Sickly in Seattle

Back in July of 2009, Andrew and I took a trip with his family to visit his grandparents in Seattle. We flitted around like free little birdies hopping from one sight to another. He even took me up on Mt. Rainier and asked a semi-important question that came with a shiny rock. Oh the simplicity of that time.

Fast forward to November 2016. The Reynolds went back to Seattle. This time with 3 extra kids in tow.

The day we left started out fairly optimistic. We got through the airport with 4 kids as smooth as anyone could, if you don’t count that security almost wouldn’t let Emmalyn through the gate because she didn’t have a ticket. Once security resolved that she was a lap baby and could indeed travel to Seattle with the rest of her family, everything was easy peasy. We even lucked up and had a playground right at our gate. We hustled and ate a quick bite just in time for the flight attendant to announce that she had opened the plane door and hit the loading stairs so there would be a bit of a delay.

TWO HOURS later we finally boarded the plane. At least the kids got to wear themselves out on the playground. Original schedule was to leave at 5pm and arrive in Seattle at 10pm (our time) but now we were scheduled to leave at 7pm and arrive in Seattle at 12pm (our time). Lovely. Problem #1.

Since we were flying standby, Andrew, Addie, and I (plus Emme) were all separated. Praise be to the Lord that we all looked desperate enough to get people to graciously give up their aisle and window seats and switch with our middle seats so our family could sit together. I’d take a middle seat vs sitting with a 4-year-old I don’t know for 5 hours too. We got seated and then Addie looked at me and said “Mom I don’t feel good. My tummy hurts.” PROBLEM #2.

Amazingly enough my child that doesn’t sleep actually laid her head down on Andrew before the plane even took off and fell asleep. Uh oh, now I knew she was sick. Lucky for us, when she feels bad she is uncharacteristically restful and super agreeable. By the grace of Lord Almighty she slept the whole entire flight. There were a few moments where she wiggled and kicked over a juice on all of us but other than that she was OUT.

Emme… not so much. She did well the first half of the flight. The snacks, games, Ipad, Iphone, and any other entertainment I could think of worked wonderfully… until her tiredness kicked in. She and I were both really hot and claustrophobic by hour 2 since we were trapped in by a sprawled out 4-year-old. Note to self: an almost 2-year-old is quite a handful to be a lap baby… especially considering that my small pantry closet is bigger than the seat space in the plane.

Right around the time we both were getting frustrated, juice #2 was kicked and spilled all over Emme’s clothes and my lap. At least we got cooled off for a second. Deep breaths, just take off the baby’s clothes, read her some books, get her to sleep… there is still hope. Check, check, check. She finally fell asleep and I got a picturesque “aww look at my cute sleeping baby on the plane” photo for Facebook. For about 30 minutes both children slept and I even watched a little TV. Just look at our family flying like champs...

 

About 30 minutes before landing Emmalyn decided she’d had enough of her sweaty, squished up sleeping arrangement so she decided to let everyone on the plane know it. PROBLEM # 3. It was a lovely 20 minutes of non-stop screaming, but at least the end was in sight and we were about to be off and FREE. As long as you have hope, you can survive anything, right?... So the plane landed, Emmalyn’s fit died down, and all was settled until Addie woke up and looked at me with that look. Uh oh. If only I could’ve grabbed the puke bag quicker! Where were my super natural mom reflexes when I needed them most? … Oh yea, holding a sweaty, ticked off, half asleep baby.

I wish I could’ve taken a picture of the girl’s face in front of us. Pure horror with a large dose of pity. Bless my poor Addie’s heart. It was truly a sight. Neither our bags nor the toys and definitely not Addie escaped clean. It was all we could do to get off that plane with a sliver of dignity left. Fortunately, Bre had a pair of Levi’s pajamas that we put on Addie. Ironically Addie was the only one whom I forgot to include a spare outfit for in our carry on…. maybe I jinxed her. After we got her cleaned up, we went to the area where Tom and Alicia were picking us up. "Lucky" for us they had just been asked to leave their pick up spot right before we arrived. At least Addie had plenty of time to throw up again outside as we waited. This time I probably caught 80% in a plastic bag. WIN!

