Evaluating my stash

The Domestic Diva. A very interesting blog. She gives alot of useful tips on what to do with your stash. Makes note of an article Paralyzed by the Stash. It was fun reading, and scary at the same time. Makes you wonder why we are possessed to have a stash in the first place. Let me just say for the record, I have fun with my stash. I like to look at it, and I like to touch it, and I like to use it. And yes, I can sleep at night.

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Happy Birthday!

Yes, it has really been a year, since my daughter was born. They say time flies the older you get, and believe me it is true. Anyways, I just wanted to share what a wonderful day we are having. My daughter did not sleep through night, and let me only have about 4 hours of sleep, but it was her day, so she was allowed to do whatever she wanted. I managed to get her birthday cake finished yesterday, after all the stresses of the week. I think it turned out nice. Not as good as Franks cakes, but this is the first time I have even attempted to decorate. Not bad. Of course, when you look at the cake from the front or the side, you can see how uneven it is. Oh well, why was so compelled to reveal that. So isn't that a cute cake stand? I have a yellow satin ribbon running through it. So southern. You can decorate the stand for any holiday or event. Just what I like.

So, we started off her birthday with spaghetti for lunch. She just loves this dish, as you can tell. She dives right into the food. That is why I dressed her in this red outfit, so I did not have to worry about any stains.

Next came cake and ice cream. Nicolas would not allow another minute to go by. He bugged me and bugged me, so we celebrated her birthday.

Omi gave her a very nice Britax car seat, which costs a fortune. Aunt Michele gave her three Naartjie outfits. They are gorgeous. I will post pictures of her as soon as I put them on. Grandma Joan gave her a beautiful sundress with matching bloomers and hat, and Grandma Carolyn gave her a beautiful dress with buttons going down the front. Of course, combine those with my two outfits and she has enough clothes for awhile. My next task is to take care of Nicolas, however I have some curtains waiting for me.

Happy Birthday mein kleiner Schatz! Here are some more cute pictures.

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When Yoga is just not your thing!

Most people will tell you to relax by doing Yoga. Oh, it teaches you to breathe and stretch, and you will feel so much better if you joined a class. Well I say to hell with a Yoga class, start sewing. Sewing is so relaxing for me, and most importantly so rewarding. Everytime I finish a project, I am so proud, and confident that I can finish anything I want to. If I envision a dream vacation, it would be to lock myself in the house for a week....no husband....no kids.....just me and my sewing machines....

Here is my latest creation. I bought the fabric at LauraLeeCreations. I also purchased a matching knit and a velour with diamonds. Originally, I was going to make something out of a lightweight knit, however the weather has been so cold. She has almost no winter clothes, and this new velour is so baby soft.

The pattern I used is 2 and 3 from the Winter 2004 Ottobre magazine, Size 62. It was actually quite easy, but I had problems with the pockets. They were just too bulky, so I tried to put binding around them, and forget the lining. I did not like that either. At this point, I had spent two nights working on the pockets, so I was not happy. Last but not least, I dropped the pockets completely. The print is busy enough, that it did not need the pockets.

What I really like about the top is the length. It is just perfect for a crawler. I used a very fine corduroy for the binding, and it was very easy to sew in place using Teri's binding methods. I could not take the picture without the binding appearing sort of red in color. It is almost a perfect match. I didn't put a button in the front because I did not think the top needed it. Again, it would have been too busy for the print. The fit was perfect. I was sort of surprised that I have not seen more of these tops.

The leggings fit perfect. The pattern is such that the front and back pieces are one. Combined you have only two pattern pieces to sew together. Talk about an easy 15 minute pattern. Wonderful.

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What to do when the year starts off like this!

2008! This year is starting off so very, very bad, that I am beginning to believe I need to raise a champagne glass and start all over again. I know they say that "when it rains it pours", but this is beginning to be too much.

January 2nd. Everyone is sick! My son and daughter and I all had the flu twice. We had to take my daughter to the hospital this week, where she tested positive for RSV.

January 8th: Steven Downs. A cousin, died of throat cancer or chemo, whichever was stronger in the end. He was 42 years old, had three children (11,9, and 4), and a beautiful wife. My husband left for Kentucky the moment he heard Steven was in the hospital with pneumonia. He arrived at the hospital at 6:00pm, and Steven died at 5:30am the following day. It was terribly painful for my husband. They were very close. It went downhill so fast. I cannot stop thinking about him and his family. So sad that something like this happens to such a nice guy. God rest his soul.

January 16th: My husband comes back two days after celebrating his birthday, and I get stuck with strept throat this week. Choking is a major phobia of mine, so waking up at 2am and barely being able to breathe because everything was so inflamed is no fun. I spend an entire day at the doctors, just so they send me home with Motrin. No good. The pain got worse, and I barely slept four hours. I could not eat or drink anything. I even went to a dentist because my jaw bone was inflamed. Thank goodness my doctor gave in and finally gave me some strong medicine to make this thing go away. The sad part was that I had to stop breastfeeding my daughter. The medicine could not be taken without weaning. I miss our closeness, and the ease with which it always brought a smile to her face. It was the best, simplest, and cost effective thing I ever did. Thank you Michele.

