Dodecahedron ball and previous attempt

Brain relaxing with platonic solids... highly reccommended.
All finished now... ok actually I'm thinking of making more...
 not sure exactly what, different sizes, maybe a tetrahedron and then an icosohedron...

The second attempt in progress.. looks like it will be as it should.  I did ti all handsewn to avoid the same problem happening as last time.

Esme with the original attempt, made on the sewing machine.   It is still a very fun toy, but shaped more like a two sided star with a circle in the middle.  She likes it a lot and it does bounce well.  As I was making the second one she told Daddy I was 'practicing again.'   Touche.. Touche.

playtime

One of her games
a garage sale find from way back

She has been watching Daddy play a new game and also with a mod that allows him to play with lots of hidden features. Esme is working at spelling a few words, not doing too bad. I've been sewing this other toy since last night when someone asked me for something I no longer have the correct pattern for... this is a handsewn prototype to see if I can get another one like this.


close, not bad
Esme put the baby from her kangaroo set with it, just until it gets one of its own ;)

Sew all the bears Mom

Esme saw me looking through craft book ideas last night and she pointed out a (very different looking) teddy bear as something we should make. "Sew all the bears Mom. Make them FAT, stuff them all full of fat in their bellies like this, and fat toes, and hands, too!." She chose purple. She helped hand me tools, get stuffing and on a few of the embroidery parts I let her help me get the thread and pull the needle out where I had started each stitch. She thought she was doing big work - and really enjoyed it. This morning she already wants me to make another one - or 'all of them'... a set. We will see what happens. I do have to go to work today, too.

Garden bounty

bounty

Red cabbage, summer squash (zephyr hybrid), a green bell pepper, green and wax beans, some carrots and herbs (basil, lemon basil, oregano, mint) from the garden today. There are still no ripe tomatoes yet.

I put most of this into a mixture on the stove with some butter and apples to boil down. A little more of it I put with some storebought tomato, rice and kielbasa to make a tasty hotdish for tonight's supper. Mark had made more fried apples for himself and Esme to eat with the wonderful pulled pork roast he did a few days ago. He is getting so good at it - ginger and other spices combine with lots of things so well.

In other news I am working on a pig sewing pattern. Esme has the first one and it is a sweet little piglet waiting for its mama. I should go work on her right now.

bit: kudos to Daddy for recognizing that little girl can and will sleep somewhere past the crack of dawn if we put a blanket over the canopy of her bed. It blocks the first rays of sunlight which otherwise have her popping out of bed somewhere around 6 am. Now, unless something else wakes her up and she realizes the sun is up, she might sleep until 8 or even 9.. sometimes close to ten. That is good, because she gets tired in the middle of the day and very cranky - and being full 'on' all day she doesn't really slow down earlier, just cranky and surly in the afternoon with possible chance of nap.

She still wants to go to school every day. Every morning her first question is: 'can I go to school?' Poor kid. Not until June 12th, again.


Last night eating an apple
we had sliced them up to put in dinner

Fresh from outside in the garden with us, muddy, sprayed with a hose, wearing plastic necklaces Grandma gave her and just happy and thoughtful in general.

bambi bit

I am working at making this pattern better - still have a few more to make. Esme liked this set so much she took it to town with her today. I should make a few for sale in the shop, too - my standards are so high though it would take several more tries to get one good for sale.


Bambi (as said by Esme), and baby, and one of her other favorites 'Mack' dog

I would like to see some of my internet presence grow again - I have just 40hour work-work-worked for so long now I need to make it a bit of a priority to see what is happening out there, make new things and work on the book I promised Dot I would think further on. I am updating my Squidoo lenses - and made a new one about vintage children's patterns to sew for babies and toddlers. Sewing the vintage patterns has been a whole other world than modern ones - I have learned so much from them.

Vintage childrens sewing pattern lens with lots of info

A Green Goat

I drew out the pattern for this soft toy today. I did it all freehand, intending it to be a donkey. Then instead of using my gray fabric (of which there is little) I grabbed this green and came out with .. well, not a donkey!



She is a goat, or a lamb.
She is for Esme.
Maybe we'll call her Gertie, or Mabel.

And I think I will develop the pattern some bit further, to put up in the Etsy shop. It is all patterns there now, no toys. I no longer have the time or storage solutions to make items up for sale there - but I can make things for Esme and develop patterns and maybe one day put it all together in a book.



Maybe I'll be able to change the shape into a donkey still... but there may be no need as it is all smiles for this 'green lamb with a dress.'



Well, after I posted she now insists it is a green kangaroo, with a big tail, and a dress. I wonder what someone else would call it!

This zig zag quilt tutorial is amazing. I want to do it, in grey and yellow and white? In orange and grey and white? I am thinking. These Joel Dewberry Aviary fabrics in yellow and grey inspire me... but I'm not hot on the fabric itself. I see those same colors in grey with polka dots, plain yellow or honeycomb pattern and soft washed muslin. Oh wait... like Esme's Shirt de buzz buzz! Exactly. Hmm..

This quilt inspired me to look for the pattern : Namoo Orange Wave quilt. Beautiful. Nice shop description as well. I wish them happiness :)

// found a knit zigzag blanket tutorial that goes knit row, purl row, (k2tog)*3, (yo,k1)*6, (k2tog)*6, (yo, k1)*6, (k2tog)*3 on a multiple of 36 stitches. It actually looks like a lot of medallion-like shells, but does zigzag nicely. Also found a harder to remember but more zigzaggy style one, also on 36 stitches, knit row, purl row, k1, k2tog, k6, yo, k1, yo, k6, (k2tog)*2, k6, yo, k1, yo, k6, k2tog, k1, purl, knit, repeat. Have not tried that one yet. similar

Kangaroos and other things

Bunny, our 'AmStaff' American Staffordshire pit bull, being mugged by our cat Pogo. She will sit there and rub against Bunny's side over and over until Bunny cleans her ears. Finally, Bun dog obliges.




The grooming begins, until one feels too undignified to continue.
Esme deciding between an apple and a lollipop.






The apple won, and was chewed nearly to the core.
The new kangaroo and baby joey pattern, made and tested.
The sewing pattern for this kangaroo toy is now available at my shop http://mariemeyer.etsy.com




Esme really likes them - they go hop. When I was making the baby she came over and saw the pieces and said 'What happened? Where the baby? What have you done?' And the kangaroo mama cried and hopped all over the desk and fell down.

We are trying more PT today. It is not too successful, and I doubt it will get 'easier' as she gets older. She tells me to be quiet and shut up when she doesn't want to hear 'do you need to go pee?' again and again. LATER She went two hours with just one accident. I moved the trainer upstairs so she didn't have going downstairs to complain about. She used it several times and emptied it outside. I put a diaper on her before she napped, had dinner and went to see Grandma and Grandpa. She used the big potty again - which she is not completely petrified of anymore but still not happy about. Then after her bath (major meltdown at the end of it followed immediately by 'who, me? I wasn't crying at all' behavior) she used it one more time before getting ready for bed. We are making a little bit of progress.