My nephew, Mackenzie had to have surgery yesterday. Emergency surgery to repair a bowel obstruction. Not the way most fourteen-year-olds like to spend a Saturday night.

It started in the wee hours of the morning Saturday. He awakened his mom, my sister Erica, crying out in pain. She went to him and comforted him and asked all the questions a mama asks. She determined the whole bag of blueberries he had consumed was not agreeing with his stomach, but she kept him in her bed the rest of the night so she could keep a close watch- just in case it was something more serious. 

He was not feeling much better by morning and wasn't looking so good. He said he hurt too bad to get up and take a shower, causing my sister to get quite concerned. She questioned him some more about the exact location and quality of his pain. Was is sharp, did it feel like cramps, was is nausea??? It felt as though he was being stabbed, he said. Her concern turned to panic when she lifted his shirt to see what she described as aliens trying to get out. He had bumps all across his thin little abdomen. She immediately called 911 and attempted to describe what she was seeing. By this time Mac was not really even talking. He was awake, but writhing in pain. The paramedics arrived and began to ask questions. Erica said it was as if a switch had been turned off. They went from quick! lets help this kid, to oh, he has gas. They've called 911 for gas pains. They went through the motions of doing an assessment, but had made their diagnosis. They tried to persuade my sister to take Mac to the hospital herself. Surely he could make the 30 minute drive, after all, it is likely just gas. She was adamant though that an ambulance come. We live in a rural area and the first responders are EMTs from the local fire department. Once the ambulance arrived the EMT who was certain Mac had a bad case of gas gave them his expert opinion and threw in for good measure, that they should not worry about driving with the lights or sirens, following normal traffic rules would be sufficient.  That was around noon. By five Mac was on an operating table.

Lucky for my sister and for Mac, the nurses and doctors were not so quick to diagnose his excruciating pain as gas. Luckily, one look at the dilated loops of bowel that were visible on his abdomen prompted them to put a tube down his nose into his stomach and drain the large amount of fluid that had no place to go. His bowel had twisted around scar tissue from a previous surgery and wrapped around itself, causing a blockage. 

By the grace of God and a mama's intuition, there was no damage to the bowel and Mac is recovering in a hospital room. The scenario could have been much less positive had they waited. 

In the defense of the EMTs, I'm sure they see more than their share of "emergencies" that are really just folks wanting to skip to the head of the line in the ED. Even I thought she may have been over reacting a bit. She does have some dramatic tendencies, but God gave mamas a sixth sense and her's was screaming out that her baby needed attention right away.  Don't ever question a mama's intuition.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don't expect to sit down at your sewing machine for the first time and whip up a tailored slipcover for your sofa. It's not going to happen like that. Sewing, just like any other skill requires some degree of practice and patience. That's why so many choose not to. I know that was my reason. I am an instant gratification type of girl, so I never had any interest in learning to sew. Then out of what I felt was necessity, I made some roman shades for my kitchen. Yes, it was a necessity. I wanted roman shades, in my kitchen and couldn't afford to have them custom made so I set about making them myself with a little sewing machine given to me by my aunt. I set up my work on the kitchen table and cut fabric on the kitchen floor. They were far from perfect, but I was amazed every time I looked at them. I made something for my home. Something pretty, that functioned and something no one else had. I was hooked.

My biggest stumbling block in my sewing journey was feeling comfortable with my sewing machine. I would give up on a project if my needle broke or I ran out of bobbin thread. Now I know those are just part of sewing, but at the time, not knowing what to do when these things happened, made them seem like big issues.

My challenge to you, if you are just starting out, is to get familiar with your sewing machine. Take a few hours and play around. I can't tell you how to thread your machine, each one is different. Your manual will show you how and if you've lost your manual, google search, I'm sure you can find one online. Thread and re-thread it until it feels natural. Wind a few extra bobbins. If your machine has fancy stitches, try them out. Just play.  I promise, getting comfortable with your sewing machine is first and most important step. The rest is will come easily. If you are going to be sewing on your great aunt Martha's old singer and it's been in the garage for the past 15 years, it's probably a good idea to take it by your local sewing machine repair shop and have it serviced. It's not expensive and your chances of success are much greater with a smooth running machine.

If you are already comfortable threading your machine and winding bobbins, gather your supplies. Nothing is more frustrating than breaking a needle in the middle of a project and not having a replacement. Get your self some basic supplies.

