Another Finished Project!!

YEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!







The Kleenex box is so you can see how big it is.






I have finally finished the never-ending cross stitch!

I feel like singing the Hallelujah Chorus while running through the streets with streamers flying high!

Let me tell you about this cross stitch.

I can't remember when I bought it as a kit. Let's just say MANY years ago. Then it sat in the closet. And sat and sat and sat sat sat sat.

When I was put on bedrest Feb 2, 2005 while pregnant with Gator-boy. I needed something I could do while watching Sonshine play in the floor so I pulled out this cross stitch and started working on it. Well in the month before he was born I did the bear's head, that was all. Then it got put away and stayed in hiding till Jan 12, 2008 when I started working nights. The place I was working at then was just opening it's doors, it was slow at night, and they were real sticklers about not going online at work. So I pulled this out to work on. Well, here I am, a YEAR later and it is finally finished.

whew.

Considering how long it spent in a hoop (4 years!!) I'm amazed it isn't more puckered and lumpy!

I shall find it a frame and hang it in my bathroom soon.

:-)

Show and Tell/Finished Project!

Yeehaw!!

Now that my oldest is just about ready to lose his third tooth, I decided it was high time to make the family a Tooth Pillow.

Did you have a Tooth Pillow?

I did but Subvet'd never heard of them.

See the little pocket on the front? That's where you put your tooth for the Tooth Fairy. She then comes and takes your tooth and leaves you some money in the pocket.

~~it's easier for the Tooth Fairy than trying to find your tiny tooth under your pillow without waking you up!~~

Once again all the fabric, stuffing and thread came out of my closet. Actually these two fabrics were just what was on the top of the top bin of fabric in the closet. It's a bit wild, but I like how it turned out.

:-)

Show and Tell/Finished Project!

Scroll down for to play Thesaurus Thursday!






These two wall hangings have been on my to do list for about 5 years...

The one on the left I made at a church Christmas craft function more than 20 years ago. I have no idea how it survived several moves and a fire...but when I inherited all my mom's Christmas decorations (due to her downsizing) this was in the stuff. Except that it didn't have a dowel across the top and was therefore unable to be hung.

Yes, that's all it needed....a dowel.

The one on the right was made for me by a friend, the label on the back says Christmas of 2003. But it had no dowel..no pocket to hold a dowel..and no ribbon to hang it from. So each year it has gone back in the box of decorations till I could get around to fixing it to be hung.

Well, as part of my goal of finishing projects I hustled to get these two done! It took me all of 2 hours total, and hubby cut the dowel to the right sizes in about 5 min.

Shew!!


Now it's on to the NEXT unfinished project that's been laying around here forever.

Right after I get the cards ready to mail!

show and tell

Ahhh, another project crossed off the list..this one right on time too!

YeeHaww!

These are this year's Christmas gifts, and the difference this year is that they were made by the 2 hooligans and 1 hooliganette...with a bit of help from Mom.

I now have 37 gifts to give... I have to come up with 37 people I like well enough to give a gift to! Ha!

The kids are working on decorating small gift bags for the ornaments to go in...30 of them. So far we have almost 10 done I think. So that'll be a different show and tell. In the meantime it's back to Sugars' baby quilt to applique like a crazy person and try to get this one done by August...wish me luck!

show and tell

Shout it from the Hills folks!!

Mightymom and the Three Bears has come to a close!!






I'm going to restring Sugars' bear as it was my first and the thread kept breaking on me...leaving knots that won't hold for long in the hands of destructo-girl.

But I fixed that problem with the boys' bears so it won't be hard to restring hers.

:-)

Next I just need to finish all the gifts to give, I've got 2 weeks to do it in! I need to stop by Michael's and get some tags sometime this week.

Finally, something crossed off the to-do list! Now the best thing about these gifts is that the only things I bought were the pattern and the yoyo-maker. All 6 yards of fabric, the thread, the felt and the stuffing came out of my stash.

Yippee!!!

