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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Sewing Report Time

I don't know about you, but the days are beginning to flow together and it's an effort to remember what day it is. I did get out and go through the drive up at the bank this week. I felt like I had escaped from house arrest and hoped to see someone I knew, but town was pretty quiet. I saw the Dollar General truck in the parking lot as I drove by and called Hubby to see if he wanted me to stop for toilet paper, but the lot was packed and he didn't want me in the crowd. He sent Daughter, but by the time she got there, they had sold out. A few days later a semi truck loaded with toilet paper was in an accident and caught fire. Local news coverage made it sound like a truckload of money was on fire. I can understand why people cleared the stores when the "secure in place" orders were first announced, but I don't know why the hoarding continues. Town was quiet. But it is not quiet at my house. Quite the opposite. Daughter got a job and I, or we, are babysitting the boys. Looks like I (or we) will be babysitting until it is safe for them to be in school or daycare again. There is a reason God gave me girls and not boys when we started our family. I'm not sure I will get through this with my sanity or Hubby with his patience.

Babysitting and cooking has taken a bite out of my sewing time. I have made some masks for the local nursing home, and now that the recommendation is for everyone to wear a mask when out in public, I'll be making more for us. I've heard that there is no elastic, no stretchy hair bands, no interfacing and no vacuum bags to be found at stores.

It's not all doom and gloom around here though. The purple martins and hummingbirds are back and busy. There are around twenty martins this year but only two or three hummers so far. We added a second purple martin house, a four-story apartment complex with luxury suites. I've only been able to find one of my hummingbird feeders though. I put a red shirt on each of the boys and had them stand still for a few minutes by the feeder, but the hummers never came close to them. The boys spend a lot of time outdoors when it isn't raining. They were really excited when Hubby ordered a load of road base and top soil and were soon on the top of each pile with their toy tractors and shovels.

The sewing and stash reports look good because there was activity on both, but there was no quilting going on.

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