early January

I forgot to mention last time the important news that Lily is learning how to sew.  She's very creative, and she's eleven.  Because she's shown an interest in making outfits for some of her stuffed or plastic toys, for Christmas I gave her 2 books... one geared to tween-age sewing and the other to help get her familiar with a sewing machine.   A few days later we worked on her first steps.  She practiced sewing straight and curvy lines, and pivoting for a turn.  Then so we could wrap up the session with an actual project, she made a chicken pin cushion.   We both had a good time.  :)

The nice thing about this age is the lack of inhibition.  As we looked at fabric for the project, she asked if she could use green and blue, her favorite colors.  Of course!  There are no quilt police!  Then she chose buttons for the eyes, one yellow and one red.  Yep, she's going to do just fine.

I mentioned last week about the art journal project I've joined in on.  My cover is still a work in progress, but it's coming along.  Here's how I'm progressing.   You can see I'm using a composition book.  After watching several youtube videos, it looks like it will work fine.  I learned to open the book flat, and tie a ribbon all the way around the binding, then repeat that process at intervals to have about 5 or 6 ribbons.  This helps secure the binding, to keep it from separating from the pages as they become heavier with content.

Next I inserted some little pages to go underneath those ribbons.  I took newspaper inserts, and trimmed them down where they would have a staple intact.  I slipped that under the ribbon.  As I use those pages, I will gesso the insert to cover up the advertising as well as give it a base for whatever I decide to do.  I'm totally winging this (after viewing the videos) because I do not come with a scrapbooking background.

Next I gesso-ed the cover.  This covered up the design and gave me a blank canvas.

I've not finished the cover yet, so I'll show that later.

We received our first prompt.  Remember there will be 52 prompts, one given weekly.  No right or wrong, we do as we please.  The first was Up, Up, and Away...as in soaring into the new year.  Several have posted theirs on Facebook, and there are a lot of talented people.  Lots of balloons, hot air balloons, wings, etc.  I saw them, and knowing I'm not a particularly "airy" person, I took a different little spin.   Picture a little ant farm with all the trails that ants make.  Picture one little ant on his journey to the top.  Then picture him going further, and climbing up a tree.  Going out on a limb, he hops on a leaf, and "soars" through the air.  "Whee!  We all want to soar..."

I know, I have a long way to go.  But, thankfully this is a journey and there are not expectations of perfection anywhere along the way. 

Until the next time, have fun and express yourself!

almost autumn

The calendar may say it's Autumn, but here in Texas we're still seeing some warm days.  Granted, upper 80's is not as hot as 100+ degrees, but I'm ready for highs in the 60's or 70's.

My neighbor wanted the twin bed frame I refinished, so since that's out of the way, I now have a new twin bed.  I may get a headboard at some point but for now like the flexibility of putting it wherever I want it.  I started out with it away from the wall, then decided flush against the wall is best for now for when Elise sleeps over.  I'd like a chenille bedspread, so that will take some looking.  In the meantime, I've got a quilt over it for a cover. 

Since it's that time of year, I made a couple of pumpkins for decoration.  Only have one to show, because Elise took the other one home.   This was really a stash buster...used a piece of fabric about 10"x20".  Click on the "pumpkins" link if you think you'd like to make one.

You may remember that last couple of years I've participated in the 12 Days of Christmas swap over on the HGTV quilting/sewing forum.  I debated whether to do it this year, and decided I will.  I've gotten a good start on it, and still have a few weeks to get finished.  Of course I can't tell you what I'm making, but you'll be seeing pics of everything around Christmas.  I like that I should be able to complete all of them with fabric I have on hand.

Guess that's it for now.  Have a good week all.

Merry Christmas to all...

December is always a busy month, and this one is no exception.

I've mentioned the Twelve Days of Christmas swap I participated in, and we've now finished opening and are able to post pictures, so here we go!

First, these are the gifts I made...luggage tags.  I got to stretch my wings a bit because I've not sewn on vinyl before.  I learned the trick of putting tissue paper on top of the vinyl to sew, because it would stick otherwise and not feed through.  I also used quite a bit of my scraps of binding!

And here's the first set of items I received.

The lotion and blue coin purse were from Catwomn27; the Dear Santa wallhanging from Angelinamor; the bookmarker on the right from DJillM; the bookmarkers in the center from Gemsq; the gray cell phone holder made from a tie is from LanaR, along with a page of her favorite recipes; and the pincushion with snippers in the center is from Fleur53.