Show and Tell

YeeHaw!! another finished project!! And that puts me one step closer to my Momma Quilt that keeps calling out to be finished! :-)

I'm done with the kids' Halloween costumes!!

Here you go....my 3 peas in a pod.




I had to force Speedy off of the costumes as she seemed to think this was HER spot!!




Here's a little better shot of Gator's pea.



Now. On to the yoyo bears!! Some of you have noticed that all the yoyo's are finished....and I have 1 bear almost done, so with a bit of luck you'll be seeing them here shortly!

Find something to laugh loudly at this week!

oh and if you're wondering about the "inspiration" for the peas....

Show and Tell

It's another Finished Project!!



Going to a baby shower at work a couple weeks from now so that meant I needed to make another of my flannel baby blankets. Everyone loves these and they take about an hour to make. Here's what you do. Take 2 lengths of cutsie flannel that are the same size...or 1 big one folded in half and sew around the edges leaving a space to turn. Trim the corners, turn right side out and iron the edges flat. Then pick a fun contrasting color and topstitch around the outside close to the edge....then pick a cute decorative stitch and sew again alittle ways in from the edge. The decorative stitch not only makes it look more "finished" but it will also add "heft" to the edges and that keeps the blanket from sliding off the baby so easily.
Oh and don't you love my little stamp I got last year?? Thanks for the ribbon Steph!

Show and Tell

These are Grandma Lillie's Lillies.







Before she died my Grandma Lillie lived across the street from my Uncle and Aunt. She had a wonderful flower and vegetable garden.

When she died my Aunt went and dug up some of her bulbs and moved them to her flower beds, including these lillies.

Last May my Aunt and Uncle sold their house to "downsize" a bit.
On her last trip to the old home Aunt Gay offered for my stepmother to dig up whatever bulbs she wanted from her beds...specifically stating that these were Grandma's lillies. So my stepmom went and dug.

I knew nothing about any of this, till one day in June we're leaving her house and my stepmom says Wait! I have something for you! Brings out these two big bulbs and tells me the story, saying that if these don't bloom she has plenty more to share.

So I clear a spot in my sadly overgrown bed (can't weed at 2am, when I have my free time) and plop the bulbs in....in the middle of June. I figured that these were like my Easter Lillies and would bloom in the spring.

Little did I know they were late-summer-early-fall-ish bloomers.

So, does anyone know what this type of lily is called? I'd love to know.

Yippppeeee!!

Another Finished Project!

This is actually one I'd marked off my list thinking I'd never get it done and we didn't REALLY need it anymore....I was wrong.

I dropped the boys off at school last Fri. Gator-boy's teacher stopped and talked to me for about 15min.

Apparently his sensory integration problems are manifesting again and he's having a hard time being still for Circle Time.

Circle Time is a new task for him as his class last year was a good deal less structured.

So, I racked my brain to remember the things I used last year when we had trouble with him in church; one was WEIGHT.

Weighing him down gives him the physical input he needs so he can be more still and pay attention better. What we found is that after awhile he learned when he needed to be still and no longer needed the weights, so my hubby tossed them.

What to do now??







I pulled out the remnants of the denim I used for our aprons (remember those?) and double layered a square bag with shoulder straps. I then filled the bag with aquarium gravel. This will work better than rice, beans, or sand as it can get wet then dry without any changes. ie, it's WASHABLE. (I have a motto, if it isn't washable, it shouldn't be used for/on/with/by kids) I divided the rocks into 3 sections so they won't all clump at the bottom. It weighs 3.5lbs. I used almost all of a "5lb bag" of gravel....go figure.

I hope that they can put it on him for Circle Time then take it off and it helps him sit still.

We'll see.

Show and Tell

This is my and my grandmother's quilt.

Back when I was first married my Grandmother decided that she couldn't do any more quilting and gave me about 5 large boxes of all her material/scraps/quilting stuff.

In it I found all of her "tester blocks" and 7 blocks plus a lot of extra fabric for a lap quilt she didn't get finished.

