maybe someday I would come down the stairs actually juggling just not my laptop.

~~~~~

Here is what I came up with as a quilt top for my Little Golden Book cloth book quilt sets. I still need to sew the blocks together so they really will not look this crooked. I am thinking if I do not put an actual border around the quilt but use either a blue binding or something goldish...looking at the picture I decided a goldish binding would be very nice. Decided! I'm pleased.




I sent Joel to dress himself for AWANA today.
Hm... He is looking kind ragamuffin-ish. Do I let him go to church like this,I think to myself...Ah,why not! Let everyone wonder what kind of mom I am...my feathers are not ruffled. At least I cleaned his fingernails.



Got to love his shoe and sock choice.
No doubt this boy has older sisters (borrowed socks) and would rather wear big shoes that he can slip on instead of to having to actually sit still for me to put on ones that fit.



What do you think of how we patch socks around here?!




Lastly, here is my new computer set-up.I do not cringe as much when I look at the lap top screen anymore.Soon I will not even notice it.




Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

Quiet Tuesday

Yesterday as I was going down the stairs while juggling my laptop computer and a dish, I slipped on my old worn out broken taped up shoes I insist on wearing. I ended up falling down the stairs right on my bottom. Good thing I have a very well padded tush!

Anyway,I kept the plate from falling but my laptop sailed down 1 1/2 flights of stairs, crashed into our wash machine ending up on the wood floor. The fall shattered the screen, and damaged the right side of the laptop where the dvd player is. I was so upset with myself. It is our only computer. Well,Jeff and Grant went over to Wallmart last night to check out the cost of a new laptop. They were more money than we had.

I thought Jeff would have to close down my Etsy shops and blog from his work computer until we could save up for another home laptop. My smart boys thought instead that they could buy a monitor for a fourth the price and bypass the broken screen. It worked!!! Of course, my laptop it not as portable anymore but it works. The DVD player part is very banged up but still works,too. As long as this set up lasts for about 6 months or so until I can save up a little extra, I will be just fine. Hmm...it might mean not as many trips to the fabric store...that will be a challenge because Saturday there is a pretty nice sale at JoAnn's.


On a fun note, someone purchased one of my cloth book/blanket sets in my Etsy shop.I am just pleased as punch! Why? Because I knew that a set like that was a good idea and it is my first set like that I sold. Very exiting!!!

It inspired me to search through my stash and start on a few more cloth book/blanket sets this week. I decided to focus on these two cute Little Golden Book cloth books.

The Saggy Baggy Elephant and



The Poky Little Puppy.

Aren't they just SO cute!!!!




I thought I would use this yard of fabric to make two little blankets (like the one I made to match the yellow dress last week) to match the fabric books.Something pieced. I have to think about how I can best make use of the yard of fabric.Maybe Ohio Stars again...I'm not exactly sure...I will think on it until tomorrow evening.




Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

A Fun Sunday Afternoon

I finished up my Ohio Star baby blanket. It turned out so cute!!!I really like this idea of using a small quilt top (this one is about 29 x 29) and instead of making a full quilt using the top as a baby blanket. I think I am on to something good!! I think it is practical as well as pretty...I hope at least.



I did not add batting but instead added a backing of white minky fabric which is why it is a blanket and not a quilt.



I think it makes the prettiest baby set! I just might be the only mom who would picked out her baby's blanket or quilt based on what I dressed my baby in for a day out. I am just a little odd...

I am exited to get this in the mail.



I know that my homeschurching the smaller kids seems a little odd to most.In all fairness to me, I have not really fully explained exactly why I stay home with the younger bunch on Sundays. That is more of a private family issue so I will not. But I have to say, like I did last Sunday, this has been hands down the funnest I have had with my children thus far. I am with them all the time and we have a lot of fun but I really look forward to our Sunday mornings together.

Today, we ran a little long so a few of our other kids joined in when they came home from regular church. Jeff was even able to share some Bible truths with my class. How great is that!!!

Our verse for the past few weeks was

For great is his love toward us.
Psalm 117:2








I am feeling like I am coming down with something...a head cold of sorts...No time to sit around sick!

Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

Love and War Tour

Jeff took Elena,Grant,Cyrus,and a few of their friends (Kayla,Sammy,and Jacob) to the Love and War Tour at Club 3 Degrees staring BarlowrGirl,Stellar Kart, and VOTA this past Saturday night. Of course they had a lot of fun!!

Here are a few of Elena's pictures.

A Stellar Kart band member



Maybe VOTA (?)



A BarlowGirl band member



Kayla,Sammy,and Elena with Stellar Kart



Elena with BarlowGirl


Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

Here is one of my Ohio Stars.



Isn't it going to look great as a set with the little dress? I'm exited to see it all finished. I'm hoping to get it finished up this weekend.




Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

A Sweet Little Dress

Last night I had the itch to make something nice and pretty.

