The Day the Lights Went Out in Dakota

So, our Saturday adventure began with a simple shower regimen in the morning. One after the other they were going to pop into the shower in the "upstairs bathroom" and so John was the first in line. I was scooting around in the kitchen putting away the breakfast dishes when suddenly everything shut off... the lights, the sounds. At first I thought it was a fuse but then we realized EVERYTHING was off... and that included the lights in the bathroom. Poor John was calling out... calmly with a bit of concern in his voice, "Ummm. Carmyn?" We found a flashlight and and directed it into the shower so he could see. Lucy and Sophie seemed to think a spotlight shower would work for them too. Hey, there's a first for everything. Thankfully the lights came back on a short time later.

In other news, the kids have been crafting and coloring and creating like crazy. First we painted pumpkins in the morning. Lucy even created a crown for her pumpkin princess. Sophie went for the traditional spooky black cat and John's creation had pictures all the way around with a blue stem. Go figure.


On the computer Sophie discovered coloring sheets for Halloween and she printed a few for John and before long all three of them were printing and coloring and cutting out pictures of vampires, bats, witches, pumpkins, and more. We now have enough to give one to everyone in Lucy's class and for me to take home and I think to decorate every bulletin board in their school! Okay, maybe that's exaggerating... but this seemed like endless entertainment, even if we did use a lot of paper.

Procrastination, continued (or How Not to Sew...)

This picture illustrates all the sewing projects I, with the help of the kids on the quilt, have finished since yesterday at 8 am. Because the rest of the house is so trashed you'll notice there aren't any pictures of any rooms in the house. In fact to find clean space on the floor on which to lay out the sewing projects so I could take a picture, I had to move from the dining room to the living room. But, the good news is I got much more comfortable with my sewing machine. Here's a summary of the various sewing "happenings" at our house in the last 24 hours.

Project 1: Baby Doll Quilt (or you can call it a pillow if you'd prefer)
Lucy picked out the fabric from 10-year old leftover pieces and Sophie and Lucy created the design on the floor. I then used the mat and cutter to cut the 30 5" squares and then taught Sophie and Lucy to sew the individual pieces together. When we got a row down, they started on the next, etc... Then I sewed the rows together to form the "face" of the quilt. Lucy picked out the back fabric and we cut it out, along with the batting. I then put the "right sides" of the front and back together and sewed all four sides, leaving a small opening in which to draw it through. My thought was we could then handsew the opening.

Unfortunately, I sewed the batting to the "face" of the quilt, so that when it got pulled through there was a nice plaid backing and batting for the fact of the quilt. Oops - I called it quits for a few hours and then got out the seam ripper and went to town on tearing out all four sides of the quilt.

Fortunately I didn't give up like I usually do at this point; I even laughed out loud. OK, you're right - first I let go with a string of expletives (all quietly muttered) and then laughed. This morning I finished up the quilt - this time I gave up on the idea of sewing the batting in. Rather, I sewed all around the quilt, left a small opening and then stuffed the batting in. Then I taught Lucy how to hand sew the opening shut - but we didn't get very far before I decided we'd use the sewing machine to finish the job. Finally, I used embroidery thread and pulled it through to hold the batting in place. Voila! A quilt, or pillow, for baby dolls and the girls have a hunger for sewing.

Project 2,3,4: Bags for Sophie, Lucy and John
While I was drinking my coffee this morning, Sophie (all by herself) made a small purse for Lucy (pic on left) and I thought - "Hey, she's on to something." So I then took a turn at it. This time, I carefully thought it through and did lots of somewhat-straight line sewing to make some handy-dandy bags. After John saw Sophie and Lucy's he wanted one so I made one for him - unfortunately, he thinks it looks a rather lot like a purse and was a little disappointed. We'll see if he chooses to take it to our SD car trip with him.

Craft for Kids: Ziploc Bag Dryer

Here's our special version of the Ziploc Bag Dryer. As you can see, even a four year old can help put it together and it works beautifully. The idea came about when I saw one at Theresa's house. She knew I wanted one so she dug out her catalogue and handed it over. I was gung ho to order it until I saw the price tag - about $25 with shipping and handling. So my creative side went to work and came up with this concoction. The materials included a small clay pot, a styrofoam ball cut in half, wood dowels and acrylic paint. Put it all together and you have a Ziploc Bag Dryer. I had visions of putting together an assembly line and selling them at the local co-op, but really, the best part was watching John make it himself. Have a go!