To My Dad...

I was able to celebrate Christmas with my family yesterday.  We spent the lunch/afternoon hours at my brother's house, celebrating with my mom (and my brothers).  Then, in the evening we went to my dad's for dinner and gifts.

I made this throw blanket for my dad.  I just finished it up on Christmas day and didn't have a good way to take a photo.  So, I had to wait for it to be gifted.  The fabric I used is the Diggers and Dozers by Clothworks Fabric. 

I chose this fabric because my dad has his own business doing farm drainage work and has/uses different diggers and dozers.  I backed it with a fuzzy, brown, minky type fabric.  I think he really liked it, especially when he saw the images on the fabric.

Certainly, my niece and nephew did not waste any time trying to cuddle up under it with their Papa:

I also made a scarf for my dad's wife, using the Summer Scarf tutorial.  Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of it.  The scarf did turn out nicely.  I used some voile from the AMH Little Folks line  (which I see is currently on sale 50% off at Above All Fabrics!).  It took me a bit of time to sort out how to sew with the elastic thread on my sewing machine.  (Probably the most frustrating of all of my gifts I made this year!)  However, once I sorted it all out....it was awesome the way the elastic thread worked!  I think I might even make a scarf for myself!

For My Mom...

If you have been hanging around here long enough, you have already seen several versions of this bag.  It is the (pattern) My Paris Traveler's Bag by Fig Tree & Co.  This is the bag I made with the fabrics that I chose for my mom.  I should have gone ahead and made it this summer when I actually bought the fabric.

On this third trial, I made one modification to the pattern...I cut the gusset (bottom/end) piece a bit shorter ...I should have written it down because I do plan to make more of these.  When I cut it the length that the pattern specifies, it is too long.  I think I might have cut it about 3/4 of an inch shorter which worked out perfectly.

Anyway, I know my mom will love it because she saw the others I made and said she wanted one...she will especially love the hummingbird fabric, I think. 

I do have a few more gifts to finish, so off I go... 

Wrapping Gifts

...in vintage wallpaper! 

Okay, I know this is the crummiest photo ever...dark and shiny...but can you get a look at this paper?  I am just in love with it!  I thought I would wrap bunches of gifts with it, but now I'm not sure that I want to use it all up right away.

I found this wallpaper over the summer when I went to the Great American Yard Sale.  I think it was pretty much the whole roll...we also bought some used tennis balls and something else...all for $5.  How can a person go wrong?? 

I didn't even know what I would do with the wallpaper when I bought it.  Then, it struck me...wrap some gifts!!

Can you imagine wallpapering a whole room with this stuff?  I'm not sure you'd be able to turn any lights on because they would just reflect off of the paper.  Maybe I'll be able to get a better photo tomorrow, because it really is so pretty.

Gathered Clutch...Finished!

Of course, I would probably get a lot more accomplished if I didn't keep stopping to update my blog.  However, it gives me a chance to take a little break.

This is destined for a teenage niece.  They only ever want money or gift cards and that just rubs me the wrong way.  So, if I stick money or a gift card inside a little clutch or pouch, I don't feel quite so bad.

The clutch is made following Noodlehead's Gathered Clutch Tutorial.  If you have spent any time at all surfing around crafty blogs, then surely you have seen this before. The clutch went together very easily.  I did not add the pockets inside.

As you can see from the photo, my strip down the middle is a tiny bit crooked.  It's not nearly as noticeable in real life.  Next time, I will take lots of care to make sure that I line it up exactly.

A Gift Finish

Just a quick post while I take a break from my sewing.  I managed to finish up a pair of pajamas for my nephew.

It is really bright outside, cold, and a bit windy, so I didn't try to stand around too long trying to get a "perfect" photo.  The pattern is Bedtime Story Pajamas by Oliver + S.  The fabric is some Cosmo Cricket that I got on sale for $5 a yard.  The only thing left to do is put the elastic in the waistband of the pants...and I might wait to do that until after my nephew opens them. 

The pattern went together very easily and quickly.  It really didn't take much time at all.  I spent more time tracing all of the pattern pieces, since I was making a size 6 and wanted to be able to make a larger size later if I wanted.  Oliver + S rates their pattern difficulty by number of scissors and this pattern is only a one scissor pattern.  I find that the directions to the patterns are very well written and clear.

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day

The winner is......

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 38

Carpenters said... 38

Great bag. Thanks so much for the giveaway.

December 14, 2010 2:50 AM

***This giveaway is now closed.  I will be choosing the winner soon.

Welcome Giveaway Day participants (and regular readers)!  I'm very excited to think about all of the new visitors to my blog!  I hope you might take the opportunity to poke around and read a few other posts and learn a little about me, or certainly about what has been keeping me busy in the last few months.

