Valley Mama

Sewing My Great-Grandmother's Quilt

I love quilts. Especially scrap quilts that tell a story of so many projects made...each fabric a reminder of a shirt, a skirt, a dress, a toy, a random piece found at a thrift store. I do not have much experience quilting (my first ever quilt still sits in my project basket awaiting completion) but I do have a large basket that holds a growing collection of fabric scraps, just waiting to become a funky scrap quilt. I imagine feeling inspired one day to piece together a square or two, place them in a basket, and add new squares from time to time until I have enough to make a quilt. One day.

Now, after our last trip to Creede, my own scrap quilt will have to wait a bit longer. I get to finish my great-grandmother's first. 

Recently, while Aaron was traveling for work, the little ones and I packed up the car and headed up into the mountains to visit my parents in Creede. While we were there one of my favorite things happened...my mom went through her fabric stash. This means that I get to add all sorts of interesting things to mine.     

Of all the fabric I brought home, including a couple of fun vintage pieces, I think I'm most excited about these squares of an unfinished quilt begun by my great-grandma. 

It's clearly a scrap quilt, with squares pieced from many different prints. The fabric is old, some of the colors a little faded...and I love it. I look at all of these completely random pieces...most probably scraps from other projects, and think about what she made with them. A dress for a daughter, perhaps a granddaughter? Curtains for the kitchen?

I don't know what these fabrics were originally intended to be, but here they are now, squares of prints and patterns stitched together so long ago, lying on a beautiful drafting table that belonged to Aaron's father. My Granny Griffin's hands sewed these squares, my hands will finish this quilt, and perhaps, one day, it will keep my own great grand-daughter warm.    

My mother taught me to sew when I was very young, and I am so thankful that she did. It's a skill I am constantly glad to have. She learned to sew from her grandmother, Granny Griffin. As I sit with Mason, watching him work on his own beginner projects with a needle and thread I can feel the connection to past and future generations that comes from this work we do with our hands.    

I'm sure that when my great-grandma sewed these squares she had no idea that she would never finish the quilt, that the squares would end up with my grandmother, Granny Jane, to be passed along to my mom, and now, to her great-granddaughter, me. I love that I can take this work that she started and add something of myself to it.   

One of the quilts that covers our bed is a Granny Griffin quilt. It is well loved, and has been repaired many times by my mom. It is not fancy, but it is warm and comfy and I am so happy to have a quilt made by her. And now, I get to make one with her.

Thank you Granny Griffin, for your many hours in front of a sewing machine and for passing your knowledge along to the next generations, and thank you Granny Jane and Mom for passing this opportunity along to me. 

I'm not sure when I'll finish this project, but I cannot wait to get started!

Spring is for Sewing

If there was any question about the matter, let me say that spring has definitely arrived here in the San Luis Valley. The robins have returned from their winter homes and are hopping around all over the yard, and the infamous spring winds are blowing the valley dust to the sand dunes (along with any other smallish items laying around my yard). Our spring winds are hard to love. Ask anyone from the valley. Just when the weather warms and spring calls us outside, the winds come and blow us over, sending us back inside once more.  

I always think of that line from the Greg Brown song, "Spring wind blew my list of things to do away," this time of year. Our springs winds blow way more away than my to-do list, and while they can be infuriating and make us all a little crazy, for me, there is a silver (though dusty) lining. Lately, the spring winds may be sending me inside, but I'm welcoming that time indoors to enjoy my sunroom studio and my sewing machine while I can. When summer comes, gardening takes over my life (in a good way), and there is scarcely time for laundry and cleaning, much less crafting. Spring brings balance (think equinox) between my indoor and outdoor worlds, and I appreciate and celebrate that.  

We converted the sunroom to my crafty studio a couple of months ago, and I am not the only one who is enjoying my new favorite room. I keep finding this one curled up on every soft surface she can find...

And legos have invaded one of my tables...

But I don't mind. There is still plenty of space to spread out, cut fabric and sew (on at least one sewing machine) and finding cats in baskets and lego guys perilously perched on my presser foot just keeps things interesting.

