"Do I have a choice?"

A dear little sister of mine, recently came of age, and is no longer a little girl, but a young woman.

When I heard the news I smiled and was excited for her ... then was anxious, nervous, overwhelmed and scared for her. A lot of responsibility comes with being a woman. As my mom explained to her what it all meant and why it was happening she innocently asked, "Well, do I have a choice if I can have it or not?" (lol, I think, if you did, it would be a little late to decide :) )

Don't we all wish we had a choice when that long-lost red-headed aunt came for a visit? Ultimately we don't when it comes down to the nature of things. Being a woman comes with trials and experiences that only another woman can understand. Although going through puberty is the pits, becoming a woman is worth it.

With arms outstretched, I tried to think of a way to "congratulate" my sister and let her know she was not alone. And although she may be scared and confused all of the women in her life have gone through the same thing and are here for support.

While quite young in age for this sudden physical maturity, I felt her anxiety about how to handle this new part of life in the school setting when many of her peers had not yet been introduced to their red-headed aunt.

The solution to lift her burden. Fabric scraps.

I spent half an hour making this pouch to hide the evidence.

It had to be made quickly because the red-headed aunt waits for no one.

Completely concealed ;).

After her week at school I asked her if her little black bag had passed the test. She seemed satisfied and said,

"Yeah, but some people wondered what was inside of it because they heard it crinkle. I told them it was candy."

Beginning the physical maturity of a woman, but keeping the innocence of a child. Where does our innocence go?

;)

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Have you ever had old jeans that were holy or didn't fit anymore? Did you not want to get rid of them because they were your absolute faves and you wanted to cherish the memories you'd made with them forever? Here's a solution:

***This story may include some fictional information due to the fact that I am not the main character, and just because, but you'll get the gist :)***

The story of this quilt starts some 7 years ago, if we had known what was really to come of all of these little denim squares we probably could have kept some kind of journal filled with experiences seen and made by these jeans. My sister Summer inspired the birth of this quilt. Long ago she determined that she would learn to be a better seamstress and make a quilt. Not wanting to spend money she excited herself about a recycled denim quilt! She began with a few pair of her own jeans she was ready to toss out, then asked my mom for any of the kids jeans she was getting rid of, at least one pair I'm sure coming from each of us kids, some coming from hand-me-downs, and some even from the DI. Before she knew it Summer had a box FULL of denim squares (and had even gone through the effort of cutting stuffing squares to layer each denim square with.) Summer's life got busy and the box of story filled demin squares nested in their box waiting to add to their next story...

Time went by, Summer traveled to other countries and in so doing met her fiance. Summer was married and moved to Logan, UT to start her family. Somehow, the hopeful denim squares continued to be a part of her belongings throughout all of her moves and life changes. Summer and her husband decided to start a family. They had a beautiful little girl and continued life in bliss. One day, when her daughter was about 3 years old, Summer came across a dusty box. Curiously she brushed away the dust bunnies and opened the lid. There, patiently waiting for her were her even, straight stacks of denim squares.

Summer smiled to herself, remembering the time and effort put into those squares and pondered the stories they had to tell. She immediately knew what to do. Summer called me and let me in on her plan. We were going to have to put the pedal to the metal (haha...) for the next four months in order to pull off the genious plan. We informed the rest of the sisters of our plan and got started right away. There was no time to waste! We got Ken out and made sure he was ready for the long haul. **Ken we couldn't have done this without you**

Fulfilling our plan involved many afternoons of togetherness as we pieced together this quilt of traveling pants, adding to their stories as we went.

We couldn't believe how many squares we had sewn together! And we often had to rearrange furniture...and not to mention vaccum after each gathering. (to this day we find denim string in couch cushions and other places!)

We couldn't have completed this project without the help of so many sisters and appreciate every moment that went into the process (Shantai was there too...but we don't have any pics of her)

Us sisters were so grateful for the frequent time we were able to spend with one another especially because we were doing it all for someone we love very much.

Me and Summer were so proud of Ken for only breaking a needle once in the excrutiating process. (excrutiating for him, not for us)

Of course Summer's daughter (Sky) was there for the making of this denim patchwork of stories. It can only continue to be a Sisterhood of Traveling Pants if future generations are included and get to enjoy it!

Obviously Sky enjoyed being a part of such a project and Summer was quite pleased that her box of squares had made it this far so that we could continue the traveling pants....

... by giving the quilt to our Mother for Mother's Day. This durable quilt of traveling pants I believe will live to see many generations and memories to come.

Love you mom and sisters!!

On a side note this is a cute baby quilt I made for a dear friend! I forgot to get a finished product picture, but it turned out super cute, and I think she liked it.