I dug out this very pretty dainty fabric from my stash and started on a little baby dress. I only had a yard of this fabric.I could not make a dress for Lily so I decide I would make a 1/2 size which I thought would be about a 6 months size or so as a gift for a friend.

It turned out just like I envisioned it would. Nice and dainty and just plain 'ol baby sweet.



Isn't the fabric just so pretty? I must have bought this at Jo-Ann's at some point.I was able to salvage eight 5" squares out of the extras. I was thinking of making a Ohio Star receiving blanket to match using the left over squares as the Ohio Star centers.



I used this New Look pattern in size 1/2. I like that the pattern was labeled easy. I can do easy! I tried the dress on Lily as reference and it fit her as a little top so the pattern must run a little big. Dresses like this are nice because they can be used for a few years.First as a dress then as a little top.




On another note: Does anyone read The Southern Minny BUZZ? Here is a fun fact I read in the BUZZ tonight:

There is no word in the English language that rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

and there was also this quote by Abraham Lincoln:

"Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle."

Now how on earth did Lincoln know so much about the Frye dinner table?!


Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

Seasons

I have been thinking about things lately

Isn't it neat that God created seasons?

Spring,summer,fall,winter.
It is one of the fun things about living in Minnesota.
I was thinking how neat that God does that in our lives as well.
We all are walking in our own season.
There are age related seasons and life seasons and even mini seasons within a season!

I was thinking just as summer leads to fall one life season leads to the next.
With each season we walk through, God is doing things in our lives.
Some are visible to others but some are hidden underground and not to be seen until we enter the next season in our lives.
At times it seems as though some people can skip a whole season.

It can be easy for me to look at a moment in another person's life and misunderstand why they do what they do,even forgetting that a season does not always define where their relationship with God is at.

Anyway,I guess my blog is just a peek into this season of my life where I am at right now.
Sometimes, I am very exited to write what is going on around here. Other times, I am embarrassed by my weaknesses that are visible to you all. I fail and I succeed.

In the end I would like to say that those of you who read my blog could stand as a witness as to the great things God has done.

He took a little sad lonely girl who could not see a life worth living past the 8th grade and lifted her out of her despair and set her on firm ground.
He walked her through many, many seasons of life,some she flew through, some she could barley crawl though,some she needed to be carried through.
He changed her. He took this little girl who thought she was unlovable,unvaluable and placed a value upon her head.
Not only that God had plans for her.
Because of that there are now fourteen...fourteen little lives under her charge.
Eight lives that would have never been and six others who knows what their lives would have been like if still in Africa.
God not only lifted her out of her deep pit he gave her so much more than she could dream of or imagine.
I do not write this with pride but with extreme humility,awe,and gratefulness that God saw fit to include me in his plan.
That he would lead me through each season of my life up 'til this point.
And guess what?
This little girl's life is only half over...I wonder what God has planned for the next half.


"The Lord saved me from the paw of the lion.
He saved me from the paw of the bear.
And he'll save me from the powerful hand of this Philistine too."

1 Samuel 17:37

That verse sums my life up so very well.

In light of those thoughts we need a little Lily cuteness.





This picture below shows that teens need a little mothering despite what they (ok, just maybe mine) think at times.

A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down quite well once the medicine is crushed into very tiny bits that is.





Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

Happy 9th Birthday Josh!!!

Josh, my sweet, sensitive, encouraging young man!

I love you!!!









Josh loved the pjs.



Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

A Weekend Of Projects

It has been a pretty busy weekend but off and on I got a few things finished up.
It helped that dad had today off!

I made these real cool pj's for Josh's birthday Tuesday. I made the flannel bottoms and added some applique to a purchased t-shirt.



I saw a free 'how to' make a child's chalkboard apron pattern at Jo-Ann's a while back and thought I would make a few for my shop. Here is my demo. The pattern is pretty strait forward and was listed as a skill level 2 but I thought it was pretty tricky to make. I might just make the three others I have materials for but have that be the end of my chalkboard aprons.It did turn out cute, though.



The last of my skirts that took me about a year to make!




Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy

A Very Busy Day!!

Since I am still not organized enough to get to church with the younger kids I though a little home churchgoing would fit us well! So while Jeff and eight of the kids were off at regular church I held our first children's home church. No need to wear matching clothes or braid hair or even make sure finger nails were clean. No pressure to do anything but learn about God and enjoy each other. I am still working on the worship part. We had a great time! In all honesty I just loved it! I truly did. Of course, the goal is to get organized enough to go to church as a family but we think this is a good solution at this point for our family.





Of course, later in the day was Valentines celebration time!!

Jeff,Joyce,and Alan made a very tasty meal of Italian sausage and peppers. It was very good.



and thanks to A Baker's Dozen for their mention of The Duggar's Layered Ice Cream Cake we had a wonderful dessert made by Josh and Anya.



Only a tot can get away with wearing glamorous high heals along with a very chocolaty face.




Warmly,
A Patchwork Mommy