Sew and Show Saturday—#13. Cheery Cherries…

I have always loved cherry designs—all that Mary Englebreit stuff!!  My mom loves cherries too and made this adorable quilt.

I love the high contrast between the black, white, and read.  My mom machine appliqued around the cherries and stems.

Can you see an entire room based on this quilt??  It would be so cheery!!

Autism and parades don’t mix…

My husband and I took the kids to a Parade while we were on vacation, with the expectation of seeing a few floats, and the police motorcade and maybe the bagpipes—30 minutes tops!! Just so you know we went in to this with some “real” expectations—and came out of it with a great new reality—

Autism and parades don’t mix!!!

The sweetest thing happened amidst the full blown tantrum Justin had after we had walked 1 mile from the closest parking spot just to catch a glimpse.  As he was screaming, my husband tried everything to help calm him down and nothing was working.  The iPhone??—not good enough.  Riding on dad’s shoulders??—child’s play, not good enough!!  So we resorted to putting him in the stroller (which just in case you think that is ridiculous, it has actually worked really well in the past)—NOT TODAY!!!  He was really mad.  My husband was trying to put him in the stroller, which I’m sure looked like we were stuffing him in the stroller to everyone else watching as he wriggled back and forth, and both my husband and I went into our “we-have-to-be-calm-or-we-are-all-going-to-fall-apart-together” mode.  It was not going well, and I was holding my baby girl since Justin needed to sit in her seat, and then all of a sudden this older woman who was watching the parade jumped up and started walking towards us.  I didn’t notice her at first, since I was in the zone, until she got closer and I looked up at her and saw her concerned smile as she came towards me with outstretched arms and said, “Can I please hold your baby for you?”  I immediately gave her my baby girl and said, “He has Autism, and he is not happy!”  She smiled and said, “I figured he did.”  Shortly after we got Justin in, still screaming, and I took my baby girl back and said thanks and we left to walk back to the car.  Justin did calm down and enjoy his sweet ride for the mile back to the car:)

As bad as tantrums in public can feel sometimes, I am always so touched by the courage of others to lend a hand to a stranger.  I honestly think I would hesitate if I saw some parents dealing with a tantruming child—I think I would be scared that they would tell me to mind my own business or something!!  I have had people offer to help with Justin more than once and it is so moving to feel God’s love for me at that exact trying moment—through someone else.  I hope that I can be that kind of answer to someone else’s prayers, and act that quickly when my Father in Heaven needs me to.

Sew and Show Saturday—#12. Pocket Full of Posies...

This quilt of my mom’s is one that is very memorable to me.  It was the one that was always on the end of my mom's bed when I would come to visit during the first year of Justin's life.  It became the backdrop for several of his baby pictures!! Now when I visit my mom and see it, it brings back a flood of sweet baby memories of him!!

I have to say I always love a good nine-patch quilt and the applique flowers in-between are a great way to break up the pattern and add more interest.

My mom hand quilted this one with dark colored thread and it contrasts the white background so nicely!

It is such a striking quilt, I love it!!

Apple onesie and chevron tutu for my baby girl’s first birthday…

I’ve had this idea for a few months now of what to make for my baby girl to wear for her first birthday, and with the deadline of our road trip quickly approaching—I finally got it done!!  It turned out to be easier than I thought!!

I bought a white onesie from Hobby Lobby and some red chiffon rose trim.  I also found red tulle and red and white polka dot elastic for the tutu. 

I already had red and white chevron fabric and some dark red striped fabric so I cut them into strips with pinking shears.  Then I cut the same size of tulle and pinned around the elastic.  I just straight stitched it onto the elastic and it was done!!  Soooo easy:)

For the apple onesie, I put a thick piece of white felt on the inside of the onesie and then started pinning the chiffon rose trim to the front—laying it out in the shape of an apple.  I did the outside border of the apple and then just wrapped it around the inside until there was no white left showing.  I pinned the chiffon trim to the onesie and felt so when I went to sew it, it would sew through the felt underneath.  I envisioned hand sewing this to make sure it looked alright—but I ended up just carefully sewing on the netting of the chiffon trim with invisible thread and it turned out great!!  I added a lime green fabric rectangle for the stem and cut the edge with pinking shears.

For my baby girl’s headband, I wanted a shabby chic kind of look so I mixed two chiffon roses I had left over with a chevron, red and white fabric wrapped rose that I hand stitched.  I also hand stitched a lime green leaf accent and the diamond accent to the headband with a piece of felt underneath to keep it soft next to  her head.

I am so happy with the way it turned out, and it was perfect for my sweet apple baby’s first birthday pictures!!

 

Happy Birthday sweet girl!!

 

I am linking to the following parties!