Decadence Apron

I've been sewing a LOT lately. I've just not taken the time to post pictures. I'm trying to remember now if I even took pictures of everything. I've made a tree skirt and a table runner using Moda's Jovial and another table runner from Moda's Grace. I also made a 241 Tote for College Girl's birthday using a patchwork of precious scraps from Moda's Arcadia. I need to shorten the strap on that.

Today I have an entry for the November installment of;

Just in time for Thanksgiving, a cute apron from Riley Blake's Decadence line.




By the time I finished sewing this afternoon there was no more daylight to take a decent picture by. Overhead lighting and flash was the best I could do.

I would love to start another project but it is just about impossible to do so. I have a clear space on my cutting table about a foot square. Ugh. Shoving the scraps from previous projects off to the side has finally caught up with me and I must take care of it before I proceed. There are scraps and pattern pieces and directions and tools. Actually, who knows what might be buried under the mess. I know it is going to look so good when it is cleared off and I will be inspired to create something new.

I'm happy to report that we are beginning to get snow. :)

Praise - for all the safe travels and great time with friends and family this past weekend (celebrating College Girl's 22nd birthday).

Prayers - for one of my nephews and a man from our church that are both in the hospital being treated for infections in their backs.

Stash Report - week ending 4/10

This isn't going to be good for the ol' stash. All of this arrived in the mail on Monday;


I was going to call this The Ugly Truth but seriously there is NOTHING ugly about this haul!
Fandango charms and yardage for College Girl's senior year quilt.


Pure charm packs for College Boy's sophmore or junior year quilt/duvet. Simple Abundance yardage to back a quilt made with a jelly roll from the same line.


Moda Bella Solids that were on sale at the Fat Quarter Shop, the off white for College Girl's quilt and the Simple Abundance quilt. The grey is for my 1974 quilt.


Simple Abundance print for the borders of quilt, Patisserie print for borders of a quilt made with that line (remember I got those pre-cuts not too long ago?) and the Dandelion Girl seersucker plaid for a sundress for College Girl.


All fabric was on sale. All fabric has an intended purpose. All fabric by Moda (totally unplanned).

I also received one very overpriced FQ of Sandi Henderson's Henna Garden in Pumpkin and now my collection is complete and I can start on that project someday.


25.25 yards in week ending 4/10
0 yards out week ending 4/10
43.875 yards YTD IN
43.875 yards YTD OUT

0 yards TOTAL BUSTED 2011

I'm reporting stash results HERE.

Who knew this would bring me to exactly even for the year? I'd best get busy on the yardage OUT before the 'other' package arrives. Maybe later today!

Praise - hubby and I had safe travel to and from visiting College Boy. We had a great time with him and our friends and enjoyed over 5" of fresh falling snow while there.

Prayers - For pain relief for Joanne and for improvement/healing for Grant.

Stash Report-week ending 3/6/11

I've tried to be strong. I've tried so very hard to stay on this fabric diet. I look at fabric online almost every day. I even fill up carts and make wish lists. I'm weak. There are so many fabrics that I'd love to buy. Some have even been on sale. I've resisted most of them. My all time favorite Fig Tree line since I have gotten back into quilting has been Patisserie. I have a layer cake of it and a teensy bit of yardage that is set aside with a pattern in mind. But I've been looking for another layer cake. I found one, full price and was about to buy it and then I got a sales notice from The Quilt Shoppe. I thought they had already closed their doors but this said that all remaining fabrics were 50% off. So of course, being weak, I went to take a look. There was ONE layer cake and ONE Jelly Roll of Moda's Patisserie! I put them in my cart and thought about them for a bit. Just for a bit, because I knew that at 50% off they wouldn't last long. I bought both of them thinking that surely one or the other or maybe both had really already been purchased by someone ahead of me and they site was not updated yet.

This is what showed up in my mailbox yesterday!!!



I want to use the Jelly Roll to make THIS pattern by Margot. I can hardly wait for that pattern to be released. I'm not sure what I will use as the border at this point. I'll have to start searching for some yardage and hope it will be available in June. I'm still undecided which pattern to use with the layer cake but I have a few ideas. I know that I will keep at least one of these quilts.

