I am still alive

I am really not doing very well at this blogging stuff.  It has been almost a year since my last post. I am going to try for more frequent, but short post.  I wait too long to update, then feel overwhelmed because I have so much to post.  No more.  Life is good now though.  Still in a wheel chair, but walking some.  Hope to be able to walk around the house soon.  I'm working hard at it even though I'm a little tired of going to PT twice a week.

We just thought we were busy last year.  This year, busy took on a whole new meaning.  Stan was called to be bishop of the Austin ward.  I don't see him much on Sunday, or Tuesday and Wednesday for that matter.  We have already received many blessings from his calling though and I know there are many more to come.  Even though he doesn't think so, he truly is a man of God and he is the right man for the calling.

Our quilting club at church, Sisters in Stitches, is starting a new project.  It is a block of the month project that is going to be a Book of Mormon/Woman of Faith quilt.  I got to pick the first block.  I chose the Chimney and Cornerstone block because the Book of Mormon is the cornerstone of our religion.  I have a few corrections I have to make to the file, but then I want to post it on my blog so if you want to make a Book of Mormon quilt too, you can.  Mandy, one of the other members, has made a blog just for the quilt, so I will also put a link to her blog.

I gave up on selling bags at Etsy.  I couldn't keep up with bags for the site and still sew the things I wanted too.  I would rather sew what I want to.  I do still do custom orders, so that is still fun. 

Ok, post one down.  Not too bad.  I'll try to not wait 10 months to post again.

Mormon Prom

 This weekend was "Mormon Prom", more formally know as the Priest & Laurel Formal.  Rachael wasn't really sure she wanted to go, but all  of her friends really wanted her to, so she decided to go.  One reason she didn't want to go was because Andy is on his mission.  She didn't really want to go stag, so she asked one of the boys in our ward, Aaron Stoddard, to go with her.  She figured that was pretty safe since he is younger and she wants to wait for Andy anyway.  She didn't want a long, formal prom dress this year.  She did that last year.  She found this fabric at Joann's in the fall and fell in love with it, so she decided to make a wrap dress out of it and wear it to prom.  I think it turned out great.  There was a few frustrations with it, but she still did a great job with it.  I made Aaron a matching tie.  Now that prom is over, he gave the tie back and we are going to send it to Andy so he and Rachael can match when he gets back.  She had a good time at the prom.  She is kinda outgrowing youth dances though.  She usually comes home and says they were lame.  She has gone to a few young single adult dances and she likes them a lot better. The picture below is one of Rachael and her cousin Aashlie.  Aashlie designed her dress and drew it out and her mom made it.  She did a really good job on the dress too.

I wanted to share with everyone the bag that is a Poppy Mom Gifts original.  Rachael gets credit for the design.  She drew it out for me and then I had to figure out how to sew it.  Her original design had 4 sections in the front rather than the 5 I put in this bag.  It was easier to alternate fabrics with an odd number of wedge pieces.  I made this one for my niece, Jessica.  She picked out the main body fabric from my stash and I found a few others that went with them.  I actually used upholstery trim for the strap.  I made one using the same pattern for Rachael, but ended up having to alter the pattern a little bit.  I thought I had taken a picture, but I can't find it right now.  Rachael's used the Indian silky fabrics that are so beautiful and intricate.  The problem was that they are thick and didn't lay flat when I sewed the small strips together.  I had to make the wedge pieces bigger and use only 3 instead of 5.  The Indian fabric has a unique property that it was teal with a gold print on one side but gold with a teal print on the other.  Rachael's bag alternates the teal and the gold, then I used a gold drapery tie for the handle.  I have a pattern with instructions written out.  The next time I make  one, I'm going to take photos of each step so I can put a tutorial on my blog for this bag.  I didn't take a picture of the inside.  It's just lined with a black satiny type fabric.   This one has a pouch style pocket, but Rachael's has a zipper pocket.  I would have preferred to put a zipper in this one but I didn't have any black ones.  This is probably the nicest bag I've made, meaning that it isn't a casual type bag.  It's fancier and can be really fancy depending upon the fabric I use.  Rachael's is really fancy since we used fancy fabric. 

I really need to find the time to start working on more bags for my Etsy store.  I've been working on the quilts for the quilting club and a bag for the YW auction.  I'll put pictures of the bag and quilts on my blog and on my FB when I am done with them.  If anyone in the Austin area wants to come to the YW auction, it will be May 7th.  I know it will be at the Parker Lane chapel, but I don't know the time yet.  I'll post that when I find out.  Everyone have a great week.

My next set of bags

I just uploaded a few more bags to my Etsy store.  In addition to bags, I now have a few water bottle holders.  I love these water bottle holders.  It makes it so convenient to always have water with me.  They are especially nice when you are hiking or taking long walks.  I also plan on using mine when we go to Six Flags this summer and during girls camp.  Here are a few pictures of what I put in the store this weekend.  You can find the links to my store on the side bar.

In addition to making bags and water bottle holders, I have been busy with lots of other sewing projects.  I never thought I would do this much sewing in my life.  To think, I used to hate to sew.  It just goes to show you that you have to find the right thing.  I still wouldn't make a dress, but I've made Jeremy some shorts with matching do-rags.  For some reason, he is obsessed with these do-rags lately.  He has 3 pairs of shorts that have a matching do-rag.  I also made another quilt that has a roller derby theme.  I used the same fabrics I did for my nieces quilt, but used a different pattern so they are both unique.  Then lastly, I've made LOTS of curtains for Jeremy's occupational therapist.  I made 4 sets of curtains for her windows and I'm about to start on a large set of curtains that are going to be used as a partition in her small cabin that she shares with her daughter.  It will basically serve as a wall to give her daughter some privacy.