When Sonshine was a baby I was going to my Grandparent's house about every 3 months. About 2 weeks before one of these visits I decided that I just had to make her a quilt. So I took all those tester blocks and the unfinished lap quilt and made them into same sized blocks then put them together with sashing to make this quilt. Due to how fast I needed it done I tied the quilt instead of quilting it. Then I took it to Grandmother.

Later, she replaced one of the blocks that "didn't match" with another one, and she went back and quilted the whole thing, taking out my ties.

From all I've been told this quilt was very special to her, when she became hospitalized due to her strokes, she asked especially for them to bring it to her.

Show and Tell

THE NEW THESAURUS THURSDAY GAME IS UP, SCROLL DOWN AND PLAY ALONG!




For this week it is going to be Tell and Show.



About a month or so ago I was talking to my Stepmother and she told me their house had been burglarized. Among the stuff that was taken were her jewelry box and my Dad's keepsake box.

Inside Dad's box was my Grandpa's pocket watch that he carried every day of his adult life, and also my Great-Grandpa's pocket watch.


Inside my Stepmom's jewelry box was (obviously) all of her jewelry, INCLUDING her wedding band that she'd taken off the day before to do yard work. Now attached to her wedding band was my Grandma's wedding ring.


As I had not yet given her a Mother's Day gift (yes, I'm late) I instantly thought of exactly what I would like to give her this year.



In "my" closet (the one in Sugars' room that hides all my craft stuff) I have had a small unfinished wooden box with clasp that was a freebie 2 years ago when I was VBS director at my old church. I figured sooner or later I'd find a good use for it.


So I sat on the floor last night with a small portion of my "stuff" and played......


You saw where I played,


Here's what I was playing at:





Because let's face it folks, every girl needs a pretty jewelry box right!?





Oh, and inside the box???













Grandma's watch.


A little aside to the story that I find touching. When Grandma and Grandpa died I was 15, and devastated. After spending a week in Lafayette while the grown ups sorted all their stuff out we went back home. Right before we left my Stepmom handed me 2 things. 1 was Grandma's keychain that I'd asked for, the other was her watch. My Stepmom told me that Grandma's watch was left after my Aunts had been through her jewelry box and she thought that I'd like to have it. My Stepmom and I are both incredibly sentimental and she knew it was something I would treasure. Now I am giving it to her so that she may have something of Grandma's, as the thieves stole all of their heirlooms.

We'll see her tomorrow (Friday) morning. I can't wait to give her this "Mother's Day" gift!

Have a good weekend folks and hug someone you love.

Show and Tell

Subvet creates the perfect apple pie.

Show and Tell

Several years ago Subvet joined the Submarine Veterans Association in Dallas. He'd been a member in Ct for many years. When I went with him to a function I noticed that most of the guys had on these vests with patches that told their boats. As Subvet's 50th B-day was coming up I went and asked the guy in charge of such things how much the vests were. Well folks, the vest was around $60-75 THEN you had to buy each patch. I mean to tell you I flipped!! So, for his 50th B-day I made Subvet a vest, he got to buy as many patches, pins as he wanted and I sewed them all on. Along with a few details of my own...(look close at the buttons...)[well, nevermind, you can't see the buttons....they have anchors on them]

Unfortunately we live a very long way from the nearest SVA so he doesn't wear the vest all that often, but it's there when he needs it. :-)

Show and Tell

I have finished more projects!!!

First off, I made two of these aprons. One for myself and one for a friend who wanted to do an apron swap with me.



They are backed in bottom weight denim. They are almost identical...only I know the 2 differences between them! heeheehee. The fabric for the fronts came from "my stash" and was left over fabric from a quilt I made my brother when he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America 3 years ago. The denim for the backs was fabric I inherited from my grandmother. As usual for me, I "made it up as I went along"...so don't ask me about the pattern or how I did it. :-)

Once Subvet saw the finished aprons he asked if I could make him one...he wanted it to say "Shut Up and Eat!"

