July OMG

For this month's goal I finally settled on making Sarah's Girl's Camp pillowcase.

Merry Christmas!

This holiday season has been so busy, but I wanted to stop in and wish everyone a very merry Christmas!  I made a couple of these darling ornaments (tutorial from Diary of a Quilter) to give away as gifts.  I think they're darling =)

Follow the Virtuous Road

Yesterday I picked up Sarah from Girl's Camp.  This was her first year and I was so excited to make her little gifts each day.  (Our Stake has a volunteer who collects "mail" and delivers it each day; the only restriction is that whatever we send has to fit inside a manila mailer.)

'Twas the Night ...

I've done several blog hops over the last couple of years with Sew We Quilt!  This is the first one I've done that is more of a swap ... so fun!  Thanks once again to Madam Samm and Marlene!  Marlene is amazing and I know she spent hours (and hours) getting everything just right. (The complete schedule is here.)

There were a couple of rules to keep in mind this time around ...

1.  We were to make small gifts to be made in hours, not days.

2.  We had to mail it all off by Oct. 31 ... yes, Halloween =)

A Little (late) August ALOYF Finish

My August goal here was to finish the Nautical Quilt in the Sewvivor Sew-along.  I did finish it ... but not until September 4.  Oh, well.

This is my favorite quilt to date.  I had a really difficult time folding it up to give away at a baby shower, but I did it knowing that the recipient would truly appreciate it.

PS ... Last Finish of 2013

A while ago, Rhett asked me to make a quilt for him.  I've had some trouble deciding what to do because he doesn't like busy patterns and does like plain colors.  Not a fun combo for me to work with :)  I know I'll get to it soon, but it certainly wasn't going to happen before Christmas. So, I went looking for Plan B.

It's a Giveaway Kind of Day

Welcome visitors!  This is my first time participating in Sew Mama Sew's bi-annual Giveaway Day.  I'm so glad that you decided to stop by today and visit.

It's a Sister Thing!

Today is all about the swap I participated in this summer.  I got back from my cross-country trip last Monday and am finally getting my bearings.  The first thing I grabbed from my stack of mail waiting on my sewing table was a squishy package that had some really cool treats!

Despite my lack of posting, I think she figured me out.  Right now red/aqua is a favorite combo and I absolutely LOVE the plus mug rug.  Of course, since I got a mug rug, she also included some goodies to go IN that mug.  Yummy!

She also included two little pincushions that look like chickens.  Aren't they the cutest!  Thanks so much to Laurel at Drowning in Fabric.  You hit a home-run--Thanks!

Before I left for MD, I also sent off my goodie bag to my secret sister.  I haven't received word that she got it yet, but I'll post it anyway.  I got to stalk Janet at Caribou Crossings.  She posted even less than I did this summer, so I went way back on her blog; its a good thing she's been posting for more years than I have :)  I also had the great fortune to have worked with her round robin quilt in the few months previous, so I had an idea to work with.

I learned that Janet loves hexies and the great outdoors, so I went with many of the same blues and greens I used in my round robin border and added pops of yellow and orange to add some sunshine.  I used the pattern in Sherri McConnell's A Quilting Life (book.)

Janet also does a lot of handwork, so I included some cute labels, some amazing Clover Clips, and some sticky thimbles.  Hope you enjoy, Janet!

Thanks again to Michele at Quilts from My Crayon Box.  I'm so glad I stumbled on your sweet blog last year!

Some August Sewing

I really can't believe it's half-way through August!  Maybe its because I bought plane tickets this week and I know I'm leaving that I suddenly don't feel like I have enough time to get anything done ...

Monogrammed Water Bottle Holders

Every year my oldest goes to Girl's Camp for one week with the Young Women's program at our church.  Our stake has a mail program where we can send gifts and notes up to the girls.  This is very popular and I try to do a little something every day.  She also takes her best friend from school with her, so I have double the trouble to be creative for.

S.W.A.K.: Here's to More ... of the GOOD stuff

I think I can characterize this week as a smoothing out week.  Still have ups and downs, but a couple of things seems to have fallen into some kind of rhythm.  Now I just need to learn the steps and go with it ...

Samantha officially started a 2-period school day.  She continues to be in great pain most of the time.  Everything she was missing at school was so overwhelming, plus she's having more difficulty with focusing and short-term memory.  I can only imagine the incessant foggy feeling.  Anyway, hopefully this will help her focus some and relieve some of that stress.  She had her 3rd MRI come up normal again.  This time it was focusing on her neck and shoulder area.  Very frustrating.  We're ready for answers, or better yet, a miracle.

Sarah and Nicholas had their second TAG group meeting at school this week and they're excited about their respective projects.  Nicholas is learning about cryptography and DaVinci's mirror code and Sarah is working on a nature diary.  She and her friend are re-binding a couple of blank books, then will be going on excursions to press flowers, do rubbings and collect all kinds of as-yet-unknown goodies.  I'm so proud to see the initiative they're taking.

