The Second Star to the Right

This month I have learned much about the beauty of the broken. (semi-referencing a dessert recipe from last week...) At times, this loveliness is seen when the item is mended. But quite often, the damaged object has an exquisiteness that would never have been realized except for its perceived imperfection.

This story, however, is not about the shattered & repaired, but about replacement & making better. (This is also a story, unfortunately, about how long it takes me to figure something out... ☹)

In January a teeny, tiny boy was born. He was too small, at 2.5 pounds, and too immature to cope with our world, so he had to live in the NICU for some days.

We all rejoiced when he graduated & got to come home to live in the wonderful Peter Pan-themed nursery his parents lovingly decorated for him.

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I had started a nightlight project for Benjamin when I found out how his mama was designing his bedroom. I got a shadow box from the HobLob and fastened in some battery-operated mini lights. I was planning on cutting the lyrics to "The Second Star to the Right" (from the original Disney animated  movie "Peter Pan") on black cardstock with a stencil-type font; then I would just affix the paper to the glass -- boom -- done.
Of course that's not what transpired! I believe I ran that scenario 4 times, changing my blade & mat a couple times in the process. (...and I was way too frustrated to take photos I knew I'd be way too embarrassed to post!!!!!)
I knew even with the best transfer tape I would struggle applying that large of a piece of vinyl with that many tiny letters cut out. Any wrinkles would ruin the nightlight's appearance. So I decided since HTV comes on its own transfer sheet, that would be my best bet.

(My premature celebratory photo...)

AND IT WORKED! ☺

I  wanted to adhere it to the back side of the glass. I thought I would be smart & save time so decided not to take the cover off the shadow box to press the HTV. Not my most brilliant move. Even with a stack of towels to firmly support the glass, I couldn't get a good press.

Duncan tried to warn me...

My goose was cooked as I was trying to heat that final bubble when I heard a tiny "pop" & "crackle"...

Needless to say, words were said & tears were shed.
I put the project aside for awhile. ☹

When I was ready, I went to the hardware store to have a piece of glass cut to fit the frame. (Long story short, guy wasn't exact with his measurements & I had to use the dremel on the frame to get it to seat correctly...)
Meantime I'd picked up some black glitter htv... changed the font and it cut like butter!

Did my penance with a few hours of weeding.

Held my breath and pressed it to the glass. HALLELUJAH! We didn't crack!

I also held my breath fastening to glass back into the frame.

Had to go with a little wood glue after the hurry-up dremel job...

...and decided to change the light string.
So happy I got it delivered without any more mishaps!

This morning we were blessed to witness Big Ben's baby dedication at church...   ♥

Sriracha Almonds

Today is my Daddy’s birthday. I cooked him a gift.

I etched a jar from the HobLob to contain his gift.I made him laugh with the way I worded the etching.My job here is done!

A little giftie ~

I took a breakie between quilties (oh! and I guess houseworkies, too…) to stitchie up a goodie from Reen at Embroidery Garden.That sweetie fox’s face is toooooooo adorable with his long lashes!

I made the taggie blankie out of cotton (the better to absorb spitties) and a soft stretch satin (the better to snugglie with…)

I embroidered Baby Boy’s name on the back of the removable collar, and inserted a musical button. (hmmmmmmm -- mama might wish to removie the collar if this gets played too often: )

Little foxxie’s head snaps off so the blankie can be washied as needed.
Love my KAMsnaps (although it was a booger to get all the blankie fabric smooshied in the pliers to set the snap!)Such a fun little project -- now I gotta get backies to the big quilt…

Some heroes wear NG tubes & cannulas…

Once upon a time a beautiful princess found her handsome prince. They were married in a splendid wedding.

But the prince had to travel for long months at a time. He carried with him a little sock monkey to pose for pictures in ports of call to send to the princess when he could. After a time his travels were ended and he was home to stay.

On the day it was announced the princess was having a baby, I knew exactly the quilt I would make to celebrate the child. Julie had an adorable appliqué set of a sock-monkey alphabet. I bought it! Instead of using both the boys & the girls, I wanted to make the quilt according to the gender of the baby. In the meantime, the search was on for fabric with small figures for each of the letters.

