It's not a doll quilt, but it is for a doll.

Today is my first day all on my own with all four kids. So far, so good. I even took them swimming at the pool. I didn't swim, but they did and it was fun. I know there will be days this summer where it will be harder. For now I am just trying to chill out and not let things stress me out too much. It is easy for me to place far too much importance on beds being made or laundry folded. It really does not matter at all. What does matter is that everyone gets a chance each day to do something that is fun and makes them happy. This is what will keep us all sane around here this summer. So the kids had loads of fun with Jim over the past two weeks. All kinds of outings to the pool, movies, baseball games and more.

I, on the other hand, picked out an easy craft project to work on while Tess napped and the kids played with Jim. I made this cute little baby quilt. I had all these cute fairy tale fabrics that I never knew what to do with. Well, the best thing for them was this quilt. I used only material I had on hand. If I had more energy or patience I would have spent more time picking out just the right fabrics. But that is exactly what I liked about this project. I just opened the craft closet, pulled out fabric, made one sketch of what I wanted the quilt to look like and then got to work. I tried to stick with the original plan and get the quilt done fast. It worked and I got it done in just a few days. Now I need to get past the road block I've hit on the applique quilt I'm doing.


In other news, my big girl Maria turned five last week. We pulled together a last minute party for her at the "paint your own pottery" place and all her friends were able to come. She is such a doll and has taken to being five beautifully. She gave up the challenging behavior of a 3 and 4 year old several months ago. Now, the kindness of her personality really shines. A perfect example was when I was still in the hospital and she came up to see me for the first time. She walked into the room, rubbed my foot and said with such sincerity "how are you doing Mama." I don't know, I could just tell that she really cared about me and how I was feeling.

The picture is of Maria and Betsy waiting for the other girls to show up for her party at the pottery place. They both picked out new dresses I had made to wear that day and that made me very happy. The one Betsy is wearing is made of natural linen with a binding made of patched strips of Freshcut fabrics. It is a very cute and easy pattern, butterick 4176, and I hope she can wear it through the fall with jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

O.K Tess has been grunting for about 10 minutes, she is a great baby, but even she has a limit to her patience.