My spring sewing to-do list is quite long and ambitious, but I like to dream big. Most are clothes for me and the littles to wear this spring and summer, with some possible linen smock creations to sell at the farmer's market alongside our veggies. With some naptime-sewing this weekend I was able to finish a sweet little spring linen jacket for River and choose/wash/iron some fabrics for my next few projects.

I adore this jacket. It is a kimono-style wrap jacket with a pixie hood. The outer linen is from an old linen dress of mine, and the lining is a pink fox print flannel that River loves. And my favorite part is a little peek-a-boo (or boo-peek, in River speak) applique fox under the hood.  I used this pattern, available as a PDF download on Etsy.  

I could not wait to try it on my little pixie, and she seems to love it as much as I do.  Of course, it required a photo shoot...

I think I may need to make one in my size...

Most of these photos were taken right down the road from our house at the beautiful Yoga Ranch, where, thanks to our friend Elizabeth, we get to spend some time.

Time enjoying the horses...

Climbing hay bales...

And watching the birds fly overhead...

Yes, spring is here.  We get out and enjoy it when we can, and when the winds blow a little too hard, we retreat back indoors, with plenty of springy projects to occupy us until we head back out again.

Planting Seeds, Growing Green

Wow!  It's been a while since my last post...

Sometimes it's nice to step away from the computer, put the camera down and just live life's moments with a little more presence.  

And then there's the warming weather and coming spring, which call us out, out, outside, to play, swing, climb and explore.  

I cannot remember a February this warm since I've lived in the San Luis Valley. During the winter months I often get asked if I miss the garden; if I'm just waiting impatiently for the winter to be over so I can get back to growing food again. My answer often surprises people: not really. I adore summer and growing food for my family and my community. I love fall with it's garden bounty harvest and beauty. I relish winter for the rest and rejuvenation the season brings. And when spring comes, I embrace it with renewed enthusiasm for gardening and growing...but not until the time comes. No, I appreciate the snuggly, slow days of winter (even more now), and I'm in no hurry for them to be over...and then it happens. The light returns, days lengthen, we go outside without our warm winter layers, mud from melting snow oozes everywhere, and those first brave bits of green begin to peek out from sheltered places.  

This is the first awakening of spring (for me at least).  It's playful...reassuring. Our freezing valley nights will prevent gardening from beginning in earnest for another couple of months, cold snowy days will creep up sending us back inside, the restful time is not quite over, and we welcome the warmth and light back with excitement for what is to come.      

When February's warm spell first appeared, I thought, oh, this will pass soon, no reason to go getting spring fever.  And then it just got warmer, and though we still have our cold valley nights, the days this past month have been amazing. One day a couple of weeks ago I said, "that's it, I'm planting the greenhouse." I could no longer resist the temptation to get out and plant. Just like the warmth, the urge to "come out of my winter shell" came quicker this year, but I'm not fighting it.

So, I pulled on my rubber boots to wade through the mud, and the littles and I went outside to play in the garden. We did a little spring cleaning, and even a little planting.

And now, in these first days of March, we have little seedlings, emerging from the warm soil in the greenhouse.         

I have the two best helpers in the world. The garden calls to them as well, and has become the focus of much outside play and work (they're really the same thing, right?).  

The chickens are certainly glad that the snow has melted, and also spend much of their time in the garden, pecking through last year's stalks and seeds.

Given the coming warmth and awakening, it seemed like a good time to get outside with our friends for co-op day to plant some seeds and enjoy the sunshine. You can hardly keep these little ones inside these days anyway (not that we want to). Our inside time consisted of preparing a yummy snack of fruit and seed bars, a brief circle time with one of my favorite rhymes (below) and one of my favorite books, The Story of the Root Children.  

This rhyme is fun for the children to act out, starting as seeds tucked into bed and "sprouting" at the end.

"Sweet baby seed so small and round
Time to rest deep underground.
Under the earth you safely hide,
Stay there now, don't peak outside.
I've dug a wee hole and I've put you to sleep,
but soon your leaves will come up and your roots will grow deep!"

