LAST PROJECT ---BEFORE CHRISTMAS THAT IS!

I decided to make Beth and myself a small tote. I'm making them slightly larger than the pattern so that they will hold a Bible (or two in Beth's case). I got the idea from seeing her always toting Lundy's Bible - and hers along with anything else they need at church. I had asked her awhile back if she would use a small tote to carry her church stuff is she had one and she said sure. So, I looked through my stash and found the cat tapestry/upholstery fabric I bought on a whim several years ago and decided to use that to make a couple of small tote bags. I've really liked that pleated bag pattern so I decided to use that. I needed a fabric to use for a border around the top and also a lining.



Well, I didn't have anything to go with the cat fabric in my stash -- unless I wanted to use baby prints or quilt prints --none of which really did much for me. So, I ran to the fabric store downtown and looked at her Amy Butler prints and home decor fabrics. There wasn't really anything there either that just reached out and grabbed me and I was about to "settle" on a deep gold AB when I noticed a folded up scrap on a side table that had a textured look to it. So, I grabbed it -- looks pretty good with the cats don't you think. It was 30 dollar a yard fabric but she said I could have it for 15. When I got home and opened it up, there was at least a yard. I thought it was a good deal!!




After cutting out the purse and basting in the pleats, I added the top.




Then I ended up going to Wally World and looking through the Dollar table and I found this to use as lining It was actually 1.50 but hey, my sister is definitely worth the extra :)). It is a thinner fabric than the border but has the same sort of textured look. I think It goes well. I also picked up some iron on interfacing which I needed too.



The iron on interfacing really gives the lining some body. I will definitely use interfacing more often when dealing with lighter weight fabrics. It would be worth the time and trouble.




Here is the purse -- wrong side out I just noticed:) -- and the lining. You can see I added a pocket. I figured if she does use the tote for church stuff, she can keep Lundy's pitch pipe in the pocket or maybe some gum and/or cough drops.



Here are the handles. They are also interfaced.


I'm over half finished with the bags. I've already sewed the bottom of one to create a flat bottom. I have to do that to the other, sew the handles down both sides, pin the handles and baste them to the purse, pin and sew the lining to the purse, turn the purse right side out-- always the hardest part for me to figure out how to sew the lining to the purse and have the handles in the right place so they will show up when I turn it right side out. Then after I stitch the lining closed where I turned it right side out and top stitch around the top I think I'll be finished -- if nothing comes up I hope to do that tomorrow after school. Then, I'm putting all my sewing away til I get home after Christmas.

SEW FUN

I've had so much fun sewing this weekend. I've made Christmas pillowcases for the kids and a baby gift for Matty's brother's wife. In between I've been to the ladies Christmas party at church, out to eat on Friday night and downtown trying to find the perfect present for my big sis. Usually I see something that just says "Beth" but no so this year. At least not yet. But I'm not giving up. I'll have time to do a little looking in NashVegas and in Dayton too. Anyway, here are pictures of my weekend sewathon.

These are the pillowcases. I think that they will be big enough for kingsize pillows but that's okay. I'm hoping they will become part of each family's Christmas traditions. They were very easy to make but as usual, I learned something from making them. The red fabric was thin enough that I think if I had used some iron on interfacing of some sort, it wouldn't have puckered when I embroidered it. I used heavier stabilizer but it didn't quite do the trick. I liked the decorative stitching (hearts) that I added at the end. The Names just seemed lonesome on the red all by themselves. The border could have been a little narrower but it's fine as is too. I felt all the Christmas fabrics at Walmart and these were the two softest and the two cutest actually.














This is the practice sew out from one of the things I did for Natalie. I just use one color usually so I don't have to spend time changing thread colors. I thought the cupcake was really cute and then just added the words.



Here are the final products. I love doing single initials with the name on top. The little blanket and the burp cloth have cupcakes , lollypops, ice cream sodas and hearts on them. Hope Nat and Micah like them.



