Snow, snow, snow

I finally have the Christmas decorations all packed up and

we just have to take them up to the attic. I weened

a few items out to give to Goodwill and I have discovered

how hard it is to part with some of this stuff. I guess I

have a lot of "memories" with these decorations and I

don't want to discard them, but it is time

and some of my decorations were getting a little ratty. Those were

put in the trash. Next year I'll probably be ready to

add new decorations to my stash! Shhh! Don't tell

my dear husband! :)

Happy 2010!

Photographer: Francesco Marino freedigitalphotos.net

Hope you have a great New Year's day!

We will be eating turkey with stuffing.

Also some "horsey duvers", shrimp

and smokey bacon wrapped beef sausages.

I might even make another kind if I can

get up out of my very comfy chair

and away from the computer. :)

This morning I started making Liz's bridal

makeup bag. I am using the same design

that I used for Diane's bridal pouch. I don't

have another butterfly but I will be using a

lacy flower for the center piece.

JoAnn Fabrics doesn't really carry any

bridal appliques any more. I was very disappointed

in their selections when I was there last. If I keep

making these bridal pouches I will have to find another

source for some small pretty appliques.

It won't be long until the wedding

and I can't wait.

We've been getting a lot of snow today, not as much

as other areas in the country of course.

We've been very lucky with our lack of snow fall

so far this year. But we are getting caught up today.

The fuzziness of the photo is the snow falling down

rather quickly.

I love how the street gets very quiet when we have  a good

snowfall. It really is so peaceful. Of course, I'd feel

differently if I had to go out in the snow today!

What?

What?

Isn't this chair called a lounger?

It doesn't have your name on it,

so I'm lounging!

Well, I said I was busy!!!

In my last post I did say I was busy, and busy I was. Trying to get things done

 for Christmas and working wore me out. I didn't do any sewing for about a month, or at least it seemed

like it.

I did make some snowmen candy bar wrappers for the women at work.

They were a big hit and I had a fantastic time making them. I believe they were designed by Laurie Furnell. You can find her here.

I used gloves for a few and then made some hats from some wool felt I had here at the house.

One of the ladies at work wants me to design a bridal candy

bar wrapper for her. I told her I'm not a designer but I

can follow directions! LOL!

I did spend today "designing" a bridal pouch for her to give

to her niece. I used some satin fabric I had leftover from

Nancy's wedding. I made about 10 1/4 inch  pleats and

then stitched them about 1 inch apart going in different directions.

Then I attached a butterfly appllique from my stash.

I then decided to use some blue satin to line the bag.

It still wasn't fancy enough for me so I added some heart

shaped beads and silver chain to the zipper.

Finally!

 Done, and if I don't say so myself, Pretty darn good too! :)

Busy.........

Ever have the feeling that you are getting nowhere? I have so much to do

and I can't seem to get anything done. And my list keeps growing. Luckily I

have two days off in a row this weekend, which doesn't happen very often.

I'm hoping I get some of the stuff done that I need done, but I'm afraid

I'll be so tired from work that I'll just rest the whole time. I need to clone myself to get some of this

stuff done! :)

                         Today I was able to work on the pouch for the bride that

I'm designing. I took a piece of white satin and marked

every inch both on the top and the bottom. Then

folded the fabric on that line and stitched a

fold for each mark. I followed the folds with the edge

of the presser foot. The folds were

about 1/4 inch wide. This makes the fabric much smaller

than what you start out with. I didn't measure correctly

and ended up with a piece of fabric smaller than

what I wanted.

Then I decided to stitch a line of stitching folding the rows of folded

fabric all in one direction and the next row in the other

direction, stitching every inch.

What you end up with is a very cool piece of textured fabric that I just

love.

I'm not sure why I have that pink discoloration on my photo,

it may have been my lighting at the sewing table.

Sorry about that.

I then had to figure out how to make the small fabricated piece

of fabric fit my pattern piece. I decided to add a piece of plain

satin to one side. I covered the resulting seam with a piece of

beaded lace that I had in my scrap box.

