Happy Summer!!

Triangles quilt, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

I whipped this quilt up between the end of May and the last day of school. Actually I finished it two days before school ended. Last year I finished a quilt the day that school ended. At least this year I had two days to relax and plan some summer plans. I digress, I had some purple solid fabric I wanted to challenge myself to use it up. I only had 2 yards so I ordered another 2 yards. It took me a couple weeks to decide on a pattern. At first I wanted to make a quilt from Sarah Fielke's book : Quilting from little things. But I like to get all fancy and try new things. I don't think I've ever made triangle quilt before, at least not one of this size and these many pieces. So I had the dark purple as a starting point, then I found some light purple with big flowers on it left over from a quilt I made a few years ago. I used that fabric to pull other colours from. Also I loved the Kaffee Fasett fabric I had ordered with the dark purple solid. I cut strips, sewed strips, cut triangles, lots and lots of triangles. Then I laid everything out on the floor. Something was odd, it was wider than it was long. That's because when doing math for triangles the height is always shorter than the width. I rearranged some to make it longer and sewed and sewed some more. I sewed the rows as I was making them and it came together pretty nicely. Once I had a top I had to figure out backing. I had some yardage that I had picked up last year but I was short. Again I set myself up for the challenge of doing something different. And different I did! I made a giant house on the back. Oh I just love that house!

The quilting came together nicely with some help from my favourite quilting guru. I'm not the greatest of free motion quilters but I do my best. I have to say despite not being a purple lover this has to be one of my favourite quilts I've made.

Me and my boy on the last day of school waiting for the bus outside.

Summer has started around here. Our first week of vacation has already gone by. It was unfortunate that most of the days were spent inside getting on each others nerves due to rain rain and more rain. Our routines are off as well so that's kind of rough when we have no real direction for any given day. Every day feels like a bunch of lumped up Saturdays. Hopefully next week we'll have more structure and routine. We're waiting on confirmation for Aaron to have a companion to take him to the pool twice a week. And another companion to help him another two times a week with exercises and activities during the week. Fridays we're keeping to ourselves just to hang out and not have to go anywhere or do anything. If it were up to Aaron he'd have his ipod nano all day long. He won't do anything else but listen to music. I feel terrible sometimes letting him have it more than is neccessary. But what's a mama of a soon to be teenager to do?!
I'm trying something new this summer and that is to sew a quilt block a day. It's okay if I make more but at least I want one block to show for each day. It doesn't matter what blocks I make just as long as I take a half hour or an hour to myself during the day and do something that I enjoy. So far it's going well. Although sometimes I'm forcing myself to do it more often that not. New routines are always hard for me!


I was playing around one day and came up with this great idea for a scrappy quilt. The block is named the Anvil. I've seen it a couple of ways but I like this one. I'm debating if I'm actually going to go through with it. This could be part of my blockaday summer challenge.


Something I'm really happy about is this new bistro set I bought to put on my porch. I love this little set very much. I can now sit on the porch and have tea or breakfast or lunch and dinner! I even found a cute table cloth I had made a few years ago to put on top of it.




In closing this very long winded blog post, it's been a while hasn't it?, here's a little update on my Aaron. He's nearing 4 months post op and 2 months post cast removal. He had his follow up exrays two weeks ago and I was told things are healing up nicely. He's been slow to gain any sort of mobility. His body works differently than before and he's trying to get accustomed to this. He scoots on the floor to get from one place to the next. He used to crawl on all fours before surgery. This was a bit of a disappointment but I knew he needed time. Aarontime is much slower than realtime. I've tried getting him up on his hands and knees since the end of May but he didn't like it. However I am happy to say that twice this week on his own volition he got up on his hands and knees to crawl from the living room to his bedroom, and once from the living room to outside.

So that's it for now. I hope I can keep up with blogging this summer. I really do miss it. It is fun. Even if there's only one person reading, please say hello and let me know you stopped by. Have a great weekend!!

An update of sorts

Oh this face, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

The journey we embarked upon involving hip surgery and 6 w 4 d of casting went by in a blur! Here we are almost 4 weeks post cast removal. Aaron breezed through his bed rest at home like we were having a party. He was his own personal DJ with his Nano never far from his wrist. He's healed up nicely, he now sports 4 shiney new 6 inch scars on his body (one on each thigh, one on each side of his tummy). The scars dont bother me much, or him for that matter, thet are a testament of his journey. He is slow to return to his presurgery strength and although I knew this going in and have accepted his legs work differently now, I am wistful and hope for his strength to return to he can be the Aaron I knew in terms of mobility. I've heard tell that it can take up to 6 months to a year for him to show improvements. I hope it's not a long year. But if he smiles like this everyday it's all worth it.
I love this boy of mine. He made me a mother.

