It's All About Me Week of Sewing

After 16 years of having kids at home I now have ALL my children in school ALL day long.  Ahhh, lovely!
Let's hear a little woo hoo!

Woo hoo! (sorry no sentimental tears here)

They were a bit concerned about me, however, and what I would do all day long without them.

Oh, trust me, I have plans.

There are so many projects to be done, both already in the process, as well as some in my head.  But one thing I've been thinking about and trying to do almost all summer long is some sewing for myself.  The patterns and the fabric are piling up.  So I've decided that I am going to dedicate one week of my sewing life to me only.  I'll post about it and the things I've accomplished or am working on--the posting may cover a two week time span depending on how fast I am.  Actually some of it is already done and I've just not posted yet.  

I don't know if I'll get it all done, but I'm aiming for one thing a day.

Just for one week starting on Sept. 17.

Then I'll move on to other things--like the rest of my slipcovers for the LR.

Anybody up for joining me in a week of "me" sewing?
Not stuff for the kids, but for me.  Me, me, me!
Round up your projects this weekend and we'll start on Monday.

How about it?

Let me know if you have a sewing list for yourself that needs to be whittled down.

We can tackle the list together.

Sewing Group Preview

For the past month or so I've been mulling this idea around in my head, trying to decide if I really want to put together a sewing class/group of sorts.  There are ladies out there who want to learn to sew, or improve their skills, or just get away from their families for a couple hours and do something creative.  They've told me.  Or they've asked me sewing questions.  So...I think I've come up with something that will work for a variety of sewing skill levels.  And I have a group of about 8-10 women who are "in".

During my time spent meandering at the library I have found some great quilt books for inspiration and The Block Party--Modern Quilting Bee was one of them.  Just about every quilt in there is something that I think you could have beginners do--because most are wonky blocks and therefore precise-ness of cutting, matching and sewing isn't really required.  That's not to take anything away from the work these ladies did, but many beginners are so intimidated that I think that this will just be liberating for our group.  Plus, I could a little more exercise in "wonkiness".

I decided that the quilt from Oh, Fransson!, the Wonky Stripes Block, would be the one we would try. (For whatever reason I couldn't find the quilt on her blog to refer you to it).  One afternoon I turned to my scrap bin and sorted thru what I had to see what I could put together.  It seemed that oranges, blues, and yellows were calling out to me and so I put together little packets for everyone with their scraps.

After that I decided to make a sample.  I know for sure that one of the ladies coming is not a great visualizer.  Thought this would help her out and anyone else.  Made one....

Decided it was a little too straight forward and symmetrical so I made another one that was a bit more "wonky"...

I am getting excited about this and I hope the others will be too.

The only downside to this was I was hoping this activity would make more of dent in my scrap bin than it acutally did.  Guess we'll have to keep playing and sewing.

A BIG Thanks!

Just quickly wanted to thank all those who helped us out with our Bag Project this year.  I ran into the lady who is in charge of that portion of the service trip this past week at school.  She made of point of stopping me and thanking me for all the donations.  About 20 people (which is about 1/3 the # who've gone in yrs. past) made the trip down to Zihuatanejo during Spring Break and they had a very successful trip.

THANK  YOU!

We'll see if they need our help again for next year's trip.

Bartering is SOOOOO Underrated

I don't know if you've ever exchanged with anyone, but I really think that bartering is underrated.  We should all try it more often if we're able to.  One of my oldest daughter's friends babysits every other weekend for a couple with 2 little boys in exchange for weekly piano lessons.  One of my daughters would like to do the same thing, only with guitar lessons.  We're working on that.  I've certainly trading babysitting services with friends over the years myself. 

Once I made living room curtains for a friend of mine in exchange for a crib.  She was done with it, I needed one, and she didn't know how to sew.  We were both thrilled with the exchange and both felt that we were taking advantage of each other.  In my opinion that is a sign of a good barter. 

More recently I've been doing some sewing for my friend Shelly.  In exchange she lets me come make cards at her house for free (Actually she will even make them for me if I want--which I have done on occasion; however, I like the social aspect of going to her home with a group of ladies for a couple hours).  About 5 or 6 times a year she does a Saturday morning card making session--and she provides EVERYTHING!!!  You go home with about 15 beautiful handmade cards of various styles and varieties, without having to buy all the stamps, punches, paper, etc.  She already has it, which makes my hubby happy that I don't have additional stamping stuff in my already too cramped sewing room.

This past weekend she had a card day and here are the cute cards we made.

I recently made a LR pillow for her, and am now moving on to some pillows for her youngest daughter's bedroom.

So if you haven't bartered for goods or services I encourage you to find someone you'd like to trade with.  I'm sure you'll both be pleased with the end result.

What a difference sleeves make

This year our oldest daughter started HS and is playing in the orchestra. Although I am thrilled that they are required to dress up formally, we were not especially thrilled with the choice of dress we had to buy. Out of all these pretty modest dresses and options, the previous director picked this one--a sleeveless number?! for orchestra? Really?!

I don't know about any of you but I find sleeveless to be a bit distractive for orchestra. Who wants to see white, possibly flabbly arms, as you're listening to great music? And besides that we live in the upper midwest for crying out loud. We currently have lots of snow on the ground that is here to stay and we've been in the teens/single digit temps already and probably will stay there thru February. Sleeveless, really?! However, the main reason we don't love this dress is for our standards, sleeveless is immodest.

L. and her best friend C. both approached their director about adding sleeves to the dress, or wearing something else with it and thankfully he didn't have any problems with it--just so long as it was black. And interestingly enough another girl in their orchestra had already approached him with the same concern. So at least 3 girls were uncomfortable enough with the dress choice to talk to him about it. YES!

