New Blouse – New Display

I obtained a pattern for a peasant type blouse for Ella a while back and recently decided I couldn’t live without Anna Maria Horner’s Fortune Fabric from her Good Folks collection. And so the two met and became this:

Since I have a picture of Ella in her new top at the library, I’ll take this time to Brag on her! Ella is quite the reader for a 5 year old. She is the best reader in her Kindergarten class, according to her teacher. The other night she read a book to me and I was astonished at the big words she was able to decipher with ease. She is now reading Because of Winn-Dixie, a children's novel by Kate DiCamillo. Yes… a novel. I read her this book last year. I am thrilled! Literacy opens such a world to people and reading is something that I enjoy immensely. Since I’m already bragging, I will also add that she loves math. She will make up problems adding several numbers together and then solve them. She has a much better memory than I, for which I am thankful. She is already memorizing addition facts and complex bible verses. And I am totally not pushing her on this, it is all her. I am just here to encourage and provide resources to quench her thirst for knowledge.

Finally, at the solicited suggestion of a friend, I redid my potholder display so as to have a neutral background. I used ModPodge to adhere some very affordable burlap.

Before:

After:

I do think it makes a difference and I am quite please with the resulting look. Now I’m off to make even more potholders. Have a great Wednesday and remember to thank a Veteran!

Bits and Pieces

My Impatiens in August

Recently I saw a tutorial for quilt squares called Quartered Squares that I really loved. I immediately decided I was going to make a quilt using this design. Then a few hours later my brain said "Hold on there!" I knew I had so many other projects to be completed, and starting a quilt was not only silly right now, it would require the purchase of more fabric. And I really would like to work through the fabric I have plans for before buying more. But then, as I was pumping iron at the gym, the idea came to me... Make a few blocks and turn them into a table runner! For my kitchen shop. So while visiting my parents yesterday, I put some scraps and fat quarters together that coordinated (I should probably have enough to make 3 different color theme runners with what I have now) and dove into making a trial table runner. I did modify the sizes of each row to make the squares smaller.

Table Runner Quilt Squares - atop the fabric I will use for the back, binding will be a natural cream color

At this point all the squares are made and sewn together and I have purchased coordinating fabric to finish off the back and binding (less than $2 for a minimum amount of sale fabric from Hobby Lobby). I'm very excited, but a little nervous about the free motion quilting thing again. At least the size of this should be totally doable.

I HAVE been chugging away at some other shop items in anticipation for next week's Farmer's Market. Not sure I will make my goal, but I'm working on it. For a sneak peak, here are a couple of the HOLIDAY towels that are done. Yes, holiday already!

Love that reindeer fabric! Click to enlarge!

Today my totally sneaky and wonderful husband sent me a BEE-YOOtiful bouquet of flowers while he's off on a business trip! Aren't they totally gorgeous! He really tricked me into being home for our remodeler guy to bring by some paperwork to sign so that I'd be home for the delivery of these.

My Bouquet!! - perfect colors for the end of summer I think

Finally, (long post I know) I found another stitcher Marie through a recent feature on Heather Bailey's blog who is also creating these name pillows that Crystal of Little Bit Funky is making. I was so excited when I saw this grandma pillow. What a GREAT idea for a gift!! Pattern is available here if you wanted to try making one yourself. Make sure to check out Marie's blog, I love the personalized towels she makes too.

And I'm off to the Farmer's Market. I'm going to get my sewing scissors sharpened, buy some popcorn for the kids and see what else I can find.

Hope you are having a lovely summer day!

Skirt and Yard Sale Finds

Remember that corduroy I was talking about from JoAnn's that is now 50% off? Now you can see just how CUTE it is! Yes I finished another easy skirt.

And YES Ella is reading up a storm and just improving by leaps and bounds thanks to all of her practicing! Which is why I felt a book was an appropriate prop for this photo shoot. I am so proud of her.

For this skirt I followed the directions for the ribbon trim at the bottom. It too was quite easy and I think the result is really pretty.

And finally I found some worthwhile items at yard sales to actually post about! This is not everything, but does fit into one of my favorite categories - home decorating!

So first is this great candle sconce that fits in perfect with our decor and will go great in the upstairs hallway next to a lonely painting. I swore I saw this in one of those direct sales catalogs. Upon research, I don't think it is Southern Living. But perhaps is from the Taste of Home Entertaining line.

Next is quite a simple item really, just a small hurricane. The color and the bubbled glass are perfect with our decor. Don't know where I'll use it yet, but I'm happy I got it.