So all that to say, here is my stash report for the week.

6 yards in week ending 3/6
9.875 yards out week ending 3/6
15.75 yards YTD IN
28.50 yards YTD OUT

12.75 yards TOTAL BUSTED 2011

I am linking up here with my stash report.


The yardage OUT is what I've used for the Thimble Blossoms 'A Piece of Cake' quilt using Moda's Cotton Blossoms daughter colorway. I am sewing the binding to the back now and should probably finish that up tonight or tomorrow night while hubby and I watch a movie. I should have pictures of the completed, washed & dried quilt later this week.

Praise - Today we had sunshine AND snow. At the same time! God is so amazing.

Prayers - continued prayers for Katy (church friend), Grant and Joanne. For healing for their bodies. For strength and comfort and rest.

Daisy's Bliss

We got new snow!! I even went OUTSIDE to take some pictures today. New snow and sunshine, how could I resist?

This to me is TRUE Bliss - snow and a quilt using Moda's Bliss. Have you seen the peeks of Camille & Bonnie's new line? RUBY looks like she would play quite nicely with Bliss.



Quilt was made using Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial that was featured on Sew Mama Sew.

Linking up to Quiltstory for Fabric Tuesday and also Made By You Mondays.


I decided to sew the binding by machine. I used the same method that I used for College Girl's mug rug. Tutorial found here. I actually combine Jennifer's method with Sharon Schamber's binding method (which is my favorite). I'm thinking I will do the machine binding on baby quilts from now on. Not only is it much quicker but I think it will be more durable and hold up to multiple washings and whatever else might get thrown its way.

Praise - for SNOW! For College Girl's safe travel back to school and for College Boy's safe weekend and travels.

Prayers - for the best friend of one of my nephews. Grant is a senior in high school and is now in a coma. Doctors aren't offering up much hope right now. Pray for God's will in this situation. Of course we would love to see Grant's health restored.

A finish, some decorations and a repair

I finished the last of the 6 aprons that needed to be done before Christmas. This one is also for an eight year old girl. Her mom wanted it sized a bit larger so that she could enjoy it for a few years. She loves pink and black. I hope she loves this;


The reverse side (two aprons in one!!)


I was having some trouble with my machine, I just could not get a beautiful stitch. I was pulling my hair out! Good thing the hammers are kept out in the shop because that was my next means of repair. Hubby even came in to take a look but could only offer sympathy. I dug out my other machine, a Brother and hoped that the stitch would be good enough for top-stitching. That is all I had to do to finish the apron and get it sent on its way. Hallelujah!!! The stitch looked great, the machine sewed like a champ. I top-stitched the apron, got it packaged up and went to bed (very early this morning!!)

While I was busy sewing yesterday, College Girl was hauling the Christmas decorations out of the shop and the garage. She did a great job decorating the house a bit.



She even put a small lit tree on the counter in the kitchen with all my little cookie cutter ornaments, the teeny rolling pin, sifter, colander and spatula. We still don't have the big tree, but hopefully tomorrow or Saturday for sure.

