Fuzzy Face

The Munchkin does NOT like to have his hair cut. Not at all.
We have had 5 different people try - with varied success.

He finally said he would let "Miss Judy" cut his hair if she taught Mommy how to do it, so that I could do it next time.

So she did.... and I did.

Not the best haircut he's ever had - but also not the worst.

We put a sheet down on the floor with his youth chair on top, draped him with another sheet, and popped in a movie.

Not a squirm, not a peep, not a struggle.

Whew.

I cut it as short as I dared - since I don't know how he will be next time we try this, so the longer we can go in between, the happier Mommy will be.

Dad used to cut my hair when I was a kid - not some of my happier moments. It was your typical "bowl" cut with very little in the way of styling going on - but sometimes the "bowl" would be tipped way towards the back and I would have bangs that were shorter than my eyelashes!!! Lets hope the Munchkin has a better experience (and that my technique gets a little better - especially around his ears).

We headed up for a tubby right after this - to get all the fuzzies off. I think I had nearly as many on me!!! It is amazing how much more quickly we can wash and dry his hair, though. It is VERY thick and holds water like a sponge.

Ah - it will be nice when we can do this on the deck in the summertime!!! Right now we are still in permafreeze, with our snowman nearing the ripe old age of 23 (days).

If this snow keeps up, Snowy might need his own haircut!!!

Have scissors, will travel!

Uncle Rick would be proud

I remember (I think) the first year my brother got Lego for Christmas. It was a fire station - and he played with it for HOURS - letting me play with it to0, if I recall.

He and I had many many different sets of Lego over the years - with my tastes running to the castles and medieval sets - and his predominantly in the city sets.

But I still remember those fire trucks.

And now my Munchkin has a fire truck of his own, thanks to his oldest cousin. And excellent taste in toys...

Yesterday as I put his coat on, he told me he needed a zipper in the back.

When I asked him if he needed a zipper so I could put his batteries in, like a toy, he said...

"Mommy, toys don't have batteries"

Sniff sniff - made this Mommy proud!!!

(and just to be honest - some of his toys do - but not many)

The Fruits of Someone Else's Labors

My recent foray into the world of yo-yo making has me peering through my bins of scraps, looking for those odds and ends of fabric that are big enough for a jumbo yo-yo (about 5" squareish scraps will do) - but yet not fabrics that I have earmarked for other projects.

This has proven to be tougher than I thought - especially since I have my eye on some scrappy quilt projects this spring.

And then I remembered my stash of circles.

When Lazy Sister Sue finished the quilt she made Hubby and I as a wedding gift (1994), she gave me the leftover scraps. Rectangles, small squares, a few larger pieces.

And lots and lots and lots of circles. 5" ish circles. Perfect potential yo-yo circles. Circles that create a lot of waste if I trimmed them into squares for piecing.

Did I mention that there were a lot of these???

The rectangles and other scraps are pretty much gone - incorporated into a wedding quilt for my nephew (Lazy Sister Sue's son). This is all that is left - and I have been carrying them around in my stash for years.

So now I have been making them into yo-yo's.

They match my quilt - so maybe they will become a pillow.
Or maybe something else.
I am not sure yet - but it has been fun to play with the yo-yo maker and have all these ready cut circles just waiting.

Thanks for the prep work, sis!!!

Yo baby

As long as I have been quilting and sewing, I never made a yo-yo.

I don't know if it was the hand sewing that intimidated me, or the fact that I had no idea what I would do with one if I made it.

Then someone gave me one of these.
And I saw these.
And these.

And I decided it was time.

So I rifled through my scraps and my stash, broke out my Clover yo-yo maker, sat down in front of a good movie, and started making yo-yo's.

That was less than a week ago.

At last count I was near 30.

Mini Criss Cross Ornaments

Criss Cross coasters are so fun and easy to make - and I have been making so many of them lately - that I think it was a natural leap to consider using that same design for some little ornaments, so while working on my scrap bin management over the last few days, I trimmed up some 3" squares and gave it a try.

This was the result - the scottie dog coaster on the right is the normal size. I did not use batting in the middle of these - there seemed to be just enough bulk as is. The backs on some are muslin, and on some others are coordinating fabric, depending on the scraps I had on hand.

I plan to add some beads/buttons, tassels and hanging loops to these (will post a picture after embellishment is done) and use them either as part of my Christmas cards next year, or as package ties.

The rose colored one in the center is made from Chirimen - a funky ripply fabric with metallic accents that I got in Japan when I lived there. It's stretchy, so a bit harder to work with, but still gives a fun and festive effect.

I'd also like to do some round ones, but did not have a good circle template to mark this size.

These are a great stash buster, and if you have some cut and set aside for assembly they are good to fill a few minutes when you don't want to get into a bigger project.

Mommy's Got a New Pair of...

...glasses.

On My Honor

Ever since Robert Kaufman came out with their line of Boy Scouts of America fabric, I have been planning a quilt for my Eagle Scout hubby with it. I was not crazy about the free pattern issued by the company and took a bit of time to decide which of the fabrics I would use, and what pattern I would eventually make.

My decision on fabrics was made by my LQS - I went to see what they had gotten in and decided to just run with those and not worry about buying the other prints. And after hubby admired the boldness of the graduation quilt I made for Joe, and given the large scale print of a few of the fabrics, I decided a rail fence variation might work best and chose the 2nd one on this page.

I ran out of the green stripe and was one block short. I ended up cutting a block of the red, and cutting out the Eagle Scout patch from the patch motif fabric -which I then attached with a thick zig zag stitch, giving it almost the edge feel of a uniform patch.

I think I am sending this one off to be quilted - I want to do a bit more than stitch in the ditch but I think anything geometric would fight with the directionality of the fabrics and I am not quite up to speed on my FMQ on Zoe yet.

Merry Christmas sweetie!

Passing on the skills

Although I don't do as much rubber stamping as I used to, I still consider stamping among the library of crafts I enjoy and like to choose new stamps, learn new techniques, and make my own cards for the holidays.

This year the Munchkin helped. Some stamping, some sponging, and lots of inky fingers.

We had fun!!! The cards are still sitting unfinished on my dining room table, but we had fun.

So in case yours never gets to you -

Good Help

Doesn't every carpet layer have a miniature, pajama wearing assistant???

And then stick around to play cards with his assistant (in different jammies)
on the new carpet???

Thanks guys! I love it!!! And by the looks of the toy sprawl, you do, too!!!