Super Saturday

Kind of a "throwback" to hear people from other wards talk, but our ward does a Super Saturday every year. Still. I love them. It's a great way to get together for a very fun and productive crafting day. Who doesn't love that? This year I was called to serve as the specialist for our big day since the leader who would normally do it was expecting her 5th child. She actually delivered about 10 days before our event, so I was glad to take over for her. There was a committee meeting, some ideas were discussed and then I came home and started delving into Pinterest. Six craft classes were decided on, and two cooking classes for a grand total of eight opportunities to learn something new that day. I had to get samples of said classes ready to display about 6 weeks in advance, so I went to work. The best thing was the help I got from my girls, Jade and Taya. Jade patiently listened to all the ideas and helped me weed out the lame ones leaving us with some great classes to offer. Taya came to bring Maddie over, so had about a week to spend helping me. That saved my bi-toot-ie! I am posting pics of the classes so I won't forget how fun they were.

The Chalked Class:
Four designs were offered. All came from people on pinterest, but I made my own patterns in Adobe Illustrator. I learned a lot while making the patterns, so it was a good project for me. Three seasonal designs and one everyday design to choose from offered in a standard 11x14 size.

I got tempered hardboard at Lowe's, had it cut into 11x14 size (got 27 boards per 4'x8'panel). The guys at Lowe's were awesome and didn't even charge me to cut all 54 boards. I got a quart of Black chalkboard paint and painted all the boards. That really had to be done ahead of time to allow the paint to cure. They were sanded, wiped down and packaged up for each lady. It was a popular class, lots of ladies wanted to learn to chalk art! I had lots of fun doing the samples and I learned a lot. Can't wait to do some bigger projects now.



The Word Stack (Block) Class

The RS President had some blocks she bought at the BYU bookstore and thought they might be a good project. The idea was okay, but the blocks were small and only had routed words making them impossible to read from even close. I decided to do them in graduating sizes so they could stack like a tree for Christmas with something else on the other side. I came up with 5 sets of possibilities for words after all was said and done. Most ladies did 2-sided blocks.

There was a set with the Young Women Values and other words from their motto…

There was a set of words from the Scout Motto…

One with words taken from the Family Proclamation…

Of course the Christmas version…

And not pictured is the set that I actually liked the best. The 13 key words for each article of faith. There are 13 blocks in a set. I made the paper to cover the sides in on my computer using digital scrapbook files in Photoshop. That way we could get the different colors on 3 11x17 sheets for each set. I had a lot of fun designing the paper and the word files. My sweet Sister-in-law Sydney agreed to cut all the vinyl for the sets. She did an awesome job and I learned a lot about that too. A very nice man in the ward cut the sets of blocks and his wife (RS Homemaking counselor) and the teacher for this class got together and sanded them all ahead making the ladies jobs easier on that saturday. Each set of blocks was bagged up, tagged and placed out for the class.

Table Talk Class

Jade was mostly responsible for this class. It is a fun sort of game that has as many questions as you can think of crafted onto jumbo craft sticks. We then mod-podged cute paper on the other side and added a button on the end. We placed them all in a pretty jar with a ruler for "the rules". At dinner, someone picks a stick and reads the question. They then must answer the question, being honest and courteous. The listeners must also be courteous and when the question has been answered may add their perspectives and answers as well. Nice to get some positive dinner conversation going both for families and for entertaining. Found many sources for questions on pinterest. Gathered the ones that we thought were the best and made them up for the game. We did 154 questions, but only did a 90 stick set for each game. The extras can always be added later. We also offered a 60 Stick set of Christmas activities to help keep a good focus on the season of crazy and keep it a season of real christmas events. I picked out several color schemes of scrapbook paper pads (the small 6.5"x6.5" size) and had them cut into strips for mod-podging. We hand cut the questions up for each set, and I have since gone back into that file and set them up for cutting on a paper cutter. That would have been nice from the get-go. Taya did most of the work on this sample and I am taking it to her so she can have it for her family. Would love to hear some of the answers they will give!

What's Cookin? Class

A couple of years ago Tawna made me a frame similar to these for weekly menu planning. I have loved having it in my kitchen. I may not always stick to everything I write down, but it really helps me remember what meals I shopped for as the week wears on. I made up two different styles and did seasonal papers for the backgrounds as well as an everyday paper for either the brown or black frame versions. Got a good response on this class too. Sydney cut the vinyl for this also and lots of ladies went home with nice frames for the weekly answer to the inevitable question of "Whats' for dinner, Mom?"

