The Man took the kids out today to have some fun. They trekked around the camp where my sister and bro-in-law work and had some fun visiting the animals:

And building a debris shelter:

That meant I got to stay home and work on Christmas gifts. It was so nice and quiet! It has been a while since I have had a day alone, and it was wonderful. But since I don’t want to show what I am working on, since they will be sent out as gifts, I thought that I would show you one of the gifts I was working on this time last year. Of course, I didn’t want to post it last year for fear of ruining the surprise.

Potholders! Oh, well… not too exciting. But I do have a few things from my work today that I could post without ruining anyone’s surprise. So photos of that will be coming.

It is nice to have a time of year to focus on what we are all thankful for.

This year I am especially thankful for a few things. About a month ago, I realized that I was operating under a huge seratonin deficiency. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, since I have experienced this at the age of 15, at 27, and a few mildly deficient periods in between. But I work so hard to keep my brain healthy, that I guess I was operating under the false hope that my lifestyle alone could prevent me from having to play the genetic cards I have been dealt.

So this Thanksgiving, I am thankful that:

I don’t need to worry about being institutionalized.

I don’t need to worry about being schizophrenic.

I don’t need to worry about feeling bad about being depressed while my kids are young like my mother. (And mom, I never even realized it when I was a kid… so I hope you don’t worry about it anymore!)

I am thankful that when my husband realized that I felt like a huge failure for not somehow preventing this, he looked at me quizzically and said, “What? Did you get a brain transplant?” I am so thankful that he loves me in sickness and in health!

I am thankful that I have a healthy pancreas, that regulates my blood sugar nicely.

I am thankful that my kids are healthy, and I pray often that they will be spared from the diabetes, depression, and deafness that run in the family.

I am thankful that there are medications that can help with this thing, when my lifestyle choices aren’t enough. And that they can get me out of this pit, so that I can start over, adjust a few things and hope for a relatively unmedicated life. I just have to remember to not be so much of a perfectionist that I am surprised if I need help again.

I am so thankful for the 5 days that I have been feeling normal again. It puts the last few months into very shocking perspective.

And I am actually thankful that I have had the chance (been forced to) reduce my expectations and my “to do” list. It feels so freeing to focus on daily life and not try to add too much more! Now, if I can just stick with that frame of mind even though I am feeling better.

I am thankful for blog friends out there, who do amazing stuff, and make me feel not so alone in this world.

I am most thankful for an amazingly loving, supportive, and fun family. Thanks for being there!

Let’s celebrate!

A little time out from thinking about the holidays to put together a gift for the boy.

It was a fun, one hour project. Which is something I have needed after a long quilt project. Small projects feel so satisfying. I used a little thrifted corduroy in this lovely mustard color. I also found two HUGE spools of bias binding today at the thrift store for 50 cents each. I love bias binding… so useful! Thrifted buttons, garage sale blue fabric, and factory scrap vintage style print. Wow, I am feeling particularly resourceful today!

What you can’t see is that this bag is actually 3 1/2 feet long. And we filled it with PVC pipe to engage some of that boys abundant creativity. Here is dad trying it out, before it gets stuffed into the bag for tomorrow’s big day.

I must mention that this isn’t an original idea. My husband got a duffle bag full of PVC pipe and connectors when he was a kid from his creative parents. Since it was such a hit, we couldn’t let our son grow up without the experience. Considering how much time he spends trying to turn everything into a tent, I am sure he will enjoy it also. Any bets on how long it takes him to come up with the idea to make a light saber?

I did take a few close ups of the quilt. The color isn’t quite right. The binding is a little more navy blue than it looks in the pictures.

I like to hand stitch the binding. I just don’t feel like I have enough control with the sewing machine. Heather’s seamless binding tutorial is great, but since I used 4 packages of binding for this quilt, it makes more sense for me to use mitered corners. I actually do this by hand… the control thing again! It is the same reason I can’t get into computer graphics. I just can’t supress that urge to grab a pencil.

Here is this weeks WIP (”Work In Progress” for my friends out there not familiar with the crafty blog lingo.) I am attempting the freezer paper stencil project. This afternoon, I had only succeeded in giving myself reason to use two green band-aids! My son was pretty impressed by the war wounds.

Tonight, I have gotten a little farther. Cute snail, great tips from Beki, and a browse around the Boden website have me feeling like success is just around the corner. My bandaged fingers are crossed!

I finished this quilt on Monday night… finally!