Finally, Alicia picked us up and Addie had one more, let's just call it, "session" in her car before we made it to Andrew’s uncle’s house. Nothing like breaking in your welcome! We finally arrived to his uncle’s house around 1:30 am where all 4 of us wiggled and jiggled on an air mattress until we half slept the rest of the night.

Then the sun rose and THE GRACE OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY prevailed and prevented anyone else from getting the stomach bug the rest of the trip. God knew that the trip had to improve or else I would’ve lost whatever sanity I had left in me. His power truly kept us all going.

The mission of the trip was accomplished and we had a really nice time visiting with Stuart, Suzi, Alicia, Janna, Grandma Joyce, Brian, Angie, Becky and many other relatives we rarely get to see. Most importantly we got to celebrate his Grandad Rob’s 90 years of life. The man still walks 2 hours every day and plays the saxophone at his church. He's a rock star. If he can do all he does, then The Reynolds can survive a cross-country flight…BUT I think I’ll wait about 6 or 7 years before boarding another plane with children again.



YAY for no throw up!

The Gang Goes to the Beach

This past week Mimi/Papa and Nana/Granddaddy joined us on our journey to Destin, FL for four days. The weather was beautiful. Upper 70's and plenty of sun. The breeze was a bit chilly especially in the morning and when getting out of the water though. The ocean was strangely calm and actually was warm... or maybe it just felt warm compared to the air. The water was crystal clear other than some drifting seaweed and jellyfish. These suckers (or should I say stingers) were impressively big. They scared Addie just enough to be a little timid around the water. Thanks jellyfish, or should I say child protection.

Emme on the other hand was a smidge too fearless around the ocean. She tried to dive in a couple times. I loved seeing her experience the ocean for the first time.

 

 

Fortunately neither child was a sand hater. Addie was content burying her "people" and building castles.

 

We ate too much as usual on a vacation. I am proud of both girls for trying some shrimp and fish. I don't think I wanted to touch seafood until I was 20. But when it's battered and fried, who can resist?! The first night we went to The Back Porch and got in our 'seafood on the beach' fix. Friday night we did the big touristy chain, Fudpuckers. The girls enjoyed/were terrified seeing the live alligators outside the restaurant.

The last full day (Saturday) we went to the outlets to shop then hightailed it back around lunchtime to get ready to soak up the last afternoon of beach sun...um, and watch the AL football game at 2:30. Mom and I earned the beach bum award and spent the last 4 or so hours on the beach until the sun set. I persuaded/forced Andrew to take a break from the game and come out to the beach to rent a kayak. He obliged and we took Addie out on the ride. Since the water was so calm and clear we could see everything below us which made the ride delightful and a bit intimidating. After we saw a sting ray I decided we should stay closer to shore than my original plan. Addie loved the peaceful ride and actually got a little sleepy. At one point a dolphin actually swam up near us...and then Addie got to pet it ...and then we all got to ride on it.... or maybe we just saw a dolphin in the semi-close distance. It was still pretty cool.

 

We finally drug ourselves in from the beach and ordered some local pizza from Merlins and celebrated Brad's birthday with cake and ice cream.

Sunday morning we walked the beach one last time and took too many pictures according to everyone other than me. I've already posted those suckers on Facebook but no one knows the backstory of how I had to bargain and threaten everyone to smile and take the stinkin' pictures. Oh well, it doesn't matter how you reach the end goal... right?

Happy family enjoying a photo session

Reluctantly, we jammed all of our luggage and paraphernalia into the cars and headed back to Huntsville. Addie only had one major meltdown as we were leaving Cracker Barrel midway through the trip back home. We told her she couldn't get a beanie baby that she had been wanting the whole trip. We were actually going to buy it but she insisted on getting two (one for "Emme") and wouldn't stop running from us. The kid was way past exhausted. After wrestling her into her car seat she screamed then passed out. Everyone in the van did a silent happy dance. Key word- SILENT. DON'T. WAKE. THE. BEAR.


