Lululiz Tagged Me

I have never done one of these before but I can't let Lululiz down. Her comments always amuse me and give me a smile.

I was instructed to:
1-Collect the book that you have most handy
2-Turn to page 161
3-Find the 5th complete sentence
4-Cite the sentence on your blog
5-Pass it on to five other blogger friends

One would think that this would be easy, however, our computer is located in our "library" room filled with books. I decided that I should just go with the book that I most recently used since the rest are all equally handy. Children's books don't tend to have 161 pages so that eliminates most of the books I have handled this week! I referenced my rose book most recently so I decided to go with that one. It's called Rose Gardening. The fifth sentence is:
"It was his aim to produce new roses that could survive hash winters and also recover quickly at the onset of a dishearteningly short growing season."
Hmm, not all that interesting or amusing! But there you go!

I will go ahead and tag a few of my followers and those who comment but hope none of you feel obliged to carry on. I won't be offended!

Lauranie, This is sew my life
Jocelyn, Happy Cottage Quilter
Marsel, McKee Family News
Jen, Rosey Little Things (You're just sitting around waiting on that baby right? Here is a little something to do...)
Cassie, Birdolovemoo (Since you won my giveaway!)

Pictures of Penny

I had a request for a new picture of Penelope. How could a proud Mommy resist? Here she is today, at 6 weeks and 5 days.

Roses!

The deer were nice enough to leave these roses alone! I am happy to get at least SOME blooms. So far they have only hit my yard twice this summer but they ate a lot on those two visits.

Update:
To answer a question, the name of this rose is Gemini. I just planted this tea rose and two others in my "kitchen garden" last year. The rest of the garden is full of herbs and flowers for cutting.

Itty Bitty Dress Winner

We have a winner, using the random number generator:

Cassie said...
This is very cute and would be perfect for my cousin's baby that's almost here. :)

New Towel Drawers

Awhile back, I posted about our upstairs hall renovations (http://duringquiettime.blogspot.com/2009/04/blog-worthy-renovation.html). There was a long closet that extended under the attic stairs that was so deep that much of it was really unusable. I suggested that my husband cut into the wall and build in drawers to use the space, leaving a closet that was less deep but perfect for our linens. The drawers would be used to store bathroom towels. Wonderful husband that he is, he made my vision a reality! He finished them this evening. I suggested that we make the top drawer appear as though it is two drawers, though it is really one, since deeper drawers are more useful for towels. He did that too! I really like the way they came out. I can't wait to fill them but I am under strict orders not to until he puts a few more screws in the runners tomorrow after work.
This is the hall that I am hoping to decorate with a quilt. I have all the fabric now but am still deciding on the design and have to finish the nine patch anyway.

Baby Book

I've been taking a break from sewing projects to begin Penny's baby book. For each of my kids, I have used a scrapbook and made my own pages because I don't care for the fill in the blank sort of baby books. I start with information about my pregnancy and a picture of me with a 40 week baby belly. Then I have the story of the labor and delivery as recalled by Daddy because I seem to blank on this! (I wonder why?) I have a page that I update with height and weight and head circumference from each doctor's visit. There is another page with a drawing of all the teeth and I label each one as they come in. A picture of the first bath will have its own page, as will the first haircut, etc. I save a copy of the birth announcement and Baptismal invitation. I want to complete the book up to the Baptism page before the Baptism next weekend. Then I should be able to keep up more easily. From that point on, I make one page for each month until the baby is two. These pages have milestones like sitting up, sleeping through the night, crawling and first steps but also what size clothes they are wearing and what their personality is like.
Once the kids hit two, they get their "big kid books" that I update a lot less frequently. I still make birthday pages, include records from their physicals, toilet training success, etc.
I have been told numerous times through smirks and laughter that I would never continue this after the birth of my second child. That was all the incentive this crazy person needed to make sure that didn't happen! Each kid will have a baby book...and big kid book. They love looking through them and so do I.

Quilt Along Quilt Top Complete!

Somehow I managed to finish my quilt top! I was able to lay things out on the dining room table to arrange them so I didn't need to wash the dining room floor. In order to make my quilt sandwich and baste though, there is no getting around it, I have to move the dining room table and wash the floor in order to lay the quilt out completely. This isn't going to happen this week because I have a Baptism to prepare for next weekend! We hope to have the reception in our yard under a tent so keep your fingers crossed for good weather! I am preparing a brunch. So far I have made and frozen a blueberry coffee cake. Chocolate, chocolate chip muffins are up next. Does anyone have another recipe to share?

Big Baby, Bad Weather, Sad Mommy=Lucky You!

It's a giveaway! While I anticipated the birth of my baby girl, due June 2 of this year, I feverishly sewed her dresses. I started with two Itty Bitty dresses, made in the larger size (9-12 lbs) since I was expecting a larger baby. Well, my little one didn't arrive until mid June in the coldest summer ever experienced in New England! She has worn summer clothing only 3 times. Before she could even wear these dresses, she outgrew them! I decided to keep one for future gift giving and to offer this turquoise floral itty bitty dress as a giveaway. If you would like to enter, please leave a comment telling me what you would do with the dress if you won. Please make sure that there is a way to contact you. The giveaway will be open until Sunday, July 26th at midnight. I will announce the winner on Monday and pop it in the mail. I will pick a random number. Good luck!

