FNSI, Life got in the way

Sorry blogpeeps, I have nothing to show for FNSI.  Life, as it often does got in the way.  Friday, I had to take my darling, extremely needle-phobic son to the doctor for his Grade 7 vaccines - hepatitis B and meningococcal.  Yes, 2 shots. I didn't tell him that part.  I picked him up at school early and off we went, his nerves getting the best of him all the way.  I asked him when we got there if he wanted to go in alone, or have me come along and I got a shrug, with "I don't know."  So when the time came, I just let him go.  Sob.  My baby is growing up.  The doc checked in with me and said he did fine.  Then he followed, arms crossed in front of him, hands holding each shoulder.  But he hadn't passed out - so that's good.  We had opted to have our family physician do the shots instead of having him line up with his classmates just to prevent any "loss of face" if he started to shake (the usual), cry (the usual) or pass out (often.)  Unfortunately the doctor told him about the booster shot in 6 months.  Oh, Happy March Break that will be.

Then I got the phonecall from my best buddy that her mom had passed away in the night.  Her mom had been in palliative care for 5 1/2 months with pancreatic cancer, so my buddy expressed a sigh of relief that it was finally over for her mom.  We spent a long time on the phone. 

So, that's why FNSI didn't happen.  Maybe I'll do better next month.

9/11 Etched in memory forever

If you were on this earth on 9/11, no doubt you will never forget where you were or what you were doing when you got the news.

I was feeding breakfast to my then 1 yr old son when I heard on the radio to turn on the tv.  I was watching when the second plane hit.
I remember thinking "Oh God help us, it's the beginning of WW III"
That night I went in for night shift and every available tv was on and turned to the news on some channel.  As the night went on, the sense of dread mounted.

Watching the rescue effort every day became too much for me to bear, so I stopped watching tv.  I have chronic depression and it was way too triggering.

What I want to remember is the sense of oneness in the rescue effort.  Everyone, from layperson to professional worked together with one goal in mind.  First to rescue anyone, anyone who might have miraculously survived.  Then to recovery, of as many people's remains as could possible be identified.

Now that the skyline, forever changed, is rebuilding, we will always remember.
Remember 9/11

Cancer sucks

Cancer, the big "C".  Whatever you call it, it sucks.
It hurts when it affects a friend or their family.
It hurts even more when it's your own family.
My sister has been told she has breast cancer.
It hurts.
Let's pound cancer into the ground.  By any means possible.

A new bag for me. FOXY

My old purse is starting to look rather tired.  She's served me well for, oh, a year and a half?  But the corners are starting to wear through, and frankly, with fall and winter on the way (gasp) I wanted something darker.





Well, I dug deep into my stash and found this big piece of polished cotton that appealed to me.  As usual, I made up the pattern as I went along, but I remembered a bag that my sister had that had drawstring pockets on the front and thought they were cool.
Instead of a drawstring, I used elastic.  She's big - 14" deep and 20 inches wide with a gusset 4" wide along the sides and bottom.  As usual, I put lots of pockets on the inside, one side has 3, the other has 1 zippered pocket.  New for me was the long strap - it is adjustable to be long enough to wear across the body.  I also used a new technique for adding a zipper to the top.  By adding a 2" strip of fabric along each side of  the zipper (I used folded fabric so the fold was along the zipper teeth), and then topstitching it to the top edge of the bag, it went in rather slick.  I added a second row of topstitching.  I think I'll still add a big old button to the center band for interest.

By the way.  In case you think I'm smart or something, I sewed a pin into the bag.  Yup, discovered it between the lining and the bag after I did the first row of topstitching around the top.  Luckily, I was able to make a little slit in the lining fabric right next to the row of stitching and got it out.  The when I did the second row of topstitching, the hole was caught in between the rows and closed.  Duh moment !

Here's a peek.  I'm calling her "Foxy"

Who doesn't need a quilty binder for back to school?

My son likes playing Minecraft.  Actually, he lives and breathes Minecraft.  So, when the back to school shopping happened, the black vinyl binders just didn't cut it and I offered to make a quilted cover.  He surprised me when he said "that would be cool.!"
Wow, what a great son!
So the thinking began.  How do you make a masculine binder cover that he would be proud of when his favorite colors are black, gray, and black.
So, inspiration struck.  Why not made a pixelated quilt with a minecraft theme.
An idea was born.  Have a peek.
Yes, those are 3/4" squares of fabric fused onto a base fabric, and then quilted.
I think it turned out pretty well,  and so does he :)

So, just like many of our photo sessions, it ended up with a photo of Rob and Neeka.  They're both cutie pies!