Finn, doing his best impression of Lachlan. Or ... simply being a two year-old.

You've probably figured out by now that I don't like taking pictures of Lachlan in the hospital. I could blame it on the flourescent lights, but the truth is that I don't really want any pictures of him in here. His story is permanently written as scars across his chest, and I'm not sure that it's a story that is best told with pictures.

Anyway. Here we are. Lachlan threw us a few pulmonary curve balls the past few days, and we've been dealing with them. Two steps forward, one step back, but it seems like we're over the hump. He seems to be in much less pain, and is calm and alert for a good part of the day now. We're in the stage where they start weaning him off of his various tubes and wires. I'm looking forward to seeing him smile again. Everything will be ok. I can feel it now.

Had to post this one again. Go get em', Lachlan!

This photo was taken a few days ago. We had a picnic with friends at a local creamery's ice cream stand out in the country.

As I look at it now, I'm comforted. Here I am, back at the pumping room in the hospital - all the familiar-yet-not-comforting smells and sounds. That little smile up there is comforting. In fact, he flashed us some super big grins this morning as we crossed the road at 6 a.m. and entered the hospital.

He is out of surgery now, and everything went well - no surprises. Now comes the hard part. Parenting a baby who is clearly uncomfortable. So hard. Patrick is with him now, holding his hand. He hasn't woken up yet, but I imagine he will sometime tonight.

I'll try and keep you updated as I am able. Thank you so much for your love and light,

Meg

photos by Dana of made

How appropriate that Dana took these incredible sunset photos of her kids wearing the play capes from Growing Up Sew Liberated. With her post, the book tour comes to a close. If you haven't seen Monday's interview on Frontier Dreams, do stop by and say hello to Nicole, too.

The tour has come to a close, and with much gratitude I would like to list my friends and fellow sewists who have made it possible - the links will take you directly to each blog tour stop:

Elsie Marley - Crossover top and Sleeping Johns pajama set

Made by Rae - Crossover top and Sleeping Johns pajama set

Artful Parent - Art Satchel

Rhythm of the Home Blog - Interview

Uncommon Grace - Interview

Simple Homeschool - Interview and giveaway

Burda Style - Giveaway

Maya*Made - All-By-Myself Bibs and giveaway

Wise Craft - Review and giveaway

JCasa*handmade - Play Cape

Frontier Dreams - Interview

Made - Play capes

Be sure to share photos of your projects with me by uploading them to the Flickr pool! I hope the book brings you and your children much joy.

Lachlan and I had a great time touring Spoonflower last Thursday. How lucky am I to have such a wealth of fabric inspiration practically on my back porch! Thanks to my friends who came out for the little tour and book signing - Charlotte, Amber, Miss Charlotte, Ashley, Jeanne, Rebecca and Eric - and their delightful shorter sidekicks.

(And isn't Lachaln's carrier awesome? We still love it the second time around - you can purchase the pattern here. The center panel of the Sweet Pod carrier would look great with a custom-made design from Spoonflower - this would be cute printed on cotton twill!)

Spoonflower prints custom designs on fabric. You can make your own fabric by following the tutorials here, or you can purchase designs by other artists who put their fabric up for sale. You don't need to know how to use Adobe Illustrator to create a design - you can just scan in a drawing or painting! A wonderful way for a novice to use Spoonflower is to scan in children's drawings. Spoonflower is currently having a contest for the under 12 set - details here.

Each printer has a name.

Spoonflower owner Stephen Fraser is explaining how, after a roll of fabric is printed, the pigments are set with heat.

The shipping table.

It's a great idea to order a swatch book, since designs can be printed on many different fabric substrates: quilting cotton, organic cotton interlock, and silk crepe de chine are just a few of the available options. Once I have a moment in the upcoming weeks, I'll be showing you a few projects that I've made with the same illustration on three different substrates. 

One of the things I enjoyed the most about our behind-the-scenes tour was all of the fabric inspiration literally "floating" around the warehouse, like these fabric origami birds ...

these umbrellas ...

and these globes.

The use of fabric in no-sew projects was refreshing for me to see - it's a great reminder that you don't need to know how to sew to make art with fabric.

But if you do know how to sew ... boy oh boy.

Endless possibilities. Thank you so much to the folks at Spoonflower for their hospitality!

Oh! I just read this on the Spoonflower blog: For 24 hours -- from 8am ET on Monday, June 20th, to 8am ET the following day -- we're going to make shipping completely free on all Spoonflower orders. Free to those of you in the US and free to those of you elsewhere (shout out, Australia!).

Wow! So ... happy frantic fabric shopping before 8 a.m. EST Tuesday morning! ;) 

We are already home from the hospital after his heart catheterization this morning! We were told to expect an overnight stay in the ICU, but this little baby is doing so well that they sent him home right away. You never would have known that he was under general anesthesia earlier today!

Thank you for all of your warm wishes, positive vibes, and prayers.