Long winded repair story ahead -
So Thursday is the day that the sewing machine repair guy from a podunkier town drives to our podunk town and works out of the little craft store. I thought they opened at 10. I woke up just before 9 (hey, I stayed up till the wee hours!) and thought to give them a call to see if their hours were on a message at least. If I couldn't get the machine fixed there I would have to drive 1.5 hours to the Bernina dealer, but they were OPEN!! The repair guy was there!! I asked to speak to him and he said he planned on leaving in about 45 minutes. I told him to hang on I would be there just as fast as I could. Oh my! I had to get dressed, do SOMETHING with my hair, get my machine packed up and drive the 30 minutes to the store. I got there about 47 minutes after speaking with him on the phone. He was waiting for me. I showed him my test piece of fabric and the rows and rows of AWFUL looking stitches. He opened up the bobbin compartment, took out the bobbin case and said, "Well there's your problem. Look at how loose this thread is. This little screw needs to be turned." WHAT??? That's it?? WHY was that not one of the options in the trouble shooting section of the manual. Have I ever mentioned that I think the manual is SORELY lacking? I think I have mentioned it. Anyway, it is. Sorely lacking. The repair man didn't even have his tools with him today (he forgot them when he went back into his shop to get something else) but he was able to tighten the screw with his fingernail. He then stitched a couple of rows, adjusted the top tension (which I had fiddled with endlessly last night) and sewed two rows of GORGEOUS stitches! I almost grabbed him and kissed him. I asked him to solve my buttonhole problem then. He attempted to make a buttonhole and I was actually glad that it FAILED for him too. That elimated the possibility that it was all my fault. He tried to update it but the manual that he had was, say it with me, SORELY LACKING! You got it! I told him no worries as I had no buttonholes in my immediate future and I would bring it back in after Christmas. I said I would call him at his shop on a Wednesday to make sure he had his tool and a better manual for the buttonhole problem. I got out my wallet and was ready to empty it at his feet and he said NO CHARGE! Merry Christmas. I can hardly wait to sew something!

Praise - College boy is FINISHED with this semester!! The repair man was able to fix my machine.

Prayers - College Boy plans to drive home tonight after a filmfest. 6 Hours, in the middle of nowhere for most of the trip. Dark, snow, mountain pass, ice, deer, elk.

It isn't even winter yet

I don't remember the last time we had this much snow for Thanksgiving weekend


Hubby has plowed twice.


If you look at the previous post you can see the difference in just a couple of days.


Looks like we'll get a break from the snow for a couple of days but then there is more in the 10 day forecast.

I even got a bit of sewing done, just need to take a picture while I still have a model here.

Praise - we've had such a wonderful family time this weekend. I love being with my hubby and kids.

Prayers - College girl is going to head out fairly early tomorrow. Snow is forecast for the pass she has to cross and she would like to make the drive in the daylight. Prayers for safe travel back to school.

Baby it's COLD outside!

Making progress here so I thought I would get the pictures up now when I had a quiet moment. Taken very late last night as they came out of the dryer...so needed flash and overhead lights on.

Moda Glace without any of the blues. Pattern by Anka's Treasures.


Moda Fruitcake. I saw a table runner like this on Flickr so created my own.


I like the crosshatch in the corners;


Yes, I went OUTSIDE to take these pictures. It was 17 degrees out there. SEVENTEEN! It is a bit windy too, no idea what the temperature is with the wind chill figured in.

I WON these fabrics on the Fat Quarterly blog! Erin McMorris Irving Street Flannels. Nice and cozy feel to these flannels. I'm thinking three cute baby/toddler quilts would be great for these.



Both of the kids are on their way home!!! College girl a day early. Classes were cancelled for today and she was going to come home a day early but was struggling with missing classes for tomorrow. She finally got notification that classes for Wednesday are cancelled too! College boy left earlier than he planned. He wanted some daylight. Went to his last class but left part way through. His car temp said MINUS THREE when he headed out. Brrrrrrrrr. College girl is over the pass but still has lots of miles of snow covered roads to cover. College boy still has a pass to go over and has snow and ice to contend with.

Off to work on the next thing.

Praise - the kids are on their way and we get some precious family time.

Prayers - again for safety on the road for both of my kiddos as well as others out on the roads.

Taking the Challenge

Amy has posted her One Week, One Thing Challenge and I am going to take her up on it this time.



Although this is obviously more than ONE THING, I do think that I can get 'er done.


My goal - get the two table runners DONE. The binding is all ready to hand stitch to the back which I will be starting as soon as I post this blog entry. I need to get them washed/dried, photographed and mailed. Then, choosing one of the three sweaters pictured I want to make a pillow.

I did my grocery shopping yesterday so I have no reason to go out in the frightful weather. I can just sit inside, stitch and enjoy the beauty of the snow covered scene through the windows.

Praise - I LOVE SNOW! It is snowing here.

