delusions of grandeur

here's my entry into the sewmamasew husqvarna serger giveaway!  enjoy!

 sadly, this is how my mind works.   most of the time i am pretty happy being plain old me.  but once in awhile, these delusions of grandeur pop up.  maybe, just maybe, winning this serger would help make some of those lofty dreams come true!  thanks for the chance, and good luck to everyone who entered!!  

another chance to win!

one of the gals in my bee vintage group has a wonderful site called the vintage sheet blog.  right now she's teamed up with moda fabrics to give away some of their new line - dream on by urban chiks.  there are three prizes, so what say i win one, and two of you win the others, hmm?  go here to enter!

apple-licious

can i say how much fun i'm having this week?  i loved being pregnant, but it is limiting in terms of what you can get done.  my flowerbeds were overtaken with grass and weeds, and the weather has cooled off a bit, so i tackled them yesterday.  i am hoping to pick up a few mums to plant this weekend.  only one of mine came back from last year.  i had hoped to spend my afternoons sewing this week, but we are refinancing the house (super low rates!!!) and they are doing an appraisal next week.  so i will be cleaning and decluttering all week instead.

i did get started on my quilts for kids project though.  so fast and easy.  i may go ahead and finish it up, just so nothing gets misplaced in the cleaning frenzy.  i also made a pair of lounge pants for the boys to fight over, and a dress for emma.  three more washcloths were knit last week too.  pics to come, maybe after school today.

i  made cinnamon apples for dessert last night - why i don't make them more often, i'm not sure.  it's so simple - cook 4 sliced granny apples in 1 Tb. butter and 2 Tb. water with 1/2 c. brown sugar and some cinnamon and nutmeg.  takes about 8 minutes, and tastes so delish with vanilla ice cream.  or vanilla yogurt for breakfast.  or straight out of the pan while no one is looking.

finally, here's chunky butt in his tie onesie (tute at crap i've made).  my daughter laughed when she saw him, and said "he has a man shirt on!"  we had a weight check on monday - he's gained a full pound since we left the hospital last wednesday!!!

settling in

so we had a baby. he's wonderful. he looks just like his brothers and i'm sure will be every bit as ornery in time. he's just, you know, perfect. it's a good thing we waited til our thirties to start a family, because if i was a spring chicken i'd probably have more kids than the duggars. i just looooove newborns.

vital stats - he was born at 8:38am, weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces, and 20 1/2 inches long. he's the easiest birth i've had, only 8 minutes of pushing, and he's an expert breastfeeder right out of the gate. the older kids are so enthralled with him - no jealousy or issues there, except that the poor baby may get smothered with stuffed animals. they keep bringing him gifts and toys, fighting over who gets to throw away his dirty diapers. and it's awesome. i feel so incredibly blessed to have all this.

this weekend i am planning to do some sewing, my folks are keeping the older kids for a sleepover and i am excited to make some stuff. i have a quilt kit that arrived today - from quilts for kids. if you've never heard of it, please find out more, they do great work. there currently isn't a chapter in kansas, but i plan on trying to get some people involved.  for now though, i wanted to give something back for all the goodness in my life.  and the free kit i received is soooo great!  it's amy schimler fabrics, with the cutest turtles and a fun quilt pattern.  it's all precut and includes directions, so if you're a beginner, this would be a good project for you!  they do ask that you return the finished quilt within 6 weeks, and also include another of your own making.  i'll post some pics as i get started with it - hopefully saturday night!

you need to hurry!

there is a fabulous week of giveaways going on - but i am a little late as usual!  hop over to reanna lily designs to enter for great prizes!

oops!

well, i guess i should choose a winner for the vintage sheet fat quarter giveaway!  i never did set an end time on it, silly me.  and this is a good time to let you know about another round of vintage sheet fat quarter swapping getting ready to start - go here to put your name in if you're interested.  i'm definitely in this round.  i actually started cutting some of my stash into quarters before baby came so i will be ready to go.  so, RNG, who's it gonna be?

number eight would be phone home designs by et!  can you drop me an email with your address and favorite color for vintage sheets?  if you have a fave sheet, send me a link and if i have any i will share :)

meet sawyer daniel

we're home and doing well.  happy, healthy, tired and blessed.  i'll talk to you soon.

