My real first quilt

I made this quilt for my best friend's third baby boy. Let me tell you, I would only do it for my bestest best friend. My fingers where tattered and bleeding when I was done. Why, you ask? Only because I had no earthly idea what I was doing.

See that lovely hand quilting? The applique? I don't quite know what was inside this quilt. It sure as heck wasn't Warm and Natural. It probably wasn't even polyester batting from Wal-Mart. Knowing me, it was an old blanket of some sort in there. And I wondered why it was so dang hard to quilt.

I only remember feeling like it was an endless task. And it was pretty small. Meant to be crib sized. Or maybe drag-around-the-house-until-it-is-in-tatters size. I'm glad I did it, though. Her second boy got a basketweave knit blanket. Also an endless task, but it helped me to learn to knit. Oh, that was a long time ago. It was acrylic. Ugh. But the first boy? The first boy got a lava lamp. WTF, Cricket?

But looking at this quilt? The thing that stands out the most? Damn, that floor looks nice. Freshly painted, not chipped or worn, not covered with stickers, paint that doesn't really come off, sticky foam or applesauce. And absolutely no dog hair. Even though I had two dogs. I tell ya, I'd trade that pretty floor for the wee princesses of the household any day. But it sure would be nice to have the magic painting fairy stop by again.

Incidentally, tomorrow I am painting my mother's kitchen ceiling. My mother's cathedral kitchen ceiling. Which is also her bedroom ceiling. Wish me luck. I'm being paid with a Wii. Pretty sweet deal for both of us seeing as how the professional painted gave her a quote of $450.

Devil in a blue dress

Yesterday during my blog wanderings I spotted a cute fabric covered headband with a shamrock that slid on. I do wish I could remember where I saw it now, as to provide a link, but I was on a link following escapade that I can't even begin to recreate. So last night at Target, I picked up the cheapest headbands I could find. Because even if I buy the sturdy ones my girls will break them. Sigh. In fact, Blue wore three of them to school today, and I am sure three will not come home this afternoon. When the girls saw them, Ivy immediately claimed the blue one because blue is her new favorite color. Yes, her mother is both proud and thrilled. She told me she was going to wear it to bed, and I told her no, but she could wear it to school the next day. She was happy with that, and told me she would wear a dress, too. So I said that would be really nice, maybe she could wear her blue dress to match. Her reply? "Mama, you make me a blue dress from Daddy's old shirt." Verbatim, people.

Around midnight I finished concocting this dress. It isn't quite like I had planned, but it fits surprisingly well, and it was a good learning experience. Overall, I'm quite happy with it. I showed it to J when I finished and while I didn't expect him to like it, his response was so much more startling than I had expected. The furrowed brow, the baffled look in his eyes. "Well, it's a nice little dress. It's...ahhh... random, though. And it looks a  like lightning." To which I replied "Actually, it's in fashion." "Oh!" Says he.

Well, then.

I don't know it it really is in fashion., Ruffles - check. Flowery ruffles - check. Refashioned polo shirt - check. Whatever. It was a challenge because this is one of J's work shirts from his old, municipal, job and there was an (extremely unremovable) embroidered logo on it. He didn't feel comfortable giving it to Goodwill for that reason, so it was up to me to make something wearable out of it. And I did.

Not only that, but the girl likes it. Actually, she cried when she saw it because she said she wanted long sleeves. But I reminded her that it is almost springtime, and she would get to wear it more with short sleeves and that made her happier.

And as long as we were doing a photo shoot - overexposure notwithstanding - I put her into her new bonnet. She picked out the fabric herself.

I added an extra half inch to the fold side of the pattern for her, and it fits her fairly well. I'll have to add even more to Blue's bonnet, but now I have a better idea of how it goes together and what needs enlarging.

Ah, spring is almost here. It is almost unheard of to have spring-like weather this early in Maine. We are usually knee deep in snow until the end of March and then move into mud season in April. It has been blissful. The girls might even get to wear their Easter bonnets egg hunting this year. Meaning, we won't have to have winter hats and mittens on. Ivy and I have been excitedly watching the buds and crocus and daffodils start to push their way up. I'm not sure she really understand how amazing this is going to be when things start blooming. I'm so glad to experience this with her.

I hope you have a lovely spring day. Aw, who am I kidding, I really hope I have a lovely spring day. Okay, and you, too.

I'm on a roll!