I've got the lovely Lightening McQueen fabric in the washing machine for pre-shrinking. So be on the lookout for that lovely shirt coming up soon. Unless I botch up my first attempt to make a collared shirt...

Productive Day - Reward

They're here!

Today I finished all of the new potholders I had set out to do and I LOVE them. I want to keep at least one style for our kitchen. But I'll probably just make us another set so I can list these. See if you can guess which one I like the best. Which one do YOU like the best?

I still need to take photos and will put them in the shop later this week or early next.

I also got started on another line of product for my store. I'll post more on that once I've got some finished and listed or at least ready to list.

I turned in my fat quarter challenge to the local quilt and fabric store QuiltPlay. They will be displaying all of the projects in their store starting March 30. If you live in the area, you can vote for your favorite for just 25 cents. The winner gets 12 free fat quarters!!!

I am also getting back to the design I started for a line of placemats for KitchenStitchen.

Tonight we attended a community night potluck for the church we recently started attending and I was happy to meet some new people. I will also be meeting up with some of the SAHMs from the church tomorrow morning with kids for breakfast.

But now I will get to the exciting part which had me squealing like a schoolgirl. When I came home I went to put my coat away and saw the box. My NEW SEWING MACHINE WAS SITTING THERE INSIDE THE FRONT DOOR. Hurray. Finally, the replacement for the new machine that I got a few weeks ago, but was malfunctioning is here. And I'm excited (in case you couldn't tell). I didn't "name" my first machine, but have heard of people doing so. So since this is the Marie Osmond model, I name this machine...

MARIE

Easy Heart Ornaments

I made up these simple cuties using my latest batch of "bits and pieces fabric scraps" from lassiegirl.

I saw something similar to these on a blog I read.

I also saw another post at Nicole's Our Cozy Nest with Tshirt appliques she did using a decorative stitch. I decided then that I really wanted to use a decorative stitch for something. Unfortunately, my machine has no such stitches. Luckily, my mom's does, so when we went to visit my parents on Thursday, she let me use her machine and I used its decorative stitches to make these little pillow hangy things.

They each have a different fabric on the back. SO easy to make.

Cut 2 heart shapes from 2 different fabrics. Cut some ribbon long enough to form a tab. Pin ribbon into place as a loop at the top to the wrong side of one fabric. Place wrong side of other fabric to wrong side of fabric with loop. Stitch together around edges until just over the second hump of the heart. Stuff with polyfil and then stitch closed. So simple. Should I be ashamed? (Not to mention I SHOULD be working on things for the shop...)

These were lovingly made for my children's preschool teachers and aides as well as the women I work with as mentors to teen moms.

This is my favorite.

I'd like to make a bigger deal about Valentine's Day than I have in the past. This is just a start.

Have you made or purchased any fun Valentine's gifts yet?

Kitchen Stitchen is Open!

Two sales already! Thanks Susie!

Please come take a look!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade kitchenstitchen.etsy.com

Creating and Happy

Right now a huge focus in my world has been my Big Project. Of course you can probably tell it involves sewing...

I started with a plan and everything was falling into place nicely. I had one little hiccup and wasn't sure I could overcome it, but as usual I trudged through and learned a little more about sewing on the way. And I really feel like this is gonna happen. I've got this technique down and I thing the result looks good. And later today. Maybe. I'll post a pic of some of the final products... Do you want to see?

Sneaky Peak

Thank-you for the encouragement and advice on Miles' situation. Don't know if I mentioned that he was perfectly content and having fun for the first 6 weeks of this same dance class. Something mysteriously changed in him over Thanksgiving break.

Maybe you are starting to guess what my big project is by now. I'll just give you this pic as another clue. What I was working on when this pic was taken is all DONE. At least the first batch. Hooray! I have a big stack of those and I have already moved on to "mass" production of the next item. Plus I'm already thinking of the details for the next type of item to make. However, as soon as I'm done with the first batch of the second item, I will be taking a big step and everyone will know what's going on. I'll divulge more information soon. I hope to get to this critical point before the end of the month. I am so excited!


Meanwhile, my machine is long overdue for a tune up. I went into the shop where this machine was purchased and was reminded of this fact again by the saleslady. I'm going to have to find a chunk of time that I don't plan to sew because she said it would take a minimum of 7 days for a tune up. More if something needs to actually be repaired.