Wreathed! and the Shabby Chic Frame Class…

Three different styles of wreaths were offered. A frame wreath, with whatever you brought from home for whatever season you chose and with whatever frame you had. I chose a Halloween motif for the sample. I bought the boots and the mesh ribbon at Hobby Lobby, the glitter ribbon, spiders and pumpkin at Ribbons & Lace and had a frame at home. This also went along with our Shabby Chic frame class to teach the art of distressing wood for an old, vintage look. I painted the frame black and let it dry overnight. I then painted a watered-down bright purple over it and allowed it to dry well. I sanded off some areas and Wha-La. Shabby Chic frame. In it's simplest form. No one brought any stuff from home or the store to do this craft  or the shabbied frame, except Summer and she had some great Halloween stuff to work with. She and I worked on her wreath during and after the meeting and she took home a finished product. It was great. Loved that she came to do stuff. I will post a pic of her wreath when I get it off my phone.

The next wreath offered was a burlap version. Have seen this many times using many different motifs on Pinterest, so thought I would learn the technique. Watched a tutorial someone was kind enough to make and went for it. I will do my next one differently, as far as the fine-tuning of the technique goes, but it got done and that's what I needed. I did a fall theme, but have seen it done for every season and many versions of everyday. It's a winner however it is done. A fun craft to do and have. We had several ladies choose this wreath and they basically watched me demonstrate it once and taught each other. The easiest class I have ever taught. 

This Clothespin Wreath is also something I have seen with many different themes. The most popular after the seed packets is the Christmas Card version. It is way fun if you get lots of Christmas Cards. No one chose this particular wreath to make, so one less project to gather stuff for. 

The To Die For Cinnamon Roll Class…
Taught by a lady that truly makes the best ever cinnamon rolls. Her Mom, Carolee Phelps made them for our Boutique years ago when we did the boutiques at Nan & Pops house. Her daughter, Starlyn (now Peterson) is certainly equal to her Mom's rep. Great Class, Great rolls. Wishing I had one about now.

The last class was Freezer Meals!

The leader out having her baby has a group that does freezer meals and has a great method. She and a friend taught the class and is was a great success. Who wouldn't love a bunch of meals in the freezer, ready to go when your day has been crazy and you didn't have time to shop, or cook? With the Holidays coming, can't think of a better class…

I had lots of fun preparing and gathering, and making kits and doing samples, etc., etc. I have missed those Homemaking meetings that taught fun, inexpensive things to keep or give. I hope my girls had as much fun as I did. We also had several ladies from our sister ward sign up and come. It was nice to get to know a few new faces there. Jacque, and her friend Christy came and made some stuff. Sydney came and did some Chalk Art with Tawna, so I got to spend some time with family too. I think our ward ladies had a good time too. I watched lots of finished projects leaving with ladies bearing happy smiles. That's really the reward for me.

What Happened To July?

I know I was away from my computer in July, but it seriously went by like a flash. I'm glad I took a few pics of things I did, or I would have missed it completely.

I made some pioneer clothes for Jordyn to wear on her Trek this year. She and Taylor were experiencing their first pioneer trek in July. I made pantaloons, skirts, aprons, sunbonnets, and kerchiefs. Taylor wore an old pair of Papa K's suspenders and his outfit in large part came from Goodwill. Summer promised to send me pics, so I will update this post later with a more complete set of photos. All I had in my camera was one set of pantaloons. I wasn't very smart with my camera this summer.

Jordyn was asked to speak in Church the Sunday after their Trek. Grumpy and I were in Mesa, so went to hear her. I could tell she developed a soft spot in her heart for the pioneers that sacrificed so much so we could have all that we do now. I have never been on a trek, but felt that same reverence for all those who gave up so much when we visited some of the church history sites in Nauvoo, Kirtland and so on. We have no idea how brutal their experiences were. We can only imagine. I enjoyed Jordyn's sweet testimony of the things she felt.

It was a pleasure to sew for her knowing she would be touched by the spirit. I know Taylor was too, he just isn't very articulate about it. They are both great kids.

I am looking forward to hearing about her next Trek in a couple more years. This time Rylee will get to go.