Then it was outside to play and plant. Soil was mixed, pots were filled, seeds planted.

I brought out some of the sunflower heads Melissa stashed in the greenhouse last fall and the children picked out the seeds. Oh, and this was after that moment when I was searching the box of seed packets for sunflower seeds until realization struck that we had all the sunflower seeds we could ever need just a few feet away, still on the last years heads... Winter does leave us a little hazy sometimes.  

And when you get tired of planting seeds, there's always pot stacking...

After a beautiful time outside we came back in to eat the snack we prepared together earlier and have our closing circle.  

Spring, I welcome you, whenever you come, in all your layered, trickster ways.

 

Nature Explorer's Club: Pike's Stockade

"The doctor and myself ascended a high hill, which lay south of our camp, from whence we had a view of all the prairie and rivers to the north of us; it was at the same time one of the most sublime and beautiful inland prospects ever presented to the eyes of man."  - Lt. Zebulon Pike (February, 1807)

These words are from the sign at Pike's Stockade, the beautiful location of our second Nature Explorer's Club outing.  They are taken from Pike's journal, and I imagine, had we climbed the mesa south of the Conejos River to take in the view of our valley home, we would have had to agree with him.  

We began our Nature Explorer's Club last month with a wonderful trip to Zapata Falls, an icy wonderland in the winter.  We had so much fun, and could not wait for our next trip.  The vision for our club is simple - to get out and explore nature as a group of families.  We meet once a month at different locations around the San Luis Valley to explore, hike, play and learn in this amazing place in which we live.  

For our February trip we decided to explore a little closer to home.  South from my house about fifteen miles, nestled against the mesas and the beautiful Conejos River is one our favorite local spots to play. While we primarily go for the nature aspect, it is a National Historical Landmark, marking the spot where Zebulon Pike raised the United States Flag on Spanish soil during the second expedition into the newly acquired Louisiana purchase territory in the earlier 1800's.  There is a reconstructed fort that was built based on Pike's journal entries.  They sat up camp here, built a fortress, and endured most of a brutal valley winter, completely unprepared for the cold.

Strangely enough, our valley February has been unusually mild and warm, and so most of us were not completely prepared for the chilly, windy walk to the site.  I know, we're Coloradoans...we should know better, right?  Despite the chilly wind from a front moving in over the mountains, we had a wonderful time.

Nestled among the cottonwoods and willow, along the beautiful Conejos River, with a view of Mount Blanca, Pike's Stockade is perfect for birdwatching, balancing on fallen trees, throwing sticks in the River, and exploring nature.  And that's exactly what we did!

Here is our group, heading down the dirt road between willows to get to the site.

With all our trips, even when a "destination" lies at the end of a trail, we enjoy the journey.

 There was running...

And birdwatching...

And lots of smiles, even though the valley wind was ripping hats from heads and hoods from coats.

Oh, and there was climbing.  Lots and lots of climbing...

This monument lies right beside the reconstructed fort and a natural spring.

We balanced on logs...

Sat on logs...

Climbed over logs...



And enjoyed the less windy conditions under the cottonwoods.

A small section of the area burned in a fire last spring, and many of the burned trees have been cut, leaving lots of stumps.  This provided the perfect opportunity for an impromptu lesson on tree rings by a new (to most of us) friend.  

 A magnifying glass from Mason's gear bag came in handy for counting the rings and learning how old some of these trees were.

 

Stumps are also great for standing on, of course.

 

And then there is the river.  Little ones are always drawn to the water, and what with the river and the frozen marshy spots, Pike's Stockade has a lot to offer.  

There was a little frozen (mostly) pool alongside the river, where the ice has frozen into these little needle-like formations.  We had a lot of fun investigating this pool...

Like this Mama and her kiddos are doing.

Beside the pool was a stand of willows, with new shoots growing out of the burned plants.  They made a great willow forest to walk through.

I love the color of the bare red willow against the blue valley sky.  It is one of those magical places that just calls you in to play, to walk through the sea of orange/red, to explore this little world, recovering from fire, sending forth new life into the world.  It's irresistible to little ones...and their grown-ups. 

