Move Over Vera

Well, maybe not quite!

I have been busy with my head down at the sewing machine for the past two weeks. I've been working on a custom order from a client whose youngest daughter was in one of my dance classes last season. She wanted a duffle bag for her older daughter to use for her dance classes. The girl wanted it quilted and kind of Vera Bradley-ish but with funkier fabrics. She chose several fabrics that she wanted included in the bag and I met with the mom for her to relay all of the features she wanted.

I am now done and here is the finished product!

Front of the bag with matching makeup pouch

(I don't know if you can tell, but this thing is HUGE, I filled it with 4 large bath towels to give it shape for the photos)

Side with pocket

Back of bag

Inner side pocket

Inner end pocket

All fabrics are from Sandi Henderson's Farmer's Market Line in the Spring colorway.

Though I personally am not quite into the whole quilted bag look, I have to admit that it was really fun quilting all the pieces and seeing them all puff up before my eyes!

I hope she loves it. She came by before I sewed on the shoulder straps to see if the length was ok and both she and her mom were really excited.

Phew, onto my next projects... hemming jeans, adding an embellishment onto a homecoming dress and making a birthday dress for a little girl (not my girl). I also hope to get a few more potholders and maybe casserole carriers made (ha, good luck with that!) before a Boutique show I will be in in October! More on that later.

A Hole in Our House

As of 2 years ago, we have been talking about replacing our worn out sliding glass door.  We decided it was a good time to get a wider door to take advantage of our wonderful view of the pond out behind our house.  We do have two back doors, each quite close to one another.  So we finally decided to go with the less expensive alternative, windows.  We also opted to have the railing on that side of the deck removed and the stairs continued to the end to remove that obstruction from our view.

You can see how much more openness we were in store for.  Look how narrow the double sliding door was.

Here they have supported the ceiling with lumber while they took out some studs in the wall.

It was very strange having a huge open hole in our family room.  The inside was on display like a doll house.

Here the windows have been installed.

Siding back in place

Deck finished.

Trim installed and staining in progress.

Finished!

We absolutely love it and now need to think about some window treatments...

Hope you enjoyed a peak into the transformation! 

Stash Patch Skirt

My mom gives and lends me some of her sewing magazines often. This spring she lent me a copy of Stitch. I forgot about it for a while but then found it and looked through it only to find a skirt I wanted to make for Ella. When I called her to say I had just found it and would return it after making the skirt, she said she'd bought another one. Sorry Mom!

Well, ahem, here is the project I wanted to do. It was great for me because it helped me to really use up some of my stash. I really don't like the feeling of having nice fabric, even remnants from other projects, sitting around. This made me feel many of those pieces were put to {good?} use. Plus, I didn't have to buy anything extra for this project so it was relatively FREE!

The little apron across the front is embellished with a few buttons.

The hem is trimmed with some blue lace hem tape. I don't think it supposed to be used for this purpose, but I don't care. How many people will even know? Or care, for that matter?

As usual, Ella makes my crazy creations look cute.

Maybe it wasn't such a smart thing to do, my hand still hurts! Though I didn't use the rotary cutter, but rather scissors. So I guess the general movement just aggravated whatever was wrong. I think it may be time to call the doctor on this one.

Nothing in this World is Forever

Top of archway leading to the outdoor ceremony site at the Little White Church on the Hill, 2009

This weekend we went camping with two other families in Galena, IL.  Galena happens to be where Jason and I had our wedding.  We were excited to go back to see the chapel where we got married 7 years ago and to show it to our kids for the first time ever.

Little White Church on the Hill, Scales Mound, IL, 2002

The chapel is an old, small, pretty building that was purchased by a retired couple who's family attended church there.  It is out in the hilly country about 10 minutes or so outside of the town of Galena.  They fixed it up really lovely and rent it out for weddings.

Little White Church interior with our pastor and wedding coordinator preparing, 2002

Our Wedding Sept. 14, 2002

The visit was bitter sweet.  It was great to be there again, but the building is showing quite a bit of wear.  Paint chipping, windows broken.  The realization set in that this church may not be there forever.  So the next time we visit, we will probably call ahead of time to see if we can go in the inside.  Before it's, gulp, not there anymore someday.