Here's a couple pics of Nicholas.  One of the things my mom sent me in her care packages was a pair of my dad's old (dare I say vintage) Boy Scout pants.  They're a touch too short, but otherwise fit great.  (Out that hem comes this week--wonder how it'll look after so many years ...)  I liked the pocket detailing--sure don't see that anymore.  He was so proud to put them on and go.

 

 I'm spending a good portion of today with Nicholas and his Battle of the Books team, The Medieval Rattlesnakes, at the regional battle.  They came in first in the school-wide competition and now they get to compete with the other elementary schools in the area.  He's nervous and excited--I guess I am, too.

I threw in a couple of last- minute projects this week, so other things got pushed back.  Sarah had a birthday party tonight so I made a little wallet for a gift card.  It turned out really cute--and it was fast (http://craftycupboard.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-business-card-holder.html).  Definitely a quick keeper.  I also made a small pair of drapes for one of Rhett's friends at work.  Long story short, he shared a story with me about how he made some crack about covering up a small peep-hole window with cardboard.  I looked at him and said, "I can do better than that!"  Four hours later, I was putting the finishing touches on the "cardboard".  Don't have pictures, but it wasn't anything complicated.  Just two 30" square panels with casing for a tension rod and matching ties.  The fabric was sweet, though--I'll definitely have to use the scraps--maybe for some gift card wallets ...

S.W.A.K.: On a Sorta Snowy Saturday ...

This morning I was awaken by my husband's excitement over the big flakes of snow that were really coming down ... since then it's snowed twice more, the sun came out long enough to cause serious meltyness and now it's raining, really raining.  I guess that's about how this week has gone, too. If you don't like things right now, just wait a few minutes ...

President's Day on Monday was a fun family everybody's home day.  Well, I can wear rose colored glasses in retrospect, right?

This week I primed, textured and painted our new bathroom walls.  Today we're replacing the toilet and sink fixtures.  That still makes us only about halfway done.  Next the shower comes out and we do the walls and door frame while we try to decide how to replace the shower.  I have my own definite wish--cultured marble--but we'll see what we end up with.  I'd also love one of those "open" showers with no doors to scrub and collect mold, but again, who knows ...

Samantha had the usual smattering of appointments ... six to be exact.  Still no change and 7-1/2 weeks into this with no explanation or relief.  She's so done.  She just wants to be NORMAL.  Next week she will officially move to a medically-necessary shortened school day.  We're working out the details on that still, but as soon as we do, that'll be a whole new chapter is our educational adventures.

I started helping Nicholas's class with the pancake dolls that I cut out over Winter Break.  I need to get on top of mine so I can post a tutorial with pictures.  I really admire his teacher for taking on a project of this magnitude.  So little of this type of project is done nowadays and it is so good for the children to move a bit out of their comfort zone and learn new skills--it's only running stitches after all.  It kinda hit home for me when I realized I was teaching the kids the exact same stitch I'm using to draw the pictures on the Rocky Ridge quilt.

I had hoped to be going up to the Portland Temple today with Samantha, but we couldn't schedule a time for baptisms.  Working with her this week to get some names ready for the work reminded me how much I enjoy family history work when I take the time.  Does anyone have any suggestions about how to organize all that information?  Most of what it looks like I need to work on for a while is "reconciling" conflicting records in the Family Search system.  But that also means tracking down original records and other family information.  So many projects, so little time...

Tipsy Tutorials: Quilt-in-a-Week

Original Pinspiration (just scroll down a little):

http://thirtyhandmadedays.com/category/sewing/

It would probably be more accurate to say "blanket" but it is quilted :)  I am definitely a novice quilter.  For me, quilting is a definite step up from sewing clothes and other crafty projects.  I learned how to sew a straight line a very long time ago, but piecing quilts was something that seemed just a little out of my reach.  Matching seams and figuring out the math were beyond my comprehension.  Now I think it was just that I had a mental block because I didn't know anyone who could show me the ropes.  As I was thinking about the kinds of projects I look for when trying something new, I stumbled across this idea.  Why not show how *easy* quilting can be and make a small blanket in a week?!

This-is-so-COOL!: Mom's Birthday Present

I posted a preview of this little project a couple of weks ago.  Here is the final product.  My inspiratoin came from the Sew, Mama, Sew website (http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2007/11/wellness-bag/).  I love this idea--any excuse to take a moment to retreat and relax is always good.

Tote Bag for Mom

This morning I'm off to another doctor appointment with my oldest, but I thought I'd take a couple of minutes to share a picture of my current proect.  My mom's birthday is at the end of January and I saw this old post on SewMamaSew:  http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2007/11/wellness-bag/.    Mine turned out a little different, but I'm so excited about the way it looks.  I hope to finish the bag tomorrow and then begin work on the hot and cold bag covers.  The sewing should go quickly, then I get to go shopping to round out all the little add-ons.