Burke's Bag Done {July Goal Complete}

I can't believe I finished this month's goal! It's been a busy month, so I barely finished this in time... but I knew I needed to finish this by Saturday. The recipient, who lives in the PNW, will be here and I wanted it done before she arrived (aka... I wanted to save on shipping cost, ha!).

Again, Mom did the name appliqué for me... she also provided the red corduroy for part of the lining - I already had the green on hand. 

The cotton fabrics all came from giveaways :) Actually, the novelty pieces came from the very first giveaway I ever won three years ago. I love being able to use up a few fat quarters on these bags!

I'm down to only needing to sew three more bags to make! Then, I can focus on a few more fun items... like clothes for E!!

Goal Post Here
#3 in the Goal Setting Linky Party

James {3 Month Update}

This little man is 3 months old! (Well, 3 and a half months now, but who's counting?)

He can be quite smiley when he wants to be! He continues to grow, although we won't have official weight and height measurements again until his 4 month appointment. He's still in size 2 diapers and 3-6month clothing.

As always, everyone is happier when Daddy gets home from work :) James can be pretty selective of who he allows to hold him, and while he is the most content with me, Dan is able to calm him down with a pacifier and white noise. 

Daddy celebrated his 30th birthday this past month! We didn't do anything too exciting, but it's near the 4th of July, so with all the traveling we did to see family that weekend, it just felt like one big birthday celebration :) 

James' first 4th of July was spent both at my parents' lake cabin and my inlaws' farm. He never was around the fireworks that much, so we'll have to wait until next year to see how he likes them (E's favorite is the smoke bombs). 

Happy (5th) of July! We didn't get into our patriotic gear until Sunday for church. 

Since James is getting more and more content, E can hold him more... and look, he's smiling at her sisterly kiss :)

Like I said, he is getting more and more content, which prompted us to stop his reflux meds after the 4th. There was no change afterward, so I knew that it was OK to stop. 

Tummy time is always more fun with new friends (even if they live on diaper boxes). For about a week, he was doing lots of rolling from tummy to back, but then he stopped... I'm guessing he figured out how to do it, so he practiced it for awhile, but since he prefers his tummy, he decided to stop doing it as often :)

He still hates his carseat, but he doesn't seem to scream 80% of the time any more... maybe closer to 75% ;) We had to capture him looking like Budda while (gasp!) sleeping in the car!!

Cloth diapers were introduced this month! We still use a lot of disposables, but the cloth seem to be working just fine at home. Oh, and he's able to hold on to toys we give him for little bits at a time. Hopefully, he'll start reaching for them himself soon.

We have pictures of E balancing on Daddy's hand at this age as well.

His cousin who is a year older than him doesn't appear ready for a sibling yet - look how he his hugging my sister-in-law's leg! So cute :) 

Cousin time at the cabin!

E does a decent job of sharing, as you can see on the top picture. I'm still on the look-out at rummage sales for a boy-ish chair or couch for James.

Documented proof that I had both kids sleeping on me at once in the rocking chair. E was crabby after not sleeping during her naptime, so I was singing and rocking both of them... and they both fell asleep! I don't see it happening again anytime soon, ha!

A few snapshots of E... fishing with Grandpa, swinging with Daddy and feeding her other grandpa's cows!

A little snippet of E at three months... Blog Post

Prairie Style Skirt

This was another impulse sewing project. 

One weekend I was chatting with my sister-in-law about the family pictures we'll be taking in October. A few days later, I was searching Pinterest for some clothing ideas for those upcoming pictures, and found this link...

Then, I started researching gathered layered skirts for E, and found several tutorials. I mashed them all together with some stash fabric and came up with this...

It's very "Little House on the Prairie" but I still love how it came out! I have purchased a long sleeve shirt, white denim vest and some tights for her to wear with the skirt in October. For this photo shoot, she chose her accessories ;)

I especially like the raw edge of the denim, and I look forward to it fraying more and more as I continue to wash and dry it. I added a little decorative stitch as well. I love how the pink thread pops on the denim! 

Seaside Beach Tote

Last time around, when Ev was just a little nugget, I made a bag out of stash fabric. At the time, we were packing up to move back to SD, so I just needed to get some sewing in to keep me sane. When I needed some sewing time a few weeks ago, I just had to look at my pile of "pulled fabric for specific projects" and start sewing. 

The two bags have two things in common: I didn't use a pattern and I didn't do everything technically correct (for example, for this bag, I didn't iron down the fusible fleece and I didn't always iron when I know I should have). Both bags served the purpose of giving me some creative time, free of obligations - obligations of being a mommy and a housewife and also obligations of always following the sewing rules. Ah, such sweet bliss :)

Anyways, to the specifics... Seaside fabric designed by October Afternoon for Riley Blake Fabrics. I had one charm pack and three fat quarters. For the handles, I used a fat quarter of yellow Mini Confetti Dots by Dear Stella from a bundle I won from QNM.

Quick, Simple and Fun.

All in all, it's just another bag to add to my growing stash of totes. 

You can never have too many handmade tote bags!

Look to the Skies

As always, our summer skies have been full of variety...

Morning clouds at my parents' lake cabin.

An evening rainbow from our back patio door.

This one is a fun story. We knew a storm was coming in, but we were already on the road to my parents' cabin. We watched the storm cell more toward our destination and followed the weather reports on our phones. We reached the town closest to the cabin just as the storm did, so we hunkered down behind a church until there was a short break from the hail. Once we reach the cabin, the storm showered us with just a little more hail. Thankfully, we only have a few small marks on our car, and you can only see them if you know what you're looking for! 

4th of July Morning Haziness. 

(We've had off-and-on hazy skies due to the smoke from wildfires all the way up in Canada).

Happy Birthday, America :)

Blow out your candles! 

Repurposed Green-Striped Henley

I recently (um... this winter sometime?) took a shirt of mine that never fit me quite right and repurposed it into a dress/tunic/top/thing for E.

We started this photo shoot with a slightly poor attitude, but eventually she warmed up!

I believe I used the Skipper Top pattern to help me cut out the pieces. I pinned the pattern piece to the old shirt in just the right place where I could still use the original hem and still have some of the buttons (although they aren't usable because of the neckline). I do wish I would have a-lined the bottom half just a little bit more, but I may have been restricted by the original side seams (if I remember correctly... my goodness, Mommy-brain is such a real thing!). I still can't believe I had just the right shade of interlock knit fabric on hand to use for the cuffs and neckline. 

It is still a little big on her, but it still worked nicely with some leggings from her pants drawer :)

And with that, I'll leave you with some of E's crazy faces...

July Goal {ALYOF}

July Goal: To Finish the Monikered Baby Bag for Baby Burke

I'll be seeing his mom at the end of the month, so I hope to be able to give it to her then... instead of shipping it to the PNW!

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WIP (works in progress) List

• 1 tiered skirt for E ... preparing for family pictures this fall (fabric chosen and ready to be cut)
• 1 Manhattan tops for E (I cut out the pieces before JT arrived)
• 4 Monikered Baby Bags (fabric chosen and all but one of the names embroidered... need to cut and sew the actual bags now) 
• A tote bag needing straps

UFO (unfinished objects) List...

• Twin size quilt top needing a border then quilting and binding
• A quilt top from my grandma needing quilting and binding
• 1 lap quilt needing quilting then binding 
• 6 baby quilt tops needing quilting and binding
• A pile of Christmas half-square triangles that need to be trimmed and then organized into a table runner/table topper/pillow/etc