I am giving away a "Dharma Eco-Friendly Bag".  I bought this pattern much earlier in the year.  I just haven't gotten around to making it until now.  I decided that Giveaway Day would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. 

Here is what the bag looks like:

It is hard to tell from the photo, but this is what I would call a large bag. The pattern also carries two smaller sizes. The body of the bag measures approximately 16 in. (40.6 cm) x 18 in. (45.7 cm), not including the handles.  There are pleats in the sides which allows the bag to expand nicely.  If you follow the pattern link, you will be able to see a photo of some of the bags when they are a bit expanded.  (It was way too cold and windy outside to try to take a photo of the bag when it was stuffed)  I noticed, too, that the bag seems to be very sturdy.  I wouldn't hesitate to carry canned goods or a large bag of flour or rice in it.

As an added bonus, the bag is made all from thrifted fabric.  The exterior fabric was an amazing find, simply because I managed to get 5+ yards of it for something like a $1.59!  Plus, I think the fabric must be at least 56 in. wide.  I'm going to use the rest to make more of these bags.  The interior fabric is just a white thrifted sheet. 

Oh!  I forgot to say that this bag can be folded up and turn inside the pocket for storage:

To enter, all you need to do is comment (feel free to share something about yourself or something you love about the holidays, if you like).  Only one comment per person, please.  I will keep the giveaway open until December 17 at approximately 3:45 PM CST (whenever I arrive home from work).  As an additional IMPORTANT note, if you are a no reply, name only, anonymous blogger (duff, sorry for the direct copy here, but I though you stated it nice and clearly ), then please leave your contact information (e-mail) in your comment.  If you are not sure if this is you...go to one of the comments that you have left on another blog and click on your name in your comment.  That should bring you to your blogger profile page...and see if there is a link there to your blog or at least to your e-mail.  If that info is not there, then I can not contact you. 

Good Luck!

Some Gifts

Any itinerant teacher worth her salt knows the one person in a school that it is most important to be nice to/know the name of/have on her side....drum roll.....   Would anyone like to hazard a guess???  The SECRETARY!  She (there aren't any he's...at least not at the schools I go to) is the one who will call when a student is absent.  She is the one that will find a quiet place with a table so that an itinerant teacher can work with her student(s).  She is the one that will help with anything else that is needed.  So, it is best to be as nice to them as possible. 

Of course, this involves the occasional small gift ♥

My friend and I got together on Friday night, at her request (because she needed help and remembered I had given her one of these before), to make gifts to pass out at the different schools we travel to.

A functional gift:

You can't see this in the photo, but there are little 3x5 in. pads of notepaper inside these little "jackets".  My friend has a Cricut machine, so I cut out the little snowmen with that.  Then, I used some Spellbinders Nestabilities dies in order to cut the green and blue ovals.  I made 12, but decided to give one to my hair lady when I got my hair cut today.  So, I have 11 to pass out at the schools I go to. 

As I was finishing these up tonight, (and thinking that they are so cute) I was wondering how much buyers might pay for a little notepad like this.  I wonder if it would be worth the time that it took to stick all of the little parts together....not difficult, but takes a bit of time.  Would you guys something like this?  If so, how much would you pay/think it was reasonable to pay?   Just curious.....

Christmas Wishlist

I'm nearly late to the game, but since I have done all of the "prep" work I decided to summon the energy to finish.

Above All Fabric Blog has been running a giveaway of sorts.  If a person goes to the Above All Fabric shop, adds all the things they would love to have to their wishlist, blog about it, and then go back and leave Melanie a link...  AWESOME PRIZES!  ($100 gift certificate to the store, $50 g.c. to the store, $25 g.c. to the store!!!)  There is no way to go wrong on this one.

I went last week and made my wishlist, then came Thanksgiving, and then the day after Thanksgiving I got sick.  I was thinking maybe I had strep throat since I had this horrid sore throat for three days.  The Dr. says it's just a reallllllly bad cold.  All I know is that I have been miserable and have done almost nothing but sit in the recliner and watch t.v./sleep for the last 4 days.  So, I didn't get my wishlist posted as soon as I wanted.

Some of the things on my list:

#1!!!!  Some of the Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush Cotton Velveteen

I also  think that I would like to try this Proper Attire Skirt pattern by Anna Maria Horner.  I especially love that the pattern is in a range for ALL sizes.

Then, in no particular order:

Peach Medallion Bloom Fabric

Grandma's Pearl's -Fiesta

Several Colors of the Henna Garden Fabric

There are a quite a few more things on my wishlist....    It might be time to start selling my no longer loved rubber stamp sets on eBay, so that I can fund a shopping spree (just in case I don't win!).

True Love....

This is what my husband brought home for me the other night.  It is the iVision Wireless 2-way intercom system. 

