From The Handbasket

A Belated Birthday

2011-03-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

The past couple of months haven't felt very inspired. I hadn't sewn anything between when my Dad fell and when I whipped up Sarah's Cat in the Hat costume the beginning of March. Working on that sort of got me in the mood again though, for which I'm thankful. Especially since I was overdue with a birthday gift for a good friend that always gets something handmade. I finally got around to finishing this tote bag this past week, which was a good thing, as we were meeting for a belated (very) birthday lunch on Friday.

This bag is based on the Odekake Tote bags that I made a slew of to give as Christmas gifts. The pattern and instructions are from the Fall 2009 issue of Stitch Magazine. I used the measurements for the bag and applied the same principles to assembling it, but embellished it with some happy buntings blowing the wind. It's a great way to use up some of those itty bitty scraps that I once thought were meant for the trash can, but now can't imagine tossing.

I might be wrong, but I think there might be more of these bags in my future...........

Happy St. Patty's Day

2011-03-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

My girls seemed to be under the misguided idea that a little leprechaun was going to pay them a visit and leave treats, treasures and what have you for them today. Between all the other magical visitors that we have, I honestly could not let another squeeze in under the door, but I did whip them up some special shirts to wear to school today. Just a simple four leaf clover shape attached with Ultra Heat'n Bond. Yes, not enough time to even stitch over it, but I had other fish to fry (so to speak) last night as well. In the end, they were happy and I'm ignoring the fact that the price of the plain green t-shirt was the same as the ones made for St. Patrick's Day. At least theirs were original and momma-made.

Tomorrow I'll show you that other proverbial fish.

In Celebration

2011-03-02T10:41:00.001-08:00

For once, our morning did not revolve around clean blue jeans. With their input earlier in the week, I got to assemble their outfits/costumes for today, in celebration of Dr. Seuss' 107 th. birthday.

The past two years I've had it easy, I've suggested that Rachel be a "Who", she's gone for it, we've pulled out full skirts, striped tights, fun hair and called it a day. This year, when I suggested that Sarah also be a "Who", I was shot down. She wanted to be the Cat in the Hat.

...but of course - why would we want to use existing items we have at home that can be put together the morning of, when we could have momma whip up an entire costume for us. Of course that's what I did, because it's her first year to dress up for the celebration and tomorrow is her own special day. Despite the costume taking most of last evening to make, it still came together rather quickly and easily. If I had actually employed math in figuring out the hat, it might have come together even more easily, but math and I try to avoid each other. Her top half is just a black t-shirt that I was happy to find on sale for half off at Hobby Lobby this week, setting me back a whole $1.50. I just cut an oval of white felt and stitched it to the belly, then used sharpie around the edges to blend the two together. The ears on the hat, I regret. They will be coming off this afternoon. The hat is also large enough that it fits me as well (oops), so maybe it will get some use again some time.....but probably not. I will add that the entire costume (with the exception of the black leggings) was off by 10:30, meaning more time was spent making it than was spent wearing it. She said it was the tail that made it hard to sit in a chair ( it was attached to the bottom of the shirt and secured up over her right shoulder).

At least Rachel went easy on me with yet another incarnation of Cindy Lou Who. Putting her hair up like this, which she never lets me do, makes me really want to cut it short so that I can see that sweet face that's always hiding in hair. And to be honest, given the chance, this is how I'd dress her every day. She'll be having none of that though because rest assured she packed blue jeans in her backpack "just in case".

I also wanted to add an update on my Dad. He's doing much better. His strength in his right side has returned, his ability to find the words he's looking for is greatly improved and at first encounter he seems "normal". He is still having memory issues though and often says or does things that just aren't typical for him. He's also a tidge cranky (ok, maybe more than a tidge) and seems to be lacking some sensitivity (in his personality, not in sensation). This makes it hard for my Mom, who's not quite sure what the final outcome will be, but all in all, things are looking much better.

Coming Back Around

2011-02-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

While I have not passed out as of late, I feel like I've been quite out of it. Two and a half weeks ago I got a call on Saturday morning from my mom. My dad had passed out while walking the dog at night and fallen and hit his head. I experienced a similar incident with him this summer, when he passed out at the city pool with the girls and I and hit his head on the steps to the water slide. At first we thought we were in for an experience like that - he would be sent to the nearest major city that specialized in trauma cases, be monitored for a couple of days and then come home. Except this time it was different. He had a severe brain bleed and there was a lot of swelling on his brain. He could talk, but just in short, curt words. His heart rate was also out of control (part of the problem that caused him to pass out). It was scary.

A week later he was discharged and sent not to the rehabilitation facility they'd said they'd send him to, but home, with just my mom to care for him. That was a Friday. At his first meeting with his PT and OT on Monday, both agreed that he should not have been sent home. After some phone calls on Tuesday, they were able to get him into a rehab facility on Wednesday. He was there for five hours before being sent via ambulance back to the hospital. He has stopped using his right hand, his right foot was dragging and his right arm was swollen and cold to the touch. Another CAT Scan showed more swelling and what turned out to be a second brain bleed. He was not in good shape. Thankfully, a week after arriving back at the hospital, he has been released to rehabilitation. As of this morning, his swelling on the brain is decreasing and he's regaining use of his right arm and hand. His speech and cognitive skills have a long way to go, but I am hopeful that with lots of therapy, the dad I know will be returned to me.

So, all my artsy craftsy ideas have sort of been consumed by fear, worry, concern, dread - you name it. I've laid in bed and watched more mindless TV in the past two and a half weeks than I've seen in years. I'm feeling optimistic now though and might actually get something accomplished soon. I cannot say that the quilt on dad's lap was made by me though. A good friend of my mom's belongs to a quilting group that makes these "prayer quilts". The centers of the blocks have a tie that remains untied until a visitor says a prayer and ties it. A neat idea, I thought.

And if you looked at the picture of my parents (taken on my mom's birthday - happy birthday mom!) and thought "That man looks familiar...". Then maybe you're remembering the creepy, old neighbor from Home Alone. As my dad ages, he is being "recognized" out in public more and more, but no that is not my dad hanging with Macaulay Culkin.

On a brighter note, we welcomed an eight year old into our family this past Saturday. Well, she was previously our seven year old, but she's graduated now. She also shares a birthday with my dad, which makes it extra special (we think). We were blessed with an incredibly beautiful weekend - temperatures in the high 60's, blue skies and good times. We spent time at the park as a family, walked next door for pizza and scored ice cream - our first outside ice cream of 2011!

Now to plan the slumber party for five 7 and 8 year olds this Firday. Why am I tired already?

Pancakes for Breakfast

2011-01-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday and the kids let us sleep in - they deserved a treat. I do try and make something yummy for breakfast on the weekends, just to break up the monotony of the cereal, yogurt, oatmeal that we eat regularly during the week. Today it was pancakes. Chocolate chip pancakes (you can guess who put in that request). It's OK though, these pancakes are actually pretty good for you - even with the chocolate chips!

The recipe is based on The Little Red House's recipe for Blueberry Pancakes. We have made them and they are yummy as well, but chocolate chips won out this morning. I dropped the cornmeal to 1/4 C and added 1/4 C oat flour (oatmeal ground in a coffee grinder does the trick) and also added 1 t. of vanilla. I only sprinkled about 5-6 chocolate chips per pancake, so it doesn't take many and no one complained. Of course they did ask for whipped cream, which I nixed. If you are looking for more wholesome, healthy recipes, be sure and check out The Little Red House - I've tried several of her recipes and they have all been yummy. Happy eats!

What You See is Not What You Get

2011-01-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

It was with great eagerness this year that I packed away the Christmas decorations. I don't know what it was about them, usually I'm sad to see them go, but this year they were closing in on me. Maybe it's that they're the same every year, maybe it's that they really clutter things up (not that we aren't typically covered in clutter anyway), who knows, but they were driving me nuts and New Years Day they were gone.

So, of course, the next day my five year old came to me and wanted to know when we'd be getting the "winter decorations" out. Apparently she loves a good decorating jaunt. "We're not" sounded a bit too grumpy of an answer, so I told her we didn't have any "winter decorations" per se. Smart cookie that she is, she proposed that we make some. So we did. Well, at least one.

I did some googling and flickring to see what I could see, and finally decided that we'd make a coffee filter wreath. This fit the bill because A. I liked the looks of it B. Little people could help and C. I had the materials on hand. They are simply, coffee filters (a bunch) - we used the basket shaped - I'm not sure if the conical ones would give the same effect, hot glue and a wreath form. If you don't have a wreath form, improvise - a wreath shape cut out of cardboard or foam core would work as well.

I watched this Martha Stewart video to get the gist of it, but rest assured there's not much to "get". Simply take two coffee filters, one on top of the other, fold them in half and then make sort of an ice cream cone shape out of the half circle. Fuss with it till you've got a shape you like, and open the layers up to make it fuller.

Fold the tip of the ice cream cone up, about 1/2" and flatten that out so you have a flat area to glue to your base. I glued a row opening outwards and then glued a second row opening towards the center of the wreath (tips pointing in the opposite direction of the first row). This made the wreath nice and full and sturdy.

And there you go, our winter decoration. I stuck the bow in (which could stand to be bigger) with a T-Pin and hung it with ribbon that's also secured with T-Pins. The beauty of that - come Valentine's Day, the ribbon can turn red or pink, come Easter it can turn spring green or light blue, come fall it could be black or orange. You get the idea.

Yes, the five year old did lose interested before it was all done and yes, she did break my glue gun while sitting right next to me (it wasn't on), but she's still happy with the results and so am I. Now I've got lots of other ideas on how to vary this - coloring the filters, glittering the filters, heart shaped forms, embellishing the wreaths, etc. Goodness knows, I need a few more craft ideas for my spare time!

Let it Snow!

2011-01-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

This was the sky last night (Sunday) as we waited with great anticipation for the predicted snow storm that was to sweep through the South. I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, I was so giddy. Twice this morning, as I drifted in and out of sleep, I dreamt that we actually didn't get a big snow fall, just a measly splatter of snow that was already melting. I was apologizing to the kids over and over (in the dream) while feeling disappointed myself.

I was however, not disappointed. We got a healthy 6.5 - 7" of beautiful, powdery snow overnight. Someone said it was snowing at the rate of 2" an hour at one point. I was asleep and cannot verify this fact, but can say that at 11:30 PM there were teeny, tiny, practically invisible flurries listlessly drifting down that made worried that mother nature wasn't going to come through for me. Clearly she kicked into high gear later on.

My kids are eager, anxious, impatient (or maybe just kids) - call it what you will, but while most people were still in their pajamas enjoying the view from inside, we were already outside. Thankfully we are blessed to have neighbors with children very similar in age who joined us not too long after we set out to explore our street.

We spent several hours outside today, and appreciated that our neighbors shared their sleds with us. We are also lucky enough to live at the top of a steep road - the few cars that did brave the road this morning established excellent grooves for the sleds to travel in. Some serious sledding was done!

For some of us, a sled wasn't even necessary, it was just fun to roll around and become caked in snow (she does have multiple layers on), eat snow, sit in snow and just revel in the wonderful miracle that is snow!

We took indoor breaks to warm up with hot chocolate and cookies in the afternoon and shared a big pot of chili together this evening. What more could a person ask for on such a magical day? If anything was left undone today, we've got another snow day tomorrow to cross it off the to do list!

Until then, I think I know some little girls that are going to sleep very soundly tonight!

Christmas Wrap Up

2011-01-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

So, organization is not one of my strong skills. Getting really excited about doing stuff, doing it right away and making a royal mess while at it is pretty much the way I operate. So perhaps it would have been better to share what I was working on for under the Christmas tree before I wrapped up 2010, but at the time, I was more excited about reflecting on the past year. Now that Christmas is all packed away in the attic, I can think about it a bit more fondly now.

I wasn't sure I was going to have much in the handmade area to give for Christmas this year, but after Thanksgiving I lit a fire and got going. Both the girls got to open pajamas on Christmas Eve. Last year I cut both of theirs too long, so this year I cut Rachel's too short. I tacked this red plaid onto the bottom and really like what it added to the pants. Finally a mistake that turned out for the best!

Inspired by so many cute bunting items that I've come across lately, I whipped up several sets of note cards with buntings across them. I tacked the tiny triangles down with a dab of glue stick, which held them perfectly while I stitched across them. When I got to the other side, I turned the card around and stitched back, going down both sides of the triangles to fully attach them. I was really pleased with how these turned out and intend to make more, and I'm also thinking maybe some tote bags with buntings across them.

The muff was in response to a good friend seeing the one I'd made for another friend back in May. When she saw it, she excitedly declared "Oh, I want one in animal print!". Imagine my happiness when that little bit of filed away information was still available for retrieval from my brain come December! I waffled on what kind of animal print to use, but think this leopard with the brown velvet does the trick. The instructions come from the Fall 2009 issue of Stitch magazine. I did not however, give her my hat and gloves....I'm not that nice.

And while I shared the first of these bags that I made, I am happy to tell you that I was able to make ten in all, including one of my very own. Once I got going, I was a factory with these (which led to a really messy work area, but hey, I got results!). I'm so happy when I stumble upon something nice that I can make several of to give as gifts to friends and family. This year my mom, sister, aunt and sisters-in-law all got one, as well as Brownie troop leaders, friends and a few others! If you didn't get one from me for Christmas, expect one for your birthday ; )

And speaking of handmade, a friend posted this post on facebook today.....

A Handmade 2011: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment. They must in turn post this and send something they made to the first 5 people who comment on their status. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011. Let's all work towards a more handmade life!

What fun! I signed up under her and have five people signed up under me. Why don't you start a post too and see how much handmade goodness and appreciation we can spread this year?

Happy New Year

2011-01-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

I hope you've had a wonderful holiday season. The girls go back to school tomorrow, so I guess it's time to finally accept that they holidays are over, the new year is here and it's time to stop wearing pajamas all day when you don't have to leave the house.

This past year I did my first 365 photo project, taking a photo (or more) a day for the year, and keeping them together in a flickr set. At times it seemed like drudgery to have to find something to photograph and some are pretty boring, but looking back at the whole year now, I'm glad I have a little glimpse of each day. Some were big days - most were not. A picture of each makes them all seem special. I've seen several other blogs sharing a photo from each month in the past few days and thought it would be a good way to kick off my new year, reflecting on the one that has just passed.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

It's hard to believe that the year has passed so quickly, especially when I can still clearly recall some of those January days! Now it's time to start taking note of 2011 though - I hope it will be another year full of good times and memories.

Santa's Elves

2010-12-18T18:18:00.001-08:00

The girls and I took to the streets of downtown today to play Santa's elves as we participated in The Toy Society's annual Christmas drop. The idea is simple - make a handmade toy, package it up and leave it in a public place to be found and taken home by someone. You can download "Take me home, I'm yours" tags and letters explaining The Toy Society once you join (they'll email you instructions on just how to go about doing things). In between all my other making, I've been working on some softies so that we could make a fun afternoon of it.

I told the girls that we were on a secret mission, that people couldn't see us leaving them and we had to be all slick and sly. They loved it and were very into choosing which toy to leave where. We covered both ends of the city, walking from location to location on the north end, then catching the electric shuttle to the south side.

We had five toys to leave in all. The above two ornament dolls (at least that's what they're supposed to be), two Black Apple dolls decked out in Christmas fabrics and one Christmas tree girl. Aside from the Black Apple dolls, the others were all made from thrifted wool sweaters that I've felted. A big thanks to my Aunt, who has scored lots of sweaters for me!

After riding the shuttle back to the north end of town, we went by two of our original drops and were glad to see that the toys were gone - that made the girls so excited. We celebrated with hot chocolate before heading home and now they're both sound asleep after being on the go all afternoon. This was so much fun to do with the girls, especially making it a top secret mission - I hope to have a stash built up at some point, so that we can do this more often!

