My Mother's Things

Since I'm not being very industrious at all with creating anything, I decided to share with you how industrious my mother was and the unusual things and various things she created (or at least to me they were!). When going through her things, I found this huge paper bag and a smaller box full of chewing gum wrappers she had collected. I think others from her office where she worked saved the wrappers for her as well as she saving them. I knew that she had in the past made trivets from these wrappers and she showed me how to make these chains from the wrappers as a child, which I thought was great fun! See how my love of creating came from her?

When I found this huge paper bag and little box of wrappers with some projects started, I just couldn't throw them away. They're still at her house and if no one else wants them, I will take them.

Then when I looked in her tiny little hall closet where she kept her sheets, blankets, etc., on the floor I found a vinyl blanket zippered container with four place mats (pretty large place mats, too!) in four different colors that were finished. I took two, this green and white Spearmint gum one and a yellow Juicy Fruit one. I am keeping the Spearmint one here for Paige to use and gave her mother the Juicy Fruit one since "lellow" is Paige's favorite color.

Here is a close-up of the mat. I plan to buy some of that decoupage-type liquid that you pour over puzzles to preserve them and make them "spill-proof".

I have seen purses made in this fashion from something that looks similar but didn't know what. I'm not talking about the Capris Sun bags. These looked very similar to what my mother did. One day I was shopping and saw a young mother with a bag like that and asked her about it. She told me that it was made from candy wrappers and they usually were priced in the $200-300 range! She said she got hers at market so got a better price and that everyone stops her and asks about her bag. So I guess my mother was ahead of her time, huh?

If only I could call her up and tell her :(

Surprise Still Hopefully to Come but Delayed Again.

No photo. My mother sadly passed away on June 11. The past month has been filled with making her memorial arrangements, going through her things to sort, organize, remember, and grieve. But I keep remembering when I go through her things that SHE'S the reason I have this strong creative urge and I'm so thankful for that. She was a wonderfully smart, creative, and industrious woman. She had more patience than anyone on the planet!

I do plan to reveal a surprise but this has (and still is) taking a long time to tie up loose ends. And the way my mind works, I cannot work creatively with loose ends and clutter which is what I'm dealing with right now.

Thanks for all the support and love I feel coming from all of you! But watch out, I'll be back!!!!

Surprise!

A surprise is coming May 1st!! I hope you'll be watching and waiting for it! I'm very excited!

Capris Day!

I know this looks like a skirt but it's capris. I got these finished. It was a factory today. I cut out four more and need to put them together. The shirts to go with them are done.

I learned a lot about my ruffler (attachment) today doing these. It is SO quick using that attachment! Wonderful!

Such a beautiful day, though, I got distracted with my camera and spent a lot of time outside.

Red, White & Blue!

I had this planned for today and after I cleaned house, I did have time to do it.

I guess I'm in the mood for red, white and blue because a very good friend's son came home from serving in Iraq Friday. His pic is on our frig and we have been constantly thinking about him and praying for his safe return.

So. . . I made Paige another Old Navy Toddler Grunge shirt in red, white and blue. It will be good to wear anytime while the weather's warm and will go with jeans, red, or white pants or shorts but I specifically had in mind some white capris. And with Memorial Day and July 4th around the corner, what a great shirt for those holidays, too! Hurray for the red, white and blue!

Busy, Busy, Busy Fun Day!

I finished another flannel receiving blanket. Since Spring is here, I probably should stop making these in flannel and maybe try some lightweight fabrics like seersucker. But I really enjoy making them.

Now on to the shirts. I really worked on shirts today and the next sewing session will be spent on capris pants to go with them. I love this blue and yellow together. It just looks so beachy and summery.

These last two white shirts I found at Old Navy and I thought they were so cute with the smocking across the top. I decided since there was smocking across the top to put the design off-center on one side. I always pre-wash all my shirts before I applique them and after I did, the sleeves and bottoms curled up. They stayed curled up even after I ironed them! I considered putting a rickrack or ribbon trim on the sleeves and bottom to keep them from curling up but then decided against it. The more I looked at them that way, the more I thought it was cute and probably was meant to be that way. Maybe that's the Old Navy Toddler Grunge look?!? ha!

Here is another Toddler Grunge shirt with a cute little turtle and flower. Capris for all of these are on the way! Don't forget you can click on the photo to get a closer look:) Very, very enjoyable day for me.