I didn't get to read my book or get my zen on in the sun, but no child was injured, sick, or misbehaved too badly. That's a success in my book. It actually feels a little wrong how well the trip went. Oh well. A win's a win and I'll take it. Thank you LORD.


P.S. I highly recommend traveling with 2 sets of grandparents. The ratio of 6 adults to 2 littles was spot on.

 

Hi, welcome to poopville...

We aren't in the throes of potty training with Emme just yet but mighty close. She semi-regularly pee pees on her little potty. However, when she infrequently poo poos she gets a little frightened. Who can blame her? It is kind of a gross phenomenon. So today she was sitting on her potty in the living room, because why not watch Chicken Little while pooping, and she jumped up mid poop and ran away from the potty leaving behind a trail of evidence. Of course she had to step in it and then sit on me. Luckily Addie is transitioning out of the terrible 3's so she cooperated when I asked her to go get the wipes. I'm just going to tell myself that I got all of the poop cleaned off of me and Em and the rug... and the couch... and the crevices of the floor... and the ceiling (kidding).



Everyone says you'll miss this stage, but I promise you I will not miss the poop on my leg part of this stage one bit.


HOWEVER...I will painfully miss the "hugs around my legs" and "rocking to sleep with head on my shoulder" stage. I'll take a poopy leg every now and then if it means I can hold on to her baby days as long as possible.


My head tells me that 2 children are probably best for our family but my heart is having a hard time accepting it. If only she could stay this endearing, curious, loving age of 20 months for about 6 more months, maybe I could get all the baby stage out of my system.... doubt it.


Clinging on to something doesn't make it any easier to let go of when the time inevitably comes. All I can do is just breathe in each second I get with her... but not too much, because um, well see paragraphs above.


For now, I think I'll go burn my clothes and take a bath in bleach. Goodbye.

Never Forget

FIFTEEN YEARS. It's hard to believe that it has been that long since our country was attacked on Sep. 11th, 2001. My memory is sketchy (especially since having 2 kids) but here is what I remember.

I was a senior in high school, 17 years old. We had cheerleading practice during our morning PE class. We had just finished and were changing into our school clothes while coating on makeup, deodorant, and Bath and Body Works body splash over our sweaty selves. Yes, we were cheerleaders that worked hard AND sweated a lot. Anyways, we were in our coach's room when the teacher next door runs in and says "Turn on the TV! We are being attacked!"

SAY WHAT?! Our school is being attacked? our city? our...

Then we turned on the television and it all became clear.

No one knew what to say. It was all very surreal and confusing. To be completely honest, I wasn't 100% sure I even knew exactly what the Twin Towers were. Typical Alabamian. As we were watching, the bell rang to dismiss us to next period but I'm pretty sure we just stayed glued to the news. We looked to the adults for guidance but I'm pretty sure they were just as shocked as us. Then as we were watching, we saw the 2nd attack happen. We weren't sure if this was live coverage or what exactly was happening. Eventually I believe we went to our next class but the whole school just watched the news the entire day.

It felt right to go home and be with my family that night. A group of neighborhood boys and friends gathered at our house like normal and were all riled up, ready to enlist in the army the next day. We were all very uncertain about the next steps.

The local churches and our school had prayer services and memorials. We had USA day at school the next week. I have a picture of me and some friends posing with flags and red, white, and blue paraphernalia with oblivious smiles. We weren't the epitome of reverent but all we really understood to do was support our country and President Bush and go on with our life. The weight of what actually happened and how it would shape our future was hard for 17 yr. olds to grasp.

That following January when we were supposed to fly to Orlando, FL for National cheer competition, we drove a bus 12+ hours. September 11th was too recent for any of the mommas or our pregnant coach to put everyone on a plane. That's about where the direct impact on my year after the attack ends.