Well, I've dug through my stash and found fabric for another project. I ran to the fabric shop and found a really neat scrap of 30 dollar fabric and got it for half price and it will make a great coordinating fabric. I'm off to start on it. Watch for photos. I'm using the pattern from the Internet of the pleated purse that Jessica had in her giveaway.

I'm also going to put my suitcase out later tonight so I can get started packing for my trip next Thursday. I'm excited to see everyone in NashVegas for an evening and especially to spend Christmas with my sis. She's the best.

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS SEWING

The almost finished blanket for Jennifer's friend in Ruidoso who's having her first baby in a few months. I'll take it to school tomorrow and during my free time after lunch, add the embroidery floss ties where the squares meet and also close the opening I had for turning it right side out.



So, I was in Wally World today and in the spirit of stress and rush the season, I decided to make a little last minute Christmas "happy" for the grands. Here is the beginning of one. I'll let you guess about what it is. I'll be posting the finished products.



Off to bed.

UPDATE --GUESS HOW LONG IT TOOK TO STITCH THIS OUT

UPDATE - SUNDAY 8:00PM --Made another Merry Christmas - this on an actual towel. It will need to be washed and then starched and ironed but it looks really good I think. I've trimmed all the strings and everything.







I had fun stitching this out. I wouldn't want to do a bunch of them -- it took me over two hours!! One reason is because I had to change the thread color 32 times -- that's a lot of times to change thread colors and rethread the needle. I also slowed my machine down because the stitching is pretty dense and I was afraid if I went full speed I might break the needle. As it was, the thread broke a couple of times but nothing major and I just think it is a really fun design. It would look nice on a hand towel or even in a frame to sit on a shelf or something. I worked on a couple of other projects last night and today too but can't pictures of those yet. Hope everyone is have a nice weekend.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND IN CLEVELAND

Here are some pictures from my Thanksgiving at home with the kids and grands. Avery snacking after she, her Dad, Jen and her girls arrived Wed. afternoon.


Vail and Katy being my helpers as I was making something -- don't remember what it was. Katy was eating an apple too.



Jack playing with Jed. Jed is really great with all the kids. He lets them do anything to him and never complains.



Suzy Q grinning about something. Jen and Matty in the background. Notice the hair on Matty's head ---- he shaved it all off before we did pictures on Friday:)



Jack trying to get away from Uncle Brian.



Sorry for the blurry picture but you can see it's G'ma opening up her quilt. The next picture is better.





The girls playing Swiss Family Robinson.







Katy talking to her "Jammie" in New Mexico. She has the phone stuff down pat don't ya think??



Watching a show








Notice that even Jed gets to wrap up in a quilt. I love having extra quilts around that I made.


Katy looking like an eskimo and wondering why Toby doesn't want to run and play:)


Well, we all had a good time and one day I'll really have taken some fun and interesting pictures.
In the meantime, get busy and decorate for the holidays and quit reading blogs :))

THE QUILT IS FINISHED, NICE NEIGHBORS AND COMPANY IS COMING!

It's great to have retired neighbors who enjoy working outside. My neighbor "Buddy" asked me last night after church if I needed my yard raked since all the kids were coming. He came over this morning and raked the back yard and the patio. Doesn't my yard look nice!







Now I can get the boys to put the bags on the street and the leaves will all be gone. WooHoo!!

I have finished the quilt except to sew on a few buttons where some of the leaves are grouped. It feels so good to have it finished. I really am proud of how it turned out. Here are some pictures.

The beginnings of my "meandering" which I didn't like and knew would get harder trying to manuever between the leaves.



The diagonal lines that I think turned out oh so much better than the meandering that I just couldn't get in snyc with. The result was well worth the six or so hours I spent taking out stitches.



And here is a picture that shows the back and the binding that is pieces of all the leaf colors.




Well, my first batch of kids and grands are due any minute so I'll stop for now. I can't wait to see everyone :)

Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving.

PUT A FORK IN ME -- I'M DONE!!