Prayers - it is snowing here and where both of my children are. They are going to be heading home for Thanksgiving and I am praying for clear roads and safe travel. Trusting in the Lord! Being anxious will accomplish nothing but prayers will!!

Giveaway WINNER!

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I want to thank ALL OF YOU that took the time to watch at least one of my son's videos! So many great comments and he is LOVING the feedback! He was so excited to check the 'hits' each day. Thank you too for showing it to others, posting the link in other places and passing it on to those you know would enjoy it. If you are so inclined you can subscribe or become a follower of the TimbersledProducts 'channel' so to speak, on YouTube. He is editing footage of yesterday's ride now and they had an 'extreme' rider with them doing some CRAZY stuff! I'm not sure when he will have a new video up but hopefully very soon.

For those of you that commented on us having snow in May, listen up - we had a mix of hail and snow at our house today. Crazy, I tell you!

So on with the announcement already! Did the random number 'thingy' and still don't know how to post that here but the winner of the 4 Kona Cotton fat quarters is - WOOLYBOOGER!!!! Isn't that a hilarious name???

woolybooger said...
I watched both videos. I've never seen a snow bike. When the bike was shown, it all seemed very practical. My favorite video was the one showing the bike up close. Thanks for participating in the SMS giveaway.

I have the Irish Chain quilt sandwiched and ready to quilt. I did add the borders. I also have the 9 Birdie Baby Quilt sandwiched and ready to quilt! I was hoping to get my BSR 'fixed' before I started these but the repair guy was not able to get ahold of Bernina and he was not familiar with the fix that I was telling him about. Phooey.

Another one of the church babies was born this week. They are having them faster than I can quilt! LOL! Only one more scheduled as of right now and that is for mid June and get this - I have that quilt top finished already. :D

Praise - hubby and I did have a great time in the nursery on Sunday! Lots of children but they were all well behaved.

Prayers - for hubby as they move into new offices tomorrow, for that transition.

GIVEAWAY DAY!

I'm participating in the Sew, Mama Sew! Giveaway today!
Make sure you go on over to her blog to find the list of all participating blogs.

My offering is 4 fat quarters of Kona Cotton.

The colors are from top to bottom - Bright Pink, Grass Green, Orange, Turquoise.


I'll be shipping to U.S. addresses only this time.

To qualify please go to this YouTube link and choose to watch at least one of the two videos. My son filmed and edited these and I am trying to help him get his 'hits' number up (I told him my blogging friends would help him out). Then come back here and leave a comment telling me something about the video you watched. BTW-those videos were filmed in the last two weeks! Is that crazy or what that they would be riding/filming in the snow in MAY!

Entries close Thursday, May 20th, 10PM PST.

Praise - looks like spring has finally arrived!

Prayers - for my son as he starts working again today.

Do zippers go bad??

You know, I was going to change my header photo. I was ready to admit that although it is still winter by the calendar we are well on our way into spring (or brown, as I like to call it). I even suggested to hubby that maybe he should take the studded tires off of my vehicle. Then I looked at the forecast for this coming week. SNOW!!! It probably won't amount to much at all down here but up on the ski mountain it will help them last a few more weeks. I may be the only person in the county that is excited about the arrival of snow this late in the season. So be it. The header photo stays for another week at least.

I have been looking at tutorials all over blogland for cute little bags. Pencil bags, make-up bags, what-not bags. I want to make some. I have zipper phobia. Well not so much zipper phobia but 'putting in a zipper' phobia. Most of these tutorials have great pictures and explanations of just how to do the zipper part. I decided I needed to jump in and give it a try. When my fabric obsession was for clothing and not quilting I amassed quite the collection - fabric, buttons, threads, patterns and yes, even zippers. The pieces that would have required zippers would have been taken to my mom. She was my go-to for zipper application. My mother has been gone for nine years now. I haven't bought a zipper in at least nine years. But like a good fabric collector, you KNOW I still have it all. Finding it is another issue. While all of the fabric, packed into boxes, was moved into this house (as opposed to the insulated mega garage at the previous house)some of the boxes remained in the shop. I knew just which box I was looking for and I sent my son out to the shop to find it. I said there is a label on the box and it says among other things, 'silly notions'. He wasn't gone long and this is what he returned with;

He couldn't believe that I remembered what the label on the box said. It had been years ago that I put that label on there. Well I had seen it every time I went to look through the boxes. Looking for a certain piece of fabric. Or a pattern.