Paige-isms

Paige and her mommy came over yesterday to work on her Easter dress. While they were here, Paige wanted to go outside and help Paw Paw with all he was doing to get ready for Easter. We have a salt water pool and he was putting huge bags of salt into the pool. He told us that while he was pouring the salt into the water, she asked him if he was putting sugar into the pool! ha! So I told her that Paw Paw was getting the pool sweet so we could swim in it soon:)

Poor Little Wabbitt:(

Boo boos do happen! My niece wanted a just a plain little Tshirt with a rabbit on it to wear on Easter to hunt eggs in and I had a few Tshirts on hand in her size. The one above is what I started with and we were having tornado-type storms here. I was sewing away and looked up for ONE SECOND to look at the weather map on TV and bam - a boo boo! The needle caught the Tshirt at the bottom where you see that little bump and I had to stop the process, take the sewing needle and presser foot off and untangle the mess. Then I went to the computer and tried to back my stitching up and it started sewing and was way off base. So. . .

This was what the poor little wabbit was supposed to look like. I didn't have another hot pink shirt in the right size but found a white one and did a baby pink rabbit. It's cute and sweet and the model wearing it is only two so the baby pink (to me) is so sweet. I can't wait to see a picture of her wearing this. Her mother is coming tomorrow to pick it up.

Remember this burp cloth in an earlier post? It's official now (meaning the ribbon is really sewn on!) and it's out the door, too, with my niece tomorrow headed for a baby shower. I just love the hungry caterpillar-look ribbon trim. Goodbye all.

Ladybugs Everywhere!

I'm back from my vacation and got a better photo of the ladybug baby blanket. Isn't she cute? This is a close-up.

Here is the blanket with the hemstitched and crocheted edge on the pink polka dot cotton flannel.

And this is a close-up of the same little ladybug on a white Tshirt. I plan to make capris pants in the same pink for a cute little outfit for my great niece. I can't wait to see a photo of her in it!

Ladybugs are just popping up everywhere!

Baby Things and More!

Finally, some projects to post! These baby blankets take a while to hemstitch and then crochet the edging and I appliqued the cute little animals last. Here is one blanket that could be used for boy or girl.

And one for a sweet little girl. These are 100% very soft cotton flannel with 100% cotton crochet thread. Notice the little pink one has a more frilly edge crocheted.

I see Farley's little back leg in the upper left-hand corner! ha!

These would be a wonderful set for twins, a boy and a girl!! I've got this thing for making blankets for twins, I guess. I've given two sets lately and this could be another set.

And another burp cloth from the colored diapers you can buy nowadays. I love the lime green with the hot pink. I've cheated a little for the photo. You can probably tell I really haven't sewn the ribbon on yet but just laid it across for the photo. But the ribbon reminds me so much of the children's book that is so popular now, The Very Hungry Caterpillar:)

And, finally, I did this little ladybug Tshirt in mind for my little great niece. It's kind of a pending thing:) I plan to make a little pair of pink capris to go with this Tshirt but I'm waiting on measurements.

I have another baby blanket with this same ladybug appliqued on it but could not get a good photo of it. Next time!

Hope you enjoyed my post. It's been a long time coming! I enjoyed doing all this work so much:) NOTE: Please click on the photos for a closer look at details.

Paige-isms

Just a short, cute Paige-ism. She really notices what everybody drinks and, for some reason, really pays a lot of attention to that. One day a while back she asked me, "Bear Bear, do you like Dr. Coke?" ha!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice :)

Little girls are so much fun to sew for! I had some glitches in my sewing machine AFTER I took it in for servicing and updating a couple of weeks ago! But. . . we got the problem solved over the phone which saved me driving 60 miles! But I finally got to sew and do this butterfly applique on this little knit shirt I found at a good sale. I'm noticing that I should have photographed the knit pants a little further down because they have such cute little ruffles on the bottom, too.

This is photographed in Paige's playroom at our house with her tea set and her baby doll that she loves to play with so much (even though lately she's really into Minnie Mouse!).

I photographed both of these in such a hurry to get them posted and I'm so tired that they're both too blurry. Sorry about that. But here is a close-up of the butterfly and you can click on the pic to see it even better. It really is cute. All these designs in this set turn out cuter than the photo of them. She has a pair of yellow knit pants like these blue ones with ruffles, too, that would look cute so we can mix and match. Her favorite color is yellow so I HAD to put some yellow somewhere in the butterfly.

I learned something new by doing this design - adjusting it to a 45 degree angle. I like it that way instead of just putting it on the yoke. It gives a little variety. Happy Spring!

More Receiving Blankets

No photos yet but I tore, hemstitched, and got 2 more receiving blankets ready to be appliqued and crocheted. I just like to have things on hand that are portable to take with me to sit in doctor's offices (been doing a lot of THAT lately! ha!) or just outside watching Paige play or in front of the TV or visiting with my mother.

