Giddy

My girls came home on Saturday, giddy and exhausted after almost a week of having all kinds of fun at church camp. It was the first time all three of them had been away from me at once, and I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to deal with it. After more than sixteen years of motherhood, I'm a little out of practice at living life without kids around. But having enjoyed a quiet week of dinner dates, shopping trips, swimming, sewing, and long conversations with James and my parents, I feel like I've been given such a gift. I can appreciate all the joys of motherhood right now, enjoy watching my girls grow in confidence and independence, and know that there will still be a wonderful life waiting for me when they leave the nest someday. It's like getting a small glimpse of the future while still being so thankful for today. 

But truly, the sewing was fantastic this week -- hours all by myself in the loft finishing my Greek Cross quilt top while simultaneously starting another quilt that I designed years ago for my unrealized Carnival of Patchwork book. I sewed more in the last six days than I have in the last six months. Small projects have always been my specialty because that's usually all I have time for, and to some extent, I didn't have the patience or attention span for large quilts. But now I can really see the pleasure of working on extended projects. 

I'd like to think it's because I'm growing up a little bit in my forties, or maybe I'm just finally settling down. Either way, this seems like a good development, and I'm feeling rather giddy about it myself.

Summer Days

My husband remarked just the other day that our summer is already a third over which seems incredible to me. Didn't we just start this vacation train? Granted, the last month has been packed with events of all kinds, but more on that in a minute. First...pillows!

When I have the chance, I try to sew a pillow or two for the local pregnancy care center. They put together the most beautiful supply baskets for new moms, and they like to have something handmade on top. Since I'm currently pathetically slow when it comes to churning out even a baby quilt, I've taken to sewing up pillows instead, and so far it's working out quite nicely. Both of these are actually from a few months ago, so I'm a little late in sharing them. But I'm hoping to have more finished by the end of vacation.

I love having the chance to use up some of the children's fabric leftover from sewing samples for Riley Blake several years back. Jill Howarth is still one of my favorite designers, and even though my daughters have outgrown these sorts of prints, I still like to keep this type of fabric around for baby gifts and that sort of thing. Making these pillows is also a fun way to play with different blocks, which keeps it interesting for me as I sew.

I pulled out a stack of quilt blocks last night that I started working on over a year ago. It was so great to see them with fresh eyes and remember how much I loved putting these fabric combinations together over time. I'm hoping to finally sew them into a quilt top this week if all goes as I plan.

The hardest thing this summer has been that my dad's heart started to fail 4 weeks ago, and he wound up in the hospital getting a pacemaker put in, which is thankfully working so far. Unfortunately, it looks like he'll be going back in for open heart surgery soon to fix a few other serious issues that need attention. There have been lots of tests and appointments this month, but we're glad he's getting the help he needs and praying that all goes well. 

Last weekend my parents' celebrated 47 years of marriage, and I threw them a small dinner party themed around their honeymoon which was spent on a road trip up through California and then back down the Pacific Coast. 

They drove to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, and even got to see the Righteous Brothers and the Carpenters in concert during their trip. I've heard many times how beautiful it was and how much they loved it. 

I used some leftover wool felt to sew up bunting to hang overhead and little camp flags for each place setting. Bunny brought down her record player and vintage vinyl to listen to (she was extremely proud that she scored an inexpensive Righteous Brothers record at the local antiques mall just a few days before the party) while we enjoyed our picnic lunches and cake.

It was such a sweet time. 

My husband's best friend came out from Southern California to stay with us during the week of their anniversary, and it was such a joy to have him here. He got to see the Texas Hill Country at its absolute best, with blue skies full of puffy clouds, wildflowers blooming everywhere, and lazy evenings on the back patio watching the fireflies play. 

My own flower garden was all decked out in vibrant colors, and I was so thankful to get one last beautiful week of spring before the switch flipped to summer and the whole outdoors morphed overnight into a giant sauna. But that just gives me a good excuse to stay inside and sew, which I'm trying to do for at least fifteen minutes every day this summer. It's been doing me a world of good to get daily creative time, and I'm absolutely loving it.

Drum Stick Bag

There have been so many signs this year that my daughters aren't little girls anymore, and one of the biggest is our loft. The toys that cluttered the floor in that room for years are gone, packed away over the summer except for a few small bins of toddler playthings that my girls use when they're babysitting. Except for the occasional Lego project or jigsaw puzzle on the breakfast nook table, that part of our life seems to be over. My feelings on the subject are decidedly mixed. Nostalgia gets the better of me now and then, but honestly, it's wonderful to see the girls growing up. There's so much to love about this new chapter in our lives, and the loft has become part of that story. What used to be the play area has now become the music studio, and it's definitely one of the most popular hangouts in our house.

We've always been a musical family. James and I both spent time learning music when we were growing up, and I've been singing for school, church, and other events since I was a child. Any number of instruments have found a place in our home over the years and each of us can play at least a little bit on one or more of them: piano, guitar (acoustic and electric), ukulele, banjo, and mandolin. We took things to a whole new level this year when my youngest daughter was given an electric drum set by a family friend who was heading off to college and didn't need it anymore. Mouse had already started taking drum lessons from one of the drummers at our church, and this allowed her skills to really take off. Bunny and Bear have both been singing on youth worship teams at church and putting in more time on piano and guitar this year, so it just seemed natural for the three of them to form their own band. While I'm always here to advise them when they need help, it's been fantastic to watch them work together to choose music, practice for hours on end, and then perform for the family every few months on special holidays. Right now they're working on a Valentine's Day program, and it already sounds pretty great. 

Anyway, Mouse has been asking me to sew a special bag for carrying her drum sticks to her weekly lessons, and I decided that today was the day to get it done. She's obsessed with cats, so I pulled out a favorite Japanese print that I've been saving for ages to fussy cut a few scraps for the project. I featured one on the flap and the other on a tiny pocket on the back. The blue ticking stripe canvas print makes a soft but sturdy exterior, and I paired it with a matching cream and blue dot print for the lining. A wrist strap on top will hopefully make it a little easier to hold. The hardest thing about this whole project was sewing a bag with such an incredibly narrow opening - just 2 1/2" in diameter - but by going slowly, I was able to do it.

I can't tell you how delightful it was to start and finish a project in one morning. Usually I save my sewing as an incentive for getting my daily work done, but the truth is that there's always more to do than I can finish before bedtime. My days fly by, and I get to the end of them without ever getting around to the reward. I think I'm going to start taking my sewing time in the morning for a while and see what happens. It feels a little naughty, like I'm sneaking dessert right before dinner, but this was just too much fun not to try it again.