In Full Swing

2010-12-08T17:19:00.000-08:00

Remember this scene from just a few short weeks ago? It is no more. The above it what I'm seeing now. My Christmas crafting is in full swing. Unfortunately, I can't share some of the things I'm working on right now, but I can share my mess. That's part of my wool sweaters waiting to be fulled (felted) in front. There are three more boxes out of view. The remnants of the tote bags (I've made four so far) are in the window sill and at the end of the ironing board, as I hope to get a few more made and there's just a general mess going on right now. I'd be fine with it too...if I could just find that disappearing marking pen I bought just last week. I even attempted to pick up a bit in the hopes of finding it. So far no luck.

This is something I started last night and hope to finish up tonight. I'm calling her Christmas Carol and she's part of a covert operation the girls and I are working on. At least that's how we like to think about it. We're planning to participate in The Toy Society's World Wide Christmas Drop on the weekend before Christmas. Hopefully we'll have several toys to leave around town and the weather will cooperate so that we can leave them outside in some of the fun parts of town. Stay tuned for photos.

Getting Down to Business

2010-12-05T19:20:00.001-08:00

So, the word on the street is that Christmas is coming. It's not like Easter, which can fall at any time between March and April, and yet still I seem to be caught off guard. It's not because I've been sooo busy with Thanksgiving festivities or anything - I don't know what it is....I should be prepared, ready and maybe even done preparing ahead of time so that I can sit back and enjoy this time of waiting and anticipation. But I am not ready in advance. again. this year. I have made some positive strides though! (Phew!!)

This is the first of four bags I've made over the past few days, fulfilling my need to give certain people homemade gifts. I won't name names though : ) This pattern for this bag came from the Fall 2009 issue of Stitch magazine. I really love this magazine and try and pick it up with a coupon each time it comes out (otherwise it's $14.99... bit to rich for my budget). The first bag took some time, as I worked through the directions, which were very clear and easy to follow and subsequent bags have come together much more quickly. One key is cutting out all the pieces at once, before you start - that really seems to move things along. Also, there was a lot of switching threads for design purposes (and practical purposes). I found that once the first one was made, I could do all the steps that used a specific thread at once and save a good bit of switching and re-threading. My other shortcut had me skipping the use of basting spray (because I have it but can't find it...a-hem) and "basting" my batting to my bag fronts with a few dabs of clear, washable glue stick. This worked for me - please don't cuss me if it doesn't work for you though.

I bought enough of the green fabric for two bags, but now I'm using what I've got at home, so these are very cost effective bags. Even the batting I've saved from quilts that were slightly smaller than the batting I bought was just the right size for these bags, which measure about 11 1/2" wide by 14" high (with my sewing skills). And speaking of saving scraps, the bottom of this bag is the leftovers from this skirt redo. Reduce and reuse!

On the agenda for tomorrow....come up with a new banner head - one that no longer feels of fall. After all, Christmas is coming!

Jumping the Gun

2010-11-27T18:34:00.000-08:00

Last week, or maybe it was two weeks ago, I explained "jumping the gun" to Rachel when she came out of her room, dressed for school in one of her Christmas shirts. I told her that we really ought to wait for Thanksgiving to be over before we dust of the Rudolph attire.

When we woke up this morning, the temperature was 30. That's pretty chilly for these Southern bones, so in the spirit of going to pick out our Christmas tree, I donned my Christmas tree shirt. I was soon being told that I'd jumped the gun. In all fairness, Thanksgiving has passed and we were going to get our Christmas tree.....I still think it was a good choice - I think she was just jealous of it ; )

Local, pick your own tree farms are a bit of a dilemma for this Northern girl in the South. Cypress and Ceder trees do not even register in my book as a qualifying Christmas tree, but they are what are most easily grown in these parts. We found a farm last year that grew a smattering of Virginia Pines, which at least have needles, so we returned this year. Upon arriving, it dawned on me that if a tree farm gets cleared out one year, they're not going to have a huge selection the following year. Yes, it took staring that fact in the face for it to hit home. I had almost resolved myself to a poser Cypress Christmas tree wanna' be when we found a pine that looked like it would work. Further inspection on Sarah's part revealed a bird's nest tucked in the tree as well - isn't that supposed to bring luck?

So chop chop chop (actually, saw, saw, saw) and we had a rather large tree to drag home. As a matter of fact, last years was sort of large as well.

This one is a bit of a Charlie Brown tree on steroids, with some rather large empty spaces, but it will do. My decorating plan involves lots of lights in bare spots and large ornaments strategically placed.

And what did we find when we got it home and into the tree stand? Santa's elves have returned! How they got into the tree, we do not know, but there they were and Sarah's pretty sure they have a look of mischief about them. The girls are actually so excited for the elves to get into some mischief that they were eager to go to bed! Oh, and Sarah called their arrival a "Christmas miracle". Too bad we're short on drama and flair around here.

But about that luck.....I'm guessing it wasn't luck that sent the fully lit and decorated tree crashing down on Rachel tonight. Perhaps it was karma for all the very similar scenes we've seen on America's Funniest Home Videos and laughed at. We found it much less entertaining when it was in our living room. And a tree stand full of water was spilled all over the floor. And Jim's one and only sentimental ornament lay shattered on the floor. Hopefully it's secure now and those naughty elves won't try tipping it over in the night!

Fancy Pants

2010-11-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

I could have easily called this "weekend cleaning" as well, but I'm feeling pretty fancy about how much I tidied up this weekend. It was long over due....long, long, long. Normally I don't let people into this area of our house, but because I tidied up, I thought I'd share.

We live in a house built in 1935 with lots of quirks. We chose our house because, of all the older homes that we looked at, we thought this one would require the least amount of work. We were wrong. Take this area, for instance. It was a crudely finished attic area - no central heat or air, divided into three areas with the laundry in the hottest, darkest, dirtiest corner. Because it became clear that we really needed to rewire the entire house (like I said, we were wrong), the easiest way to do such a thing proved to be going through the floor of the upstairs. That line of thinking led the Mr. to completely gutting the upstairs. And by completely, I mean completely - no floors, no walls, nothing. I'll have to dig some of those pre-digital photos out some day.

The upstairs area is an odd shape - long and rectangular with a stairway and chimney up the middle. Not ideal, but it's worked for us. I have one side, the girls have the other for playing and the Mr. has the area past the chimney for his man cave. Theoretically we could all be up here doing our own thing, happy as clams, but in reality it doesn't seem to work that way.

Anyhow, my sewing area is the first thing you see at the top of the stairs. I scored that Hoosier Cabinet (needs a good bit of repair) for $35! It holds lots of sewing stuff. All my fabric scraps are sorted by color in the empty (and washed) kitty litter buckets under the table.

The computer is in the middle of my area. I have a kitchen cabinet in the attic that I'd eventually like hung on the wall over the monitor....for stashing more stuff, of course. At the end, before you get to the man cave, is where I have all my card making and crafty stuff. The windows are original to the house, crooked, and very drafty. Charm, it seems, comes with a price.

My final crafty nook. The large white cabinet on the left became a necessity when a wee Sarah started using my stamp pads to color the carpet. It use to have a child lock on it (and probably still should). My table top is the top to an old Ikea drafting table. I still have the legs, but the top is currently set atop a series of our old kitchen cabinets which form an L. In the cabinets...more stuff, of course! Sometimes I feel bogged down my all my crafty clutter, but then I think about people who don't create and just watch TV at night and I don't feel so bad. I'd much rather be up here getting my craft on...although sometimes I do wonder where I might squeeze a little TV in.

Thanks for taking a peek - feel free to drop by in the next two days and see for yourself. After that it will probably be a mess again and I won't let you upstairs ; )

Good Intentions Gone Awry

2010-11-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

With the holidays quickly approaching, I thought now would be a good time to really try and lose some of the extra pounds I have stumbled upon in the past two years. This week I got serious, counting my calories, measuring portions - really trying. The Mr. and I even had a discussion about how to add some veggies to our breakfast. My intention this morning was to make spinach and tomato omelets and somehow I ended up with Ina Garten's Sticky Buns. Seriously, how did this happen?

I will say that I still tried to be good and ate just one.....for now. The recipe makes 12 and if I'd actually read the recipe through entirely before jumping in, I would have realized that it can be easily halved and have saved myself from all the buns still sitting in the kitchen. Alas. My only change to this recipe was to nix the raisins. Why make a good sticky bun go bad, in my opinion. And while this surely isn't going to help me lose any weight, it sure did taste good!

One Down

2010-11-18T10:03:00.000-08:00

Well I've got one Christmas present taken care of. Even if it isn't from me to anyone I know, at least it's done and I know I won't be letting anyone else down. I was all set to head out to the store the other day and pick out something to bind this with when I stumbled upon a pink gingham Ralph Lauren sheet that I'd picked up at a thrift store. It made the perfect binding, complementing some of the other ginghams in the quilt and saving me a trip to the store.

I'm relived that this quilted as easily as it did. I was worried, as some of the monogrammed squares were done on cloth diapers as burp cloths, and there was an extra thickness to those squares as well as the center panel being backed with a water-proof material. If held to the light you can pick the squares out, but otherwise they blend in and don't drape too differently from the rest.

I'm looking forward to delivering this on Sunday. The recipient will be a seven year old little girl, so I know it won't be a terribly exciting gift now, but hopefully she will treasure it in the future.

Now it's time to think about what I'm giving for Christmas!

Days of Yore

2010-11-09T11:15:00.001-08:00

This past weekend we went to a housewarming. I wanted to take something handmade, but had very little time in which to make it. The idea for these little potholders had been rolling around in my head, so I took the opportunity to the idea to paper....and fabric. The above is the end result. I was happy with one and the other fought me the whole way. I won't tell you which is which, but I gave both.

I paper pieced the house blocks, which is something that I'd done a lot of several years ago (as in before kids - when I had the time.....in the days of yore). I had a bag of pillows I'd made stuck in the attic and dug them out yesterday to see what I had stashed away. My oldest daughter is almost 8, so these pillows have been tucked away for a while now. The shoe pattern came from a quilt top that a friend had - I used the quilt to develop the block.

I designed this kimono pattern after looking at several others - combining what I liked most from several designs.

This butterfly pattern was from a book - 101 full-size Quilt Blocks and Borders by Better Homes and Gardens, I think, although I didn't find it in a quick flip through. I had fun with these butterflies, adding beading, hand stitching and layering fabrics.

Making the house blocks gave me lots of ideas for more paper pieced blocks. In the meantime, I need to figure out what to do with these pillows. I'm also thinking there might be another bag of pillows as well, as I also designed a bikini pattern and a button down shirt. I can feel an attic excavation coming soon!

Christmas is Coming

2010-11-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this isn't really news to anyone, but Christmas is coming and it's coming fast and soon. Especially if you're the type that's inclined to try and make as many gifts as possible. I am inclined....and worried, because I have a loooong way to go! Take this quilt for example. The top is done, I have the batting and backing already - all I need is a few hours to quilt it, a good movie to bind it by and wham bam, I'm done. And that's excellent, because it isn't a gift I'm giving - I'm making it for a friend to give to her daughter. Yes, when this quilt is finished (hopefully next week) my gifty pile will still be empty.

About this quilt though. She wanted it throw size, which I found varies greatly. It will end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 4' x 6.5'. The monograms dictated the size of the squares to an extent, which then dictated the size of the quilt. Aside from the white sashing (which will also be the back), the quilt is comprised entirely of baby clothes from the little girl who will be receiving it. Each center square features her monogram and is surrounded by fabric from her dresses and bubbles. I think my favorite squares are the ones cut from diaper covers because you get a bit of the shape of the cover in the square - a reminder of those tiny little baby bottoms.

Quilting this will be a bit of a challenge, as some fabrics are thicker than others, the center square actually has a waterproof backing and a few pieces have a bit of stretch to them. Hopefully all will go smoothly and I'll have some better pictures to share when it's done. I had a hard time finding some nice warm light to take these photos in - another reminder that winter is coming!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T18:36:00.000-07:00

CANDY!! They have candy!! And lots of it. Oh my goodness, the candy has to disappear fast because if I hear "Can I have....." much more, I'm going to lose my mind! I believe Halloween was a hit this year, even though we celebrated a day early on our street.

Cuteness was in abundance as we traveled our street with our neighbors and some of their friends. Even the shy kids seem to come out of their shells and be willing to knock on doors, ring door bells and take candy from (mainly not) strangers.

The girl's pumpkins turned out great, in their mother's unbiased opinion. Sarah designed the Frankenstein face and her dad did the carving. There was a lot of debate between the two artists about cleaning the guts out. The designer wanted them out and the carver felt the gave the effect of brains and wanted them in. I think they came to some sort of middle ground and then I let Sarah gut my butternut squash that was about to become soup to appease her.

Rachel drew her pumpkin's face as well, and did her own carving until it came to the mouth. By the time she got to the mouth, all the small carving tools had broken off their handles, so I was relieved when she asked me to tackle the mouth instead of watching her jab at the pumpkin with a sharp kitchen knife! We're not ready for the blood and guts kind of Halloween yet - especially when it involves our own family members!

We had a nice evening at home chilling out together with the two bags of candy that we stopped and bought today, "just in case". Aside from what we gave our little two year old neighbor, that bowl is still here. I think it will be headed to school for the second grader's treat jar in the morning - especially since I was cautious and bought candy I didn't want to eat myself!

I hope everyone had a fun holiday weekend and don't look now, but Christmas is creeping up on us. I have no plans for making gifts right now, but I think I'd better get some, and fast!

Getting Ready

2010-10-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

Halloween is beginning to be a week long holiday around here. With all the activities going on, it's hard to find the time to get a costume together or do any of the cute, fun things one might have (had, at this point) in mind. Monday the Brownies went trick-or-treating at a local assisted living facility. We send candy ahead, they distribute it to the residents and then our Brownies and their siblings come after school to trick-or-treat. I'm so glad they do this, as the residents really enjoy seeing them come in costume - it seems like a win-win for everybody.

The girls didn't have school today, so after getting some of my chores done and making a run to the store for candy to pass out this weekend (trying to keep it out of the house as long as possible to prevent myself from eating it!), I dug a Wilton haunted house kit out. I think I picked it up at Walmart last year after Halloween for about two bucks. We got two bucks worth of entertainment out it today for sure. Hardest part is discouraging the kids from wanting to eat the year plus old candy! Ack!

And since it looks like we'll be trick-or-treating tomorrow night in our neighborhood (this date changing thing really has me confused...will the neighbors be expecting us on Saturday????) we figured we ought to do some pumpkin carving tonight! Both girls made their own designs and Jim carved Sarah's while Rachel took her first stab (you can take that literally) at carving her own. Most of the handy little carving tools were broken, but in the end we still got two great Halloween faces that we'll light up and share this weekend.

And believe it or not, there is actually a sewing project in my life. It's sat idle now for about two weeks while I've run around all loosey goosey, but as soon as I have the top finished, I'll share.

Saying Goodbye

2010-10-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

The girls had Fall Break this past week, so we took the opportunity to head North to my Grandparent's house. For the past several years we have been up at least twice during the summer. This time it had been a full year since we'd been and it was not a happy anniversary. It's been a year now since my Grandpa passed away. This trip was my last chance to say goodbye to the town and house that I spent summers growing up in.

Our first day on the road proved quite eventful when Sarah started throwing up just hours into the trip. I was sad to have to cancel our visit with friends for the weekend, but thought a detour to my parent's house with some recovery time for Sarah might prove wiser. With everyone (relatively) well on Monday we headed North. Michigan greeted us with gorgeous color and beautiful skies. And yes, I do drive with my camera in my lap....please don't tell on me.

My girls slept in the same hide-a-bed that my sister and I grew up sleeping in. It's in my Grandparent's den and I loved how cozy we were in there. When we were up for Thanksgiving, we got to watch the Macy's parade in bed - such a poignant memory for me. It's also where we slept on Christmas Eve, giddy with anticipation at what we'd find in the living room, come morning.

My Grandpa loved three things above all else: God, Family and Wood. My Grandma has been known to say that the only thing he ever showed patience with was a block of wood. He taught me how to use his jigsaw, band saw, belt sander, drill press and many other things. I thought nothing of being a young girl in his basement going to town on pieces of wood. I loved it and he loved it.