Fifteen years and two children later, our world is a smaller place to me and I realize the delicacy of our country. It's like when you grow up and realize that your house was tiny and your big strong Daddy cries.

I was sitting in church yesterday with roughly 500 people imagining what it would feel like for four times that number of people to be killed in an attack. FOUR TIMES the number of people in my church... GONE. It's still too heavy for my 32 year old brain to grasp.

God help us comfort those who still hurt.
Help us unite.
Help us defend.
Help us love.
Help us never forget.
Help us forgive.

Help us LOOK TO YOU.

Help us, please Lord.

Feelin' the burn...

It's been almost two weeks since the (cringe) curling iron incident. Emme has not been slowed down hardly at all. She's not a fan of changing out the gauze but is mostly a champ. The burn has been pretty nasty but last night, day 10, I noticed some major improvement! Praise God for healing.





 



Just one day shy of a month out. Still wrapping to keep her arm out of sun and away from infection. Here's a pic from a couple days ago. SO MUCH BETTER!

Emme's Big Boo Boo

It was Wednesday night and I had fed kids something that wasn't from a drive thru and had them dressed and ready to go to church, with time to spare. Ummmm let me just repeat that it was a Wednesday and we were going to church. That in itself is a milestone. I was feeling pretty high on life until I decided to brush my teeth and take 2 steps away from my hot curling iron. Apparently the cord was calling to Emme. Within .5 seconds flat it was in her arms and the screams started. Mine were probably louder than hers. Regardless of how fast it all went down I wish I could've gotten it out of her arms faster. Amidst all of our tears and Addie trying to call Andrew on the phone, I put her arms under cold water just praying I could wash away the damage. I didn't even want to look at the inevitable. I felt sick. I knew I never should've used that curling iron with one setting- too hot. Dang beach waves, you are so not worth this.

By the grace of God Andrew got home within just a couple of minutes. He of course was the calm that our storm so needed. His first action: kick me out of the room. For some reason, my meltdown wasn't super helpful. I called my nurse practioner friend Krissy like I always do for anything scary medical. She talked me down and reviewed my picture updates with the advice to just keep cool water on it and refrain from putting anything on it for the night. Her human voice was so less frightening than WebMD.

Meanwhile, Andrew had gotten Emme calm and actually playing in cool water. Did I mention that he was calm? I think he has a bit of natural Xanax in his blood. However, I come in the room crying and I get Emme all bothered again. Yup, kicked out I get. She really was a champ through the whole experience and continues to be. I say this with no bias whatsoever: she is legit amazing. We went to the doctor today and she confirmed that the burns are 2nd degree. She lathered on some thick burn cream and wrapped her tiny little arm up in purple gauze.

Be still my heart.

She has a little journey ahead of her until it completely heals but Lord willing her sweet little arm will be back to normal one day soon. She won't get to play in the bath or sun for a while but she'll definitely get some extra lovin' from me and others. She's already scored some cookies, a new baby doll (thanks Nana), and ice cream out of the situation so far.

It's so hard to look at her burns and not crumble under the weight of the guilt or the pain I feel for her but I'm really trying to look at her and just be thankful.

 

Thank you God that she wasn't burned any worse.

Thank you that she's taking the pain like a champ.

Thank you that it wasn't her hands or feet or face.

Thank you for the prayers and support from friends.

Thank you for speaking grace to me. (I'm trying to listen.)

THANK YOU FOR THIS SMILE.

Pool Par-tay

 For Addie's 4th birthday we opted for a party outside of our house so the kids could run a muck and not destroy everything. We were fortunate to be able to rent out the pool at Huntsville Country Club thanks to G-pa and G-ma! Win win.

Decorating was pretty easy since it was outside. Although we got there an hour before the party started so I was in turbo mode. Note to self: 1 hour is not long enough. I guess stopping at Wal-Mart on our way for waterproof mascara probably wasn't necessary. (but we needed ice so whatev.)