So now I have two blankets to crochet and applique and one blanket with only the applique left for it to be finished. Photos to follow. All are polka dot flannel which is different from what I've been doing - the white flannel.

The "Secret" Project

I've decided to go ahead and post pics of my "secret" project. I mailed these little flannel 36" x 36" baby receiving blankets to a friend of my daughter for her twin boys born on February 2 of this year. They live in Ft. Meyers, FL, and I mailed the package at least a week ago so I'm thinking surely they've received it.

I tore the flannel to the size I wanted, then hemstitched the edges, crocheted them, and appliqued the little frogs. I just love the little frogs with prince crowns on their heads!

On a earlier post I did another set of twin blankets like this but with giraffes. See December 3rd post.

I have another blanket finished except for the applique which I hope to do soon and I will post. It is off white flannel with off white hemstitching and crocheting and bright pink random polka dots on the flannel so I am going to applique a bright pink ladybug in the corner. Can't wait to finish it and I'll post.

Paige-isms

After our trip to Auburn, I guess Miss Paige is in a football mode. She was at our house playing "tug of war" with our little Yorkie, Farley. Every time she would get the rope away from him, throw it for him to fetch and the moment he would pick it up in his mouth, she would yell "Touchdown Farley!!!"

Updates

I know all these postings lately are probably so boring but I just have been so busy with other things and my sewing machine was in the "shop". Both the sewing machine and the embroidery module got a "tune-up" and were updated today and everything is fine for a year or two (hopefully!). So when I get some free sewing time, I can get upstairs and start sewing again. There are so many sewing projects I want to do. Also, I'm hoping I can post my pics of the "secret" project I mailed out. Hope it will be received either today or tomorrow.

Necessary Things

Two days this week (yesterday and today) were taken up with a little "procedure" I needed - see this blog - so I thought this would be a good week to take my sewing machine in for a little check-up, too. So I am just cutting, cutting, cutting, and I'm sure photos of this would be boring. But I feel so productive doing this. Have some crocheting I'm doing, too.

"Secret" Project

One of my two "secret" projects was mailed today so I will wait until I know it is received and then post the photos.

Scrap Therapy Continued

This is a photo of my scrap therapy session. The first 45 min. or so was a sales pitch, I thought, but we finally started cutting and the teacher was very patient and very good. It seems that I won the prize for beginner. But I did learn so much and cut more when I got home. We cut 5, 3 1/2, 2, and 1 1/2 inch squares. We even got a button to wear! ha! There is a website, too, if you interested you can check this out. I am so excited that I am going to create those little charm packs of my own that I love so much! This should be a lesson in putting colors together and a lot of fun.

Scrap Therapy

I'm too tired to post photos because it was such a busy day but I went to a class today after church at my quilt shop. It was called Scrap Therapy and it was a cheap class, only $10 and all we had to bring were scraps of fabric (no U-Hauls allowed, they said! ha!), two rulers, a rotary cutter, and a cutting mat. I got a very good lesson in rotary cutting and really got my money's worth for the class.

When I got home, I did not want to quit and just kept cutting. But it's very tiring because I have to stand up to make sure I'm cutting straight (I also noticed everyone else standing so I assumed I was doing it right! ha!). We cut 5 inch, 3 1/2 inch, 2 inch and 1 1/2 inch squares. They will offer another class to make a quilt from what you cut in the scrap therapy class. I haven't decided what I will do about that. I have to live from week to week with my schedule.

It was a wonderful way to organize your fabric, especially if you mainly quilt. The teacher in the class said that anything smaller than a fat quarter was considered a scrap so I didn't cut any fat quarters I had. After she made that statement, I was thinking as I was driving home that this is a good time for me to go thru all my fabric stash to organize it better. I am going to keep my yardage that's never been touched as is, keep my fat quarters, put them in color families, and then go thru the other fabric that's leftover from making garments and make fat quarters, and all the different square I can get from them and organize what's cut into color families and sizes. Then I can go right to what I need and I realized with the 5 inch squares, I'm really making my own charm packs. Also when I do the applique on the clothing, receiving blankets, burp pads and baby/children things, I can go straight to my square cuts or fat quarter or yardage and it will be organized.

This is a good time for me to do this since next week I have one doctor's appointment and am having a "procedure" done that will incapacitate me for 2 or three days from sewing. So since my machine is due for servicing, I am taking it tomorrow and leave it with them for the week to service and update it, if needed.

Maybe tomorrow I can post photos of our scrap therapy session! It was a lot of fun!