More Rainy Day Sewing

After another week of wet weather, I am beginning to feel like the rest of the snowbound stitchers out there.  The rains have been great and the weeds are busy growing and multiplying outside.  Meanwhile, I have avoided the garden gloves and weed puller and played with some fabrics and thread instead.

The weather has certainly made my temperature quilt more exciting.  The greens and yellows - cooler colors - have been prevalent for much of the month of March.  I can't believe how quickly the year's blocks are growing.

I even had one day where the temperature did not vary more than the three degrees within the color range for the whole day.  The high was 60* and the low was 57*.

Each month Michele and Sherri host the Minis and More Parade on the first day of the month.  A selected pattern is chosen to stitch up for that month and it is always so much fun to see the same pattern sewn in different fabrics and colors.  This month's design was Mini Painted Ladies.  I used some Kaffe Fasset charms for mine.  Instead of a rectangle, I made mine into a square so it can be used as a table topper instead.  This would be a great full sized quilt.

Although I am terrible at remembering to wear an apron, I had a request from my niece for a "retro" apron.  I can remember my grandmother wearing pretty aprons and this reminded me of her.  The bib is removable and reversible.

While looking for something completely different, I came across a cross stitched collar that I made years ago for our daughter for Easter.  I found some great fabric in my stash and made a dress to go with it and gave them to my daughter for one of her girls.  Pardon the dark photos, but it was a gloomy day.

Continuing along the Easter theme here, I recently saw a wonderful paper pieced pattern on IG.  I sewed up one as a gift for a dear friend and then had to make one for our home too.  The piece is title Good Friday and is by Paper Panache.

Our son and his family are coming for Easter so computer time will be lacking.  I wish everyone a blessed Easter.

Linking up with Midweek Makers and Freemotion by the River.

Time is Flying

Wow...where did the last week and a half go?  Life has been a bit busy here as I try to slip in a few bits of fun sewing in the quieter times.

We had three little ones for part of the week while Daddy and Mommy went to Northern CA for Daddy's big Sommalier test.  He passed...yeah.

So Grandma and Grandpa took three little ones to the L.A. Zoo.  What a fun day!  They had the sweet little chimp.  She had a little pink "Blankie" that she would wrap around herself and suck her thumb...soooo cute.

I love how the displays are low for the little ones to enjoy.

This little one did not think the linens belonged IN the drawers.  I guess they look better on the floor.

There was one day to clean and do laundry before our #4 son and his family arrive for the weekend.  Then next Monday and Tuesday we have #2 son's children while Mommy is in her nursing classes and Daddy is off to Washington DC and New York as a chaperon for the 8th grade class.  Unfortunately, the White House is closed as well as the Statue of Liberty.  Guess it's the wrong year for THAT trip.

I did manage to get two more Easter outfits made for the girls.

Two of our sons opened their newest restaurant this week so we had the opportunity to attend the VIP opening.  I love the decor and colors.  These pictures were taken as they were doing the final paint touch ups.

My mug rug arrived from Sunny this week as well.  I love the springtime look to it.  Nothing says spring like bright and cheery blossoms.  It has been such a fun swap with great swap partners.  I really hate to see the year come to an end.

My other big adventure was my first visit to Ikea.  OMGoodness......what a fun shopping adventure.  All I came out with was a small pillow, but I can't wait to go back.

Thanks for all of your votes on the Easter table runner.  I ended up donating the floral one and it sold in the silent auction for $245.  I was happy to see that.

I wish all of you who celebrate Easter a very blessed day.

A Bit More Sewing

The week has been rather quiet as we have tried to keep it unscheduled while waiting on the newest grandbaby.   It will be very busy next week as we watch two little ones while Mommy is in the hospital.  It looks as though she will make her scheduled C-section date on Monday. 

So....I have had some free time to do some sewing around here.  Other than mending that has been piling up, I worked on my next six blocks of the N.Y. Beauty quiltalong.  The blocks seem to come quickly so I am still two blocks behind and now the new set is here too.   The hardest part is selecting the colors of the batiks.  It is definitely scrappy and all from my stash. 

I sewed a skirt for one of the granddaughters who has a birthday on Easter Sunday and then had some extra fabrics so I made a small tote for her as well. 

I finished the little Easter dress off with a hat and bloomers.  I hope she will keep the hat on as she was having quite the fun removing it when I tried it on her.  Hmmm.

The hummingbirds have returned from their migration and I think they brought all of their friends.  I am finding that I have to fill the feeders twice a day around here.  I may need to get a job just to support the birds!!!

The yard is all in bloom with the nicer weather we have been enjoying.  The iris are blooming in my iris garden and they look so pretty.  It is interesting to see that they bloom in colors.  Right now the purples are out and then the yellows and pinks will bloom later.

I mailed off my mug rug to my birthday partner in The Year of Mug Rug Swap.  Her birthday is in April. 

