NEXT!

I completed the blocks and they are in the mail to my swap partners! YEAH! Now to those two little boys that recently had birthdays that I wasn't able to attend their parties.

I went through my patterns and "stash" and came up with Pj's for Phoenix using some totally cool skull print flannel and a nice homespun shirt for Austin. If I can find some denim in my stash I may make Austin some overalls to go with his homespun shirt. I thought some Fall type clothing would come in handy since it really won't be long until we are experiencing some cooler weather.

Favorite Sewing tool and potholders are ON MY MIND

First I want to thank Tania at Ivy Nest for the link in her post to texasfreckles where I learned how to make these fun potholders. Just in time to as I am participating in a potholder swap with my on-line quilting friends at 
ourquiltersfamilyhome.

In the above picture is one of my favorite sewing tools. The pointed end is to get the corners turned without poking through and the round end is for running around the seam inside the layers to get them to lay smooth. Above is before I used it and below is after I used it. LOVE THIS TOOL!

You add a layer of cotton quilt batting after you turn it right side out and I learned that it is VERY important to leave your turning opening big enough for your entire hand to fit inside so that you can smooth the batting down well before closing it up; adding a hanging tab and top stitching around the edge; which I did twice - once next to the very edge and then again about 3/4" in to hold the batting in place. I think they turn out really nice considering they started out as scraps in this little tub that I had saved back.

Six done - two more to make and then they'll be ready to go to my swap partners. 

This post is part of "on My Mind" with Down To Earth

Potholders and Blackberries

Insul-Bright as it comes from the store.

Squares of Insul-Bright waiting to be made into 8 potholders - 2 per potholder

My first potholder; waiting for a square of batting to be added to the center before I close it up and stitch around the edges.

I am really enjoying making these potholders and yes one will be for ME. Perhaps I will make one to match the project for my friend as well.


This morning I decided to move a raised bed that wasn't producing a thing by the fence next to the driveway. I've moved it to the front yard and filled it so I could plant the blackberry plants that I got from Gurney's in that Grab Bag. I think the Blackberries look quite happy now...

Along the front of the bed I transplanted some straggly looking mint that was growing in this bed when it was by the fence. As soon as I can I want to add a top dressing of more dirt and manure but I will wait a bit to give the blackberries a chance to settle in.

A walk in the Garden and A peek into my sewing room....

First lets walk out and see whats going on in our garden...

Volunteer Butternut Squash - FIVE in just this shot and there are more on the vines.

Zinnia's exploding from the sides of the tomato plant; or so it appears that way.

Pinto and Red Dragon's Tongue Beans - Growing nicely

Volunteer - watermelon OR Cantaloupe - not sure yet

This Sunflower just goes and goes... look at all the buds still to open.

A couple Happy Dog pictures.....

Bernadette

Amelia

And now for what I'm working on in my sewing room....

I'm trying to decide which fabric to use as a border; this will be a table topper. I may do a narrow border of the dark brown and then another 3 to 4 inch border in the light color... decisions decisions... input welcome.

My Healing Cat

Last night I took a hot bath followed by an Aleve tablet and a glass of water and went to bed before Scott. It wasn't long after I got settled in that my "healer" showed up; Tesla knows when and where my legs hurt and instinctively knows where to apply pressure to give me some relief from the screaming muscles. I called to Scott and told him to bring the camera; this is what he captured...

The reason for the leg pain this time was I have spent a lot of time squatting; getting down on my knees; and bending and stooping working on the new scrap-book paper layout - LOTS of new papers including ACETATE SHEETS! Something that EVERYONE has been asking for. And yesterday I had also helped unload 4 u-boat carts full of yarn in a 2 hour period. I really enjoy stocking and setting plan-o-grams more than anything else so I am thrilled that this is the position they gave me the opportunity to fill. Now if my body will just hold up to it all. I did have to buy some reading glasses as the labels are quite difficult to read - REALLY small print. 

Tomorrow I want to do a little gardening and some sewing since I am off from work. Will post about it all tomorrow night.

Mailing Day

I've got a package and a bag full of envelopes to get mailed today. So some folks will be getting some "happy" bits in their mailboxes soon. I love doing swaps and sending little surprises to people to brighten their day.

After a few hours at work this morning I will stop at the Post Office and mail the goodies and then come home and sew. If I ever get moved out to the bonus room I will definitely look at getting a love seat or chair and ottomen for Scott to sit in as he so enjoys sitting in my sewing room while I am working; says it's warm and inviting and he just loves watching me sew and create things. AWWWW.... I used to have a love-seat but it fell apart and I ran out of room for it in this spare bedroom that I use as my sewing room. This will be our guest bedroom once I get relocated; not sure how long before that happens though.