Seriously.  This is where I live?  

Another mama with her little ones, enjoying a sweet moment in the sunshine.

And he's off...this one does not hold still for long.

The children discovered many interesting things while exploring the area, including these jawbones.  I'm a little bit in love with this photo...

I also love good informational signs with maps.  

On our walk back to the cars, a chilled out River gets all bundled up to brave the wind.  They are standing by one of the only remaining trees charred from the fire...

And oh does Mason get lucky...a piggyback from Renee!

How is he not asleep yet?

And if all of that was not enough, we pulled over to the side of the road on our way back to watch and welcome the return of the cranes to the valley.  

We had a wonderful (chilly, windy) visit to Pike's Stockade.  As we drive away from the cranes I am so thankful for this place, this community, these people, this landscape...and I wonder, what other valley treasures await our exploration this year?

Co-op Day: Apples!

Oh how we love apples.  What is it about the apple that makes this most common of fruits so irresistible? Whatever it is, we spent our co-op morning this week celebrating this favorite fruit through food, story, art, movement and song.  I usually think of apples as more of a fall theme, but for some reason I was inspired to have some apple fun with our group this week...and fun we had.

This is what we did for apple day:

As usual, more information on our Waldorf-inspired home-school co-op can be found here.

What would an apple day be without apple pie?  Not near as fun as with apple pie, of this I'm quite sure. When the children arrived we began assembling the apple pies for snack.  For simplicity's sake (and time) I sliced and peeled the apples to prepare the filling and made the dough for crust ahead of time.  The little ones got to help with preparing the pans, rolling (and tasting) the dough, assembling the pies, brushing on the egg wash and making little shapes with extra dough to place on top.

Then into the oven went the pies and to the rug for circle time went the children.  Circle time was a little different than normal today, as I wanted to tell our story first.  So, we sat down and I told one of my favorite apple stories, The Little House With No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside.  It's a fun riddle story, where a child goes on a journey to find a little red house, with no doors or windows, and a star inside.  At the end of a story I cut open an apple to reveal the little star-room where the seeds live...

We passed the apple halves around so the children could examine them, and then we did "apple yoga". We basically told a story of an apple seed/tree/pie, starting as a tiny seed curled up on the ground (child's pose), slowly growing roots and sprouting up to the sun.  We grew into full trees (tree pose) and grew out our strong branches.  We stood in mountain pose and then swayed in the wind with our ripening apples. Then we became children going for a walk and reaching up to pick apples from a tree.  After gathering our apples we took them home and baked our apple pie in various seated poses.  

Storytelling yoga is such a fun way to introduce little ones to yoga...they absolutely love it.

Then it was to the table for our apple art project...apple star stamping!  We had so much fun with our beet stamps that I thought we'd try it with apples as well.  I saved all the cores from making pie.  They make perfect round little star stamps.  Melissa also cut up a couple of apples in various ways to highlight that sweet center star to make a few more stamps.  Instead of making ink pads this time we just used brushes to paint our stamps with watercolors.  So much fun.

As the little ones finished up their apple stamp art they made their way back to our main play area (the living room) for a little play time.  Check out this amazing castle (wait, I think it was a hotel) creation of Lily's...

Soon the scent of apple pie filled the air, and we pulled two beautiful pies out of the oven.  Candle lit and blessing sung we served up the most delicious apple pie ever (seriously, I'm not even joking) and enjoyed our snack time.  We even had a little snack time music listening to Kira Willey's song Making Pie.  

After snack the beautifully warm valley day was calling, so out we went to enjoy the warm sunshine, the mud, and last summer sunflower stalks...

Then back in the house for clean-up time, a sweet story (The Apple Pie That Papa Baked) and closing circle.

Hurray for apples, warmth, and another fun morning spent with friends!

Super Sneaky Valentine's Elves

The results of our beet heart stamp project and super-sneaky Valentine elf work:

A sweet five-year old working on handmade cards (he asked me to write "I love you" so he could copy it on all the cards)... 

 

Quality time with my favorite sewing machine (complete with lego ships everywhere)... 

 

Very helpful little cupid elf...

