mmm

Posting may be sporadic.
I'm spending about 20 hours a day
holding the sweetest little thing imaginable.
~
I still share, though

home

I cannot help but marvel at God’s goodness to me.

~
Nine years ago
He called home our tiny baby

before we ever got to meet her/him.
Today
He allowed me to bring one of His precious children to my home.
And oh, she is loved!

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing and privilege

of new life!

home!

Lexi is here!

This is Lana,

posting a few pictures of our new baby sister,

Lexi Faith

born Jan 21, 2009

7:52 AM

7 lbs, 3 oz

19 inches long

She's got good, healthy lungs, or so I've heard.
"even cuter than Lily" says Jeremiah (I'm not sure about that....)

"my baby" says Lily

More pics will be up on my blog
Thanks to all who've been praying for Mom and Lexi.
They plan to come home on Friday.

stippling & such

Darinda asked me to share what I’d learned about stippling.

I figured, rather than e-mail the info to her

I’d deviate from my normal scrapbook blogging and post it here,

just in case anyone else is interested....

First off
remember
I’m no expert.
Shoot
I’m not even good.
I’m just a beginner…..

Go here and watch the video.
Several times.
Read her post, too, a few times
but definitely watch the video several times.
Watching some other videos might be helpful, too.
Maybe try a youtube search.

I think just doing some internet searches
and finding a look that appeals to you
(everyone stipples differently)
would be good.

~

Practice!!
And then practice some more!!!

~

Not everyone uses quilting gloves,

but I found them to be very helpful.
I got a pair from Hobby Lobby for just $3.50
(and that was full price - cheapest quilting supply you‘ll ever buy!)

~

Your machine needs to go fast
but your hands need to move the fabric slowly.
That right there was probably the biggest ‘ah-ha’ for me.
When I slowed my movements, my stippling improved tremendously.
~

Relax
they say that if you are tense, it shows up in your work.
Can’t speak to this one,
although Tyler says
there’s a pretty good chance I’m a bit tense even if I think I’m not…..

~

Some people say to ‘doodle’ stippling.
Theory being
once you’ve drawn it, it’ll be easier to sew it.
I didn’t try this one
as I knew it would only discourage me
since I can barely draw a stick person
~

I also purchased a ‘hopping foot’.
It certainly isn’t a necessity
but I feel like it helped me keep my stiches fairly even.

~

I have always enjoyed taking a rectangle of fabric

and turning it into something else,

so it's really no wonder I like quilt making

(not to mention the 'cozy' of the quilt itself)

I love the look of stippling;

I can't say its my favorite part of quilting, though.

At least it isn't yet....

Surprisingly,

I really enjoy hand sewing the binding.

go figure

I lost track of how long I spent on the quilt
what with all the trips to the sewing machine shop
spending long hours with my seam ripper
and exchanging rotten thread & whatnot
~
Except for about 3 1/2 more hours on the binding
it’s finished!
and
I expect I’m finished with quilting for a little while…..

just a tad emotional

I’m a tad emotional.
I cried

when Tyler told me Sam’s didn’t have our olive oil.
How ridiculous is that??
I have tried and tried to get ready for
-well-
who knows what.
I’ve never had an eighth baby before.
Or a 4th c-section….
Or no big girl to help me…
So I’ve tried to just have my household in order
including every food-stuff we might possibly need

for the next month or so.

Every time I get everything crossed off my list
I find something else that we’re nearly out of….
Finished at Sam’s.
Made bread Friday and realized we only have about 3 cups of oil left.
Went to Walmart for the last last time
and within hours
I’d made the second to the last bottle of Fabuloso
That stuff lasts forever
and now it runs out??
~
I’ve been grieving the loss of my little girl.
I’ve done this enough to know how it works.
When I leave the house at 5 am Wed morning
Lily will still be
little
But
when I get home on Friday,
she will have grown by leaps and bounds,
never to be that same little girl again.
Oh
I know
the big Lily will be even more fabulous
than the precious Pie I have now.
But I will still miss the treasure she is right now.

~

I'm just a tad emotional….
~
I only have a day and a half left to come to grips with the fact
that
in all likelihood
I will never again participate in the miracle of life.
How does one come to grips with that??
~
Ok
maybe more than just a tad….
And I hate being a crybaby!
hmm
Perhaps we should rent a comedy this evening....

yes man

Jeremiah:

Is this a stay home day?

Mom:

Pretty much.

Dad may have to run to the hardware store, though.

Jeremiah:

Why don't you run to the store

and leave Dad home with the kids

'cause Dad says "yes" more than you do.

deep breath

OK
I'm ready.
Oh
I'm ready for my baby girl, too
but I was referring to the quilt...