He truly amassed an amazing collection of tools, hardware and "materials" (for lack of a better term for all the random boxes of things we found). The above shot should give you some idea of what I'm talking about. Sadly, part of the mission of this trip was to pack up the house. What stays in the family has been taken and what's left will be up for auction in the spring.

I'm thankful that I got to make one last trip back while this place still belongs to my Grandparent's. Grandma is now living near my parent's in Indiana and we will have to return once more to bid her goodbye, but the house will no longer be ours to return to and there will no longer be a reason to visit this small town that has been a part of my family's life for generations.

It seemed fitting and also a blessing that we were given gorgeous weather and beautiful sunsets while we were there. Closure looks so much nicer in the glow of a sunset on the lake.

You Know You're Loved When.....

2010-09-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

Your mailbox contains a nice squishy, unexpected package from a friend.....and you find these in it. Two doll "robes" in fabric that has a Flea Market Fancy kind of feel to it (at least to me).

As well as a good bit of yardage of the two prints on the left, an awesome "Cowboys and Indians" print (totally not PC, but look at the colors!) and an apron in the prettiest little pink print. I was lucky enough to be home alone when the mail came and was able to open my package all by myself and then pour over the fabrics, take pictures of them and admire them some more without being interrupted or having them taken away from me. What a way to start the weekend! Wishing you an unexpected (and good!) surprise this weekend as well!

For Me

2010-09-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe, but I made something just for me...new pillow covers for the couch. And if I'd measured, they might have even fit properly. Instead, they are a bit tightly stuffed, but when you realize that at the very end, when the only step left is to insert pillows into their new covers, well then it's really a bit too late, isn't it? These blocks were inspired by this quilt by urban.patchwork. I don't love mine nearly as much as I love this quilt, but they will do for now. They have an envelope back on them because zippers....well, yeah, like I've said before, they elude me. One day though, watch out! I also thought that plain ol' muslin would be the perfect thing to sash these with. A quick perusal of my flickr favorites makes me think that a background and finish like this would have been better (don't you love these?!?). Oh well, there can always be more, can't there?

I actually made several smaller squares like these a while ago in the hopes of making a quilt for our bed. For a while I fell out of love with my blocks and several became potholders. I really like the way they look as potholders, but as of late I'm back to thinking about them in a quilt again as well. I even had the nerve to wonder if I could finish such a quilt by Christmas and call it my husband's Christmas present. (Probably not). But in the interest of trying, I think I'll go work on a block. I've got a whole hour ahead of me, as it's taken two and a half hours to put two little girls to bed tonight. Something must be in the air - I just hope it's not an illness!

Craft Hope Project 9

2010-09-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

Craft Hope's Project 9 is about to wrap up. The deadline for sending in pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer is Wednesday. I was holding off on mailing mine until the last minute, so that I could send as many as possible. I was off to a strong start on making pillowcases and then school started for Rachel...and then school started for Sarah....and hey, whoa, where'd those last few weeks go? In the past week I picked up steam again and was able to send 21 pillowcases. All the main fabrics came from my stash and I only about a few small pieces to use as the trim when I couldn't find anything in my stash that would work. Since it was mentioned that they are often running short on selections for boys, I concentrated mainly on making boyish pillowcases. This was a good way to use up an unusually large boyish stash of fabric for a person with two girls.

I got everything packed up per the organizations requests and popped them in the mail this afternoon. And while the deadline for the Craft Hope project is the 15th., ConKerr Cancer is always taking donations. This page will take you to a state listing, where you can search for organizers in your area, hospitals they work with, brick and mortar stores that serve as drop off locations as well as mailing addresses where you can send pillowcases. These really work up super fast and are such a good way to share a smile.

Little Red Part Two

2010-09-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

So here's my real life Little Red Riding Hood. She was so excited for today and it was so much fun to see all the kids dressed up - almost entirely in homemade costumes. It gives me a sort of Hallmark movie choked up kind of feeling - in a good way. Which might be a strange way to describe it, as I can't recall seeing a Hallmark movie ...... ever? Yeah, so maybe way better than a Hallmark movie!

I made cape number one following this tutorial. Sometimes, when directions aren't coming to me clearly, I don't do such a great job. That's not to say that this tutorial isn't clear, more that I wasn't clear. And I made a crappy cape with a hood that was really too small. And even if the hood was purely for Momma's photo shoot, I needed it to be good. And then suddenly I needed it lined as well. Cape number two followed the same tutorial with larger pieces except that I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out how to line the hood without a seam showing on the inside. For a visual person, sometimes I'm not very visual. I kid you not, I tore that hood apart no less than four times. I was getting cranky. That's when I found this tutorial and skipped down to the part where she makes the hood. And you know what....the first time I'd done it, I'd done it right (and ripped it out and then proceeded to do it incorrectly three times). So there we go.... lined hooded cape.

But do you want to know a secret? In the first tutorial the cape is closed with a button.....Yeah, well, I have never sewn a button hole. Save from Mrs. Koch in seventh grade, my sewing skills are self taught and so far I've not gotten around to teaching myself button holes (......or zippers). It's sort of like Algebra and I ... I can always can always find a way around it. My detour this time took me via this cool hook and eye closure that is kind of hard to appreciate in the picture. My Aunt picked up several cards of these from the most awesome Goodwill thrifting opportunity near her - "the bins". They are from Norway and are pewter - very pretty, heavy duty and just what I needed!

So the costume worked, the day was a blast and I won't go on about how the icing on the cupcakes was too runny and most of my cupcakes had their faces slide off before they made it to school. Nope, not going to dwell on that. Instead, I'm going to get the rest of my pillowcases wrapped up for Craft Hope's Project 9. The deadline is almost here and I've got a few more to make.

Little Red

2010-09-09T11:50:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is a big day in Kindergarten...... it's the Fairytale Festival. The 7th grade buddies organize all sorts of games for the kindergartners, who come to school dressed as a fairytale character and then everyone celebrates with lots of fairytale treats in the cafeteria. Sarah has had a long list of the characters she wanted to be - Humpty Dumpty seemed to make it to the top of the list more than once, but I knew that I would get carried away with that as a costume (I was envisioning a paper mache/hat attached to a box that she would wear and would serve as the wall) so I was thankful when Little Red Riding Hood started making it onto her list. The cape is finished, but photos will have to wait until it can be modeled. The snacks are ready now too. I got my inspiration from the book Hello, Cupcake! . I had so many ideas after going through the book, but finally settled on cupcakes to match her character.

First I melted red candy wafers in a baggie. I trimmed the tip off the baggie and piped the melted candy onto wax paper under which I had copies of my hood design. The hoods aren't as smooth as I'd hoped for, but I'm pretty sure that the kindergartners aren't going to be too critical. I chilled the hood shapes in the refrigerator for a few minutes and then went back with yellow melted wafers and piped in a bit of hair peeking out from the hood.

When the hair had chilled, I gently peeled the hoods off the wax paper and placed them on the iced cupcakes. I got lucky in the fact that the shape of the hood was pretty much equal to width of the cupcake, as I hadn't paid any attention to that when sketching out my design.

Facial details were provided courtesy of mini M&Ms for eyes, half a pink Jelly Belly for the nose and a bit of red licorice rope for the mouth. Rachel's hoping there will be some left so that she can have when. I'm thinking I may have to set one aside for her or else she might not get a chance to bite Little Red's head off.

Costume pictures to follow in the next day or so!

Birthday Cake

2010-09-06T07:33:00.001-07:00

Someone had a birthday yesterday. How lucky to time your birthday for gorgeous weather, the likes of which we haven't seen in months and months, and three day weekend! I guess some kudos go to my mother-in-law as well. I am so lucky and grateful that she raised such a wonder son who turned into an incredible husband and father (and she did this with three other boys as well.....as a single mother!)

We had a great day as a family, hanging out, eating eat, going out and having fun. Part of the fun included cake, of course. Sarah and I made this cake. It's Chocolate Cake with Almond Buttercream and Toasted Coconut and you can find the recipe right here. It is tasty. So tasty that I was tempted to have cake for breakfast, but because I am the kind of Momma that is inclined not to let her kids do such things, I too abstained. Don't think some won't find its way to my belly today though!

No more fire though. My girls are kind of insistent on a candle for each year, although I think Sarah threw in at least one extra this time. What was the saying, "One to grow on"? Perhaps that's what she was thinking. Rachel was thinking that she'd stay in the living room until the fire had been extinguished. We may soon have to limit this tradition to the birthdays that have spanned less than two decades!

We've got exciting plans for this Labor Day holiday. Clean up and clean out! So far I think only the adults are on board, but maybe with the promise of cake after they clean up, the girls will join in too. Wishing you a lovely holiday as well.

Deja vu

2010-08-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

It seems like it was just a few months ago that Rachel finished her first week of kindergarten and was in the teddy bear parade. In reality two years have passed and it was Sarah's turn to sing the song (We're going on a teddy bear parade, we're going on a teddy bear parade, 1, 2, 3 here we go, we're going on a teddy bear parade) through the school halls today before meeting her 7th grade buddy. The pictures aren't much, but it is hard to get good photos in dark halls with 40 kids on the move and almost as many parents.

The march through the cafeteria brought me (and I wasn't the only one) to tears. The second, third and fourth graders were having lunch and everyone joined in on the song and applauded for the kids - it was really neat. Well, except for the crying mothers bit.

I think the seventh graders were more excited about getting their buddies than the kindergartners were. I also think Sarah was a bit overwhelmed - it was hard to get many smiles from her. These buddies will be accompanying the kids on their first field trip and are involved in a lot of other activities from Christmas parties, to flying kites to reading to the kids. It's a really neat idea that gives the little ones someone to look out for them and gives the older kids a sense of responsibility. Win -win.

The buddies had questions for the kids, and they will use the information they gleaned to write a personalized fairy tale for their buddy later in the year.

We're looking forward to getting to know Sarah's buddy, who seemed very sweet. She will know a thing or two about kindergartners as well, as she has a younger brother in Sarah's class.

Summer in a Pan

2010-08-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

I've got big crafting plans for the future, but for right now I'm savoring Sarah's last days at home with me and quite frankly, it leaves me a little wiped out at the end of the day, especially when combined with my new rise and shine time (which is now an hour earlier). Today we read, went to the used book store, watched cartoons and made this blueberry crisp (amongst other things). It's a combination of three recipes. If you've still got blueberries that you'd like to transform into dessert, here's the recipe I ended up with....

Blueberry Crisp

4 C Blueberries
1/4 C Sugar
1 T Cornstarch
2 T Lemon Juice

1/2 C Oat Flour (I grind my oats in a coffee grinder)
1/2 C Oats (GF)
1/4 C Brown Sugar
1/4 t Cinnamon
1/4 t Nutmeg
1/4 t Allspice
3/4 C Chopped Pecans
4 T Butter at Room Temp.

Combine first four ingredients and pour into a lightly buttered 8x8" or 9x9" baking dish.

Mix remaining ingredients until crumbly and add to top of berries.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. You might want to top it off with ice cream as well.....I'm just sayin'.

I've got peaches and pickles waiting for my attention tomorrow. Don't worry, I'm not planning to mix them together! I'll have some time to do this, as Sarah will spend her first full day at kindergarten without me. Last year I would not have anticipated tears over this, but I think they're on their way now. Sniff sniff........

And the Blue Ribbon Goes To.....

2010-08-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

Well, the pink and blue ribbon, that is. Our neighbor's had agreed to watch the girls tonight while the Mr. and I went to a meeting at school. This afternoon, out of the blue, Sarah declared that she wanted to make a ribbon for our neighbor (age 7) to cheer her up. I am a bit unclear as to the reason why she was sad, or why that subject had come up the last time they played, but I obliged. This is what we came up with. While Sarah wanted to cut into some nicely folded yards of uncut fabric, I suggested a dig through my scrap bins (a.k.a. kitty litter buckets). Since I wasn't quite sure what her vision was, or how to execute said vision, I'm pretty happy with the results. I attached some iron-on stabilizer to the back and then sewed a pin onto it so that it can be worn. Part of Sarah's vision was to leave the blue mark-be-gone pen on it, but I had to insist it be removed - just didn't get to it before the (very) brief photo shoot. Now I've got more ideas for these and am also wondering why I haven't made more yo-yos - they're so fun!

And yes, those are flannel winter pajama bottoms on Sarah. We were out in the rain this morning and returned home damp. Apparently, now that it's in the low 90's some of us are feeling a chill.

Choked Up

2010-08-13T18:44:00.001-07:00

Oh man, I thought I was ready for this....even looking forward to it a bit (we tend to frustrate each other), but today, when we walked into the auditorium where all the elementary kids gather in the morning, I had to work hard to choke back tears. This is my baby, my buddy, the one who went on afternoon walks with me and chatted with me through the grocery store. Now she's a kindergartner!!

She has not been terribly excited about this day until last night when she set out her clothes, placed her shoes and and backpack by the door and insisted on helping make her lunch. This morning she was checking with her sister about all the rules in kindergarten, very concerned that she not break any (and breaking my heart with that worry).

So off she went, sporting a special back to school shirt that I made for her, my little horse lover. She specified a green shirt so that the horse would have grass around it and I let her pick out the fabric for the horse. I offered lots of bright, colorful options but she insisted on this pale yellow when we couldn't find a good brown (??) in my stash. It made me feel good sending her off with a bit of momma-made love - I hope it made her happy too.

Oh, but don't think they waved good-bye and were gone. Noooooo. Thankfully we have a great phase-in program and the parents actually spent the morning in the classroom participating with the kids. And no, there are not seven kids in her class either - they break the classes up into thirds and bring one third in each day for the first two weeks. She won't go again until next Friday and will meet up with the rest of her class the following Monday when the fun really begins!

She seemed so much more comfortable and cool with it all than I had anticipated. She's really stepping up to be the big girl, which we have been stressing this summer. Perhaps someone let her be the baby a bit too long. She met some new friends today and will have several classmates from her preschool in her class as well as one more special friend that she's known since Rachel started kindergarten.

So one more week of me and my buddy and then I really will have to wave good-bye and leave. Hopefully my hormones will be in check by then!

Oh, and it's just really too darn hot. Too hot for school, too hot for anything. Granted, this was just as we turned the car on, and the temp. dropped, but still...I don't think I've ever seen this temperature before in my life!

I've Been At It Again

2010-08-11T18:45:00.001-07:00

I just can't stay out of thrift stores. Every time I drive past one I wonder what treasures are waiting inside...and what if I don't get in to find them? My girls will not willingly go to a thrift store...but if I ask them if they want to go to a "treasure store" they are all for it. Knowing that they will more than likely walk out with some small "prize" of their own that we really don't need. At least not like I need fabric!

The above lovelies were picked up at a thrift store that supports the local animal shelter. I love that! I also loved that everything was half off!! (Yeah, half off...YAY!! More exclamation points!!) The stack of linens is sitting on a purchase from there as well. I almost cried when I found it. It's a table cloth, the colors are brand-new vibrant and save for two small spots in the center, which is white, it is in perfect condition and I know my Oxi will take care of that for me. It set me back $4. That may have been the happiest I've ever been to spend $4! I am also in love with the bottom sheet, which is really heavier than a sheet, soft, but not flannel. I know not what it is, but it was a $1 and I loved it!

This stack was bundled together at the local Goodwill. I really wanted it for the patchwork piece about two thirds of the way down, but after getting the whole bundle home and washing everything, there are several other vintage pieces in there that I'm quite excited about. I also love the two knits on top. I don't know to work with knits, but these will be fun to find some use for. Oh...and the bundle was $1.99.....but it was also half off, so $1 well spent!

And....totally unrelated, somebody started second grade today. Seriously, I have tangible memories of second grade (some good, some not so good)...how can I now have a second grader? She was nervous about this year - I'm not sure what had her worried, but by the time I picked her up, everything was great. Phew. My baby starts kindergarten this week as well. She doesn't go until Friday and will only be there once a week for the first two weeks for what they call "phase-in". She is not excited, but hopefully the fact that I will be with her almost all day Friday will be reassuring and she will actually get excited once she sees all the cool stuff she'll be doing. In all fairness though, she will get her own post. So two more weeks of hanging with my little buddy and then I'll find myself a stay-at-home mom with no-one at home. Sniff...sniff....

