Fabric heaven - the loot

I finally got around to taking pictures of some of the fabric I brought back in my suitcase. I was a good girl. Most of it was on sale.

This is the one Bug picked. I will be making a bed set with it

 

Those two came down to $5 for a total of 6 yards 

And these two $5 for 2 yards

Not bad

My mom also took me to this Provence fabric store where I had the hardest time deciding what to get. That is until I saw this raspberry and lime print that I bought for Joan and Trish.

 And for me .. a more conservative grey that I will use for table linens

 

No more fabric purchases for a while now though... I'm stashbusting

Denim - Pants into cute skirt

Lately all the sewing that I managed to do was "utilitarian": Clothes marking for school, hems and repairs. Nothing fun. I was putting away some fabrics and bumped into my stash of old jeans. That's when I remembered seeing this cutie skirt:

I figured I could make one for bug. I grabbed a pair of jeans with big holes on the knees, cut them off just above the crotch and removed the ruffles on the back pockets. Then I pulled some cutsie fabric from my stash and my ruffler foot...

 

And an hour later ...

Bug did not hesitate much to model

She announced she was going to wear it for her first day at school, too bad the first day has been postponed due to the aftermath of hurricane Irene, Bug had to wait one more day to wear her new skirt.

What I have been up to - Weeks 35

Some week we just had !! First an earthquake on tuesday, then hurricane Irene last night. And on top of all that, we had to get ready for Bug's first day of kindergarten (which has been postponed by one day due to the hurricane aftermaths). We have been so busy I wouldn't have had any crafting done until today if we hadn't been sent home early after the earthquake. 

I used the unexpected time off to refinish this table and chairs to setup a homework station for Bug. 

Speaking of bug, after debating the pros and cons for days and researching extensively all our options, weighing the risks vs. benefits, we started her on medication for ADHD, the lowest possible dosage. So far she is doing great. She is our bug, but she is more settled not doing 10 things at the same time. We are now so much more optimistic about school. I'd be glad to hear your take on this issue.

In the family news, my FIL just finished his chemo. We are all anxious to find out about his control scans.

Irene only made minor damages in our neighborhood,  we were lucky the power didn't go out even at the worst of the storm. Last weekend, we went to our favorite farm to pick peaches and apples. Since we were stuck home most of the weekend, I was able to make some poached apples and peach jelly.  Yumm! But being holed up while Irene was raging out gave us a bit of cabin fever.

Late this morning, we walked around the neighborhood and found small branches and leaves everywhere, a few larger broken limbs...

 

and uprooted trees. 

Look how waterlogged the ground is !!

Bug was adorable with her little bumblebee umbrella

And I managed to sprain my ankle less then a block from home. On a big chestnut. Mpff!!

Finally this afternoon, after going through the pile of clothes needing mending/hemming/buttons to be restitched, I had some time left for a fun upcyling project. Come back tomorrow to see it ! It involves this fabric:

What have you been up to ?

Shhhhh

Upcycling - Kid table and chairs

With  Bug going to Kindergarten and her special needs, we figured we needed to set up a quiet spot for her to do homework. I'm not sure what Kindergarten homework entails  but you can be sure if there is anything that can interfere with the task at hand, it will be transformed into a long and painful ordeal. We picked a corner of the main floor with as little distraction as possible then I went hunting for the perfect desk for Bug. 

This little table and chairs set was donated by aunt Joan, her (now grown) daughters used it to do her homework. I decided to spruce them up a bit to make them work for us. I had bought all the supplies and was planning to get this done over the weekend but I got unexpected free time this afternoon so I went to work !

All it took is some primer, 2 cans of spay paint and new rubber feet. Budget: $12

I picked colors that match the corner of the kitchen they will be located

I might add some hand painted decorations, olive branches, since our decor is mediterranean inspired.

If I have time ...

Ready for school... well almost.

And bonus ... the chairs and table fold so they can be easily stowed away.

What I have been up to - Weeks 34

Jet lag is behind us. We have settled back in our routine. Or have we? Bug has turned 5 this summer. In a week she will be starting Kindergarten. A big milestone.  When Bug was 18 months old we knew something was off in her acquisition of language. It took almost a year to finally get a referral to have her evaluated.  If you are a regular, you know that Bug has been in Special Ed for the past 2 years and will be attending the local school in a regular class albeit with some additional help. Back in April, we expressed our concerns to our pediatrician one more time and she directed us to the Kennedy Krieger Institute. After a long 4-months wait, we finally had our first appointment this week. Four letters entered our universe: ADHD.

We are  not completely stunned. We have known for a long time bug was not like other kids her age, in a subtle manner. In hindsight everything is starting to make sense.  We have a long road ahead figuring out the best strategies to help Bug overcome this challenge and realize her full potential. This is a big step though. Somehow this is a big relief too. We have been told for the longest time Bug's language delay was due to the bilingualism in our household, that everything would just resolve itself and that we were just worry warts. I'm so glad we decided to ignore the "wait and see" advice and got help for Bug quickly. And now she will be getting better, more targeted help and we will learn how to best help her too. 

Between recovering from jet lag,  the school preparations and trying to figure out how to organize our life to make things easier for bug, my studio and this blog have been gravely neglected. I'm hoping to squeeze some crafting time this week. We'll see :) 

Fabric heaven

During our vacation, I could not resist a little shopping expedition. My mom took me to this fabric heaven a few miles from her place. Let's face it, if I lived this close to this store my stash problem would be way worse than it currently is...

Imagine your local JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby store surface, with ONLY fabrics, all in wide bolts 55" or wider. HUGE

Great selections of florals and kid prints

Cheerful stripes and fruity prints

So many lovely damasks

Bolts and bolts of solids

Ribbon and trims galore

And a second floor just for window treatments and upholstery fabrics

Heaven !!

I picked up a few yards of fabric for Bug and found a couple larger remnants that were not tagged, which the store manager sold me for $1.50 Euro (about $2) a piece, some are 3+ yards long. What a great bargain!!!

What I have been up to - Weeks 32 and 33

Sorry for the radio silence. 

Ooops. I meant to do some blogging. But in the end I really needed this long break. I really needed to rest, relax and enjoy quiet time with Bug and my hubby. We took everything slowly. No pressure, no watch to look at. Just the simple pleasures of life: family, friends, good foods and the lovely weather that graced us everyday save one.

A bit of shopping, a bit of sight seeing, a lot of farniente at the poolside and the beach, altogether we just enjoyed spending time without the stress of daily life. We had the best vacation: the kind you come back from truly rested, body and soul. 

Bug now calls herself a mermaid. 

She was so happy and she tried many new foods. We are thrilled

We came back on Friday and are still pretty jet lagged. Time to regroup and prepare for the school year. A big milestone for bug since she will be in Kindergarten. School starts in 2 weeks. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to craft but I will make time to show you all the goodies I brought back.