Gardening Trials; Deer and Aphids

Very early this spring, I hung bags of Irish Spring soap around my garden in hopes of keeping the deer away. I thought that the soap was actually working because I had a beautiful first flush of roses about a month ago and the deer did not come snack on them. The other day, I intended to post a picture of my second flush of roses which was just beginning. When I went out to take the picture, this is what I found!

Apparently, the soap is not working. The deer visited overnight and ate every full bud and flower off of all four rose bushes. And, once again, they ate all the leaves off the morning glory vines. I am so upset!

Meanwhile, we have also been battling aphids on the roses. They seem particularly bad this year. Instead of spraying chemicals, we decided to hatch praying mantises to eat the aphids. My husband bought an egg sack and placed it on one of the bushes just about six weeks ago. Today we saw the first praying mantises! They were busily eating bugs too! So, I will have aphid-free but sadly also blossom-free rose bushes.

Quilt Along Progress

I made a little bit of progress on my quilt. I cut the short sections of sashing and sewed the rows of blocks together. They are all numbered with little pieces of paper and ready to be sewn together to finish up the quilt top but first I need to find the time and space to cut the long strips of sashing. I have the material for the backing and the batting just came in the mail today (I ordered it on line with a coupon from Jo Anns. I don't have a plan for the binding. It might be scrappy with leftovers from the blocks.

Strawberry Booties ON the Baby

Penny is wearing her strawberry booties today and cooperated with me for a quick photo shoot! Here they are. They are not as cute as the baby but a nice accessory! I am so very tempted to make more booties.

Adorable Tutus!

When Sew, Mama, Sew! hosted the May Giveaway Day, I was the lucky winner of not only one, but two, custom made tutus from Lauranie at This is Sew My Life, http://sewmylife.blogspot.com/. The tutus arrived on Saturday. I asked for soft, feminine colors and I think that the choices were perfect! The satin ribbon is a cotton candy pink color and the tulle is soft pink, lavender and white. When my daughter saw them she said, "Mommy, the colors are very pretty!" I hope to get a shot with both girls wearing them together when Penny is old enough to sit up on her own. Until then, here are a couple of pictures. Thank you Lauranie!

I looked them over to see how they were made and Lauranie even passed along some tips. I would think that these could make great birthday gifts for my children's friends.
And yes, Penny has a horrible case of baby acne. The poor thing. Hopefully it will clear up soon.

Strawberry Booties

It's all my mother's fault...she went shopping and bought Penny nearly an entire wardrobe in size 3-6 months. These two adorable strawberry outfits are footless so, of course, I saw a need to make booties! I had a small piece of strawberry fabric left over from sewing a baby gift nearly a dozen years ago. It's what made me think of the booties as soon as I saw the outfits. I used white pique for the fronts and appliqued little strawberries. What fun! I tried to have the baby model them for the picture but her little feet wouldn't stop moving!

July Garden

Somehow, my garden still knows that it is July. The daisies, daylilies, and lavender are all blooming on schedule even though it has been cold and rainy and anything but summer weather here for weeks. Today it is finally clear and sunny, though it is still only in the sixties. I was able to take a little garden stroll and enjoy all my flowers. Most of the flowers in the bottom picture are annuals that I grew from seed and then planted when about 37 weeks pregnant! I am very behind in weeding now because of the rain. Hopefully I will be able to get out there a bit this weekend and tidy up.

I have been doing a bit of sewing in scattered minutes here and there. I am working on the sashing for my nine patch and have a pair of baby booties planned to coordinate with some new clothes that my mom just bought for Penny. I may have more to show you in a couple of days.

Mini Quilt Monday

I started this little mini quilt without a purpose over the winter. It's construction had a purpose. It was intended as practice for my stippling and to try piecing batting. But beyond that, it didn't have a plan so it has been sitting and cluttering my sewing space. I got sick of having it in the way and finished stitching the binding this afternoon. It took all of 10 minutes and has been sitting there for months! I will probably let the kids squabble over it and use it for their dolls/stuffed animals. It measures approximately 23" square.

Last Blocks for the Quilt Along

I am looking forward to putting all these blocks together now! I need to find the time to cut the sashing and arrange all the blocks. This not only involves time but a clean floor. We will see how long this takes me!

Boring Blue Bulldog Book Bag

Here it is; Lily's library book bag in the bulldog material of her choice. I think that Jocelyn of Happy Cottage Quilter might have been right when she suggested that "Maybe your daughter chose the bulldogs to keep others out of her books :-)" That sounds like her. Are you sure that you don't know her Jocelyn? I bet she was hoping that the bulldogs would keep her brother out of her book bag at least! I asked if she'd like me to add any appliques or ribbon or ruffles to her bag and she said, "No, just plain bulldogs." Fine. Here it is! And here is how I got it done.

Does anyone else sew with their babies napping in Baby Bjorns or slings? I am sure that I am not the only one out there! This is the only way that Penny would take a decent nap today. In fact, as I am typing, she is still napping in the Baby Bjorn.

The next time that I have any sewing time, I hope to work on my nine patch sashing!