Good intentions . . . .

Every year I have good intentions.

I promise myself that I will start my holiday crafting/knitting/sewing early -- like in January. 

And, every year I break that promise.
This means the months leading up to Christmas are very busy.

Knitting scarves for the grand-daughters.

Sewing a baby quilt for a baby girl due in December.

And sewing pj pants for all the grandbabes. I was too busy with all the cutting out, stitching up to get a picture -  use your imagination. 

(And, if you are going to imagine a picture of the pj pant construction - please also imagine that my sewing room is clean and all the pj pants are finished and in gift bags under my completely decorated Christmas tree.  Hey - if your going to use your imagination - go big!)

P.S.   I swear, next year I'm going to start early (and I mean it this time !!!)

Best Laid Plans . . . . .

I really had great plans for sewing/knitting/crafting/baking for the holidays this year.  I printed off cool handmade gift tutorials from Sew Mama Sew  www.sewmamasew.com/.  And saw so many cute things on other blogs that inspired me to get in my sewing corner and create something.  Sorted through my holiday cookie recipes and even checked out some new recipes on this site http://www.ourbestbites.com/. 

As of today -- all my plans are just that -- 'plans'.  Not much action has been taken to start any of these wonderful projects.  But, I will say that I've got the 'planning stage' of my Holidays done !!  

O' I forgot one thing I've almost gotten completed -- an 'I Spy' quilt for the youngest grandbabe.  It just lacks a bright green binding and I can check one home-made gift off the list.  It's a start at least !

You can't make just one . . . . .

Nothing much was on television Wednesday night (or at least not much that I was interested in anyway) -- this led to some time in my little sewing corner. My crafting/sewing journal was consulted for measurements and ideas (from bags made for the KC girls last year) -- some were rejected, others were implemented.

An hour later I had these two Trick or Treat bags to show for my time/effort.    The Transformer bag on the left is for Joe and measures approx 11"x11". The leopard-print bag on the right is for Laney and measures approx 9"x9".  Both bags were lightly quilted using a fusible fleece as backing, the linings are Halloween prints -- everything thing was from my stash!

Such fun making these little bags -- and, very addictive too !

I've already got plans to make at least two more.

Baby Gifts - Tiger Tails - Lizard Blankies

A wee tiny knitted hat (along with flannel burp cloths) for a baby girl expected on December 24th. Such fun making baby things.

Sewing up a 'lizard blankie' for Joe's toy lizard collection - the reason for the blankies?  According to Joe, his lizards get cold at night.

A first for me - - -  sewing the tail back on a tiger. 

The tiger held very still while this surgery was performed and as you can see by the last picture, he is whole once again. 

A discussion between MoMo and Joe about treating Mr. Tiger with respect and not using his tail as a handle -- will hopefully avoid further medical procedures.

Good 'Read/Listen'

I have long been a fan of Pat Conroy --

His books 'speak' to me on so many levels. For me, the books read like poetry, with sentences that are beautiful and lyrical as they weave their storylines together.  But, until now I've never 'heard' one of his stories read to me.  Never listened to the soft southern drawl of the narrator leading you from the year 2009 and into the world of Charleston, SC in the early sixties.  And, like the turbulant 60's - there's much more going on than appears on the surface.  By the end of chapter one -- I was hooked.  And, I'm being stingy with this audio-book. Only listening to it during my commute to/from work.  You see, I want my visit to 'South of Broad' to be a long as possible. 

O' and I have done a bit of sewing this week.  The two grandbabes here in town needed some 'Game Day' pj pants to watch the OU this weekend.   Boomer Sooner !!!!

Keeping Busy

While it's hot outside -- I've been busy inside under the wonderful central air conditioning. Here in Oklahoma, it's a necessity not a luxury.

There's been a little sewing going on -- 3 more Bandana Skirts. They are like potato chips, you just cannot stop at one -- and, they are so darn cute.

A few 'Pennie Pockets' were sewn (via the Happy Zombie's blog - it's a free download)-- a sort of 'origami' type pattern. You just need to follow the directions -- not think too much and it magically turns into a neat little pocket ! Try it out for yourself and then see the reference to 'potato chips' above -- it also applies to this pattern.

And, over the past week, I've been very busy with the book pictured above. It's the first official 'Good Read' for the month of August --'The Time Traveler's Wife: A love story with a 'twist' and I was hooked from the first page - which led to couple of late night reading sessions to get to the end of the story. But it was so worth it.

What's keeping you busy this summer ??

Sewing companion

I have a little shadow, of the furry 4-legged variety. She follows me all around the house. Acting as supervisor for all daily chores/tasks. Lately, one of her favorite things to do is assisting me while I sew. She inspects my sewing/crafting books for the latest patterns & designs - but mainly she just loves to add her scent to each book in the basket.

As I sit n front of my sewing machine, she watches every move I make -- because you never know when I might have an open lap available for a nap!

Warning - these can become addictive . . . . . .

Take one bandanna - cut into two pieces. Lay the pieces end to end and sew together.

