Changes in the Air

today i was accepted into the Distributed Learning Masters of Divinity Program at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. wow. still a heavy concept to ingest.

such a blessing and an honor...but still so strange to me.

if life is crazy now, how will i juggle yet another ball?

i trust deeply the call of God. so, i suppose, that trust is what makes me put one foot in front of the other to keep going.

still, hard to imagine how this will ultimately impact our lives. what will we have to sacrifice? what will we have to "put on the back burner"? what will we gain? can i simultaneously live the life of the "called" and be an wife to a naval officer?

what to do now, except sew another garment and pray for guidance!

Slow and Steady

"Learn something new every day." "Inch by inch, everything's a cinch." Those are two of the wise sayings my Grandmother Lois had for me. She was full of them, and as I've gotten older, I've discovered most often, she was right.

This week, I've been trying to learn a new sewing trick each day (in addition to the "facts" my boys bring home from school). Today, I give you "Mr. Turtle", the terrycloth applique that glows in the dark.

Carter needed a costume for a book report at school. He was supposed to be one of the characters from the great Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Since Carter is an elementary aged school boy like the main character Peter, we were having a tough time figuring out how to dress him up. Then Carter remembered "Dribble", Peter's pet turtle who meets an untimely end.

So was born this tshirt.

Today, turtles. Tomorrow...the hare?

Butterflies and Inspiration

Yesterday, Mother's Day, my sweet husband took over all KP and most kid duties so that I could get some sewing done. I managed to finish a new Ballgown for my littlest one, and she adores it.

The fabric is a collage of brilliant butterfly wings...a print from the Hoffman Challenge in 2004. I had purchased the fabric to make a lap quilt for myself, but I couldn't escape the thought that these butterflies were destined for something more spectacular. So, the fabric sat on my shelf for the last four years (yikes!) waiting for a stroke of inspiration.

It came in the form of my youngest daughter. She has always been drawn to bright, cheerful colors (unlike my oldest daughter who much prefers pinks). When Clara saw the butterflies, she grabbed them and took off. Once I wrestled them from her, I just knew that she needed a Ballgown with the happiest accents I could find.

What could be happier than yellow? Maybe yellow and orange stripes! So a moment of toddler greed brought my cherished fabric off it's shelf. It was given new life as the happiest dress yet.

It also renewed my joy and motivation for this craft. Hooray for Clara! Hooray for Butterflies!!

Slow Going

Feels like I'm slogging through quicksand lately. I'm crazily busy, but I never manage to get anything done!

I have piles of fabric and three new patterns calling my name...

I did finish a new Butterfly Ballgown. Unfortunately, I ran out of elastic to finish the pants. My dear friend Jennifer from Poppygogs, a fabulous local embroidery studio (www.Poppygogs.com), is running her own brand of crazy errands and has offered to grab some for me. Hopefully, I'll finish those up tonight and can offer them for grabs tomorrow.

My goal is to get at least two more dresses...and something in addition to Ballgowns...up before we have to leave this wonderful place called Prattville.