Here's the second set received.

Starting in the lower left, the box of note paper is from Nylirose; the 4 potholders from Quilter Chris; the pin cushion is from Ely (if I'm guessing correct, made from a tuna can!  I only know because I held onto 5 or  6 tuna cans for several years thinking I'd make one and didn't).  The blue covered notebook is from PatriciaAnn, and the 2 mug rugs are from Margie.

This cute little thread holder came from Luvthosequilts.  It came a few days later than the others, so it got its own picture.  For those of you not familiar with thread holders, they hold the snippets of thread you have, whether from doing handwork or machine work.  Kind of tidies up the work area.

Its nice to see the creativity these ladies come up with in making small little remembrances for next to nothing.  My kind of people!  I'm sure I'll be doing it again next year, along with several of the other ladies.

I also used directions from a PJ party class on journal covers, and came up with a few.  We had a class on the same subject a few years ago, and those covers came out well, but these were quite a bit simpler. 

I don't get the opportunity to watch Rhett and Ashlynn a whole lot, but I did a week ago when Robert and Angela went out.  It was nice to be able to spend some time with them.  We went to Rosa's Cafe for a light dinner.

Last night the kids and grandkids came over for our family time.  Unfortunately poor little Ashlynn got sick on the way over and Angela took her home, so she didn't make it into the pictures.  She's doing better today though, so hopefully it was either something she ate disagreed with her, or a little bug.

Elise and I made some shaped sugar cookies Saturday night, and the kids got to get their hands into decorating.

And Lily gave a concert to display her skill with the violin.  Fun!

After presents were opened, David helped Rhett make sure his toy was working properly.

And this year I decided to give myself a present, and got a KitchenAid mixer.  Anyone who knows me knows I don't cook a whole lot, so it's a bit of a stretch for me to have this, but after borrowing Elizabeth's to make the cookies, I was hooked.  I was really impressed with how it whipped the cheese balls together!  Here I am with a slicing attachment, playing with it a bit.  Still on a learning curve, the bell pepper wasn't a nice clean cut...but I'm still impressed.  :)

December is also a good month for working puzzles.  Elise has gotten big enough now that I feel comfortable working them in the living room when I watch her during the week.  She's turning into quite the puzzle person!  I'm glad she enjoys them.  You can see her little monkey there in the corner.  He helped too.

That's it for now.  I hope you have had the opportunity to fully appreciate all the blessings in your life.  At this time of year when we celebrate the birth of Christ, we can also celebrate each other.  Merry Christmas!

And to all...a good night.

Thanksgiving

Ah, another Thanksgiving comes to an end.  Its always nice to gather together those nearest and dearest to my heart.  We of course ate plenty, and then everyone just relaxed a bit...the modern way.  :)

We ate our meal at lunchtime, and for those wanting to watch football games, they weren't on until a bit later.  Not only was this group tuned to their various technological games, Elizabeth took the picture, edited it to include Albert Einstein, and sent it to Facebook...all while I sat with my feet up, looking on.  I think Angela, Elise and I were the only ones without a gadget in our hands.  That's okay, we make up for it during the week.  :)   Oops, I have to take back that part about me not having a gadget in my hands...I took a couple of pictures too.

On a different note, I tried my hand at making a little coin purse this week.  I had bought the purse frame, 2 of them actually, because I saw the coin purses over on Thearica's blog.   I had to come up with a pattern, and this one is a bit longer than I want, so I'll probably re-do it to more closely resemble the smaller purses that Thearica has.   I also want to work on it to make it feel more firmly attached, it feels like a good tug could separate the fabric from the clasp.  All that's holding it is the little bit of hand stitching you can see on the clasp.  It was a good use of my crazy quilting fabric though, with a shiny brocade on the outside, and a satin-like lining on the inside.

Let me close by saying I'm so thankful for the life I have with my family and friends.  Each day I wake up with a "thank you" in my heart.  Don't let Thanksgiving be a once-a-year event...make it continuous.

this time of year...

This time of year we start getting into the "sorry, can't talk about it" or "sorry, can't show any pictures" mode.