Other than that, the week has been quiet and enjoyable with little ones stopping in for visits.

I'm wishing all of those who celebrate,  a blessed Easter.

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all.  I think we all have a bit of the Irish in us as we enjoy the corned beef and cabbage.  Right?  I am actually about 25% Irish so I am allowed to celebrate the day.  I'll be wearing the green so I don't get pinched.

I've been having fun with Sunkissed this week.  I love this fabric line and find it perfect for spring and Easter.  I figured a little Easter dress would look great done in it.  My grandmother used to always say, "What ye sew on Sunday so shall ye rip on Monday."  This statement kept running through my mind as I ripped and ripped and ripped.  It was just one of those days.  Grrrr.  Monday was much better and I was able to finish the dress, pinafore and bloomers to cover the diapers.

The final instructions for the Cathedral Window pillow came out today and I couldn't wait to get it finished.  Thank you, Melissa, for a great project for this quiltalong.  I really enjoyed doing it and love the way it came out.

The strawberries are in and we have been enjoying strawberry shortcake this week.  Would you look at the size of the strawberries.  They are ever so sweet too.

It seems like I find myself rushing around way more than I should, but why is it that when you really need to get somewhere on time you have a vehicle in front of you going five miles an hour?  That was what happened to me today, but I kind of got a kick out of following this guy and wondering what life was like back when these were new.  I am sure it was a simpler time.   Yes, I was driving when I took the picture, but I could have been taking a nap at the speed we were going!!!!!

I hope everyone finds their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Wednesday What Nots

Can I even begin to tell you how happy I am that the elections are behind us?  I'll tell you that I was ready to rip the phone out of the wall by the time yesterday arrived.  We had nine solicitation phone calls on Monday alone.  If you don't answer them, they fill the answering machine up with their messages.  Grrr.  Of course they are all recorded messages so there is NO WAY to tell them not to call again.   Do they think I have nothing else to do all day but answer the phone?  I think we are now clear until November.  Right?

All of this was happening as I was trying to clean the freezer.  It had been making some strange noises for the last month and I was pretty sure that it was about to go out on us.  We decided to replace it before it officially died.  I mean, really, it was ONLY 39 years old!!!!!  Think it was about time?  My mother keeps tells me that hers is 53 so she doesn't know what is wrong with mine.  I expect to be taking a vacation with all the money they profess we will save by updating it.  I'll let you know where we go....Paris, Rome...watch out!

Over the weekend we took a drive and came upon the most gorgeous fields of gladiolus.  I know that my pictures are not very clear because we were driving at the time, but trust me, they were gorgeous.  It was just rolling hillsides of color.  Our area grows many different types of flowers for seeds, bulbs, plants and all else so I am fairly sure that was the purpose of these.  How I would have loved to have access to go in and pick a big bouquet.

Are any of you familiar with Flat People?  The schoolchildren here make a flat person in third grade and send it off to some distant place for it to enjoy an exciting stay.  Whoever receives the flat person will take pictures of it enjoying it's stay and return the pictures back to the children.  It is always so much fun to see the flat person return to the class and it is such a wonderful way for the children to learn about places other than their home.  This week I met a fellow blogger, Nerine, who lives in Tasmania and has made a flat person.  She is a very talented artist.  I simply commented that it would be fun to send her off  on a big journey.  Well.....guess what!!!  She is starting a blogging journey that will hopefully take her to exciting and new places.  The flat doll is starting her journey and is currently making her way to California - my house to be exact.  I will keep her for two weeks and then she will be off to somewhere else.  Please go read all about it on Nerine's blog and then come back and let me know if you would like to be put in the drawing for her next stay.  This should be really fun and will perhaps educate all of us as we follow her journey.

Is everyone playing along on the Bingo Blog?  It is such a fun event that happens twice a year through the Quilt Shoppe.  Although I don't have many words crossed off yet, I did manage to win a set of fat quarters in the daily drawings.  They arrived this week and are absolutely gorgeous. 

With school out for the grandchildren we will be starting up our sewing sessions.  The girls are always so excited about trying different patterns and I now have some new patterns for them to check out thanks to Ravelly.  She had sorted through some of her patterns and asked if anyone would be interested in them.  I jumped at the idea and they arrived this week too.

Since several of you were interested in how I made the flowers, I am in the process of making up a tutorial on how to make them.  I  made a few more this week and they are becoming very addictive so consider yourself warned.

Melissa is having a contest involving items you make with trimmings.  I decided to enter the Easter dresses that I made for some of the granddaughters.  The jackets are actually white sweatshirts that I trimmed with flowers made from the fabric I used in the dresses as well as some complimentary fabrics.  As well I used ric rac, buttons and lace.  They love wearing matching dresses and it is not always easy to find dresses that come in all the sizes.

I will get my tutorial finished up and will then post it so you can start making your bouquets.  Until then....enjoy life!