Papa

Oh Papa Blanket, how we've loved you.  You were given to Ryan just a few days before he was born and you were lovely and oh so soft.  I loved you right away and knew Ryan would too.  Grandma Debbie did a good job when she made you.

You helped us through Ryan's infancy and reflux problems.  And when suddenly he couldn't sleep anymore at daycare, we realized it was because you weren't with him and you were his comfort.

When you were not quite 2 years old, Ryan gave you the name, "Papa."  He loved the story, The Three Bears, and since you were big like Papa Bear, you became Papa Blanket.

You came with us to Uncle Doug and Aunt Vanessa's wedding and comforted a very clingy Ryan who wanted only his mom durning the whole trip.

You sat alongside Ryan the morning he turned 2 and helped him play with his new trains.

When Ryan had to make a visit to the E.R. for a severe case of croup, you were there watching over him.  And when you showed too many signs of Ryan's love and your patches started coming off, I sewed you back together and quilted your seams to your back.

You came with Ryan on his first train ride to visit Grandma Enns and helped all of Ryan's beloved cars not slide off the table.

Papa, you came with us to visit Eddie and Ellie and were a great comfort to Owen the cat.

You helped us welcome Jack into the family and you and Ryan taught Jack how to love his blanket.

You were with Ryan on his first day of preschool and when Ryan started to cry and ask for his Papa, you were there, but sadly the preschool didn't realize that you were a blanket and not his Grandpa.  They soon realized and Ryan soon learned that you needed to stay safe in his backpack until nap time.

For the few short weeks that Ryan slept with stuffed animals instead of his cars, you were there (and so was Rita).

You have watched many hours of PBS kids in the mornings while Ryan felt the satin edge of you and drank his milk.

You have snuggled with Ryan in the laundry basket and watched Cars.

You comforted Rita after her knee surgeries, all without complaint.

And now as Ryan has left you alone for a week and asked for you to be folded up and put away with my childhood blanket,  I will do so with love as you have been such a part of our family for the last four, almost five years.  I will save you, as Ryan has asked, so he can show his kids someday.  I will miss seeing my little boy all curled up with you in the mornings and as he sleeps at night.  I am sad that he no longer needs to feel your satin edge for comfort because he is no longer my little boy, but has grown into a charming big boy.  We will miss you Papa blanket.

Beach Vacation

This week, the boys and I had the chance to go to the beach with my mom. Sadly, Phil and my dad had to work so they couldn't join us. We've made the best of it. Yesterday, after we got here, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the beach. We had a great time digging in the sand and splashing in the waves. We also discovered an exercise ball that someone had partially buried, creating a fantastic trampoline. He was nice enough to let the boys bounce on it, which was hilarious.





In the evening, we headed in to Santa Barbara and parked by this really cool hippie van. The guy said we could take pictures for a donation "to keep the hippie rolling." We obliged. The boys were enthralled and wanted to disassemble his sculpture because so many cool cars, trucks, and trains were glued to his van.


The next stop was the carousel. The boys loved it. It was Jack's first ride and he was amazed and wanted to do it again. (Despite his expression in the picture.) Next, we played at a park shaped like pirate ship. We then went to dinner at an English pub and had fish and chips. We were all pretty tired after this and went back home.


Today, we headed to the zoo and had such a great time. The weather couldn't have been nicer. The zoo was a great size with just the right amount of exhibits. Jack loved the fish.


The boys also really liked the elephants.


A highlight for my boys is always the goats and today was no exception. Ryan did say that a petting zoo should not be like this one; they were not allowed in like all the other petting zoos we had been too. He said the rules were, "being naughty to him," and proceeded to try and find an unlocked gate. After while, he was entertained with the goats and told me that he had asked a pig something and that it had nodded "yes" to him.


My one disappointment today was that I didn't snap a picture of Ryan feeding the giraffes. It was so cool and I got so excited that I didn't get my camera out. It was truly the highlight of our visit.





After the giraffes, we found another tiny carousel to ride and the boys really liked it. Even though it was so much smaller, I think they had just as much fun as yesterday. Tomorrow our vacation comes to a close. We've had such a great time. I'll be looking forward to our next visit.