I knew there were some zippers in that box. I wouldn't have to go buy a zipper to make a cute little pouch purse. I certainly would not need to buy any fabric for said pouch purse. ;)

Here are the zippers that were in the box.

What size do you want? What color would you like? Yeah. It is sickness I tell ya.
How could someone with zipper phobia have so many zippers??

So my question. Do zippers go bad?? Or is it safe to use one, or maybe even two, to try to get over the zipper phobia and make a pouch purse? I think I'm going to risk it.

Praise - Winter isn't over and there is SNOW on the way!!

Prayers - for the house inspection that will be done later this week, that all will go well for both parties.

Another finish and some progress

The yellow curtains are finished and on their way to college girl! I even had a curtain rod handy so that I could take a half way decent picture. I'm telling you they aren't anything exciting but college girl and her roomies are excited to have them.
Sure is nice to have a tall son to help out in times like this. ;)

It snowed on and off yesterday and it was snowing a bit when we went to bed. This is what I saw out my window when I woke up this morning. These trees are right off the deck outside of my bedroom door. I was facing west when I took this picture.



It looked like it was getting breezy so I JUMPED out of bed (BEFORE 8 on a Saturday no less) and ran downstairs for my camera. I wanted to get a picture before all the snow was blown off of the trees. I LOVE snow! I turned to the northeast to take this picture. Yes, I was out on the deck in my pajamas and it was about 34 degrees.



My views are somewhat limited in this house so most of my scenery shots will be from this same vantage point. Once in awhile I'll take pictures out the front door or even from the front driveway but the scenery off the back deck is much better.

After jumping out of bed, running downstairs and standing on the deck in 34 degree weather my blood was pumping! There was no going back to bed for me. I got dressed and got on the treadmill for a couple of miles. Seriously!

I finally started working on my next project, another MBS Scruffily Quilt done with Glace. I thought I liked the fabric just fine but when I got all the layer cake blocks placed on the ping pong table I fell in LOVE with this fabric! Okay, I admit it doesn't take alot for me to fall in love with fabric. Some reds, some chocolates (some people call that brown),some damask. I ask you, what is not to LOVE??

Then I laid the charm pack blocks on top of the layer cake blocks. Once I got over the fact that they were now covering up a good portion of the other great blocks I was loving it! Now the real test...UNROLL the Glace Jelly Roll!!! I have never UNrolled a Jelly Roll before. Oh, I HAVE Jelly Rolls. I just don't unroll them. Yeah, I know. But to cut off a 2.5" square of 36 strips I was going to have to unroll this one. Gulp. So I did it as neatly as possible and stacked the strips back up as best as I could. When I had all the squares cut I rolled the strips back up. It isn't easy to do. That might explain why it isn't so pretty. I just couldn't imagine leaving them all willy nilly in a drawer. I had to attempt to roll them back up and put the twill tape around them. So anyway who wants to go on a Moda field trip with me and see just how those are done??

Here are my blocks all laid out (not easy to get a picture of);



and here is a close-up of one of my favorite prints in the line, the chocolate with paisley (only because I am not to the red damask yet);


I finished sewing 12 of the blocks. I could have done more but decided to have a pizza and movie 'date' with hubby. I hope that I can get the rest of the blocks sewn tomorrow and start on sewing the blocks together into rows.

Praise - for SNOW! It reminds us of how Jesus Christ has washed us white as snow. The snow I see outside just covers up the dirt underneath but Jesus has washed our dirt away!

Prayers - for my son while he house sits for friends. He needs to keep the fire going, feed the farm animals morning and night. Praying he is able to get his chores done and get to church on time.

