Ready for Kindergarten...

The thought nearly takes my breath away, but I'm preparing to send my oldest son to Kindergarten in only a few short days. He's growing up so quickly; I can barely believe I'll be scooting him out the door each morning to take on the world without me by his side. He's an awesome little guy, and I hope his teacher and classmates are as dazzled as I am by his sweet personality, quirky habits and grand curiosity. Most importantly, I hope he is happy at school, and that his natural love of learning isn't dampened by the structured environment.
It's always fun to get a gift, so I thought some new school supplies might increase his excitement about this new chapter in his life. Enter the Diego backpack (from a Made By Rae pattern) and matching pencil case (no pattern). Diego is a bit of a juvenile pattern, but Joshua still likes Diego, and I still have a bit of Diego fabric, so Diego it is. We can do something more 'big boy' when the time comes. I suspect this is one hand-me-down my youngest won't mind claiming.

I love the piping on the bag, and the adjustable straps. I used fusible web to attach the lining and to make the fabric more canvas-like. The bottom is padded and quilted, as are the straps. It's a great pattern for little ones. The bag is definitely on the small side, but I didn't want him hauling around one of those giant packs. The pencil case is lined with felt to make it sturdy, and I added little tabs out of bias tape to make opening and closing the zipper easier. I actually made a trip to the fabric store to buy a brown zipper to match the backpack, but sometime between my shopping trip and sewing time, the zipper disappeared. My youngest was pretty fascinated with it, so I suspect I'll find it tied around a teddy bear or stuffed into his sock drawer at some point.

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Summer play...

Ah, the wonderful, lazy days of summer! There's been lots of time spent outside with the kids, biking around the neighbourhood, enjoying the water, and playing with friends. Perfect!

I haven't had time for much crafting, but have managed to putter at some small projects here and there...see the sliver of blue skirt in the family photo above? It used to be a pair of too-big shorts.

The other day, hubby asked for a pouch to protect his computer in his backpack when he bikes to work. So I whipped up this little faux suede number. In the spirit of using what I have on hand, the lining is made from the bottom of a shortened bridesmaid dress and the zipper is white instead of camel (and not invisible), but you know what? Hubby couldn't care less.

More than a month ago, I started working on an appliqued baby quilt for an old high school friend expecting her first child. Well, that baby has been born, but  the quilt remains folded on my dining room table, completely unquilted. Here's a little peek from when I was playing around with the layout.

In addition to the quilt (now a priority!), my oldest son starts Junior Kindergarten in just under a month. I'd love to make him a cute backpack and maybe a matching zippered pouch to hold his spare clothes, tissues, and other things that stay at school. The urge to knit is also growing, and I've been searching out fun patterns for possible Christmas gifting.

One final summer photo...today's afternoon snack. We all love watermelon, and eat it in slices regularly, but to bump it up a little, I like to serve it as a salad -- doused in fresh lime juice, sprinkled with sea salt and ground pepper, and topped with crumbled feta and torn mint leaves. Sometimes I add a bit of onion (it's good!), but skipped that part today. Very refreshing salad.