Their first concert is this Thursday and the package of additional fabric from the dress company to make sleeves will not be here in time, but I found a piece at Jo-Ann's that will work close enough until then. We are changing the dress to have sleeves more like this one. Below is our half & half look....before and after.

You can't really tell a difference on the fabric from a distance--so we should be good for this first concert. L. and C. are so much happier and comfortable with their sleeved dresses.

**Thanks Mr. Shogren for being so understanding and not making a fuss about the girls wanting to add sleeves to their dresses. (not so sure the previous director would've been as agreeable) You've been great!

**And a big thanks to Frederica at Tuxedo Wholesalers for being so accomodating and pleasant to work with. We look forward to receiving our extra fabric next week and making the sleeves permanent on these otherwise really pretty dresses.

Are you radical?

I was talking to our mom the other day and she shared with me an article from the Omaha World Herald about a "radical" movement back to traditional homemaking. (She also shared it with the rest of the daughters.) We sort of laughed---we didn't know we were "radical". Slightly weird maybe, but not radical. We've been doing most of what we do for years and years now. Glad to find out we're already on the cutting edge of a "revolution quietly taking hold across the United States". Here

Here's a little blurb from a portion of that article, entitled "Radical Notion: traditional homemaking".
______________________
Shannon Hayes offered these suggestions for making homemaking more radical:

• Hang laundry out to dry.
• Dedicate part of the lawn to a vegetable garden.
• Get to know neighbors so you can cooperate to reduce spending.
• Shop at a farmers market each week before heading to the grocery store.
• Donate things you don’t need to help others save money and resources.
• Have reusable bags with you on all shopping trips.
• Learn how to preserve one local food item for the winter.
• Get your family to agree to spend more evenings at home, preferably with the TV off.
• Cook for the family.
• Focus on enjoying what you have and whom you get to share it with rather than on what you want or think you need.

________________________
I don't do everything on the above list, but we do a good portion of them. Apart from those Emily raises chickens. My husband & kids hunt and we process our own venison. We all know how to make our own clothes. Earlier this week I canned 21 qts. of peaches that my friend Mary Ann brought back from Idaho. That was my "radical" moment this week.

So anyway, that got me thinking: what "radical" homemaking skill or activity have your incorporated into your life? I'd love to hear what other "radical" homemakers are doing. We know you're out there...we've seen you quietly in action...you scrap quilters, refashionistas, thrift store junkies. Let us know what you're doing to further the revolution.

Summer Reading Incentives

Summer is upon most of you already. We have 3 more days of school next week and we can't wait. My kids usually bring home something from school at the end of the year encouraging them to keep reading during the summer. Sometimes school has offered some reward if they bring their completed list back (usually 50 books read in English and 50 read in Spanish) at the beginning of the following school year and other times we've just kept our own list and come up with our own prizes.

However, many companies also have reading programs and incentives for summer reading. Below are listed some of the ones that we've found and are going to try this summer.

Pizza Hut's BOOK IT! Sweepstakes, Reading program, games, tips to encourage reading.

Borders Books Double Dog Dare Summer Reading Form
Earn certificate for a Free Book.

Half Price Books Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program
Earn $3 shopping cards to Half Price Books, each week starting June 1st thru July 31st.

Barnes & Noble
Earn a Free Book from a list of paperback titles available at the store.

TD Bank Offers $10 into a children's savings account for books read.

Scholastic has lists and info on summer reading.

Our local Dairy Queen and Public TV station have joined together for a reading incentive program. Check locally if either one of your's is doing the same.

Many public libraries also have summer reading incentive or programs to try. Check yours to see what they may offer.

You could certainly come up with your own reward based on pages, minutes, or number of books read. One summer we paid a penny a page to one daughter to encourage her to read. We ended up adjusting it to a penny per 5 pages because we were going to owe her over $100! Obviously she doesn't need anymore encouragement to read a good book. Maybe they earn a special outing with one of the parents, or something special to do with a friend. Be creative!

I bought little 3 ring folders and each kid decorated the outside of it how they wanted with as many stickers as they desired. Then we keep all their sheets inside so they can keep track of their reading.



Along these same lines, just in May we had a kids' book club with 6 moms and about 15 of our 25 combined total of children. We had boys and girls both ranging in age from 7 to 14. We read "The Candy Shop War" by Brandon Mull. This was the first time my kids have attended a book club and they LOVED it! Thanks Cindy for hosting. We all had a great time. They are ready for another one again this summer and so all of us moms are working on that. If you haven't ever held a book club with your kids I'd encourage you to give it a try.

Create Happiness

Every Fall our Church's women's organization, called the Relief Society, holds a general meeting that is broadcast throughout the world. The Relief Society is one of the oldest and largest women's organizations in the world. It began in 1842 and has been functioning ever since.

The meeting was held this past weekend and I think that for most of us our favorite speaker was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who is currently serving as a counselor to our Prophet, President Monson. Below is an excerpt from his talk that really spoke to my heart.

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

"Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

"Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.

"You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.”

"If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.

"But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.

"If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next.

"You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.

"What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.

"If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.

"The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."

If you feel discouraged and frustrated, take heart that you are not alone in your feelings. Also take heart that you are doing good in your corner of the world--no matter how big or small that corner may be. And remember that creating is a divine gift that we as women have been given.

You can read or watch his entire talk if you're interested. The link to watch it is for the entire meeting. At the bottom of the screen you can scroll to the right and double click on the picture of Pres. Uchtdorf to listen solely to his talk. It really was an uplifting and motivating talk and is only about 22 minutes long.