My only experience with the pioneer spirit was the celebrations our wards did when I was little. I do remember my Mom's pioneer dress. She made it out of a black small print calico. It had yellow bias binding and white lace on the bodice. She had a matching bonnet too. I can't remember what I wore, or Tracy, but I know Curt had a cowboy hat, levi's and chaps. There was always a parade of various home-made covered wagons. Mostly a red wagon with some kind of domed white sheet. There was taffy and home-made ice cream. I so wish I had pics of some of that. Though all of that was fun, I am very glad to see the Treks happen for our youth. I know they take lots of time and money to organize, but I think it is a great way for our kids to be touched in small part by those amazing Saints. Most of us will thankfully never experience the events that put our ancestors on the trail for Salt Lake, but I am grateful they were up to it and endured.

Sacred, Honored Pioneer.

Quilting Crazy!

It felt like crazy. I went to Taya's in July to spend some time finally doing some quilts for the little girls beds.I originally started collecting this fabric when Summer's girls were a lot younger. Sometimes I am really slow. It is very Mary Englebriet and so seemed too young for Summer's girls rooms now, so Lauren and Emersyn were just the right age now to have this motif for their beds.

It seemed like I cut forever, and some of the squares were already cut. A lot of them actually. I had a truckload of fabrics that had made it into this bin over the years and so we had plenty to work with. Since the girls are sleeping on the "short beds" we wanted the bedspreads to fit the length right. The beds are normal twin size except they are a foot shorter. So cute in the room and gives them more play room. We decided since it was a rag quilt design to make an extra panel for them that could be added later when they are on normal length twin beds. And of course there were shams to be made. As I said, it seemed like I cut forever. Taya even helped and did a great job. She now knows how to use a rotary cutter and mat for fabric. The stacks of squares below aren't even all of them, but close enough.

When Taya posts with the finished, washed results I will steal pics from her. I know she took some of the sewing process. Madison, Taya and I all sewed for days. I think Madison has been bitten by the sewing bug. I hope so. She did an awesome job sewing the square X's. She was amazing. Below are the sewn-up bedspreads. Not fringed and washed yet, so they will look different when all the fringes are frayed. Love this style quilt. Easy for beginners and pretty forgiving when things aren't exactly so.

Madison also made an owl pillow for her bed. I hope she had fun with that. She did a great job on it. A little more complex than the quilt X's. Taya made 2 queen size pillow cases for Daron's bed. It was fun to teach her the fun Tube method. I love to make pillow cases. She did them just perfect and I hope learned a lot.

All in all we finished 2 twin size bedspreads (complete with panels to add later), 2 shams, 4 standard size cases for Lauren and Emmy's pillows, and 2 queen size cases for Daron's bed. Oh, and the cute owl pillow for Madison. Wow. That was a crazy 10 days. I got one set (spread, panel and sham) clipped for the fringe, but left Taya to cut the other set. I think between her and Kaitlin, they are finally done and ready for the laundromat. I can't wait to see them.

It feels good to finally finish something started so long ago. Now I have been bitten by the quilt bug and have started collecting for future quilts. Much to Grumpy's dismay. He thinks we should buy stock in JoAnn's. Maybe…

Random Things in June

The madness has begun for the Visiting Teaching Conference scheduled for September 8th. I had it all planned, so when I was released as 1st Counselor in the RS, Jenny said to just go ahead and do it. Okay. The plan is now rolling. First was the design of our little paper shoes. I know I am a crazy chick, but I just had to do these cute shoes made from cardstock. On the lazy side of my nature, I didn't want to have to embellish them once they were made, so I designed 8 different shoes in Photoshop to put into the template I am using. Already embellished (digitally) and printed out on the color copiers at OfficeMax in Mesa. All 80 of them. They are even already all cut out and ready to start assembling. I have ordered little plastic bottles that just fit in the shoe that will hold a homemade sugar scrub for our feet. I want to have a tag on it that says something akin to serving each other as the Savior served by the washing of his apostles' feet. Still working on that. Our theme is a cute one adapted from one that Taya's ward in CA. did. I went online and put RS Shoe Skit in the google bar and Wha-La! Shoe skit complete with altered words to an opening hymn, etc. I think it will be a fun way to inspire our sisters to get out there and get their V.T. done. (I probably need it the worst!) We will be having a fun luncheon of Wedge salads, Flat bread sandwiches, Shoestring potatoes and peach Cobbler for dessert. he he. I am having way too much fun planning all this. I will be posting later with pics of all the stuff. I am doing this the party in a box way, because after all this, I will be in AZ with Grumpy that day for Chance's Baptism. Nonetheless, I am having a great time getting it all ready to roll.