It has been a pain trying to get a picture of it because the sun hasn’t come out since I can’t remember when, and it doesn’t look like it intends to until next week. Sorry the picture is so dark, I had to try and photograph it anyway. I might set up more lights and try to get some detail shots later… or not. I haven’t been very motivated lately to do all that extra stuff. Anyway….

My son saw it sitting folded on the back of the of the sofa in my studio. I hadn’t realized how much he was picking up being a new reader and reading everything he can get his hands on, but here is the evidence. As he ran his hands over the new quilt, this conversation ensued:

Boy: Did you finish this?

Me: Yes, I made a new quilt!

Boy: Cool! Made in the S______’s house…. NOT made in China!

I found this bag at the Goodwill. I immediately picked it up, because I loved it, but it was funny because I couldn’t figure out why I thought it was so great. I have no other explanation for why I like this bag, except that it makes my heart happy and it makes me smile. I love it!

Here is a close up of that wonderful texture and patterned fabric. It was in absolutely pristine condition until my son insisted on carrying it to the car for me on the wet and soggy day that we happened to be out. I am not sure how many cars he rubbed the dirt off of with it, but it still looks good. I plan to use it and get it dirty anyway!

I got it home and explained to the man that I wasn’t exactly sure why I liked it so much. He took one look at it and said, “Because it’s funky!” Oh, yeah. Man what would I do without him to explain myself to me!

We have needed a new toiletries bag for a while now. I keep using a giant ziploc bag since I had not gotten around to making one yet. But this bag inspired me and so I made this:

It was the first time I used iron on vinyl (which I lined the inside with)… I am not sure I even knew it existed until I found it on clearance for 70% off. But I think I will use some when I start making more lunch bags. I cut the applique out of another sweet corduroy fabric that I am dying to use for something. Oh, if I the world would just stop so I could tinker in the studio.

I also lined it with this calico that my mom passed on to me from my great aunt. She gave me a whole stack of solids (which is what is missing from my stash) and this print. It went perfectly with the thrifted orange velour and leftover binding that I used.

So, this toiletries bag will work for us, but it could use a little tweaking before I could make a pattern that would be useful to anyone else. The zipper is too small… that is what I get for using a thrifted zipper instead of choosing one that was appropriate for this project. I also ended up having to rip out a lot of seams, since I tried to put on the binding the easy way, and it didn’t work! So a lot of seam ripping and hand sewing later, I am all ready to go with no place to go, and truth be told no inclination to go anywhere at the moment anyway! So it will be here waiting until the time is right.

So I decided to post something that is actually finished. I finished this quilt about 18 months ago… but it took about 7 years to complete it.

I like the stripes in different sizes, but the effect would have been better if I didn’t do some strange experimentation right in the middle. Oh, well… live and learn. The other thing I learned is that when it takes 7 years to complete, it is a pretty good bet that you won’t even like the fabric you bought when you started. It makes it a little hard to feel motivated to complete it, but I didn’t want to put it in a closet for another generation to finish. Though, like this talented woman, I wouldn’t mind if something my grandmother started, suddenly showed up for me to complete!

Homeschooling the first grader is actually going pretty well, besides adjusting my schedule and learning (once again) to reduce my expectations of what I can actually accomplish with my own work time. So I am trying to slow down and try to enjoy the mundane things in life. It is hard. I get most of my kicks from making (completing) things… and there isn’t as much time, brain power, or motivation left to actually do that. But, I do get to play lots of games, like the Dinosaur game (encourages reading and there is a little science in there, too), and Five-State Rummy (ooh, fun… social studies, reading, AND geography!) The great thing about first grade is that someone else already taught him the basics of nearly every subject. The kid just absorbs information and I love that he can watch a video about rocks and minerals, and the next morning while reading the cereal box, make the connection between minerals from the video and the “vitamins and minerals” that are in his cereal. It starts an avalanche of questions about how it all works and which minerals, and all I can say is: Thank heavens for Google!!! It’s a life saver… good grief, I can’t remember all that stuff off the top of my head. I wish I was a walking encyclopedia (and so does my son) but I’m not. So then I take a minute to record it on a Lesson Record form that I created and keep handy, and drop it in the file of proof that this kid (and his mother) are getting educated! And after being quite a little stinker this summer, he has gone back to being his sweet self when he is home. It is only when his sister gets home from school that he turns back into that boy that makes me crazy! Hmmm, we might need to crack down on some of that sibling rivalry.