My current items are being sewn using a walking foot. A new aspect of sewing to me. I love it. It is perfect for bulky fabrics. If you sew, you know that underneath the fabric is what are called "feed dogs". These move the fabric along as the needle sews. Well the walking foot is like feed dogs on the top. It is a big cartridge looking contraption which has serated like feet that push the fabric along from the top. A life saver!

Today I purchased a rolled hem foot. Again I did not know what it did. Thanks to the helpful sales lady, I now know. I'm going to have to play around with it before any serious usage of it.

I have a pretty bad chest cold right now which I typically have all winter in the past few years. I hope this one goes away as I'm currently on all types of allergy meds and nasal sprays.

Hope you all are staying healthy as well as any spouses, children and other loved ones.

Do you have any BIG projects going on this year? Would you share them or a link to a blog post about them in the comments?

Down Time

~Happy New Year Everyone!~  

I was not feeling well on actual New Years Eve, so Jason took the kids and himself to hang out with our good friends.  I stayed home and... no I didn't rest... I ended up cleaning most of the house!  Ah!  I'm so happy it's much cleaner than it has been in a while.  For the most part it is staying pretty clean so far.  Not so sure we (I) can keep that up once winter break is over.  It has been a pretty nice time after Christmas with no running around here and there.  Lots more time to give attention to the family.

I've been working a little when I can on my big project!  Here is a teaser (I'm still so excited!):

The fabric on the right is not part of the big project.  That is part of another project... revamping our parlour room drapes.

Once I get a handle on all the holiday pics, I hope to do a mini overview of the festivities.

And now that gift exchanges have been done, I can post this purse I made for my brother-in-law's girlfriend.  I love the colors and design of fabric.  Oh, and she says she likes it too. :-)

Finally, it was great to see my good friend Kim who I met in high school.  We met for lunch at Mickey D.s and Playplace time for the kids while we talked and caught up.  She was in our home town for a bit from her current home in Colorado.  Both of our parents still live in the same town.

Teachers' Gifts

Crafters, looking for ideas for a small gift for the holidays?

Another project DONE! My mom forwarded me an email from the site YouCanMakeThis and I scrolled down a ways to find THE project I was going to make for the teachers at my children's preschool for a holiday gift! I had purchased some holiday fabric at the quilt store not knowing quite what I was going to do with it. But now it has found its purpose, well at least one of its purposes! (There is more left).

Lucky for me, my generous mom has an embroidery machine and she agreed to do up some of the front panel for me. She has also made up some for herself and has started working on some of these (with different fabric for the border and back) as gifts for some friends.

The colors I chose are not the traditional Christmas red and green, but I really like these. The sample shown on the website has cool jingle bell trim at the bottom, but I couldn't find anything like that. So I went to the home dec trim section of the fabric area at Hobby Lobby and found these little dangly things that I thought looked like ornaments. I love how they turned out.

This is a FREE pattern that you can find HERE. You just need to register with the site to get the free pattern directions and if you want to get the file for the machine embroidery you can get that too. Or you can do it by hand, the pattern for that is included in the instructions. Such a simple fun gift to make! Here is the sample you'll find on their site.

Pajamas (number 1 of 2 - apparently)

I saw this fabric at Joann's and it just pops out at me whenever I am standing in the back of the store by the flannels waiting for a kid or kids to go to the potty. So when it went on sale for $2.50 a yard, I bought it. After I found a pajama pattern from McCall's (M5744) which were all on sale for $0.99 each. And so, I have completed the pajamas for Ella's birthday present. She's seen the fabric, even tried on the almost complete product to size for waist and hems.



But I'm putting it in the storage area now. Back there where I keep the rest of the gifts I buy. Hoping she won't ask about it again. It won't be a total surprise. But I know it means lot to her that her mama made it. Which brings me to my second point. When Miles saw Ella trying these on, he exclaimed that he wanted me to make some for him in soccer ball fabric. Which warmed my heart. And so now I need to find a pattern and another good sale on the flannel. These are really quite easy to make. And I'm happy to do it for my own children regardless.

Next up, doll nightgown...

Oh, and Crystal, if you are reading this, this is the fabric of what scraps I sent you along with some other fabric if you haven't received it yet... :-)

The Covered Crate

Did you ever have milk crates?

 

Do you still have them?  We  have a few around and they are actually put to good use.  Mainly in the storage area of our basement.  Well it's time to break them out again people.  People who can sew a very easy project that is.

I first saw this idea on Joy's Hope where she referenced the original free tutorial.  These are milk crate slip covers!!