Can you believe it? I won another something! This adorable bonnet pattern from Danielle Wilson and Bloom.  How outrageously cute is that?! It says the pattern is for 6 to 24 months, but I tell ya... Ivy is going to shove her big ol' noggin into one of these for Easter. And seeing as how Blue has a pin-head (inherited from her mother, sadly - I buy my hats at Baby Gap) she's destined to cram her head into one as well. Even if only for pictures.

Thank you, Bloom!

Thank you, Danielle!

  

My second first quilt

Hooray! I'm so excited that I finally finished Ivy's quilt. You might remember that it started as this.

And I just chopped and stitched and chopped and stitched. Even at the end I was still chopping a little. I don't think this is how a quilt is supposed to be made, but it worked. The whole thing is a little wonky, but we're pretty pleased with it anyway.

Here is the back.

I really love that blue binding with the flea market fancy. And the Flea Market Fancy is so very soft for snuggling. The flowers at the other end aren't as soft, though.

Don't let her fool you. She's not asleep. Three year olds. Sigh.

Someday I will find the pictures of my first first quilt, which was crib sized for my best friend's third baby and included applique and was completely hand quilted. Back before I knew a thing about what I was doing (very different from now...)  It was majorly traumatic, but very cute in the end.

29 hour skirt

Ivy and I went to the Goodwill the other day. It is appalling to me how everything in there is so gosh darn expensive. T-Shirts? $3. Button down shirts? $5 or $7. Seven dollars? Maybe I am just the ultimate in cheap, but I refuse to pay that much for a used shirt. I always wonder at the things people in blogland get at Goodwill for cheap. Mine is never, ever like that. There is no $20 furniture - only $70 furniture, regardless of the materials or condition. So all we came home with yesterday was a black linen shirt on sale for half price. I have a design in my head for a dress I'd like to make for Ivy, but I thought I would use one of J's old work shirts to try it out before I cut up the linen. But this is what happened instead.

 Cute skirt, no? I haven't been able to get a really good picture of it, but it has two pockets on the front. As I was holding up the shirt to cut it into a dress, I noticed the pockets on it and thought "Oh, that would make a great shirt!" and started hacking away. I wanted to have it finished in 24 minutes (the length of an episode of Dora the Explorer) but got all carried away. In the end, it wasn't finished until the next day. First I made a ruffle bottom for it. Ugh. Nope.

So I ripped the ruffle off and hemmed it. Then I thought better of it and ripped the hem out and used red grosgrain ribbon as a binding inside. You can't see it, but I know it's there. To match the red buttons. We had a hard time deciding on buttons.

I'm pretty happy with it. It is about as cute as an olive green 60/40 polyester skirt can get on a three year old. And those pockets can hold a lot of marbles. I find it very endearing that Ivy loves everything and anything I make for her. And then she broadcasts it to the whole world "My mommy make dis!"

Excuse the horrendous flash pictures. How I wish for sun-filled rooms. Maybe someday. I'll leave you with a before and after. The poor girl. It was only about 33 degrees when I took this picture. She's such a good sport.

I won!

Oooh, I can't believe I won this fantabulous print from MADE and Deco Mod Walls. Just recently, my best friend D was telling me how she was going to give her son (E) and daughter (I) their own bedrooms. Which entails cleaning out the guest/storage room and *gasp* decorating, which she told me I could do because she is just not the decorating type. Her only requirement? A black 'road' stripe on the wall, and otherwise a vehicle theme. So this piece of loveliness will fit in perfectly.

E will adore it, and it will give me a color scheme to start with. Plus, I already have something special planned for I, and this gives me something special for E as well.

I had a very special something lined up for show and tell today, but my pictures are on my camera. And my camera is with my husband at work. Grrr.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming

