Real book progress is being made, lovely, patient people ... in the meantime, please enjoy a little peak into one of my sponsor's shops!

Plum Project Studio offers a Mei Tai Baby Carrier Kit with beautiful, organic fabric!

Plum Project Studio was started in response to a Mother’s frustration in sourcing sustainable options for her knitting, sewing and quilting projects. Tired of tracking down different online shops (and paying shipping from each), Janice Agar created Plum to offer a selection of organic and fair trade fabrics, yarns and other notions as substitutes for conventional craft materials.

Fabric lines carried include basics such as organic linen, muslin and soy / organic cotton jersey, as well as home decorating fabrics by Mod Green Pod and FLUF designs. In April, Plum is expanding their quilter’s weight fabrics to include the new organic lines by Cloud 9 Fabrics, Daisy Janie, and Birch Fabrics. To support the creation of smaller projects, fabrics are offered in amounts as low as fat quarters for quilter’s weight and fat halves for home decorating weights.

Some additional products carried include sustainable buttons, organic fulled wool (great for waterproof bag linings or mattress pads), sustainable stuffing, organic cotton batting (with scrim), organic and plant dyed embroidery thread, organic sewing thread and hemp webbing.

Plum Project Studio is offering a 15% discount for Sew Liberated readers! Use the code ‘liberate15' at checkout. The discount will expire on June 30th.

Thanks so much, Janice!

He did have something up his sleeve!

A weekend in Charlotte with my boys to celebrate my 29th birthday. I've never felt so special, so appreciated. Patrick really outdid himself, and made this into the most memorable birthday thus far.

Finn rode his first train, and we're sold on the pleasures of traveling by rail with a little one.

We enjoyed fancy meals. (Okay, to be honest, those of us over one year of age enjoyed fancy meals.)

I ate my grilled salmon in peace while Finn and Patrick explored the surroundings.

For the under-one crowd, the Discovery Place science museum was a big hit. It happened to be right across from our historic hotel.

Then it was back to the room for nap time.

And then this showed up! Can you believe it? An Emmeline Apron chocolate buttercream cake! That Patrick ...

All five of my pieces were scrumptious. Ahem.

As the sun rose on my last year in my twenties, I knew it was signaling the beginning of something good!

I've been toying with the idea of coming up with a list of 30 things I should do before turning 30. Any suggestions?

... in front of us,

to the right,

and to the left.

There's evidence of playing in the street well past 6 o'clock,

and many fancy blooms, which decorate our walk.

Spring is all along the street,

and even on my feet. (New sandal band-aid and all!)

Thank you so much for your patience as I poke my head into this blog only once in a while as the manuscript deadline approaches. Sewing projects are oozing from my ears, people. I have them all over the studio floor. Today I'm going to focus on some major Spring cleaning and organizing in my studio, in preparation for the final push. 

I can tell that the light at the end of the tunnel is fast approaching, as my mind is starting to wander to the "what can I do once the manuscript is done" world of possibilities. Soon, very soon, I'll be back in this space talking about all sorts of things - natural playscapes in the backyard is on the top of the list. Then there's all the sewing for fun (and sharing the results), plus some new tutorials and book reviews.

Perhaps I'll even take my first day off since who-knows-when to celebrate my birthday on Saturday. Rumor has it that Patrick has something up his sleeve ... (and if he didn't before, maybe he will after reading this! ;)

I'm working with the studio windows open today, enjoying the chirping of the birds and the gentle, warm sunlight that stretches across the floor around ten in the morning.

A humble milk bottle waiting to be returned to the grocery store, some hand-knit miniature apples ...

a simple demonstration on my part, and we have ourselves an oh-so-intriguing toy for a 10 month-old.

Yes, I'm still here! No, I didn't go on vacation. Yes, I'm working like mad. No, I'm not crazy ... yet. Yes, I finally cleaned the applesauce on my kitchen floor, which left a nice, clean place for the smooshed beans. No, I don't have much time to blog nowadays. Yes, I'm tired. No, Patrick didn't actually break his elbow when he went skateboarding for the first time since high school - it just felt like it. Yes, he can hold Finn now, with one arm. No, we aren't keeping the kittens that showed up on our doorstep, they were just guests in our house for nearly two weeks while being adopted out by Independent Animal Rescue. Yes, Finn's first word is "CAT" - no surprise there! No, my bathroom is not sparkly clean, thankyouverymuch. Yes, I do plan on showering today. It's 4:18 p.m.

Aside from feeling ever-so-slightly batty on this Saturday late afternoon, I'm pleased as pie to have happened upon the best idea since sliced bread, via Kyrie. You see, I feel so, so bad that I'm egregious at answering your emails and questions. I love getting them, and really want to have the time to answer everyone, but at the end of the day, I often fall asleep when Finn does and don't see my computer until the next morning. But I really want to be accessible to you, as I firmly believe that blogging can be a source of inspiration, strength, ideas, and community for those who are part of it (I know I feel that way about my blogging friends, especially now that I'm a work-at-home mama.) So. Here's the deal. I've set up a question and answer forum at formspring.me, and I'll be answering all of your questions over there, for everyone to read through. Go ahead - ask away! I'll be answering them in the order I receive them. I've also added a handy little widget in the left side bar where you can enter your questions.

Carry on with your weekending! I'll leave you with a few glimpses of Finny in action.