Friday, November 26, 2010

Blessings Banner

Today, I am especially mindful of the abundant blessings I have in my life and the wonderful friends and family that have shared their lives with me. I want to thank my blogging friends, too. I really appreciate the time you take out of your busy lives to visit me here on my blog and for all of the kind words you leave in my comment box. Your comments are always appreciated.

Here's a little something I made yesterday. . . It's a Thanksgiving BANNER.

On Thanksgiving morning I woke up really early and all was quiet around the house. . . So. . . I quietly tiptoed downstairs to my sewing room hoping no one would find me for a few hours so I could focus on a few projects.

I was thinking, "What should I be working on today? I only have a short window of time before the final preparations begin. So, I better decide now and get working."



Well, as I was sitting there thinking I got side tracked from my multiple existing projects and decided to start a new project that's been brewing in the back of my head.

Here's the argument that went on in my head . . .

First off, I thought, "You've got to be crazy starting something new."

Then I thought,

"I can whip this out, it won't take long."

"You really need to do this, it's going to be really cute."




"But, I don't have time. . ."

"You can do this. . . you know you want to."



So, I got out my measuring tape and measured the mantel over my fire place and then pulled out my civil war prints and started picking out some of my favorite fabrics.


I decided on the word "Blessings" and figured out the math. You should've seen the frenzy. It's really satisfying for me to create something in my head and then create it. It's really a bonus to see that what you've made matches the vision in your head. It took me a total of 2.5 hours from thought to finish.


I will be posting a tutorial for this banner and the other one's I have floating around in my head sometime in the New Year. I will definitely let you know when I post it.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Halloween Apron Finish

I finished my apron a week before Halloween and it was so fun to wear at school. What an easy costume and so comfortable to wear. I really like this pattern and blogged about it HERE. If you go to this post you will find the information about the pattern and the apron bib which I changed. This particular apron bib is a 9" spider web block with a 1" finished border all around the block.

To make my apron I used Riley Blake's "Boo to You" collection by Mind's Eye for Riley Blake. You can see the whole fabric line HERE on Riley Blake's Website. If you hurry you may still be able to find some of this fabric online. It will probably be on sale too. I found some of it HERE and HERE and HERE. You may still be able to find some in your Local Quilt Shops too.

I almost forgot. I also used a Moda Bella Solid Black in the block and the border around the block too .


This apron is reversible which I really like.
Can you see the back fabric of the skirt?


Here's a closer look.


The day before Halloween my friend Candice (at work) wore this black spider ring made out of black beads. I had been looking for a spider and thinking about maybe having to make one when my eye saw this spider on Candice's hand. It was the perfect size and look that I wanted.


At lunchtime, I ran to the store where she got it and bought two of the last 3 spider's they had left. She thought they were gone and we started looking. I was so excited when we found a few hiding amongst the Halloween fare. The spider was the perfect finishing touch and the other spider ring I wore on my hand. So cool!!!

I hope you all had a great time giving out or collecting candy!!!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Costume Wrap Up

I finished Kenna's costume just in time for her Class Party. It took a lot longer to make than I projected because I got such a late start in the day. I finally sat down at my sewing machine at 10:30pm. I was already tired so I wasn't sewing very fast because I didn't want to have to unpick anything. I still made a mistake that didn't look like a mistake until it was finished and I thought "Oh Well, I don't even care. It's okay and no one will notice." and they didn't. I fell into bed at 3:30am and got up at 7:00am to get ready for work. It was a crazy night. I felt like a Zombie (Hi Monica!) the next day. lol.

Anyway, I'm just happy to mark that one off my list.

My current "To Do List" is quite LONG but, I'm ALWAYS juggling things around to suit my needs and to help others when called upon. But you know, I like it that way....


My sweet Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.


What kid doesn't like donuts?


Hip Ruby Slippers.

Because Kenna wears a women's size 8 we couldn't find any sparkly glittery ruby slippers plus there was no time to make them nor did I want to deal with the mess so, we decided to buy cute red converse shoes that she could wear afterwards. They looked really cute on her.