Also this month I am working on our Ward "Sisters in the Kitchen" cookbook. Yes, it is one of those ward cookbooks. However, we did get a pretty good response and I have typed about 250 something recipes into our online cookbook site. Granted, all categories were not well rounded at first, but thanks to "Frannie Frugal" and "Imma Pinner", we are looking pretty complete. It should be a great addition to our cookbook collection and I can't wait to see it all done.

I am also in the throes of planning Homemaking Meetings. (or trying to). If anyone who happens to read this has any great ideas to share, they would be more than welcome. Of course Pinterest is ever in the idea nook, so there are some really great things I would love to do from there. We'll see how all that goes in a month or so. It seems like the hardest task is getting people motivated to do anything. We don't have great resources here and it is really hard to find stuff that is fun, useful and economical. Of course online ordering helps when you can't find stuff. Just takes longer. I guess I can't procrastinate so much anymore.

And the pioneer trek clothes. Jordyn and Taylor get to participate in their Stake Pioneer Trek coming up in July. I am working on skirts, aprons, pantaloons and bonnets for her to wear on her adventure. I hope Summer can find stuff at Goodwill for Taylor. I loaned him a pair of Papa K's suspenders. I have his Americana ones that he wore while building his house. They are the only things that kept him from losing his pants. I hope they work as well for Taylor on this trek. Can't wait to hear how all that goes for them.

I am going to spend some time with Taya and her "mini family" for the better part of July. We are going to put together some rag quilt bedspreads for her two short beds that Emmy and Lauren sleep in. Long ago we had shortened mattresses made from regular twin sizes, so they are short. Kids don't need a long bed for quite a few years and it's amazing how much extra room they have in their room without the beds taking up so much space. A couple of summers ago I went and shortened the bottom sheets of a couple sets of sheets so they would fit properly on the beds. They turned out well and are well used. Now it's finally time to get some bedspreads done. Taya has been busy painting their furniture lime green, so after my visit they will have a new room (so to speak). Exciting stuff. I will take pics and post our adventures in quilt making when they are done. We are also hoping to do some organizational tasks while I am there. She will be my experiment in organizing for a homemaking meeting I hope to have in October. I have some fun projects in mind. Hope they work.

All the July Birthdays are about to begin. It is a crazy month for birthdays. August too. I am still getting some amusement out of the "it's so hot outside" complaints here. It is hot, but they have no idea how good they have it here. There is always a breeze. We are not talking 112º + either. It is a little more humid here, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Now AZ is HOT. Tawna called the other day laughing about a facebook post she had seen. It read: "Satan called....He wants his weather back!!!" I laughed a good laugh over that one. I've always said I am thankful (mostly) for the hotter than hell weather in the AZ summers. It keeps most of the winter visitors and the rest of the country from moving there. Works for me.

And so it is today. The first day of July.

Quilts and Cleaning

More Quilts than cleaning I'm afraid. I found some cleaning tips on Pinterest, so thought I would try some out. Me and the mouse in my pocket (as Nana would say). I did the cleaning the oven door tip and was so pleasantly surprised I did the oven floor as well. Now it's just the sides that need cleaned, but they aren't very dirty. The floor and door were quite horrible. I wish I had done before and after pics. The oven was so awful (courtesy of the people we bought from) it was embarrassing. Not enough apparently since it took me 8 months to get around to cleaning it. It is finally good. The mouse in my pocket (Robert) got some white vinegar and sprayed the weeds outside. It was supposed to be this great weed killer. We must have extremely strong-willed weeds. Maybe we should give it another try before going after the commercial weed killer again. Again with the "we". Good Luck with that Robert - let me know how it goes with round 2.

I had so much fabric left-over from Nick and Katy's baby quilt, I decided to do another one for them. I don't know anyone else with nursery colors of orange and brown, so they benefited from my over-purchase of fun baby prints in those colors. Katy had the baby while we were at the Dunes. She and Nick named him Samuel Danger. Now as he grows up he can truthfully say Danger is his middle name. Too funny.

