A Beautiful Day

What moms of three kids (two of which are twins) who have husbands who travel for a living like to do

Though the sewist in me has been a bit sleepy for a while, I'm toying with ideas as to my next project. There are plenty of WIPs (for the uninitiated, that means Works In Progress) sitting in my studio just longing for attention, but sometimes you need something fun and fresh to whip yourself up into a delicious MAKING FRENZY.  I'm pining for creativity lately, and sense a big spurt is just around the corner.  But in the meantime, as I wait for my sewing mojo to return, I'm living vicariously through my girl KT.  She's not only making but making some pretty pesos to boot!  - Check it:

Here we have the beautiful Kayla modeling one of her mom's fantastic original tutu designs.   KK's dancing school instructor asked KT if she wouldn't mind making enough for an upcoming recital.  Long story short: KT made a LOT of tutus and got orders for many, many more. 

KK is as smart as she is gorgeous. 

Her twin Kevey knows not to mess with her as she takes no prisoners...she is nothing short of captivating and Smacky adores her.  (PS - those are rose petals enmeshed in the tulle!)

Sometimes KT will forget herself and thank ME for inspiring HER.  HAH. I wish -she's too talented!

That said, though we didn't talk about it, if anyone out there is looking for tutus, I'm sure we can make an offer you can't refuse. 

 

Rice heat therapy bags

I made these for the twins' OTs as holiday gifts this year - I used essential lavender oil to scent the rice and it made the entire room smell like a spa! These are so easy to make and use - when you need a little warmth in your life, just pop it in the microwave and place on a sore muscle or cold feet. These were made with cotton linen, muslin and cotton fabric scraps. Tutorial courtesy of the very awesome Sew Mama, Sew! I've also been making tissue holders like mad!

Garden Report

I've been making these left and right - they are not only great gift "boosters" but are also a terrific way to utilize leftover fabric scraps. The free pattern can be found at Wise Craft - it's a great take-with-you project which doesn't require a sewing machine. All my girl teens and tweens got one attached to their holiday gift this year and they loved them. To those who plan on trying it, happy gardening!

All sorts of procrastination going on

The walk for PNH is coming up - it will be here before we know it. S has booked us a hotel in midtown...we'll be traveling with all the kiddos (though I keep considering the idea of leaving the twins here with the ILs overnight). My family will be meeting us in NYC and I'm looking forward to what I'm hoping will be a great time with my people on a beautiful early autumn day in the park. We've raised a good amount of money thus far (thank you!!) and I'm humbled by your generosity.

I have, er, yet to start the quilt I'm donating to the silent auction. OK - that's not entirely true - I bought and cut the fabric to make the All Seasons quilt from Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Road:

But the pattern DOESN'T TELL YOU when ordering your fabric to keep in mind that the three main strips needed enough yardage so that the fabric pattern repeat could match up in a strip. The stupid pattern only says "cut as necessary." What is that supposed to mean? Cut as necessary for what? So I cut as it read and didn't have enough yardage to match it up and tried for hours to rectify the situation and got so fed up that I now hate working on the quilt. And once I hate a pattern, I have a really hard time feeling the love again. It's a pet peeve - one that crafters out there will understand -when you pay for a pattern you should be able to assume that the author/creator enlisted the help of some testers and proofreaders before the stupid thing went to print. Apparently this doesn't always happen, hence this site. But whatever. Now I don't trust anything the pattern says and am angry about the wasted fabric and I refuse to go out and spend $35 more just to get it right (okay, maybe that's not entirely true about the wasted fabric - I'll totally have fun finding good uses for those strips).
Of course, this is merely an opportunity to try something different. I'm going to try for something more traditional, with patchwork stars and a more subdued color scheme. That is, if I can get it cut and done in time for the walk...because until the Smackeroo starts spending an appreciable amount of time back in school again and until S can spend an appreciable amount of time staying in the country, there is no such thing as "time to quilt." I need to make time though - I really want to do this. I need to do it. It's important.

Getting stuff done

Finally finished Baby V's heart quilt.

All about the tootsies

How cute are these soft baby shoes? The tutorial can be found here ~ a big thank you to the talented and generous Michele Q! They are very easy to make and I'm sorry I didn't try project this sooner. I recycled an old purse for the leather for the bottoms and used some Michael Miller monkey scrap fabric I already had in my stash for the lining and the uppers, so the total cost for these cutie pie shoes is almost nada, which makes me love them even more.

Green, cheap, and adorable - you really can't beat that, can you.

Visiting Quilts

Normally I visit my quilts; meaning when I visit loved ones I'll have the pleasure of meeting up with former projects and will inevitably be flooded with memories of my life at the time the quilt was put together.

This quilt however, came to visit me. It was one of the many things I've made my Gram throughout the years. This one needs a little repair and some love before I give it away again - this time to my father, who's been bugging me for a larger lap quilt - after his stroke his legs are constantly cold and this one fits the bill.

I made this Snowball Star for Grandma's 80th birthday, which was 13 years ago. When I got it back for mending via my mother, I kept smelling it for remnants of Gram - she always smelled clean and beautiful, with a hint of anything Estee Lauder. But it didn't. Left alone draped on the back of a sofa in an empty apartment for months while she tried to heal at a nursing home, it was instead stale and in need of a wash.

Once it dries I'll rework the binding. It was originally tied and I'm thinking of adding some quilting to hold it together for another 13 years but we'll see. My crafty plate has suddenly become quite full (which is a good thing).

Thanks again to all of you who have sponsored me for the PNH Walk...I'm humbled by your generosity.

Clothesline Love

Yup, I got myself a clothesline. Couldn't have a clothesline without a sweet clothespin bag, right?

Free tutorial found here. I'm dying to make more of these!

Floor Quilt

For your viewing pleasure: a playroom floor quilt, suitable for story time, color gazing, wrestling and naps on the go. I used old receiving blankets for the back, making it soft and warm and cuddly.

Heeding the good advice of my therapist, (who suggested that sometimes by simply just forcing yourself into activity you can begin to enjoy again that which once gave you contentment), I sat at my machine and just started sewing. I figured trying to finish works already in progress would be a good place to start. I'm so happy I did...it felt good to be creating again.

The quilt that will take forever to finish

Grandmother's Flower Garden is a hexagonal quilt - which means it must be pieced entirely by hand.
It's slow (very slow!) work but oddly gratifying.

Some squares ready to be paper-pieced.

Some say this pattern derived its name from the fact that it takes so long to finish it...you'll be a grandmother before it's done. I tend to agree. But I believe it will be worth it - the hexagon is a wonderful shape to play with.

If anyone is interested in a basic tutorial, let me know.