Take a minute

and go see where I am featured today!

Why yes I did get a haircut!

November 2011, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

someone recently asked me if I got a haircut and I'm here today to blog that yes I did. This was my hair 1 week prior to getting it cut.


I was bored and thought I'd give myself a trim and cut off 3 inches from the ends.
The next day I thought I'd pop into a hair salon for a quick touch up to the ends in the back to make sure they were even.
The hairdresser did that for me and when I looked in the mirror I wasn't as satisfied as I thought I would be. I felt like I looked still the same only with shorter hair. I needed a change. I told her I liked her hair and to give me what she had.


She did a really great job with layering the hair. I liked how light it felt but I did not like those bangs. It felt like there were only 4 hairs in there. Ugh. They were too whispy for me. So out came my scissors almost every week and I trimmed and trimmed and trimmed some more...

Today my hair looks like this. I am starting to get used to it after almost 2 months with the new hair. The upside is that I'm not wearing the ballerina buns, although I miss them. My hair isn't shedding a lot like it used to. I'm having fun with styling. I even bought a real hair straightener. I'm glad the hairdresser didn't cut off a lot of the length. I can say for certainty that the length won't be staying short and I have a pinterest board dedicated to growing out my hair. I am torn if I will keep the bangs or grow them out. I kinda like the look for now and these suckers grow so fast that I have to decide if I'm keeping them short or not. What do you think? Bangs or no bangs?

Hello there!

3/52 Fridays, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

Dispatch from the sewing room. So much going on and so little getting done, as usual.


I got a start on the quilt for my bed. But since it's unusually warm weather we're having for January I put it on the back burner and started something else.


I Swooned along with the rest of the swoonalongers over at flickr. I made just one block and bordered it to make a smallish baby quilt top. I can't decide on backing so I'm putting this one aside until I can get some.


I gathered these scraps to make a baby boy quilt. I changed my mind about the boats. I'll hold that thought for a later date. I won't give it up entirely. I just didn't want to devote so much time and energy into one quilt being given to a baby I may probably not meet.

All this flurry of sewing activity was spurred by phone call I made last Wednesday. Aaron has a date for surgery and we leave in 5 weeks for pre-op testing. I'm keeping busy in here and trying not to think about what's coming.

Until next time: Be well!!

Wordless Wednesday

Now this is a greeting!, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

Busy busy busy

2/52 Fridays, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

Here I am waiting for the bus. This is my entry for week 2 of 52 Fridays. Isn't it a great self portrait? I love the reflection of the bus in my living room window.
As we enter the 3rd week of January I have had to slow down because I've been plagued by small ailments one after another. This week I'm dealing with an ear infection that started 2 weeks ago! I was prescribed antibiotic ear drops for 7 days, I don't think it worked. Sunday I woke up with pink eye in one eye. I had it in the opposite eye 2 weeks ago. I'm pretty much fed up with being ill and I want to be 100% myself again.
When I moved to the city 10 years ago after leaving Aaron's father I had a hard time getting a family doctor closer to me. The one I had was 40 minutes away and with no car that made it quite difficult for me. I tried to find a new family doctor but no one was taking new patients. So I was alwaus going to the Emergency for little ailments. Over the weekend a friend gave me the name and number of a family doctor and I got an appointment Thursday. I'm happy that I can start taking care of me. I'm nervous because I always fear that something will be terribly wrong with me.


I have 12 blocks! I knew this would be a slow project from the get-go. I didn't realize how slow.. Tiny piece sewing is tedious. Everything has to be near exact to make a good block. I am committing myself to make at least 2 per week from here on out.



As if I didnt have enough projects I started yet another one. This is just a test block for a quilt idea I had in my head. I want to make scrappy boats. This will be a gift for one of the babies to be born this year. I have 3 baby quilts to make, 2 as gifts and 1 as a commission. I need to finish them all by spring.

Now if only I could start feeling better I would have so much more energy to sew.

Something New

cut and ready, originally uploaded by LauraJ_Sews.

As if I don't have enough works in progroess I had to go and add another. This is a quilt along with my God daughter. As part of her Christmas present this year I took her fabric shopping and she chose several fabrics with my guidance for color, scale and print. I didn't voice my opinions tooo much because this is her quilt and she's making it. I want her to love it.
For the actual quilt design I've been in love with Kate's work of OneFlewOver. I'm inspired by the simplicity of the design. I thought squares and rectangles would be easy enough for my Goddaughter to take on. She has fabrics cut out for two blocks and next time she comes over she will sew them up. I'm too cold to wait so I'll be sewing up my quilt this week. I hope. If I'm not distracted by making other pretty things....

Happy New Year!!

Sorry I'm a little late with the New Year's Greetings. Life has just run away from me yet again. Christmas came and went. It was a low-key affair around these parts. I spent a day with a friend and her family which was nice. I have several pictures to share: I made Waffles for the first time. They were super sweet! I went next door for tea a few times during the break. Aaron went to his dad's for 7 days and I decided that the time was now that I would do my sewing room overhaul. I had been promising myself I'd do this for a couple years now and never got around to it. The dust had been getting to me for several months so it was time. I took a couple before pics. Last Friday I cleared the room out and dumped it into the hallway and poor Aaron's room. Let me tell you that I had a big scare while cleaning the room and putting things back in. The trash bags were in the middle of the room and as I was going through bins and trashing garbage I backed into one of the bags and stepped on something. I thought it was the corner of plastic bin. When I inspected the damage I didn't see anything at first and I looked in the trash bag to see what I had stepped on. Then I saw the blood on my heel and my flip flop was sliced about an inch I freaked out a little. I realized I had stepped on a discarded rotary blade! Once I emptied the room it was time to bring it back in. I went through everything and trashed what wasn't worth saving, gave away whaat I wouldn't actually be using and organized what was left. There's still some work to be done like tidying up the closet much better but I'm very proud that I took this project on and finished it in 2 and a half days. I looks so much better and I feel more at peace when I walk by the room. I no longer cringe walking by seeing the disasterous mess it once was. I am hoping I will be more productive in here for this year. Tomorrow I'd like to reorganize my scraps. Again. My year in patchwork was a little more productive than I thought after I put this year end mosaic together. I have several projects that will be carried into the new year and hopefully I can make some progress on them along with starting and hopefully finishing many more. I have a feeling this will be the year of the baby quilt as there will be a few babies born to family and friends close to me. For now that's my news and I leave you with one last picture: So with that I am choosing CELEBRATE as my word of the year. So much to celebrate for!! It's 2012 and a wonderful year to be alive!