I've also been  having some fun playing around with Emily's sewing machine.  She let me borrow the embroidery/sewing machine she inherited when my mother-in-law (her mother) passed away.  It is so nice.  The entire thing is computerized.  It sews, has lots of decorative stitches, self threads plus does lots of different embroidery designs.  It has a bunch pre-loaded, but then you can hook it directly up to your computer and load lots of other patterns into it.  There are so many free patterns all over the web.  I've downloaded a bunch but haven't moved them over to the machine yet.  I haven't even had a chance to embroider with it yet.  I have to finish up these partition curtains this week, then I will have time to play with the embroidery machine.

This may be old news as I can't remember  if I posted this the last time, but I had to switch my MS medication.  I was on weekly shots of Avonex, but I have had 3 flares in the past 7 months so it doesn't appear to be working any more.  Now I am on Copaxone.  There are some pros and cons to this.  It doesn't have the really bad side effects that the Avonex does, but the shots are every day.  The only side effects I've found with these shots is that I get this intense stinging and redness at the injections  site starting 2 minutes after the injection.  I've been told it gets better and I hope it does.  I have to hold an ice pack on the site for about 30 minutes after the injection.  I really hope this works and I don't have any more flares.

This week starts spring break.  I'm planning on having a lot of fun with the kids this week.  We are going to the zoo in San Antonio on Tuesday.  The other days, we are just doing lots of fun things around town.  We are also going to be cleaning the house this week.  Jeremy is finally going to get to have his birthday party on Saturday.  His birthday was 2 1/2 months ago, but since he wanted to have a Nerf war in the back yard, I didn't think January would be a good month to have that kind of party.  A lot of the people we invited can't come because of spring break, but enough people are going to be there that it should be fun.  I feel sorry for any girls that show up though.  This is totally a boy party.

I hope everyone has a great week.  Please send prayers my way giving me enough energy to keep up with my kids this week.

Etsy

I have an Etsy store now.  I'm super excited about this.  I started making bags about 6 months ago and I've been hooked on it ever since.  I've made probably 30 bags since I've started.  I've given away lots as gifts.  I've had several people tell me I need to start selling them, so that is what I am doing.  Here is what I have in there right now, and  there are several more things I need to put in there soon.

 The top one is a purse with a magnetic snap and a pouch pocket inside.  The second 2 are little girl's dance bags.  These are the kind of bags Rachael would have loved when she was a little girl.  It's big enough to hold tap shoes and ballet shoes plus a few other small things.  The last one is the Schelpp bag.  I've made lots of these type bags.  Here is the link to my store-   http://www.etsy.com/shop/poppymomgifts?ref=pr_shop  .  My store is called Poppy Mom Gifts.  I do take requests, so feel free to contact me about making a bag.  I also make throw size quilts, but won't be selling those on Etsy.  I make those on an individual request, so if you want a quilt, contact me and we can discuss it.  Feel free to pass this along to all your friends.

Now that the business part of my post is done, onto life.  Life has actually been pretty stressful lately.  My health is just giving me lots of trouble.  In December, I had a really bad MS flare that left my right foot completely paralyzed and my right leg fairly weak.    I was just starting to feel like I had gotten my energy back when I was hit with some really bad migraines that started off with pain behind my right eye.  I dismissed them as just migraines, until my vision started getting blurry in my right eye.  After connecting the dots, I made an appointment with the ophthalmologist to have this evaluated.  I was correct in my assumption; I have optic neuritis.  It is a common problem in MS patients.  This is about the 5th time I have had it.  I elected not to treat this one though.  I saw the neuro the next week and we decided that my current MS management isn't working, so we are going to change things up a bit.  I'm going to stop my weekly Avonex injections and start daily Copaxone injections.  I'm actually looking forward to the change.  The Avonex makes me feel like I have the flu for 24 hours each week.  I won't have those side effects with the Copaxone.  I'm just hoping it works and continues to work for longer that the Avonex did.  There is a new oral medication out now, but I want it to be on the market for longer before I start taking it.  I want to see what kind of side effects show up in real life and if there are any problems with it.

This weekend, we had our packs Pinewood Derby and Blue and Gold banquet.  We had some trouble with Jeremy's car, but it still did well.  The wheels were having trouble staying on the day of the race, but he still got 2nd place over all.  His car looked really cool this year.  I have pictures on my camera, but I haven't downloaded them yet.  I"ll get that done soon.  Jeremy also got his Bear awarded this weekend.  Of my 5 Bears, all but one got his Bear.  The one that didn't started the year late because of sports.  We are working on getting his done by May.  I really have such a great group of Cub Scouts.  They have lots of energy, but I love them.  This coming weekend, a bunch of the scouts are going to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco for a camp out.  Andrew is going to go with them this time.

If you are interested in seeing Rachael dance, and you live in the Austin area, this weekend is your chance.  Rachael has a preview dance show on Saturday at 6:30 at Tapestry.  Admission is free with donations accepted at the door.  There is also a silent auction, in which I have donated several bags, a quilt and Stan has made several wooden puzzles.  I love watching Rachael dance.  I can't believe this is her last year in VIR.  It's not her last year dancing by any means, but no more recitals for us after May.  She is going to be majoring in dance at Texas State, so there will be other shows in her future.  I'm just not ready to have an adult child.  I don't know that you are ever ready.

Everyone have a great weekend!