I've made two now and am just waiting for a storage closet to be done (shelves put up) so I can proudly use them to hold some of my fabric and other crafty business.  I'm pretty sure I need to make more for other storage needs. ;-)  And when I need to take them out to use something in them.  They'll look great, instead of milk crate...ish.  The Heather Bailey fabric I used to make these was purchased from the Fabric Shoppe.  The natural colored fabric is canvas, but you can use a lighter weight fabric.  I just wanted mine to be really sturdy.

If you want to do this project but find that the dimensions of your crate do not match those of the tutorial, the tutorial tells you how to adjust the measurements for YOUR CRATE SIZE!

What a fun - easy - and pretty project!

In family news...

The whole family enjoyed the downtown trick or treating event on Saturday.  We also painted a room, had a date at a local Italian restaurant and then attempted to walk off the calories at the mall.  

Last week Ella graduated in her swimming class from Pike to Eel.  Both kids will be taking swim classes now.  Both kids are in DANCE class.  Yes, even Miles.  What's wrong with that?  He loves it.  The teacher picked out cute costumes that have a boy verson with trousers, suspenders, a tie and hat.  Cute.  

I am enjoying teaching 3-4 year olds in my 3 new classes.  I still teach an accelerated ballet and jazz class but just added two pre-ballet and tap 1 classes and one pre-ballet and tap 2 class to my schedule.  I am also doing some paper pushing for the dance program and... drum roll please... pretty much got a very nice RAISE this weekend.  

In less happy news, hubby is sick.  He never gets sick, so I'm worried.  I was gone most of the day teaching and taking kids to dance classes when he needed me. :-(  He is sleeping now, so I hope his body is healing.  Seems like he has the flu.  Glad I got a shot.  We don't need two parents out of commision.  Just hope the kids don't get whatever he has.  I haven't gotten them flu shots  yet...

Tune in soon for exclusive photos of our newly painted 

DINING ROOM!

New Item in Store

I am not feeling well. It's only been 3 days of non-summer weather and I'm already getting sick. Stuffy and sore throat. Perhaps you can understand a bit why I'd like to live someplace warmer.

Nonetheless, while the kids were at school I finished up another wristlet. It is a bit different than the earlier ones. It has a divider in the interior to keep things separated. It does not have the corners gusseted. Which means the bag is square and flat. I also added a ribbon and beads as a pull for the zipper. This item is now in my store. Click on here to go directly to listing.

This Could Save Your Life

*The Wristlet*

It all started out with a request from a friend to make her a wristlet. Because she'd much rather give me the business than Vera Bradley. She had been keeping everything in the diaper bag (which I made her :-)) and wanted something to keep things in which wouldn't be so bulky if she just needed to run into a store.

Then I made one for myself. And I love it. I don't think I'll ever carry a purse in the summer again. It is not cumbersome like a purse can be and I clean it out regularly because there just isn't enough room to stuff it with items and forget about them like in a purse.

Next thing you know, my mom started seeing women wear them at church. So I made one for her. Then I wanted to make them to be available to you! I wanted to make them a little "different" because I know there are a lot to choose from out there, specifically on Etsy. So this is what I've come up with so far and I have 3 more in not quite finished stages of assembly which I hope will be coming along soon.

Gotta have one don't you! You can find them in my Etsy store or click on the photo of the one you like to go directly to see it in the shop.

And here is the great bouquet I got at the Farmer's Market last week. The prettiest bouquet I've ever seen (except for my wedding bouquet of course). So colorful, locally grown and a very nice price. Maybe I should get one today while the flowers are still around.

Goodies Galore

Yesterday at the last minute I decided to treat myself to a trip to a little craft store up north in Antioch, IL. It is a bit of a haul, so I don't go there that often, but they have much better stuff than Joann or Michael's in the paper department. I supposed someone needs to SMACK me! I got more double-sided heavy cardstock to make more booklets. Meanwhile, they haven't been selling lately and I still have more I've already made that I need to list in my store. I found some really cute ribbons and embellishments too. I will have fun putting it all together...

I also bought some nice trendy fat quarters to make a few wristlets which I plan to put in the store. I just want to do something to make them more unique than just one type of fabric on the outside and another as the lining. So I still need to work on that design.

After my trip there I had to go to Joann on my way home to get essentials that the craft store doesn't carry, like zippers, D-rings, clasps and fusible fleece. I got the kids each a little craft they were begging for. That $2 was well worth it as it gave me a little peace and quiet for a decent chunk of time as they worked on them and I cut and folded paper for my new booklets.

