Interfacing, darts, and zippers.....Oh My!

Yes, I've been sewing up a storm....and I've landed myself in some scary territory. Wish I had ruby slippers to keep me safe; I guess my cute new (green!) slippers will have to do.

But first....an Ode to Spode.

Oh Spode....how I love thee....thou beauty defies description. Okay, enough of me trying to be a poet. I really DO love my new dishes. I have been collecting over a few months now, a few pieces at a time as I find them. The Willow collection is a special favorite, as it reminds me of this book I read as a little girl. My grandmother knew the author and had the book signed for me...so now I think happy thoughts of my wonderful grandmother (I still miss you, Gamma) as I look at my beautiful plates.
On to the sewing......

This was actually my second project complete this weekend, but it's the one I'm most proud of, so I put it first. This was my first foray into the land of interfacing.....it's a scary place, it is. I wasn't sure what weight to use, which side was "wrong" or "right", and frankly, the "help" at the fabric store wasn't very helpful. One teenage girl said, "What's interfacing"? Then, the MAN cutting my fabric was busy with the three lovely older ladies talking about quilts. That's not a conversation I wanted to interrupt! I'm having problems with interfacing, and they're talking quilts. Talk about feeling my lack of experience....Anywho, I finally got it all together, and this is the result. A beautiful lined tote (the lining is stripes of varying shades of green...tried to snap it but the little hand was in the way). I'm very proud!

My next sewing project (#3 mentioned above) is cut out, so now the sewing begins. A lot of circles, notches, etc. to be marked and cut, AND.......drum roll, please.....DARTS AND a ZIPPER! Send good thoughts out to me....

Saying goodbye to Thyphoid Mary.... (#9)

Yes, that strange, and totally unwelcome, visitor swept throught our house this week for the first time. Both boys were under the weather with a nasty cold. It really WAS the first time this has happened, and I hope it doesn't happen again anytime soon. I'm looking forward to some sleep this weekend.
Despite MANY frequent pauses to wipe runny noses, etc., I did manage to complete one project, get #2 cut out and ready to sew, and #3 is ready to be cut out tonight. Hopefully some progress will be made on both #2 and #3 today, and I'll some goodies to show off this weekend.
In the meantime...a little Gratitude Friday:
1. Health - I'm very grateful that the baby bees are on the mend and that both Bob and I managed to stay pest-free during Mary's visit.
2. Wealth - And by this I don't mean the material kind...Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't need much in that area (though I do admit it would be nice to have a bigger backyard for my kids to play in)....Friends have been consistently absent in my life, and I suddenly find myself with 4 really wonderful, RELIABLE friends.
3. Happiness - Anytime I can count this among my blessings, I will....Life is pretty great, you know? Certainly not all roses and butterflies 100% of the time, but I count myself really darn lucky....
4. Bandaids - Okay, granted, a little weird to be grateful for this, but can you imagine how life would be without them? I was reminded how great they are when I nearly cut off my finger this morning...running around trying not to get blood everywhere....and a bandaid is the perfect solution to the problem. AHHHHH, life in the modern age!
5. St. Patrick's Day - Always a favorite for me: love the color green (my fav.), love the food, love how everyone is in a good mood (maybe due to a little Bailey's and green beer). As my half-birthday is the 15th and Will's is the 17th, we actually do celebrate (cheesey, I know, but the kid is a sucker for any type of celebration, and oh yeah, Will really thinks it's fun, too).

With all this goodness in my life, and spring clear announcing its arrival at my backdoor, how can I not be but grateful? Now if I could just find a good Irish soda bread recipe, life would be absolutely perfect......

A little wisdom from the country....

In one of my many treks to our new library, I came across this. Having grown up in the "country" (at least by California standards), many of the things mentioned seemed like something my grandparents would have said. I've always felt the "country" in my genes: I'm not a city lover, I need to have space around me, and I can't drive in San Francisco. Certainly, as I've gotten older, I've learned to appreciate what the "city" has to offer.

But this book spoke to me (anyone else ever had that happen?). Bob has always joked about "living off the fat of the land" (yeah, right, raised-in-Oakland man), but we certainly have done our share of vegetable gardens, etc. I think what made so much sense about the wisdom of this book, what made me run over to the local B&N and buy it, was the simple life it addressed.

There's that saying, "Cluttered house, cluttered mind". For me, it certainly was true. Now that the latter part has been taken care of, I'm working on the first part. To be honest, too much stuff makes me stressed out. It may be futile at this point in my life, but I just like an organized space. I like to have around me the things I truly love and don't see the need for much else. So I've been getting rid of, reusing, thrifting a lot of the stuff around my house ("stuff" is my blog friendly word for it). Maybe part of it is the parents I have: they like their stuff, their stuff is expensive, and they like to accumulate more stuff. I've never really understood that mentality, but growing up I have to say I bought into it, as I didn't know anything else.