The weather is a little nasty this morning with a bit of rain and an overcast sky. I'll have to drive extra careful and leave the house a bit early just to be on the safe side. Today is "bonus" hours for me as I was only scheduled to work two days this week. I'm thankful for the additional hours.

Yesterday Scott had a job interview that he feels went REALLY well. If he gets it he will be traveling a LOT overseas as a Buyer. We are so hoping that this comes through for us as we need the break. Got my fingers and toes crossed!

Online COMMUNITY!

I just LOVE the on-line community - making friends all over the Earth is a tremendous joy. Yesterday an on-line friends' friend surprised me with 4 skeins of #10 crochet cotton. It's a lovely Ecru and will make some beautiful doilies! And this "new friend" lives right here in South Carolina! SMALL WORLD! It's the little joys and surprises that make life worth living. I'm thinking the puppies on the card are hers' as it's a beautiful hand crafted card too. They are SO ADORABLE!

Today my energy seems to have returned - had a good nights rest and I'm sure that has helped. I'm still planning to get another 8 or so of the paper pieced blocks done today but before I jump back on those I want to work up a "sandwich" with the cat quilt top I made to use in the car when we are traveling as sometimes Scott freezes me to death. Once the sandwich is made I will be able to get the quilting done on it between rounds of paper pieced blocks so that I don't get overwhelmed by either project. I'm using some CRAZY quilt cat fabric I bought off Ebay years ago for the backing fabric and I still have another 2 to 2 1/2 yards left that I'm thinking a prairie dress for Abby would be adorable.

It's good my siblings had girls for me to sew for or I'd feel "girl" deprived. I did make clothes for Greg when he was little and when he was a teen I made a Matrix pleather coat - WHAT A JOB THAT WAS! Now the only sewing I've done for him is blankets and uniform adjustments. They grow up TOO FAST! Time I guess to focus more on sewing for myself and quilts. 

I guess I better get back to the sewing machine and basting spray.

Wednesday making Jewelry

I'm off today so let the crafting beginning.

Last night I pulled out all my jewelry making "stuff" and will be working on that today. I'll be making necklaces and earrings; some as sets and some alone. I'm just in the mood for working on jewelry. I may switch to sewing this afternoon when I get back from visiting a friend and going to World Market for coffee since I got an email saying World Market Members can buy 1 get 1 FREE on the 12 oz. coffee today. We LOVE their coffee!

I will post again tonight with what I make today but won't say who they're for since some are to be Christmas gifts. HAPPY WEDNESDAY ALL!

Nippy in the sewing room...

I'm on a bit of a break trying to warm my feet in front of the space heater; I have way to much STUFF in my sewing room to have a heater in there. Once I get "sewn down" some perhaps then I will dare to have a space heater in there. For now I'm going to try a second pair of socks.
My shirt and skirt are all cut out and ready to be sewn together but I want to complete two more St Gregory quilt blocks before I change the thread to black for the shirt.
Here are a few pictures of my handsome Sea-bee son from yesterday morning when he was heading out for his drill weekend...

Peek-a-boo

This is a peak at one of my current projects... looks fun huh? 

I have to make myself some new shirts and a couple skirts for work. I just hate shopping and I know that what I make will fit better than any store bought clothing. The uniform is black button down collared shirt and khaki colored slacks or skirts. So I am making 2 button down shirts and 2 skirts; I'll start on them tomorrow. When I called to get my next work date he said it'd be next Monday and then the following week I would be on that schedule. The job I have is just seasonal and will end December 31rst. They may or may not keep me after that and I'm not counting on it. I'm just thrilled with this new job - talk about a WORLD of difference! 

I'm so thankful for the cooler weather; I was beginning to think that the Seasons would never change. It really gets me in the Christmas crafting spirit. I'll post more pictures as I am working on projects - some may just be "peaks" until after Christmas.

OH HAPPY DANCE!!!!

IT'S BEEN RAINING!!!! And we are expecting some more today. The birds are just singing and singing this morning; I do believe that they are as happy as I am about the rain.

Once I get the housework done I plan to sew as long as there isn't a bunch of thunder and lightening. My new machine has too much electronic on it so I unplug it just like I unplug computers during bad storms. If that happens though I will pick up a crochet project - I'm currently working on a sweater for myself. The pattern is called "Circular Motion" and it's off from the Lion Brand website. It's really quite interesting as it's crocheted in circles instead of straight rows - hence the name. I'll post some pictures when It starts looking like a sweater.

The other day when I cleaned out the gutters I must have rubbed up against some poison oak as my right leg has a patchy itchy spot very reminiscent of my reaction to doing just that. UGH! Oh well at least the garage didn't flood last night.

