A day off?

Since we've been working so hard this fall, my gem of a boss gave us all an extra day off to use whenever we wanted during this holiday season. I decided to use mine yesterday.

Oh, the plans I had for myself! And then it snowed. And they closed the schools. So I went from having a blissfully silent day all to myself to having a day with a house full of snow-crazy kids. Oh well. You know what Woodie Allen said, "You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."

I did get some stuff done.

• I spent an hour hand quilting my GGG quilt. Still lots of stitching to do before that one is done. Can we slow the clock down just a bit before Christmas gets here?


• I started collecting pre-cut 2" strips to sew together as binding for my String Quilt. (see comment above regarding the time left before Christmas)


• I started customizing some long-sleeved onesies for the babies I know. These cute little panels were in a box of scraps I received from Becky (I think it was Becky...) a while ago, and I thought they were perfect. So, they are fused onto the onesies, and now I'm going to go around them with a blanket stitch by hand.
  
  
  (my favorite - I'm so country...)
  
• I am always appalled by how much I spend helping Santa fill stockings every year, so I made some lilac -scented sachets to put in a couple of stockings. I didn't have to cut anything to make these; I just headed to my scrap tins for some pre-cut scrap squares and bonus triangles from other projects. I made 11 total - these 8 are the ones I brought in to work today to give to all the women who work in a support capacity in my office because they are AWESOME people!
  
  
• My custom quilt block frames arrived from Angela (and her husband, Jim), so I put my wallhangings in to see how they looked.

  
  
  FABULOUS, in my humble opinion! I need to straighten them out a bit and trim some of the backing and whatnot, but these are nearly ready to be wrapped up.

• I finally succumbed to my children's pleadings, and we decorated the tree. See my tree skirt down there? LOVE IT! Although it seems a bit to small. Whatever.
  
  
  (How do you take a decent photo of a lit up Christmas tree!?!)
  

I'm so glad that it is Friday. I foresee lots of sewing in my future this weekend, along with a sleepover for 3 of my kids' friends, karate testing (Jason and I receive our advanced Brown Belt tomorrow morning, and Donald will receive his Orange Belt), and, since the snow is still on the ground, some outdoor play. Here's hoping that your weekend is just as productive and fun as I hope mine will be!

Overcast

Overcast. That word held many meanings for my Sunday.

First, it was the weather. Blah. Gray, cold, a perfect day for staying inside, which I did. I would have liked to just sew, but the filth in my house got to be too much, so I spent the morning cleaning. I have to say that, when I did go down to sew, it was without the guilt that sometimes accompanies me as I do what I want to do, rather than what I should do.

Second, it was a stitch that I employed for the first time as I made two additional T-Shirt Drawstring Backpacks for my sister and her son. I may need to go back to my niece's skirt and employ the overcast stitch in a couple places there so that her seams don't unravel.

I like that the t-shirts they gave me had images on both sides so these bags are reversible.

Third, overcast described my mood. Six students from my university were involved in a car accident, and two of them were quite banged up. One, a student who has been to my house on a number of occasions, may be paralyzed. Another couldn't be identified for a number of hours because of the extent of the injury. I spent the day in a cloud of sadness and dismay and an aching heart for those kids, their parents, the driver, the whole web of lives that this accident touched. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they begin the long recovery process.

On a happier note, I finished piecing the Plaid Dresden so my design wall is now empty and ready to receive a new project.

I have lots of hand quilting to do, so I hope to be disciplined and focus most of my sewing energy on getting some of these tops quilted, but I know myself and that I'll be sneaking down to visit my sewing machine every so often, so the design wall won't be empty for long.

I did it!!!

I'm not sure what made me think I could create an article of clothing from scratch.

Sure, I can alter an existing piece of clothing:

(Dahlia sweatshirt for me)

(gnarled tree sweatshirt for father-in-law)


I can repurpose clothing:

(drawstring t-shirt backpack for Donald)

(memorial t-shirt quilt from my dad's shirts)

But to MAKE clothing from scratch!?! I wouldn't know where to begin! Then I saw this adorable skirt tutorial at Moda Bake Shop and the seed was planted. Perhaps I could make something for my niece...

It wasn't easy, but I DID IT!

Why I chose to make something with a drop waist and pleats and lots of topstitching is beyond me...

But I love it! I hope she loves it too! Tomorrow I hope to find an inexpensive long sleeved t-shirt to go with it that I can applique some coordinating fabric onto (a flower, perhaps, or maybe just some circles/dots), along with some tights (she lives in Massachusetts - brrr!). But even if it is only this skirt that gets wrapped up and put under the tree, I'm thrilled. I'm not sure I'll ever try to make another, but now I can at least say I've done it. (Thanks, Sam, for your clothes-making inspiration!)

Quilt guild meeting tomorrow. And then, after that, only 2 more months until Bonnie Hunter is coming to town. Woo hoo! Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

I survived!

What DIDN'T we do this weekend!?! First, the parade on Friday night. Of course, it snowed! But we kept warm inside decorating our cars until the very last minute.

Once we were out there, the snow stopped and the kids did a great job moving forward - having a movie to watch helped!

I brought up the rear carrying the banner I made from fabric fused to fabric. I cut the letters free-hand - kind of fun, although some letters (S, N, W) are hard to get right the first time!

Saturday and Sunday were super busy, too (I won't bore you with the details of the 2 basketball games, Santa's workshop, movie, luncheon with our "adopted" international student, grocery shopping, laundry, blah, blah, blah), but I did get some sewing done.