January 21st: Dusty our dog has developed a somewhat ugly mole on his rear leg, which needed to be looked at by our vet. Needless to say, I have been somewhat busy this month, however my husband finally got there today. They did a biopsy, because the mole has been growing so fast, which means it is most likely cancerous. They also did a routine blood and urine test, and he tested positive for diabetes. We have to put him on insulin right away. Dusty is 12. I know that he has been lonely ever since Chanty has died. I know his health has declined recently due to the onset of arthritis, however did we really need this bad news on top of everything else? He is still so alive and loves to play with the kids. One more summer, please.

Our daughter's birthday is this week, and I am frantically trying to get a few things finished for her. I have nothing, but I will be dammed if I don't give her the cutest birthday to make the end of this month one to remember more positively. She is worth celebrating. Our little Miss Dracula has finally gotten in all four front teeth. She smiles all the time, and she makes us smile all the time. Soon she will be walking, and then the fun will really begin. My son is having alot of fun with her as well. I guess things could be even worse, and I am so very grateful for what I have.

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I keep going back and forth on whether or not to stay with Blogger or switch to Wordpress. Fickle, no not me. Just want the best, easiest and prettiest. Nothing wrong with that.
Speaking of fickle, I have changed my sewing room once again. Believe me, I really enjoyed my old sewing room. I got it to look just right. Most importantly, I got it to feel right. The room functioned perfectly, but it was just too hot. All the machines, plus the iron and my computer just raised the temperatures in that room too high during the summer months. I finally decided after needing a guest room, that I had to move my sewing room/office space to the only other free space in the house. Across from the dining room, seperated by the front door, was another room. It is accessible from the living room and the front door and the hallway to the bedrooms. It is visible throughout the whole house, and that is why I had to figure out a way to make it look special.
The first thing I did was make curtains. This enabled me to close off the room whenever it was impossible to clean up my mess. Secondly, I had to get rid of the pink, and choose a color that would match to the rest of the house. Then I had to find a way to incorporate the white furniture with my antiques. I finally found a beautiful picture in a BHG magazine that inspired me to make some major changes to my furniture. I asked Lance to make me new tops for my cabinets. We bought solid oak wood, added moulding, and stained everything to match the armoire and table. They looked great, and Lance did a great job. Here are the pictures:

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HAPPY NEW YEAR

Just the way I like it....New Years Day, the kids are sleeping, and the Vienna Philharmonica Orchestra is playing Strauss. Now all I need is a Berliner or Krapfen and I would feel like I am home. One of these days, I will learn to make them. That will be fun. Oh goodness, no more sweets. My waistline is about to burst. I did my first set of 50 sit-ups tonight after the kids went to bed. I have to get my belly back in shape.

I hope 2008 brings lots of changes, happiness and good health to everyone! I for one am looking forward to a new year. We have lots of things planned for this year.........like going to Europe this Spring, buying a new car in the Fall, and putting Nicolas in PreSchool. Of course, I have lots of projects planned:
- Cleaning out the Garage (getting rid of lots of things no longer needed).
- Selling things on Ebay
- Making bedroom curtains for my sister.
- Redoing my Dining Room Chairs.
- Sewing a complete wardrobe for Olivia and Nicolas.
- Sewing for myself again.
- Cutting down on my stash.
I think it will be fun to experience Olivia's first year. She will be walking soon, and eating by herself. I am looking forward to seeing Nicolas and her play together and take baths. At the moment, Nicolas still has a size and speed advantage over her, but that will change once she can walk. It makes me smile to just think about those two together.

So back to my sewing. I wandered away from Ottobre for alittle while, and bought a new pattern from New Conceptions. It is a baby crossover T-Shirt. I was not too impressed with the one from Ottobre, however I may try it again with a different material. I made the first T-Shirt in a size 6-9 months, and it is huge. Now I am making another shirt in a size 0-3mos, and it looks like it is going to fit. It is very easy to put together. The binding was really easy. It took me about an hour, so if I do have a good fit, then I am sure I will be making alot of these shirts in the future. I would really like to make a dress as pictured below. I just love this owl knit too. No,no,no...first I am going to get rid of the stash I have.

So here is the shirt. I made it out of a thermal knit fabric I purchased several months ago. I thought it would look different, much lighter. Since it is not my ideal fabric choice, I decided to test the pattern with it, and then turn it into pj's for Olivia. Good timing, since the temperatures are at 38degrees right now (9:17pm). They are going to dip into the 20's tonight. Hard to believe in Florida the temperatures reaching such low levels. I cannot test the fit, since the little one is sleeping, but it comes close to the fit of several of her shirts. Yippee! I hope it fits. I like the opening much better then that of Ottobre. It sits lower. I also like the binding and how flat it lies. That is not the case with Ottobre pattern.

The new Ottobre is due to arrive in about 10 days. Yippee! I cannot wait to start sewing Spring things. Speaking of which, I have to make a birthday todo list for Olivia: 24 days and counting.
- Pajamas
- Birthday Dress
- Orange Velour Pants and Euro Knit T-Shirt
- Corduroy Jumper Ottobre
- Pink Quilted Coat

On another note, Daddy has been working with Nicolas on spelling his Name. Tonight he said NICLAS. We were very proud of him. At least he is trying.

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