my sweet babies

i know i've been leaning more towards the personal here on this crafty lil' blog of mine. i do keep a separate blog for this stuff, but some of it i feel like sharing with everyone!! like these pics we had taken today - love love love.

sharing is caring

you know i have a girl crush on ginger over at wiener dog tricks.  you've seen her projects over at sewmamasew before.  she's celebrating being on a podcast at a new site called greenstitch!  it's brand new, but looks like it will be a good source for upcycled inspiration.

well, she has generously offered up a coupon code i can share with all of you!!  right now save 25% off any of her patterns in her shop, by entering the code regulars25.  i'd love the gorgeous nerd bag myself.

want some more link love?  next week there is a slew of giveaways going on over at 30 days!



and finally, i am headed upstairs to make a coupon holder for my next grocery trip.

photo courtesy of blue cricket designs

it's exactly what i've thought about making, only she did all the hard parts for me.  you know, the math, the figuring.  go check out the tute over at blue cricket design!


EDIT!!  here's my version!

tell me what you think!

good morning and happy weekend!  i am excited today!  troy is taking the kids to the pond again, which means alone time for momma!  i don't even know where to begin.  should i continue with organizing my sewing stuff? finish sewing a work in progress?  (i still haven't done the binding on baby's quilt...)

or turn the above pieces into a coin quilt?  i think it needs more variety, still playing around with fabrics.  i love the colors for a boy, but the one print has flowers in it.  too girly?  or should i paint my nails and take a nap? read a book?  like i said before, a girl could get used to this, what do you call it, ME time!?

 this comes right on the heels of my fun day yesterday.  troy was working overtime on his day off, so mom and dad came over to keep the kids while i went to lawrence for my doctor appointment.  only 18 days left!  and mom shooed me out and told me to enjoy my day, not rush back.  so i did.  i went thrifting, and scored a ton of vintage sheets!  also a cute jacket and sweater for emma.  and target was having some good 75% clearance deals, so i got a lot of clothes for my boys.  can't beat $1.24 for polo shirts.

sorry for rambling.  i'm a little giddy with all the freedom!  i washed all the sheets up last night, and i plan to cut fat quarters from most of them to list in my etsy.  i have amassed quite a collection, and i thought i might try selling off a bit of it to make some room on my shelves.  what would you pay for a fat quarter bundle of four?  i'm curious.  i'm thinking no more than $4, plus shipping.  leave me a comment!  i'll pick a random winner and mail you out a v.s. fat quarter in your choice of color!

c'mon kid!

no baby yet. grumble. i have been tidying and trying to get my ducks in a row. i have some issues with anxiety and PPD, so it makes sense to eliminate chaos before giving birth!

i finished cutting my i-spy swap blocks for so simply stephanie, and will mail them later today.  i need to cut my squares for the 2nd swap i joined. i may need to go shopping for one or two more, but i didn't realize what a stash i had already! that's a good thing, i think? as long as i share?  i don't want to duplicate because i know i'm not the only one doing both swaps.

here's what i'm sending to stephanie.  the red/yellow print on the right is a mary englebreit compass print.  there's some heather ross frogs and turtles on the left, love!  i bought the cow print years ago, and it's still a fave of mine.  a little of my coveted handwriting print, and the others i'm sort of "eh" about.  but variety is good in an i-spy quilt, and i think it's a good mix of girly/manly prints.

i worked on my august hexagon blocks for bee vintage.  i have one cut, ready to be sewn.  choosing fabrics for the 2nd was frustrating me, so i decided to come back to it later and sew them up.  i'd love to get that sent off as well.

i'm mailing my application for this fall's craft show.  it's a juried show, but i think i will get a spot.  now my only dilemna is that my parents will be out of town that weekend, and i was counting on them to keep the older kids!  i've got SOS emails out to a few friends and family, but so far no one has stepped forth to save the day.  i have until november, so i'm sure i can come up with somebody.  and of course, there's always my husband.  but i was sort of hoping he could help me that day.  9-4 is a long time to sit at a booth by yourself, and i will probably still be nursing the new kid.

saturday i kept busy in the kitchen, canning jalepeno jelly and also made two berry freezer jam.  and i remembered why i only can once a year or so.  but the payoff is so yummy!