Happy 1st Birthday Jadon!

Today my little buddy turns 1 year old. Being a part of his first year has been a very important part of my life and I hope to continue the relationship I've built with him for many, many years to come. When Jadon was 4 months old his Mommy had two brain bleeds and fell into a coma. I travelled an hour each way, every day, Monday through Friday to take care of him for a few hours so his Daddy could go to the hospital. Finally Heather woke up but took a few weeks to battle pneumonia, two bacterial infections and a major blood clot in her leg that required surgery. She had brain damage from the severe brain swelling while she was in a coma so plans were made for her to go to a severe brain rehab center. She was due to go on Thursday but on Wednesday morning another blood clot travelled to her lung and she passed away. Jadon was just 6 months old. My cousin, his Daddy, was devestated. Not only was he dealing with the loss of the love of his life but he was now a 26 year old single father. I continued to go up and take care of Jadon Monday through Friday so that Jeremy could go and get out of the house and try to deal with things, or if he had errands to run or plain want to take a nap. He was free to do as he pleased and I just fell more and more in love with this little guy. A few months later I started going once a week and still continue to do so now. Watching Jadon grow makes me miss my own childrens' early years. He's such a good baby and he loves to give his "Aunt Bridgey" cuddles and I take every cuddle I get. I am in the middle of making his birthday present which I don't have finished yet due to all the craft fairs but I shall have by the end of this week. Plus I need to pick up his toy present as I've been eyeing a few things for months now trying to decide on the perfect present! Here are a few photos of his birthday. Love you little buddy, Happy Birthdayd!

Man Fabric - Hear Me Roar!

So, it's a bit like how hard it is for me to buy boy fabric as opposed to girl fabric for my bibs and such. I had lots of female fabric for snack bags and coffee cup cozies but not anything manly so realizing this gave me a reason to go to Joann's, my favorite place on Earth! It was a bit hard at first but then I got to the Debbie Mum section and found two that I really liked. Then I went to the clearance section and found another for only $3 a yard. I had plans to use my two 40% off coupons on the DM fabric but when I got to the cutting table one of them didn't have a full yard on the bolt, only 34" so she told me I was to get it for 1/2 off since it was under a yard and shouldn't have been out on the shelf. WOOT WOOT can you see me doing the happy dance in the middle of the store? I have really been trying not to over spend but hated to not use my coupon so I meandered over to the candy molds and found one to use my coupon on without breaking the bank. I'll be using them to make crayons in the near future. Here are the 3 man fabrics I got

Fabric addicts unite! 

New Sewing Area Yay!!!!!

After many weeks of trying to decide what to do and how to organize my sewing area it has finally been created. We had to change rooms around and the computer room became the living room and the computers went up to the landing where there is plenty of space for them and what used to be the living room is now my sewing room and Kai's (my husband) painting area. Here is one section that is housing my fabrics. I need one more shelf underneath my fabric and one underneath the row to the right where my notions will go, but we'll get that sorted this weekend.

This is the other side of my area with my sewing cabinet to the left and my cutting table to the right. I was too eager to take photos and didn't clean off the cutting table yet but as of this moment it is indeed done.

I am fortunate to have this extra area and to have it spread out and not cramped. The walls over the sewing cabinet and cutting table will get some shelving as well but I haven't decided what to put there. To the left I might do a bit of peg board.

We had another craft fair last weekend and did reaonably well. There is another this Saturday so I need to get sewing to make matching sets of things that got sold individually last weekend or that I just hadn't gotten done. I've gone through everything and have my list which inclues 7 baby blocks, 30 snack size reuseable bags, 28 sandwich size reuseable bags, 10 lovey ribbon blankets, 13 bibs and 5 burp cloths. The next few days are going to be busy busy busy! Must..... stay....... focused.

Bad, Bad Blogger

I have been a terrible blogger but it i my intention to do better from here on out!

The last few months have seen me trying to set up a routine for sewing to make inventory for the upcoming craft fairs. I haven't mastered the routine yet but I'm getting there!