I did this quilt like the one I saw that Malea made for Chelsey's Milo. It was fun to work on and I have found I love to do rag quilts. Good news for Stacie. She cut out a rag quilt a number of years ago in an Americana theme, but never got around to assembling it. We decided to get it out and see what was what. She brought over her quilt in a bin and we got it out. She wanted to do it for Austin's room slash guest room. It is a queen size bed. What she had cut wasn't quite enough to do that size, so off we went to -yes- JoAnn's! We found some great Americana prints that were not only cute with her current prints, but on sale. Wheee Hawwww! We got more fabric and went back home to cut more blocks. Before cutting we laid out her blocks on my king-size bed to determine how many more we would need to cut. We cut more blocks and filled in the rows to get a good over-all random mix of prints.

The layout before sewing above.

Stacie sewing the "quiltlets" above and the sewn X's below.

The blocks all stacked and ready to jigsaw together again on the bed to get the rows ready to sew together. After sewing the blocks together to make rows (lengthwise) we sewed two lengths together to make four long sections. We laid it on the queen bed in the sewing room at my house and decided it needed a border to truly make it the right size for a queen-size bedspread. We thought a border of just two of the more blue fabrics alternated would be a good look. Back to JoAnn's. I should buy stock in that place. It took two different JoAnn's to find the rest of the yardage needed (I have to have enough left for shams and pillowcases, right?). Back to the cutting boards. I put together the border squares and got them sewn together in rows. When Stacie came the next time to work on it, we were able to get the border finished and the long (heavy) seams done. It took both of us to get it through the machine. She held and guided the heavy quilt part and I sewed the long seams. Teamwork is great.

Here it is (above) all sewn together. Stacie took my spring-loaded scissors home to clip all the seams into fringe. She sent me a text message the next night that she was half done, but couldn't move her hand. So true. She has since finished the clipping/fringing and will take it to a laundromat to wash for the first time. Home machines just aren't equipped to handle the amount of frayed threads coming out of it the first time washed. Plus the over-sized machines available there are better for the bigger size quilts (queen and king). I can't wait to get a pic of the finished quilt that I can add to this post. Meanwhile, there are shams and pillowcases to make here in Midland to take back on my next trip home. I love good projects. I hope Austin enjoys his room and the labor of love that goes into making our kids rooms special for them. Even when they share it with the occasional guest. They will look back and remember how pleasant their surroundings were growing up. I love that. I love that Stacie and I were able to spend some time together making a quality bedspread for her home. We had fun talking and creating. I love that too. Of course I added a few more prints to my own Americana collection I have growing in a bin for a future quilt for me. I even managed to find a few red, white and blue flannels for a sleeping quilt in the future. I will have an Americana room in my house or (hopefully) cabin someday. Right now I'm collecting. I really should look into buying stock in JoAnn's.

Extremely Blessed and Incredibly Grateful

Yes. I am. This year for the Relief Society Birthday we decided to have a meeting about being grateful. It all began with an invitation to come and be part of our celebration of the Relief Society. As soon as I figure out how to do it, I want to make some printable files people can click on in case anyone wants to use our idea and the handouts we did. More learning for me.

We wanted to give each of our sisters a Grateful Journal so they could write about things they are thankful for. I had recently seen the movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and I loved the journal the little boy kept. It wasn't just for writing in, but rather a collection of things as well as writing that he put into his journal. Tickets stubs, photos, pieces of things, drawings, and all manner of paraphernalia that meant something to him. We decided to give the same sort of composition notebook entitled Extremely Blessed and Incredibly Grateful to our ladies. We chose eight different quotes mostly obtained from Pinterest that I re-typeset and made copies of. The are set to cut into 1/8 sheets, a finished size of 2.75" x 4.25". I ran 1 set for each book, so we had eight quotes for each journal.

We placed them on random pages throughout the journal so as the sisters went through their pages they would eventually find the quotes. I made labels for the outside front with our theme so they would be reminded every time they see this little notebook to be thankful for things.

And a little bookmark to mark their progress through their journal.

I did some water bottle labels because I had room on the page I was running the journal front labels on, and it was fun to have our water bottles in keeping with our theme that night.

We took a silver paint marker and wrote each sister's name on the first page. This way we knew who had picked theirs up and who we still might need to deliver journals to.

