Feeling Better!!! YAY!!!!!

Oh my goodness!!  That was such a terrible first trimester!  I am so very thankful to be feeling better.  My mind does not do well when my body is sick.  Thanks for the positive comments.  It really is so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, huh? 
Busy weekend here.  So glad to be back in the sewing shed, even if it is just for cleaning and purging.  I have too much stuff.  I haven't bought fabric or any sewing machines since finding out we are having a third kid.  Baby steps, pun intended!  It feels really nice.  Sometimes I go a little crazy with things and buy what I want.  But there really is NO satisfaction out of this.  I think I have tried to teach myself this lesson about 457 times, but yet still don't have it figured out. 
I forget about the enjoyment of finishing things, how good it feels to pull a finished quilt out of the dryer, or dressing the kids in something homemade, or polishing up a dirty old sewing machine.  The instant gratification of buying just can't come close.   Maybe I just have an aversion to hard work- very possible.......

Anywhoooo, I cleaned, oiled and q-tipped a featherweight all weekend.  It was a nice weekend here, and I just laid it out on the picnic table and cleaned away.  It so fun to see the FW's get cleaned up.  When buying one off ebay, you will most likely end up with one that has been sitting somewhere funky for a reeeeeal loooong time.  They all smell terrible inside the case.  I have yet to figure out anything other than airing them out in the sunshine.  Old oil on the machines turns into a yellowy film on all the shiny parts, so they just look so blah until you get busy.  I like to use a silicone spray/ degreaser to clean parts.  I try just soap and water first, and that can get a lot of the funk off.  But for the really gooked on stuff, you have to go for some chemicals.  Not my fave, but you can't beat that shine! 

This one could have used some Turtle wax, but I have never tried that on a machine before, and I really wanted to get this one out in the mail.  I'm doing a trade with an East Coast amigo.  I'm really excited just to have one less thing in my shed!  And I really hope the recipient likes it!!

I also gave up on trying to pick out buttons to put on this dress.  Snaps are great if you hate buttonholes!!  It's been finished for months, probably February sometime.  Just sitting in the shed, collecting dust.  I love how it came out.  The reverse fabric was not intentional.  I can't even remember how I screwed it up, I just know that I did!.  And I ran out of fabric, so I threw in the extra solid.  I went with it and I love the reverse of this fabric.  It's a Kokka waffle weave and super soft.  I used Kona, school bus(I think), for the other panel and top.  Hopefully it will fit the girl soon!  I made a size 2 and my girl is an avg. sized 15 month old.  Maybe it will be her birthday dress?

I just love how great the Oliver & S patterns are- I mean look at that hem- I DID THAT!  It looks so compicated, but the patterns are so rad and Liesl explains things so well.