Hollyhocks

My Cup, Heart and Shelves Runneth Over

Josie came to visit today. We live near each other but we've never met until today. I am a big fan of her work, her fabric collection (you have to see those shelves) and her adorable family. Josie is just as warm and wonderful as you might expect from reading her blog. I could listen to that lovely British accent all day.

Some Saturday in October I would like to get all of the "local" (within driving distance) bloggers together for Afternoon Tea at the White Linen Tea House. Isn't that something fun to look forward to? Hey Fred, Hayley, Nicky, LiLi, CeCe, Leigh, Manda, Pam, etc. etc. feel free to fly in.

Josie brought a pair of her signature patchwork placemats (made with Liberty fabric, no less) and this AMAZING Amy Butler fat quarter stack, from Sandy's beautiful shop, no doubt. Josie has a tutorial for the wool strawberries on her site and they are perfectly sized. There's more...

Josie also brought this yummy cake, a slice of which I am eating as I type this. Even the ribbon the gifts were wrapped in was gorgeous. On her way over, Josie stopped at Sandy's shop and Sandy sent me this textile extravaganza...

The intense thoughtfulness and generosity of these women and all of you who check in on the twins' progress is just overwhelming. I hardly have time to whine these days! I think I'll keep all of these treasures at Camp Bedrest for a few days so I can admire them before they take up residence in the sewing room. Thank you again Josie and Sandy. Josie, I promise to be a better hostess once I am upright. I'll get you a nice cup of tea before I thrust a screaming twin upon you.

Thank you for visiting Hollyhocks. Dr. visit went well. I think I passed my gestational diabetes test. Twins are measuring a week ahead and it's back to the sofa for me...but with more fabric...

26w, 2d  

Happy Memorial Day

 

Thank you to those who have answered the call and those who wait and pray. I cry every time I see our young people in uniform working with their counterparts in other countries to bring food and supplies to starving children and families and hope that someday that will be the chief occupation of our military folks.

Where I live we have a great big parade that goes by the end of our street. We go every year with Cadbury dressed in his red, white and blue bandanna .He gets lots of attention and it's like walking around with a beautiful child...since we had to miss the parade this year, relatives from out of town stopped over for a visit, which was fun. Cadbury is asleep next to me at Camp Bedrest. We have had lots of visitors lately so he is exhausted. Since today is the day for red, white and blue...I thought I'd share some fabric with you... big surprise!

A couple of months ago I posted about looking for some Dutch fabric. I think it was Nicky who sent me a link to this quilt shop. I loved what I saw and found lots of great fabric...untilI I saw that shipping would be more than $30...yikes!

So, I started nosing around Ebay and Etsy and typing in all kinds of search terms and I came up with a seller who had this...Westfalenstoffe fabric, designed in Holland and manufactured in Germany. She had 2 listings of the fabric, described as A,B,C,D for $10. Now, this fabric, when you can find it, sells for at least $10 per yard, so I thought maybe she meant one yard. But, as I read the ad over, it was clear that she meant 4 YARDS FOR $10. So, I ordered all 8. A HUGE, heavy (the best kind) package arrived and in it was the Westfalenstoffe fabric...8 YARDS...and

  

She sent a yard of this fabric as a gift! Can you just imagine my German/English/Irish-American twins crawling around in pajamas made of these adorable fabrics? Maybe I'll even make a collar cover for Cadbury so he can play too. It's amazing how happy fabric can make me!!!! In between changing diapers I hope to be whipping up some simple, fun outfits...for now, I have some new additions to the fabric library.

Is anybody else suffering through this latest Typepad update? What a pain in the patoot! I am going to have to learn to resize my photos (which Typepad used to do for me) so when people click on them, they don't get an EXTREME CLOSEUP...(the dust shows then!)

Thanks for visiting Hollyhocks. Eat picnic food for me!!!!!