This is what I ended up with,

a bag that is not lined yet and doesn't have any batting in it. I'm not

sure if I will use batting on the lining or just add the lining to it.

Of course, I shouldn't tell you this but the lace

is covering up a watermark that I made when I

wet the piece to get out the blue marking pen

I used to mark every inch for the folds.

For a first try its not too bad. Now I know that I need

to start out with a larger piece of fabric and I need to plan

where the seams will be going. I also need to not use any

water to get rid of markings. I think I better go to JoAnn's and

buy some more satin, and lace!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Much eating is planned for today.

Breakfast with friends

and

dinner with family.
Hope you all have a
great Thanksgiving day.

Busy making pouches!

Pouches, pouches, pouches!

I started making pouches a few years ago when they were all

the rage on blogs and on Flickr! I started by making the pouch made

from yellow plastic measuring tapes. It was quite trial and error! Mostly error!

They are not very well made but making them taught me a lot.

I learned to have several backup needles ready and waiting. I also learned to have lots of measuring tapes ready to be cut up. I'm sure the manager of the sewing dept. at Walmart was wondering why all her measuring tapes were disappearing so quickly! :) It was also a quick lesson on how hard it is to hand sew on such a non-flexible medium. I think I stabbed myself with the pins and needle a hundred times!

(Not really, just felt like it!)

Anyway, I gave one to my mom and kept the others to use in

my scrapbooking bag.

Now I have graduated to making pouches for makeup, coins, crayons

or anything you want.

I made a bag for the 3 year old grandson of a friend of mine, one to hold crayons and

the other to hold some of his many Matchbox type cars.

 

 Now she says she just has to teach him to put his

stuff in the pouch instead of all over the floor.

I love using bright and happy linings for these bags.

The latest bag I'm working on is a pouch for the daughter of a co-worker,

she asked for a red and blue pouch. 

I found this small print in my stash, wishing I had lots more of it. It had been hiding for quite awhile in there waiting for just the right moment to pop out and be used. If I had more I would definitely use it in my baby quilts and some of the patriotic projects I have planned.

The next pouch I'm trying to design is for another co-worker. She has asked

me to make one for a bride, to keep all the little things a bride might need on the day of the wedding. Such as needle and thread, nail polish, safety pins,etc.

Not a good photo but this satin is what I already have in my stash. I also had this 10 inch remnant of trim. Lots of pleats and double stitching are some of my ideas, along with some hand sewn pearl beading. I also need to get to JoAnn's to see if they still carry some blue satin I can use as a lining.

I can't wait to get to work on it! :)

New curtain for a new home

My #2 son has good taste. He and his fiance bought

a house built about 100 years ago. It had been fixed up

and redecorated and was in "move in" condition.

It is just beautiful.

They decided they are not "lace" people and

wanted a new curtain on their front door to replace the one the

previous owner had left hanging.

(I don't have a before photo.)

I went shopping with #2 son and he was quite frustrated

that he couldn't just go and buy what he wanted ready made.

I had to laugh at that, he had no idea how hard it is to get

good quality curtains at a reasonable price.

He found a panel he liked at JCPennys and I told him I could

make a curtain out of it to fit his window.

Then when I was discussing measurements with him

there was quite a discussion on the amount of

ease of fullness he wanted in the panel.

Oh, my, you would have thought we

were discussing the new health bill!

Many ideas between #2 son and #1fiance

were bandied about, until I had to jump in and

get a compromise measurement.

 My #2son told me I had to get it "Just right!"

So I was under a lot of pressure to do well, he left his

two supervisors watching me to make sure I did it correctly.

I think they were pleased.

 

Both #2son and #1fiance were pleased with the finished product!

 

Cold day on the lake

I went to the park on my day off

to get some fresh air. Fresh air I got.

Cold, and windy! Look at that flag!

I ate my lunch in the car, too cold to

eat in the gazebo.

I tried to take some good photos with my

little camera. I'm not my #2son, who can take

fantastic photos.