Craft Hope

2010-07-31T15:58:00.001-07:00

I've talked about Craft Hope a few times before, and participated in a couple of their projects now. What an great organization this is, rallying crafters to craft for good causes. The momentum behind Craft Hope seems to be growing, as the last project was their largest yet, with over 70,000 rags being donated. Project 9 was announced this past week and I am so excited about it. They are asking for fun, colorful pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer, an organization that distributes these pillowcases to very ill children (and teens) while they are in the hospital. Just a little something to brighten their rooms and bring a smile to their face. I have so much juvenile fabric that I really didn't think I'd ever use, so Rachel and I got busy pulling pieces out of my stash right away so that I could get started. I whipped up three the first night. They are quick and easy. You can make whatever style you want (basic instructions here), just make it fun and out of 100% cotton. Craft Hope's website gives more details, as does the ConKerr site - should you be interested. After the fun we had at our rag cutting party, I am working on organizing a pillowcase party and will hopefully find a way to get the kids involved as well. Look for a link to Lark Crafts on Monday, as there will be an interview with Jade Sims of Craft Hope (her book is in stores now), and a photo from our cutting party is rumored to be showing up on the site as well.

Stocked

2010-07-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well the girls and I are back from out visit with my parents, albeit a few days later than what we had intended. My Dad gave me the scare of my life while we were at the city pool with the girls. He was feeling a little "woozy" on his way up the stairs to the water slide and while we aren't sure what all happened before people got to him, the end result was him lying on the landing unconscious in my arms for several minutes with cuts to his head and lip. He obviously fell and hit his head, but no one saw it happen. He passed out once I was with him, so I know he didn't fall and hit his head at that point, although maybe he passed out more than once. Who knows. I know that I was scared. Very scared. And I know that I am so proud of both my girls for how brave they were. I am also very grateful for the people at the pool who help him (and I) and some very kind mothers who took my girls under their wings and watched over them while panic and chaos ensued.

The end result was almost four days in the hospital, numerous tests, a heart catheterization and still no concrete answer as to why. Thankfully, he is going to participate in a clinical trial of a new medication and will be more closely monitored by doctors than if he had been sent home with no commitment to the trial.

That's not really happy talk though, is it? So instead of dwelling on that, I am excited to share you what I brought home with me from our journey. Have I mentioned how awesome the Goodwill is by my parents? Well it is. So good that I'm afraid to tell you where it is...you might beat me to the good stuff. The middle pillow case in the above photo came from there. The matching set came from their Salvation Army. The were folded and looked like they'd been stored in a box somewhere very dirty. At $2.99 for the set, I decided it was worth the gamble to see if they came clean. I've soaked them in OxiClean, mixed an OxiClean paste to cover some stubborn spots and the results are pretty good. They need a bit more spot treatment and then I'll hand wash them and I'm sure they'll be just right by then.

The above stack all came from the Goodwill, although I did have to go more than once to score them all. The top piece is a tablecloth (I think.....well, it is now), the rest are sheets. I remember my Grandma having a set like the bottom one, so I was happy to find that. I also purchased my girl's school clothes for the next two years on Saturday, when kid's clothes were on sale for 79 cents a piece. I picked up several Gap tops and jeans amongst (many) other things.

And my awesome thrifting Aunt had left a box for me at my parent's that was full of goodies. This is just a sampling. Beads, buttons, sewing notions, embroidery floss, jewelry pieces, stamps.....a little bit of everything. I am hoping that once the girls are in school, I will have some new found time to put all of my goodies to use. Right after I make the house sparkling clean and have a delicious dinner ready and waiting, of course ; )

Back in the Kitchen

2010-07-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

The girls and I are headed to my parent's house tomorrow. We'll spend five days there hanging out and also getting to visit with my Grandmother. And because I'm not exactly prompt with gifts, I will also be taking my Dad his Father's Day gift.

I was stumped as to what to give him this year, so decided I'd stick with the perfect gift. It's something he loves, it doesn't take up much space, it's consumable and it tastes yummy.

(crust recipe from here....I'm curious to try the almond crust as well)

Ahhh.....fresh mulberry pie. I heeded the comments and increased my berries to 4 C (could have added more), reduced my sugar to 3/4 C (I suspect I could have made do with 1/2 C) and upped my flour to 1/3 C with a pinch more. With a little help we got it made this morning and it's sitting, hidden away, waiting to be delivered tomorrow.

A Bit of This and That

2010-07-18T14:19:00.001-07:00

I'm starting to get the crafty urge back. Something about this summer has made it hard for me to work. With the girls home, there is just no time (or peace) during the day, and at night I guess I'm just a bit too spent to start on something once they go to bed. I did manage two small projects this week though, that have me itching to keep moving forward.

I needed a gift for my girl's night out bingo game last night. Money was tight this week and I would have felt guilty spending money on a bingo gift, so I worked with what I had. I figured a jar of fresh, homemade blackberry jam would be a good place to start, but wanted to add something to it. I have been inspired by pieces of work like this one by metro-station and wanted to give something like that a go myself. I know there are others I have seen and would like to share them with you as well, but I can't seem to find them right now. So this is what I came up with, a dish towel to go with the jar of jam. I had a stash of these plain white towels that I'd picked up in Target's Dollar Zone quite a while ago (maybe around Easter ...2009 possibly) and I knew that one day they'd serve their purpose, which I think they've done quite swimmingly. I did throw in a nice bar of dark chocolate as well, so that hopefully the gift was not disappointing (can you really be disappointed if you get chocolate?).

I've also been distracted by this website, which I'd read a bit about in the Spring issue of Stitch. There is also a great Flickr pool which I would recommend checking out. Conveniently enough, I have a lot of clothes that I don't particularly love and as a bonus, I am not inclined to get rid of things very easily, which comes in very handy if you'd like to start chopping up your clothes and refashioning them. Case in point, the long linen skirt above. I love the color of the linen and the fact that it is linen, but the length was not doing it for me anymore.

I believe it was this picture of Fiona Goble's first upcycled skirt that reminded me of my own blue-gray skirt that needed a new life. I happened to have this leafy print from Ikea in my stash, which matched the color of the skirt pretty well (in certain dim light) and decided to go for it.

I chopped the skirt off a few inches above the side slits and added the decorative print band to the bottom. Then I cut one leaf out of a bit of scrap, attached it with Heat-n-Bond Lite and free motion stitched around it to ensure that it stayed put. I'm really happy with the results, but you will have to settle for the hanger modeling it, because I'm less than happy with the shape of my pudgy knees right now.

While I work on the issue of my knees (and other unsightly bits), rest assured that nothing in my closet is safe from my scissors right now.

In the Kitchen

2010-07-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's been hot here this week. Really hot....and humid. Really humid. My sewing is upstairs in an area that stays quite stuffy during the day when it's this hot out. So in lieu of sewing, I've been downstairs in the kitchen, with the oven running. I can assure you that that too, is hot. But the results have been tasty.

Last Wednesday the girls and I went with some friends to pick blackberries at Crabtree Farms. There were enough berries for a batch of jam and this blackberry crisp. Oh my. I typically see cobbler recipes for summer fruits and to be honest, I don't really love cobbler that much (although if you bring me some, I will gladly eat it). I'd much rather have a pie or crisp. Oh how I love the topping on a crisp! Butter, sugar, nuts - good stuff. I used this Martha recipe and altered it slightly. Instead of 1 1/2 cups of white flour, I did half white and half wheat. I also added some chopped pecans to the topping and when I do it again, I'll probably also add a few tablespoons of ground flax seed for good measure.

The zucchini in my garden are coming in faster than I can feed them to my non-zucchini loving family. I'm sure everyone was thrilled with my choice of squashes for the garden, but hey, when you can turn it into yummy bread, what's not to love? My neighbor made this bread for us last year and it was so good, I knew it was the recipe I needed. If you think you might need it as well, here it is......

Zucchini-Pineapple Bread

Beat until fluffy:
3 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Cup vegetable oil

Add:
3 Cups Flour (reserve 1/2 Cup to mix with nuts & raisins)
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Cup Crushed Pineapple
2 Cups Grated Zucchini

Mix with Flour and Add:
1 Cup Nuts
1/2 Cup Raisins (optional)

Spoon into two greased & floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

Yes, the good news is you'll get TWO loaves. I was nice and shared with the neighbors. I know, pineapple sounds like an odd ingredient, but it gives the bread a sweetness. I reduced the sugar to 1 1/2 cups and also split my flour 50/50 white and wheat. Even with the reduction in sugar, there is plenty of sweetness and the wheat flour is not overpowering. I think the best review I got was from Sarah, our non-vegetable eating vegetarian who loved it and declared "I don't even taste zucchini!". Anyone have any other zucchini recipes that don't taste like zucchini?

And then there was today. No wheat flour, no flax seed, no reduction in sugar. Just my girls and their Easy Bake Oven. Oh how I do not love the Easy Bake Oven. I absolutely will not pay $3 (or more) for a cake mix that will make one four inch cake, so I looked online and found this recipe for chocolate cake. Don't you love a recipe where everything is in teaspoons? Add to that the fact that they wanted to make layer cakes.... and each their own. We were easy-bakin' it for almost an hour and a half. The first two can out poorly, but salvageable and their cakes were iced, sprinkled and partially eaten.........

I wouldn't let them eat it all - can you tell why?

Weekend Celebrations

2010-07-06T18:43:00.001-07:00

A word of warning, this is a picture heavy post. There isn't a lot to be said for our weekend. We visited our Georgia relatives, driving first to my in-law's house and spending the day and night with them and then heading on to my brother-in-law's to spend another day and night with his family before heading home weary from so much fun and sun.

Grandpa Mel had built a wishing well for the kids over the sight of an old well. The girl's loved it. They loved it even more when he gave them coins to wish on and then let them clean out the well the next day!

The business of wishing on your coins before throwing them in is very serious business. I loved watching them clutch the coin and whisper their wishes quietly enough so that I couldn't make out what they were.

There was so much for the girl's to do at their Grandparent's and they loved it all - playing in Grandpa's garden, wading in the creek, running in their big front yard, riding "pedal carts" (imagine a go-cart frame, but with bike pedals), climbing, jumping, being a kid......

At Uncle Dan's, there was lots and lots of swimming followed by sparklers at night. It took the little one several attempts to take control of a sparkler, but she came around in the end. Who doesn't love fire on the end of a stick?

How lucky we were to be able to relax, hang out with family, enjoy our kids and enjoy a gorgeous three day weekend. It's so seldom that we actually stop and just enjoy what's going on - really, it should be done more often.

Craft Hope for the Earth

2010-06-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

We hosted a "cutting party" today and invited several of our friends from school to join us. Our school requires the kids to do at least one service project during the summer (as well as class projects during the year). I thought Craft Hope 's current project, making wash rags that will be donated to several different organizations that are aiding in animal rescue and relief from the oil spill would be a timely project for the kids.

We had ten kids total and everyone brought old t-shirts, towels, sheets and fabric to cut. Many of the Mom's were happy to have an outlet for all the cast-offs that they'd been saving at home. I cut cardboard templates to the requested sizes so that the kids could trace them and then cut out the rags. When we were done cutting, the kids did a little math, sorting the rags into sets of ten.

Sharp scissors made for much easier work, we found, but regardless of the scissors, they kids had a great time working on this. In the end we had 360 rags cut with some families planning to go home and make more. We'll be sending four boxes out this week!

There were more piles on the other table, but we dared not mess up our sorted piles. We're so glad we were able to get a group together (on very short notice - my bad). When the work was done, the kids celebrated with ice cream cones. Honestly, my girls were so excited about this, you would have thought it was their birthday. Something to keep in mind when the birthday's do roll around!

2010-06-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

I'm back, but not yet back in the swing of things. I had a wonderful time in California, did plenty of thrifting (although you can never do too much), picked up lots of treasures, stayed up way too late, drank a lot of local wine and enjoyed seeing my Aunt and Uncle, my cousin and her husband and meeting new people as well. Sadly, I had to leave many of my treasures behind, as my suitcase couldn't hold them all and even with what I had in it, it was way over the weight limit. The fun thing is that I can look forward to bits and pieces arriving from time to time over the course of the year!

Now it's back to trying to keep some restless girls busy on their summer vacation. This week Sarah expressed interest in doing some "paper-gami" - her version of origami. I used this website, and we've made cranes, dogs, cats, butterflies, fish and balloons so far. Some are easy, almost too easy and some, like the crane, they require help with. But it has really held their interest and they are asking to do it daily. Now, I just need to figure out how to store all our creations.

Now I'm looking forward to getting my energy back and spending some time with my sewing machine. I sure would like to finish that summer quilt before summer ends!

Summer at Grandma's

2010-06-13T10:00:00.001-07:00

I've been moving right along on my new quilt, and by "my", I really mean that it's going to be mine. Except that it's going to be so soft and light and wonderful that I expect people are going to want me to share. I'm making nine patches out of vintage floral sheets from my stash. The stash I was afraid to cut into for fear no more floral sheets would come my way, but they are still showing up, so I can relax while I cut more squares for this quilt.

And cut more, I must. Because I am not a planner, I just made what seemed like a big pile of 6" square blocks and figured I had enough for a quilt. And I did have enough...for a baby quilt. But for a quilt somewhere in the size of a twin, I am going to need more blocks. I've completed four rows and will probably want it at least 10 or twelve rows long, so I've got some work ahead of me - but really, is it work? Not in the least.

As I piece these blocks I am flooded with memories of summers at my Grandparent's house in Northern Michigan. The prints on the sheets remind me of the sheets on the beds at their house, their cool touch reminds me that there was air conditioning at their house and not ours. I was lucky enough to be able to spend a good bit of my summers with them, with their big back yard, their circular driveway perfect for riding bikes and roller skating in, their big basement that we played in and oh yeah, that lake across the road. I was prepared to share some horribly embarrassing pictures from my summers with you - pictures of excellent 70's fashions, bad hair and general grubbiness from playing outside all day, but I can't find them. Honestly!

My quilt will have to take a respite though, as I'm off on Wednesday to spend a week with my Aunt in California. A whole, responsibility free, obligation free, child free week. Hopefully I will return with a new energy and lots of good thrifted finds! Until then, enjoy your summer!

In The Garden

2010-06-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

My garden is coming along nicely. The zucchini and yellow squash plants are huge an covered in blooms and I've counted no less than five baby zucchini on the plant already. The cucumbers were slow starters, but in the past week they have really grown in size as well. And my new location for the tomatoes seems to have been just what they needed.

Last night while I was watering the tomatoes, I spied some red in there. I checked on them this afternoon and they were perfect for picking.

They never made it in the house. My hand model ate them as soon as I was done taking the pictures. I had to let her eat them, how do you tell a kid that she can't have veggies? And I am so thankful that I have at least one veggie eating girl. I'm still working on the other one.

I've got something else to share as well, but since I go through dry spells at times, I thought I ought to wait a day or so. I'll give you a hint though, it's the beginning of my new quilt and I love it!

She Can Come Now

2010-06-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

I gave her Momma my blessing and told her that her sweet baby girl is welcome to come any day now, as her quilt is finished. Yay! Actually, I have not heard from her Momma in a few days....she may already be here and thinking "Hey, Where's my quilt?!?". Or not.

I went binding shopping for this quilt on Monday. I didn't want to use one of the fabrics that was already in the quilt and didn't have anything else I liked. Plus, you really can't ignore the opportunity to go buy some fabric. I was certain that I would want to bind it in a pink - my hope was for pink polka dots. At my first stop I left with pink paisleys, which would have done just fine, but at my second stop I came across this turquoise polka dot from Amy Butler's new Love line and I did just that, I loved it for this quilt. I also fell for this new print, which surprised me, as I have never been big on navy blue, but lately is keeps popping into my thoughts. Hmm..

