BubbaChic

Spring - Oklahoma Styleee

Ahhhh *sigh* spring in Oklahoma, so beautiful yet so unpredictable - with tornado season fast approaching, it shouldn't really have come as any surprise that we were on alert today for severe weather. You think I would have clicked on when I heard the alarm going off on the weather radio when I was sitting in the chiropractors office at 7.15 this morning - having just driven to the office, the whole time looking at the sky thinking - what is going on with that big dark cloud?

Or perhaps I would have woken up a bit with reports on the radio on the short drive home, of a possible twister just north of us...nope - life here continued pretty much as normal this morning. We are pretty used to the weather channel alarm sounding to let us know that conditions are severe, or that they have gone from just severe to completely tornado friendly.

We know the drill now - the kids know the drill now - when the weather starts to look a bit dodgy, the TV is put onto the weather channel constantly to keep an eye on what is happening, and life continues as normal - until we hear the tornado sirens outside - thats when we panic!

We have our tornado shelter cleared (aka the cupboard under the stairs!) and stocked with essentials:

I must admit, we (*ahem* - ok - I) haven't always been this level headed at the thought of severe weather. In our first year in Oklahoma we moved here in the middle of summer - and although we experienced a few cracking thunderstorms, we didn't have anything crazy. That came the next spring - when I had just given birth to Joshua - yeah, not a good combination, a completely hormonal female, with new babe and toddler and the first experience of the tornado sirens going off.

Luckily, Mum was here - which was a relief as on that particular day Jason was at the pub celebrating a work colleagues leaving do and missed the whole thing! I was completely unprepared for what to do and just sat glued in front of the television watching live reports of the wall clouds in our area and the rotations in them...what??!!!! When the sirens started going off to signal ripe tornado conditions in the area combined with a rotation that had been spotted, we all took cover in the downstairs bathroom - which must have been 4 foot by 4 foot. Maddy was plonked in the wash hand basin, Mum was sat on the toilet and I was sat on the floor, literally on Mums feet with Josh breastfeeding the whole time, blissfully unaware that it wasn't just life as usual!

Maddy thought it was the best thing ever to have Mummy, Baby Josh and Nanny all in the loo with her - and Mum, looking like she had seen a ghost tried to lighten the mood in the toilet by announcing that it was a good thing that she was sitting on the loo, because she very well may need to use it soon!

The storm passed over noisily but without any tornado touchdowns - and I was left wondering why on earth people live in Oklahoma when this happens each year!!

Although Jason missed out on the entire episode, it was repeated a week later when he was home and his reaction to the tornado sirens outside, was that of pure joy and excitement (which I didn't share!) it must be a man thing....

So, this is spring in beautiful Oklahoma, lets hope its a quiet one...

Catch Up..

It has been busy around these parts in the past week - hence the impromptu blogging break. Our visitors (Nanny and Planky) have flown back to rainy England, leaving a void in our home once again.

We enjoyed having them here and even managed to take them to see the sights of Dallas, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all - not least Joshua, who was a *big boy* for the whole weekend and walked holding Mummy or Daddy's hand during the trip because of a forgotten stroller (or to be more precise, Mummy and Daddy took turns in madly dashing around after Joshua who was reveling in his freedom!)

There are plenty of projects on the go at the moment - many curtain related for the new house. However, one project has really captured my heart (and the majority of my spare time) this week - a quilt for a lady we know who, after months of chemo, is still battling cancer and is now facing surgery.

So, in an effort to let her know that we are thinking and praying for her, I started a quilt for her last week and finished it tonight. Its from a pattern which said it takes 5 hours - which kind of illustrates my novice abilities in quilting - as it has now taken me 8 days! I think it probably took me five hours alone to cut the pieces!!

All of the fabrics used in this are 1930's reproduction fabrics, that I adore.

And I am especially in love with the floral backing - so cute and vintage looking!

She is a biggie (for me) measuring 60" x 70" and she will be on her way to the sweet recipient tomorrow.

This weeks plans? I should start packing up the house and trying to be productive - but I have a feeling that the distraction of finishing up projects for the new house may delay that event further....

Our Day...

An egg hunt (a day early) chillin' and then getting dressed up for Church - what a lovely way to start Easter!

Progression Part 3

After my Joshy sewing mararthon, today was Maddy Day, and boy did she do well. Collectively, Mum and I managed to sew up the following::

Alexander Henry Apples and Pears fabric ruffle top and yellow linen trouusers

Matching skirt for mama!