I'm on the second side of four -- hand sewing the binding on this quilt. Then I have a few buttons to sew on and I'll be fini. It's almost one am and I'm doing my best to finish the binding so I can stick this thing in the washer before I go to bed. But unless I'm really close to the end -- like an inch or two, two o'clock is my limit. So I'm getting back to work --NOW

THANKSGIVING COOKING

I've got some shopping and cooking to do in the next couple of days -- as well as finishing the family tree quilt. We're going to give it to Grandmother on Thanksgiving day before David's family leaves. Anyway, here's my part of the menu

Mashed Potatoes -- Pioneer woman's recipe
Grape salad - Beth's recipe
Green Beans - just seasoned - no casserole
Brocoli Casserole - Beth's Recipe
2 chocolate chess pies - Aunt Polly Neal's recipe -- it's to die for!!
I'm not listing the rest of the menu because I don't have the space or the time:)

There will be 20 or maybe 22 eating at Donna's. There would have been 8 more but David's family is leaving before the meal -- they will be eating in Arkansas with his in-laws.

So, I'm going to get my shopping list all ready tonight so I can get everything (except what I forget :)) tomorrow while I'm out in the morning. I have an appointment and plan to get all my errands done then. I'm also going to make out a schedule so I can pretty much have everything done ahead of time.

The rest of my time on Mon, Tue, and Wed will be spent sewing and doing some practice embroidery.



Hope everyone's week gets off to a great start.

QUILT PROGRESS??

I am learning a lot about quilting from making this family tree quilt. #1 is that I don't know as much as I think I do and this project is definitely turning my hair gray. Thank goodness for highlights:) My faulty meandering is going pretty well in the sky but the tree has turned out to be a different matter. I've gotten a suggestion or two to try so I made a practice piece by adhering some scraps with stitch witchery and making a quilt sandwich to try the ideas out on -- I sure don't want to have to take more stitches out of the real thing if I can help it. That brings me to #2 on my list --- NEVER throw away scraps until the quilt is completely finished. I had a lot of tree fabric left over after cutting the tree out -- at least plenty for practicing and it already had stitch witchery adhered to it, but I threw it away. Hence the wasting of more fabric and stitch witchery to practice with. So, after I grab a bite and straighten the kitchen, I'm going to see if I can figure out a way to quilt the tree itself -- if not, I'll have to work around it. In the meantime, don't look to closely at the photo I've posted.

QUILTING IS FUN - QUILTING IS FUN - EXCEPT WHEN IT ISN'T!

Well, I got the tree quilt sandwiched and began the quilting process. First of all when I was practicing, the bobbin kept pulling the top thread through to the bottom. I kept adjusting the tension but it wasn't making much if any difference. Finally I called the Bernina shop where I got my machine. They couldn't give me any suggestions. So, I called someone here that does a lot of quilting and uses a BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) and she suggested I adjust the little screw on the bobbin holder. I knew that was something you can do to adjust the tension but just didn't think about it. It's one of those things that 's available but they always tell you to be very very careful about doing it. Anyway, it worked and the tension was fine after that. So, I started meandering around the quilt and every time I went over a leaf, it would skip stitches. Don't know if it's because they are stiff because of the embroidery and stabilizer or if I needed a better needle. I'm using an almost brand new titanium needle and I don't think I could do any better than that. Anyway, after about 40 minutes of hating most of what I stitched, I stopped and spent the next four hours taking out all the stitches. So, after getting some input from a couple of people today, I'm going to use a brand new needle and try again -- I'm going to just catch the edge of a leaf rather than go across it. I'll see how that goes. If it still skips I'll just skip the leaves and go back and tack them by hand.

On a brighter note, I've used up all my diapers now except one making burp cloths. Here is the last batch I did. -- No embroidery this time - except the pink one I'd already done but hadn't sewn it together til yesterday.









For those who didn't know -- I was picked for jury duty last week. I was in court for three days. It was a murder case -- choices of not guilty by self defense, guilty of murder or guilty of manslaughter. We found the defendant guilty of manslaughter. The judge was awesome -- I'll tell that story another time.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and has a great week.