Now, the back story:  I probably have never mentioned the fact that one of my husband's jobs is to install security and fire alarm systems  (he's also a part-time paid firefighter).  We do have a working alarm system in our house (that only took 4 years).

For a couple of years now, I've been begging nagging my husband to get me some sort of video camera for our front door.  It's kind-of ridiculous because we live in such a tiny house.  However, we do have a solid front door and there is only one window near the door...where any doorbell ringers would promptly see me if I looked out at them.  I do not like opening the door to people that I do not know.  Most recently, it was some guy trying to sell me AT&T U-verse, since they just installed it in the neighborhood.

Occasionally, I also have to go pick up equipment for my husband, if I happen to be off of work.  I also made sure that the guys at the supply store knew that I wanted a camera for the front door.  Maybe a month ago, my DH came home and told me that they had gotten a wireless camera/bell in at the store.  They wanted to test it out before they sold us one.

Fast forward a month (and I had forgotten about this...) and my husband tells me that he got me a surprise.  I had no idea what he might have gotten...I figured maybe a Twix bar or something...  Instead, he got me this camera doorbell!

The gray part has a tiny little camera and when you push the button, it feeds your image to the white handheld piece.  There is also a 2-way intercom.  If you want to wire the camera/bell portion to your doorbell power supply, then there is also a browse feature...so you can look out at the world at your own initiation. 

I am giddy like a small child because of this gift!

{Witty/Catchy/Funny Title Here}

Well, this week I have manage to not finish any Christmas gifts...although I did finish this quilt top maybe about an hour ago.

 I bought the kit at a LQS (Thimbles).  The fabrics are all flannel.  It had this pattern [5 & Dime a fat quarter quilt] included with it.  The top turned out larger than I had imagined it would be, for a child/lap sized quilt.  Obviously, I could have looked at the dimensions, but must not have.  Once I got going on this, it took not much time at all.  The kit included enough fabric for binding (which will be from the striped piece that is included in the quilt top).  Now, I'm just trying to decide how I want to back it.  I do have a piece of pink chenille that I bought on sale at Hobby Lobby earlier this year.  Really, I have some of the material left from the long strips that could be used (and are supposed to be) for part of the back...but then I'd have to buy more flannel...  hmm... may have to think on this one a bit. 

Yesterday, I also purchased a new addition to my plant family....

I have been wanting an orchid for quite some time.  I am always admiring orchids that belong to others.  Anyway, yesterday we went to a pretty large craft fair.  We have gone for quite a few years in a row now.  My husband enjoys it as much as I do.  We purchased several Christmas decorations for the outside of the house...I just didn't take photos of those.  Anyway, there is a local orchid greenhouse that has been at the craft fair the last several years. This year, I came home with an orchid.  He did give me a sheet that tells the type of orchid this one is...but I don't have that sheet next to the computer and I'm not going to get up to get it right now :-)  Anyway, wish me luck! 

I'd better get back to work!  I do plan on finishing a couple Christmas gifts tonight, plus I have a dish to make for a work Thanksgiving dinner (that is being held tomorrow).

Other Things

These are a few of the other things that I have been working on:

On the spur of the moment, I made myself a Halloween table runner.  Unfortunately,  by the time I had it finished, there wasn't much time to enjoy it.  I'll just put it up and wait for next year to bring it out.



I've also made some dishtowels that have a fabric strip on the front.  In the past, I have made these and pieced the fabric strip.  This time around I am feeling a bit lazy.  So, I decided to just cut one strip of fabric (6" wide) and then press each edge under 1/2".  I think it's a great idea, especially for fabrics with a wonderful pattern. 

This first set is for my dad's wife.  I bought these fabrics with her in mind, but that was over a year ago. I think that she recently painted their kitchen a light blue, so it will work out well. 

I just loved this fabric, and I got a great deal at the fabric store ($5 a yard, I think).  I have no particular person in mind as a recipient for these.

Again, I just loved this fabric.  Not sure who will end up with them.

Today, I bought some Christmas fabric that might look cute on some towels,  too.  I sort-of wish that these were the only things I needed to make...so simple.  *sigh*  I have much to accomplish before the holidays!

I Have Not...

fallen off the face of the Earth, I promise!  I have been trying to commit myself to a minimum of one post a week, but as you can see, I haven't been accomplishing that goal very often.

I have had a very busy fall so far, as far as work goes.  Normally, by this point in the school year, I have had maybe two IEP meetings for students....well, I just counted the other day and I have already had 6 meetings!  That does not count the three meetings that I have coming up this week. 

I've also been trying to commit myself to getting some Christmas gifts made each week.  I had started to write out a little schedule of each week/weekend and which gifts I wanted to finish during that time...big fail.  That's not to say that I haven't finished a few small gifts...but nowhere near what I need to get done.