Ballerina knit play dress (she has been yanking this fabric out of the shelf for weeks now!)

and modelled::

Blue floral dart dress from Ottobre::

and, new curtains (backed with blackout fabric) for Maddy's new bedroom in the NEW house!!

and last but not least - Maddy's Easter dress::

....and now time to relax!!

Progression (Part 2)

I guess one of the things that you can be pretty assured of, when you are the parent of young children - is that you never really know exactly how your day will pan out - regardless of planning etc..  Today this was evident - in a good way.

I was expecting a normal day and what actually transpired was a whole lot of (unexpected) sewing. The kiddies seemed hugely content today to frolic in the garden, so I took this opportunity to cut out some outfits for Joshy - then, strangely after I had cut them out, they were still content and playing happily, so the sewing machine was brought to dining table, where Mama and Nanny could overlook the little people in the garden - and a lot of sewing ensued...

Joshy did pretty well today - which has begun to ease the guilt that I never seem to sew very much for him (other than blankets and quilts!) He now has another 3 outfits to add to his wardrobe::

Joshy's Easter Outfit is almost complete (buttons to be added tomorrow) I managed to finish up the linen 3/4 length trousers today - and added the fishy in the bag detail to a cargo pocket on the side. This was my first ever attempt at using my sewing machine to draw a picture - and I think I have started a new addiction.....

I also managed to finish up a pair of turtle trousers that I started months ago - My little man is a huge turtle fan and has been grabbing the chez ami turtle fabric from my stash for months now - I am happy that I finally managed to sew it up into a t-shirt for him.

I also made him another little outfit out of some fabric that I fell in love with (I dearly wish I had gotten more at the time to make Mads a matching dress!) I am loving all the patchy fabrics that are in the stores at the moment - as they look exceptionally cute on both my boys!

Who knows what tomorrow will have in store...!!

Progression

A lazy day was had by all today - perhaps something to do with the very English-like weather that has descended upon Oklahoma.

After a leisurely breakfast some inspiration hit and having completed Maddy's Easter dress, I started working on Joshua's outfit::

I feel guilty that it takes very little inspiration to start a Maddy-destined project - often just a stroll through a fabric store, is usually all I need for the start of multiple projects - things for my boy seem to take more planning.

I have been hoarding this Heather Ross fabric for some months now, waiting for the right moment to strike - and today it hit! With the shirt almost complete (minus buttons and buttonholes) I have started some embroidery to go on the pocket of the linen trousers to complete the Joshua ensemble.

Unlike Maddy-projects, which I can imagine in great detail and visualise finished most of the time, I have no real idea of how this project will look, however, I am just happy to be creating for my little guy right now....

Our Weekend

Number of hours spent chilling: Many

Number of hours spent shopping: 5

Number of perfect houses found to move into: 1

Number of contracts signed on perfect house: 1

Number of cuddles given to the kiddies by our new visitors - Nanny and Planky: too numerous

Number of hours spent fishing: 4

Number of fish caught by Maddy: 1

Number of conversations about said fish: 35+

Number of cheeky squirrels in the garden willing to have their photo taken with Mads and Josh: 1

2 years ago today....

...I became the proud mama of 2::

Reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, whilst in Labor

Just a few seconds old...

Getting *mothered* by big sister::

Those sweet sweet tiny fingers::

and adorable toes::

If my heart was ever in danger of bursting with love and joy - it would have been on this day.

Mini quilt swap

I recently signed up to do a swap with another mama for 2 doll quilts - and I finally got around to finishing them this weekend.

There was certainly something very satifying about doing these little projects - not least that I could use up scraps of hard-to-find materials like Munki Fireflies or the japanese hedgehogs - but also because their manageable size means they go together well and I haven't got the chance to get bored and move onto the next project before finishing!

We are going for a record...

...in the number of times one family can move house in three years - when we moved into our current house last march, we notched up our 6th move in 3 years, and sadly it looks like we are headed for the 7th move imminently.

It seems that our wonderful Landlady has had to change her plans very recently and is looking at selling the house this spring. So we are currently looking at what houses there are available in the same area (having just got Maddy registered to start *big girl* school in the autumn)

Although we feel very settled in our house right now, and it has taken us by surprise that we may need to move from our nest, I am content that everything happens for a reason and there is a new house out there with our name on it!

Let the house hunting begin!!

Magnificent Creatures...

...that we are!

To Celebrate International Women's Day ::

1. The joy of extended breastfeeding, 2. Alison Lapper Pregnant, 3. It's all about the hair, 4. woman in delhi, 5. The Ground Beneath Her Feet, 6. growing, 7. Chinese Woman, 8. Me and the old womans' eye, 9. Pregnant, 10. Hold me tight, 11. 345: For a good cause, 12. Day 159: Perception, 13. shampoo, 14. Western African woman, 15. pregnant-01

Mooching..