So, I have a challenge for you all. This month, as a beginning to what I hope will become a habit, I am really going to try not to buy more "stuff". This isn't just about using what I have; it's also about appreciating a way of life that seems to be disappearing. I used to be able to feel how slow life moved in Visalia when I would visit; now it's become much like everywhere else. I pledge to really slow down, take my time with my WIPs, look at all the things I can DO for MYSELF instead of buying more stuff. I know that others are doing similar things, so I'm hoping that those of you out there will join me. Can you make your own bread? Cleaning supplies? Gifts? Do we really need that extra "whatever"?

Let's find the value in a more simple life, a more grateful life....let's adopt a little "country wisdom"...

Weekend Goodies (#7)

Drumroll, please! I finally finished (one was actually STARTED and COMPLETED) over the weekend. I'm very proud of my two projects, as other than some baby blankets for Made for China, these are the first things I have sewn in over 20 years! That's right...the last real things I sewed were in 7th grade for my Sewing class.
So...this was a real shot in the dark for me. I guess that's all part of the healing process: not being afraid of failure anymore. As I have stated before, I'm a real perfectionist, and sewing (at least in the beginning) doesn't allow for that. You have to roll with the punches, err mistakes, and just rip out the seams and start over. A metaphor for life, actually, and one I need to take to heart....
Now...as I proudly display my work, please be kind. I know that many of you out there are fluent in the language of sewing, but remember, I am basically still a student in Sewing 1 (okay, maybe 101 at age 34!). Without further ado:

Mr. Flops

I guess you can figure why he is named as he is! I figured my little guy (Nathan) would commandeer him, and I was correct. After I brought Mr. Flops downstairs, Nathan cruised right on over, latched on to him, and scooted away. I made the template myself (yes, a BIG deal for me), and fill him with rice and poly-fill (mostly rice so he would thus be "floppy"). I used an old shirt of mine and an old fleece blanket from IKEA as the fabric. And yes, another biggie: I did the embroidery on the face myself (drew them on with disappearing ink beforehand). Such joy, such bliss I have sewing something for one of my little boys....I hope he loves forever and passes it on....

It's a Purse!

I thought I would tell you just in case....I did use a pattern for this (a Simplicity Sew Easy), but added my own embellishments in the end. I really loved this fabric the first time I saw it and knew it would be my first purse. The lining is the same fabric as the flower (a little wonky, but I'm pretty proud nevertheless). The flower and the ribbons at the top (to cover up the stitches) were my ideas. I looove, looove, loove it: the purse screams "Spring!" to me and definitely speaks of my return to the land of color (my other purses being nice, but brown and black...). And I did this all yesterday..

There you have it! My first two projects!! And that's not all I did this weekend....once I take the pics., you'll see my other goodies....

All's well in this Hive...

Happiness. For me, it's always been a really elusive thing. Every time something good happened in my life, I'd always wait for the other shoe to drop. And it seemed like Fate was ready and willing to take off that size 8 shoe and drop it into my life. When I was pregnant the very first time, I willed myself not to get as giddy as I wanted to be....and then I miscarried. Even as I had the life I'd always dreamed of-a wonderful husband, two healthy, happy babies, a house of my own....I'd already decided it couldn't last, wouldn't last...so why be happy? I tried to fill the hole inside with food, with keeping busy, joining groups, and buying THAT book, EVERY book that promised an answer. I thought....it's out there...that "perfect" life that will make be happy if I just buy this, wear this, say this, do this....

But that's why depression, especially PPD, is so hard to see in yourself. You, and others in your life, start to make depression a personality trait. It starts to define WHO and WHAT you are; it takes all your energy and creativity and turns it into a very dark and lonely place....And I feel extremely fortunate that I climbed my way out of that dark and lonely place....

So...all is well in my hive. You can see that I've changed the title of this blog....it's a long story as to why my babies are called baby bees, but they are, and so I am the Queen Bee in this hive, being the only female in the house. And I love my hive....

On this Gratitude Friday (an idea I "borrowed" from many lovely other Queen Bees out there)... here's what I'm grateful for:


1. Contentment - The peace that comes with knowing that you are where you belong and where you want to be. At the end of the day knowing that I don't wish for more than this....

2. Strength - The emotional, physical, and intellectual knowledge that I have stared my demons and my past in the face and said you will not be what defines me. I am my own person; I am not the shadows of the past - all the women who came before me who could not face up to this inheritance of depression. I WILL not make it my legacy.

3. Creativity - The joy in knowing that what I make with my hands, my spirit, my heart, and my soul will express the whole of who I am. That expressing myself will benefit those I love and show them how much I care...

4. Flaws - Yes, I am grateful for my flaws. I am grateful I no longer try to please anyone other than myself, that I can laugh at myself, that I am human....and that perfection is not what I search for anymore. Flaws are what give us character; they are what make life interesting.

5. A place to sit and watch the world go by.....
My little "nook" in our bedroom.....it looks out onto the neighborhood, and as I sit here, I can watch the sun set. It's in the stillness of that moment, right before the last rays of light are gone, that I know the darkness to come is only for the outside world.....
And as I watch my angels sleep tonight, I know that I am blessed....

A thoughtful post for you all (gosh, I'm awfully reflective this evening!).....tomorrow should bring pictures of something I've been working on....