With a contrasting fabric, cut a 4" strip and sew onto the length of the sewn bandanna strip.

Sew the ends together to form a tube. Press down 1/4 inch on both top and bottom of tube - turn under bottom hem again (1/4 to 1/2 inch) and press. Stitch down hem. Turn top under again 1" and press to form a casing. Stitch down top casing (making sure to leave an opening to insert elastic), also stitch 1/4 inch from top of casing to form a ruffle edge. Thread elastic through top casing, measuring waist of future skirt-wearer, cut elastic and stitch ends together, stitch opening shut.

Ta Da --

you have a Bandanna Skirt for a baby/toddler girl !!

So simple and super cute

Total time from start to finish: 20 minutes

Check stash for cute contrasting fabric.

Go out and buy more bandannas --

Warning: these can be addictive !

Note - for older girls:: use two bandanna (or three - depending on how full you want your skirt and age of child) -- one each for front/back.

'Jane Market Bag' - 1 and 2 . . . .

I've been coveting this pattern for awhile now. So, last week, with the long holiday weekend approaching, I decided to download the pattern and make some 'Market Bags' of my own over the 4th. And, I'm very happy with the results. This is a pattern for a basic 'shopping' tote bag with the addition of pockets on both sides and a pin-tuck at each corner, making it stand up quite nicely. Here's my first 'Jane Market Bag' ::

I've had these fabrics in my stash for 3-4 years now and think they came together to make an pretty English-Garden type bag. It's currently holding my knitting -- but I like to think it could have also held yarn & knitting needles for Agatha Christie as she traveled around Britain, solving all those murder mysteries. That little bit of fantasy makes me smile every time I look at this bag. Hey, you have your fantasies and I have mine.

Now for 'Jane Market Bag' II ::

I made one change on this second bag -- used a fusible interfacing on the handles, side & center pattern pieces and it gave the bag a bit more structure. The pattern instructions are very easy to follow and I'll definitely be making more of these bags in the coming weeks. I'm even thinking of 'up-sizing' the pattern for an even larger 'Market Bag' -- although the pattern size will hold a lot of yarn, groceries, library books, baby/child estentials or whatever you fancy. And, to cap it all off -- the Jane Market Bag folds neatly when not in use.

Both bags were finished in a couple of hours -- my favorite -- a quick sewing project! You can get your own bag pattern at http://rosylittlethings.com/janemarketbagpattern.html -- it's only $6 ( which is only 2 iced coffees from Starbucks or 3 large vanillla Diet Cokes - easy ice please - from Sonic ) -- however you choose to rationalize it -- this pattern is well worth the cost.

This & That

Grandson Joe's set of summer pj pants with matching tops -- or 'comfy clothes' as he calls them. Finished a couple of weeks ago -- now I'm working on summer shorts for his little sister.

Scooby Do pjs because our Little Guy loves that pooch. And, a pair of tropical sunset pjs for Joe's trip to Florida with his Daddy's parents. And, Rt 66 pjs - the fabric even had an 'Oklahoma' on it so I bought a yard of it -- now, I have a bit left over for a new tote bag. Which is a good thing because I just bought the pattern for Alicia Paulson's "Jane Market Bag' - check it out at Posie Gets Cosy over at http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/. This just might be my '4th of July' weekend project. Heaven knows, it's going to be too hot to do much more than stay inside and sew (or watch movies or knit).

Our two cats, Muffin (AKA The Terminator) and Libby (AKA Libby LouLou). This is a rare sight at our house. Muffin doesn't allow Libby to share this rug in the entryway that often; and, even though Libby out weighs her by a good 10 pounds, Muffin is the Boss of the house! Maybe it has something to do with age -- Muffin is the grand old age of almost 19 years old -- while Libby is a mere 4 years old.

Spotted in the parking lot of our local library. If you look close -- you will see that this VW Bug is sporting a 'rhinestone' frame for her tag. Now tell me, how 'girly' is that !!

Taking a break -- & a pretty picture . . . .

This week, I've been busy cutting out & sewing shorts for the youngest grand-daughter and pj pants for her brother. Easy sewing projects with almost instant results. Until last night.

Seems that my sewing machine and I are not getting along. It all started with a little 'tension' whenever we worked together -- and then there was the heated discussion about stitch length and another little 'talk' about who exactly was the responsible party in our relationship. Currently we are 'taking a little break' to let the dust (and frayed nerves) settle a bit.

Hopefully with a little counseling, some cleaning issues and re-reading of the manual -- we will be back on good terms in a couple of days. Until then -- here's a pretty picture of my hollyhocks after the rain yesterday afternoon. This was a 'pass along' plant from my Mom's garden 4 years ago. The stalks are almost five foot this year and just covered with lovely old-fashioned blooms.

So much prettier to look at than my last sewing project.