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

I have been wondering all day why someone thought that those two words would be good to use for signalling distress. There was absolutely NOTHING distressing about today. I didn't get little flowers left on my doorstep by anyone and I didn't leave any flowers for anyone, although I do remember doing that as a little girl. God gave me the MOST beautiful spring day though. He painted the sky the most glorious blue, dotted it with a few puffy white clouds and then He let the sun warm it all up slowly. The little bits of grass that we have in our front yard and the grass that we can see across the creek are greening up. The temperature got just over 60 degrees and I sat outside for a bit this afternoon and enjoyed the warmth. In the driveway though there is still some snow. God knows how much I love snow, maybe that is why He left some in my driveway. :)

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Look what Mary over a Neat & Tidy awarded me with!! Wasn't that sweet of her? Sisterhood Award indeed. We are sisters in the Lord, we are sisters in quilting, we are sisters in blogging. We are sisters that live on opposite sides of the country but we WILL meet someday. We'll have so much to talk about then. :D Thanks Mary! * * * * * * *

Just in case you were wondering, I have been sewing today! Chipping away at that big project. I will sew again tomorrow even though it IS National Scrapbook Day. I just know I would feel bad if I were scrapbooking when there is sewing that needs to be done.

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Praise the Lord today for the beauty that He surrounds us with, for the seasons and the miracles that unfold with each one of them.

Prayers - my guys will be helping a family unload a semi trailer of shop equipment tomorrow, praying that everyone would be safe and protected and that they would have a wonderful time of fellowship.

The GREEN Month is upon us

February is too short. Can you believe it is March already? Almost a week into it too. March always makes me think GREEN (and I am not talking Al Gore's 'save the planet' green either). I don't really get into celebrating St.Patrick's Day like my parents did. My kids really enjoy it for some reason though. I think as homeshooled kids they just needed a fun day to celebrate and be silly. I have made them shamrock cookies and dyed some of their food green and sometimes I even wear green. I have never made Corned Beef and Cabbage (shudder), you gotta draw the line somewhere, after all.
I did want to share with you something that I recently made that was a glorious green, it was good for me AND it tasted good.

This is what I started with;

Add to that a couple cups of very cold water, peel the apple, take the grapes off the vine, peel the kiwi and give it all a whirl and this is what the outcome was;

It was so refreshing! My son did not appreciate it. He couldn't get past the color. I have made one just about every afternoon this week. A nice little pick-me-up. I have changed the ingredients a little bit each time and have included oranges and kale in some of the mixes. Both my hubby and my son liked the green smoothie that I made yesterday.

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I finally got around to finishing my February challenge. I used the Grand Revival Pattern for the Flea Market Bag. I sewed it up using some Amy Butler fabric for the outside and some Michael Miller Garden Pindot for the inside. I used a magnetic snap closure. The bag is supposed to be reversible but using the snap closure would void that option.

I am glad that I made it finally and I think I would make it again, maybe the shorter bag with the petal tie ends on the strap. I was confused by the directions from the get go. There was not an illustration to go along with the first set of directions and I was just not getting it. I read and re-read and it finally dawned on me what I was to do. The corners are also a little tricky and the pattern just says turn the corner and continue to sew but I had all this FABRIC there. It ended up okay but a little more explanation might be helpful for a novice bag maker. I had not done straps in this way before. They turned out fine. It amazes me how many ways there are to make a bag. I don't always see where the directions are taking me but I keep plugging along. I'm glad someone else figures this stuff out, writes it down, drafts a pattern and sells it to me!

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I will post my March Challenge pattern choice sometime this weekend. I was having computer problems earlier and don't feel like messing with it anymore tonight.

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Praise - I've had a great week with my prayer and food and exercise commitments. College girl got over her cold and her friends are there with her for the weekend. My son had a great time snowboarding today (and a safe trip driving up and back down the mtn.). It was absolutely gorgeous on top of the ski mountain. That winter isn't quite over yet, at least here. We have had snow quite a few days this week and we are expecting more!!
Prayers - For my two friends and myself as we commit ourselves to the Lord every day before we attempt anything in our own power. For hubby and son as they participate in a volleyball tournament tomorrow - for their safety and for the entire team to be a shining example of His love.

