May One Monthly Goal

I completely forgot about doing an OMG for April. I would have chosen to make borders for Scottish Sun, so that is what I will choose to do for May. I would love to say that I will finish the quilt top, but until daycare opens again, that is just too much to hope for.

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Sunday Stitching Reports Week 18

Maybe I should have said the lack of stitching.  It's been a bad week for stitching, but a good week for building.  I have been building a climbing structure in the backyard for the grandsons between stints of babysitting, and both activities have taken their toll.  By the time I come in from building, or say goodbye to the kids, I am ready for a shower and bed.  I've even been in bed before sunset!  That never happens.  Needless to say, I haven't been dragging myself up to my sewing room very often.  Today is my last babysitting day for a couple of days (I hope) so I hope to have one of those days all to myself for some serious sewing.

Oh, and apologies are in order for not posting a stress ball muff tutorial.  I'll try to get to it this week.





And now I'm going to try to get the yard mowed before church.

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Sunday Sewing Week 17

I've been making stress balls this week, specifically, stress balls for preschoolers who bite their fingernails. My children never bit their fingernails, but they never had their lives turned upside down like these two little boys have. Daughter hasn't done anything about the nail biting but it drives Hubby nuts, so I googled how to stop it. Nearly every google discusses the psychology of dealing with the behavior and how to deal with it over time, but not much to do with the here and now. But one or two mentioned wearing gloves or giving them a worry stone or stress ball and when I googled where to find a worry stone or stress ball, there were several links to diy stress balls. Not only is diy right up my alley, but it means I don't have to wait for one to be delivered, and it's less time I have to listen to Hubby nag the youngest to get his fingers out of his mouth.

I tried a couple of different tutorials, but the one I think works best is from this youtube video from Red Ted Art. I used baking soda instead of flour though. If the balloon breaks, I think baking soda will be easier to clean up. Both boys liked playing with them and the oldest understood that this was a substitute for biting his nails, but have you ever tried to reason with a three year old? If his finger isn't in his mouth, it's up his nose. Usually in his nose and then his mouth. Ewww! He just took the stress ball in his hand and stuck his free fingers in his mouth.

I needed a way for him to manipulate it without getting it to his mouth. So I designed this stress ball muff. I made several versions before coming up with this one and so far it seems to be working. The balloons are holding up but the soda inside seems to be compacting and the balls are a little less squishy than they were at first. I'll post a tutorial for it tomorrow, more so I'll remember how to make it. I spent time with Jack the ripper on every one and would like to avoid that on the next ones. Daughter has requested two for their go bags.

I spent several of my 15 minute slots filling balloons instead of sewing and that affected my overall success rate. But with all my experiments, I used a bit of fabric, so that is good.

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Sewing Report Sunday Week 16

If I wore a hat, it would be off for all the grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Daughter has worked seven days this week so we have been babysitting seven days and it is exhausting. She gets off at noon today and then has two days off. While the rest of the world is ready to get back with people, I am ready for some social distancing! Needless to say, there hasn't been much sewing going on this week and no fabric used.

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Sunday Sewing Week 15

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the day, whether it is watching the grandkids through the windows or enjoying a quiet day by yourself. Since our grands live here, we have been doing a lot more Easter activities this week beginning with the first Passover and ending with a risen Jesus and a hollow tomb. Today will end with an Easter egg hunt which they already understand.

Needless to say, there hasn't been a lot of sewing this week. I did make more masks for the nursing home, this time for the residents. I also did some simple sewing for the boys and Easter, which used some fabric but didn't require much effort.

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