TNT Hosted by My Daughter (Yes, I am a proud mom)

Today is kind of fun because I get to show what my Daughter Tried New this week. Last week Jessica, my 6 year old,  asked if she could go down to Grandma's because she wanted to sew a skirt.  2 days later she was so excited to show off her very first handmade garment!!!  Isn't it adorable :)

A huge thank you to Grandma for helping her through the steps of sewing her first skirt.  Grandma is an amazing seamstress, a wonderful teacher, and has incredible patience.  A perfect combination for teaching beginning skirt making!!  She pinned up the pleats and then had Jessi sew them all in.  I was blown away with how perfect they look for her first time doing pleats.  (I have never done pleats so it is something I will have to TNT as well :)

Jessi sewed in the waist band, which the pattern didn't originally call for but she is such a twig that the original wouldn't stay up.  She got a little off on one of the seams but recovered well :)  (And just if in case you are curious, no she didn't put in the zipper, Grandma helped with that part :)

And she finished it off by sewing the hem along the bottom of the skirt which she kept pretty straight.  She is quite the little seamstress already!!!  I am so proud of her!!!!  And I am so excited because she absolutely loved sewing and especially with her Grandma!!

She already has 2 more skirts planned.  And I hear that Grandma has 2 more granddaughters requesting to make their own skirts as well :)  Good thing Grandma just bought some new sewing machines.  Looks like she will soon be hosting classes for all her granddaughters ;)

So that is what my Daughter, Jessica, has tried new this week.  How about you??  Link on up :)

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Sweet Celebrations!!!!

 I am just over the moon with excitement about Sweet Celebrations !!!  This book is going to be incredible :) Sweet Celebrations has over 35 projects from myself and some of my amazing Moda Bake Shop Chef buddies and is compiled by Lissa Alexander.   

It will be on shelves in October.  That is just 4 months away!!!  When I shipped off my projects last fall I knew it was going to be a long wait and I can't believe it is almost here :)

And to get to see my projects photographs of how they will look in the book . . .  totally amazing!!!  I mean, aren't those 2 little kids in the bottom left hand corner sitting over the Birthday Table Topper (that I made, squeal!!) just the cutest!!!  So excited!!!  

More fun to come in the future with this incredible book . . . I can hardly wait :)

Doing Good on the I-15

Do you remember me saying I was going to try to whip up a little something up for Operation Wood Hollow??  We'll I got it whipped up :)  These were some bee blocks from the Amazing VIBee's group.  My original plan for them didn't pan out so I figured they would be perfect for this project.  Isn't it just fun!!!

I sewed up the floating blocks layout on Thursday evening and then quilted up this cute little loopy all over pattern.  I love to FMQ loops.  They are just so fun and go together pretty fast :)

And I found this cute little farmer print in my stash from some years ago.  So adorable!!

My Mother-In-Law had 6 quilts to go to the Project and I had my 2 so it made quite the little stack of quilts to be donated Julie.

It was so fun to get to meet Julie.  I was headed to Salt Lake yesterday to see my family so Julie met me in Nephi at the good old Wendy's to pick up the quilts.  It was amazed to her the new updates on how the project is going.  Julie has had such a wonderful response that she is expanding Operation Wood Hollow to include wild fire victims across the west.  Take a minute and check it out and see what you can do for good :)

For The Kids!!

First off . . . I can not begin to express my gratitude to all of you for your wonderful well wishes to our daughter.  I was so incredibly touched and I thank each and every one of you.  She continues to get used to the noises around her.  Last night I sung to her and she grinned from ear to ear.  It was a tender moment :)

And while we are on the subject of children . . . 

Have you heard of it???  Here is a quick rundown:


100 Quilts for Kids is an annual charity quilt drive co-hosted by Katie Blakesley of Swim, Bike, Quilt and the DC Modern Quilt Guild. 


The idea is simple: 


Make a quilt or 2. Donate it to a child in need, locally if you can.  (I will be donating several from my Mother In Law and myself for Operation Wood Hollow this weekend, Yippee Skippee :)  

Enjoy a blog hop that runs from July 2-September 25, 2012, complete with inspiration and mini prizes. 

