Cut the cord - It's Kindergarten!

Lili, my first born, had her first day of Kindergarten today! And I have to admit, it was way harder for me than it was for her.

She slept well, got up and got ready with plenty of time to walk to the bus stop.

That backpack was heavy!

Waiting at the bus stop with the other new Kindergarteners.

Lili got her game face on. I could tell she was going through her mental checklist of what she had to do to get to her classroom. She didn't even say good bye!

(Sob). There she goes.

I could see her through the window of the bus, having trouble finding a seat. Talk about will power - it took all of mine not to get on the bus to help her.

And now? I'm having some quiet time, Mira in a nap, waiting another hour or so until I head back to greet my girl.

Pattern Test - the Go Anywhere Bag

Hi All! Nope. Didn't disappear. Just getting ready for my first school year in a loooong time! That is to say, I'm getting ready for Kindergarten. Yup, it appears it is harder for me than the actual kindergartener, so I am trying to distract myself with things like sewing pretty bags!

Case in point, Anna of Noodlehead's new bag pattern, the Go Anywhere Bag.

Isn't it pretty? After her gorgeous 241 tote pattern came out and I gave her some notes on it, she asked me if I'd pattern test her next bag, and of course I said yes!

I made this bag in less than 24 hours, which is a feat for me during summer vacation with two girls and not enough time or energy available. In fact I think from start to finish this took me about 6 hours. Next time it would of course be faster :)

I like to pattern test because I am a very fussy, nitpicky person. I like working with Anna's patterns especially, because she makes beautiful bags! I love that she incorporates curves into things, and that her patterns really help showcase several fabrics. In this case, I really wanted to show off some old curtains of my mom's. I found this funky fabric in her spare room drawer and immediately asked for it. Backed with some solid home dec blue, and linen straps, I think the bag turned out wonderfully.

With it's plethora of pockets and generous size this has become our newest diaper bag. The big back pocket is great for diapes and wipes and the front divided pocket works well for keeping sunscreen, bug spray, and sunglasses accessible. Anna's instructions are written well, and the bag went together really without a hitch. I highly recommend checking out all her patterns!

Summer stretch

Well, the summer has just been flying by, and now it's almost time for school. There certainly haven't been enough hours in the day for me between the beach, new reads, and new friends. I have been making time for sewing as well, but I look forward to school starting, regular schedules, and longer nights: perhaps a little more free time for my favorite method of stress-relief.

Lately I've been sewing lots of solids. I joined a swap group whose primary purpose is to explore modern fabric creations using strictly solid fabrics. I sewed a wall hanging (my first) for my swap partner, using a color scheme she likes for the front:


And a color scheme more true to me on the back:



I also had a surprise custom order via my etsy site - a swooping solids pillow in colors chosen by the customer. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it turned out to be a great sneak peek into some great fall colors:

Hammie my Hammie

Wanna know what I've been doing today? Sorting and dating pictures. Real prints. Photographs. I have more than a year and a half's worth of photos languishing in a box, waiting to be sorted by date and placed into an album with cute captions. No, I do not scrap book. I think it is a waste of time (ie I'd rather sew), but I do put them into albums with a little note on what the picture is about. So ALL DAY I have been dating the backs of photos so that I can album them in order.

Which is where this post comes in. I had meant to post it when I took the pics but must have forgotten. So, from April 1, 2011... may I present Hammie.

Hammie is a little stuffed animal that Mira has. Lili and Mira each got one, and Mira took to hers right away. She calls him Hammie and he sleeps with her every night, even still. One day Hammie got lost. No idea where. Mira had to go without. After about a week? Mira's playing with Noah's Ark and suddenly yells "HAMMIE". She had shoved him in the ark to be forgotten. And was overjoyed when she found him:




Today, Hammie is starting to get matted, and smells about as good as her lovie does (which is to say, not so great), but she loves him dearly. So much so that he's often shoved between her mattress and the crib bumper every morning :)

Here! I'm Here!

No, I'm not M.I.A. Just busy. Doing some sewing but also enjoying the summer and trying to not feel too guilty about not having done an open market (YET!!!). I have a neat very not "me" project in the works for a swap I'm doing (Love of Solids swap on Flickr), but it's not to a stage where I want to reveal anything yet.

But this bag? Has been on the brain lately, and slowly making it's way up in the priority list...

source: Cut to Peices

Mira's door

Not so much to be fair, but because I just felt like it, I also painted Mira's door a little bit while we were working on Lili's birthday wall. So instead of painting whatever Lili wanted, I painted whatever I wanted. An abstraction of color. Simple, quick, easy, and gives the door that I used to hate some love.