Back...

to the land of the sewing that is...

I hadn't turned my machine on in weeks.

Let me give you some backstory by saying that I am not overly sentimental.  I'm not one of those people that saves every last token and trinket because I WANT to remember this moment.  I'm not the Mom who says "I don't want my kids to start kindergarten because it means they're growing up!" I usually feel like where we're at is great and I LOVE my kids and family, but I know that today and tomorrow will have they're own special-ness and I'm okay with living for right now and then moving on.

But a few weeks ago I found myself wishing the summer could be slower.  Noticing how fast my kiddos were growing.  Seeing they're bodies develop farther from that baby and toddler roundness into harder, more efficient "big kids."  I realized that there is less sitting in Momma's lap and more of sitting near Momma or gasp, on another couch without touching me at all!  I found myself wanting to capture the moment forever!!!

So, I did.  I didn't worry about the fact that my sewing machine and precious fabrics were gathering dust.  I never once felt bad for not keeping up with my google reader.  I felt slight guilt about not blogging, but I shrugged it of with the morning breeze and felt fine.  Instead I swam and sat by the pool while my kids swam for hours.  I read books and snuggled during movies.  I ran alongside bikes as they practiced riding.  I let Emma brush my hair and style it and then did hers.  I listened to rambling monologues about pod races and Anakin and all other things Star Wars.  I climbed the St. Augustine Lighthouse and found out that Oren has a fear of heights.  I swam and crashed in ocean waves.  I tasted the waters of the Fountain of Youth and felt the 8-year-old joy that Emma felt in doing so.  I made cookies, peach pie filling, fruit salad, homemade popsicles and many, many sandwiches.  I let my kids be in charge of our daily plan for the most part and it was great!

But I had deadlines that had to be met...bee blocks that had to go out.  People counting on me to be there.  So yesterday I turned on my sewing machine, busted out my rotary cutter and joined the land of the sewing again.

AND IT FELT GREAT!

So, here is what I got done:

 For Nubees, I decided on the Woven Block from Sew Happy Geek.  It fit the bill for quick, easy, and eye-catching.

In my Modern Blocks Bee, Vicki sent us a group of blue and green fabrics and asked for wonky stacked strips in different sizes, so I did a small and a medium group for her.  Y'all know I don't really do wonky well, so these were a real struggle for me trying to figure out the angles and making it all line up.  But I persevered and conquered.

Then, Michonne asked our Empower do. Good group to make modern Flying Geese this month.  We could make whatever layout in whatever size we wanted.  She asked that we use a palette of tomato reds, medium pinks, aqua, gold, and dark gray with Kona ash as the background.  Since she mentioned different sizes, I thought it would be fun to make really big ones mixed with some small ones.  I found a great tutorial for different sized geese and just went to town cutting and sewing with no real plan.  I'm happy with the results.  I promise that they're not as bumpy as the pictures make them out to be.  I just snapped quickly because we had an afternoon thunderstorm on it's way in.

And now that my July deadlines are met and school starts in 3 weeks, I think it's once again time to find balance between my roles as Momma and Kelli.  Balancing what my kids need with what I need.  Finding time to play with them and my sewing.  It's possible, right?