Seven Little Dresses!

The Anna dress pattern by farbenmix has to be one of my all-time favorites! It's easy enough for beginners and so easily modified or embellished that even seasoned seamstresses can enjoy it!

I really enjoy making these dresses and tunics, Leith has several in her wardrobe. I had a request for seven matching, four-way dresses for the granddaughters in a family. They'll be having a family reunion later this summer (and I'm hoping for action shots!).

Here's what seven little Anna dresses look like:



Each dress has four different main fabrics (plus the pink ties and straps). Each fabric can be the front of the dress, for four different looks!

Here you can see the black/colorful fabric to the front, and a hint of the blue/dotty fabric inside.



This shows the blue/dotty and blue/floral fabrics.



It took well over 20 yards of fabric for these dresses, for girls ranging in size from 12mos up to 7/8! I hope they enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them!!

k

There's a new kid in town....

Cooper Wayne Chrisp!



That's his 'grumpy old man' look.

If you're wondering where I've been for the past two weeks, well, the answer is Cooper.

On the 28th of May, Jessica called me and said she was at the hospital, thinking her water had broken. Cooper wasn't due until July 31st! Turns out, her membranes *had* ruptured, and they were admitting her.

There were two rounds of steriods (Thursday and Friday), lots of antibiotics and talk of doing a c-section on Saturday (May 31). Jess was required to stay in the hospital, with lots of monitoring of her and baby. On Saturday, the doctor decided that Jess was doing really well, and it would be in Cooper's best interests if he stayed inside for a while longer. We were all hoping for another week, but Cooper had other plans...

Late on Monday night/very early on Tuesday morning, Jess called and said they'd decided to do the surgery right away because she was having contractions. (She'd had a previous c-section, and they didn't want Cooper to go through trauma of labor.) So at 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 3, little Cooper made his debut.

He weighed 4lbs 12 oz and was 17" long. Pretty good size for what they think was a 31w/3day gestation!



He was immediately whisked away to NICU. Doing very well since the beginning, breathing all on his own (yay steriods!). He did have two IVs and the NG tube. The IVs are gone, but the NG tube is still there.

What looks like a skin condition is apparently just the amniotic fluid that dried/stuck to him. It's all gone now (by 12 June), and his skin looks terrific. He has sweet, wavy blond hair, too. Lots of it!

They're working on getting his temperature regulated so he can move to a regular hospital bassinet, but he's currently still in the temperature/humidity controlled isolette.

So. That explains a little bit of my time away from blogger....

k

I left my heart in San Francisco

Finally, some pictures of our recent trip! We were more into experiencing the trip than photographing it, so not many pictures. But here are a few:

Kelly & Leith at Union Square



Leith was fascinated with the flowers being sold on the street corners. We let her buy a daisy one day...the next day she insisted on stopping at another flower vendor. He was so sweet and generous. He offered her the pretty yellow rose and refused payment.

Early Sunday afternoon we went out for dim sum, then we stopped by the Museum of Modern Art. Literally stopped by it....went in to the gift shop, then popped across the street to check out the fountains at Yerba Buena Park.



The taller building is not part of the SFMMA, but sure makes an interesting photo!


The fountains were a big hit. It was *hot* that day!





Our flight was in the afternoon on Monday, so that morning we went to Chinatown for some red bean cakes and a little window shopping.



All in all, we had a blast. Plenty of good food, lots of things to see and some fun memories. We can hardly wait to go back!

k

Heart Melter

I love sewing for Leith. She's rather easy to please, and it's fun to make pretty dresses and things for her. The other day I made a peasant-style dress out of knit fabrics (it's a pattern for wovens). I should have made a size smaller, because the dress is too big -- but I know she'll grow into it!



Anyway, I took it downstairs to show John, and lament about it being the wrong size.

Me (holding up dress): "So, what do you think?"

John: "Pretty. Is she really that big?"

Leith: (hugs the dress) "Mommy! Is that for me!?! Oh Mommy, I love it!! Thank you so much for making it!! Can I wear it to church tomorrow?"

She was so excited and sounded so happy!

Unfortunately, it is way too big so she didn't get to wear it. Still. That conversation is one of the main reasons I like to sew!

k

Postcard from the Edge....

We're in Berkeley! John's attending a conference here, so we decided to mix a little business with pleasure and have a little family get-away.

Leith and I have been out exploring a bit today; walked around quite a bit, took a bus ride up to a favorite area of town, and had a 'top dog' for lunch....all this while John's in various seminars/talks/panel discussions.

It is absolutely gorgeous out here. Mountains. Palm (and other) trees. Perfect weather. The hotel is pretty cool, too, and really just a couple blocks from one of the most beautiful college campuses. *sigh*

We'll be heading to San Francisco on Thursday morning, and staying there for a few days of actual vacation for all of us.

k

Warning: This post may make you uncomfortable...

Today is the second Sunday in May. Here in the US, that means it's Mother's Day. Meant to be a day to celebrate television's/movies'/media's perfect, loving "Mother" figure. Why so much pressure? If you aren't, or don't have, the perfect mother, you're forced on this one day to essentially give your mother a pass.

Don't get me wrong. I don't have a bad mother. She's pretty good as far as mothers go. But I'd like to do sweet gestures and phone calls throughout the year, and not be made to feel bad if I don't send flowers or buy a card on the Second Sunday of May.


That's why I think it's time to do away with Mother's Day. (Father's Day, too, for many of the same reasons.) Or at the very least how about we re-work it? Not sure how, but I'm taking suggestions!
Think about it. There are actually a lot of women who hate mother's day. Those who are Infertile. Multiple Miscarriages. Otherwise Childless (not by choice). Those who've had toxic mothers and survived. Those who've lost wonderful mothers. Women who've given child/ren for adoption. Women who've *lost children*! My gawd, how do they stand the day?!

UFO sighting!

It *was* a UFO, but now it's a quilt! The top of this quilt was pieced over a year ago. It started life as an alphabet panel. I cut apart all the letters and the stars, added sashing and some tiny little novelty prints. It's a super cute Alphabet I Spy quilt now!

The colors are loads of fun. That bright green and the black? Very much like Leith's bedroom (bright green walls, white trim, black dresser and crib/toddler bed). The quilt has so many fun, bright colors that it's going to be a wall hanging in said toddler's room!




There's a stash game going on over at Sewing Mamas, so it was the perfect time to pull out a UFO and get to work! I've been admiring the pieced backings on so many lovely quilts that I decided to try it out for myself. Must say, I was wavering there after it was pieced. Too much somehow? Too *something* anyway. But I know that lots of things 'quilt out' so decided to go with it. I am so glad I did!



I *love* the backing. Love it. It's got almost a rainbow effect, which I hadn't anticipated. The binding, orange with tiny white dots, really sets it off.

It's quilted in a grid...approximately 1/4" inside each letter block, both north/south and east/west, to the inside of the orange border, then one line through the middle of the larger, outer border. Used black thread on both sides. That was a hard choice. I knew it would show in the pieced back, and initially it looked a little harsh. But it was definitely the best choice.

So. What do you think? Is it a keeper?

k