Wordless Wednesday

Counting down the days, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

*This was taken a week ago

Wordless Wednesday

waterpainting, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

We travelled like Rock Stars

We travelled like Rock Stars, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

to come home early Wednesday afternoon. We were supposed to have came home Monday but at the last minute a doctor walked into the room to inform me that Aaron's blood gases were off too much and he needed to investigate why. Turns out that he was being over ventilated with his Bi Pap. The settings were tweaked and by Tuesday morning things were good!
We are home now and have been for a day. It has been a whirlwind of people coming and going but we are well and settling into our new temporary normal. Aaron is doing amazing! He has a couple skin issues due to the cast but these are being addressed with special sponge pads. With vigilent care I think he will do great the next 5 weeks.
I'm taking it one day at a time. I'm anxious to get back into the sewing room but all in good time. Once I'm secure enough that Aaron won't jump out of the bed I can leave him to watch tv or play a game and I could sew in 15 minute stretches.
I'm glad to be home.

Dispatch from the Big City (2)

8::52 Fridays, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

We met up with a very nice twitter/flickr friend at a coffee shop on Friday. It was a lovely little chat about this that and everything in between. it was nice to see a friendly face amongst a sea of strangers.
On this Sunday like no other Sunday I've had in many years I'm filled with worry, not dread but just plain mama-worry.
I'm supposed to be an old pro at this considering it is not his first surgery, I've lost count after 5 so it's somewhere between 50 and 10 and it could be number 11 for all I know. When I went for the pre-op I saw a stack of his files and they were at least 12 inches high of papers and notes and tests. Wow!
My stomach bottoms out everytime I think the worst case scenario. I know that Aaron is much bigger and older and healthier than he once was so he has those things going for him. It's just the unforseen things that I worry about most.
I find myself litterally breathing heavier today, sweating once in a while, chilled at other times. We're hanging out in the hotel room in our pajamas because I don't want to venture out and risk him catching something. I just want to rest.
We are to be at the hospital tomorrow at 7:30 am to register for admission. Aaron is to be taken in for surgery at 9 am. From then until the time he comes out I won't know what to do with myself.
If I can't blog for some reason or another I have just added a twitter widget to my blog on the right side. I will update when I can.

Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers and good vibes you have sent. They mean the world to me!

First Dispatch from the Big City

My new Aaron courtesy of Papa's barbershop., originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

Aaron came home Sunday afternoon from spending the weekend at Papa's, sporting a very cropped hairdo. I knew I wanted this done for months and I was ready for it but I didn't realize how gosh darn cute he'd be with his fuzzy little head. This will make our lives so much easier once we are back home and nestled in our little convalescing living room.

We have been here in the big city since Monday. Unfortunately it was our only ride in so we had to come 2 days in advance. Upon our arrival there was a wee mix up with our reservation which hadn't been actually made. Then I was left to worry if perhaps I'd come too early or too late. You see I dream these scenarios at night sometimes. Or I dream that I lose Aaron in the big city. That's not actually a dream, that's a nightmare! I digress, so we arrive, and we're given a room and right away Aaron wants to go to the mall. We go and spend a couple hours walking around.

Tuesday and Wednesday we had a little routine going where we'd wake up and hang out in the hotel until lunch then we'd go out and spend the afternoon at the mall and then come back to the hotel.

Thursday we went to the children's hospital for pre-operation exams, exrays, blood tests, and meet ups with different folks involved in the team. Aaron was given the all clear and he's schedualed for surgery Monday morning at 9 am, although we have to arrive an hour earlier. After spending half a day at the hospital and already being out and about Aaron wanted to go to the mall again and I said sure why not I had been heavily caffinated so I figured I could do it. Even in a snow storm and with sidewalks full of snow and slush. Let me tell you after 4 days of all this walking I think I've already lost 5 pounds because my pants are looser than normal. Which is really not a bad thing.

I'm hoping tomorrow the streets and sidewalks are a little clearer because we're heading out in the morning to meet up with a fellow tweeting friend! How exciting! I'm thrilled because someone is taking time out of their day just to come and say hello to us. After spending 4 days out in public in a big city it makes me want to weep sometimes the rudeness and inconsiderateness of some people. I miss my small town immensely.