I've also been trying to get back to the watching what I am eating so that I can begin to lose weight again.  I've had a good week the last week on this front.  I managed to eat breakfast at home each morning and to have a somewhat decent (non fast food) lunch each day.  We've also been doing to many dinners out, so I've been trying to get back to cooking dinners at home. 

A couple weeks ago, I went to Goodwill to drop off a couple small boxes of things.  Then, I decided to take a peek inside just in case there was anything cool.  I ended up leaving with quite a bit of stuff.  I found a great piece of vintage fabric:

I think there is a whole yard here...and it is wide fabric, too!  I couldn't pass it up!

Then, I found these cool dishes!  I love oldish, cool dishes.  Of course, I am running out of space so I won't be able to buy too many more. 

I love everything about these dishes!  They make me wish that I have a full set of them.  The bowls are a bit differently shaped...instead of a curved side, the sides go straight up.  I was able find one "bigger" bowl...maybe the size of a smaller dinner plate, three medium bowls, four smaller bowls (saucer size) and three tea cups.  I never drink coffee and almost never drink hot tea or any other hot drink, but I couldn't abandon the tea cups. 

There were some other bowls and saucers that also made their way home with me, but I didn't snap any photos of them today.

I am realizing that this post is getting rather lengthy, so I am going to end it here.  My plan is to work on another post later this evening (since I do have more to share)...and I will schedule that one to pop in the next day or two.

Caught!

I caught our sweet, little Benni in the Better-Than-A-Box pet bed last night.  Luckily, I was able to capture a photo of her in the bed with the camera on my phone.

She's such an odd cat.  She was so very tiny when we gave her a home....so small, in fact that we had to bottle feed her for a while.  I think we didn't hold her enough when she was so very young and now she really doesn't like to be held.  If we want to "force" affection on her, there is usually a little bit of chasing involved.  Unless, of course, a person is sitting in the washroom... then she just strolls right up and demands attention!  Or if a human nap is being taken in the chair,  then she will settle on the lap, until the human awakes. 

She does seem to be growing a little more affectionate  accepting of affection as she ages.  I just hope it continues!

Tiny Treat Bags!

I made these tiny treat bags from a pattern that was in the Fall 2010 Quilts and More magazine.  When I was just hunting up the link for the magazine I realized that there is a free download for the instructions for the treat bags, so I have linked you up to that, also.

The fabric I used is Riley Blake...the fabric line is called Boo! To You!  I thought it was really cute. 

Anyway, these treat bags went together quickly and pretty painlessly.  The only issue I had was with the "ribbon" that I chose for the handles (which is not really ribbon, but more like twill tape, but not that finely woven)....on one of the bags the end of the "ribbon" unraveled and came loose from the stitching.  The pattern calls for 3/8" ribbon, but this stuff is also wider.

These cute bags are for my niece and nephew and I stuffed a variety of treats down in them.  I know my niece and nephew will love them!

Better-Than-A-Box Pet Bed

A while ago, I saw this post by Heather at Seams of Life.  It prompted me in several areas.  One, it made me realize, "Oh, wow!  I can check craft books out of the library and not spend my own money, only to decide I don't really like the book that much."  (or maybe I could fall in love and put the book on my Christmas list).  Two, I really liked her pet bed that was made out of a vintage sheet. 

So, I ran to the library...wouldn't you  know, my local library did not have a copy of the One Yard Wonders book.  However, there is always the library loan system and I was able to obtain a copy of the book.  To tell you how long ago I did this, I've since had to renew the book because I hadn't made the pet bed yet.  There are tons of nifty ideas in the book, but not so many of them that I love enough to actually buy the book.

Anyway, after several episodes of this (and these are only the times I managed to get a photo before they saw me and scattered...):

I decided maybe it was time to get the pet bed made so that these two could have their own beds.  Of course, who knows how long it will be before either of them starts using it.

I didn't do the thrifty thing and use a one yard cut of fabric that I already had, or even one of the vintage sheets that I have (just waiting to be used)....no, I bought a yard of fabric.  I just fell in love with this print.  It is from the Meadowsweet 2 by Sandi Henderson for Michael Miller (I just wanted to put in a little pitch for Hawthorne Threads here, which is where the link takes you.  I did not buy my fabric at HT this time, but I have made multiple orders from them and I just love the prompt service!  I can order fabric and have it with-in 2-3 days, depending on what time of day I place my order.  I highly recommend!) .  Plus, it sort of combines a lot of the colors that are in our family room (added bonus).

I like the way the bed turned out.  It was pretty simple to make and used up nearly the whole yard of fabric.  The only thing I didn't really enjoy was having to make my own pattern pieces...although I had done that part of the process a few weeks ago, too.  I also had a crisis moment when I got to the final stages of construction...some of my pieces were wider than where I was supposed to be attaching them.  I think lack of sleep, etc... did away with all of my reasoning/problem solving capabilities...and I just couldn't figure out what to do (or what I wanted to do...).  I dashed off a quick e-mail to Heather to see if she had the same problem...did a google search...and then let the pieces set for two days.

