Happy Birthday, Eldest/Admin!!

This little cutie was all gussied up and ready for her 2nd Birthday to begin!  There had been a heavy snowfall that day and her Daddy was outside shoveling snow for all her party guests.  Every now and then, Daddy would throw snow at the window, causing the little Party Girl to giggle loudly.  She watched in awe as her Daddy 'played' in the snow and included her in the play from the comfort and warmth of the Party House.  It was adorable then and now as I remember it.  All those years ago.

Since then, my Little E/A has put us through many adorable moments, both historically and recently.  Only now, I get the joy and adding to all her stories about her baby: 'Just like you'......Double the joy...

This Little Girl has taught me plenty in her Thirty....something years and I thank God every day for her wisdom, her broad thinking and her ability to read me like a book(saves a lot of time!)

In her years on this earth, she has helped me through those 'You Are My Firstborn; There Are Expectations That Reflect Deeply Upon Me' crazies.  She has forgiven me all my First Time Mom Errors.
She has taught me to endure pain, frustration and disappointment rationally.
She has taught me to love deeply.
She is fearless on many levels and helps me through my scary times and places.
She sees things and people with a special lens that ferrets out problems.
She is my early warning system.
And she is full of emotion that is spontaneous, easily vocalized and very comforting.
She cares for me carefully and protectively.  I would always want her on my side, she is that kind of person...

And on the sixth of January, on a snowy, cold, Saturday night in 1979, she quietly entered my life, my world and  every part of my being.  It was an incredible entrance to an indelible life...

Thank you God for Rhiannon......
I love you, Boo!
Happy Birthday to You.....

Organizing

Eldest/Admin is a genius in organization skills.
She taught me how to fold my pants for the shelf in my closet, thanks to her retail management skills.
When I started on the venture of mama's collection, she was the one that sat in my sewing room, brain ticking away, setting up the most functional practical set up for the novice entrepreneur.  E/A set out pointing and dictating and mandating procedure and called in her father and brother to move furniture.  And we obey.  And I so appreciate her.

Without her daily presence, however, I tend to slip into my old ways.

Slowly, slowly, disorganization slips in.  Slowly, slowly, bundles of fabric appear without a place to reside.  Slowly, slowly, Sewist Paraphernalia sneaks in during the night and takes over whatever horizontal space that is available.  Then one day, I find myself unable to find the floor.  I find myself tiptoeing to find a space of old fir floor so as not to disturb whatever the Sewing Room Fairies have left from the night before.  When I get to the point when I say, 'Hey!  Where did this come from?!  I don't remember seeing this before!', I know it is time to channel Eldest/Admin and get myself organized.

Personally, I find the creative disorganization quite stimulating.  I am a quasi tidy person prone to somewhat slothful cleaning habits.  In my younger days, I had scheduled cleaning days and scheduled cleaning routines.  Now, not so much.  Matter of maturing priorities, I suppose.  But I do have to get realistic every now and then and admit that I need an intervention.

Yesterday was the day.  I pulled everything out to get a look over, mentally cataloging all the new acquisitions that somehow slipped under my inventory radar.  It was kinda like my own personal Christmas, finding so many new finds.  I guess that's what happens when you're memory slows down; everything seems new.  I had a good book to listen to while I set out sorting, filing and finding places for some pretty swell fabrics and notions.  I did realize that when we remodel our basement space soon, a significant amount of space might have to be taken up with extra fabric stock.  Rolls of upholstery fabric and interlinings take up a bit o' space.  And if my goal is to grow, business-wise, it would behoove me to make some room for growth.  I had Hubby come in now in then for some grounding and advice and encouragement.  Miss Dixie gave me several looks that told me that her bed was getting a bit crowded and she needed some more space as well......

While I would have rather spent the day working on Baby Girl's Baby Girl's Christmas Stocking, Or BG's Hubby's Daddy Bag, or Special Order Bag from Church Friend, or 2G's mama's Christmas Order, I knew, I knew, not much could be done in the chaos I had created.  The thrill of accomplishment must have been cathartic for me because I slept like a log last night, exhausted from all the brain work that it takes to overhaul my mess.

I do believe that there is a moral to this story, but, alas, I am too pooped to learn it today...

Sewing Projects, Past, Present and Future

The Past:  Eldest/Admin, Miss Vivien and I discovered a treasure trove of little dresses on one of our travels last week.  Adorable, HAND MADE dresses for a mere dollar each!  This little beauty kept my mind engaged for quite awhile while I contemplated who, what, where and when of the secrets behind it.  The teeny tiny one that we selected for Baby Girl's Baby Girl, is particularly interesting.  There were two, identical, and both displaying a sweetness of detail.  Soft little prints, careful stitching and delicate lace.  Someone thought much of the unknown twins that were the recipient of these lovely creations. My mind goes to the 50's maybe 60's.  I shared with E/A that Back in the Day, when all little girls wore dresses most of the time, the affirmation to purchase, was Just How Big Was the Hem?  I remember my mother checking out the hem of a dress before we would consider buying it.  It had to have at least a 2 1/2" or 3" hem to make it worth your financial while.  Little girls will shoot up in height before their shoulders, arms and tummies start to fill out.  A ample hem could keep a little dress in circulation for quite a few seasons.  In fact, one of the dresses that we bought for Miss Viv, we did just that!  A cute little gingham number fit well except it was just a bit too short for My Girl's lengthening legs.  Out came the seam ripper!  Out came the threads!  Zoom, zoom on the sewing machine, and Miss Vivien was tooling around in the cutest little vintage dress ever!  Mimi .Melted. Again.Here is a simple little utilitarian dress with lots of detail for how small and basic it is.  I adore the rick rack.  The wee little buttons all down the back. (for show; the real fasteners were little snaps).  And the tiniest of floral material.  Can you imagine a Grammy of today investing the time and energy into such a basic little fashion statement?  Fancy dresses, sure, maybe, but a 'Play Dress'?  I absolutely love that a long time ago, a mama, probably another relative, sat down and put together this little bit of fluff for their sweet little girl.......The Present: While E/A was visiting, The Heat Wave to End All Heat Waves was undoing us. Yes, yes, we were in air conditioning, but the poor a/c had worked very hard all month and being Energy Conservationists (!), we kept it at a restraint, temperature wise.  It was best to keep our minds off the heat and our hands busy.  So while I humored The Most Wonderful Vivien, E/A worked on this project for her little girl.  Sweet little bean bags from the link in a previous post.  Adorable?  Add beans, stitch the opening and Vivie is ready to learn her numbers in a very kinisthetic kinda way.And back to the future:

Baby Girl's Baby Quilt in progress!!  Mimi is using only scraps from her abundant collection to create the bankie for her newest granddaughter!  A lovely legacy of love for each grandchild; memories of Mimi's Prayerful Pregnancy Program.  With each square, I reflect on the new little one's life.  I think of her life, being so involved now, yet, knowing that the shank of her life will be spent without me.  I pray that she will know my love and hopes for her osmosisly through the hand stitching and fabric selection.  I want her to feel warm and protected and comforted.  I want her to take this to college with her.  So I cut carefully, sew watchfully, pay attention to the sturdiness of the fabric and cover the project in prayer.  Can it be four short months away till I get to meet this new life?

Better go sew.......