You can call me Matt

"Mom, just call me Matt"

Um....and just like that he's practically grown up.  He will be 5 years old soon and the attitude growth has just showed up in the last week and a half. 

No longer does he believe that 100% of whatever I say must be true because nothing beats what Mom says.  We're at about 89% which is still awesome, but I can see that he's starting to come into his own, and the sparks of becoming an independent person are there, just flickering behind his gorgeous eyes.

One of the girls he has preschool with told me that he looks really nice when he smiles (after he was out of earshot of course), and it made my mom heart grin because she's totally right. 

I don't seem to do as much sewing for this man child as I do for the girls and there's a reason for that.  If I make something he doesn't like, he won't wear it.  No fighting about it, it'll just get lost at the bottom of the drawer never to see the light of day again, until it's too late...and he's too big for it.

So I'm particular about what patterns I try for him since he is our only boy (so far).  He saw me making two Bimaa Sweaters for Abby, and requested one with a red hood. 

And so it was done.  Probably not as quickly as he wanted, but he is always so grateful and excited anyway.  I love making things for him.  

Drawing class

If you guys are anything like me you already follow creative bug on several different places, and have seen many people talk about this recently.

If not, you should get yourself on one of those lists, follow them on one of their platforms, and go sign yourself up for Lisa Congdon's Line Drawing class.  It's the most fun I've had learning something in a while.

Lisa is so sweet, and teaches in such a wonderful way that is kind, exciting, and just wonderful.  If she ever does any more classes I will take every single one of them.  Seriously, I plan to.

Just look what I've been able to do with her lessons! It's so much fun.  

There are four lessons in this class spread over four weeks and these doodles are from weeks one and two.  Next week is week three. 

I just wanted to share because I thought you might be interested in doing something like this and it you've been wavering, consider this a friendly push from me to get you going! I hope you share your progress too! 

Red Scrap Basket

For the February Handmade Birthday Club, we made fabric scrap baskets from the pattern in Sunday Morning Quilts, which is a fantastic book with lots of creative projects and gorgeous pictures.

I picked red, though it's one of the colors I use the least, so I'm not sure why, but it worked out fine.

I've never sewn a 3D object like this before, and it was a little challenging.  The directions in the book were excellent, it was just tricky for me to do.

I used fusible interfacing to give the basket some standing up power instead of cardboard, and omited the label because I don't have any vinyl.

I imagine it will hold a good amount of red scraps!  My piles aren't well organized so really, this is a project I should do for myself someday!  But don't hold your breath : )

Meow quilt - the first two blocks

I've made quilts that my kids use, but none really specifically for them, with their wants in mind as far as design goes, so I decided this would be the year!

Abby loves cats and as luck would have it there have been some delightful cat related quilt things made lately.  As much as I want the kids to love their quilts, we are trying to find that delicate balance between total pink barftastic disaster, and things look good together happy place where moms live.  Make sense? Excellent. 

I'm using the Meow pattern from Aneela Hooey for Abby's quilt and a mix of fabrics from Lizzy House's new line Catnp, as well as some other prints Abby picked out of my stash. 

The blocks are really fast to put together, and I'm really in love with this cat fabric! Fingers crossed she likes it as much as I do so far! 

The Nessie Top

This might be the quickest turn around I've ever had between buying a pattern and using it.  Less than a week, I think? Anyway.

The Nessie Top, from Craftiness Is Not Optional, is just as amazing as anything Jess has made.  The part that took the longest was tracing and cutting the pattern in 4 different sizes.

I had only a small amount of the teal floral and wanted to stretch it. I'm still holding onto small pieces to use as pockets in another project. 

I sewed up two shirts lickety split last Wednesday night using the color blocked option and long sleeves in the 4T and 12-18 month size.  Yes, Sam is only 6 months olds and already wears 12-18 month clothes... 

Abby wore hers all day and loves it, almost as much as I do.  I'm quite pleased with how these turned out plan to cut out some more very soon!

