Loosening the apron strings...

... this has been all my focus for weeks now, still not much quilting going on...

My daughter has earned herself enrollment into the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS).  It's a residential high school for Juniors and Seniors.
The application process to be selected as a student is VERY rigorous. There are several steps that include deadlines, proof of high gpa, taking the ACT, writing essays and a personal narrative, providing work samples, and obtaining teacher and counselor recommendations!! It's a long list!  The only thing I'm aware of helping her with is proof reading her essays and driving her to the school to turn the application in.  She truly earned enrollment herself!
Well, we just moved her into the dorms this past Saturday.  Thankfully, she had a few projects she wanted to do in the days preceding move in day. She had me sew up a floor pillow out of canvas material.  It was the first time back at my sewing machine in about a month!  I forgot to get a picture of the pillow 😏. But I did get several pictures of the pillow she embellished 😄.
It started out a plain white pillow..

 She went to Pinterest to get ideas on a design.  With a picture of a bicycle drawing displayed on her phone, she lightly pencil sketched it onto her pillow.... and jumped right into stitching as she learned embroidery stitches as she went...

 I love her "can do" attitude.  I want to be more like her!! She completed her project, from start to finish, in less than two hours!

 And look at those it itty-bitty flowers made with French knots and Daisy stitches!!

Of course, it's only been three days and I'm already missing my girl!!

... So... On top of my girl moving into a residential school, my son has also found a coding school he wants to attend, Eleven Fifty Academy.... It's three states away!!!
This causes so many mixed emotions for me.  He is our first born, the precious miracle that made me Mom!  From the moment I learned he was conceived I became a better person.
He's my biggest fan, always encouraging me to complete projects, to start selling my work, to take commissions, to get a PayPal account for receiving payments (I'm still working on this one, soon!)  My son tells me he's proud of me and my work!! I wonder how many mom's get to experience such praise from their young sons?
It's heartbreaking that he has to move so far away, but I celebrate that he has found inspiration to spread his wings. Above all emotions this mama has about letting go is that I'm extremely proud he's decided to take this huge step.
And guess what? He also had a project that involved using fabric... In an unexpected way!! The vinyl on the paneling in his car had pealed off.  He googled how to re-cover the unsightly paneling and confidently tackled the job!!

 It looks pretty good!!

Unfortunately, it was high noon, and I made him park in the shade. Which ended up being off the driveway and in the grass... Both of us now have tick bites up and down our legs 😫.  I guess that's the price to pay when deer are allowed to roam wild in the neighborhood.

I did complete one of my own projects!

Here's the knitted dragon scarf.  I'm quite pleased with it 🤗.  I hope the little guy receiving it thinks it's just as cool as I do.

And guess what?  With my apron strings loosened for her and practically completely untied for him, I'm back to quilting again!!

This scrappy red and white top was started at the Maple Street charity quilting group.  All the fabric came from donated scraps given to the group. So for me it's an experiment in mix and matching scraps. And I am discovering I'll need more practice because this looks a bit too busy for my taste!

(Don't look too closely, only half the blocks are sewn up, this is not the final layout.)

And I'm hoping to finish this cutie next 😄.