January Challenge - Completed

So my calendar says it is the 6th of February and I am finally getting around to showing you my finished January Challenge. If you don't remember, this is what I chose for January;

The pattern is by Tanya Whelan of Grand Revival Designs. What was the hold up for me on this? The handsewing! I do not like handsewing. That is saying it nicely. Had I read the pattern more thoroughly I would have chosen the view shown bottom left - no handsewing required. I chose the main photo and bottom right. Hand sewing required. Argh.

Here is the completed AVA Bag, done up with Timeless Treasures Taxi fabric on the outside and a stash fabric of yellow with black dots. The other Timeless Treasures Taxi fabric that I wanted for the reverse side of the purse was sold out at the local fabric store and it is hard to find online.

The purse is intended to be reversible. I don't know that I would reverse this particular purse. The fabric is not very forgiving when showing my stitching, done in black thread, along the handles. The OTHER Timeless Treasures Taxi fabric would have been better for hiding any imperfections.

The thing about a reversible bag though - I can never decide which fabric I would want on the outside and then I think the inside usually gets dirty from ink and lipstick and so on, would I even want to reverse it?

My review of the pattern - Well the hand stitching aside because the next time I would probably choose the other view, this was a fairly easy pattern to follow. The way the handles and center/top purse trim are done (on the view I made) is different from anything I have done on a purse before. The directions were clear though. I did try to jump ahead of the game at one point and had to cut out new facing pieces because I trimmed them incorrectly. If I had just followed the directions as written I would have saved myself some time and fabric. Sewing the handles on, through all layers was a teeny bit frustrating, not knowing if I was catching the other side and wondering how it was going to look. Like I said, the fabric pattern choice is not very forgiving on that side. It isn't HORRIBLE, but it does not look as nice as the front side does. The hand stitching needs to be done FOUR times on this view!! At the side seams, inside and out, to join the handle/trims. I would make this purse again. I would make the other view first and then when making this view again I would give more thought to my fabric choices. Good job, Tanya! Thanks for the cute purse pattern!

Finished size - 12" to the top of the handles x 11.5" wide.

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P.S. I have NO idea what I am going to do with this purse. I never ever wear yellow. I just love that fabric though. I was hoping to have it done for Super Bowl Sunday and show off my Steelers colors. That is a BIG joke because I dislike football and all things football-y. :D

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Prayers - Continuing to pray for College Girl. She is burning the candles at both ends to get some projects done. She is never one to let one thing slide to get another thing done. I pray she stays healthy through all of this. Praise - it is SNOWING again today!!! It started sometime during the night and it is still snowing at 11 a.m.

Happy New Year!

No pictures again today but I did want to post on the first day of the new year.

Do you make resolutions? Do you make them and break them or do you make resolutions you are able to keep? I usually have a general idea in the back of my head of things I want to accomplish in a year's time. Maybe if I wrote them down I would feel obligated to sticking to them. Maybe.

I have a few things I want to do this year;
Project 365-take a picture DAILY to create a snapshot of one year in our life.

Sew something daily. Is that too ambitious? Should it maybe be, cut out or organize or should it be to actually SEW something daily. I was thinking there will be days when we are gone but I could finally learn how to make yo-yo's or sew on a binding or ???

Scrapbook - daily? weekly?

**just saw on Ginger Patches blog about a yearly reading list. I do keep one and have done terribly the past couple of years. We have no tv - I should read more.

Lose weight - for my health, for the clothes hanging in my closet.

I resolve to make a serious dent in my fabric stash and my scrapbook stash.

I resolve to limit fabric purchases to specific needs, for items I am making for someone OR if something is needed to finish a project (quilt batting or backing).

I resolve to buy NO MORE scrapbook items unless ABSOLUTELY necessary (adhesives, basic cardstock) until stash is noticeably diminished and then not until house sells.