25w, 6d

Decole Today

A little fabric order arrived from Japan today...did I ever tell you that a colleague once tried to get me to agree to house a last minute Japanese exchange student by telling me that he could be my pipeline to Japanese fabrics and craft books? Would it be bad to admit that I considered it for a few minutes? This unbelievably cute and adorable fabric came from an Etsy seller. I hardly ever see Decole fabric anywhere.

I only have 2 fat quarters....what I call a "snack" when I visit the quilt shop .It's like buying yourself a small pick-me-up bouquet of wildflowers, just a little something pretty...

I also got a half yard of this wonderfulness...What is it about those dolls? I want to applique them everywhere...The whole reason I bought from this seller is that I wanted this...

You know me and dog-themed stuff...I've had it saved in my favorites for months...Just a snack, but it sure is fun to look at...I really am more of a fabric collector than anything...Manda from Tree Fall Design has a great recent post about those of us who are not "buying fabric"...we are "adding to the textile archives"...

I also wanted to show you a really lovely and thoughtful gift that arrived in the mail yesterday...

1940s Women's Magazines and a carved wooden box  filled with these...

 

The package is from my boss' boss, our assistant superintendent. I know!!! I wish all of you could work for such great women. Wait 'til you see the adorable tapestry, sachet and tea towels my boss sent last week...

When this experience is over and the twins are snug in their Japanese fabric and Liberty trimmed sleepsacks...I need to remember these days and these people and make it my business to be there for other women who are going through difficult times. This bedrest has been a great exercise in counting my blessings and remembering the passage that was the theme at my college graduation..."This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it". We are all so lucky.

Dr. appointment was uneventful...in a good way. Back to the sofa...

25w, 1d

Show and Tell Sunday...Vintage Linens

Have I got a husband or what? Since I am unable to go to estate sales, he happened to see a sign and stopped in to see if there was anything I would like...

He got the embroidered runner, pristine A&P needle book and this tablecloth for $2!!!! The tablecloth needs a good soak but the colors are vivid and I just love it. I may have to send him out every week with a fistful of bills and a wish list. This guy is good!

Thanks to Cerri and Analise for sponsoring another show and tell Sunday. Check their blogs out for a complete list of participants. I apologize for the photo quality but my time upright is limited...to about 5 minutes...so there isn't a lot of time to fuss...

You've seen them before, but the tablecloths were the first linens I collected...

Hey, how did that sweet Moda fabric get in there? Just looking at it cheers me up! I debated and debated about ordering it...

This white cabinet is stuffed with Christmas and other linens...I must remember to sort it out once the twins are...in school...

A drawer of doilies... There are a few of these...

A sampler and some chenille...

...and some of the feedsacks...

...and 2 vintage peg bags. There's so much more...you'lljust have to stop in when I am off of bedrest. Speaking of...this is what bedrest looks like with a chocolate lab...he's a little protective...

Ignore the dark circles...I am certainly getting ENOUGH REST!!!! Thanks for visiting with Hollyhocks. Your notes make my day, every day.

24w, 5d...

Give Me Liberty and Give Me Betamethasone

Well, it's official, the twins are on steroids. We had our first shot yesterday and the last is scheduled for today. Of course, if a congressional committee asks...the twins will deny any involvement with said pharmaceuticals, although they are now pretty much assured a future in professional sports...or is that another kind of steroid? For the uninitiated, the steroids help to mature the babies' lungs and blood vessels in case they make an early, unscheduled appearance...which would result in a stern talking to from their mother who has told them to stay put until I tell them it's time to come out. The kids were up kicking at 3:30 last night, so I think professional soccer may be a real possibility for my retirement...I mean...their future.

But enough baby talk...what you see above is..

some Liberty fabric that I have been dying to show you...

I bought it a while back...only fat quarters (which the DH calls "fat corners") because I wanted lots of different prints. I plan to use them as trim on onesies and other baby basics (burp cloths, etc.) Any other ideas????