And I can't get over how much I love the feeling of a freshly washed quilt, when it starts to get all bumpy, lumpy and quilty. I have a really radical idea and that is, for my next project, I'm going to make something to keep here, for me, that I get to cuddle up with. I told you - radical. I've already started piecing some strips from this project which I started a while ago and I'm quite excited about it. It's going to be light and cool and perfect for summer, if I can finish it before summer is over.

So that's that and now I need to find out if there's a new baby out there waiting for me to home love on her!

P.S. Thank you for not mentioning that I hung this quilt sideways to photograph after taking great care to make sure that all the little trees in the pink fabric were vertical in the quilt. If it weren't dusk out now I'd take more, but it is and I'm not. You know, that's how the cookies crumble and all that good stuff.

It's a Girl

2010-06-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

The top to the baby girl quilt I started is done. This one didn't take care of itself in a week like the last baby quilt did, but I've had fun working on it. While I intended it to be a pink quilt, it really turned out to be a green and pink quilt with blue thrown in for extra measure. Sometimes these things have a life of their own....or your stash dictates what's going to happen.

In the future, if I decide to make another quilt of this style, I will go about it in a more orderly way. On the past two quilts, I have sewn the rows willy nilly with no set pattern or size. That is all nice and fine, but really, if I set about making 12" blocks and just fiddled within the parameter of the block, I think it would go faster, stay more square and probably look just as cute. Perhaps I should try one and find out.

Last night I had some "help" while I worked. I get a lot of help from this little guy. He is either asleep in the pile of fabrics I'm working with (and too cute to disturb), attacking my thread as it runs through my machine (grrrr) or as was the case the night before last, puking all over my chair and the small square of floor space I have to stand in and cut. The latter being my very least favorite form of help. The above I think is pretty darn cute, especially since he tunneled his way in on his own.

With or without help, preferably without, I hope to get this all pinned together tonight and start quilting tomorrow. It's small enough that I could get it done in a day, I think. I'll let you know.

She's a Graduate

2010-05-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

Please indulge me today....my baby finished preschool. She's all grown up and ready to start kindergarten in August. Her school had a program at the children's museum here. We all had a blast and were thankful that Jim could take the morning off to join us.

The kids put on a great program of which I have a lot of poor photos of. I was too far from the stage for the flash to really work and there were too many heads in the way. Perhaps it was just best that I sat back and enjoyed the moment anyhow. But certainly I wasn't going to miss her getting her "pa-doma", as she called it last night.

After the program we got to spend a few hours in the museum. I posed for Rachel in the art area, we got to see the new traveling exhibit "Gross-ology" the impolite science of the human body (it was gross), we played on the roof, avoided the gift shop and had a good time.

Sarah's two years in preschool were such an important time for her. The first year was rough - really rough, but we are all so proud of how much she's grown and matured and learned during this time. I am thankful for her teachers as well, and the love and patience they have shown her. Still, it hardly seems possible that she will be ready to start kindergarten in a couple of months. They really don't stay babies for long at all. Sniff sniff....bring on the water works!

Peace Out

2010-05-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

If you want to know what seven year old little girls are into right now, at least at our school, it's peace, love and happiness. Especially when illustrated with a peace sign, heart and smiley face. They are drawn on everything. I have yet to find them drawn on my car door, the walls, or other places where drawings have previously made their way, but I'm sure it will happen. There are worse things to be digging though, I'd say. If only we could spread some of the peace, love and happiness around and share it with our younger sister when school lets out. That is neither here nor there though, but this t-shirt is here. I picked up a cute t-shirt for Rachel at the Goodwill by my parent's house at Easter that had peace, love and ice cream on it (also good). It was a hit at school and one mother lamented that she could not find any shirts with peace signs for her daughter that weren't crafted out of skulls or age appropriate. I told her to bring me a t-shirt and I'd hook her up. The above shirt is the result.

I attached the peace sign with Heat 'n Bond Lite and then stitched around the symbol to ensure that it was secured. This way, if the Heat 'n Bond starts to give, the worst that will happen is that the edges will take on a slightly frayed look, which I thought would also be cute. When I stitch on t-shirts, I always back them with freezer paper for stability - it works great. My critic told me this morning that it needed more stuff (the same critic who once told me that her "style" was "fancy"). I found this tutorial on making fabric flowers and decided to add some embellishment. I made the flower into a pin, so that if the friend doesn't share the same fancy style, she can remove it. Probably removing it for washing would be smart as well.

And while I was initially searching my shelf of fabric for just the right one, I remembered my recent thrift store scores. The fairies have kept me in mind, as I scored the above just recently. The bottom two are sheets and the top piece, which I ended up using on the shirt, is several yards of a vintage print. I love all three. I'm thinking that the bottom soft yellow floral will be the back for my sheet quilt, but that is on hold while I wrap up baby gifts. So here's wishing you a peaceful weekend full of love and happiness. We'll be busy celebrating just about every occasion worth celebrating except for a wedding - two birthday parties, a baby shower and a graduation. Busy weekend!

What Are You Up To?

2010-05-19T16:11:00.001-07:00

This is what I'll be up to for the next few weeks. I picked out the fabrics for my next baby girl quilt. The jumping off point was the dress on the right. I bought it for Sarah last summer, hoping that she could wear it this summer. No dice. I knew it was a risk and one I was willing to take because I was already waffling between giving it to her to wear and just cutting it up right off the bat. And because I love to find my girl's clothes at the thrift stores, the dress only set me back a buck or two. I pulled the other fabrics from my stash and hopefully will not have to go buy any more. Pattern will be similar to the elephant quilt I just finished, although I plant to have a good bit of bright white in it to really make the other bright colors pop. I'm excited to get to work on this, just as soon as the little people go to bed tonight.

And when I'm not sewing, or running around town doing this or that, or at the girl's schools, or taking little people to emergency dentist appointments, I'm out in the yard, bent over picking mulberries. Yes, it's that time of year again. I am so eager for them to come, but after about five days of obsessively picking them, I begin to wish that they would hurry up and all fall off the tree at once. It is tedious work, makes my fingers look like I'm a grease monkey and has, in the past, been an obsession. I'm proud to say that this year I'm not obsessing about it. I will actually let the kids play in the grass, even if I haven't just picked berries. Maybe that has something to do with the two gallons I still have frozen from last year. But now it's time for fresh berries in pies and muffins and jam and oh my, there goes my waistline. Oh wait, it's already gone. Very well then, dig in!

One Week

2010-05-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

I was able to get this quilt done in just one week, start to finish. It's not that big (30" x 39"), and probably not a monumental accomplishment, but I am happy with the results and the time frame. The baby shower is this Saturday and I also need to get right to work on another one, as there is another baby to say welcome to coming in June. I think I will use a similar sort of random pattern for that one, but it will definitely be calling for pink.

I'm glad I added the elephants. They were fun to do, and go with the baby's nursery theme, so win-win. This was fun to make but not fun to quilt. That bummed me, as I hadn't quilted anything since the girl's Christmas quilts and was looking forward to the machine quilting part of it. The lack of fun was my fault though - I didn't pre-wash the backing fabric and it had a finish on it that prevented it from sliding over my sewing machine. Rather, it sort of stuck, which was not convenient at all. Also on the not convenient list would be running out of white thread, completely and utterly out, with about three more inches to quilt. Argh!! But it's done, will be on time and now I can get into a very girly pink mood. Until then......

And Baby Makes Four

2010-05-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

Four for a friend's family, that is - no more babies for this family. There is a baby shower in less than two weeks for this baby. On Monday or Tuesday I said to myself, "Maybe I ought to make this baby a quilt.". I am not exactly a speedy quilter, nor do I have a lot of free time on my hands, but I decided to go for it anyway. The above picture is where I am as of today. I think I will keep it that width and add maybe two more rows to the length. It's measuring 33" x 30" as of now. The mother said that, what she really needed were boy blankets, as she already has a little girl and is set on clothes, so I think keeping this on the small side would help fit the bill for blankets as well as enable me to get it done in time. The nursery theme is sage green and brown with elephants. I have plans, if there is time, to embroider silhouettes of elephants in some of the larger blocks. The inspiration for this quilt came from Lottakind on Flickr. I loved the simplicity of it and the way it incorporated several fabrics. Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems and I think I typically end up cutting too many small pieces and doing more piecing than is necessary. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap up the piecing in the next couple of days and quilt it this weekend. Stay tuned for status updates.

Yummy!

2010-05-11T18:31:00.001-07:00

These are so so good, I have to share the recipe with you! But first, their history. I just finished Beth Moore's Esther Bible study. I loved the depth at which we studied the book of Esther and the history of the Jewish people at that time. These cookies are typically made during Purim and are called Hamantashen or Haman's Ears - Haman being the "bad guy" in the story of Esther. They are also said to represent Haman's the cornered hat. Google them, you can learn lots more, I bet! So, bad guy = good cookie! Here's the recipe:

Hamantashen

2 sticks butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 tsp. baking powder
4 cups whole wheat flour or 2 cups whole wheat & 2 cups white flour

Filling: Traditional fillings are poppy seed and prune. I used homemade strawberry and blackberry jam. Fruit butters or pie fillings would also work.

1. Cut butter into sugar. Blend thoroughly. Add eggs and vanilla, blending thoroughly. Add baking powder and then flour, 1/2 cup at a time, blending thoroughly between each addition.

2. Put the batter in the refrigerator overnight or at least a few hours.

3. Roll it out to about 1/4" thickness and then cut circles with a cookie cutter or glass. Make sure they're at least 3" in diameter so you have room to fill them and fold the edges over.

4. Put a tablespoon of filling in the middle of each circle. Fold up the sides to make a triangle, overlapping the sides as much as possible so only a little filling shows through.

5. Bake at 375 for about 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.

I opted for the half whole wheat, half white flour variation for my first attempt. I love the nuttiness of the whole wheat - the cookies are still plenty sweet and they don't taste overly whole wheat. The dough is similar to a sugar cookie dough, but in rolling it out, I found it to be a bit more crumbly. It also didn't need much (if any) flour on the rolling surface. Perhaps I started with too much on my surface and that's why it crumbled. Regardless, these are buttery and sweet and oh so yummy. I really do suggest you give them a try! And check out the cute plate and mug I picked up at the thrift store the other day as well!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunts and women that mother when we need it. I'll admit to choking back tears at Mother's Day for a few years, while we were trying to get pregnant with our first child and I wanted so badly to be a celebrated mother. Now I can think back on the tears of joy I cried as both my precious girls were put in my arms. I realize now how much my mother loves me and that my girls will not know the depth of my love for them until that little bundle is placed in their arms. A love that knows no bounds. We are truly blessed.

I'm not wild about photos of myself, but thought I ought to include one of me and my girls. The Mr. was behind the camera this morning and likes to experiment, so either there is a girl with her eyes closed, a hand in front of her face, or a hazy rainbow across the photo. You take what you can get, I guess.

The girls wore dresses like this one today. A friend asked me if I could make a pillow case dress for her daughter. In exchange, she bought enough fabric for me to make them for both my girls as well. I followed this tutorial by Anna Maria Horner. I didn't start with a pillow case, but cut my fabric and assembled it into a "pillow case" before starting. As with most patterns, it doesn't make sense to me as I read it, but if I just do as I'm told, it all works out in the end. Once you have your fabric in the pillow case form, this takes just about an hour to make, which is some pretty quick instant gratification. I think they looked pretty darn cute on the girls as well.

Seasonally Inappropriate

2010-05-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

So what do you sew when the temperature reaches into the 90's? Me? Apparently I bust out the flannel and wool and get to work making a winter muff. What the heck, you say? I know, it seems odd, but there's a reason to my madness. This winter a friend's little girl was given an outfit by her grandparents that included a muff. The friend mentioned that she wish she had a muff. I was reminded of the muff pattern in the Fall 2009 issue of Stitch magazine that Erin Harris of House on Hill Road had contributed and thought I might just be able to make her wish come true. This friend's birthday was last month and I shall be seeing her for a girl's dinner out this week and wanted to be able to give it to her as a birthday gift. You know, so she can get lots of use out of it now. Or not.

Plaid had been mentioned in said fantasy muff, which I happened to have a large piece of. I was going to mimic the one in the magazine, but swap out the plaid flannel for the wool on the ends and have black velvet in the middle to echo the bands of black velvet ribbon. That was the plan until I could find no black velvet in town and even when I thought I had, I came home, cut it, sewed all the basting stitches down both sides and then decided I had dark brown on my hands. Enter plan B, which used the plaid flannel, but wool down the middle. The wool lending itself from an old suit of Jim's that had been cast away. It worked perfectly! The instructions didn't make full sense to me as I read over them, but I am much more of a learn as you go kind of gal, so I just did what they said and figured it out. And in the end, I'd say it worked out. Now I just hope I haven't spoiled the surprise and that she loves it when she receives it. I think I'll go back to the summery sheet quilt now and put the woolens away for a while.

Playing in the Dirt

2010-05-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

The little one and I went to get some plants for our "garden" the other day. Our poor excuse for a yard is an even poorer location for a garden. While we have fabulous trees that shade the house and keep it very nice and cool in the summer, those same trees allow for precious little sunlight in the yard, which is really just the side of a hill. Last years selected location for the tomatoes was a poor choice, so I've opted for the only place that gets a good expanse of sunlight - smack dabby in the front yard. I will now (hopefully) be able to give directions to my house by mentioning that it's the one with all the tomatoes and snap peas in the front yard. I have high hopes for little plants, as I do love fresh tomatoes in the summer!

I'm also trying out some squash and cucumbers in the tomatoes old location, as cucumbers did well there last year. Only time will tell at this point, but this little zucchini plant looked pitiful when I put it in the ground and just a few days later it's doubled it size and looks like it's happy for now.

Not planted this year, but equally anticipated are the mulberries. Did I mention last year that we had lived in this house for 7 (I think) years before we realized we had a mulberry tree? And it's not like it was tucked away in some hidden corner.....it drops juicy, dark purple berries all over what little flat(..ish) yard we have and also all over the driveway. This one tree will yield gallons of berries and I will spend a week and a half obsessed with gathering them.

And another new neighbor in our yard. Honestly, this summer marks nine years in our home. Surely we would have noticed these vines before, which have leaves resembling grape leaves and seem to be forming clusters of.... could they be muscadines? Or scuppernongs. The same thing, I believe, but isn't scuppernong fun to say? Only time will tell for these newbies. And if they do fruit, what to do with them?

I spent an hour tonight working on a birthday present. I got as far as cutting the fabric and sewing four rows of basting stitches to a very long piece of fabric (I hate sewing basting stitches) and then I finally concluded that my "black" fabric is really not black at all, but dark brown. That is not a good feeling, especially since I went to two fabric stores looking for this particular kind of black fabric and still ended up buying brown. Bugger. That's what I say.

A Bunting Kind of Weekend

2010-05-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

I'm back at the buntings again. Or should I say, I'm back at making birthday presents, although we shall call these belated birthday presents. These are pretty straightforward to put together, but I have found myself a little short cut and a big time saver. This week I picked up a pinking rotary blade cutter and have left the edges of these buntings pinked. Previously, I was sewing the triangles wrong sides together, turning them right side out and top stitching them. With the pinked edges, it eliminates a couple steps, one of them being my least favorite (turning all the triangles right side out).

These buntings are going to good brother and sister friends who have birthdays just a week apart (....and in April. Ahem). I was struggling with which fabrics to use for the girly one when I looked down on the floor and saw my pile of floral sheets that I've cut into for my summery quilt and realized that those would be perfect. I've opted for colors to match the boy's room and am hoping that something with your name on it will be cool enough for a now seven year old boy. I suspect my days of making him birthday gifts are just about over and done with.

My next challenge is getting these packed up and mailed off. Oh how I do not enjoy that part. In the meantime, have a lovely rest of your weekend. I think we're going to be a bit soggy here tomorrow. A good reason to spend the afternoon inside with the family.

