Three Thousand

Three Thousand Dollars.

That will but you about 120 skeins of hand painted sock yarn.
300 yards of cotton quilting fabric.
One series of rabies shots for a tiny boy you're found of.

He's lucky he's cute.

Also, he turned THREE on Friday. There were balloons and cupcakes and presents that require putting together.  It's been a crazy fun three years!

Circle String Block

Hello Bee Peeps!  First off, thank you so much for doing this block for me! I think it's going to be a easy and fun quilt.  I've been tossing this idea around in my head for awhile, and I'm excited it's finally my month. :)

I've sent a bunch of pink strings, and a 14.5 inch Kona Charcoal Grey block.  Grab something circular that's laying around.  It can be any size you'd like, as long as you leave me a half inch or so of sewing space.

I grabbed a plate and a piece of notebook paper, because that's what I could find.  Trace out a circle.
Flip that paper over like you would if you were paper piecing, so the traced out circle is on the BACKSIDE.  Sew the strings down on the top, plain side.  Please keep the strings no larger then 2 1/2 inch or so finished size. Feel free to add any pink that you have. I love variety. :)

Lay the first string right side up.  Lay the next string right side down, matching edges.  Sew.  Flip, finger press. Repeat until you have 1/2 the circle finished.

Repeat for the other side of circle.

Flip the whole shebang over and trim the block to the circle you traced.

Once you've cut it down, pull all the paper off the back.

 Trim all those silly little threads. 

Take the circle and place it somewhere on the grey block.  Please keep it out of where the blocks will be sewn together, so about 1/2 an inch from the edge.

I pinned mine down, but you could try some spray baste spray if you like. I may try that on my next block. Don't worry about doing a fusible web or anything like that.  It takes too many steps. :)

I used a zip zag stitch, about a 2 long on my machine and a 4 width.  Do what looks good to you. Please for this step, use any shade of pink thread you have, or a grey that matches. It can be any thread, it doesn't have to be 100% cotton quilting thread. I used good old coats and clark. I went around the circle two times.

  All done! And dudes, don't worry if there are little wiggles on the block like I have. I'm not going to worry about it, I think when it's quilted and washed up, no one will know.

I think I'll need about 30 blocks, if I've done my math right. I'm only sending out enough grey fabric to do one block. If you want to make  more circles I'll take them and add them to fabric I have.  I'm using this for 2 different months, so I should have plenty of blocks by the end of July. :)  If you want to get creative and make them wonky,  or improved a little, go for it.  If you want to put 4 tiny little ones on one block, go for it!  I can't wait to see what your creative folks come up with! :)

Also, please keep any pink fabric you have left over.  I think I sent more than enough!  And like I said, feel free to add any little scrapes you have. I'd love if each block were completely different. :)
Any questions? Let me know.

And, sorry for the not so good pictures. It was raining and overcast today, and I wanted to get this done asap. :)

I can't believe it's Wednesday already.  I've spent Saturday through Tuesday with a killer headache/migraine, along with some other weird symptoms, some of which are migraine (sound and light sensitivity, nausea) and one that I just can't place....weird metallic taste in my mouth.  That one is still around, but the rest are pretty much gone.
So. Needless to say, I didn't do a heck of a lot.  I worked Saturday and Sunday, but just couldn't swing it on Monday, and called in sick.  My MIL grabbed J and I slept most of the day.  Tuesday we took it easy, leaving only to get dog food (so the dog wouldn't eat us) and more drugs for me.  Today it's back to normal, trying to clean house and shop and get all the errands done I can.

Round 2.

Day three of Rabies shots fell on Sunday, or as most people called it, MOTHERS DAY!  So, wonderful mother that I am, I hauled my kid to the hospital and had 2 nurses hold him down as he screamed bloody murder while a third nurse gave him a shot to the leg.

Okay. Hubby came too. And they did give him the numbing stuff on his leg. And he stopped crying pretty quickly after it was all over.  But still. Not how i would have chose to spend 2 1/2 hours of my life.  Actually that was time my hubby spent.  I left 1 hour 45 minuted into it, because I had to go to work.

So. Now just days 7, 14 and 21 left.

But I did get breakfast made for me, and flowers and a hand made card. So that's the part I'm going to try to remember.

Round 1 done.

First round of rabies shots for J were yesterday.  We went to the Short Stay part of the clinic, and had our own little room with a bed and tv and everything. The nurses and child life care specialist are awesome. They are just awesome people.  Not only did they make sure J was okay, they made sure I was okay and understood everything about the process.

All in all, it took about 2 hours, with the check in, the paperwork, the waiting for the drugs and then the watch period after the shots.  He got 3 total, one in each leg and in one arm.  He cried. I nearly cried. It was awful. He begged to go home and see the dog when it was done. He got some stickers, and bubbles, and got to go in a wagon ride around the clinic.  The next few times shouldn't be so bad, just a normal type shot.   The Immune Globulin shot was the worst one.  He had to have 850 units of it. 2 syringes.

Day 3 (Sunday) and day 7, 14, and 21 will just be the vaccine shot.  So we should be in and out fairly quickly.  I just don't know what to tell the little guy. I hate to tell him to early what's going on, but I feel like he should know he's going in for a shot.

He had a 101.4 degree fever last night, and today it's 99.7.  He was really snugly and limp last night. But today he's running around and dumping bubble solution on the dog.

So. Dudes. If I can help anyone out, heed this warning.  Save the F*cking Bat!  If we had thought about it, and saved the damn bat, we could have tested it. And known for sure, and not put J through this.  Of course, given the alternative, it's not even a choice.

Ack!

I'm pretty sure if the last week has any bearing, I'm not deserving of a mother's day this year.

Let's start with the fact that tomorrow my son has to embark on a rabies vaccine regime, that includes 6 shots over 21days. All because he found a bat in the garage, he was out of my sight for 2 seconds, so I can't say with 100 % certainty that he didn't touch the thing.  We let the damn bat go, because we didn't think anything of it.  Hey, guess what the alternative is?  Once someone shows any symptoms of being sick, there is NOTHING that can be done.  So, better safe and broke (we have no health insurance at this point) than have a dead kid. Also, did you know you could get bitten by a bat and not even see any bite marks?  yeah. I hate bats.

Today, we went to the park, and he fell and now has a black eye.  Okay, that totally wasn't my fault, but still. Now I have to take a kid with a black eye in for shots.

Anyway.  I've got some pictures of quilts to show you. To distract you from what an unfit mother I am.

Remember that Dream on Charm Pack I won?  Well, here it is with some Kona Bone and some yellow from my stash.  I backed it with flannel and quilted some wonderful straight lines a 1/4 of an inch or so away from all the seams.  I love it, and I hope the little girl I gave it to loves it too. :)

Free motion loops.  Not 100% perfect, but I love them anyway.

J is helping with the quilt photo shoot yet again.  He's so freaking cute, how can you be mad at him? :)
This is the coin quilt I did, using 2 charm packs and 1 jelly roll.  Fabric is It's a Hoot line and Kona Chocolate.  I bound it in the yellow dot. That was the one Johnathan picked out.  I backed it with a yellow sheet. It washed up so nice and soft. I used a light soft grey for the quilting. I think it turned out pretty spiffy.

So. If you think you think of us tomorrow around 10 am, that will be the time my son starts his shots. Wish us well.