• Good, sharp scissors. Designated only for cutting fabric.
• Measuring tools- a tape measure, yard stick, a quilters ruler... you don't have to have all, but you will need some type of measuring device.
• Straight pins, I like glass head pins that don't melt if the iron touches them.
• A variety of hand sewing needles. 
• A seam ripper- yep you're going to need one.
• Thread. Get some good quality all purpose thread in several basic colors.
• Extra bobbins that fit your machine.
• Extra sewing machine needles. Spend a little extra and get good quality.  
• A good quality iron- and you don't have to have a Rowenta. Mine is a Black and Decker classic iron. You just want one that has some weight and gives you plenty of steam.

Not necessary, but certainly nice to have:

• A rotary cutter with a few extra blades
• A self healing cutting mat
• An acrylic ruler
• Pinking Shears
• A water soluble fabric marker

I could go on and on, but I think with this is a good basic arsenal to start out with. I will warn you, sewing stashes tend to multiply rather rapidly. You start out with a cookie tin that holds all your sewing supplies, and before you know it, you've taken over the dining room. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I made a little Sew Something in November button, it's over there in the right sidebar. Get yourself one if you plan to join along. You'll notice I also have another super cute button over there. The lovely Edie, of Life In Grace has a series of posts called 12 Days of Handmade Christmas tutorials. I'm thrilled to be participating and will have a tutorial on making some Pottery Barn & Ballard Design knock-off pillows. I think mine will be on day 7.  Go check out what she's posted so far. They are great!

Squinting at the bright spotlight in my eyes... ahem, like I was saying, November is officially Sew Something Month. 

You can tell your friends, spread the word. Even if you've never sewn a stitch in your life, I want you to do so, this month. If you took home-ec in school but haven't picked up a needle since, this is your month to get your Martha on. If you have a sewing machine hidden in the back of the closet in the spare bedroom and you made your own drapes with duct tape and drop cloth last month (you know who you are, I'm not naming names) this is the month you are going to find out how easy it is to just sew a stitch already!

That last group, that's who I'm really trying to reach.

I started this blog, nearly four years ago, after discovering some amazing sewing blogs. I was fairly new to sewing and trying to teach myself. I scoured the internet for tips and techniques and was amazed by the talent out there and by the wealth of information that could be found with a little searching. I've made lots of friends and feel like the crafty blog community is a family of sorts.  Recently I've been in nesting mode and this has led me to discover another branch of the blog family tree, home decorating blogs. There is some overlap here and there, but for the most part, it's been like visiting two different sides of the family or like high school days, two different cliques. You know, the jocks mostly hang with the jocks and the band folks mostly hang with band folks. 

Where am I going with this and when will I get there??? I'm getting there, I promise and I hope I don't make anyone mad along the way. What I've noticed the authors of these home dec. blogs are some amazingly talented and wildly creative women- here's the part I'm worried may offend- but they seem to go to great lengths to avoid a sewing machine.  There, I said it. I read post after post about using iron on hem tape or duct tape, and while both are great tools to have in your box, I've used lots of each myself, sometimes it's not so bad to just sew a hem.  I can say I've done it both ways, I've pinned and stapled and taped something within an inch of its life and dared anyone to look too closely. Then if it needed to be washed, it was back to square one.  I used to be the very one who avoided the sewing machine at all costs, until I actually took the time to get to know my machine and found she wasn't so bad. I actually liked her. This month I want to challenge some of those amazingly talented women to find out just how creative they can get if they overcome their fear, or dare I say it, loathing, of sewing. I'm telling you, I avoided really learing to sew until I was in my 30s. I can honestly say it has changed my life. I may still duct tape some fabric under my mattress and call it a bedskirt, but I'm not afraid to tackle making my own duvet cover, because I  know it just involves some straight stitching and I can so do that.

This month I'm going to share some easy home dec sewing projects, that anyone with a basic sewing machine can handle, like pillow covers, simple window treatments, embellished dishtowels... November is officially Sew Something Month! Care to join me? 

I've just been tinkering with the blog design this rainy Saturday morning.  I'm not at all knowledgeable when it comes to such things, I just wing it and do lots of google searching. Excuse the off-centeredness, I'm trying to figure out this whole custom css stuff. If you know of any good sites with tips for typepad users, I'd love to hear about them or if you can tell me how to center my photos in this main column. I changed to a fluid pixel format for the main column, but I'd like the photos to be centered.

I also added one of those google friend connect widgets. I may leave it or it may be gone. For some reason it makes me nervous.  I'm not so sure I like the whole counting aspect. Will I feel bad if I only have 1 person sign up to be my friend? Will I be judged by the number of friends I have. It's too much pressure. Like highschool all over again.

Anywho, that's what I'm up to this morning. Piddling on a quiet, rainy, Halloween Saurday.

