Kids Quilted Birthday Bag

Last year I made a Vera Bradley-esque purse for my 11 year old sister. I used a combination of Amy Butler fabrics, featuring this one from the Daisy Chain collection.

She liked it and used it most of last year...but this year she replaced it with an actual Vera Bradley bag. (this one)

Ah well. You can't convince everyone that homemade and cheaper are better...especially when all their friends say otherwise. (I should steal the bag back though!) And seriously, when did kids start carrying expensive bags? I don't remember that from when I was kid. Though I do remember white Keds and umbros being cool...(not together of course...that would be LAME)
Anyway, Laurel got an invite to a party, and I asked her what she wanted to give the little girl. She said she wanted to give her a purse with her name on it, and that her favorite color is pink. So, there we go. I haven't been fabric shopping since...um...hmm...it might be last November. Is that possible? I've been using fabric I had, and scraps for everything else. (wow...is it really possible I haven't bought fabric in a year?) Well, it's time. I have so little left, even of the tiny scraps. (So I really had to work at getting enough pink together to make this bag.)
This one took me a while, I'd guess 2 hours all in all. I pieced together the cotton and canvas for the body of the purse (12" x 14"). Then did the straps (2.5" x 23"). After I made the body of the bag, I put a leftover scrap of fleece on the back and quilted it down, tracing the patchwork. Then I sewed up the sides of the purse, put the lining in, sewed on the straps and bound the top like a quilt. I didn't realize till I was done, but I had missed some of the binding on the inside. Too late to undo it all (can you imagine?)...so I got creative. I decided to do some creative stitching, which in the end I think gave the bag an even more unique appearance. (Plus made the top incredibly durable)

So here is a perfect kid-sized tote, personalized and ready for the library...store...whatever. It's a little pink for my taste, but I hope Emily likes it. (I did manage to get a little green into the name...see the "y", it's the absolute last scrap of the Amy Butler fabric left over from my sister's purse)

The Goose-egg twins

This is a true story...
Last night I went to pick up the kids at Grandma's after work. We had dinner, the kids watched Scooby Doo. It was time to go home. We went outside, I was getting everything in the car when Laurel realized she left her cookie in the house. She ran in to get it...and then I hear blood curdling screaming. She tripped and fell head first into the corner of the coffee table. By the time I got there (5 seconds tops) there was a bump the size of a golf ball on the right side of her forehead.
So we hopped in the car and headed over to the kids urgent care. Grandma came later and took Luke out to the waiting room. Laurel got a clean bill of health, and we got released (2 hours later of course...).
I go out to the waiting room to meet grandma and she shows me Luke's forehead...with a goose egg on the same right side of the forehead. Seriously. He was trying to imitate his Aunt Hallie's cheerleading moves...and fell on his forehead. Thankfully he only fell from his own feet to the ground, no need for doctors. But seriously?!?! I should have portraits taken to remember the occasion of my little goose-egg twins.

The Party

I had no idea how the party would turn out...this was the first time we invited friends to a birthday party. Our family is so big that it's just always been enough, but this year Laurel really wanted to invite her own friends. I guess it's no surprise that few people RSVP'd (I'm horrible at it myself, so I'm not judging, just observing) so heading into the party we only had 2 confirmed yeses. ZOIKS! Would she notice? Would she care? Should I make cake for 4 or 20?

In the end...
people came

fun was had

cake was eaten

little girl was happy.

Happy birthday to my beautiful girl. You are a wonder to me. It lifts my heart every morning when I hear your first words. I love you always.

Squish 'em in a book

This goes to show how behind I am...this project was from Mother's Day. I just finally got around to taking the picture so that I could post it. Jeesh.

The day before Mother's Day my mom requested that I make her a cloth bible cover with her children all over it. She has 6 kids and 4 grandkids...so I wasn't sure which kids she wanted (especially since three are adults)...no one really wants an appliqued picture of an adult child do they? That seems strange to me...it isn't as cute when it isn't a kid. I didn't matter because I couldn't make the cover because I didn't have the bible. So with the inspiration in mind, I set out to make a token gift.
I decided on a cloth bookmark with each of my kids on one side of it. I'm more of a page bender than a book-mark-user...but it came out so cute I might be tempted to convert. I've never made applique kids so small before, which was it's own challenge...but in the end I simply did less design, and more on-the-fly cutting. The fusing material is really a must with pieces this small, when you're trying to zig zag over the tiny details you really don't want them shifting around on you.

So for those of you who like to squish your kids...now you can squish 'em in a book.

On the Table (straight from the farm)

With the CSA produce winding down for the summer, I am trying to squeeze all the best out of it. There are exactly 2 pick ups left. I made more gumbo today...but this time I didn't have to make the roux. Thanks to my father I had a gorgeous dark roux waiting in my fridge. That sounds crazy...but it's true. My father made it. But, too bad for his kids (the ones that still live at home) they don't like dark roux. So...instead of waisting away, it came home with me to make another rich delicious vegan-okra-tomato gumbo. Smells wonderful...though it will have to wait for another day. (no time for dinner tonight...I'm building a boathouse/shed/thingy) Hey...I'll bring the camera tonight so you can all see!!
Here's the last of this weeks CSA box, chopped and ready to become gumbo and the toppings for tomorrow night's pizza.

Cool Giveaway

I mentioned The Organic Sister blog last week in regards to Unschooling.
It just so happens that she's having a giveaway...

Giveaways are always awesome...but jewelry giveaways are especially awesome. This was my favorite piece. Certainly not an everyday thing...but as a wedding necklace...soooooo pretty. Go over to her site and get in on the action. (Plus stick around and read about a family really living their lives...)
I actually really took to heart her post about Unschooling the body. And, I followed a link from her site to Compassionate Parenting site, and have been receiving weekly tips.