Finally it was revealed that the princess was carrying a man-child. Oh! the excitement! Now my big rush was on to find just the right “boy” fabrics to complete the quilt.But then the heart-rending news came that all was not well with the baby, he was found to have a congenital heart issue that would require extreme measures to correct immediately after birth and for years after.

At this juncture I could tell the quilt-making was going to extend beyond Teddy’s baby shower & birth; so my goal was to finish by the time he was able to leave the hospital.

From the very start of his life on the outside, this plucky little guy was a fighter. He bravely jousted with every procedure his condition required of his caregivers. His Grandma would keep us updated on facebook. Every morning/evening we’d look for news of Teddy’s latest victory. She’d relate to us his conversations with the world he was about to conquer.

Then one day came the wretched news that the villain CHD had overpowered our hero Teddy. We. were. crushed.

I was roughly halfway through embroidering the blocks. But in a conversation with his bereft mommy, we decided I’d go ahead & finish the quilt to honor his memory.

It was tough! I’d cry over the fabrics I’d chosen for appliqué because I would remember this one was picked up for Dad’s favorite sport, or that one because Grandma loves gingerbread men…

But with a little help from a friend(actually, very little help…)I got to the point where I could piece it all together.

THAT was fun

but not as fun as binding.

There was just SOOOOOOOO much “help” to be had!

After all was stitched, bound, clipped & laundered, I even got some assistance removing all the lint…

Anyhow, here is my tribute to a brave lad. Stitched with love & prayers for his mom & dad - his grandmas & grandpa - his aunt & uncle - his extended (extensive!) family…

If you know a “heart baby”, pray for him/her & the family.Sometimes they almost live at the hospital. Sometimes they live separately because there are ones to care for at home. Thank you Teddy, for reminding us to live life with our whole heart.

Pee-Pee Tipis

So… I found a design at Embroidery Garden that I sure wish I’d had when my boys were babies…

All four fit nicely into the little carry pouch.

They even come with a cute little poem.

Baby girl pennant quilt

Teachers are underpaid & under-appreciated. Teachers’ spouses, even more so…  We learned at last spring’s concert that the boys’ band director & his wife were due to have a baby girl join their coupledom this month. I decided I wanted to make a quilt for her.

I had seen some darling pennant “modern” quilts on a few of my favorite blogs. I drew up a design of my own:I thought I would be able to find a fat quarter bundle with the pink colors I envisioned… NOT! I ended up having to locate 8 fabrics and had them cut 1/4 yard of each.I embroidered the letters of her name on the little flags, then backed them with a lightweight fabric. (…was still trying to decided if I wanted lace around each one, as I had indicated in my plan…)I pressed the “loop” into my narrow seam-binding & tried my layout. Oooooops! -- The size of the pennants made for a bit of a bigger quilt than I’d expected…The tops needed to be bastedand then pinned to the bias strip.Had to check the layout again & make sure the birdies I decided to add looked O.K.I made the “quilt sandwich” and stitched on the seam binding and around each pennant. Next came the appliqué-ing of the darling blue birds. (These were from Embroidery Garden machine embroidery designs.)Now, I’ve never said these words before, so please excuse me if I linger over them -- Then I took it over to my quilter. Actually, I begged my friend Cindy to quilt some clouds for me. I didn’t even offer her a quilting design to follow! She had some beautiful projects of her own that she was working on completing, but she squeezed my little job in anyhow.Doesn’t the back look cute, too?After I straightened the quilt, I determined that the corners would be kinda cute rounded (to balance the angular pennants & complement the loop in the “rope” somewhat…)

I was soooooooo excited to be able to utilize my Clover Wonder Clips that I’d purchased from HL with a coupon!When I was complaining on social media about how much I hate finishing a quilt; Friend Cindy said to bring it over ‘cause she loves binding! (I restrained myself from taking her up on it…)Never fails! (graphic violence alert! ) If I’m hand-stitching a light-colored fabric, I will accidently get a tiny poke on a finger and will have one drop of blood…(I couldn’t even tell where on my hand the needle got me!) Fortunately it did not leave a spot after sponging with antibacterial hand soap…So… I guess I’ll just end this post with a couple of my favorite shots of the finished quilt…