Meg, Patrick, Finn and Lachlan

Hi friends,

We are all caught up with our orders. So those of you who order now will have your books shipped out right away!

Just wanted to give you a heads up that those of you who ordered the book from me will be getting it very soon - we had such a lovely response for it which translated into a lot of orders. We had been waiting for a big shipment from the publisher and a lot of boxes arrived on Friday ... but in the boxes were my first book, not the Growing Up Sew Liberated! Gah - big mix-up! The publisher shipped us some of the new book right away, and they should be here and ready to ship by mid-week. Thank you so much for your orders and support - I feel so badly that it's taking us a good while to send out your books!

Warmly,

Meg

Thank you so much to Cara of Garden Laundry for putting together this little post. Do check her fabulous selection of vintage sheets at her Etsy store, and leave a comment on this post to win a $30 gift certificate to Garden Laundry. I'll close comments on Wednesday, June 22.

Comments are now closed. Congratulations to Jill K! And thanks to Garden Laundry!

P.S. Vintage sheets are PERFECT for the lining of the Bohemian Carpet Bag!

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There are so many projects floating around using repurposed vintage items. I am over the moon with dresses like this:

by naughty shorts

What can I say?  I have a soft place in my heart for upcycling. It first started with our upcycling furniture blog, Twice Lovely. This gave way to repurposing with vintage linens, such as using printed floral sheets for upholstering, throw pillows, and slip covers.

And so, Garden Laundry was born to land all our lovely vintage finds.

I’m a contemporary floral artist and mom of 6 little littles, (don't worry, I have lots of loving help with the scrubbing, and lots with my laundry, too). Here’s an example of my mainstay, which is currently not listed online:

Provence Lavendar oil on canvas

Anne Marie is the main contributor to Twice Lovely, continually breathing life into old, throw-away furniture. She is currently pregnant with her 4^th child and is taking it easy on the furniture for a while. Together as friends, we have fun collecting and trading ideas. One day, I came across this folk quilt that has repurposed vintage sheets and prints worked into it as a most beautiful piece of art. I fell in love.

I was going to give it away on here, but Layla from the Lettered Cottage scooped it right out of my humble little shop this week (and actually featured it on her big fancy blog)! Imagine that! So, we’ll just have to settle for a $30 gift certificate, and I’ll let you guys do the picking and repurposing for yourselves. Don’t worry, there’s other garden laundry bouncing around in the shop right now for all your upcycling needs.

Like this crisp vintage sheet for 10 buckaroos.

And if you are interested in unique vintage bedding, we collect that as well.  

Simply ‘heart’ our etsy shop and “like” facebook.com/gardenlaundry. Then comment here on a favorite Garden Laundry item, and you will be entered to win! Here’s to lovin’ your laundry!

It took me by surprise, really. Of all the projects in the book, the Dress Up Bucket happens to be Finn's favorite at the moment. I didn't think to write in the project description "fits a two year-old perfectly."

He even said "Deedee, Mama, fo dis ba-bask!" (Thank you, Mama, for this basket!") That was the first heart-felt thanks I'd received for any mama-made item. I'll tuck that moment away in my memory.

*****************************************************************

Book tour update: Blair from Wise Craft is holding a giveaway for the book. Leave a comment to enter by Tuesday, June 21st.

Jennifer from JCasa*handmade (and author of the bookshelf must-have Crafting With Kids) made a Play Cape for her twins, and has some sweet things to say about Growing Up Sew Liberated.

I'm sharing my thoughts on the yin and yang of mothering today at Soulemama, as part of Amanda's Soulful Mothering series. I'm so grateful to be a part of this big, loving, and open-armed group of mamas who support each other online. This is a powerful force. Thank you, friends.

Hello there. Don't you wish you were sitting at that table right now? Me too.

I'm feeling my chest getting a little tighter by the day as we prepare to take Lachlan back to the hospital, first for a heart catheterization this coming Monday, then for his big surgery the following Monday. He'll be there overnight for the cath and an estimated week to ten days for his Glenn.

He looks so healthy, so happy. But we know that this period between the first two surgeries is the most tenuous. The temporary shunt that they put in during his first surgery could fail at any moment, so it is best to get this second surgery over with. I only wish I could explain this to Lachlan. He's in for several weeks of high-pressure headaches after this surgery as his body adjusts to the new blood flow. Oh, little guy. I want so to protect him from all harm, yet paradoxically it will be me who hands him over to the surgeons, who will hurt him out of necessity so he can continue to enjoy life.

And enjoy it he will, I'm sure. He already does. As parents, we cannot shield our children from all suffering that comes their way in this life. We can just hold their hands and love them through those rough patches.

This video lifted my spirits.

The Growing Up Sew Liberated blog tour is stopping at maya*made today, and Maya's hosting a giveaway. She also made some a-dorable, hand-printed bee and bird bibs, so do stop by.