G's quilt

Made for the very special baby boy who I held in my arms from 3 weeks old-16 months old. The entire process of being a foster mom was so distressing that my heart was too broken to start and finish this while he was here. I had to work on this in spurts over the past two weeks to get it finished without too many tears.
I will mail this out today and hope it reaches him safely.
"Baby, we had hoped to hold you forever and we miss you every minute."

Christmas spirit

Having not done anything Christmassy yet this year, the kids were begging to get started. (I'm glad they're here to keep the ball rolling)... After pulling out the first four boxes I remembered this week that I love Christmas.
A friend came over yesterday for a crafting lesson and we made some adorable quilty keychains that I thought would make adorable Christmas ornaments. After the first 10... I still have ideas for a zillion more... How happy are these?
Here's the tutorial that I used:
http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/06/scrap-your-stash-guest-post-living-with.html

Perspective from Lovell

Whenever I get down or feel like life is tough, I remember my friend Lovell. Lovell was one of 7 boys, raised by a single mom (i'm guessing sometime in the 50s). He's now an older, unemployed man living somewhere in my neighborhood. He makes his living by making people happy. Lovell dances every single day, all day long in all weather, collecting tips for sharing his one talent. He writes funny signs to make people laugh and he spreads cheer and love to everyone who stops to talk to him as they enter the local onramp. Lovell shouts to our car each time as we drive by, "I love you guys! Drink lots of water!" My kids love him.
He's sworn multiple times to me that if ever anyone disrespects me that he will go and "take care of them".
Lovell doesn't have all his teeth, but he's got one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. It lights up my day every time I see him.
And I think about perspective a lot when I see him. Lovell is also affected by the economy. I don't know if Lovell has a house. But Lovell always has a smile and something funny to say. And Lovell is absolutely amazing and beautiful in the best ways.
Here's Lovell's joke for you today.

These busy hands needed a ring

It's had been about 5 days since I made anything. (WHAT?!?!?!?) I saw this wire sitting on the counter and made this sweet nest ring... Found a stray weird bead and had something to wear today.

Be Kind

I saw this post on Pinterest last night.

Source: tumblr.com via Liberty on Pinterest

it reminded me of the "Be Kind" cards I made up a few years ago. Remember these?

For some reason, I never listed them on etsy. Now you can get them, if you want. They're cheap enough to keep a pack in the car and have them on hand for a kindness emergency. Which we all have.

I'm still here

I'm not really sure what to say. I'm still here. But baby is not.
As a family, we've gone from 6 members to 4 in less than a month.
We are crushed and limping, doing our best to love each other well in the midst of tremendous grief. Fear. Anger. Despair.
We are discouraged and broken. But we are tighter than ever. We are together. We are battered on levels I will never be able to share on this blog, but we are clinging to each other.
We will survive because of love.

Here are some special pics from a particularly poignant Thanksgiving weekend.

WIP - hand paper pieced quilt

I've been working on this English paper pieced quilt top for about a year. Tonight it is done.
Ive been working on it periodically throughout the day as I take breaks from packing up all of baby's stuff. He moved away permanently Sunday to a new home. We will never have him again. This was not what we were hoping for. Our foster parenting days are over.
Grief is a funny thing to bear. I'm not sure why sewing helps, but it does.
I'm going to be having lots more time to sew in the future. We've gone from 4 kids to 2 in one month. Life is much quieter now.

Glass charms

Oh I am having so much fun with these
glass charms. Mimi made the first 20, but when those sold like hot cakes, I had to step in and crank out a bunch. Then the gears started turning, and not only did I want a sewing machine charm, I wanted ones with public domain vintage sewing machine ads. Then I thought, "well, how about things I have sewn? Or tiny versions of my artwork?"
A whole new medium to work in. Yippee!
Today I wore a charm with an image of the grey improvisational quilt I finished recently. The charm looks more like modern abstract art than a photo of a quilt... But I know what it is and that makes it all the sweeter.
I'll let you know when these get posted.
They're so fun to make. I can't stop.

Mountain collage

It's 3'x2' and the biggest collage I've made. And now its done. I'm pretty excited.

Collage Work in Progress - isaiah's mountain

This is the biggest collage I've ever worked on. It's 24"x36" and while my materials haven't changed (still just using mail order catalogs and magazines)... Well, besides blowing through glue sticks, it means that I'm having to change the way I construct, because each section has to be built individually. It's a good challenge for me and I am currently walking around the house with this huge canvas and setting it in different spots in the house to look at it from different angles, trying to pick out problem spots.
My kids had plenty of "problem spots" they could find... They think it needs a sun and some birds...as for me, it's a little more subtle to figure it all out. Might have to be done for the day and come back tomorrow.