Sept. 6, 2009

But we will always have our memories of that day.  And we will enjoy going back for as long as we can.

Happy 7th Anniversary Jason!

New Items In Shop

I have been putting sewing and shop updates on hold for a bit while trying to organize our lives a little better and get into routines that will benefit our family's day to day living.  But today I sit here with a painful hand.  I don't know what is causing it, but it is hard to do much and it has me in a bit of a funk.  So I decided to work on photos and listings today for Kitchen Stitchen.  Here are a few of the newest items...

A new casserole carrier in reproduction 50's Kitchen fabric by Michael Miller paired with some really cute green and white polka dot.  Love it!

You may or may have not seen my previous post on my first table runner.  I do love how it turned out and hope it will find a good home very soon!

 

This is one of two Kaffe Fasset fabric napkin sets that I made.  The other maroon color set sold right away at the farmer's market.  These are just a great color and style for a dinner napkin.

I have a bit of an itch to sew, but if I do, I'll have to find another cutting method that doesn't cause so much strain on my left hand (the one in pain).  I currently must hold my cutting edge down really hard because it is slippery.  Unfortunately the next project I'd like to do is a patchwork skirt which would me a LOT of cutting!

Hope you all had a safe and happy Labor Day!  Please stop by my shop to take a look around at the new items!

A Renaissance

My cousin Katie works at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin in the summer.  She lives in Austin, TX and I haven't seen her much throughout our lives, so we make a point to get to the Faire (which is very close to us) each summer.  Once again it was great to see her.  This was also the first year the kids really enjoyed the Faire more than ever in the past.

Katie and I (it was a tad chilly that day)

Broon, a favorite entertainer.

 

Missed most of the horse show, but got to pet one.

Among other things, this entertainer "The Flaming Idiot" makes sandwiches with his feet.  He holds the worlds record for doing this the fastest.  I wonder how much competition he has.  It was pretty unappetizing to watch.  Especially when he plunged a foot into a large jar of pickles.

He also climbed up on Jason to juggle fire.

   

The petting zoo.

Miles was not so brave.  I don't blame him.

 

This porcupine is only 6 months old.  It stayed up on a roof and apparently bites.  Luckily it is unable to get off of the roof, although it certainly tries.

There was also a very aggressive zebra.  It was kind of a bizarre petting zoo.

These are just some of the highlights of our day.  It was a LOT of fun!

Boy's Turn

Today was Miles' first day of his second year of preschool.  Much to my delight, he actually said he was excited to go back to school!  This is a boy who had some terrible separation anxiety about school (and every other drop off situation) last year.  He has grown so much.  You can just tell in these photos how at ease, confident and happy he was to go to school.

Oh boy Mom, I want to take this picture so bad that I think I'll sit down for it.

You wanted a smile.

Waiting, not so patiently for the door to open.  Miles "Mom, when will the teachers open the door?"  me - "When they are ready."  Miles - "Mom, when will they be ready?"

Now I'm in, you can go now Mom! (Don't you just want to hug him?)

 

I am so excited about how much our kids love school and love learning.  Ella is becoming a true blooded nerd, working on reading, writing and math with no prompting from us.  And then teaching it to Miles.

First Day of the Big K!

I can't believe this day is here, and yet I can.  She is such a big girl, so smart, so motivated.  It is time.  Time for our oldest to go to Kindergarten.  So please permit me to proudly share some photos of our drop off.  Jason joined as well.  It means a lot to me (and more importantly to Ella) that he wanted to be there.

We chose to send Ella to Kindergarten at the Montessori school she attended for three years for pre-school.  It is a full day program and the children can learn at their own pace and own level.  The teacher is wonderful.  We are quite happy with our decision.  The public schools do not offer a full day program.  But we do plan to enroll her in public school next year.

Posing by the school sign in her back-to-school outfit and new haircut.

Waiting for door to open and school to start.

Getting situated after being greeted by the wonderful teacher and meeting a new friend and an old friend.

She's ready!

At least one tear may have been shed.

The report after school from the teacher was that she did well and is reading at an impressive level.  The report from Ella is that she LOVED it.  It was fun to hear the details of her day too.  I left a note in her lunchbox and she clearly appreciated it.  I'll have to make a habit out of it!