My reasoning returned yesterday and I made my own modifications and finished my stitching.  It turned out nicely and the photo does not really do justice to the shape of the bed.

Now, let's just hope that the cats get to using it quickly.  I tried the official forcing of my will onto them, but I'm sure you all can imagine how well that turned out.

P.S. I didn't read back thru this post at all, and it's late and I'm tired...so I hope there are too many glaring "mistakes"!

Henrietta Turtle

I bought the Henrietta Turtle pattern a while ago.  I had seen it online but couldn't pass it up when I went to visit a different LQS (Pieceful Heart Fabrics) and saw it there. 

I am really pleased with how this little turtle pincushion turned out!  I probably could have done a better job on the eyes (I'm not too good with making french knots).  I didn't have any green embroidery floss to stitch veins on the leaves, either, but those are only small things that don't really bother me. 

The turtle went together really quickly and the directions were great.  The most difficult/time consuming part was stuffing the body of the turtle...there is a lot of stuffing that can go in that little body!  I used a combination of crushed English walnut shells and leftover bits of quilt batting (probably not my smartest idea). 

I used a couple pieces of fabric that are from the Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda Fabrics.  I bought one of my pieces of fabric at Pieceful Heart Fabric (the underside of his shell...) and the other pieces (you can't see it but his belly has a different fabric, also at Roberts Sewing Center.

I might have to make another one of these, just because I like it so much...and then maybe I can get a better photo and not have the cat in the shot, either!

Bread

I finally managed to make some regular white bread yesterday.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did try making this bread earlier in the week (twice) and never got to the baking stage.  The first time, I forgot to add the cold water to the yeast/sugar/water mixture and so I just added it in later...and things got messy and so I just dumped it in the garbage.  Then, I went to mix again...and my yeast wouldn't foam...had to run to the store for more.  Next attempt, the dough was too sticky and I had put my flour away (and had dough all over my hands) and kept hollering for my husband but he was doing something else and apparently did not hear the urgency in my voice.  I finally gave up and threw it in the garbage, again.

I think in both instances I must have not counted my cups of flour correctly.  Yesterday, I did everything the same, just making sure to mark down the cups of flour as I dumped them.  The bread turned out perfectly!  Go figure.

On my last post, Tea Mouse left me a message to check out a bread recipe on her blog (or a link to a bread recipe.... Multiseed Bread.  It sounds delicious, but I'm not eating nuts right now so I can't try it.  I am a bit bummed about that.

Also, Deborah at Antiquity Oaks has a couple bread recipes up on her blog, too. 

The recipe I used just came from the book that was with my food processor.  The bread tastes great!  I made a couple slices into toast this morning and put some jelly on it.  Yummm!

I think that I will try a wheat bread next.  My grandfather always said, "The whiter the bread, the quicker you're dead."  A bid morbid, but there might be some general truth lurking behind that statement. 

French Bread

I have been thinking for a while that I would like to learn how to, or at least try, to make bread.  This week, I was inspired/reminded about this ambition by several posts by other bloggers:  Skippy at I Make Soap, and Deborah at Antiquity Oaks

I remembered that my new fancy pants food processor came with a dough blade and some recipes in the instruction manual.  I was going to the grocery store, anyway, so I just made sure I added on the missing ingredients to my list.

This is what I ended up with...it is supposed to be French bread.  I would have gone with regular bread, but I don't think that I have two loaf pans.

I guess I could have let it bake a bit longer so that it was a tiny bit more brown on top, but I don't think that will affect the taste at all.  I haven't tasted it yet because it is still cooling.  I'm thinking that the only reason I haven't had to shoo my husband away is because he is watching some wrestling program on pay-per-view.  I did have to chase the dog outside, though, so that is always a good sign.

Partly Sunny

This is my "Partly Sunny" quilt:

I just finished sewing the binding on and it is in the wash getting all softened and crinkled up.  Of course, I had to tug it out of my husband's hands in order to put it in the wash.  He wanted to throw it on his lap right away...never mind that it is still over 80ºF in the house.  Then when he saw my photos as I pulled them up on the computer he said, "But my hands don't even show!"  He's being a little silly tonight. 

I wanted to wait and take better outside photos, but I figured that it would rain or something in the morning.  I did stitch the binding on with my machine, mainly because I am super slow at hand stitching and couldn't face the five hours it would take.  I am planning to keep this quilt for us and I don't mind if the binding has been stitched by machine. 

