Deer and Fox

I made these dresses this April and May at my sister's Kayli behest.  If you would like to see the rest of her photos, they are here. 

Kayli gave me two pictures and the colors for her dresses.   I think they are the best quality I have ever sewn.  Of course the patterns I based them on are amazing Oliver+S patterns, which really, you can't go wrong with. They're both linen/cotton blends with a batiste lining.


 I used the Family Reunion dress pattern for Ethne's and changed it per Kayli's request.  This was actually the hardest part because I had to draft out the pintucks in the front. And I added a lining to Ethne's because the yellow linen/cotton fabric was pretty sheer.  Kayli wanted the bib front less ruffley too.

With Hazel's dress the only changes I made were to add the trim to the collar.  It was the Fairy Tale dress pattern.  And then I changed the gathers to pleats. There's one pleat on each side of the zipper on the back too. I kept the layer of tulle underneath and I like the fullness that gives.  The original picture is a $208 dress from a boutique in London.  I think I nailed it.  :)    Oh, and in case anyone else is scared to death of choosing a size (I was--Kayli lives in Switzerland so trying the dresses on the girls was a no-go), I made a size 4 for Ethne, and she's 6, and I made a size 6 for Hazel who is almost 9.  And that's that.

They really were fun to sew, just not the part where I was on a deadline and had an unexpected lap chole, and then I was up sewing two days later trying to finish these.  Good times.  Well, not really.  But well worth it anyway.

My First Quilt

 So the horrible borders is what happens when you sew while your high on narcotics.  Seriously, it's so bad.  I might go to the quilt group and ask how to salvage it.  However, I really don't want to pick it all apart, so maybe it will just stay that way.  I, of course, didn't follow the directions of the quilt group to add the borders, instead I followed an online youtube video to make mitered corners.  And I don't even think the mitered corners look that great.  Ruff.  Stupid.  I'm chalking that up to the Lortab too.

 Paper-pieced.

 Machine Applique.

 One of my favorite squares--the Ohio Star.

And the hand applique.

What's Up?

 I know, I know, I haven't posted in forever.  But for good cause.  First I had an unexpected lap chole.  Now I had the intended tonsillectomy.  Not fun.  Luckily, I have Leo around to make me laugh.  Ana and Elena have also started swim team with practices everyday after school.  It's busy.

 For some reason, all these pictures seem blurry to me.  Blah.

Sebastian flexing his muscles.

Nicolas is so cute and squishy, and I just adore him.  :)

Elena has been so much happier with swim team on, I think because she's tired out, she goes to sleep quicker and gets more sleep.  Hmmm....we might have to keep her busy somehow.

It's so hard to take a picture of a kid crawling as fast as he can towards you.

Look at those curls!!  I love them.  I may never cut his hair.

Yumm....camera.

He is so good natured.  What a blessing.

This is his "Contemplating the universe" pose.

See his one-armed crawl?  He uses his forearm to pull himself forward and pushes with his toes.  Sometimes he holds a toy in his other hand and looks like a bull rider, holding it up in the air as he crawls.

Don't you just love baby chub.  I do.

And this is the painting I borrowed for my lesson on Sunday.  A guy in our ward had it commissioned--it's entitled, Family Reunion.  Perfect for the Lorenzo Snow lesson about family, which started off talking about a family reunion.

You can see in the painting members of the family who are on the other side of the veil.

There's a lot of symbolism in the painting but the frame part on the right side actually symbolizes the veil.  Anyway, I thought it was really cool.  Too bad my lesson wasn't that great.  Note to self, have more questions prepared to ask the class.  Sigh.

From Facebook:

Observations on a tonsillectomy (yes, round two of surgery this month.)
Tonsillectomy=salivating like a St. BernardApplesauce is good.Brushing your teeth is terrifying.Do they use sandpaper on your tongue while in surgery? That's what it feels like. (Actually I think I have thrush).My post-op nurse asked me if I wanted the rest of the dose of Morphine. And I said no. She grimaced and said, "Do you realize you were making this face while you said that." Ha. Ha. Then I said, "No, I hate morphine, it makes me loopy and itchy." And she said, "And apparently as white as your bed sheets."



Oh, and the pre-op nurse had me filling out paperwork and in the middle she stopped and asked me if I
was a nurse. When I said yes, she said, "I can always spot a nurse."


And just to let you know how not bright I am, Leo picked up my prescription on the way home from the hospital. He gave me my pain meds the first day. The second, I took one myself in the evening and noticed how few of them there was left. Then I READ the bottle (brilliant, eh?) and noticed that it was only filled for two days, which is weird because the 3-5th days are supposed to be the worst. The name of the drug was not one I was familiar with, but I thought that was likely due to the fact that it dissolved in my mouth (so I wouldn't have to swallow) and so was not the typical pain med. Then this morning, after not sleeping last night, I looked it up online. Umm....it was Zofran. I had had no pain meds at all since the hospital. I made Leo call the doctor's office to call in a prescription for me (because I knew I'd start to cry) and then two wonderful, wonderful women in my ward picked it up for me, picked up my kids, fed me a popsicle and put me to bed. And I slept all the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. I have the greatest ward ever here.  I feel much better with a bunch of narcotics in my system.  ;)

Elena

I've been meaning to post about Elena for a long time.  And then my friend sent me these pictures of Elena and her daughter at a school relay walk thing they had on Friday, which was perfect for my post, so then I couldn't delay any longer. And no I didn't go, Nicolas was sick and I was babysitting for a friend.  

And this I am adding because I cannot believe the amount of TEXAS stuff this girl brings home from Kindergarten.  Worksheets and worksheets and coloring pages upon coloring pages about Texas armadillos, bluebonnets, cowboys and longhorns.  And the state flag.  And the state of Texas colored in the colors of the state flag with bits of torn up construction paper.  And well, you get the idea.  

I'm not sure what she wrote on that first line.  But wow, Texas never ceases to amaze me in all their Texas glory.

And this is the first note Elena ever wrote me.  Sad isn't it?  (Remind you of anyone, Natalie?) 

Luckily she wrote me this note too, a little while later.  :)  I can't wait till Elena is a teenager......

And this is a picture Elena made me.  It's sideways, the mermaid and the dolphin are both jumping out of the water.  

It's really fun to see Elena start to read and write, she's getting so big.  Life goes by too quick.

In other news, Saturday at 4:30 AM I went to the ER with abdominal pain and had gallbladder surgery around 10 AM.  I was supposed to have a tonsillectomy this Monday.  But I think I'll wait a bit now before I have that.  I'm doing all right, I guess.  And I was going to elaborate more about Elena, but I think I'm going to go lie down instead.