A New Project

A new project, but not a sewing project. Well, sewing will be involved, but mostly indirectly. Well, not exactly indirectly, but...

OK, that's getting too confusing. I'm starting a new blog. I'm keeping this one going too, but the new one is going to be less "all about sewing" and more "all about me". Yeah, that sounds a bit, oh, what's the word, self-indulgent. But that's the truth.

Let's review. Blog "A" (It's a Sewing Life) will continue to be active, and will continue to awe and amaze you with awesome and amazing sewing projects. Wait. What window seat covers? There will also be more actual sewing with the vintage patterns I'm selling over there on etsy. Gratuitous plug for Etsy shop. I've joined Sew Weekly, and will attempt to connect at least some of the weekly challenges with vintage patterns. I mean, what's the point of having hundreds of amazing (and ok, some less than amazing) vintage patterns if you don't actually use a few before selling them. Exactly.

Blog "B" (Project:Uninvisible) will definitely be more personal in that I'll be exploring ways to change my family role as angst and anxiety ridden "lost child" that I have brought with me from my original family to my current family. It seems that the empty nest has left me a bit more unmoored than is really comfortable, and if I am going to really explore my identity and role presently and going forward, I'm going to have to put it all out there. Warning: I'm going to try really, really, really hard not to censor myself, and I'll be putting some opinions out there that I suspect even my closest friends and family members (immediate family excluded) don't even know about.

So why am I bringing this up here, in this nice family friendly little sewing blog? Well, if I'm going to put myself out there and become truly "visible", then I'm going to need some friends, and I'm inviting y'all to drop by and see what's going on in this little ol' head of mine. Sort of a worldwide group therapy, if you will.

It's definitely a Work in Progress, true of blogs as well as sewing projects and Life! The first post is up, so if you want to follow along, you'll be with me from the start.

How about some art? Well, if you want to see it, you'll have to click on over to the new blog.

Mental Illness Awareness Week

Brought to you by MSW@USC Masters in Social Work

W is for Wisdom

"The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go oft awry."
~Robert Burns, To a Mouse

While I'm not at liberty to go into details here, suffice it to say that my plans for sewing a sequin-y new dress for Sunday, and the cutting out of my Lady Grey coat have been temporarily put on hold. Thank you all for your sequin tips. I'll be carefully reading those and researching soon. And I think, after reading a Glamour magazine on a recent plane trip, I'm going to switch out the satin for some tweed. Apparently glammed up tweed is quite in this season. It just won't be made by Sunday.

As for the coat, perhaps it will be cut out this weekend. Then it will be gathering up all of Gertie's wonderful tailoring tips and getting to work. I'm told it will be winter in Atlanta eventually.

Pink Faced

Oops! Life got in the way of sewing, and I ended up at the end of this past week having to take an unexpected trip up to Nashville. This means that my Lady Grey coat is not cut out, though all the pattern pieces are ready to go. That should happen Monday or Tuesday. And I did get a cute purple dress cut out, but alas, no pictures yet.

Instead I spent 3 days with my wonderful children, and yesterday we did a trail run at Warner Park, just west of Nashville. You can see that my kids come by their exercise-induced pinkness naturally! We ran a 2-1/2 mile loop, of which the first 2 miles were apparently all uphill! Well, maybe not, but it sure felt that way. And you would not be surprised to hear that we did not all stick together on the run, as Kyle announced that once he started running, there was just no stopping. Too bad, mom, if you get lost in the woods!

Here's my other "child", new son-in-law Thomas, and you can see that he fits right in with his very own pink face. It was a gorgeous fall day, and we're all invigorated, and ready to tackle all the challenges that face us. I hope you all had wonderful weekends!

We Interrupt...

...your regularly scheduled Sewing Life for another episode of "It's a Mom's Life" where we find your heroine about to enter the dorm of a college sophomore and pack up all its contents, the good, the bad and the extremely disgusting.

Right now, we're lounging in the hotel's Executive Lounge, waiting for said college boy to finish an exam, so that we can get into said dorm room. Enjoy the view from our hotel room's balcony:

Yes, you can see that not all of Nashville is under water. No signs of the flood in this area, though the hotel is asking us to Reserve Water. Um, we'll take 3 gallons of flat, and 2 of bubbly. Oh... wait, I think their flyer should have read CONserve water. Spell check was not their friend. At the restaurant last night we were served on paper plates and with plastic cups, unless you ordered a glass of wine or something kind of wet like my risotto. Hubby had to eat his chicken off a paper plate.

From here we head northeast to witness the graduation of our future son-in-law from the University of Kentucky.

We will return to "Sewing Life" on Monday.

It's a Mom's Life

All sewing came to a drastic halt Saturday evening when it was decided that I needed to head north to care for the sick college boy Kyle. Yep, a mother's work is never done, so they say. We had found out Friday evening that he had taken himself to the ER in the morning for a severe sore throat, trouble swallowing, etc. Saturday, he was still pretty sick and could not seem to find food that he could tolerate swallowing. I arrived in Nashville around 10 pm, moved him into the Marriott and proceeded to feed him 2 Wendy's frostys and half a cheeseburger.

Sunday, I headed to the grocery and got some hotel friendly (i.e., there was no fridge in our room) smooth food. I rarely go to Starbucks, but to my delight, they had oatmeal on their menu which was just perfect for a sore throat. Kyle spent the afternoon sleeping, and I did his laundry in the hotel washer and dryer. Let me just say that hotel washer and dryers are really more suited to a load of socks and delicates than a college boy's sheets and towels (germ filled, I'm sure), and even boxers and t-shirts to get him through the next week.

Yesterday, we checked out, and went to the University Health Center for his follow up appointment, where the doctor seemed confident that he has mono (in spite of a negative "quick" test). Prescriptions and Smoothie King were now on our agenda, and one more night in a hotel vs. a noisy, germy dorm. This time, we found that the Hilton Garden Inn had a fridge and a microwave in each room, so that's where we went. We had some time before check in though, and while Kyle napped in his dorm room (now disinfected to the best of my ability, with clean sheets), I searched out a local fabric store for entertainment.

In spite of the pedestrian name, this fabric store was really quite nice. Very organized, with loads of gorgeous cottons for quilting and children (not primarily a quilting shop though), and some beautiful wools, silks, jerseys and bridal fabric. All very pricey. Lots of trendy patterns besides the Big 4, but no Burda magazine, something I am now on a sort of quest for. I just want to buy one. From a newstand, fabric store, anywhere. To see if I like it, and might want to subscribe. You would think one might find one in Atlanta, but so far, no dice.

I'm going back to Atlanta today, and will have lots of sewing that I have to do for my Etsy shop, in addition to those little flower girl dresses that must be at least cut out by the weekend. Time to get back to my Sewing Life!