Last month.....

Hip Stitch hosted guest instructor Shirley Kay Wolfersberger, who held a day-long retreat called Creativity by Design.  Shirley Kay is a national teacher in fiber art, color, design and creativity.  That's just the tip of the iceberg in describing her.  I myself didn't take the class (kicking myself), and I had no idea what to expect in the lounge that day.  We had 5 women participate, and I was able to catch little snippets here and there as I refilled and re-heated my coffee throughout the day.  The women gave rave reviews at the end of the day, saying they truly felt exhausted from switching from left brain to right brain throughout the day (or were they switching from right to left?!)

Anyhow, I hope we can offer this class again (so I can take it!), but in the meantime, Shirley Kay is offering another one of her day-long retreats in April - Creativity through Color.   More description and details to come.....but I can't wait!!

Here are just a few shots of the class in January:

Eleven years and a week ago:

(Jane, feeling the baby's kicks.)

She entered into the world just after midnight on Feb. 24, 2000.  My labor was short, she came out after only a few pushes....we opted to be surprised with gender, but when she came out, she looked exactly like her sister, so we cried, "It's a Jane!" before the dr. even told us she was a girl.  I held her shortly, then she was put into the warming tray (yes, like a little turkey) for vitals and cleaning and other necessities.  Turns out, she had some fluid in her lungs, so the minutes ticked by as she was monitored, and monitored some more, until it was decided she needed to go to NICU.  I was able to hold her briefly again (20 seconds, maybe?), and the nurses had to take her off to take care of her.  I remember being wheeled back to my room - it was probably 3 a.m. by then, and delivered to my bed.  I remember feeling as though not just a baby, but my heart, had left my body.  I was all emotion, and exhaustion, and more emotion.  I cried quietly by myself, in my room, with no baby to hold.  Not much sleep that night.

That was Claire Suzanne's entrance into the world.  She and I made it through those 1st few rocky days - I was discharged without her, and I spent every waking moment going back and forth to and from the hospital for about a week, until she could come home.  

She's our baby, she's been her sister's best friend and companion.  She's bright, and inquisitive, and sweet, and tough yet sensitive.  She gets embarrassed when I talk to her classmates when I drop her off at school, yet loves to snuggle with me at night before bed.  She and I have frustrating, clashing disagreements, yet we love to go on long walks together through our neighborhood and talk and talk and talk.  She makes our family complete.

Happy Birthday, Claire Bear!

And now to some Hip Stitching.....here's the finished Weekender Bag - at the store:

All done!

And finally, new fabric that arrived this week:

Robotics from Moda 

and Oh My, also Moda:

Oh Amy, Amy, Amy......

So I'm making the Weekender, Amy Butler's pattern.  This is the 3rd one I've made.  The 1st one was years ago - before Hip Stitch, to give you a frame of reference.  I use it when we (rarely) travel....it doesn't have much in the way of interfacing - just craft fuse - and so it's floppy, but I love it.

The 2nd, I made for my best-est friend Lisa.....the blog post is HERE (I'm not that great about linking things sometimes, so if nothing comes up, I'm sorry!)

After each bag, I swear that I'm not going to make another one.  And then that passes, and after some time, I get the itch again.  Like this weekend.  Here's where I am:

Layers of home dec., craft fuse, timtex & cording......2 spools of thread, 2 broken needles.....having to step away from my machine to take some deep breaths, having a glass of wine to calm my nerves.......are you just dying to try this project yet?!  No really, it's truly the most beautiful bag I've made, and I love to pack clothes in to go on a trip (did I mention that was rare?), because I feel so.....cosmopolitan.....with it.  But I think if I do another of these, I need to borrow someone's industrial machine to take this baby on.

In the meantime, I'm done with the hardest part - the exterior.  Lining shouldn't take long....and then it'll be in the shop with a price tag of $3,000 on it!  haha.....haha.....

This afternoon, my almost-11 yr. old and I went to the library.  When we got home, I waltzed into the house with my stack of books and told her, "this is one of the happiest feelings ever!" referring to having a stack of new library books.  Here they are:

Why Sewing for Dummies, you wonder?  Oh, I just always grab a sewing book or 2 to see if there are any tips I can learn.  And the funny part is, I ran into Trish, who's going to be teaching the kids' doll class, in the sewing book aisle - we were both browsing that section.  Sigh, we sewing geeks think alike!

Goodnight - I'm going to bed to READ!

Just so you know....

About a week ago, (or maybe 2?), Ali sent me this link that has a great article about why the prices of cotton are going up.  I've been hearing that they are for the past few months.....some of our new bolts are a bit higher, but THIS is a really informative piece - worth reading!

And thank you, Ali!