I perused pinterest and just got a couple of ideas because I was NOT going to make this party a big deal and stress about it. Ummmm sure, let's just say that's what happened.

Time for the line-up.

First off, what's a party without beach balls and pool noodles? Gotta LOVE the Dollar Tree.


 Second, it's hard to not have a pool party and have a little beach theme sneak in here or there. Trust me, Pinterest tried very hard to lure me into beach world or mermaid land.

 

My girl Tiffany rode the waves like a champ.

 Judy and Sue Ellen got their tan on. 

 

Can my mother in law make a rockin' cake or what? Props!

 

Emme and Sandy were the best part of this oh so classy pool ring wreath.

 What's that you say? Is the garland made out of pool noodles? Why yes. Yes, it is.

 

 Lastly, it's just impossible to have a good time at a party without photo props anymore. Who do you think we are, cavemen? Because why wear your own sunglasses or drink real lemonade when you can hold up some fake ones on a stick. Duh.

All props were FREE SUMMER PRINTABLES from Moms&munchkins.

Nothing says Happy Birthday like a baby with a pina colada.

The party was a success. Most importantly, Addie was surrounded by family, friends, dubious amounts of sugar, and way too many presents.

 

 I need to reminisce with this picture when deciding whether or not to throw a party for her next year:

 

 

Addie turns 4!

My baby is officially a four year old. Three still can pass as semi-baby but not four. She's entered legit "big kid" stage now. There are about 4 x 1000 good things I could say about her, but I suppose I'll refrain. I'll just start with how much I love her wild imagination. She is all about pretend play with animals and little people or babies. I don't think she received this gene from me or Andrew because neither of us remember being like that as a kid and it definitely isn't our forte now. She can get her little paw patrol doggies, beanie babies or dolls and start talking with them and escape to another world.

 

She's also very into "Going on a bear hunt" right now. She'll bee bop around the back yard going through caves, weed fields, mud rivers, and mountains. She would skip around but she hasn't yet mastered that skill. She's working on it at dance class right now. However, she will gladly show you how she is the best long jumper in the world. (Thanks to the Olympics that were just on.) Not that I'm biased at all, but kid does have a pretty good long jump.

 

I'm catching glimpses of maturity growing in her more and more these days. We actually went to Wal-Mart yesterday for over an hour without any major battles or fits. (I hesitate to even write those words down.) I'm slowing starting to exhale as her rollercoaster toddler stage seems to be gradually fading. Perhaps we will survive after all.

 

 

The Great Playground Debacle

Wednesday, August 24th. A day that will live in infamy. (Me, dramatic?)

Step 1. Leave work and pick up the girls from Dad at our halfway meeting spot. Check.
Step 2. Go home, change clothes, and eat before going to church.... Problem. Garage door remote won't work. No biggie, just use the keypad to get in the garage. Shoot, it won't work either. If I were smart I'd have a key to my house like a normal human but nope, not me. (I know Mom and Dad, I'll get one made ASAP.) Turns out that the power is out in our area, hence the garage door not working. Ok, change of plans. To Chick Fil A we go. Fried chicken and a playground= easy way to kill time.

We eat and all is good with the world UNTIL we go to the playground. (dun dun dun...)

Addie and Emmalyn start climbing up the stairs and I sip on my frosted lemonade trying to get my chill on in the lovely 100+ degree weather. About 10 seconds later Addie declares that she needs to go potty. She honestly hasn't peed in her pants in like a year so I wasn't concerned. Before I could tell her to go down the slide quickly, I see "the look". And then I see dripping coming from the top of the playhouse tunnel. Lovely, just lovely. Before I can even process the situation, Emmalyn arrives to the top of the pee obstacle. I try not to scream and terrify Addie into staying in the tunnel forever in order to avoid my wrath. So through gritted teeth I coax her to come out of the playhouse in the least drippy way possible. Funny thing is that I've been the onlooker in this scenario and thought "oh, that poor mom" and then I snuck in to tell a worker to please douse the playground with bleach because some (heathen) child peed all in it. Thanks karma.