For Dinner Tonight

2010-04-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

Along with lots of other people right now, we are trying to eat better at our house. Or at least some of us are, and we're the ones that do the grocery shopping and cooking. We had a homemade pizza tonight with a yummy strawberry salad. I had a similar salad at a local restaurant a couple weeks ago and was eager to try and replicate it. This has spinach, strawberries, goat cheese and a little bit of shredded unsweetened coconut. In its precious incarnations it also had toasted almonds in it, but I'm out of almonds right now so this one has sunflower seeds instead. What really makes this salad though is the dressing. I started with this recipe, but have made several changes this is the gist of what I ended up with...

Strawberry Vinaigrette

1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 Pint Strawberries plus more as desired
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinaigrette
2 Tablespoons Strawberry Jam
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Dried Tarragon
1-2 Teaspoons Sugar

Whirl it all together in a food processor or blender and give it a taste. I only added part of the oil and vinegar the original recipe called for and was glad I'd stopped when I did. I wanted a really fruity tasting dressing and not something oily or with too strong of a vinegar taste. More sugar, jam and berries will send you in that direction.

We've been eating this salad a lot. That probably has something to do with how much dressing I made, but both girls are eating it, which makes me happy because if you look closely at the pizza, you will find one section lacking in veggies - that would be Sarah's side. She's been my little vegetarian that doesn't eat vegetables, but we're working on that. In just the past two weeks she's started eating grape tomatoes. I'm not sure if she thinks they're really grapes or what, but I'm trying not to make too big a deal out of it, even if I'm singing "Yippie!" on the inside.

Happy Barthday

2010-04-25T11:50:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday. If you want to know how old I am, just ask one of my kids - they will gladly and readily answer that question. What I am most excited about today is that my kids (with the help of their sweet Daddy) chose to make me a gift this year. I can't believe they didn't want to get me a horse or a razor scooter or a 20" girl's bike or the latest kid's movie released to DVD. Hopefully, with perseverance, they will continue to grow in their appreciation of handmade gifts. What I am not so excited about is that Rachel made me the above card, drew a cake, started adding candles....and had to extend the cake TWICE to get all the candles on. Sigh. I guess it's a small price to pay for such a sweet card though. Happy rest of the weekend to you - I'm going to hang with my family as soon as they return from a secret mystery mission, which I suspect will involve bringing a cake home. Oh happy day.

Quilting Right Along

2010-04-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

Another Ticker Tape Quilt is done. Sorry for the dark photo - I really need to go back outside and take some more now that the sun is out and shining. This quilt seemed to take longer than the last one - not sure why unless spring break had something to do with it. That could be it. I love that these quilts make use of the tiny pieces that I was otherwise sticking in the kid's drawer or just tossing out. Kudos to Amanda Jean for such a great idea and tutorial!

While this was fun, I'm looking forward to getting back to the sheet quilt that I've started cutting and piecing squares for. I thought it might be a good picnic quilt, but I imagine that once it's done, I won't want to put it on the ground... or let kids eat over it.... or let anyone else touch it or use it. We shall see. First it has to get finished though.

Bingo!

2010-04-17T20:19:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned that I play bingo? Now stop your laughing and hear me out..... A group of friends, who all happen to have motherhood in common, have gotten together for two, maybe three years now to play bingo one Saturday night a month. Sometimes we lapse, we don't always all make it, but it is good fun. We all bring a wrapped $10 gift to serve as a prize for winning a game, we have a potluck dinner and eat really good food, have really good drinks, pause for dessert and then we play a "blackout" round and the first person to cover a board wins the "kitty" into which we've all put $5. Are you laughing so much now? Are you still laughing when I tell you that last month I went home with gardening gloves, a gardening tool, and hand thrown pot made by one of the mommas, and $45? No, I didn't think so.

So bingo was tonight. At 2:30 this afternoon I still did not have my gift and was planning to run into Target on my way and pick something up. But that felt like I wouldn't be putting much thought into it and really, I've been so stoked about the pot I won last month that was hand made. So....I had these blocks already made (minus the muslin sashing) and thought I could put them to use. They're rejects from the quilt I was making for the Mister and me that I am not feeling the love on. On their own though, I thought they'd make dandy potholders and so that's what I did with them. I added the sash, sewed them right sides together with a layer of cotton batting and insul-bright in there, turned them right side out and closed the seam and then quilted in a square spiral, following the block's pattern.

I think they turned out kind of cute. I kind of wanted to keep them for myself. I think they were well received.....hopefully pot holders are not a totally lame gift to go home with. Thank you for not saying it, if they are.

The Weekend

2010-04-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

It may not look like it, but we've got a busy weekend ahead of us. Lots of friends and getting together, so it will be fun, but busy. Taking some quiet time tonight to sew the binding on another Ticker Tape Quilt this evening. This one is a gift for Sarah's preschool teacher who will be having her first baby this summer. I'll share the final results once it's done.
Happy weekend!

What We Do For Kicks Around Here

2010-04-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

OK, so I have a confession to make. Yesterday's post....I did it last night so that I would have something creative between the hair cut posts, seeing as this is not a hair cutting blog. But really, I am excited about that quilt and made almost 20 blocks last night! But today is about my girl and her second hair cut (in seven years). Back in August 2008 she had 12" cut off and donated to Locks of Love. Just a year and a half later those 12" were back and she was back for another opportunity to donate.

This time she went a bit shorter (Rachel's decision) and I think she ended up with almost 13"!

And now I have this gorgeous girl to look at who looks about three years older than when she walked in. And somehow the hair cut even made her eyes look bluer!

She loves it, I love it and she's excited to show off her new look at school tomorrow. Plus I have this sweet photo to make me smile. It's been a good day.

Faith in Fairies

2010-04-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

I've done it. I've done what I've had a really hard time getting myself to do. I've gone and started cutting up my awesome floral sheet collection. As soon as I cut into my favorite, I had this horrible thought that I may never find an awesome old sheet for $1.39 ever again. It was not a good feeling. My trip to the thrift store this morning did nothing to allay my fears, as I left empty handed. Still, I have to have faith that the floral sheet fairies will not turn their backs on me and will continue to throw little treasures my way.

So what's a girl to do? Get on with making herself something pretty then, I guess. Five squares into the quilt that was to be fabulous and beautiful and for the Mister and me, I stopped loving it. Actually, I haven't loved it at all. That's been a road block for me the past month (or longer) - I want it to be done and wonderful and nothing about what I'm doing makes me think it will be that. So for now I am going to work with 2.5" squares and make some 9 square blocks with white centers, sash the blocks in white and whip me up some old sheet loveliness. It seems like just the sort of task I need right now. Fingers crossed that I keep on loving it because if I don't, I've going to be crying over a bunch of sheets that are no longer suitable for beds.

Growing Up

2010-03-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Somebody went for their first hair cut today. She has been asking for one for ...oh, about a year now, but her Momma couldn't bring herself to let it happen. Finally, the curls had become such a tangled mess that I knew the time had come. So today was the day and boy have we been excited about it!

The initial cuts went well and she even asked for it to be shorter (to match her best friend at preschool).

All her golden locks fell to the floor. Bye bye baby hair, she's got a full head of big girl hair now! Rest assured, there is a perfect little curl in an envelop in my purse right now.

She opted to have it blow dried a bit straighter on top, but wanted curly ends. So now the mystery is....what will it really look like when it dries on its own? Do curls really disappear when you cut hair? Will the curls get curlier now that her hair is shorter and lighter? Who knows....I guess we'll have to stay tuned. For now though, we are all loving sweet Sarah and her adorable new do that seemed to put an extra spring in her step and maybe even (heaven help me) a bit more spunk into her.

Birthday Girl

2010-03-06T12:23:00.001-08:00

Of all my treasured possessions, this one ranks right up at the top. My girls. My babies. This photo is now five years old, as is the sweet 9 lb. bundle in the photo.

Her hair was brown and straight when she was born - not so any more. Her blue eyes stayed, as did her sweet face. We had her party today. Last year's celebration was low key as we were in the middle of kitchen construction, so this is really her first party to be excited about - and excited she was. She has been preparing and planning all week and just to break our hearts, last night she told her daddy, "Tomorrow friends are coming and they will play with ME!". (Yes, I harbor guilt over her having second child syndrome). And play they did. Lots of squealing, lots of running around, lots of fun. Thanks to the friends who helped celebrate with us!

And the final installment in birthday cakes - Sarah's horse cake. I looked at hundreds of pictures of "horse cakes" and saw so many incredible cakes with edible horses modeled out of all sorts of things, but in the end I did as I knew I would do and used toy horses. So much faster and easier. This cake came together pretty quickly and easily, for which I was thankful. I used the Wilton buttercream icing recipe (this is so bad for you!) on a chocolate cake to which I added a pack of chocolate pudding mix and an extra egg. The cake was moist and good and the icing was a hit with the kids.

Now, back to the sewing....and I'll take a pie for my birthday!

I have no idea why the text is showing up in two different fonts unless is has something to do with the fact that my "double u" key doesn't work and every time I need to use one, I have to use the paste function to insert it. As if that isn't annoying enough - two fonts show up. I give up.

Cakes or Quilts?

2010-02-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

My parents are visiting this weekend. We're celebrating their birthdays, along with both my girls birthdays. Three have already happened and the fourth will happen on Wednesday. We get lots of birthday celebrating done early in the year around here. It makes me dizzy, but I am thankful that I then have ten months to chill. I've made this Wilton giant cupcake cake once before with so-so results in decorating it. I gave it another go this weekend and was happier with the results. I used a larger icing tip, which was more in proportion to the cake, took inspiration from this cake on flickr and followed a tutorial using candy melts to form the "liner" for the cupcake instead of icing it (which looked kind of shoddy on my first go).

One more cake to bake for the birthday party this weekend and then I'm back to quilting, which I think I like more and is much less fattening!

It's Been a While

2010-02-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

I'm still here. Just scrambling to stay afloat at the moment. The upside of having two bad head aches back to back was that I got to listen to a lot of the Olympics that I would have otherwise missed. The downside was losing over two days to the head aches. Bah. They are gone now and I have been caffeine free for four whole days in an attempt to eliminate one possible contributing factor (since the family can't be eliminated). I have to say I continue to feel just a pillow away from a nap at any given time, but I'm making it. Yay.

The above are my parent's birthday presents. I can say that because odds are they will not come across this in the next few days. I am always and continually at a loss as to what to give them and have been trying to make things that I feel they would appreciate - not like the square mug I made them once....or the mug that said "B'S" because our last name started with B. Apparently my Mom took that one another way. Oops. Their birthdays have come and gone but we will be seeing them this weekend and I like to save on postage, simple enough.

I started with layering paper and tissues on top of a piece of muslin covered in diluted white glue. I just spread more glue over everything as I added layers. I have seen this done on Quilting Arts TV more than once, but here is the link to the tutorial from the most recent encounter I had with the idea. You may have to register to be able to see it, so for reference it's project 409-2 that I used as my starting point. I didn't turn mine into vegetable shaped pillows though. Once I had my paper base I did some stamping on top and then added silhouettes of both of my girls that I cut out of black card stock. Getting their silhouettes was really easy. I took a picture of them standing against a wall in profile then uploaded it to picnik where I scaled it to the actual size I wanted it and then traced it right off the monitor onto a piece of white paper which I used as my template for the final cut out. Adjusting the exposure also helped to be able to see the silhouette a bit better. And let me say that the pictures were in no way fussy. I believe neither had had their hair brushed, they were in their pajamas and it was just point and click. I would show you how un-fussy they were, but really, they are not even shareable.

So now it's time to clean the house, as my parent's haven't been to visit in a year now and we have a whole new kitchen to show off. Last time they were here we didn't have a kitchen, so we've greatly improved what we have to offer guests! We'll also be celebrating both their birthdays as well as the girl's, as Sarah's will be here in a week. There'll be a whole lot of aging going on this weekend....just glad it won't be me doing it ; )

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

We had more snow on Friday - about an inch and a half. Even flurries are a big deal here, so anything that sticks on the ground is pretty life altering. And the abundance of snow here this winter has definitely been life altering for us. We have spent so much time outside playing in the cold, which we would normally not be so game for and I have spent what seems like a life altering amount of time washing and drying wet clothes! Lots of good fun.

This is the Valentine I made for the girls (I made two - I'm no fool). I sewed several strips of 1" wide and pink fabric together to get a new fabric to cut the hearts out of, then sewed it to the pink polka-dot fabric. I embroidered "love" on that and then glued it to a piece of paper that says "I love you" and glued that down to a larger piece of pink card stock. What was probably the most fun was the tiny little heart stamp I created by carving it out of a pencil eraser. It worked! Always a good feeling. They were well received, but there was also a request for something more. I think my kids have become too accustomed to always getting "things". They don't even really care about the "thing" - just that they got it. My head is going topsy turvy trying to think of how to stop this now, at almost 5 and 7 and not let it get any further out of hand. Any suggestions? We're already thinking that the Easter Bunny is going to appear very scroogish this year. But for now, Happy Valentine's Day.

Hearts, Hugs and Kisses

2010-02-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

The sewing machine has been busy, but there isn't much to show for it as of now. Hopefully a little something before Sunday though. I did get these Valentine's finished up last night though and in the mail to family today. The girls and I used our thumb prints to make hearts - easy peasy and fast. Maybe next time though, not the thumb - it was hard for them to twist it and get it on the paper. A pointer finger would probably be better. I used watercolor paper for the thumb prints, which gave a nice texture. I was happy with that call.

I am not loving the quilt I have started for us, which was hiding under the pin cushion I made last week, by the way. I think I may abandon ship and find a new boat to sail on, so to speak. I think maybe a different color combination may be in order as well. Who knows. We shall see, time will tell and ahoy matey. Have a great day!

Birthday Girl

2010-02-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

I'm headed to a birthday celebration this evening. I believe the birthday girl is turning 29. Again. We seem to have established a pattern - she gives me books off my Amazon wish list for celebrations and I make her something. I LOVE getting books off my wish list. A lot. So I truly appreciate that she does that for me. This year I am mixing it up a bit for her though. I actually bought her something off of her wish list - a book. This book. I need more partners in crime.

That lent itself to a handmade gift to go along. I made this pin cushion from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I whipped it up in a jiffy, so if you were looking for a last minute gift, this could fit the bill. Another great way to use up some scraps. Now I'm jealous though, the birthday girl's got prettier notions than I do.

Score!

2010-02-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

....and I'm not talking football. I had one hour left this morning before I had to go pick Sarah up from pre-school. I was tempted to run by my nearest thrift store. I almost didn't. But I did. Not only did I pick up three jackets for the girls in varying sizes for 99 cents each, I also scored this globe, which I am so excited about. It set me back $2. I am so happy to have a thrift store that actually puts thrifty prices on things from time to time. Not like our Goodwill that wants $8 for a used Walmart sweater. I will say though, that at one point I brought home quite a good haul of linens and then a week later, their prices on linens seemed to have gone up, as if they realized that they had someone looking for them. Apparently they hadn't had a big run on old globes. Another great thing about scoring this was when Sarah asked me, "Can I hold the world?". In the palm of your hands, baby.

Have you tried picnik yet? I'm still loving it and today they are celebrating their billionth photo edited and almost all the premium offerings are free for the day. There is a great tutorial here about how to layer photos using features available from the premium membership. And there are all sorts of free texture groups on flickr. Most just ask for acknowledgment if you use their texture. All I'm sayin' is I know what I'll be doing all night. So go have a picnik!

In the Works

2010-01-31T09:20:00.001-08:00

I've picked fabric for a new quilt. This one is a big deal - it's for us. All my friends have quilts I've made for their babies, my kids have quilts I've made, but the Mr. and I do not. I want to get this one right. My first thought was just yellow, orange and green. Then I realized that those were the colors in my childhood bed room. Not there is anything wrong with them - I'd be thrilled to come across some of the linens in a thrift store, as one of my college roommates once did, but I feared creating a 1970's flashback that I would not love. So I'm adding some blue and a dash of red.