 

Seeing our gift bags come together...

 

More time to bake with the littles and yummy cookies to eat...

 

Preparing our basket for top-secret deliveries...

 

Watching this little elf run, hide, sneak, and complete his mission flawlessly...

 

When dropping off secret gifts, trees are very useful to hide behind...

 

Then you can make sure the coast is clear...

 

Mission accomplished.

 

 

Valentine's Beet Cake

Love, love, love to you all today on Valentine's Day (and every other day as well)!  I meant to post this yesterday, but, well...sometimes life has other plans.  So, here you go, a little Valentine's love from us to you.

I love cake made with beets.  I'm pretty sure anyone who knows me well, knows this.  Mason's birthday cake the last three years has been my favorite chocolate beet cake.  

With all of these beet heart stamps everywhere, it just makes sense to make a pink (ish) beet cake for Valentine's day.  

It just so happens that my favorite Valentine's story to tell, The Valentine Baker of Pink, involves baking heart-shaped cakes, so this week as a part of our homeschool co-op gathering, I told the story and we baked a cake together.  

Using my made-up recipe, flour flying all over the dining room, we managed to get two beautiful cakes in the oven for a heart-shaped beet cake.  Sometimes baking with kids is all sunshine and smiles. Sometimes.  Sometimes it is...well, more.  Since our story was about baking, and involved using very special ingredients, I really wanted to involve the little ones in every step of the process.  It mostly went great considering we had five eager and enthusiastic children, a big bowl of flour, and a bowl of pink beets.

I didn't manage to get any photos of the process this time...and I'm sure my camera is thankful that I did not try.  I thought, oh well, I'll just take a quick photo of the cake when it's done.  This is what I managed...

 

There was nothing to be done but bake another cake.  

So this is what we did today.  I adjusted the recipe a little, and actually let the cake cool before taking it out of the pans, which resulted in a cake that held together quite nicely.  It was a hit with our group on Tuesday, and we had a repeat performance today.  

Some of you may be wondering, "Yes, but does it taste like beets?"  The answer is no...and yes.  I think that if this cake was served to an unsuspecting person (who clearly does not know me that well), they would never know that it was made with beets.  And, if you know, and know beets, you will recognize that distinctive earthy quality of the beet, and love the cake anyway.

Also, the cake itself is not as pink as it probably could be.  I don't used bleached white anything, so many of my ingredients have a little color to them (flour, sugar, honey, etc.) The batter is quite pink, as you can see below, but it loses some color in the baking.  I find this quite easy to make up for with the frosting. Also, I did add a little cocoa powder

So here you go, our Valentine's beet cake.  Enjoy!

 

Valentine's Beet Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1 3/4 cup flour (I used a combo of whole wheat pastry flour and unbleached white)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 t vanilla
3 eggs, divided
1 large red beet
1/2 cup milk

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
around 5 ounces cream cheese 
2 - 5 tablespoons of honey (really, to taste)
about 1 cup of strawberries (thawed if frozen)

Before you can really start baking this cake you'll need to roast your beet.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, rub the beet with oil, and wrap in aluminum foil.  Roast the beet until it is fork tender.

While the beet is cooking, prep your heart shaped pans.  Both of mine are thrift store finds, and one is a little bigger than the other, but it still works.  I like to butter the pans, line with parchment, and the butter and flour the parchment.

Preheat your oven to 350.

When your beet is tender, let it cool a little, then trim the stems and root and peel.  The peel should slide right off under some cold running water.  Place the beet and 1/2 cup milk in a food processor or blender and process until fairly smooth.  Super-simple.  Even a wee babe can do it.  :)

 

This is what it will look like:

Next, sift your dry ingredients together, and feel free to use a bowl a little less huge.

Cream the butter and sweeteners together, then add 1 whole egg and two egg yolks.  Mix in the vanilla.

Now, add the dry ingredients and the milk/beet mixture to the creamed mixture.  The best way to do this is to alternate adding the wet and the dry ingredients to your main bowl, incorporating each addition before adding the next.  Does that make sense?  Look at that pink batter!