Addie is now out of the pee house and unfortunately/fortunately scared enough into standing by the table and NOT MOVING. Goal #2: Get Emmalyn out of the playhouse coated in as little urine as possible. Lucky for me, she was too scared to come down on her own which led to only one solution. Armed with my pumpkin spice hand sanitizer and tissues I made my way up... stealthily avoiding the drips of urine. So much fun. Keep in mind I was in work clothes. FYI heels and a pencil skirt are the perfect attire for cleaning up pee in a child's playground. At least the onlookers in the drive thru line received some free high quality entertainment. Who needs Netflix?!

Now that the playhouse was mostly clean and I was 100 levels of dirty, I managed to get Emmalyn out and escape to our car with a sliver of dignity. I'm not proud of this but I didn't have the heart or courage to tell an employee what happened. Lord, please let them bleach the mess out of that playground every night.

It's been a day now since the event occurred. The post traumatic stress has eased up and since the lesson at church last night was about grace I've decided that I'll let Addie live.

Wrap yo'self up!

COVER ME
Last Wednesday night I reluctantly drug myself and the 2 kiddos to church. I kept going over all the reasons I shouldn’t/didn’t want to go… mess up bedtime routine, Andrew is working late, Emme will cry in class, etc etc etc. A little voice though kept telling me to put on my big girl britches and just GO… not quite in those exact words. My friend Bunny was starting a class, and I had told her I’d try to make it. Darn promises. 

So after getting the kids loaded up to go to “the playground” we were on our way. (And yes, I resort to bribing. If you had my 3 yr old daughter you would too.) Once the video in class started I knew I was where I needed to be. The series is “Missing Pieces” by Jennifer Rothschild. She opened it up with some joyful, lighthearted questions like

Why Cancer?… why do babies have to die? … Why am I BLIND?

Yea, this series isn’t going to be tough AT ALL. In some ways I wanted to run out of the room and say no thanks. It’s hard to dive into the tough questions, especially when there’s not a current storm going on in my life right now. Granted I have plenty of pop up thunderstorms occurring but no F5 tornado so to speak. Bunny brought up that familiar saying that we are all either coming out of a storm, in one, or about to go through one. Oh, yay. Can’t wait.

Ya know how the anticipation of a shot is worse than the actual shot? Well, right now fear is creeping in my heart trying to deceive me into believing that something bad is about to happen and I just might not be strong enough for it. Being a momma opens up the floodgates of fears. What if cancer, car wreck, drug addictions, suicide, etc... Sometimes it’s flat out crippling to imagine all the “what ifs”. I feel a little heartburn right now just thinking about it. 

Wouldn’t you think that my 32 years of knowing God and how He’s provided for me through the storms this far would eliminate my fears? 

Jennifer discussed this verse: Habukkak 3:17-18 (Right before God allowed Judah to be attacked by the Caldeans) “Though the fig tree doesn’t bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL BE JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR.” 

She suggested possible significances of each of those items:
fig= patience/healing (take a long time to grow and used as a medicinal salve),
olive= Spirituality (used as anointing oil in worship)
food, cattle, sheep= nourishment, sustainment

So basically that verse could be read as “Even while I’m waiting for physical needs and spiritual fulfillment, I WILL REJOICE IN YOU.”

While I wait for ______________ or while I'm in the midst of __________, God you are still good. 

Phew, tough stuff.

Jennifer also discussed how through the series she wants us to KNOW God, not just know about Him. I see how she has to come KNOW God so much more through her struggles with blindness and the fear flag in my head starts waving. Can I only fully KNOW God if something bad happens in my life?... Satan, you are mean.