A new home for my ' Stuff '

When you & your crafting/sewing/knitting share a very small room with your hubby, who also has a complete set of drums in said room -- that room tends to get a little cramped. Over the past 5 years, Hubby and I have constantly re-arranged and pared down our stuff in order to have more room. After some thinking and pondering -- here's what we came up with --

As of Sunday afternoon, all my fabric now resides in the closet. It works great and I wonder why we didn't think of it sooner. Of course, before the fabric could move into the closet -- lots and lots of stuff had to move out. A huge haul of stuff was loaded into both vehicles for a drive to our local Goodwill store. The nice people at Goodwill were very happy to have new stuff to sell -- but, not as happy as I was to have more room in my little sewing corner. In fact, I was so happy that as soon as the fabric made the move into it's new home -- I immediately cut out a pair of shorts for Laney and new pj pants for Joe.

Can't begin to tell you how much fun these were to make in my 'new & improved' sewing space !!

On a roll . . . . .

This past week, Nancy made a 'Crayon Roll' that's simple and so cute. At our meeting on Monday night -- she showed us how it was constructed and Wanda started cutting out the pieces to make one herself.

Can't wait to see all the variations this pattern will under go as it makes it's way through our Stitchers group. I'm already thinking of making a 'Spiderman Crayon Roll' for Joe or maybe one with lots of pink and purple for our middle KC Girl, Phoebe. I think we Stitchers are definitely on a roll -- because the possibilities for this little craft are endless !

Sisters

Saturday afternoon -- lots of cutting, sewing (and sipping fountain drinks from Sonic)

Little 'twirly skirts' were made for two great-nieces.

One library book bag completed (and 8 more cut out)

Don't look for any pictures of the finished projects -- we three sisters were having too much fun talking/laughing to even think about pictures.

We were making memories.

Making biscuits . . . .

There was a lot of 'biscuit making' going on at our house this past weekend (notice the jar of chocolate close at hand -- chocolate is an essential ingredient to 'biscuit-making').

Those biscuit-shaped pillows were everywhere. And, I am here to tell you that it was hard to contain 64 little bitty biscuits in one place -- they kept escaping.

But, after a while -- they finally cooperated and lined up in neat rows.


Next -- sewing all those 'biscuits' together.
I think I'm going to need more chocolate.

Bisquits & Snow

The fabric is cut for the biscuit tops -- 49 squares, 6"x6"

The biscuit bottoms (or 'stays') are also cut - 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"


And, it looks like this will be a good weekend for staying inside and sewing 'biscuits' together. Notice the snowflakes over Friday & Saturday. The calendar may tell us it's Spring -- but, Mother Nature is telling a different story all together.




P.S. I'm adding 'chili making' to my list for the weekend because according Willie Jay -- Saturday will be a perfect Homemade Chili Day !

Getting organized

I spent two hours last night in my little sewing corner watching the last two episodes of LOST ** while sorting buttons, thread, fabrics, and patterns. Some re-organization was sorely needed after months of moving projects from one table to another just to be able to cut or sew -- it was a mess. You see, there's a quilt for a special little baby boy (due around the 1st of April) and I need to get to work on it -- very soon. And, after last night's labor -- the biscuit cutting might start this weekend.

** Is it just me, or does LOST get stranger every week? But, I do so love watching Sawyer and Jack !

Coast to Coast Goodies

The mail has been 'bi-coastal' lately -- with fabric goodness received from two of my swap partners.

From the West Coast -- this fat quarter reminds me of the flour sack prints from the 30's and it just might part of a new spring tote bag or maybe a little girl's sunbonnet.

And, from the East Coast a bright green. I'm pulling together fabric for Stacked Coins quilt for our youngest grand-daughter and this FQ fits in the color scheme nicely. Or it might be used to make some 'softies' for Easter.

Lots of fun planning and creating when you have some new fabric to dream on . . . . .

I'm ready for a change . . .

Something bright and colorful to look at for a few weeks. And despite the fact that our local weather wizards are calling for snow this weekend -- I'm in the mood for spring.

Spring colors, flowers , attitude.

This past Friday, when choosing fat quarters for Sew Mama Sew's -- it was the pale greens, clear yellows and soft pinks that caught my eye -- not the dark reds or blues. The trees are budding out and every morning I'm checking the progress of my daffodils -- there are even new leaves all over my rose bushes.

Change is coming. And yes -- I believe I'm ready for a it.

A change from winter to spring -- for cloudy overcast skies to give way to sunny cloudless days. For the sweaters & boots to be replaced by light-weight cottons and flip-flops. Change from sewing flannel pj pants to perhaps little sun-dresses in gingham-checks.

So, Mother Nature do your thing - just try to do it without many more thunderstorms - OK ??!!

East, West, North & South

Pretty bundles of cloth for Sew Mama Sew's Fat Quarter Swap -- be-ribboned and packaged up.

Ready to send to points East (Lenexa, Kansas) / West (Eureka, California) / North (Ann Arbor, Michigan) / South (Whittier, North Carolina).

I loved all the fat quarters and could not decide which ones to send where. I stuffed them into the envelopes and then randomly attached the mailing labels.

Hope the the 'stitchers' on the other end like what they get -- I know I had fun picking them out.