Well, we had to negotiate the saying as there are children in the house who will learn to read sooner or later......



I was able to finish it just in time for Monday's cookout! I used a "one size fits all" pattern from Simplicity....but I had to add 10 inches (yes, ten) to the length so it would be more than a bib for my hubby. Interesting fact, Subvet and I have the same inseam. 32". He is 6'3, I am 5'5. Just goes to show that one size does NOT fit all!! (or any in this house). The fabric was more of that denim from my grandmother (I have no idea what she'd planned for all that heavy denim, it's 60" wide and I think she had 6 yards or so of it!) The black felt for the letters was left over from last Halloween

So there you have it!

I went to the quilt store Saturday :-) and bought the fabric to make Sugars' baby quilt so that will be the next thing for me to start....oh and my mom requested an apron/bib when she saw the one I made for myself Sunday so that's added to the list...along with the pattern I bought to make each hooligan a Yoyo-bear for Christmas...and the Christmas ornaments that we're going to start on in Aug....and.........

Show and Tell

This little wool coat with matching bonnet is rich in family history and legacy.

It was made by my Grandma, to the best recollection of my mother (not always reliable) it was made for one of my older cousins. Then Grandma gave it to mom for me to wear. When my step-mother had my sister mom gave this coat and bonnet to her for my sister. Last Christmas my step-mother gave it to me for Sugars. Sugars is named after Grandma...it feels as though it's come full circle. I never knew that Grandma sewed till Denise gave me this jacket. It is expertly made. Fully lined (even the bonnet) with little pleats, buttons and fabric bows (not ribbons). Amazingly there is NO EVIDENCE of moth attack in the wool. No holes, no worn places. Just 1 missing button that I will try to replace before winter. I hope that Sugars can wear it a few times next winter. At least for pictures! Then I will carefully pack it away to hand down to the next little girl in the family.

Show and Tell

I have been working on finishing a few items this year. Hooray!! I finished another one.





These are napkins that I made this week. They are double sided made out of left over flannel that I had. I have 10 of them, they don't all match...but I've never been one for matchy matchy stuff anyway :-)

(I'm waiting for someone to ask me why there's always a folded flag in the pics of my dining room table......can you guess the reason??)

Show and Tell

I have been working on finishing a few items this year. During my 4 day "vacation" I finished another one.







This is Gator-boy's baby quilt. Well, he's 3. I finished Sonshine's quilt for his first birthday.....at this rate Sugars will get her baby quilt sometime around the start of 3rd grade!

Show and Tell

Well, it's taken me 21 months (remember, I had a baby during that time) from start to finish, but I have finally FINISHED recovering my love seat!!

All in all I think it's not perfect, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!



I wanted it done before our party on the 15...if I'd known I really only had 1 night's work left on it I'd probably have procrastinated it till next week!

:-)

Show and Tell

OK, for Sarah's Simple Sewing Secrets I told you how I changed a jumper I'd bought from Hallowe'en to Winter....so....

Here it is.



This is so very easy to do.

Maybe I'll tell different ways to applique one day?? (or not, you tell me)

Show and Tell

Well, I've read on several blogs laments about how much snow some of you good folks are getting. I sure do feel bad for you. So bad that for show and tell tonight I'm going to post pics of what my little flower bed looked like yesterday.




This is an Easter Lily that I bought as a flowering potted plant in 03 and stuck in the ground.....




Here you can see the daffodils and tulips I bought as potted plants 2 years ago as well as the iris that I transplanted from the back yard last summer. They weren't blooming back there as a) they didn't get much sun in the stupid places the previous owner of this house put them and b) my husband kept mowing them down when he would "weed" the beds. Sometime over the next few weeks I'll get out there and clear all that clover that grows wild in my beds.

I'm hoping that my hyacinths will show up here in the next month too!

I love bulbs but have never had any luck buying dry bulbs in bulk. I don't know if I plant them too deep or upside down or what but they never come up. I do much better with the potted plants...as you can see. :-)

Don't forget to play Thesaurus Thursday!