We know my challenge quilt is still in the voting stages, and that won't close unitl next Saturday.  Maybe they ought to consider a 10 day voting period, instead of 2 full weeks.  Anyway, time's moving along on that one.

I'm also in another swap, The Twelve Days of Christmas.  I participated last year, and it's fun.  At least 12 people join in, the more the merrier, and each person makes 12 items that are mailed to the coordinators.  They swap out the gifts (they are wrapped when sent in, and have our individual names on the outside of the package for being "from"), and mail them out in time for us to open one a day before Christmas.  As we open the one a day, we get on the forum at HGTV and let them know we opened something, but can't say what so the other people will be surprised.  Last year I sent in my embroidered hankies, and received among other things a potholder, decorated journal using scrapbooking supplies, and a hot pad for the table.  The idea is to do an inexpensive remembrance type gift.   While I can't say specifically what I'm doing this year, I can say I'm using up some of my binding tape that I've had awhile!  And I'm learning a new-to-me technique too, so that's a good thing.

Shifting gears, every fall the local Friends of the Library hosts a Mansfield Writes program, as well as a Mansfield Reads program in another part of the year.  I went to the writing program Friday night, and it was an enjoyable evening listening to 6 authors, mostly local people.   Diane Kelly, Liz Lipperman, Carl Stower, Wendy Watson, and Melissa Bourbon, and newspaper columnist Judy Lee spoke and answered questions, and also of course had their books available for purchase.   It turns out the fellow I was seated next to has also written a couple of books, Ken Aldridge.  I don't know that Carl Stower has ebooks, but the others do, and I'm ready to read the few I've downloaded.  I think they'll be entertaining. 

I was talking to my neighbor the other day, and she homeschools her girls.  She talked about craft time, and I may be helping them learn to sew.  There are several projects that they could do, and would serve to introduce them to sewing...pillowcases, pot holders, and coasters, and who knows what else.  Should be fun. 

Guess that's it for now.  Have a good week!

mad monkey changes

Elise has several sock monkeys now, and enjoys playing with them.  She even got a new one for her birthday.  In the last week she decided one of them was mad, and it bothered her, so she asked GaGa Grams to fix him.

The eyebrows were her main concern.  They were pointy, along with his nose.

It didn't take long to make things right in her little world again.  Snip away the old stitches, and with her help on design, stitch on the new.   "I lub him so much!"

tying up loose ends

I've been trying to go through a few things in the sewing room, and it's an uphill battle.

I've had a plastic tub that held purchased patterns (in their little plastic sleeves), those printed off the internet, and odds and ends of little notes.  Its a nice little catch-all, but got so that I couldn't find what I wanted without pulling everything out and making another mess.  So I pulled everything out one more time.  Using a three ring binder, I've been able to corral the printouts and notes, and its nice to be able to thumb through the book for what I want to see.  For now the patterns in sleeves are back in the tub in a neater fashion, but that's subject to change as I progress.   And yes, I do have a lot of project instructions saved on the computer, but sometimes I just want to access them easier.

And you may remember I mentioned my printer not working like it should.  Well, I realized for the bit of printing that I do, Staples office supply store is my new friend at 10 cents a page.  Each page is on good quality paper, and I don't even have to think about ink running out.  I take in my little thumbdrive, along with a list of what I want printed, and its done.

In going through things in another part of the room, I came across the blocks from a swap that ithinksew (we all have our board names) hosted on the HGTV quilitng and sewing forum. This swap had to have been at least 5 years ago, so I thought it was time to do something with them.  I made a quick trip to a fabric store and got a yard for the sashing, and got started.

ithinksew made 2 blocks, and I also have blocks from solidgolddancer, quiltnanny, needprozac, byabasket, LisaP8, myjack, nr4crafts, and ball63. One block was the squares and triangles to make it, for us to assemble ourselves. At first as I was laying out the swapped blocks, I thought I was one short.  Then as I read the little note included, I saw her comment about finishing the one ourselves.  Its possible someone dropped out, but this worked out fine.

ithinksew gave us specific colors she wanted used in the quilt, such as apple green and purple, along with kind of a royal blue and deep red, all on a cream tone background.   Her last sentence in the little note mentioned that she would really love to see our finished quilts.  Sadly, ithinksew died almost a year ago.  I think she would have liked it.