Starling Crib Bedding

When Doug and Vanessa found out they were having a little girl, I had asked Vanessa what colors her nursery were going to be and if she had any fabrics she liked.  She emailed me four or five fabrics, with Alexander Henry's "Starling" fabric being one of them.  She also had told me that of all of them, the "Starling" fabric was her favorite.  As you may remember, before I found out I was having Jack, this same fabric had been my favorite, but in a different colorway.  I couldn't believe that we had liked the same fabric and I was really excited to make a quilt using it.  I ordered the fabric right away, fearing it would be gone if I hesitated since it is an older print.  I started looking at quilt patterns, then thought, I wonder how Vanessa is going to incorporate this into her bedding?  I wondered if she was going to have someone make it for her, then I thought that I would offer to make the bedding for her.  I told her that if she bought the fabric, I would sew it for her.  She jumped at the offer.  I gulped and realized how many sewing hours I had agreed too, but was also excited because I was finally sewing for a GIRL.  When we went on our vacation together in June, we picked our fabrics.  I finally got down to sewing this week and I am thrilled with how the bedding turned out.  I can't wait to ship it to her.  

While I have been sewing this bedding, I have also been developing a pattern on how to make it.  It is in the early rough stages, but this was a good run through to make sure everything was accurate.  I have a page of scribbles, notes, and revisions, but hopefully I'll get it together soon.  If I ever sew another crib bedding set, I'll be really happy that I made this pattern.  Trying to discern my scribbles from last time was rather difficult.  

Renegade Craft Fair

This weekend, Kate and I went to the Renegade Craft Fair in L.A. We had so much fun together. As we rode the Metro Link to the Fair, we started noticing all the "crafty" looking people boarding the train.



Sure enough, when we got to our stop, all of "these" people got off along with us.



I saw a sea of TOMS clad people and handmade goodies. We were overwhelmed with how amazing each crafters' booth was. Some artisans also created there own pop up tent covers. Amazing.



We looked at several rows of goods before getting hungry and then decided to take a break and visit the food trucks and the beverage booth. We got potstickers and a Dos Equis and found a nice shade tree for lunch.



After lunch, we went back to shopping. I wish I had an unlimited budget, but alas, I did not. I bought the fat quarters in the picture.



I also got this super cute head band from a vendor named Bobby Soxie. They are on Etsy.



Last, I bought this print from an artist names Jen Skelley who also has an Etsy shop. I really liked her work. Another vendor I really liked was named Ilee Papergoods. I think they have a website too.

Kate and I had a great weekend together and have already been talking about going to the craft fair again in December. Let me know if you want to come along and Christmas shop!

Free Motion Quilting

This week I took a free motion quilting (FMQ) class at Strawberry Patches. I really like the teacher and I had very enthusiastic classmates. I really enjoyed spending an entire day on my hobby. I have to say that FMQ is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I thought that since it was with a machine, it would be easy like sewing lines. Wrong! Once the feed dogs on the machine were dropped, I was completely in charge of the stitch length and speed by how quickly I moved my hands and the speed of the machine. It was like rubbing my stomach and patting my head. I did improve as the day went on but it will take some time to build my confidence enough to FMQ an entire quilt.




This is the sampler square we started with. Each square was a different technique we were supposed to work on.


Next, we had to work on a cheater panel (I had to ask what that was and I found out it's a pre-printed panel that looks like a pieced quilt). I bought mine at Hancock and I chose something I didn't care about since it was practice.


My instructor helped me figure out different patterns to try. I was glad for the variety of technique practice this panel offered.



Here is the back where you can really see all the stitching. It was a lot of fun to learn and I would really recommend this class to anyone interested. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but I'll have a lot of fun practicing.

Finished Unfurnished Quilt

I finished my quilt and I love it! After I finished quilting it, I had to pick a fabric to bind it. After thinking about all the possibilities I settled on the black and white dot fabric. The problem was I bought the the dot fabric as a remnant and didn't save the selvedge so I no idea what it was. I went to Strawberry Patches and explained the situation. Amanda told me that they hadn't had that fabric in a long time but she thought it was Windham's American Vintage line. I went home and googled it only to discover that it was out of print. Finally I searched quiltshops.com and found it at a little shop in the midwest. I was so relieved. I'm so happy with that choice for the binding.




Lastly, I toyed around with the leftover fabrics for pillow shams and here is what I came up with.


Now on to the next project.

Sewing Lessons

We have been at the coast this week with Doug and Vanessa. When we made arrangements for our trip I told Vanessa that I would give her sewing lessons and that we would shop for fabrics for my future niece's bedding. Well, I think I've pushed Vanessa into Project Mode and she is hooked on sewing.




I taught her to make a Drag Around blanket. We had trouble finding any ric rac on the coast that matched the fabric that she had picked so I taught her to make a ruffle. It was time consuming but completely worth it.







We also found fabric for the crib bedding



And quilt.



I will be sewing A LOT this summer and I'm so excited about it.

Lest you think that all we did was sew, we also went to the beach










And the park



And the Children's Museum and Madonna Inn, but since our computer is not back yet I can't show you those pictures. Chef Doug also cooked some great meals for us and played a little guitar. All that to say, we had a great trip and I wish we had a teleporter so we could get together more often.