1) All four of my wallhangings are now completed and just waiting to go into frames - photo to come when the frames arrive.
2) I finished all the sashing and cornerstones for my Plaid Dresden and got one row sewn together (I know, the photo looks the same as last time, but I promise you, there are more sewn seams this time!)

3) My latest Leaders & Enders project has been to make scrappy log cabin blocks from my scrap bag using 2" strips. Here's what I have so far, all in various stages of completion, and none completely done.

4) I did all the prep work for a project I am working on for my niece for Christmas. I've never made clothing before, but I'm trying out a skirt. We'll see...

Today is bright, but frigid, and I really just want to be on the couch quilting and sipping tea, but you know how it goes. Instead, I will embrace my full life and the excitement that each new day brings!

All I want for Christmas...

Quilt blog buddies, this post isn't really for you. You can read, of course, but this is my annual list for my family who always wants to know what I want for Christmas. But who knows, maybe you'll get some ideas for yourself...

What I want for Christmas is that we all get to hang out together, playing games, eating homecooked food, sharing deep conversations snuggled up in front of a fire with tea and popcorn. I want all of our children to strengthen the bonds with their cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. I want big breakfasts and sleeping in and everyone pitching in to get done what needs doing so we all feel like we are on vacation together. I want snow for the kids to play in and heat in the house for us to warm up in, and hot cocoa - not hot chocolate from a mix. But if you feel the need to get me something more, something to go under the tree, well then...

I don't usually go all domestic, but a bread machine would make me SO happy! Eating fresh bread at mom's last month was such a treat, but I truly don't have time to do all the mixing, kneading, etc, myself.

My feet are perennially cold. I've asked my hubby for slippers for every occasion for years now, and still, I scurry around in socks. Any slippers will do, but I prefer warm and fuzzy. Fun colors and styles won't hurt either.

Country music makes me happy. I don't own an Ipod; I still use CDs. I don't have these, but I sure would like to have them.

And wouldn't I look great singing along with some Western shirts? I only have one or two, and they are cordouroy. I'd love some cotton ones, and again, fun colors and styles are always welcome. With the snaps, of course, so my shirt will just breakaway if I get snagged on a fence or something while I am roping calves...

You can never go wrong with quilting supplies, books, notions. And finally, if you make me something, I promise to cherish it!

What's on your list?

Parade Prep and Bee Buzz

No sewing yet again. :(

Instead, I've been dismantling and reconfiguring cardboard boxes for this Friday's parade. Here's Donald sporting my prototype of the cardboard cars for the parade. Note that it is not yet decorated, as the kids will be doing that on parade day with colorful markers. We are also trying to find some bumper stickers from the Drive In to put on their cars. We have gotten authentic Drive In movie popcorn boxes to fill with popcorn to eat as we march down the street watching the movie. Should be fun!




I particularly like the license plates!


I have finally swallowed my fear of critique, and I've joined a Bee! I think there might be a few spots left if anyone else is interested. I'm always worried that others won't like what I do, but all the positive feedback from you all on this blog is helping me to become more confident in my quilting abilities. My month will be August (when I'm not so darned busy with work! Ugh! I'm feeling monumentally overwhelmed today and doing my best to do what I can and not worry about the rest) so I have plenty of time to figure out what block I want others to make for me, but here's what I'm thinking:

I saw this photo somewhere online and saved it on my hard drive as something I'd like for myself (if it is your photo, please let me know so I can give credit). You know how I like scrappy, but I'd love to have the variety of so many other peoples' scraps, not just mine. Besides, this is one of those blocks where you actually make two blocks every time you make one - more bang for your buck! We'll see, I might come up with some other idea in the next 8 months. Anyway, I can't wait to get started in January making blocks for others.

Tonight is Donald's karate class, Jason's basketball practice, and then a road trip to watch my husband's team play (and hopefully beat!) Roanoke College. The good news is, there is no way I can cook dinner so we are eating out. The bad news is, yet another day where I'm not likely to get much sewing done. Maybe some hand quilting on my last wallhanging at Jason's basketball practice. We'll see.

Rear view

Not much sewing happened at my house last night. First of all, there was basketball practice for Jason, and second of all, I am in charge of the Cub Scouts for the Christmas parade this Friday night. We are partnering with Hull's Drive In (whose Board I was recently elected onto, so this knocks out two organizational responsibilities at once), and Orrison's Tree Service, a business owned by the father of one of the cub scouts in our den. Here's the deal:

Some Cub Scouts will lead the way with our Pack banners and flags. Then comes the Tree Service truck, on the back of which will be a movie screen and projector (and generator) showing a Christmas movie (Charlie Brown, I believe). Then come the Cub Scouts, in cardboard cars, eating popcorn and watching the movie. And bringing up the rear, a Hull's Drive In banner which reads "Follow Us to Hull's Drive In."

The good news is that it is the first time I've been excited about the Christmas parade. The bad news is that I'm in charge of making the cardboard cars. I made my prototype last night (and of course forgot to take a photo), and now I have only 13 more to make by Friday. Ha! At least I don't have to decorate them - that will be the kids' responsibility while we are lining up for the parade on Friday.

But on a sewing front, I have finished 3 of the 4 twelve inch blocks to be framed. (yup, another goal not met; it seems to be starting to be a habit!) I don't really want to show the fronts until I have them framed and ready to go, but here are the backs. First, my favorite so far, probably because there is so much stitching to see:

In comparison, this one seems to need something more, don't you think?

This one, too. Hmmm, if I find myself with a little extra time before they get wrapped, I might just put a few more stitches in.

That's it! Have a wonderful Tuesday!