Bear Cub Q...

... needs a break.

We are now at 10 months and counting for dealing with the trauma of lead poisoning (mild, but I think it plays a part in the following...).

He's been sick more than the Assistant and Screamer combined in their ENTIRE lives.  That's almost 9 years, compared to his 19 months.

Tuesday night before Thanksgiving, while we were having a house guest, Q spent a few hours asleep, then the next few crying.  Wednesday morning, I was fairly certain he had an ear infection, and after noticing his ear weeping, guessed we had a ruptured eardrum.  After our wonderful doctor squeezed him in, we were no farther along, as drainage blocked his ear canal.  We just knew it was ruptured.

Today, after a follow-up, I am facing the prospect of surgery.  Now, before you pity me, this is NOTHING compared to what my siblings have dealt with/are dealing with in their lives, so I am counting my blessings.  Still, poor Q... Who wants to have surgery on their ear?  We'll be visiting an ENT next week and know more then.

Is there any wonder I'm sewing less this year than last?

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #48

The year is waning, and one of my favorite times of the year is beginning.  Advent begins today, and with it comes the Advent wreath, the Jesse tree ornaments that are still being completed (this is our 5th Advent, and we still haven't made all our ornaments), the s.l.o.w. decorating of the house, the Advent music, my favorite snowflake decorations.

This week, I quilted 11 placemats and am THIS close (literally, less than 3 feet of border left!) to finishing Favorite Things.  Next week, it will be a binding madhouse around here!  Unfortunately for my numbers, this means nothing out this week, but next week I "should" be able to count 26 yards OUT!!!!

Bear Cub Q burst an eardrum Wednesday, and coping with the consequences of this, along with enjoying time with out-of-town family and some lovely canning have made sewing time a scarce commodity around here.  My poor baby... he's been more sick in his short life than both my girls combined.  While I like to blame it on the lead troubles, maybe he just has his hands in more things than they do!

Next week, I'll be taking part in a "virtual craft fair."  Hopefully I can earn a little extra money without having to sit in a booth all day!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #47

Another craft fair over and done! Only one more to go, and it's online, so I don't have to find a babysitter for my kids or setup a booth!

I finished a project bag for myself and already have it chock full of yarn, hooks, and needles. It will be great for hand piECing projects TOo. Please excuSe The random cAPiTAlizAtION? SomeonE IS HelpiNG me tYpE. 2 1/4 yards OUT.

I also bought 2 yards of fabric, a purchase for the first time since August, and it was a necessary one. I pieced a back in for my Making Ends Meet quit (pattern by Judy Laquidara), and when laying it out against the top, I was still several inches short, and I have used all the fabrics and close matches already. Maybe I could have "made something work" from my stash, but I often compromise on quilts for me and the later reject it. I used some of my hard earned cash from the craft fair to buy, on sale, two yards of a fabric from the top,so this section will make a nice top of the quilt to fold down on the bed.

I am approaching the end of the long side of my border, with only a partial short side left. After crunching the umbers, I won't finish by the end. Of November, but I will definitely finish before Christmas!

I need to hustle to quilt the remaining place mats. My sister is down to embroidering the last two, but I put off quilting in order to prepare for the craft fair as well as to limit the number of projects I worked on at once. It's time to catch up!

Check out the other stash reports at Judy's (patchwork times.com).

From the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #46

 I have been hustling to finish an order for seven turkey hats.  As of Friday, 4:15, they were done!  Of course, Saturday morning I received an order for another one.

I also finished this set of letters to hang up, and they used a yard of fabric:

IN this week: 0 yards
IN YTD: around 202 yards

OUT this week: 1 yard
OUT YTD: 97 1/2, I think

More importantly, for me at this point, I've used 28 1/2 yards of the 69 1/2 yards I want to use before year end.

I am busily quilting on my giant quilt, with the hopes that it can go on our bed by December. We still haven't turned on our heat, depending on the fireplace and space heater instead, but given the ever-colder nights, that won't last us much longer.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #45

Wild, no?

What a week!  I finally am back to crocheting too, and have had a request for a turkey hat or two...

Personally, I'm more fond of this one.

Terrible lighting, but this is in the dark corner of the living room, so not bad...
Quilting away. I love my sewing kit, even when the kiddos have rearranged for me!

My monochromatic challenge.
Who do you think this is for?
What will I do next?

You can check out other stash reports at the Patchwork Times.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Memorial Quilt

I finished this memorial quilt last week.  It will be delivered over Thanksgiving, but as I have several special orders for hats waiting in queue, I'm glad I finished it early.

This was challenging for me, as the clothes spanned a range of time from baby dress to high school memorabilia, and the colors varied widely.  Also, as you can see from the number 15 in the upper right corner, there were some issues with wear on the fabric.  That blue stretched out despite being stabilized, so my quilting options were limited!  Mostly there's SiD around each block, with an X through the sweatshirt and a few stabilizing lines through the large pieces of fabric.

The purple was chosen as Cari's favorite colors were lavendar and sage.  I chose the border fabric from Sweetwater's Hometown (I think) line because the words speaking of home and family really seemed to fit this quilt.

Enjoy!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Halloween Lovelies

Daddy, the cowboy

Mommy, the Queen Mother

the Assistant, Mulan

Screamer, Snow White (according to her)

Off with the tiger's head!

Bear Cub Q, the monk and the tiger (the monk costume didn't last long, but it was a hand-me-down from his beloved only-boy-cousin.  At least we got a few pictures!)

He's even praying!

With his favorite weapon, a garden stake

The kiddos were great!  They walked 2+ miles, said "Trick-or-treat" and "thank you" (usually, anyway), and hauled in well over a gallon of candy.  We've been judiciously eliminating some of that candy, as my kids are prone to cavities (don't ask how I know... it was a LONG summer).

The neighborhood to the south of us (the "nice" neighborhood) swarms with children after dark, so we started out before sunset.  By the time we were headed back home (after stopping at two friends' houses about a mile distant from our house), we had to run down the crazy street (too creepy, but the road is closed to traffic, so at least we wouldn't be stuck behind 100 kids and their parents, all dressed as bloody vampires. YUCK!) to get home.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.