The best price and selection I could find for Liberty fabric was from this place

Would it be selfish of me to delete my registry at Babies R Us  and just register for Liberty fabric?(number 53198646 if you're nosy...I am, I always look at people's registries) ...and, I'm not as greedy as I look...almost, though. I put everything I could think of on there because A. Let's face it, I have nothing else taking up my time and B. I may have to send the DH out for supplies and didn't want to leave anything to chance. That having been said, I had quite a time looking at baby stuff, especially that Tea Time exersaucer (bottom of registry). Why don't they make those for adults? I could sit in there for hours.

I will leave you with the finished birds I posted about before...hand sewn as I whiled away the hours here at Camp Bedrest.

They are gifts for my coworkers to thank them for thinkng of me while I am away "on the nest". They sent over a wonderful care package yesterday. I'll post photos at some point. The Dr. appointment went well yesterday. No change...back to the sofa.

Thanks for visiting Hollyhocks!

24 weeks, 1 day.

In Other News

Greetings!!! If you find yourself here at Hollyhocks as a result of the News 4 story on craft bloggers or the wivb.com link, WELCOME!!! You might want to go to the left side of the screen and click on August 2007 in the archives. Then click on July at the top of the screen and then June 2007. That post explains a little bit about Hollyhocks. It's also a bit more carefree, as we weren't expecting twins then and my biggest worry was figuring out which fun thing to do each weekend! This blog is heavy on the vintage finds and fabric of all kinds. Enjoy.

Thanks for visiting Hollyhocks. Please check out the other local craft bloggers.

Happy Mother's Day

Whether your child has two legs or four or the child you mother is yours or someone else's. Whether you feed the hungry or smile at a person in need. Whether you have 1 child or a country of people to care for, Happy Mother's Day. Mothers, conventional and unconventional, Happy Mother's Day!!!!

My friend (the one who arrived with a laudry basket full of food a couple of weeks ago) arrived at my door yesterday with her 12 year old son, gardening tools and a flat of flowers. They weeded and planted my front garden (and brought candy...orange slices...)

When I go on my next outing,  I can't wait to see how everything looks! Isn't lilac season a wonderful time of year? I have some summery Liberty fabric to show you soon and I am working on the birds from Last Minute Patchwork Gifts...7 down, 3 to go.

Lilacs down, Lilies of the Valley next... Thank you for visiting Hollyhocks.

23 weeks, 5 days

Edited to Add: If you live in the Western New York/Southern Ontario area, tune in to News 4 Buffalo Tuesday at 5 PM for a segment on local craft bloggers featuring Polka Dot Bug and Mr. Monkey Suit (she of the huge and incredibly neatly folded fabric collection. Josie is a transplant from England. Thanks England!!!!)

Belgium, Not Just for Chocolate Anymore

This wonderful box of goodies, sent by my Belgian fairy godmother Nicky, arrived late last week. It came at a perfect time and made me cry. Nicky and I have been reading (and commenting on) each other's blogs for months. The lavender sachet smells just wonderful and the tin contains tiny clothespins. They are not in the photo but Nicky also sent two adorable scalloped fabric bibs ( I'll have to take photos at some point). If you click on the photo you will see the SunBonnet Sue ruffled trim...so charming! Each bit was wrapped individually, so that was fun, and the presents came in a beautiful cloth box. I will use it to store momentos and sonogram pictures. It was a wonderful surprise and really made my day! In other news...

We have decided to change doctors...both of them. I was nervous about telling them but, we just felt that neither had a plan to intervene if things got worse. We found a wonderful high-risk (woman) Dr. and we're just crazy about her. She feels that things have stabilized for now but, will begin using a monitor for contractions next week and plans to hospitalize me if things change. I needed to know that everything possible would be done to keep these babies growing for as long as possible. She will also do the delivery. I didn't feel comfortable with my old OB saying that he would not do the delivery if the babies were premature. His plan was to leave me to show up at the emergency room and take whichever stranger was delivering babies that night. I have truly lost faith in him as far as this pregnancy goes. I feel so blessed to have found this new Dr. On her vacation, she's going to Appalachia with her church to build houses...

I'll be checking in on all of you soon. Thanks for visiting Hollyhocks.

23 weeks, 1 day