I think that I ended up using not quite three yards of the print fabrics for this quilt and between a 1 1/2 -2 yards of the Kona white.  I still have a few pieces left that I might try to use to make some pillows or something. 

Before I threw it in the wash, the quilt was approximately 42 in. wide by 45 in. long.  I'll have to measure it again after it comes through the washer and the dryer.  Plus, I'm hoping that the wash process will help to conceal some of the tiny flaws that I can see.  It's not that easy for me to do the stitch in the ditch....and all of those straight-ish lines take a lot longer than stipple quilting.

All-in-all, I'm pleased with this finish.

A Sneak Peek and a Diet Coke Addict

I spent between 4 1/2 and 5 hours today working on this quilt:

It's not quite done yet, but as soon as it is I will give you full quilt shots.  I have even decided on a name for this quilt, but again you have to wait.  Hopefully tomorrow. 

We also have a Diet Coke addict in the house:

                            

Yes, this is one of our cats (Benni).  I save the caps from the bottles of Diet Coke (I'm trying to wean myself off just because of the artificial sweetener, but my husband still buys it...) so that I can save up the Coke reward points.  I usually save the points until I can get coupons for free 12 packs and such.  Anyway, Benni steals the caps, bats them around just a tiny bit and then licks and licks them.  What can I say?  She's an odd little cat.  She won't eat chicken or fish, but she will eat gyro meat, popcorn and cheez-its....  She's never tried to actually get any Diet Coke when we have it in a glass, though.

A Pile of Fuzz

This pile of fuzz is pretty much the extent of my craftiness for the week.  How is this crafty, you ask?  This is the fuzz that was generated when I was felting a load of sweaters in the washer.  I'm going to use the sweaters to make some pin cushions and maybe some other things from the Warm Fuzzies book or maybe some other patterns that I have purchased from Betz White.

One sweater in particular shrunk by comic book proportions, making me wish I had taken a before photo.  Alas, I did not. 

I have gotten a start on one of the pincushions, using some sweaters that I had already felted, but I can't find my felted balls to finish up the top of the cupcake.  I hope I find them today as I spend the day being crafty and also organizing my craft room.

Feeling a Bit....

failure-ish?  Selfish? I don't really know if that is the way to describe it.... 

I decided that I was going to sign up for a Master's cohort program to earn my Master's degree in Reading Education.  I figured it would be a great complement to my degree in Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. 

Admittedly, I tend to just jump into things.  For instance, when I purchased my first real car....I didn't really do any research.  My family had already had a Ford Escort for many years and I decided that I would buy a new one.  So, I went to the dealership that had one in the color I wanted (because that IS the important part after all...) and said, "I want to buy this car."  The salesman asked if I wanted to drive the car?  Me, "nope.  This is the one I want."  I didn't try to negotiate a better price or anything else.

Another example....  I started thinking I wanted a new sewing machine....  I did let that one go for several months, but then it came back up in my mind.  I went to one of the local quilt shops...there are two that I consider really local for me.  Anyway,  I briefly talked to the clerk and discussed (very quickly!) the qualities of the various machines and she gave me some brochures with some prices.  I went home and stared at the brochures for a week, I think....  Went to the store with my mind set on one machine...called my husband on the way there and said I didn't think I was going to buy one after all, and then came home with a more expensive machine than what I originally set out to buy.  It wasn't because there was any coercion on the part of the quilt shop staff.... just me, making a quick decision. 

I was always happy with my decision to buy that car and so far, I have been very happy with my sewing machine.  I don't think that I ever questioned either of those decisions after the fact.

Back to graduate school....  The reason I heard about the cohort program was because there was a flier up in one of my schools and I decided to go to the meeting.  The meeting just basically told about the enrollment process.  I filled out a couple of initial papers and then didn't really think too much more about it, except that I should be following up.  Well, they ended up calling me all summer to ask if I still wanted to participate, I kept saying yes, but never really finished all of the paperwork.  Class started last week.... they let you take one class as a "guest student" in case you haven't finished turning in your paperwork.

I really thought that cohort programs were supposed to be geared for people who are already working full-time.  When I left the class, I was wondering how I and others would be able to fit it all in.

I don't want to spend all of my spare time during the week and on the weekends reading dry textbooks and writing reader responses, preparing projects and worrying about the fact that I can only loose 35 points out of 700 in order to maintain an 95% (A) or better in the class.  I know that there is work involved, but maybe I'm just not ready for it or this is not the correct cohort program for me.

I want to have to have time to continue to make things....quilting, sewing, re-purposing, knitting, crocheting....  I want to be able to give handmade gifts to the people that I love.

I also want to have time to focus on exercise and eating healthy, and just spend time with my loving husband.

Am I just scared?  Am I being selfish?  I don't know.  I do know that I have to make a decision very soon.  There is homework due on Wednesday, which I haven't finished yet...but I have to withdraw by the end of the week in order to get a (100%) refund  [even though I haven't actually paid them a cent, yet].  Am I a failure?  Do I need to just find a different cohort?