Lest we forget that I do have a son, I have something cut and waiting to sew up for him also.  I haven't found as many boy patterns that I like that I think he will wear so I'm hoping this one goes well... 

Etsy Shop and some pictures

I've been making some changes to my Etsy things and wanted to pass it along.

Over the weekend I closed my quilt shop and plan to keep it closed and just use LadyFaceMakes in the future.  There will definitely be a quilt section that you should check out. 

I have put LadyFaceMakes on vacation mode for a while to update some things I thought needed work, add new products, and get a little time to catch my breath. 

I will reopen on MARCH 18th and will show a few peaks of what I will be adding on my instagram shop account @shopladyface, and a coupon code you can use on anything the day of the reopening. 

I'm excited about new things coming and hope you'll come check them out! 

p.s. that adorable cross stitch I'm working on in the above photo is from Satsuma Street on Etsy.  She just released a San Fransisco pattern that I've got my eyes on. 

Books I

I love to read.  Last year I didn't read much AT ALL.  So far this year I'm doing much better.  Still not as much as usual.

I will always prefer real books over reading on a screen, but it's so darn easy that I'm all for it.  Read more.  That's good whatever the form. Anyway, here's what I've read so far this year.

First! Divergent by Veronica Ross.  I'm sure you've heard of this one.  It was fast, and the story was intriguing.  I started it and read for 5 1/2 hours straight.  I know it's being made into a movie so I don't want to give away too much.  I thought the romantic relationship could have used some work and wasn't super believable for me, but I still rooted for them to be together.  I have had to refrain from buying the next one (until the price lowers on the digital version) because the book ends in such an abrupt spot! I kept trying to go to the next page convinced it was just a chapter break!!!! Argh!!!!! Not prepared for that!! I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to hold out...

Second: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.  I saw this one all over Instagram last year, and enjoyed it immensely.  I was reluctant to start it because emotions make me uncomfortable. But it's worth it.  I loved the point of view.  It was unexpectedly personal too, for me, in a good way. This is one you'll be glad you took time to read.  I'm looking forward to the other books Green has written.

Third: The Elegance of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.  I loved this one so much.  I underlined on the first night of reading it.  It's written in such a beautiful way and is originally a french novel.  The story is from two different perspectives and each is so different.  An older woman who is pretending to be something she isn't, and a teenage girl who keeps note about the magnificent things in life.  If she finds something good enough, she will refrain from committing suicide. Both are so interesting and really beautiful.  Maybe it's because Muriel Barbery is French, but I felt she was exceptionally good at capturing feelings and turning them into words.  Not necessarily a fast read, but I think I extended it because I didn't want it to end!  I'll definitely be reading anything else she's written.

Fourth: The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson.  This was a recommendation from my Step-Father who is nuts for sci-fi and everything about it.  I enjoy science-fiction but it's not my main scene.  This is more of a novella and tells an interesting story about a forger who must recreate an emperor's soul.  The idea was really great but I felt the writing was a bit repetitive, like the author needed more space to establish backstory.  If you like science fiction a lot, you'd definitely enjoy this one.

Fifth: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Kaling. This one was super fun, like a vacation with a good friend.  She's funny and honest and I really enjoy hearing how things happen to people.  I'm a bit embarrassed to say I assumed she was going to be more superficial, and was really pleasantly surprised with how real and awesome she is.  Plus she's seriously hilarious.  I enjoy watching her on TV more after reading this.  It's like I know her now, you know? Ha.

Sixth: The Rosie Project by Graeme Smith. I LOVED this story!! It's a boy meets girl story but so much better.  The main character is almost robotic in personality but so endearing and it is hilarious to watch him go through certain things he has never dealt with before.  I really enjoy romantic stories that aren't filled with sex and ridiculousness, that have interesting and complex characters with a well done plot, and this one was so good.  

That's what I've been reading lately, have you found anything to read?