While this ufo is not completed yet, I do feel better that it has progressed to this point from being a bunch of squares in a bag.  :)

Will I ever get my sewing room completely squared away?  Who knows.  I've already got another project going though.  Can't stifle my creativity when it decides to come visit!

Have a good week.

embroidery again

We know I like my redwork embroidery.  I came across The Wish Quilt by Red Brolly, and this is one of their free stitching designs.  I stitched it up, not knowing exactly what I'd do with it, but decided to make it into a wall hanging and donate it for a raffle for my TOPS group.

We can see I'm not perfect in my stitching, but it is cute if I do say so myself.  :)

I hope to see if my printer will cooperate enough to print off the other designs, if not I may have to make a shopping trip for a new one. 

A fellow blogger, Dave, posted some pictures on how he converted a scanner into a light box.  I knew he had done one awhile back, and asked about it, and he was kind enough to post about the process.  Sorry to say, the old printer I was scrapping wouldn't come apart easily enough to do this.  I bought a small light box the other day using a Hobby Lobby coupon, and it sure has made it easy to get pattern designs onto fabric for embroidery.  So far I've prepared another of the Santa shown above, and I'm sure the light box will see more use.

The Birds and other news

You might remember that last month I went to a Fathom event to see Singin' in the Rain.  This month they presented Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, The Birds.  Well, it was a thriller in the 60's.  I admit I was a bit hesitant about seeing the show because I had heard it was so scary back in the day, but I'd say there were quite a few laughs and just 2 or 3 "gasp" moments.

You see this lady's hair?  It pretty well stayed just like that all through the show, which covered about a 3-day period.  She drove a convertible along the coast, not a hair out of place.  She maneuvered a small boat across the open waters, and again, not a hair out of place.  Well, except for the one-bird attack on her hairline.  It did get a bit mussed up while the blood was being wiped away, but within minutes it was back to its original smoothness.  She wore it down overnight, but it was immediately back up for the rest of the show.

Since she was an unexpected overnight guest, she didn't have a change of clothes.  Poor thing.  But her suit didn't show a smudge until the end of the show...as well as her nylons had no runs and were not bagging around her ankles.  Completely unrealistic.

There were some stupid moments too. I suppose it was intended to add to the suspense, and put the characters in harm's way of the birds, but sheesh.  Still, those moments did add to the enjoyment, because everybody was laughing at them.

And as a sign of times changing, I found myself surprised to see so many people smoking throughout the movie.  In a restaurant.  Sitting on a bench killing time.  Sitting in the living room chatting. You sure won't see that happening now, and that's a good thing.

I enjoyed Jessica Tandy and Suzanne Pleshette.  But then, you can't go wrong with either one.

I see in their upcoming events are Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird, and ET, as well as several operas.  I'm sure I'll be going again.

Moving on, I'll be doing the hand-sewing on the challenge quilt's binding tomorrow, and it will be finished.  There's a possibility the deadline may be extended two weeks.  At first I thought, aargh, but as I thought about it, I'd rather be in competition with as many people as possible.  If two weeks will allow some of those with more pressures and distractions than I have to complete their projects, so be it. 

I've also sewn a few potholders.  The brown one was made with scraps, and the other two were started last winter and just needed the binding.  Feels good to get a couple more little ufo's out of the way.  I also sent a quilt top to be quilted, one that I started a good 5 or 6 years ago.

 
And to close off, here's Elise with her birthday cake.  3 years old!  Her party will be Sunday, but I'm glad to see she got to have celebration on her actual birthday too.  

Alaskan purse

Last summer I took a cruise to Alaska with niece Tammy, and of course happened to visit a couple of quilt shops.  I picked up fabric, as well as patches at various tourist sites, with the vague intention of some kind of quilt commemorating the trip.

Almost a year later, and the fabric was still tucked away neatly in the bag along with the patches.  Truthfully, I just don't need any more quilts and my heart wasn't tuned in to the idea.  Then the other night a little light bulb came on in my head and the idea of a purse or tote bag showed up.  Yesterday I dug through the prints, and most of them are fat quarters (I know I'm repeating myself here, but fq's are 18" x 22" cuts), with a couple of one-yard pieces.  I went through the patterns I had for totes, and none of them really "hit" me.  Then I saw the Gracie pattern, and I thought that just might work.  Having made it before, I know it's not complicated, and it would lend itself to some piecing to come up with what I'd want.

