Around here...

Hello there!
Pig Pillow (variation on Kitten Pillow from my book).
We've had a busy Summer, full of lots of sports camps and travel.  These girls are keeping us active!
I'll let some pictures do the writing...
Soccer tournament in Pacifica, CA.
Bar Harbor, ME.  Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park.
With cousins in Cape Cod.
With cousins in Summerland, CA.
Lake Tahoe, CA.
On the creative front, I started off the summer with a HUGE project - reorganizing The Pink Room.  I'm talking about a complete overhaul of all my sewing/crafting supplies.  Everything.  I've been wanting to give my youngest a bit more space and make the room more of a bedroom and less of a sewing room.
So I dumped out every fabric bin/yarn basket/sewing drawer.   Everything .  I completely emptied the closet and worked so hard at sorting, folding, more sorting, and more folding.
I spent the better part of a week in June on this project...and about 3/4 of the way through it...I got stalled.

And all my stuff just sat.

And sat.

And sat.
Summer happened.  Vacations were taken.  I even vowed to not work on any sewing projects until I finished, hoping it would reinvigorate my clean-up efforts.  Nope.  It still sat.
And we had fun.

Then these turkeys returned to school.
First Day of School, 2013.
Even the little one.  She started Kindergarten.  (She had just turned 2 when I started this blog!).  She wore the same Oliver & S Teaparty Dress that I sewed for my oldest daughter's first day of Kindergarten five years ago.

Oldest on First Day of Kindergarten, 2008.
Then my middle daughter wore it.
Middle on First Day of Kindergarten, 2010.
And, finally, it was her turn.
Youngest on First Day of Kindergarten, 2013.
I got around to finishing up my reorganization project last week and I spent much of the past weekend sewing (I'll show you what I made in the next post).  So happy to be back in there with everything organized and stored away properly. 

The timing is perfect. With all the busyness that Fall brings - homework, Fall soccer, afterschool activities, etc. - it also means the start of holiday crafting.  
My middle daughter is ahead of us all, around here.  She learned to knit earlier this year from my mother.
Middle's first scarf, early 2013.
And she has already finished off knitting this vibrant scarf below for her favorite (almost) 8-year old cousin ;-).
First Christmas present done!
Me, I'm starting on my holiday crafting, too.  All three girls want dolls (even my 10-year old...she asked for a marionette-sized doll).  I have lots of pajamas to make.  Not just holiday matching PJs either.  In all that clean-up I did, I discovered lots of fabric that I need to use soon, before my kids get much older. :(  
I also have a few really cute toy patterns to finish up.  I mentioned those earlier this year.  I hope to have them available this Fall, at least in time for the holidays.
That's it for now!  Look for photos of a toy I made from this book below...  I'll review the book, too.  Both are awesome (the project and the book).  More details and photos soon.