Next, take the two egg whites that you separated out earlier and beat them until you have soft peaks.

 

Gently fold the egg whites into the batter, taking care not to over mix.

 Pour your batter into prepared pans and bake in a 350 degree oven until a toothpick comes out clean (about 30 minutes).

 

When your cakes are done, take them out and leave them to cool a little in the pans before carefully removing them.

 

While the cakes are cooling, make your frosting!  Cream your butter and cream cheese, add in the honey, then mix in the strawberries...so simple, so delicious.  

 

Cakes cool and frosting made, it's time to assemble!  I think there is charm in an imperfectly frosted cake, don't you?  I also sprinkled some India Tree decorating sugar on it, and then instantly regretted it, so, do what you like with that.

And then, of course, time for the taste test.  One judge said "It's delicious!", the other said "cake, yummy!" So there you have it. 

 

I say, "Yay for beets...and hearts...and cake!"

Sweet Beet Heart Stamps

The Valentine's fun has officially begun around here.  Though I have not always been a Valentine's Day enthusiast, over the last few years we have begun to embrace this holiday and make it our own.  

I will never forget when this shift began for me...it was actually before I had Mason.  It was Valentine's day (of course) and I was at work in my office (wait..I once had a job...in an office?), when two of my favorite people showed up to visit.  In walked Renee and her daughter Seanna...she must have been around four years old at the time.  This sweet-spirited beautiful little girl handed me a homemade Valentine and my heart melted.  The kind of heart-melting that is reserved for when you receive a special, handmade something from a child you love.  They were going around delivering little notes to people they loved, and also opening my eyes to a Valentine's day beyond teddy bears, heart-shaped candy, red roses and Hallmark cards.  

Holidays, regular days, moments...they are only what we choose to make them.

For us, Valentine's day is about taking time to recognize and celebrate all of the people and things we love every day of the year.  Mason and I spend a week working on little Valentine's surprises to secretly deliver to people we love.  It really is a heart-warming thing to share in this process with him (and now River as well)...to see the delight that he takes in creating these "Valentine's surprises" for people he loves and appreciates in his life.  We have so much fun working together, and celebrating holidays is one of many things we do that brings more rhythm to our year.   

This year Mason and I sat down with coffee and juice and together came up with a plan for our surprises. For one component of our surprises this year we needed to decorate some fabric pieces, and I thought stamping them would be fun.  How about heart stamps?  I reached for a potato, recently brought up by Aaron from the root cellar, to make a classic potato stamp, but then my eyes turned to a pink beet (also recently dug from the sand of it's winter home in the cellar).

Beet heart stamps!  I was instantly in love with the idea.

I started with two beets and created two different sizes of hearts.  

Aren't these beets just gorgeous?  They are one of my favorite varieties to grow, Chioggia beets (or candystriped beets).  These beets are sweet, earthy and wonderful...and they make the perfect Valentine's heart stamp.

That little saw from the pumpkin carving kit (which I referenced on the blog before) came in handy.  I never imagined how much use I would get out of it when we bought the kit last October...

For ink pads we just used a sponge, red paint, and a little water to keep the sponge damp.  There are many kinds of paint that would work well here, depending on what you want to stamp.

Once we had a little work space ready I gave Mason the fabric and he got to work...

This is just a sneak peak of the project...the full project will be revealed later in the week.  

We had so much fun with our beet stamps we decided to keep it going with our co-op group today.  We had a Valentine's-themed co-op group today, and the stamping project was so much fun. 

(For those of you who follow the co-op theme posts, I will compile everything that we did today for the Home school co-op page later this week.)

Last year, as a part of our Valentine's surprises, Mason and I made bookmarks to give out as Valentine's. It was a fun and easy project to share our love of reading with those people we love.  I thought book marks would be a great project for our group today as well because they are fun to make and...who doesn't need a good bookmark?

The children used a template and traced and cut out their bookmarks from watercolor paper.  Then they punched holes at one end and cut out hearts and other shapes from origami paper to decorate them.  After that it was time to stamp!  

I made several more heart stamps so there would be various sizes and each child could take one home as well.  Angie and Lilly made our ink pads, and then we got to work!