I am loving this quilt by urban.patchwork and am hoping to make blocks in a similar style, as I think that would suit both our tastes. I've already had a request for no flowers, so I know it can't be feminine. I'm also trying to do something that's not a log cabin, as I feel I've done that a lot as of late. I sure do love them though! This seems like a good direction.

And I'll also be pulling scraps to use in the quilt. Here's my scrap sorting method - kitty litter buckets. Really, they work quite well. With the addition of the kittens, we've been going through it like crazy and I will soon have a bucket for every color (I'm up to 8, but can't show you all of them as this area is a mess). They fit under my sewing table and with the lids on, can actually stack two high. Of course, they aren't the prettiest things to lo0k at and at some point I'd like to make a skirt for my table so that things look a little less junky, but to be honest, it will take a lot more than a table skirt to keep my area from looking junky. Baby steps though.

And then She Was Seven

2010-01-29T19:48:00.000-08:00

And just like that, my sweet, tiny baby went from being cradled in my arms to being a seven year old. That number is hard for me to grasp. Like there is no going back. She's going to grow up on me whether I like it or not. She readily welcomed it whole hearted - excited as could be. What she wasn't counting on though, was a surprised snow storm that sent her home from school early and pretty much scratched her birthday party plans. One friend has made it for the sleep over though, we still "rocked out" (her words) to the Beatles and ate pink electric guitar cake.

I had to edit this to add her party invitations. She drew each one with a picture of herself and the friend it was intended for, giving great thought to how the friend really looks and what their "rock star" outfit would look like.

Oh, and we played in the snow, of course.

Baby Gift in a Jiffy

2010-01-19T09:09:00.000-08:00

Quick and easy...I can't complain. This quilt would have been done Sunday afternoon if I hadn't gotten sidetracked by the note cards. As it was, I finished binding it yesterday, less than three days after I started it. It measures 40" long by 28" wide, so it's not a wimpy size, which I would have expected of myself if I was going to make a quilt in three days. I imagine that the bigger you go with this type of quilt, the more laborious it may become, as you have to spin it around so often due to the small size of the blocks. This sews up so fast though, and is such a great way to use up all those scraps. Between the note cards and this style of quilt, my qualifications for scraps are pretty liberal now. One day I will show you how I store all my scraps. I'll give you one hint right now....kitty litter - yup, that's your hint.

I love the texture that comes with this quilt. I am imagining (hoping) that this could be loved by little people who often like things with some texture. Perhaps this will come to be a lovey that has little fingers running across it as a sweet girls falls asleep. The backing is flannel for extra cuddly softness. You can find the details on how to make one of these for yourself back on this post.

The Mr. is thinking something like this might be nice for us, but only fill in some areas with squares. I guess then, I could just quilt squares into the top to help hold the layers together. Something to think about. I think he is thinking that I really ought to make us something, and I think it would be ironic if he's dreaming up quilt projects for me while I dream up wood working projects for him. Guess we're meant to be.

Haiti

2010-01-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

Haiti has been near and dear to the hearts of many people that I know for several years now. These photos were taken by my husband in Haiti about five years ago now. It's easy to remember when he went, as I was home pregnant with Sarah. He spent a week there with the Children's Nutrition Program (CNP), which works to fight malnutrition in Haiti. They have an incredible program called Hearth, which you can read more about on their website.

I have another friend who traveled to there a couple of years ago with The Cotting School, (which helps students with physical, learning and communication needs) where he works, to work with their sister schools in Haiti through Hearts with Haiti. And I have yet another friend who traveled there just last January with a church group to help with some building projects.

I have not talked anyone who has returned from a trip to Haiti that has not been moved by the spirit of the people there. In the face of constant adversity they persevere, laugh, love, smile and praise God. The news reports coming out of Haiti have shown this spirit, as even, without a church left standing in Port au Prince, people still gathered to sing, pray and worship.

So what do we do? I love this option from the American Red Cross - just text "Haiti" to 90999 and a $10 donation will be made to the American Red Cross and added to your bill. The organizations I mentioned above all have links and take donations as well. And here's one that makes me excited as well. Craft Hope has set up an etsy shop that is being filled day and night with donations from the crafting community. You can either shop within their store or donate something to be sold. All of the profits are going directly to Doctors Without Borders . I have donated the above set of seven note cards and am hoping to get a few more things made and ready to donate. You can get information on how to donate items via the Craft Hope website. They have already raised over $8,000!

So if you're still contemplating what you can do, hopefully one of the above links will speak to you.

Startin' Somethin'

2010-01-16T11:03:00.001-08:00

Yes, I just quoted a Michael Jackson song title. I'm not sure I'm proud of myself, but the fact is, I started something. Since complaining about not having anything of a significant scale going on didn't seem to bring about the results I was looking for, I decided to actually start something. Now I feel much better. I first saw Amanda Jean's (of Crazy Mom Quilts) Ticker Tape quilt when she posted it on Flickr. I was in awe. For one thing I couldn't figure out how she'd made it - it looked near to impossible to make in the ways I contemplated it. So imagine how happy I was when I stumbled upon a tutorial for a doll sized version over on Sew, Mama, Sew! . Suddenly it all made sense, seemed very doable and a great way to use up some scraps. So I've set out to make one for a little girl that is due to arrive in March. This one is larger than the doll sized quilt in the tutorial and size was dictated purely by the size of the piece of flannel I already had for the back. I am almost giddy at the thought of having the gift ready before her birth. That is a true accomplishment for me. My mind is also thinking that if I could have one quilt finished before January ends, and another one started, I may be able to keep the energy flowing and get to work on my New Years Resolution (making more quilts than I did last year).

And speaking of New Years Resolutions, I made one more which I'm already failing at, but it is more important than the quilting one. I want to say "thank you" more. Thank you for stopping by here to read all the irrelevant things I have to say, thank you for your kind comments, thank you for being part of this awesome community.....thank you. I plan to say it a lot more in the coming year as well, but here's a start.

Sewing for Girls

2010-01-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

I'm having a bit of a hard time getting started on a new big project. I want so badly to be in the midst of one, because I know how much satisfaction I get from it, but I'm dawdling right now. I've spent a lot of time on flickr and picnik as of late and have decided to give the 365 project a go. I'm enjoying that, so it's not bad dawdling, but nonetheless, I'm not not in the midst of a quilt, which I would like to be. But, I have gotten a thing or two taken care of as well.

These need to get in the mail right away, as there is no point in welcoming a baby when her parents are planning her first birthday party. The two bibs are for a gorgeous new little girl and the doll is for her big sister, who was Sarah's nearest and dearest friend while they were in daycare together. Back in the day, ya' know. The bibs are just one piece of fabric backed with chenille - the dog fabric came from Ikea where, in the children's department, you can buy very large cuts of some of their children's fabrics already wrapped up and ready to go for a really reasonable price (which I can no longer remember). I think sewing for little girls is so much fun and I only wish I was better at garment sewing....or that my girls would wear what I make them (perhaps then I would be more inclined to become better at garment sewing).

The Last of Christmas

2010-01-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

The tree has been undecorated and moved to the curb (sad). The undecorating part of Christmas is not a favorite of mine. After all the warmth and glow that the lights and decorations bring, the new year feels sort of bare and cold. Especially cold right now, given the temperatures! I'm currently gathering some of my favorite pieces of artwork from the girls and working on getting them into frames with the grand idea of rearranging all our wall art some time soon. Hopefully that will add some new cheer and warmth back into the house. I'm also slightly fixated on painting some walls white. I feel like it's my tendency to add a smidgen of brown to everything and right now I'm longing for crisper, cleaner colors. We shall see. I've been perusing the galleries on flickr and have lots of decorating itches to scratch right now.

And one last handmade Christmas gift to share with you. Jim was sweet enough to make six of these in the days leading up to Christmas. I had seen these on maya*made and thought they would be great kid gifts. He did a great job of making these out in the garage just as the temperature started to drop. Perhaps it will be my tradition to hit him up with a wood working project every other year, as it was two years ago that we collaborated on these. I think the kids will (one day) appreciate having hand made gifts from the both of us.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to pop in and wish you a Happy New Year ( a day late...apparently there is one resolution I am damned to fail at every year). We are off to a good start celebrating with family and friends, sleeping in and just hanging out at home. We're off to a birthday party now and will deliver this bunting, which has the recipient's name on the other side. Lots of crafting planned for the new year with a goal of making at least one quilt more than last year, although I don't currently know what that number would be...at least five or six. I'm already anticipating the arrival of three new babies (not mine!!), so I'll be well on my way. I hope your new year is filled with the things that make you happy as well.

Note Cards

2009-12-28T20:34:00.001-08:00

...catchy title, isn't it?

The little bits sewn to paper were turned into note cards. I seem to have developed a tradition of giving note cards at Christmas. They seem well received and are fun to make. Each year I try to do something different with them. This year they were mini quilts. I was inspired by the rainbow wreaths that Amy over at Sweet Sweet Life made, so I tried working on monochromatic cards in the colors of the rainbow. That actually made them pretty fun to create. I managed to knock out quite a few over the course of two evenings, although I didn't get all I wanted done, so fewer went in a pack and some people will be getting theirs for their birthday instead.

These were made using 1.5" squares of fabric, four wide and three high. I used a dab of glue from a glue stick to hold them in place on the card stock and then machine "quilted" them before embellishing them with hearts, flowers, brads and what nots. These have given me so many more ideas that I can't wait to whip up some more! I'm also thinking that a few small ones framed in shadow boxes might be kind of neat. The ideas are rolling, so bring on the time!

We are home from our travels and awaiting family traveling our way now, so the days will continue to be full. I hope the holidays are treating you all well and wish you a very Happy New Year if I don't make it back in the next few days.

Down to the Wire

2009-12-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

With just days left till Christmas and even fewer days until we hit the road to travel to my parents, I have decided to think up more gifts to make and more things to do, but have failed to find more hours in the day. I started the above project yesterday evening and am very excited about them. Twenty-four are complete as of tonight, but there are hundreds more ideas bouncing around in my head now, thanks to them. The combine my love of paper and fabric and that's all I'm going to say about them for now.

The elves are still here. Some days they are more interesting than others. This morning they couldn't be found until one of the girls was sent out to feed the outdoor kitty and there they were, hanging out on the porch. The girls didn't look any further and had to be prompted to look past the elves and into the yard. We were "caned" (the good kind) last night. A treat for everyone because we got to take the night off from elving and let our church's youth do the job for us. The cane the homes of all the families with young children each year. This involves taping candy canes to plastic knives and forks and then poking them into the ground all while being incredibly quiet and covert. I think the girls were both in our living room, which looks out onto the front yard while this was taking place. The below photo is not very impressive, but you get the idea....and the kids are impressed.

Now it's time for me to head to the kitchen because even though the girls and I baked for three hours this morning, I decided to invite the neighbors over tomorrow to decorate sugar cookies and we currently have no sugar cookies. Then maybe I ought to wrap some presents. Or think about the laundry that needs to get done tomorrow so that it can be packed. And there's also a to-do list for tomorrow morning when I run out to finish that... oh what's that called? Oh yeah, the Christmas shopping. Need to finish that too. And then deliver the goodies we baked for neighbors. And mail the packages that I know won't make it in time, but still need to go. Surely there's more, but my mind might be about to blow.

Celebrating

2009-12-17T19:23:00.001-08:00

Thank you for all the kind words about the kitchen. It's kind of hard to be wowed by it now, as it was such a long process - no one week instant makeover and reveal for us. Still, it is so much easier to function in...we all fit in it now, our sink is deep enough to fill with dirty dishes and leave for later (who...me???) and the pantry, ah the pantry - still loving that!!

So there was more celebrating going on yesterday than you could shake a stick at. Both girls had parties at school, which I attended, we finally got to go see Santa after being delayed two weeks first by snow and then the flu and most importantly, Jim and I got to celebrate the completion of year #14. Seriously, 14 years? I must have gotten married at fourteen or something! We whopped it up with our visit to Santa, pizza with the girls and a drive from here to there and everywhere to look at Christmas lights. It was fun.

The sewing machine is still working overtime. I managed to whip up two of these Tuesday night. One for Rachel's teacher, who has a little girl who just turned one and one for her kindergarten teacher from last year, who became a Grandma this year and whom we need to continue to maintain a close relationship with because she will be Sarah's teacher next year. Yes, trying to butter her up a year in advance.....but have you met Sarah? There need to be more of these coming down the pipeline. There are babies to be welcomed and babies on the way. All I need is the time.

Well I've just woken from a long winter's nap...or at least I fell asleep on the couch from 7-10, so I'd better get back to the tasks at hand, like making, making, making and wrapping. So much wrapping.

Kitchen Tour 2009

2009-12-15T07:52:00.001-08:00

Since I've had a few requests, I figure it's time to share the kitchen with you. Mind you, we still have some painting to do, a back splash to decide on, and some other little details(like a door for the fuse box), but when compared to this time last year, we are so so so done! So I'll narrate and you can peek. Then you can see the progress we made by checking out this album with highlights of the process over on flickr.

Entering the kitchen from the dining room. Where the shelves are, between the two window banks, is where the wall use to be that divided the two rooms. Kitchen was on the left and the room on the right was what we called the "un-room". It did nothing but hold extra storage furniture for stuff that didn't fit in the kitchen. After moving into the house in 2001 and rewiring, it also had not power in it, if I recall correctly.

One more view from the dining room into the kitchen. There is a bedroom on the other side of that white door. Currently the girls are sharing it. That was once a porch, which we demolished and had a bedroom and bath put in its place.

Long view of kitchen. My back is in the girl's bedroom doorway. The door you can see leads outside.

Long view from the opposite direction, with my back now against the door to outside. The floating shelves were the last bit of cabinetry to go in. I intended for them to hold a good bit of weight, but when the cabinet maker installed them he expressed concern that they would tilt forward. I loaded them up with cookbooks to test it and they were tilting within minutes. While he proposed having some metal support fabricated, Jim announced that he thought he had an idea and could fix it with rebar. I was concerned, but I'll be darned, those shelves will never sag again!

Pantry and ovens. The pantry was a #1 item on my list. We made a lot of adjustments to everything else on this wall to be able to fit this pantry in, but I am glad I stood firm on my desire for it. I LOVE it!! It came from here.

My inside view is not as pretty as the company's, but you get the idea. I still need more canisters and organization in there, but it is so easy to find thing and use.

The oven and refrigerator wall. In the old kitchen, the refrigerator was recessed into a nook which has now been walled in and the refrigerator pushed forward. Now, the bedroom closet on the other side of the wall can be widened. Another day. When I have forgotten about the dust that demolition causes and all the turmoil that ensues.

Long view of same wall. The desk area on the far left will eventually have a computer at it. I'm also thinking about cork against that wall vs. the back splash (which we haven't even begun to think about). Our cabinets were made by a local cabinet maker who works full time as a fireman and does this on the side. The counter tops and floor came from the Tile Store.

Well, that's about it. It's twice as long, the same width, much prettier to look at and only a year in the making. I do have to stress that Jim did everything himself except for build and install the cabinets, run the gas line and cut and install the counter tops. He did all the demolition, framing, repair work to damaged wood, drywalling, plumbing, wiring, flooring, paint stripping, painting....you name it. His eldest brother did come help over the course of three weekends, once to install the header that took the place of the load bearing wall that we removed, once to help with hanging drywall and once to help lay tile. We are very thankful for his help in those areas, as they were really two person jobs.

Sick. Again.

2009-12-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

Just when I was beginning to feel overwhelmed with what still had to be done, the commitments we'd made, the birthday parties and Christmas parties and all that stuff that's supposed to be fun, but in mega doses becomes nothing more than a duty fulfilled, nature sent us a not so subtle reminder to slow down. Rachel had a head ache Wednesday and was cold all day, which is odd for her. By ten that night, her temperature was almost 103. By noon on Thursday, it was 103.5. Thankfully the doctor had an opening at 3:00 and we were there! As her pediatrician put it, she got an A on the only test you don't want to get an A on....Flu, Type A. She was sooooo sick last night. I don't ever recall having the flu and had no idea that it was so horrible. At one point, I swear, her eyes rolled up in her head right before she threw up. Again. On a tummy that had already lost the only thing she'd eaten back at the pediatrician's office. Poor girl. Thankfully, she is feeling better today. The whole family is taking Tamiflu (man it's expensive!!!) and she's got several other concoctions to take as well. We were lucky to catch it early and hopefully everyone will be well for Christmas.