One project I'm proud of is a small quilt that managed to get sewn. A few years ago I purchased some already cut 4" squares on Ebay because I was just starting and couldn't figure out a rotary cutter to save my life. They were the most beautiful colors and I never could decide what to do with them. They sat on my sewing table for the last few weeks staring at me and there wasn't enough to make much of anything useful. I decided to just take what I had and make a pattern and sew them. I backed it with minky. It's a nice size to use for a car seat blanket so that is what it has become!

Other than that not much has gone on. Today starts a new day of regular posting even if it's just a silly story about the dogs :)

Today's Baby Craft is Brought to You by the Letter "J"

While perusing the internet looking for more ideas I came across a blog ( http://twelvecraftstillchristmas.blogspot.com/ ) I think has a lot of useful ideas! Today I decided to make one and am pleased with my prototype.

Now I think I want to make it bigger and then put crinkly stuff in it and maybe position the tags a little differently but I'm happy as far as how it turned out with just winging it. I believe the lady who's idea I snitched worked with a larger size and I like that better and she had more tags.

The past week has seen me send my first born, Jordayn, off to her own apartment two hours away. I didn't cry but it has been very different around here without her. I miss her chatter and her laughter and the mom/daughter time we used to sneak in from the guys. I'm glad for her though and I hope this new chapter in her life is a life lesson on her way to adulthood. As we were getting things packed for her to go I came across my very first quilt top I worked on when I was taking care of my dad through his cancer treatment. I didn't have a machine then so it's hand sewn and I never finished it. Jordayn asked if she could have it so I thought I would put a back on it quickly and wanted it to be fun so I bought some rainbow stripped fleece. At a later time I'll do a proper backing but wanted her to have something special.

Tuesday starts school for my son, Kyle, as he starts his first year in high school. He's ready to go back I think so that he can be around his friends again. I thought he'd be nervous but that doesn't seem to be the case just yet. Here's hoping he stays that way!

I'm hoping to make sure I post here more often and not put so much time in between. Things keep getting hectic but I need to make myself make time.

Taggies, wipes and bibs!

The last few days have been busy and I've been working on a few things. Today was our sewing 'club' and although I didn't actually sew anything I did cut my spools of ribbons into 5" and 4" strips and bag them up to make transporting them and making taggie blankets, blocks and balls easier. I also pieced together my reusable baby wipes I had decided to try. When I got home tonight I actually sewed the wipes together and took photos and am now ready to post on what I've been working on. The bibs I made have 100% cotton on one side and terry cloth on the other. I snitched one of Jadon's bibs and traced it onto paper to make a pattern. Here he is enjoying it!

Here are the other two I made. I love the owl!

So where I cut the head out the shape that came out of it was sort of whale like or tear drop. I decided they were the perfect size for some reusable wipes for babies or children. The top is soft flannel and the bottom is terry cloth. They are the perfect size for wiping dirty faces, runny noses, scrapped knees and everything in between. Throw them in the wash and reuse!

Last but not least are the five taggie blankets I made for my order. She chose the polka dots and the weiner dog blankets! I'll put the other three up for sale or save for our craft table this fall.

Busy, busy, busy!

I have been working on some projects but haven't gotten photos of the finished projects yet. Tomorrow I should be able to get the up. Monday started our first sewing get together. I have recently gotten back in with a couple of friends from Middle School, Krista and Missy. Krista was going to Missy's house to get help with a quilt she's working on for her daughter who is heading off to college soon and invited me to go along. We had a really great time and Missy had found me a project to work on for next Monday. We have decided to meet each Monday and sew, bounce ideas off one another and just chit chat.

Wednesday was Jadon Day and I spent 4 hour cuddling and coo'ing with my favorite little man. I love to see how he's grown and what new things he's doing each week when I go. He was the happy recipient of one of my projects and he looked darn cute in it as well.

Today I took my step-dad to the doctor's for his 6 week check up. He has severe COPD and is monitored heavily. The smallest lung infection can send him into a dangerous downward spiral. Things are good today though with just a new script for allergy meds. Since I've been home I've been trying to finish up the order I have for taggie blankets. She ordered two but I've made 5 so she has a choice since she didn't specify exactly what she wanted. Then I need to get working on the Americana quilt order that I have.