Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Teach Your Children Well

Disclaimer:  This post has nothing to do with quilting, costuming or crafting. 

A couple of days ago my youngest, who's five, and I were sitting at the table.  She was coloring in her princess coloring book and I was doing costuming paperwork

She sighed and commented that it was too bad that girls couldn't marry girls, because she really loved her sister.

I put down my pencil and thought for a moment.
She's at the point were simple answers are best, and Mr. Chaos and I strive to be truthful with our kids.


Me:  Well Muffin, some girls do love girls, and some boys do love boys.

Muffin:  Really?

Me:  Yup.  there are different types of love.  I love your Aunt Emmy very much, and she is my sister.  The same way you love your sister and brother.  But,  I love Daddy is a completely different way. 

Muffin:  Huh?

Me:  When you are a grown-up there are different kinds of love.  There are some girls who love girls the way I love Daddy, and some boys who love boys the way I love Daddy. 

Muffin:  Who will I love?

Me:  You will love whoever you want to, and when you're a grown-up you will know who you love. 

Muffin:  okay.


that was it. 
she continued coloring and I sat there and watched her for a moment.

It was one of the proudest moment of my parenting life.

I know this post is completely different than anything else on this blog, but acceptance is important.


I want my children to know I will love them always.
Who they chose to love will not change that.




regardless of your personal feelings, you decide what to teach your children. 
I choose to teach my children acceptance.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

2010 Finishes - Big and Small

Looking back, 2010 was the year I really got into quilting.
 
Last year I finished 9 crib size or larger quilts.  The details for each are listed on my Big Finished Quilts page.
 
 
I also made:




I'm pretty sure there are a few small 'uns I forgot to photo, but overall, it was a productive year.
Much more positive to look at what I did finish than what I didn't get done.

What does 2011 hold for me, sewing-wise?

More finishes, less new projects.  I've told myself that I can start a new project when  I finish two older projects.  Wanna see my UFO list? 
  1. String X's
  2. Muffin's Trip Around the World
  3. Carolina Christmas II
  4. Tic-Tac Toe
  5. Sew Buzzy Stars
  6. Ravishing in Red
  7. Alice in Wonderland
  8. Crazy Mom Quilts Quilt Along #5
  9. Double Wedding Ring Tree Skirt
  10. Pure Hexagons
  11. ColorWheel Geese
  12. Em's Halloween Runner
  13. Cool Braids
  14. Harry Potter
 Some of these are pieced tops, ready to be quilted.
Some are blocks from bees, just waiting to be sashed and set...gonna design settings though...
Some have half the blocks pieced...
you get the picture. 

We will be moving this summer and I REALLY don't want to pack half finished projects...

I think I'll post this list in the sidebar.  Might help me make some progress on it.  Kind of overwhelming at the moment. 

Know what else this means?  I'm limiting my bees and swaps.
Right now I'm part of 8 different bees.

Too Many.

My life has gotten much crazier than when I signed up for them. 

Sew Bee It 
Bee Improvisational 
Not Your Grandma's Quilting Bee - Bumble Bees 
Not Your Grandma's Quilting Bee - The Hive
Sew Buzzy 
Scrap Happy 
[3x6] Sampler Quilt Mini Bee 
Ravishing In Red

I'm going to finish up the bees I'm currently in, and then cut back to one.  (maybe two.)
and limit my swaps to one at a time.

*sigh*

limits.  setting limits.

saying "no" is so hard.

I wanna sew more with my kiddos. 
I wanna sew stuff for my new house.

there are just not enough hours in the day.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Last Bit of Christmas Sewing

Alrighty, here's the last of my Christmas sewing reveal.

In the two weeks before Christmas I also made eight potholder/trivets, various sizes and styles, all made with a 12 days of Christmas Charm pack.
(I adore Kate Spain)

I didn't have a chance to take any pictures of them, Mr. Chaos was wrapping them as quick as I could finish them.

My sister-in-law was nice enough to snap of picture of the one I made for her, so you can get the general sense of what they looked like.
christmas potholder

I've decided that grommets are the best.
love them.
gonna use them all the time.


I also made ten of these
crayon tote outside

Crayon totes for my nieces and nephews.

crayon tote inside

Yup.

Ten.

I only needed 9, but I somehow mis-counted the number of "boy" ones and "girl" ones so I have an extra boy one.

I'll save if for a random birthday gift.

All of the totes are different.

My kids picked who got which one, it was really fun to watch them figure out who would like what.

I was a bit nervous because the two oldest are in 6th grade, and I thought they might be a bit old for them.  I swapped out the crayons for colored pencils, and they love them.

That does it for my Christmas craziness.
four big quilts,
eight quilted potholders/trivets
and
ten crayon totes.