Finding Time

There is a delicate balance between activity and busy-ness.  As things are clearing from my calendar, I am slowly finding the time to do the things I love to do.  I love to be with my kids and experience them.  The time they are in my life is so temporary.  I love to take walks, read, quilt, browse blogs and Pinterest, and cook.  It's amazing that I am finding the time to do those things again.  I started on a quilt that was to be given to my daughter for Christmas 2010 and finally finished it last week.  That should not be.  She should be the priority and that quilt should have been done long before this.  I'm beginning a new quilt for my second daughter.  I am planning to make it a priority and get it done before her birthday in October.  I have another quilt project that I have been working on for years.  That is for my bed and can wait.
The beautiful part is that DD13 loves to sit with me while I am engaging in handicrafts.  She will often help or come along beside me with her own project.  I love that time I get with her.

 This is the quilt I finished last week.  Even though it has a Christmas theme to it, DD14 says she loves it.

Below are fabrics I have chosen for my next project.  It will be a rainbow quilt and I'm hoping to find yellow brick road fabric to use for the trim.

Quilting Handicrafts

I first fell in love with quilting when I was pregnant with my first. I had borrowed some Quilt in a Day videos from the library and was hooked. As with any other skill, I made some mistakes in the beginning, but quickly learned that anything worthwhile doesn't include shortcuts. So even with the Quilt in a Day, it takes me several so that I am sure to do it right. This particular quilt requires 4 different square patterns and I want the quilt to be large enough to cover my king-sized bed when it's finished.

Recently, I have been itching to make a quilt. I had this project in a drawer that I started about 5 years ago, but didn't get past the first stages. I was thrilled to find out that through both of our recent moves, the quilt pieces still lay in a bag in a bottom drawer of an old dresser. It was like finding an old friend.

So I picked up right where I left off. The beautiful part of it is that DD11 sits in the room with me and knits while I quilt. She often reminds me of the book by Beverly Lewis "Just Like Mama" and I love it, savor it, and pray these days last a long, long time.

I also believe this is what Charlotte Mason meant by "masterly inactivity". It's a time during the day that is not structured, but something worthwhile is going on.

Once all the squares are done and put together, I will begin hand quilting the entire project. Yes, it takes a long time, but there is something theraputic about stitching each quilt. It's a time to reflect and a time to pray and a time to be still and know He is God. All the while, we are making useful things - handicrafts - that will become a part of our home.

Enjoying the Free Stuff

Sometimes the free stuff can be worthwhile.

For example, at Lowe's twice a month they have a Build and Grow Clinic. The kids are given a kit and tools to build a little project to take home. Today the project was a treasure chest. I feel these projects are good practice with a real hammer in a safe environment. It is also good for the older kids for practice in following directions.

Home Depot also holds Kids Workshops that we have enjoyed.

We pick and choose projects that are items that we could actually use and not feed the clutter monster in our home. For Father's Day they made a very nice box with dividers in it for nails and screws.

Once they complete these projects, they get a certificate and a patch or a pin. The certificates go into their portfolios with a picture of them holding their finished project.

Note: I recommend reserving your spot at Lowe's. Often times, they do not have extras so if you just show up, they may not have a kit for you.

On to the next freebie of the day -

We had coupons for free Roastburgers at Arby's. My two youngest don't like this sort of thing, so my oldest daughter and I each got a lunch that filled us for about $3.50 total! The sandwiches were free, but we had to buy a drink.

After that, we stopped by 7-11. They were giving away free Slurpees. They were only 7oz each, but that's really all a kids needs so far as sugar and calories go. They were completely happy with this.

My final freebie for the day was a deal at CVS for cereal. I was able to combine coupons and a $4 ECB to get 3 boxes of Trail Mix Crunch for free. I walked out with my cereal and a new ECB worth $5.

So for all of this, I spent a grand total of $3.50 for the day.

Completed Sewing Project

Lucy's first official sewing project is complete. She did a lot of the sewing on it. I put in the zipper, sewed on the ric rac and sewed the hem. Other than that she did the rest. She wore this dress to her first day of 4-H sewing camp yesterday. At sewing camp she is making many more projects and we have started a sewing notebook. I will post on that in the near future.

Sewing projects

I'm no expert seamstress. As a matter of fact, all I know about sewing, I taught myself - which isn't much. So most of the time, I feel as though I am just feeling my way through. I can put a buttonhole or a zipper on a dress, but I'm really not very good at it.

With that said, I really enjoy sewing clothes. When my girls were little, I made dresses for them all the time. Dresses are easy and I loved finding fabrics that matched an occasion or their personality.

At my daughters' requests, here are my latest projects. This time, they will make as much of the dresses as possible. I believe Charlotte Mason would consider sewing a handicraft. It's certainly a skill in which they are making something useful.

Here are the fabrics and patterns they have chosen. It's wonderful how we can still find fabrics to match their personalities. I've always told them that when I make them a dress, it's a "One-of-Kind". When these dresses are complete, I believe we will not find other dresses just like them either.



This is for my 10 year old girly-girl.




This is for my soon to be 12 year old tomboy who LOVES horses.