It's a Girl!

I have another niece!  She weighs 7 pounds and is 19 inches long and she has long (it really is long) black hair!  Both Mommy and baby are doing great but Daddy is still recovering!

Cheers!

I've been busy...

I've been busy sewing up some Halloween table toppers using scraps from other Halloween projects.



The fabric for all the Halloween projects is from Connecting Threads, called All Hallows Bash.

I also made three tote bags, also from Connecting Threads, called the Super Simple Reversible Treat Bag Orange Kit by Susan Terpin.  The tote pictured below is for my youngest.  The second tote is for my niece, and the third tote is an advance gift for a niece or nephew due by Thanksgiving.

I made a large table topper for my kitchen table, using Crazy Mom Quilts tumbler pattern.

I love how the colors go so well with that bowl.

I only have a picture of one tote because I gave the other two totes to my sister-in-law already.

Here's the tote reversed.

I made this adorable wall hanging using Tracey Brookshier's "party bags" pattern. 

I also made a quilt for my soon to be niece or nephew.  I used a Moda Bake Shop pattern and fabric from the "Wild Ones" Collection from Connecting Threads.  This collection is flannel and so soft.  I added the sashing squares to break up the cream that I used.  I used a dot fabric from my stash for the backing.

 And I made two quilts from Joanna Figueroa's book, With Fabric and Thread:  Summer Soiree and Tagalong Sister.  The fabric is Andalucia by Patty Young for Michael Miller Fabrics.

 This is the back of the smaller quilt.  I sewed all the selvages together and used the little bits of leftover to create the zig zag pattern.  This is the first time I've ever done something like this and I really like how it turned out.

I really like how this one turned out.  I've switched out my summer slipcovers to my winter slipcovers (gotta love IKEA) and the colors are perfect!  Everything I had imagined.


Oh!  And how could I almost forget!  I won the Bordeaux pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop! I've never won a thing so I was sooooo excited.  The pattern is great and I think I'm going to try a "scrappy" version.  We'll see.

Cheers!

August, September...October?

I cannot believe it's almost October!  Summer's over, school started, and I'm seeing Christmas decorations in the stores.  What?! 

So what have we been up to these last few months?  August found us in Washington, DC and Williamsburg, Virginia.  That was one of the most relaxing vacations ever!    September came, and we rushed back into the school routine.  Also in September, my youngest fell off her bike and broke her arm!  Full cast (almost to her shoulder) for two weeks and then a shorter (below the elbow) cast for four weeks.  But no sports, etc. until December!  Now generally, she's not the sporty type of kid.  But all the extra attention wore off by day two and I'm constantly telling her no, no, no about all these physical activities she's suddenly desperate for.  We always want what we can't have, right? 

And very soon, only days away, it's October and I can feel time speeding up, until it reaches the crescendo of Christmas! 

Wow, I'm exhausted!

Cheers!

Celebration Success!

So, the 4th of July celebration was wonderful!  The heat was nearly unbearable but everyone seemed to be having a blast!  We had a huge cloud roll in about an hour before the fireworks were scheduled - lots of thunder and lightening - but no rain.  A lot of people cleared out or sat in their cars for a while.  But by the time the fireworks started, there were stars in the sky and that storm had moved on.

As for the flag?  Well, they didn't need to use it, they were able to borrow one - and let me tell you, I thought the flag I was repairing was huge, well the flag that they used made the one I was repairing look like a mini flag!  I'm not kidding when I say that this flag had to be about 50 feet long!  They had it hanging from a crane (that was about 70 feet up) and they had lights on it during the Grand Finale - it was so beautiful and the crowd went wild!

It was a great day!

Cheers!

I'm in Betsy Ross mode...

 Our town puts together a spectacular July 4th Celebration. The day begins at 7:00 am at the Firehouse for a pancake breakfast and ends at about 11:00 pm with Fireworks.  There are dozens of home-town events (like the dog show (no professionals please) and the pie eating contest and the race and the parade) scheduled throughout the day. Art work, created by our children, is on display.  Local bands perform for us, there's a clown, and magic, and I could go on and on and on.  It is the best 4th of July celebration ever.  Amazing part about it is, this entire day is pulled together by volunteers!  Yes, Volunteers.  Volunteers that do everything from fundraising, to building, to cleaning, and just about any thing you can possible think might need to be done, they do it.  And they do it very, very well.  All for the joy of our community.

Anyway, back to Betsy mode, Sweet Hubby calls me last night and asks me to stop at the park before returning home.  He needs me to see if I can sew something.  So that "something" turns out to be the American Flag.  Apparently, the flag was mistakenly stored in a cardboard box and the mice have been quite comfy and cozy in there.  (This flag has not been used for a number of years, they have borrowed one).  Since they were concerned that they would not have a flag this year, they pulled out their old "Old Glory"...and found this:




 So, Sweet Hubby says, "Can you fix it?"






I can fix it, but it isn't going to be pretty...

Now let me just interject here,  this flag is huge.  Each stripe is 12.5 inches wide and I have no idea how long the entire flag is...the damage was contained to the top section where the flag would generally attach to a pole, in this case, a crane.  The largest hole requires a 7 inch patch.  and since this fabric is so thin and faded, and I need it done in a day, forget about trying to match and let's just see what I've got on hand....I figure no one's going to be able to tell when this flag is hanging off of a crane. 

 So I sit in front of my dear friend, with the American Flag supported by my ironing board, and I piece and patch and I feel good!


God Bless the men and women who have fought, and continue to fight, for our Independence!

God Bless America!

Happy Fourth of July!

Cheers