So the elves thought they ought to do something fun last night to lift spirits this morning. Those little buggers strung toilet paper (again with the TP!!) from the dining room light out into the dining room and sprayed silly string on the table! Tsk. Tsk. They could be found hanging in the light this morning with their tools in hand and their antics were well received.

And in the effort to be a bit crafty, I have to mention Picnik. I am usually the last to hear about something, so you may already know all about it, but if you like taking photos and don't know about it, clear some time from your day and have fun. Lots of photo editing tools, great filters and fun to be had. I tweaked the above photo of Rachel with it. It's free for the basics and reasonable for a year's subscription which gets you extra features (of which I cannot tell you about, as the budget will not allow it right now).

There is crafting that desperately needs to get done, but what with school cancelled, welcoming the flu into our house and all that sort of stuff, projects are waiting on my table. I'm hoping to make some progress now that nature has forced us to slow down a bit.

And a kitchen tour is in the near future. I took photos yesterday after I gave it a good picking up and before the Mr. went to town making some incredible lasagna in it.

Busy Busy

2009-12-08T19:03:00.000-08:00

Everyone is busy busy around here. The elves were at it again last night with a marshmallow fight in the kitchen. I wonder if they knew that the marshmallows would grow stale overnight and stick to the kitchen floor. Hmm... I think the girls were excited to see a little naughty behavior out of them as well. That would be my girls! And I am excited to show you a little peek of the new kitchen. One day, when it is clean, I will show more, but right now it is not. By far. Still some details to be taken care of there, as well as a backsplash, but it beats the pants off last Christmas when there was just a gaping hole at that end of the house.

I'm still whipping up gifts as fast as I can, which some days does not seem very fast. The wrapped gifts went to Rachel's Daisy Scout leaders today - blackberry/mulberry jam. Hand picked, home made and tasty. The bottom "thing" is a secret and that's all I'm saying for now.

And since some of the recipients of the these may be getting an early glimpse of them, I won't tell you what they are for now either. I'll give my secrets away on Flickr, but remember, Santa knows if you've been naughty or not! Plus he might have elves watching!

And lastly, cookies for the Daisy Scout cookie swap they had today. We brought Thumbprint cookies. I love these - I think it might be the jam. I am really loving jam these days. Jam on toast, jam in cookies, heck - jam on a spoon! I took the poor woman's way out in packaging them though, when I found that the containers I liked were not on sale. Rachel thought the fact that our container was the only one with a candy cane on it was a good selling feature.

And speaking of cookies. The reindeer cookies. Bleck. I'm not sure if it was the peanut butter that I used, if I over cooked them (burnt) or what, but they taste - well, nasty. The idea is cute, but the taste is not. I would suggest using your own peanut butter cookie recipe, or any other cookie recipe for that matter instead. Don't say you haven't been warned.

An Interruption

2009-12-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

It must be the holidays because our world is full of magic right now. The kind of magic that brings an early morning snow to Southern Tennessee just weeks before Christmas. My wake up call came at 6:30 this morning - not a favorite time to rise on a Saturday morning, but they were magic words squealed by excited little girls "It's snowing!!".

I got up. I grabbed the camera. I'm glad I did. I also went back to bed for an hour or so before rising again, taking more photos and then heading out to play. All before breakfast....but not coffee. The coffee tasted extra good outside in the cold!

Our winter wonderland is melting right now, but there's still magic inside. Friday morning the elves were found snuggled up in a basket in a toilet paper nest reading "The Night Before Christmas". These elves seem to have a thing for the T.P.

Then last night, before I went to bed I caught them already having their breakfast on the table. And more magic this morning, when they cereal they'd started out with last night was all gone!

Perhaps Santa has a helper when it comes to this magic stuff.

P.S. The cats are not supposed to be on the table, but I am guilty of taking the picture first and then getting the squirt bottle out.

Mission Accomplished

2009-12-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I got them done in time! Phew!! My girls will both be getting a new quilt for Christmas this year. Hopefully this will be something that they will treasure and have for a long time. My favorite part about these quilts is that some of their clothes have been incorporated into the squares. I know, when I see a particular orange print that I will remember our trip to visit Jim's brother's family in Iowa and buying that dress on our way home from the Iowa State Fair. Or the pink print from the top that Rachel's Nina gave her and her daughter wore as well. And the blue sundress that Sarah wore when we visited my Grandparents in Florida. I'm so glad that there are already memories folded into these quilts. I also embroidered "xoxo mom 2009" into the lower right corner of each....just in case they forget how much I love them. Now I just hope they will go over well, seeing as how they are not battery powered, don't have any glitter and are not hand held gaming devices.

Busy Elves

2009-12-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

All manner of elves are busy at our house these days. The girls awoke this morning to find their elves coloring in new coloring books on the dining room table. It was reported that they must have gone to the "North Pole Shop" and that they also are very good "colorers" and stayed in the lines. Thankfully, the fear over the elves seems to have passed. A few more 3 AM freak outs over them and they would have been sent packing!

Another elf is busy at the sewing machine whenever she can find the time. The above three are done and waiting matching bits. "Above what?" you ask? That's my little secret. Ho ho ho!

And what would the holidays be if we weren't baking? Sarah requested some backing today, which pretty much translates into "I want to grab insane amounts of dough out of the mixer while you foolishly believe that I actually wanted to make cookies.". These cookies are cute, but not very durable. They're pretty much a peanut butter cookie with pretzel antlers, mini chocolate chip eyes and an M&M nose. The recipe was from here. We ended with stick antlers instead of their broken pretzel antlers, but come on, we're just going to eat them anyway.

It's That Time of Year

2009-11-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

Not a lot of crafting going on this weekend, but lots of family time, which I am thankful for. We spent a couple of fun days with Jim's oldest brother and his family, including a Thanksgiving day romp through Point Park and a yummy Indian Feast to warm us back up upon our return. No turkeys were harmed at our house this year (or any other year, for that matter).

Today we picked out our Christmas tree at a cut your own farm and already have it lit and partially decorated. I think the girls might be excited. Just a little.

And who wouldn't be excited when Santa chooses to send some of his elves to play pranks on you and monitor your behavior? We woke up Friday morning (AFTER sunrise) and found that the elves had taped all our doors shut and then taped themselves to the door! There has been so much conjecturing as to what the elves will do next, it's been quite fun to listen in on!

What wasn't so fun was my 3 AM wake-up when Rachel decided that the highly anticipated elves were freaking her out and she was afraid of them. Apparently it is still undecided as to whether they are here for good or evil. They seem to be just swell during the day and questionable at night according to the six and under crowd.

And check this out....I'm a winner! Not often I get to shout that out, but today it's true. I discovered Amy Hanson's blog Sweet Sweet Life a month or two ago while flipping through pictures on flickr. Her flair for decorating and creativity is incredible. A few days ago I entered a give-away on her website for a bunch of Japanese crafting goodies centered around kids. I was so shocked to visit her site today and see a picture of her two beautiful girls holding a sign with my name on it. I honestly didn't think it had anything to do with this Colleen, let alone that I'd won, but by gosh by golly, I did. So whoo hoo and what a way to start the holidays!

Now...there are precious few days left and I've got a whole lot of sewing to do, so it's time to get to work!

In a Bind

2009-11-20T10:09:00.000-08:00

Both the girls Christmas present quilts are quilted - ha, I almost said done...oh how I wish! Now on to the binding. I have made a ridiculously long strip of binding (of which only a tiny portion is shown in this photo because the rest was on the floor being treated as a kitten toy....argh!!) from fabrics that were used in the quilts and will start sewing tonight after the Nosy Noras have gone to bed. When it gets to the hand sewing part, I'm going to use this great idea I first saw over here - hair clips to hold the binding in place vs. my fingers holding it and cramping along the way (too lazy to pin). So I know what my weekend holds for me - I hope you have a great one doing something you enjoy!

Fall....In the Nick of Time

2009-11-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

These pictures should have existed two months ago, but with just days left to think brown, gold and orange, I finished this garland. It's hung in the doorway between our dining room and living room, which is quite wide. I wish I could show a full shot of it, but it would also show all the chaos and clutter that is/was going on in the surrounding areas. Believe me, it's not pretty. The leaves were cut from felted wool sweaters that I and those who love me have been gathering up for me. I used a template from Martha Stewart for the Maple leaf, and just drew my Oak leaves free hand (her Oak leaf looked to thick to me....maybe we have different Oaks in the South) and then did some free motion stitching on them to give them veins. The rest of the garland was made with fabric strips, burlap, ribbon, raffia and beads. I'm still trying to decide if I like this or if it came across as too country cutesy. I almost wish I'd just stitched the leaves together in a chain. Maybe next year.

These were another project that I'm still scratching my head over. I was going for something natural and autumnal, but I think I got Christmas pine cone trees instead. I'm thinking that sticking them with pumpkins didn't help. And in addition to them not really looking very autumnal, I can see a lot of dried glue on them, so I'm thinking I need to invest in a can of spray "snow" and give them a good dusting. The Mr. says he's not a fan of fake snow on things, but I'm not really a fan of Christmas tree decorations in October or visible globs of dried glue. Glitter was my other idea, but I'm not sure that's the best course of action either. Either way, I need to give up on fall and focus on Christmas now, which will be easier now that I have a new iron to replace the one that went kaput the other night. I can't say it's from all the clothes that I iron, but I'm guessing it croaked after all the fabric and seams it has ironed over the past years. The important stuff, you know.

A Friendly Little PSA

2009-11-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

Just a friendly little reminder that your sewing machine might appreciate being cleaned out and delinted every once in a while. Perhaps more often than I do mine. I think I was on the verge of needle felting....and it was cotton! I must say that I tend to use machines (of any sort) and forget about maintenance. My vacuum cleaner is about 8 years old...I wonder how long they can go without changing the belts, or how to change the belts...or get the belts for that matter. I will not mention how far past due my car is for an oil change or any other sort of maintenance, but it is also 10 years old and treating me poorly, so bah to it. But my sewing machine, her I love and want to treat well and take good care of her, so perhaps I should stop between projects and give her a little TLC.

And while I'm full of all sorts of brilliant information like clean out your sewing machine, I thought I'd share these gloves with you. They are quilting gloves made by Fons & Porter and set me back all of about $3 with a coupon at Hobby Lobby. They come in S, M & L, are light weight and have made machine quilting so much easier for me due to the tiny little gripper dots on the fingers and palm side. Previously, I didn't have a good grip on the fabric as I moved it around. and ......want to know something gross? I tended to lick my fingers from time to time to stop them from slipping on the fabric. I do wash all my quilts before giving them away now, so rest easy if you were have been a recipient of one. Still, not the most awesome way to go about quilting. These gloves though, so much easier!

And now, because Christmas is just a sneeze away and I have more projects laid out for me that I could shake a stick at, I think I might go make more cute little fabric acorns. Yeah, that would be the smart thing to do, I'm sure.

Weekend Progress Report

2009-11-09T11:56:00.001-08:00

Well my weekend proved to be a productive one. I took a large stack of 10.5'' quilt squares, and managed to get one quilt assembled and completely quilted. Still needs binding, but that will come. That part I can do easily at night after the girls go to bed. It was good to get one out of the way while they were gone, as I will still have the second to get done between now and Christmas.

The second top was assembled, but alas, no more batting, so back to the store I will go before Friday, when I will have another decent block of time to do some covert Christmas work. More colorful block quilts, you say....isn't she getting tired of them? Why yes, I am. This all came about when I had the brilliant idea for a mass assembly line kind of thing to get a bunch done. Since then I've grown bored with that and will be eager to move on to some new quilts soon.

I also got a pair of pajama pants made for Christmas. All her current bottoms are turning into floods. It's nice to see at Target today though, that a plain top to go with them will cost about as much as a new set of pajamas. Oh well, it's the thought, isn't it?

Work was started on a Christmas Emmaline apron for my mother-in-law.

And I cut out a whole bunch of felt leaves. I have plans for some fall decorations which may or may not make it up before it's time for Christmas decorations. Time will tell. I feel the pressure of Christmas fast approaching and wonder if I'm just digging a bigger hole for myself by thinking fall. Diversions are nice though.

What's For Lunch?

2009-11-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

A quilt sandwich, of course! Ha-ha. This is a "working weekend" for me and I'm loving it. Jim has taken the girls to his brother's for the weekend so that I can have some peace and get some things done. I've already finished a pair of flannel pajama bottoms for Rachel and am now working on one of the two quilts for the girls. This one is now pinned and as soon as I get off this machine, I'm moving over to the sewing machine and will begin quilting. I have pinned this "sandwich" to within an inch of its life, using probably three times as many pins I ever had before. Perhaps I'm learning from my mistakes and realizing that a little extra effort on the front end saves a lot of very unpleasant work on the other end. I've also learned that pinning on a hard surface is so much easier than carpet, which I now realize was like trying to smooth something out while it's stuck to Velcro. Thank goodness for the big dining room floor (and lack of children this weekend to want to walk on it). And while I'm sure you won't find spackling buckets and paint cans in the notions section of the quilt shop, they did prove handy for keeping things in place as I built my sandwich.

So it's off to work I go with Pandora, this little gal (Coraline Jones), her brother Fluffy and my sweet Arnold to keep my company. Cute, isn't she? Want one? I've got spares on my porch.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!
True to the stereotype of being the second child, Sarah has to share her spotlight with the actual holiday. Sorry sweet princess. After two days of being a rather ambiguous snow princess/Mrs. Claus/snow fairy, Sarah changed costumes and announced that she was going to be one of the twelve dancing princesses yesterday morning. That worked for me, so off to preschool we went. The parade was adorable. They walked around the parking lot in front of the church and waved to passing cars. Lots of honking and very sweet. Teary eyed sweet.

We forgot her pearls this evening and she wanted her hair down as opposed to the bun she requested last night. The tank top helps prevent "itchiness"....a very bad thing! My highlight for the evening was the fact that she would pull her dress up and in front as we walked to keep it off the ground. Not terribly amusing except that the closures stop at her waist, so when she pulled it forward, it opened up the back and her little rear end stuck out. I will respect her privacy, but do let me say that a good princess matches her knickers to her dress!

So Trixie the Halloween Fairy and a dancing princess donned their funny faces and headed out to trick-or-treat. We have found a sure fire way to get the treats...if they ask for a trick, tell them we'll bring them a kitten, of which we have three that need homes immediately. I think the girls may have even gotten extra candy to keep kittens at bay.

Hopefully you had a fun Halloween too and nothing too scary. I love Rachel's "scary face"...it's eat it up cute (in my opinion).

Halloween 3.0

2009-10-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

Today is day number 3 for Rachel and her Halloween festivities. We've already had trick-or-treating with Daisy Scouts at an assisted living facility and the Fall Carnival (or "Call Farnival" as Sarah likes to call it) last night. Today is dress like a book character at school. I am catching on to the school thing... every year it's "dress like a book character" at Halloween time. Hence, from here on out, the girls will always be book characters for Halloween in order to save needing multiple costumes. Well, book characters or a sea horse (which no one wants to wear again.. oh man, I didn't post about that - I'll have to do that later).

So here is Trixie the Halloween Fairy. Not a very crafty costume - pull dress out of dress up box, pick up cool striped tights at Target, grab perfect orange wings from the Dollar Tree, stick a black star on a necklace and tie a bow in her hair. Thank goodness it was easy, because that's about all I've been up for! She's thrilled though, so I'm happy.

Coming up next, Halloween 4.0 when Sarah gets her turn in the spotlight. The lighting and fog was just so perfect this morning that I was excited to get out and snap some pictures. I wish my yard looked this good when not viewed from behind the lens of a camera!!