Once they were dry we added pieces of yarn through the holes and our beautiful bookmarks were ready to be gifted as Valentines to special book-lovers we know.

I had so much fun with these stamps...it might take a little restraint to not make even more beet stamps and heart everything in sight...

Check back this week for more Valentine's fun including a yummy recipe (with beets) and fun ideas for celebrating with children!

Simple Pouch for Worry Dolls

Last week I posted about Mason's new worry dolls and how much we love them.  I included a tutorial on how I made the dolls, and now I'll show you how I made this super-simple pouch to keep them in.

Before I begin the tutorial, I should say that I am so glad we brought these little dolls into our nighttime routine.  They have really helped him with letting go of some of his worries.  Last night as we finished our story and he cuddled in close I asked him if he wanted to talk to his worry dolls before he fell asleep.  His response was, "I don't think I need to tonight...I guess I don't have any worries!  If one comes (a worry) I'll just wake up and tell a doll, and go back to sleep."

Sweet dreams, indeed.

Simple draw-string pouch for worry dolls tutorial:

 

Please note: this is a very simple sewing project, perfect for a beginner!  

You will need: 
fabric
something for a drawstring (I used a bulky yarn)
the usual sewing supplies

First, find a fun fabric.  I had this sparkly star fabric leftover from another project and my eyes went to it immediately.  

I laid the piece of fabric down on my table and found a circular object about the size I wanted for the bottom of my bag.  This ended up being a little saucer plate.  I traced around it and cut it out.  

Next, cut out a rectangle from your fabric to match the size of your circle.

To figure out how big to make your rectangle you can either 1) Awkwardly measure around your circle with a tape measure, or 2) Use a little math...your choice.  The formula to get the circle's circumference is diameter x pi (3.14).  The diameter of my circle was just under 6 1/2 inches, so my circumference was 20 inches.  Once you have your circumference, add a little for seam allowance (for example, with a 1/4 inch seam allowance you will need to add 1/2 inch).  This number gives you the width of the rectangle you will cut out next.  My rectangle was 20.5 inches wide by 7 inches tall.  The height is just about your preference...7 inches will get you a pouch similar to this one, but you can make it taller or shorter if you'd like.   

Next pin and stitch the short sides together (right sides together) to form a tube, leaving about 1 1/2 inches at the top open.  

 

Iron the seam open, including the 1 1/2 inch open section at the top.

 

With the tube still wrong-side out, pin the circle to the bottom edge of the tube (not the edge with the opening), right sides together, and sew.

 

Turn the bag right side out.  This is what it should look like:

 

Next you'll need to iron the hem to create a casing for a drawstring.  The way you do this depends a little on the drawstring you use.  Just make sure that the opening is large enough to contain your drawstring.

I turned the hem under about 1/4 an inch and ironed, and then turned it under to meet the beginning of the seam and ironed again.

 

This is what it should look like:

 Now sew the seam for the casing.

This is what it should like:

 Time to add your drawstring!  I tied a knot in the bulky bamboo yarn I was using and attached a safety pin to run it through the casing.

 

Ta-da!  There you have it, a super-simple, quick drawstring pouch to keep your worry dolls safe (or any other treasures that need a home).

Sweet Sibling Moments

Sibling love.  It's been melting my heart lately.  It's the moments they share, unaware of being observed, that get me the most.  Hearing the giggles as they run around playing together in another room, watching brother help sister up onto the bed, sister taking brother his coat and boots before we leave the house...all these little things make it hard to imagine life before a River.

I love that these two little people have one another, and that I get to watch their relationship grow and strengthen every day.

Here are a few sweet moments of the week captured on camera by papa and mama.  The last one is a repeat from my last post, but I love it so much I couldn't resist sharing it again.

Sure, they also have moments that are not so peaceful.  Moments of anger and frustration.  But these are also moments of learning how to work through and resolve conflict.  Moments of learning patience and forgiveness.  Moments of learning how to be a family.

And, at the end of the day, through any frustration that may arise...

They adore one another.  

And I could not love them more.