My final practice piece.
My stippling is nowhere near perfect yet
but I think it's passable.
So
this afternoon
I'll take a deep breath
and give it a go.
~
and yes
life is still continuing on around here.
Oddly enough,
not revolving around
quilts!
Brandon has been sharing his geography lessons
with his bubs
and today
they fashioned a very simple volcano

fun!!

creative math

+

6 hrs and 3 bobbins

=

+

another 3 1/2 hours

and I forget how many bobbins

=

one
quilt top
and
an aching neck & back
(but one fairly tickled momma)

beat ya to the car

I was challenged

so I had to....

oddly enough

I lost.

~

I think I nearly gave a lady a heart attack, though.

I don't suppose she'd ever seen

a forty year old

37 weeks pregnant woman

barrelling through the Hobby Lobby parking lot.

I wasn't exactly running like a gazelle, mind you;

it was more of a waddling

I hope my maryjane mules don't come flying off shuffle.

but she seemed a bit stunned anyways.

~

When we made it to the car

Josiah says,

"Well, I guess I just always win when I race you.

I win the pee race, too!"

But then

after the next fabric store

("How many fabric stores are there?!" he wondered)

he let me win.

~
I know

it's pretty pathetic

when a 3 yr old has to let you win.

what I've learned about quilting

It's a very expensive hobby!
It goes much faster when you have a fabric stash;
running all over town to buy 1/4 yard of several fabrics
takes way too long.

I told Tyler I was going to reward myself
for recovering the cushions on the glider.
It was a job I wasn't looking forward to
so I figured a reward was just thing I needed to motivate myself.
He asked what would my reward be?
"Well, most people might not think of it as a reward....
I get to make a quilt for the rocking chair in the living room!"
~big smile~
I really like this quilting stuff.
He's probably wishing I'd have gone with chocolate
(not that he won't like the quilt, but somehow
my 'reward'
probably seems a whole lot more
like an addition to an already long to-do list)
~
speaking of my to-do list
I was able to cross off six things yesterday.
And the cushions I was dreading so much?

They only took about 2 1/2 hours.

goodbye dairy

I had my last glass of delicious farm fresh milk

followed by a plate of yesterday's leftover

Best Dip in the World

over rice

for dinner

and topped off with a final slice of Turtle Cheesecake

~

The consensus seems to be

that it can take up to two weeks

for all traces of dairy protein to leave your body.

Figured I'd give it an extra day, just to be safe.

Goodbye

all things dairy

hello

baby girl!!

recent projects

A fun blanket!

This just seemed appropriate for a baby girl

with lots of brothers

It took a surprisingly long time!

About 5 hours, I think.

I got the idea from here

but I did mine a bit differently.

Mostly,

I had only about 1/4 - 1/3 inch between stitches

and she had an inch.

And

I worked from the back side of the blanket

'cause after I'd done a few feet

I realized that with this particular yarn

it looked much better on the back than the front.

So I ripped out what I'd done & started over.

Oh

I also used an embroidery needle to poke the holes

before attempting to stick the crochet hook through.

Maybe I'm just a big wimp

but I needed those pre-poked holes!

the diaper bag!

I'm pretty pleased with it.

I need lots more practice on my stippling,

but its not too shabby for my first attempt.

The basic shape of the bag came from this.

a few more socks for the Pie

Lana makes most of her socks for me

but she doesn't have white yarn

and the beaded socks aren't her preference to make...

I need to make a few pairs for Baby, too...

some spit rags
(aka burp cloths)
'cause it's much nicer to spit up on something pretty
don't you think?

I bought 1/2 yard each of 2 flannels.
I would have just cut them into 4 strips, roughly 11 inches each
but I wanted to make a couple for Lily for her doll, too
so I only made these about 9 inches wide.
I may have to make another set;
Tony found some really cute fabric for the blanket he's making....

One of the drawbacks

to using your dining room table

for sewing and such:

you may hear your threee-year old exclaim

"Fabric was in my food!"
~

Of course
we can't forget the kitchen!
We finished it with 2 days to spare.
Brandon & Tony were a huge help!!

thanks, guys!!!

Jeremiah & Josiah
when we uncovered their 'shelves'
Lily was still sleeping.....
~
then there are the shelves for our bedroom
which I haven't managed to get organized yet....

~

Maybe it's no wonder our house is always a wreck
~sigh~

I still have several things I'd like to accomplish
in the next couple of weeks.

~
It could happen.

happy new year

I'm the first one to post in 2009!