So, here we have it.  One side has a print of the trees (remember Alaska is the second largest rain forest in the world), and the other side has a river rippling over the rocks.  (My creative writing teacher would be proud of the alliteration.)   There are also some whales on a little batik print.  The patches worked in nicely, and the handles pieced together to coordinate.  

Wah-lah, another project done!

Parks!

One of Elise's favorite things to do is go to the park.  Friday we got out, ready to visit a new-to-me park that Elizabeth recommended.  The skies were overcast, but the air was nice and cool, just fine for playing.

After one misturn and a small detour, the park came into view.  As we approached, a fine mist landed on the windshield.  By the time I pulled to a stop, they were good size sprinkles.  Within seconds, it was a downpour.  Had it not been for the detour, we would have been soaking wet I'm sure.

Since no new pictures were forthcoming from this adventure, here's a previous park visit.

I have a couple more to add, and will try to slip them in later today.   Edited to say, for some reason I'm having a hard time getting my pictures from my phone to the computer.  May not happen.

Also I want to add a picture of a wall hanging I've completed for Angela.  I've mentioned it to her, so it's not a big surprise, but here it is.  She likes coffee a lot, so I thought of her when I saw this pattern.

Then I made this little sewing caddy the other day.  They go together really quick, and are convenient for keeping supplies together.  I'm sure they could be used for other crafts as well.  Thanks again Sherry for the class you taught on this.

Okay, maybe this posting is finished now.  Have a good weekend everyone!

pictures in stitches

What's next on my favorites?  Redwork emboidery.  I say redwork, but really I like the idea of embroidery in a single color, whether its red, blue, purple, or whatever.  I think it lends more continuity to the piece.  Over the years I have embroidered several projects.  There's so much satisfaction and relaxation in sitting down for awhile with needle and thread and seeing the picture in stitches develop.

This was a little pillowcase I made for my secret sister one year.  She really likes dragons, as well as the colors  purple, black, and orange.

I've made a few of these snowman wall hangings.  I think the redwork is the right color choice, and that the use of multiple colors would have detracted from it.

The same can be said for Santa and his bag of toys.  I've made a few of these, and one is included in my Christmas quilt.

I've probably shared pictures of all of these at one time or another, but oh well.  :)

 One of these wasn't completed at the time, and I don't think I've done anything with the finished one yet, but I think she's pretty.

I've also embroidered pillow cases for my bed, and a baby quilt for Ashlynn when she was born, but those pictures couldn't be readily found.

In the last couple of years I've also been making and embroidering handkerchiefs.  I got a rolled hem foot for my sewing machine, and that's made quite a difference from hemming them by hand.  They're not perfection like you'd get in the store, but I like the personal touch it gives.  Some are embroidered in the center, others in the corner or on the bottom.  There have been butterflies, birds, and initials, as well as one with a nautical theme. I gave several to friends for little Christmas presents, and they've gone to my HGTV secret sisters, as well as the 12 Days of Christmas swap.  Some have gone to friends who have experienced a loss, whether health or a loved one.  Here's the poem I wrote that I tuck inside. 

I’m a little square of cotton,

a humble gift indeed.

I’m always at your service

in any time of need.

Perhaps you have a sniffle,

or need to shed a tear,

or even just to wipe your glasses.

That’s okay.  I’m here.

Every stitch that touched me

was placed with you in mind.

“May God’s blessings be upon you,

dear sweet friend of mine.”

That's it for now.  Happy Friday!

are you motivated?

The quest for organization continues.  I prepared the bags for donation to a local charity, and Elizabeth added a couple to the stack.  (You might notice Elise being a helper by holding the door for me.)  I also shredded a few years of tax papers, old enough of course to be off the retention schedule.

I also went through some files and tossed some papers that were no longer needed, but taking up file space.  Most all of my organizing projects are things that no one will notice, but I feel better for being on top of it.

I never did show pictures of a couple of projects I made for Christmas.  First is a lounging beach towel with pillow.  Pretty easy to make, and just used a couple of bath towels and stuffing for the pillow part.  I liked the bright orange, and thought it would work great for Elizabeth to laze around the pool next summer.  

The other project was a little notepad cover, another Elizabeth request.  It came out cute, if I do say so myself.  :)

Okay, that's it for now.   Catch you later.