Oh, and I'm not going to read back thru this post so I don't even know if it makes a bit of sense...if it doesn't, I apologize. 

Feast of the Snapdragons

The other evening, I caught this little bee making a feast for itself from my snapdragons. I took the photos with my iPhone, so they turned out surprisingly okay. I have tried to take other photos of a bee buzzing my flowers this summer and couldn't ever get a clear photo.

The most interesting part, at least to me, was the fact that once the bee landed on the snapdragon, he would crawl ALL the way inside the flower.

There were a couple moments where I couldn't even see the bee at all and didn't take any photos of that because I figured it was pointless.   I think if you click on the photo above, you can see a larger image with my captioning.

Off to Grandmother's House

Ha!  Not really (unfortunately all of my grandmother's have since passed on...).  I did make a pillowcase with my Little Red Riding Hood fabric:

I really do love this pillowcase!  It makes me feel so young at heart.  I still have a lot of this fabric left and I'm trying to decide what I will make with it.  I thought a little outfit for my niece might be cute.

The only other crafting I have done in the last two weeks is to make myself a hair towel... you know like those Turby Twist type hair towels.  My hair is thick and down to the top-ish of my shoulders, maybe a bit longer, so I always need to use a separate towel for my hair.  I have a bunch of purchased hair towels, but saw some bright green terrycloth at JoAnn Fabrics, so I bought a yard.  I just used one of the towels I have to cut a pattern off of.  It turned out pretty well:

The only thing I would really do differently is to use a wider strip of elastic (I only had 1/4" or something much wider...so I went with the 1/4").  I think that probably 3/8" would be perfect, and I wouldn't cut my piece quite so long. 

When I showed my husband the hair towel, he said, "Great!  Now, do you have enough to keep in both bathrooms?" 

Me:  "Honey, I only shower in the bathroom in our bedroom."

Husband:  "I know, but you are always hollering at me to bring you a hair towel."

(I always fix my hair and such in the bathroom in the hall...so that is where the hair towel comes off and typically gets left....)

Me:  "I know, I sometimes forget to get it before I get in the shower."

Husband:  "Well, now, maybe you can just have some in each bathroom."

Me:  "Yeah, but sometimes I don't remember until I'm already in the shower and then I don't want to track water all over the bathroom..."

(Note:  He didn't seem to get that point, of course)

Anyway, I'm thinking that I might make some of these hair towels as Christmas gifts for some of my family.  They would be a nice gift, right?

Some Fabulous Giveaways!

As we all know, it seems like there are always tons of giveaways going on out there in the blogosphere!  A lot of times a person can usually earn extra entries by posting about said giveaways on their own blog.  I usually just do one entry and figure that if I am meant to win, one entry will do it.

I must be feeling industrious today because I wanted to let you know about several giveaways.

1)  Mommy's Nap Time - 100th post giveaway   ... Emedoodle is giving away some super cute stuff...a handmade pincushion, some quilt patterns, some fabric, and she is also giving away the supplies to make your own quilted cards!  Maybe I will be the lucky winner!

2) A La Mode Fabric - Pattern Giveaway  ...Heather is hosting a giveaway for some really cool patterns for stitching and for quilting...  I just recently discovered her blog....  You have to go over there and check it out, but do it quick because this giveaway only lasts until Sunday, August 15th!

Go!  Run!  Get Entered!

It's THAT Time Again

Yep, THAT time...time for school to start...and all I feel liking doing is hiding in the bushes:

Our institute day is on the 17th.  After that, I will pretty much be back at work full-force. Never mind the fact that I have been answering e-mails from the audiologist that I am forced to deal with takes care of equipment for my students, and went in to work for two hours yesterday morning.  I'll probably work a half day on Monday, too.  Soon I will be a raving lunatic, or at least feel like one.

To console myself, I made two fabric orders this week.  Both times I ordered from Hawthorne Threads.  I have ordered from them once before and they ship orders out so unbelievably fast.  My first order should be arriving today (I ordered it on Wednesday morning!).  I can't wait since I ordered some cute Little Red Riding Hood fabric (I see is it out of stock now) and I think that I am going to make myself another pillowcase with part of it.

I'm just trying to decide what projects I'm going to finish or make in my last couple days of freedom. 

A Gray/Grey Day

Really, I prefer to spell grey with an "e", but I think that gray is also accurate....  Anyway, we've been having lots of rain here lately.  Mostly it comes in the form of a thunderstorm in the wee hours of the morning.  I think that we've gotten a total of something like 7 inches of rain in the last week. 

Mostly, I've been staying inside....which I probably certainly would have been doing anyway.  I have about two weeks and then it is back to school....so I've been doing as little as possible outside of the house. 

