Quilt Shop Hop!

Some of the sewing stores in northeast Ohio are currently doing a shop hop. I got a passport for the hop and have been trying to get to each store. So far, I've made it to 5, with 4 of those just on Monday. Let's just say, Lincoln was in his car seat for a very, very long time. And he may or may not have eaten a Cheeto courtesy of Emma while I was in one of the stores.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a picture of some of the fabric I've picked up recently from the stores (and also from Stitch Cleveland which isn't participating in the shop hop, but the fabric is too pretty to not include).

I've numbered them, so if you click on the picture you can see them better. Here are the plans for each. . . .

#1 a peasant dress for Emma
#2 a peasant dress or shirt for Megan
#3 ruffle layer skirts for both girls
#4 um, more peasant dresses :) There will be many dresses worn this summer. Pants just don't stay on Emma's butt.
#5 pajama bottoms for Jeremy (he picked out this fabric and LOVES it.)
#6 peasant tops for the girls (pink with yellow sleeves for Megan, yellow with pink sleeves for Emma)
#7 this material is for an apron to go in the apron shop when we finally get it up and running. What? What's that you say? What apron shop? Well, yeah, I haven't mentioned it on the blog yet, though some of you in the Cleve Land area may have heard me mention it. My friend Kristy and I are starting an etsy shop selling aprons. We are almost ready for launch, so get ready to see some dang cute aprons.

Also, you may or may not know this, but Denyse Schmidt who is a fabulous fabric designer was somehow finagled into doing a line for Joann fabrics. I can't tell you how excited I am about this! The other day I went to Joann just for a zipper for Emma's Easter dress and came home with these, too. These will also become an apron for the shop, but for now I get to look at them. I was bummed that our store only has a couple of her fabrics for this line when there are so many dang cute ones.

Easter Happenings

The Easter Bunny came to our house. Luckily he didn't give out a ton of candy like last year. He gave some candy, so the kids would be happy, but then he dropped off camping pillows to each kid as well as some fun Easter pencils.

Isn't this funny? My friend Kristy and I saw this as we were scouting out good picture taking spots.

Megan's skirt didn't turn out quite how I wanted it to, but that's my fault. I didn't buy the right kind of fabric because I was too cheap. Emma's was cute though.

Jeremy and his favorite Easter Egg (which the kids all called dinosaur eggs).

Megan with her favorite Easter Egg.

Emma with her favorite Easter Egg.

This Girl, That Girl. This Boy, That Boy.

Emma


She's had a lot of fun today.

Big Smiles.

 Messy Face.

Dirty Knees.

Megan

Lost her first tooth. And still has a twinkle in her eye (yes, there were tears shed over the worry that it might not be there anymore).

 Found some Easter Eggs.

Got a great sugar high.

Lincoln

Started solids.

 And despite his face here, he likes them.

One of these pictures reminds Nathan of my brother, Daniel, but I'm not sure which one. So I put both.

Jeremy

Loves to be outside.

 Loves Nature.

 Loves to help Dad.

 Also found some Easter Eggs.

 

Smorgasbord of Lincoln

 Time has flown. Really. Lincoln is 6 months old already. Seriously, where did my baby go?

He's teething,can you tell?

We've been spending as much time outside as possible. Here is he discovering grass for the first time.

Get this blanket out of my way! I want to see what this green stuff is!

Lincoln is such a joy in our family. Sure, he keeps me awake all night long, but he gives me slobbery, wet kisses every day as he says, "Ba ba ba," so it's okay.  Right now he loves to eat, play with his toes, and roll over (especially during diaper changes).

The other kids are still enamored with him for the most part (Emma being the only one that's feeling a little jealous of the time I spend with him instead of playing Memory with her). His eyes are still a shocking blue and I really hope they stay that way.

Right now he's in my arms, fast asleep and looking like a fat cherub. I love it. Unfortunately, it's nearly midnight, so I better put him in his crib and myself to bed.

Lincoln, thanks for putting up with the craziness in our family. We love you!

Fabric Seeds Giveaway!

My fabulous sister-in-law who has an online shop for her dang cute aprons and quilts and literally the world's best caramels has a shop for fabric now, too! YAY!

Her shop is called Fabric Seeds and right now she is having a  . . . . GIVEAWAY! Let's cheer for awesomesauce giveaways! Wahoo!

Ok, now here's what's up. Right now she is featuring fabric by Moda and Riley Blake Designs. She has these fabrics in yardage, fat quarters, jelly rolls (does anyone else think of jelly filled donuts and get hungry when they hear "jelly rolls"?), and charm packs. She also has quilt patterns for sale.

She says on her Fabric Seeds Blog that there will be more fabrics and patterns to come. I'm sure that soon to come will be her own quilt patterns because she is an amazing quilt designer.

So go by there, order some fabrics, an apron, and don't forget the awesome caramels, and enter the giveaway . . . . . . right . . . . . . .  now!

Book Review--Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I finished reading this for a book club discussion a couple weeks ago. It was my second time reading it, the first being for a college class. The second time through it hit me harder how sad it really is. The first time I read it I think I was too busy trying to think academically to really read it. The first time I gave it 5 stars because it was so different from anything I'd read to that point and shocking. This time, because I was reading it with a different goal in mind I can't quite want to give it 5 stars. There's nothing about his writing style or anything of the like that has gone down in my view, it's just that there just aren't any really happy parts of the book and that makes it hard for me to want to give it 5 stars. I know the subject matter of racism isn't a happy topic, and being that it's a true account he couldn't change story to make people feel good (that would have defeated the purpose of the book), but I feel like if I'm going to give a book 5 stars it needs to make me feel good about something.



I do recommend the book as a book to be read by a more mature audience, 15+. There are few swear words being used in general conversation, and a chapter that deals with sexuality, but he covers it in a vague way, or at least as vague as he can be and still get the basic message across.



The book is one that should make you squirm in your seat and feel uncomfortable, make you think about how and why you act and think the way you toward other races.



View all my reviews