Our speaker for the evening was incredible. She too referenced a movie for her inspiration. Polyanna. I remember it as one of my favorite movies growing up. She remarked that she had never seen the movie as a child, but that as an adult had come across it and it made a lasting impression on her. She and her family play the "Glad Game" all the time. Putting that kind of optimism out is amazing. We are such a blessed people and so much more individually. She was very inspiring and I find myself falling way short of the kind of gratitude she lives every day. Need improvement. I took some pics of our room at the church. It was a great meeting and I hope everyone left feeling a little more thankful for all that we have. I intend to use my journal and when it is full, look back on all the blessings that will be in there for me to enjoy yet again.

 We ran out of containers for flowers, so we taped the flowers to the blackboard. We wound a bow through the stems to hide the tape and drew a chalk frame around it. It looked better than just an empty blackboard up by the speaker.

 The wall behind the refreshment table still looked plain after the table was all set, so we took the cute black and white polka dot napkins we were using and cut some big polka dots to tape to the wall. I do love polka dots.

As soon as I learn how to link for a printable type file, I will put our ideas out there for anyone who wants to use them. It was a good meeting and I know we hit the mark with everyone. Meanwhile if any of my family/friends want any of these files to make their own gratitude journal, I will be happy to email them to you.

Now all I have to do is learn to be more grateful everyday. everyday. everyday.

Rag-Time Quilt

I have been wanting to learn to do this kind of quilt for a long time now. Bought the pattern ages ago, so decided to try it out finally. Friends of our family, Nick and Katy are having their first baby, so it seemed like a good idea to do a quilt for them. It was fun to learn a new thing. The instructions didn't have a cutting quide for the baby size, so I had to wing it. Cutting all the blocks below. Learned a lot about cutting.

Then is was time to put the little "quiltlet" blocks together. I used 9 different prints for the front and took one of the prints to use for the entire back. I had a flannel sheet I bought a while back (the leopard print) so because there was a lot of that one I used it to do a one print back. You can use any combination of prints you want. Katy is using orange and brown for her baby boy, so I did my best to find flannels that would go with her nursery.

Along with the tried and true adage "Measure twice, cut once" I add "pin alot and sew it once". Too true. The blocks are sewn diagonally corner to corner. You can eye-ball a straight line on the small blocks, but I had to mark the big ones. I wanted to do it the way the pattern instucted at least the first time. It was good advice. Below is what the small blocks looked like pinned.

Marking the blocks was easy. I had a washable ink fine line marker that has been sitting in my sewing drawer forever. I finally got to use it. There are only 18 big blocks in this quilt, to it went fast. Those blocks took a lot more pins, but I had no difficulty with shifting fabric. I don't have the right walking foot for my machine (I found out with this venture) so I will have to exchange it at the Bernina Store when I go home to visit again. They sold me the wrong one when I bought my machine, so I will get the right one soon. A walking foot enables mutiple layers of fabric to go through the machine as one layer. No shifting or crawling fabric from the top to the bottom. I am looking forward to getting the right foot for that.

Sewing the blocks didn't take too long either. I did all the small blocks first (68). Then did the 18 big blocks.

Below are what the blocks looked like with the x's sewn.

Now to start assembling the small blocks into 4-block squares. All the seams are 1" wide and are sewn on the right side, or top of the quilt. I tried to just do a random effect. I am so used to doing right sides together when doing seams, I did two sets before I realized my quilt would be backwards if I kept that up. I ripped out the seams and put wrong sides together so it would be correct. I hate it when my brain take a leave of absence and habit takes over.

Two sets done ready to make my first 4 square block. Now I just have to do that 16 more times. Sewing the 4 square blocks took the longest, but it was fun to make sure no two prints ended up together.

Now to layout the blocks to start the completion process. I tried to make sure the same prints did not end up side by side, but there are a few places where it just had to be. I didn't spend hours figuring it all out, just laid them out on the floor and went for it. I assembled one row at a time and then sewed the rows together. Didn't take as long as I thought it would. It gets fun now because you can start to see what the final project will look like.

Here is what it looked like all together with the fringe cut. After all the seams are sewn you cut at 1/2" to 3/4" intervals along the 1" seams. Lots and Lots of cutting. Making sure of course you don't cut through your seams. I did a little each day in front of the T.V. while talking to Tracy and Pop. Eventually it was all fringed. Now to wash it. Not in my apartment washer. This is where Tracy and I went to one of the local laundromats to wash it for the first time. Lots of fraying that first time through the machines. There were a lot of threads in the washer. I can only imagine what the lint trap in the dryer must have looked like. The washable marker was washable. Good thing. I was a bit worried about that.