Join in on a 100 Quilts for Kids Quilt Along (Kick-off post on July 15 at Swim, Bike, Quilt)


Have a chance to win great prizes from sponsors, including Moda, Fat Quarter Shop, Westwood Acres, Rowan , Free Spirit, and Ty Pennington Impressions, among others that will shortly be announced.

Spread the word to family and friends!

and mos importantly, Smile, knowing you used your skills for good. 

100 Quilts for Kids Flickr Group
More information on 100 Quilts for Kids

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We would love your help getting the word out. Just copy and paste the code above and paste it into your sidebar, or blog post.  Tweet. Instagram. Facebook. You know the drill. Thanks!

The Blog Hop Starts on Monday and it will be chuck full of inspiration and ideas!!


100 Quilts Blog Hop Participants

July 2: Lynne @ Lily’s Quilts

July 9: Dana @ Dana and Thread
Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

July 16: Lee @ Freshly Pieced

July 23: Katy @ Monkey Do
Erin @ Sewing Summit

July 30: Dana @ Old Red Barn Co
Heather @ Olive & Ollie

August 6: Jessica @ Twin Fibers
Holly @ Bijou Lovely

August 13: Leigh @ Leedle Deedle Quilts
Heather & Megan @ Quiltstory 

August 20: Melissa @ Happy Quilting    (That's Me :)  

August 27: Jeni @ In Color Order
Miranda @ One Little Minute

September 3: Ellen @ The Long Thread 
Faith @ Fresh Lemons Quilts

September 10: Elizabeth @ Oh, Frannson!
Anne Marie @ Gen X Quilters

September 17 Cheryl @ Dining Room Empire
Jane @ Quilt Jane

September 24: Angela @ Moda Home Mom

September 25: Sara @ Sew Sweetness

She Can Hear!!!

Let's start with a bit of back story.  Since our sweet little Jocelyn was born she has not been able to pass a hearing test.  She really doesn't respond much to loud noises (which, with 4 siblings who tend to get loud, can actually be quite nice during nap time.)  We have been going through the process of testing, monitoring, and waiting for her to grow.  She has had liquid junk in her middle ear which has blocked the ability for sound to travel to her inner ear.  There were times we thought it was clearing on it's own, but just as soon as we were hopeful, it would get all blocked again.

 So . . . At her 9 month follow-up and failure of another auditory test on Tuesday, and checking-up with the ENT on Wednesday, it was decided that she needs tubes put in her ears on Thursday!!    So . . . bright and early Thursday morning we arrived at the hospital. Now I know this is a totally routine surgery, (our second had it done at 9M for ear infections) and that the physician's will do a wonderful job, and that Josie would do great, but I still couldn't help but get nervous.  I guess that is just part of being a mom, we worry!!!

Jocelyn got to wear a cute little gown with tiger's on it. Isn't she cute!! She was a pro waiting for the surgery.  She just played with her toys and examined her new surroundings.  I was quite impressed considering she should have been super hungry.  She is such a good little girl.

Her new favorite toy arrived in the form of a monitor.  This one was hard to keep out of her mouth :)  She liked that the part on her toe kept glowing red.   . . .   And before you knew it she was headed back for surgery.

I didn't take anymore pictures as she came back feeling pretty lousy trying to shake off the anesthesia.  We took her home and after a bottle and a nap she was back to her happy self . . . with one slight change.  When I hollered down the stairs for the kids to come up for lunch (I am to lazy to walk down them) I was shocked that Josie started crying behind me.  I had startled her with my hollering.   This has never happened before.   And then a few minutes later, when my son let out a Hooray for Mac and Cheese shout, she startled again and began to cry.

Those tears are such a blessing!!!  She can hear.  I am just so happy for her.  What a wonderful ending to a nerve-racking 9 months.  We started out fearing she was deaf, to hoping she would be able to hear with hearing aids, to perfect hearing (I hope, we have to follow up in a few weeks) with the aid of tubes.  I am just overjoyed.  Now the kids and I just have to work on keeping our voices down.  I can't imagine how it must be to go from a soundless/muffled world to a noisy and loud world. But, I can say, I am so happy that we will be going through the transition!!