This morning I managed to grab a few hours by myself to go mooch and recharge. I ended up (strangely) in a rather lovely little quilters shop staring at some fabric which had been on my mind, since I last laid eyes on it 4 weeks ago.

Over the past 4 weeks, I have managed to dream (in great detail) how the fabric needs to be made into an easter dress for Maddy - so today, I relented and went and bought a couple of yards. As luck would have it, there was another bolt of fabric, that just leapt at me and I simply couldn't leave the shop without at least one yard joining me at home.

The aqua fabric on the right is heading to be made into Maddy's easter dress - the fabric above with the little houses on, is the one that captured my heart - and the quilt behind, well that really captured my heart, when I found it thrifting today (and I have been grinning at it ever since)

and this is the fabric that made me smile and that just couldn't be left on its lonesome in the shop. I thought the houses were so cute anyways, and then when I really looked at them, it dawned on me how English they all look - proper little English houses of all types, just too freakin' cute!

I have a fair few things to finish up this weekend - including 2 little doll quilts for a swap next week and some last minute sewing for a very special little man, who will be celebrating his 2nd birthday on Thursday.

My Space...

I have been meaning for some time now, to get some photos of my little sewing space - but there always seems to be something else that I want to do to the room. However, here it is - its still a work in progress...

Here are the girls (my machines) I didn't really like the desk that they are on, so when I found some vintage tablecloths while thrifting - I knew where they were going to be headed.

The hutch on the desk is also a thrift store score, which I fell in love with because of our inability to put up shelves or anything major on the walls of our rented house.

The leather vanity on the top of the hutch contains vintage embroideries from thrfiting and the local flea market. All of my craft books are on the hutch, along with other little treasure which I try and keep out of the way of little hands!

We recycled my old computer desk to make a cutting table for me - and whilst it is not at all pretty - it is very practical and just the perfect size to fit in the nook behind the door. I have been planning on making a curtain to go around the bottom of it, to hide all of my work-in-progress underneath.

My inspiration board::

The shelves contain fabrics to be used in the near(ish) future (as oppose to my other stash!)The white shelf contains boy fabrics for Joshy and the other shelf (Joshy's recycled changing table) contains fabrics for Mads and me. This is also where the majority of my patterns are kept, along with pattern books like Ottobre.

Its also where my favourite pictures in the world are - all given to me by my Mum and Dad for Christmas and my 30th. They are by Belle and Boo and are just the sweetest, most precious pictures - I adore them.

Here you can see all that remains of Jason's space in the room, a whole corner!

Joshy's Baby Clothes Quilt

I have been leisurely working on finishing this special project over the last couple of evenings - a project that I started months and months ago and which has been coming together slowly - a quilt of Joshua's baby clothes.

As soon as I saw this wonderful baby clothes quilt - I knew thats what I wanted to do with all of my favourite outfits from Mads and Josh. I have had to start with Joshua's, as most of Maddy's baby clothes are in storage back home in England, so that project may be a little longer in the making!

I love everything about having a quilt made up of Joshy's baby clothes - the fact that they are not tucked away in a bag in the loft, barely ever seeing the light of day and the fact that each square is a memory of how little and fragile my scamp once was.

I am no quilter - so the quilt itself is by no means precise! I loved the cleanness of Hilliary Lang's quilt (above) so stuck with that design and just quilted in the white flannel squares - much less stressful than attempting to quilt across various knit/stretchy fabrics that were bad enough to sew together.

The quilt is backed in a heavier weight striped knit, which, along with the soft batting, gives it a warmer feel than many of the quilts I have made.

And, just because I am a sentimental fool, and I love a trip down memory lane when it comes to my babes, here are certain squares in the quilt and photos from when Joshy was wearing them::

The carrot pajamas...a favourite of mine::

In the jammies, just starting the crawl..

The 'wordy' onesie - the very first onesie (vest) I put on him just 20 minutes after he was born::

I can't actually believe his legs were EVER that skinny!!

The truck Jammies and striped top, both favourites of mine!

Here he is in the truck jammies (with his amber teething necklace on)

and in the striped top - out at a butterfly farm with me!

The cream coloured baby nay trains fabric from a Mummy Made outfit::

Trying to pack to move house in November 2006 in his train top...

and last but not least, the centrepiece of the quilt is this white square which says 'Dreamboat' from a romper by No Added Sugar that I had for Joshua when he was born. Its probably one of my favourite outfits of all for him, but sadly, I have no photos of him in it....