The finished product! All soft and nice for Nick and Katy's little baby to sleep on or under. I have enough of the fabrics left to do a strip rag quilt too. I called Malea, who has made several of those and got her how-to's. Maybe I can get my act together and get another one done for them. You just can never have too many baby quilts. I'm going to try some of those cute customized burp clothes next with some of the scraps. I wish I had done this for all my grandkids. I did a few quilts for them, but didn't have as much time as I do now. Fortunately Nana was still sewing and did lots of baby quilts for our new babies. I hope I can still sew when great grandkids hit the scene. I'll have even more time then (maybe) and can sew for them like Nana did for us.

Now I am ready to start some bigger versions of this kind of quilt for my grandkids who are not babies anymore. The ones that are big enough can help me and maybe learn a thing or two. Now if I could just live a little closer to them all…

Meanwhile...Back at the Sewing Machine

Above are some more dresses I made for Lauren and Emersyn. I saw this pinwale courduroy at the store and it was just too cute not to buy. I loved both the fabrics and their accents, so decided to do a wintery dress for the girls to keep them warm in California. I had lots of fun sewing them and hope they have lots of fun wearing them.



I then moved on to the next installment of pillowcases in the holiday line-up. Christmas fabric was not hard to find, but sometimes hard to match to the grandkids. Nothing too cutesy or juvenile, (especially for the older kids) so my quest began. I found some in Albuquerque (with Grumpy under duress to take me to a JoAnn's as we passed through), some here in Midland at our local Hancock's and our Hobby Lobby, some I ordered on-line through JoAnn's (that was a little dicey) and finally some at home in Mesa. (again at JoAnn's). We don't have a JoAnn's here in Midland, so our choices of fabrics is sometimes limited. After all the looking for and deciding was done I went to work getting them done. I did Taya's family first (above) so I could send them FedEx with the girls dresses. I sewed some in Midland and barely got the fabric I ordered on-line in time to pack and take to AZ to finish the rest. I hope the grandkids have had as much fun using them as I have had making them. (Thanks to Grumpy for being a good sport with all the shopping and fabric requisitions.)

Below are all the ones that went to our Arizona families.



I also hope all the grandkids remember them on Christmas morning as they are opening all their other gifts. I just couldn't wait to give them and wanted them to enjoy them through the seasons. Carson wanted to know if he would be getting one for Easter and Aden asked me if I could please get him something besides a pillowcase.

Kids are funny.

Sewing and Sewing…

Getting out the tools to begin more fun things. Now that all of them are delivered (Thanks again to Robert and FedEx) I can post what I have been up to lately.



More holiday fabric being cut into pillowcases for the grands. It's so nice to have such wonderful tools to use to make the job easier than ever. I think Grumpy will be glad to have the buying of holiday fabric stop soon. He has forgotten what a fabric junkie I am. He does like that our kids and grandkids can benefit from me having something to do here. I felt a little challenge trying to figure out something to make the Thanksgiving pillowcases fun for the kids. Of course I tried to find the cutest fabric I could, and then decided to embellish them a little. Some fabrics were okay on their own, and some just needed some help to be a little fun. I found some fabric markers that are guaranteed permanent, so I added some thanksgiving quips to some of them. I had fun making them all different and Grumpy had fun watching me be busy.



The five above went to Taya's family. It was fun to try and find fabrics I thought they would like. That is true of all the kids. I try to match up fabrics I find with the kids personalities and hope for a good result. Below are the ones that went to Tawna's, Jades, Summer and Stacie's families.




Along with all the cases, I wanted to make dresses for Lauren and Emmy. They are still little enough to love whatever I pick, so I made them new Sunday dresses to twirl around and around in. That's what my girls did when I made the kind with miles of ruffles at the bottom. They are really fun to get dizzy in. I got a fun video of Emmy doing just that. She was pretty dizzy when Kevin finally stepped in to stop her from falling over sideways.




I only have the pics I took of the dresses. I got some pics on my phone from Taya with the girls modeling for me, but I am not smart enough to get them from the phone to my computer. I will steal some from Taya's blog when she gets some on there.

I will be teaching a class this Wednesday to ladies in my ward who want to make some of the fun pillowcases for the holidays. It will be fun to get to know some of the sisters in our ward.

I love sewing for my family and with my family. Glad everyone liked their stuff and really glad to be able to do it. We love you all and miss you so very much!