On one hand I think if I am too strict and I fail I will just throw in the towel but if I am not strict enough then weeks will go by before I realize I have not done anything. I was thinking of limiting myself to windowshopping in online fabric stores to once a week. Oh sure I would still see all the new pretties but #1)I would spend less time at my computer, which leaves more time for daily sewing or scrapping #2)I would spend less time 'wanting' something that I don't 'need'. I know I would still get plenty of inspiration from the blogs I visit daily.

Okay...I am outta here. I am going to sew for a bit and then I am going to work on a scrapbook page.

Prayers - for the college kids that should have been making the 6 hour drive here today, to come visit and to ski. The passes are closed and they finally gave up on traveling today. Praying for safe travel for them tomorrow. Praying as well for my son who is snowboarding today - it has been snowing ALL day. Praises - that we made it to 2009 (didn't you think when you were in grade school that the year 2000 seemed so unreal?)! That God has blessed us with so much!

Merry Christmas!

I do hope that everyone is enjoying a day with loved ones celebrating THE reason for this season.

It has been snowing here all day on top of the 2' of snow that we already had. Nice quiet day at home.

Looking forward to tomorrow and the LEFTOVERS!

Praise - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life - John 3:16

In case you don't have any

of your own snow to gaze upon;


Hubby took that picture on Monday. Wednesday we woke to snow and at 1 a.m. on Thursday it is STILL snowing. It really didn't amount to much on Wednesday as it was just a very fine snow. I think that is going to change overnight. Hubby will take some new pictures in the morning while he it out plowing.

I finished an apron for someone and got that off in the mail and I have another project (that I can't talk about) all finished too!! I am in the process of making another apron now. I am really just in the cutting out phase. I hope to have this in the mail by Saturday though (weather permitting). I love having my college girl home as she is a great model for the aprons. I did take a picture and will get that posted soon.

Oh yeah, we got the tree decorated finally! The real trees just don't' handle our heavy ornaments quite like the artificial trees do. We left quite a few ornaments OFF of the tree this year because of that.

Prayers - two young ladies from our church will be trying to get home from college on Thursday afternoon. One of them already had to be rescheduled due to the weather. Prayers that their flights are not cancelled, that they arrive safely and then the drive from the airport is safe as well. Prayers too for hubby as he is out plowing. It is soooo cold and plowing here is so different than the last house (drop offs into pond and creek and the main road with a bad curve right near our driveway). Praise - my son is FINISHED with his 3 college classes and he did really well in all three of them :D

Cancelled!

Yeah, they give us a winter storm warning and then they cancel it! Phooey! I was all stocked up for the long haul - food and fabric. Yes sir, the basic necessities.

This was taken yesterday about 3 in the afternoon. It started snowing at noon! It was piling up fast. The darkest tree right behind us is our Christmas tree.


It snowed for a long time, maybe until 10. But when we woke up this morning it had snowed some more over night. Hubby had to go out to plow. His first time at this new location. He said it is going to take some getting used to, more hills, more drop offs (into a creek or the pond) and he was still trying to figure out the best place to put all of the snow. He took a few pictures before he got to work on the plowing though.

This is looking up the creek. The rocks piled with snow look like marshmallows in hot chocolate. :)


So it looks like close to a foot of snow on the picnic table.

It looks so pretty out there. When hubby was finished plowing he and our son brought the tree in. It is BIG! It took some adjusting of the furniture and some pruning of the tree to make it fit. While I made a pot of potato soup and a pan of cornbread, hubby worked on the lights. Why are they always such a trial? Dinner done and the lights are on the tree. Maybe we will decorate it tomorrow after church. College girl is relaxing, my son is working on his last speech for his class on Tuesday and hubby is catching up on his email. We are going to watch a movie together later on. I am going to cut out some fabric for a project I can't reveal here just now. ;)

The last time I looked it was 15 degrees outside. It is supposed to get down to -2 tonight and the HIGH tomorrow is supposed to be 3. Yeah, you read that right, THREE degrees. Stay warm! That is what I will be doing.

Praise - we got SNOW!!! Praise that the young lady from church did not need surgery - yet. She has a baseball sized tumor though and is in a lot of pain. Prayers for her, for comfort and relief from the pain. Prayers that the tumor would shrink and surgery would not be necessary.