An engagement, a baby, and a hospital stay, in SQT

It's been a very eventful two weeks, as you can probably guess from the title. . .  in Seven Quick (and not-so-Quick) Takes.

DIY baby taggy toy

Several years ago, a lovely friend sent Donovan an adorable handmade taggy toy when he was born.  He was pretty ambivalent about it; he could take it or leave it.  But a couple of years later, along came Henry. . . and he LOVED it.

baby Henry!

Seriously one of his favorite toys.  I wanted to make him another one, and the toy seemed easy enough to make.  But I never had much ribbon lying around the house at the time, so I never got around to making one.

However, with BABIES arriving on the scene very soon, and a plethora of ribbon around here, I decided to make some taggy toys, and write up a little tutorial for them, too!  Friends, they are super simple (and quick!) to make -- easy enough for beginner sewists.

Baby bibs and Back to school, in Seven Quick Takes

Well, I had warned you that baby sewing would be making an appearance on the blog!  I whipped up seven bibs for my beautiful sister's baby, and we started back to school this week. . . . Seven Quick Takes style!

Summer so far, in Seven Quick Takes (hint: BIG news)

I hope you guys are enjoying your summer!  If you know me at all, or are a regular reader here, you know that I do not enjoy summer. In fact, I hate it so much.  HOWEVER, we've had many blessings, and good and happy things happen over the past couple of months, so I thought I'd share a few of them with you today in Seven Quick Takes. . . .

DIY: Lavender dryer sachet tutorial

At one time, my eco-friendly lavender sachets were a customer favorite in my Etsy shop.  I've made thousands of them over the years, using just about any kind of lovely reclaimed fabric I could find -- baby dresses, vintage linens, shirts, pants, skirts, dresses.  You name it -- I've probably used it.

More thrift scores and more news

I slipped into a couple of thrift stores this week while waiting for Matthew's art class to finish up.  The shops were good to me!  Here's what I found, plus some news we received, in Seven Quick Takes. . . .

Another painting. . . 

Thrift scores and letting go (for a moment)

The past couple of weeks have flown by!  We managed to squeeze in a little fun between school, doctors, and extracurriculars:  some good thrifting happened, plus National Pancake Day, and a little roadtrip. . . .  Here's a quick run down in this week's Seven Quick Takes.

1. Thrift scores. . . .

I found some really beautiful fabrics!  Aren't these gorgeous?  I can't wait to start cutting them up and making new goodies from them. . . .

Top to bottom:  a souvenir bandana in a map print, a skirt, vintage pillowcases, 

two bright floral dresses, and lastly, a navy skirt in 100% linen.

News: diagnosis and running behind

As usual, I'm running behind.  Just as I start to feel like I'm getting it together (but never quite got-it-together,) life throws me another curveball and I'm scrambling again.

But from the depths of feeling overwhelmed, I have lots of news to share with you.  Here we go!

About that Fabric Fast: a recap of 2018

My 2018 fabric fast lasted 6 months before I caved.

For a fabric addict, that's not really that bad.
OK, OK.  I'm making excuses.

But I did go all of 2017 without buying ANY fabric, so that counts for something, right?  Well, let's get to it.  Here's the damage. . . .