I have learned a couple things in the hours I have been away from you. First and foremost is: I cannot be trusted with  a very large peanut butter cup Blizzard. Criminy. Second is: while I have been tearing myself apart over my need to be honest regarding the subtle differences between Autism and Asperger's Syndrome, the New York Times thinks I shouldn't bother. The American Psychiatric Association  is changing the DSM, and they're giving Asperger's Syndrome the boot. And you know? I'm secretly pleased. I had the hardest time coming to terms with the idea of Autism. Imagine someone telling you your three year old, your baby is autistic and will never be normal. Gah. Let's just leave it at that. It wasn't until I was sobbing on the phone one day with a very dear friend and she said "Welll... haven't you noticed that J is probably autistic, too?" O.M.G. It was like she punched me in the gut. I was standing out by the garden, and time just stood still. But the truth is: I love J with all my heart. I married him, he is the father of my children. He works a job he loves, he is incredibly brilliant, creative and clever. He is a wonderful father and a caring, listening, if not overly emotional mate. Is it so awful, then, that my child is like him? And that thought, my friends, has gotten me through many rough moments. But to get back on track here, I had to practice saying autism. Autism. autism. AuTiSm. AUTISM. And then "She's a little autistic." and "She's very high functioning." and "She's on the spectrum." And each time these words left my mouth, I felt like a liar. Like because my kid is high functioning, she really shouldn't get to be autistic. She doesn't deserve these services. I'm pretending she's autistic. I tell you, it took me a Looong time to get over it. About three years, in fact. Just in time for them to change the diagnosis. Just in time for me to start worrying about it all over again. "She has Asperger's so that's not really autistic." and "How can I make the big push for services when she's not really autistic." "Maybe she really doesn't deserve these services anymore." and my very favorite, which took up residence when she was not barely three years old, still not saying more than one word at a time, and starting speech therapy: "There are other kids who need these services more than my kid." That one I have never managed to give up. Because it is true. There are other kids who desperately need services. Maybe more than my kid, true. Maybe because I am a parent who gives my everything to make sure she has what she needs and other kids might not have those kinds of parents. But that doesn't make her less deserving. And her not having services won't make it better for other kids. But her having services will allow her to grow up to function well on her own, will help her get along with other people in the long term, and will reserve her place in a productive, happy, healthy future. So don't get me started on early intervention. Her SLP, PT, DT, and OTs all deserve a place in the early intervention hall of fame if you ask me. Because three years ago, she didn't speak more than a word at a time, she howled on the floor, scratched and bit, flapped vacantly around the classroom, where she spent a majority of her time in the time-out chair. Because they didn't know what to do with her. And three years later, she is a creative, enthusiastic, vivacious child who goes to kindergarten without an aide, works hard to be socially correct, is emotional  and caring, and is learning the fine art of empathy. Who could ask for more? Okay, well, maybe I could ask for a working camera, but still.

Did I say "regularly scheduled programming"? I can get really intense about early intervention and the classification of children. Sometimes I think I have come a long way - other times, not so much.

So. A couple days ago when I was just feeling mildly crappy, I whipped out this pair of pants. Blue wore these when she was 4. Then I put them in the scrap bin when she used them for cutting practice.

 There were several holes like this one. Her OT was very pleased with how her fine motor skills were coming along. These were just a pair of $3 pants from Target, so not a huge deal. Of course, they were one of the only pairs of pants she would actually wear, but that is another story. So I cut them up a bit more.

 

Ah, that's better. Now we can't pretend they can be worn again. My plan was leg warmers for Ivy, then I thought "No! I can still use the tops for shorts!" Go, mama, go.

 But when I ruffled the edges and put them on her, they were a little too revealing. So I lengthened them.

Oh dear. Not so good. So I ripped and tried again. I sewed the cuffs from the pants on. Not too bad, hey? The circumference wasn't an exact fit, so I just fudged it a little. Pinned on four sides and stretched between the pins as I went.

And here we have the legwarmers. What an awful picture. My apologies. Sometimes even a fancy camera doesn't help me. I did have to zigzag over a couple smaller holes, but these are just to keep her chubby little legs warm at gymnastics, so it doesn't really matter.

Now I'm hemming and hawing over what to do with this little guy. Another crapolicious picture that I am too lazy to go back and fix or retake. I'm SICK, people.

Blue just loved this shirt. I did, too. It's just a hand-me-down from Old Navy, but Blue has always loved rainbows. So it was one of our favorites until this happened. Can you see it in that big picture?

I can't be positive, but I am fairly certain it is a bite mark. All the elastic has been snapped in that spot like someone shoved their favorite shirt in their mouth and twisted and twisted. But - bygones. She wore this shirt when she was 4 (though nominally it is a 6/7). I think she would like it reincarnated as... any ideas? I've got a fun, stretchy stocking cap in my head. Kind of like the ones Mia wears to bed sometimes.

Why yes, our children are standing in the bathtub. Mia's stocking caps are actually made of her tights, and they are meant to keep her hair all pretty while she is sleeping, but I thought Blue might like one anyway. I'm not sure, though, and I need to go get another box of tissues since I have (ahem) blown through this one already. Maybe I'll get around to it in another year or two.