Well, I just so happen to have a few to share.  My kitchen has undergone many transformations. Some have been major, like new flooring (from bright white vinyl, to dark laminate, to tile) and  lots of minor tweaks that just involved accessories and some in between changes like paint color and window treatments. Here's a little walk down memory lane to show some of the different looks my kitchen has sported over the years. About the first photo, don't look yet! Did you look? Before you do, just keep in mind, the same way blue eyeshadow was once groovy and parachute pants were so totally tubular, big floral wallpaper was all the rage. Honest. 

I am so happy I don't have to wake up to that big floral wallpaper and those dark cabinets every morning. As bad as this photo is, it could be worse. It was worse. When we built the house, it looked just like this, but instead of the nice warm floors, picture bright white vinyl against those dark wood cabinets. Nice. You can't really tell, but the wall paper on the bar area was green and white check. Every room had some green. Hunter green and a wine/ raspberry pink color. 

It was not an easy task and took me several days, but after living with the wall paper for about 10 years,  I ripped it  down and painted the walls yellow. One of my first sewing projects was to make  roman shades in a pretty stripe that had yellow, red and a little green and I accessorized with red plates. It reminded me of ketchup and mustard so  I never really liked it. No pictures of that phase, sorry.

The next phase just involved minor tweaking to get rid of the ketchup and mustard. Just fabric and accessories, but what a change. I kept the yellow walls but made new black and white window treatments. How freeing it was to be able to sew my own window treatments. If you have a sewing machine and you aren't using it out of fear, get over it. Go get some cheap fabric and practice! It will change your life. I promise.

I couldn't find a photo that showed the whole room, but here are a few shots.

Mitch and the kids call that the evil bunny. They think he has an evil look on his face, I don't agree. 

I think this photo of a potholder I made must have been taken in the  beginnings of my blog days. You know, when I was going around taking pictures of any and everything to post on my blog.  It must have also been the early days of my love affair with aqua. 

Lots of black and white. I liked this look, and could still live with it, but change is good, right? 

The next change came in the way of wall color. So many people ask about this color. Its Vintage Kitchen, by Martha Stewart from her line at Sherwin Williams. I'm not sure they still carry her paint but Lowe's has a color in her line that is nearly identical called Vintage Map.  You'll also notice the new black fridge. It isn't new, Mitch painted our white fridge black. Love that man! 

Next I painted the cabinets and Mitch replaced the laminate with tile.

The black stove and refrigerator are a little harsh against all that white, don't you think?
I can fix that.  Those lower cabinets went black.

In the above photo you can see, Mitch added crown molding to the tops of the cabinets and we replaced the recessed lighting over the bar with pendent lights.  It was getting there. I liked the black and white cabinets, but something wasn't quite right.  It was the countertops. The dark countertops weren't working with the black lower cabinets. I tried not to think about it.  I knew that replacing the  countertops really was not an option. It would be too big an undertaking and be way out of our small budget. To make a very long story short, my friend Kelli wanted new countertops too.  We commiserated about our desire for new countertops and how expensive it would be. While investigating options and sending her links to blog photos, I started seeing refrences to IKEA butcherblock. Upon further investigation I learned it would be an affordable option.  It would be affordable and our husbands could install them. No we didn't ask their opinion about their ability or desire to install them, we just had faith. In retrospect, I may not recommend this method of doing things, but that's a different blog post all together. Where were we? Oh yea, butcher block.

Mitch and my cousin installed the cherry  butcher block (purchased from Lumber Liquidators) and did an amazing job- as I knew they would.  We ended up going with Lumber Liquidators instead of IKEA for a couple of reasons, most importantly because they offered 12 foot lengths, and IKEA did not. The counter tops we purchased came unfinished.  I've read about many finishing options but we chose to use  Watco Butcher Block Oil. I think I've put on about six coats and will probably do more. It's an easy wipe-on application. 

I installed a subway tile backslash behind the sink- my first time working with tile and it went better than I expected.

I used Mitch's grinder with a diamond blade to cut the tiles. Not the best method, but for the cuts I had to make, it worked.

For the rest of the back splash, I used beadboard wallpaper. Love that stuff!! I can't speak highly enough for beadboard wallpaper. If you haven't tried it, you must.

It's so easy to install, looks great and is much cheaper than the real thing. It does tear if you bang something into it, so it probably isn't  the best option for  high traffic areas, but should be safe for a backsplash.

We still have a couple small things to do- a shelf to put up and some corbels under the range hood, but it's starting to feel like my dream kitchen. If I dreamed about kitchens, that is. Is it wrong for someone who doesn't really enjoy cooking to have such a pretty kitchen?

There will be one more shelf above that one,

and corbels beneath the range hood- but Mitch deserves a break from hammering and sawing.
Oh, I almost forgot, we are going to get the bar top covered with either stainless or galvanized steel. Then it will be finished. For now. ; )