I've slowly been working on this quilt top for about the last week, I think...a little bit here and there. This is what I finished with:

It's not the best photo in the world (I know I say that a lot....probably because I really wish I were a better photographer...), especially taken inside at night...  You can get the idea though.  I didn't measure it so I'm not exactly sure what the size is.  I'd call it lap/throw size, I suppose. 

I have no plans for this quilt, yet.  I didn't make it with anyone in mind...just bought the fabric because I really liked it and the quilt shop was having a bit of a sale.  I may just keep it for us to use even though definitely does not match any of my living room "decor".  I can't wait until it is completely finished.  I just have to decide how I'm going to quilt it.

Stitching to Send!

Today I finished two baby blankets to send to a friend (she has twin little girls).  I know she will love these.  I sent her photos of the fabrics I had on hand and she chose the ones that she wanted.  I chose the binding colors.

I try to match the binding more to the main color of the fabric and then use a brighter color on the stitching.  However, these greens were really hard to match and I couldn't find any that made me happy, so I had to go with the brighter colored binding.  I hope that my friend likes the finished product. 

Usually, I just do two rows of zig-zag stitching to attach the binding.  This time I also put a decorative row of stitching in between the two rows of zig-zags.  I doubt that you can tell from the photos...but I think that it turned out nice.  The decorative stitching seemed like it took forever, though.

Summer Pace....

I have been crafting, just at a more leisurely summer pace, I guess....and then not posting about it.  Since my last post I have made a couple things. 

I made some flannel burp rags (emedoodle-thanks for passing this tutorial link along to me!):

They turned out really nice.  I made four of them, following the tutorial here.  The flannel on the back is a matching pink color.  They're stored away in a bag, just waiting for me to find a home for them.  I did buy a little more fabric that the tutorial called for since the faces are more of a directional print and I didn't want them constantly tipped on their sides.  Otherwise, they were very easy to make.

I also finished my second Schoolhouse Tunic.  I let my husband take the photo of me, just now...it is not the most flattering photo of the tunic or of my shape wearing it (not helped out by the fact that I'm in weekend mode and wearing a sports bra...), but I will throw it up here for you....

Since I finished the tunic, I started working on some quilt blocks for Rainbow Around the Block.  Rainbow Around the Block is "A quilting project for families in Middle Tennessee who lost their homes to flooding."  I saw a link on my facebook, that came from Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog....but I can't find the post on SMS, so I just linked you right to Anna Maria Horner's site. 

In the instructions for Rainbow Around the Block, they ask for quilters to try to keep the blocks kind-of monochromatic...but I wanted to work with what I have and recently rediscovered some fabric in my stash.  I obviously was collecting for a quilt because it is all coordinated, so I went ahead and decided to go with it. The RAB site even has a couple links for block ideas if you don't have your own.  I just went with the first idea that was up there.  I think I have material cut to make 6 blocks...then I might try out something else.  I want to get these finished in the next day or two so that I can get them in the mail.

During the last week I also went to a Cubs game (Friday) and then to a Kings of Leon concert.  I had a great time, even though I was sweating a lot in the heat (the heat index on Friday was over 100ºF).  Luckily, at the concert our seats were under the pavilion because it rained for probably the last 45 minutes of the concert...the people sitting on the lawn were soaked!  All of that heat wore me out....I have already taken a looong nap today!

More Scrappy Bibs!

I love these things because they are so quick to make!  The pattern can be purchased here.

These two little girly bibs will go in my gift stash:

I did attempt to do some pebble quilting on the one bib.  I need lots more practice at this pebbling!  I found it to be much more stressful than stipple quilting.  I'm not really sure why.  I think that I would like to try it out on a larger piece to be quilted (and use some bigger pebbles) and see if that increases my comfort level.

I'm going to attempt to link back to the Wednesday Link Party at Tea Rose Home...just click on the button...

Scrappy Bibs

I always have my gifty eyes open for new things/patterns to make for gifts...birthdays, babies, etc.  I saw this post (okay, I'm actually just linking you to the whole blog because there are two posts that are most recent and involve bibs) the other day that linked to this pattern.  I knew I had to purchase the pattern, no doubt about it.

This is what I have made so far (and somewhat willingly modeled by our dog and our nephew-dog):

Of course, these are really for babies...I'm sure you know that...although, I guess if you had a dog that drooled a lot, it might come in handy!  The bib in the photo at the top is bigger than the bib in the bottom photo.  I made the smaller one first (which is the perfect size for a smaller baby) and then decided that it would be nice to have a bigger size, too, so I just enlarged the pattern on our little copier.

I don't even have a recipient in mind yet for these, just love the fact that they are quick and easy.  I will put them in my box of things to be gifted.