Fortunately, for every lie Satan throws at us, God speaks truth.
At the conclusion of the lesson, Jennifer discussed how we all have theoretical blankets of faith, even though they might have holes (see paragraphs above!). We don’t have to have it all figured out because well, Jesus does… DID… WILL DO. She encouraged us to pick a blanket to literally wrap ourselves in as we go through this study to remind us of the warmth and security that comes from our faith in Jesus. 

For every “why” or “what if” Jesus responds with GRACE, LOVE, JOY, KINDNESS, PEACE, HOPE.
This songs sums it up well.


 Cover Me Lyrics by Mark Condon
Peace of God... Cover me
Cover me... Cover me....
Peace of God. Cover me...
Through the Storm.. Cover me..

Only in You I am safe
Only in You I’m secure
Only in You I find peace
So Cover me... Cover me....

Cover me when I am hurting
Cover me when I'm not strong
Cover me when I am going through
The Storm.........
Cover me when all seems hopeless
Cover me when my faith is gone
Let the Peace that passes all I understand
Cover Me..... Cover Me...

Lord, COVER ME.

Cross Raq Quilt Tutorial

 

Recently my sweet cousin experienced a miscarriage a few months ago. I don’t know WHY it had to happen but I pray that Jesus will cover her up in overwhelming love through this time. To remind her of his warmth, I decided to make her a blanket. I love rag quilts with all their extreme comfy’ness and lack of precision required. I pray that this blanket can be a blessing for her and hopefully one day her future baby.


Here’s how I made it:

1. Worked out the measurements on graph paper until the cross shape I wanted eventually didn’t look weird. Why can’t I just use a pattern and make life easier?

2. Cut out LOTS of rectangles… and then cut some more. Very helpful to use a rotary cutter and cutting board. I used flannel fabric (love the softness and fraying ability) and 1 small bag of quilt batting.

a.       BORDER/CONTRASTING FABRIC: (teal)

·         8 rectangles (6’’ X 14”)

·         16 rectangles (7’’ X 14”)

b.      CROSS FABRIC: (brown polka dots)

·         8 rectangles (7’’ X 14”)

·         6 rectangles (8 .5’’ X 14”)

·         2 rectangles (10” X 14”)

c.       TOP AND BOTTOM BORDER FABRIC: (white and gray)

·         6 rectangles (7’’ X 38”)

d.      QUILT BATTING:

·         4 rectangles (4’’ X 12”)

·         12 rectangles (5’’ X 12”)

·         3 rectangles (6” X 12”)

·         1 rectangle (8” X 12”)

·         3 rectangles (5” X 36”)

 

I added the extra blocks later on in the project.

3. Assemble sandwiches.

Fabric (right side down), batting (in the center), Fabric (Right side up)


4. Sew sandwiches together.
Stich down the center lengthwise. No need to backstitch since your pieces will all get sewn together later. Don’t worry about being perfectly in center. Mainly this step is to just hold the batting in place.

 

5. Sew blocks together into rows.

Pick a row, any row. Lay wrong sides together and sew a 1'' seam on the adjoining side.

Add the next block, again placing wrong sides together. Warning: This can play major tricks with your mind if you are used to typically sewing right sides together. Finish sewing the blocks in each row together. Also be careful when sewing the adjoining edges together to make sure you have the right one. 

 



 6. Sew rows together.
Now take two whole rows (WRONG sides together) and sew 1'' seam.

Hmmmm, didn't quite look right.

EMME APPROVES!

7. Sew a 1/2 inch seam around the entire blanket.

8. Time to start snipping the ruffles. If you want a lot of fraying, cut the seams every 1-2 inches.
This is a lot of cutting so make sure you have (a really good movie) and really sharp scissors capable of  cutting through all of those layers. I'd love to have these Fiskars scissors  because they have a shorter blade and it allows you to see what you are cutting. It also requires less of a grip to cut all of those layers.

9. Wash and dry the blanket. You may need to empty out the lint catcher every 15 minutes or so in the drying process to prevent your dryer from getting really angry with you.

10. CUDDLE UP! (or GIFT IT)