Better get this day started - Good Morning everyone.

The Boys!

These are "nap lures" NOT cats as one might think. Their job is to make the humans in the house VERY sleepy at about 1 PM each day... and they work SUPERBLY! Tesla conned me into a 2 hour nap this afternoon.

I've got quite a few projects in the works that I may post about tomorrow.

Today (Thursday 9/16) I made "must-go" soup to get some things cleared out of the refrigerator. I also made biscuits and it was all real good and filling. Tomorrow we will have mild Italian sausage and cabbage; beans and perhaps a salad.

I'm going to go "play" in my sewing room now.

I'm Back!

I've been doing a bit of sewing and watching the flowers bloom the past couple days and reading. It's been ever so long since I read a trashy novel so I figured it was about time to pick one up at the library. Just finished reading A Cottage by the Sea by: Ciji Ware. It was an intriguing story and I enjoyed reading it.

I also watched a couple episodes of Wire in the blood on Hulu. It is quite "dark" and Scott says it's too dark for him but I love shows like that - Crime Dramas.

All in all today was just a goof off day for me and I think that I needed it.

OK... back to the sewing...














I received the fabric and notions for the small bag swap that I am in with my on-line quilting group. Now to get my creative juices going... Should be interesting. I also made some "square in a square blocks" for another swap that I am in with the same group. I think I will uses the ones that I get in return to make a table runner or topper. It will be a scrappy project as everyone is just sending what they want; there is no color scheme assigned to this swap - perhaps next time there will be. We have so many wonderful swaps planned for this year.




Flowers...






















I just had to take another photo of the white hydrangea (supposed to turn shades of pink as the blooms age) this is the first time since I planted it that I've actually been home enough to enjoy it from start to finish.

The Lantana by the lamp post is just starting to put on it's show and the butterflies and the hummingbirds absolutely adore it. I would plant an entire hedgerow with this stuff if I could.

The yellow squash flower is on our "mystery squash" vine that came up volunteer. Perhaps I will post a picture of the strangely shaped fruit that it is producing; I've never seen anything quite like it before.

And the white flower is a "Rose of Sharon" that I got in an on-line plant swap years ago. I have several colors but so far this year only the white one has bloomed.

Mail... I got such a lovely surprise from my Mom - a box full of brown fabrics for my quilt stash. OH SUCH LOVELY FABRICS! And such a wonderful loving note too...

And an EXTRA bonus surprise... A NOTE FROM ABBY ! I drew and colored a picture for her today and mailed it out so she will get a letter from Aunt Bec in the mail this weekend.

Busy Gal

I've been spending a lot of time in my sewing room both before and after my trip up to see my parents. I've decided NOT to combine the green and purple blocks with the red and blue that I started with; I think it's just TOO busy with them added. So I'm going to make the purple and green blocks into a baby quilt; I think it will work nice for the next baby girl that comes along in our lives. Here it is laid out on my cutting table before any have been sewn together as well as after it's been pinned for another trip under the machine.

I also made up these border strips in black and white with a red center. I am hoping that these will go right onto the next Round Robin that will come to me as I have heard it started out as a black and white center. If they end up not working for that I will utilize them on another project. I REALLY like this a lot - perhaps a black and white and red accent quilt is in my future.

A Fresh New Start to my Crafting

I'm finally finished in my crafting room; I had been calling it my sewing room but just decided that it needs to be changed to a crafting room as there is so much more in there than sewing. I took a picture from each of the four corners in my sewing room so you can even see the "pile" that I will be starting with this year.




OK... NOW THE UGLY TRUTH....

These are my totes of fabric and yarn in our bonus room off the kitchen...
YES - MY NAME IS BECKY AND I AM A FABRICAHOLIC....




The mannequin is Greg's - he brought her and her wings home from a clean up job - minus her arms. I made him put something over her so thats why she is in the Carolina Tank top and Santa Hat.

Sewing/Hobby Room Layout

All during the night I dreamed about how to set up my sewing/hobby room so that it was more functional. I sew, quilt, scrap-book, crochet (learning to knit), write to friends and occasionally make some jewelry so the room has to have a corner or space for everything needed to do these hobbies. I really need a bigger room or a separate building... HA HA! Funny how all that work in my head has made me tired this morning and no time for naps before work today as I have to be there at 1:30 and I have to wash clothes before then. I need to make or buy some more clothes appropriate for work so that I won't have to worry about washing them every two days (I have 2 outfits at the moment).

Yesterday I washed some fabrics that I found in my sewing room and today they need pressing and putting away. Slowly but surely I am getting on top of my stash!