Spring Tops Anyone?

I'll take one! Or two, or more!

I've joined in on the Spring Top Sewalong with Rae! I'm so excited!

I'm in major need of some new clothes! For two years I wore maternity and for the last year its been easy access for nursing. But not anymore! Baby Smile is officially weaned!

So that means new shirts for momma!

First up is a white linen top! I just love linen! I don't love that it always looks wrinkled! (oh and btw, mr smile took the pictures and i think i'm going to have to send him for some classes in photography!) I have had this linen, a huge pile of linen for several years. I've used it for so many things! I found inspiration for this top at Anthropologie

I also found this at Anthropologie, and I so want it! .  I had one that I made similar to it in home ec in high school. I LOVED that outfit and wore it out!

For top number two, and I'm not stopping at two there will be more to follow but not this weekend!

I used the same linen. I woke up this morning with the vision of this top in my head! I visioned it navy blue but when I tried to dye the linen navy blue it came out purple. But I love it! I have a dress that is similar to this top and that was my inspiration.

I'm so glad that I saw the sewalong this year, by the time I saw it last year it was too late to enter and I had a newborn, so there wasn't much sewing going on at that time!

On a side note, I'm in the process of drawing up a pattern and directions for a drain apron for mastectomy patients. My sister has one and it has been great for holding the drains to keep the pressure off of them. The nurse that talked to her before her surgery gave her these aprons. She said that they are hard to come by and that they usually cost around $75 each! She had a few in her locker that were donated by Susan G Komen (i think) and was down to her last two. I want to start a sewalong to get some made to donate to mastectomy patients. So if you would be interested let me know! But I'll be getting everything set up for that this week!

I hope you all have a great week! Happy sewing!



Eye Candy

I have some new eye candy! In the form of an awesome new pillow!

Isn't it just yummy! This was my pillow that I received from my partner in the Pillow Talk Swap on flickr. If you are not a part of it, you should be! You should at least go and check out the amazing pillows in there!

My partner did a fantastic job! It will fit perfectly in absolutely every single room in my house! Not only did she send me this pillow with all of these goodies (and there may have been some chocolate in there too, but who knows) she also made a gorgeous lap quilt for my sister! Is that not the sweetest thing! I don't have a picture of it yet, but I'll post one as soon as my sister feels up to taking one and sending it to me! All I can say is that there were several tears from several different people that were shed over that sweet gift! To know that someone that none of my family knows or knows any of my family, and lives on the other side of this country thought enough of my sister and what she is going through to send her a lap quilt AND asked her local quilt guild to pray for her! That's the wonderful thing about the internet, facebook, flickr, blogs. They can all be used for evil, but they can all be used for so much good! And with them you can have people from all parts of the world praying for you without even knowing you! Amazing! 

This is the pillow that I sent to my partner.....

I also made one just like it and gave it to my sister!

Now I'm waiting for my partner assignment in the Table Top Swap! We're making cloth napkins! I'm so excited, I just love cloth napkins! And I'm still working on my mug rug for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap!

I just love flickr!

Btw, update on my sister. She had surgery last Monday. She had a few rough nights in the hospital until she got on the right pain meds. Once her pain was under control she did absolutely amazing! She's up moving around, can raise both arms above her head! She had a double mastectomy with reconstruction. They were able to get everything. Of the seven lymph nodes that were removed only one was positive for cancer! She came home on Thursday and has been doing great! Her husband is spoiling her rotten! He helps her bathe, washes her hair, even shaves her legs for her, and has been doing housework! Lucky for them he hasn't had to cook because they are being flooded with amazing food by wonderful people! God is great!





Good News!

It's amazing how when you keep getting bad news, with every single test, how happy and exciting you get when you finally hear something great! It's almost hard to believe when you hear it because you just keep expecting the bad news.

But this week has been a week of some good news!

First off, she is not a carrier of the breast cancer gene! That's wonderful news for our whole family! (although, it means that I don't get new boobs! but I'll be ok with that! :)

There is no chest wall involvement! And her scans came back clean, which means it has not spread anywhere else! Now we're just waiting for her surgery to be scheduled. She will be having a double mastectomy during this next week.

She has been flooded with meals, phone calls, cards, gifts, visits and prayers! We thank everyone who is supporting her through this!

I did find an amazing tool that has helped with meals! mealtrain.com is a free online website that allows you to post a calendar of when meals are needed and gives you a link to share through facebook, email, church bulletin, etc. Anyone wanting to participate can sign up and choose the date that is good for them and can see what others are bringing so that not everyone is bringing the same thing! You can put your likes, dislikes, allergies etc to help know what to bring! And it takes alot of work off the one trying to coordinate the meals. It's amazing and can be used for anyone at anytime!

Since I've been back home and unable to sleep because I want to be there with her and all I can think about is being there with her, I've been sewing! And making all kinds of stuff! I've made pillows, mug rugs and worked on t shirts for the Susan G Komen 5k in Roanoke VA that we will be participating in for Leslie! If anyone in the area wants to join us by walking/running or wants to donate in Leslie's honor, you can do so by going to this page and signing up with Leslie's Girls!

If you would like to follow along with her journey and see how strong my amazing sister is, she has started a blog here, Lelie's Bumpy Road.

Now we get to go play with some wigs!

So here is some craftiness! I joined up with the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap on flikr. And this is the beginning of my mug rug for my partner!  

I just love this! I can't wait to get it finished! It just looks so happy and springy!

Here is the pillow that I have made for my partner in The Pillow Talk Swap on flickr.

I used Terrain from Kate Spain! I am just in love with that fabric! I will be making more of these!

These swaps have been so much fun and a great way for me to keep my mind occupied!

Enjoy!