I was thinking of a new idea for bags. I have a few of those recyclable shopping/grocery bags so as not to use up plastic bags. But they often come apart at the seams and I have to sew them back up. Would you buy and use a sturdier canvas bag with no lining but pretty fabric for the straps to make you remember to get them out of the car before going into the store because you can't help but want to show off your pretty bags??

Books, Book and New Dress for Ella

Today we met Jason at the Chicago Botanic Garden for lunch, so enjoy a couple of flower photos I took....

For some reason, I'm having trouble putting together a synopsis of our vacation. I think it is because reviewing it will make it more real that it is over! I've really had a hard time coming back to everyday normal life. So for now I will just say we had an excellent excellent vacation. As I said to Jason, it seemed like real summer. Northern Michigan is a beautiful, wonderful place to visit in the summer. If you are interested in looking at lots of pics go here or for the best of go here.

Recently I've finished 3 books.

*The Posionwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver was good but hard to enjoy. It was written through the voices of 5 people, a woman and her 4 daughters. Personally, I have trouble keeping track of who's who, but that's just me. After many chapters I finally caught on. Also the book goes at different paces. At first it seems slow and a bit uneventful, then it gets quicker and very event filled, finally it skips ahead in time very quickly not once, but many times. I stilled learned quite a bit from it, so I would say it was worth reading.

*Next I read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. This one I loved so much I don't want to give it away for someone to read, which is what I often like to do with books I've finished. It is set at the time of the Civil Rights Movement and is about a girl who runs away from an abusive father (actually more so to help a friend in trouble) and who had a mother who died when she was very young. Throughout, she struggles with whether her mother loved her and even if her father loves her. She finds a new family in an unusual but warm group of women/sisters and learns to mother herself.

*Finally I read The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. Um, I couldn't put it down, and I'm a little embarrassed, it was a complete train wreck, kind of like a soap opera. What I liked about it the most was that it made me appreciate that we are not in a very high social class and what often comes with being in that class as far as priorities (which I believe are all out of whack). Apparently it was made into a movie and I didn't even know. Jason tells me he heard the movie was bad.

The second Book in the title refers to Facebook. I joined after Jason had been on for a while and was connecting with lots of old friends. I haven't kept in touch with a ton of old friends but through Facebook I have reconnected with some. Most recently, kind of by fluke, I found my college roomate. She has a new last name and I could barely see the tiny avatar type picture by her name: Katy "Different Last Name than her Maiden Name". I found her in a search of the college class I graduated from. So I sent her a message asking if her maiden name was that of my roomate's. Amazingly it was her! So I heard back from her this morning and she seemed happy to have connected. We were roomates for FOUR years, so we had some rough patches at times and senior year was probably the hardest. But we had a lot of good times in there too. And I've been looking for her off and on through the years.

Are you on Facebook? Have you met any long lost friends?

I made a VERY simple dress for Ella out of some fabric I LOVE. I wanted it to be straight and simple but when it was done I was a little worried it looked kinda Mu mu-ish. Jason tended to agree. BUT then when I was at the local Farmer's Market today with the kids a woman asked me if it was a particular designer (Zutano) and I was just beaming as I told her that I made it myself and she said it was beautiful. Well it was probably because of the fabric, but still. Maybe the style isn't too bad. She's just a little girl!

Love her cute catalog model poses!

One other thing... I have always wanted to plan a baby shower. I have cut ideas out of magazines, really cute ideas. I almost had the chance once, but then didn't. So now my mom is going to throw a shower for the kids of one of her friends down the street. She has asked for my help and I hope that I can be involved in some of the ideas. I just saw an idea for homemade invitations on a blog today and sent the URL to her to see what she thinks. I love them because they involve fabric, buttons and sewing on paper and the mother of the expectant couple is a seamstress. For a peak, go here and here. I may be sharing more of the ideas with you on the blog over time.

Oh and another thing. I picked up some artwork I had framed today and LOVE the outcome. I have had the most luck taking my art to JoAnn Superstore to get framed. Not so much at Michaels. I've also learned to think about what I'm looking for before I taking the art into the framing department. So yeah, I'll post a pic later.

Ahhhh, Much Better!

Doesn't this look better to you? I fixed it, it's done. Now on to other things.

And don't forget to enter the drawing tomorrow for my birthday giveaway!

Good Day, Sunshine.

Having a really good day, but rather than bore you with the details, here is the story of the birth of a wristlet in pictures.