Monday, March 25, 2013

Stitch Me Up Embroidery Hop

I was so excited when I heard that this hop was going to be all about embroidery! Embroidery is probably my favorite crafty thing to do. I love it.
I had a dozen ideas for all of the lovely patterns we were given, but sadly I was only able to get one project done in time for this hop. 
Before I share my project, I want to say a big THANKYOU to Madamme Sam at SEW WE QUILT and our cheerleader for this hop, Jane from JANES FABRICS. This was so much fun!

And here is the list of the others sharing my day!



Isabel @That Other Blog
Jeanette @That Other Blog

And, so now to my project! I have a coat I got last year that I really like, as far as style goes. Well, it needed some work because bits and pieces keep loosening and falling apart and also, it's plain old black. Or at least, it WAS. Take a look now:























Here's a close-up of the flower:























And, a little collage to finish up: 






















To be honest, I had so much trouble getting this flower onto the hood (nothing that had to do with the pattern, most my own errors and not having a transfer pen that would work on the black fabric) but I persevered and thanks to my Mom for telling me I should finish this and not give up; I worked through my frustrations and LOVE IT! I even have other plans to continue embellishing the coat! 

Snow and Painting

Friday was a big day for us! We woke up to SNOW and lots of it! It was so much fun! We went to the park and played and met some new friends! What a fun surprise at the end of March! This is more snow than we got all winter!!!






















And by afternoon/evening it was almost completely gone, thanks to a beautifully sunny day. My MOPS group had a mommy date planned at Embellished, a painting studio in Edmonds. It was so much fun! They have an instructor who walks you through the chosen painting and by the time you leave, you have a finished product THAT YOU MADE YOURSELF! I had so much fun!






















My finished picture:

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Stitch Me Up Blog Hop

Oh my goodness, it has already started!!!! I need to go catch up on all the wonderful projects.....and finish mine. EEEK! My day is Tuesday and I haven't finished yet! This is the first hop I have procrastinated so badly on (which, is actually amazing for me!)

ANYWAY----check out our CheerLeader, Jane's page and Madamme Sam's page to see each day's lists, top three and more!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Nancy Drew Blog Hop!

Yay, it is my day to share my projects for the Nancy Drew Is A Clue blog hop! So excited! A huge thank you to Madamme Sam and Carol for a fabulous hop! This has been so much fun!


Here's the schedule for today! You can also see my previous post for the schedule for the entire hop! Lots of fun creativity and projects to be seen!

***Re-edited to give proper list***

So, now for my projects. My original plan was to make a cover for my ironing board and then go from there and see what I came up with...I ended up with three different projects and still have a bit of fabric left over! I will show you the picture of all three first and then share a bit about each one:






















So, I covered the ironing board and it was so fast and so simple! I got the pattern out of my One Yard Wonders book and it only ended up taking about 1/2 yard of fabric so I had lots more to use! It is so much fun to iron on a board I actually LIKE, instead of the blah fabric that originally covered the board. When I finally get a full-sized ironing board, I am going to have to cover it too!


For my second project, I knew I wanted to use more of the book spine fabric since I had so much left over and I had just been to the library and realized I didn't have a good, roomy bag to bring home all of our books (and since we're using the library for most of our homeschooling books right now, that means we come home with lots!). So, I set to work to make a book bag (a very popular and appropriate project choice for this blog hop!). I made up the pattern myself, measuring the very biggest library book we had and making sure to make the bag extra big and roomy to accommodate just about any book we could find. Then I decided I only wanted the book spine fabric on one side, so I scoured Pinterest for ideas and came up with a "book shelf" idea. I fuse-appliqued rectangles of solid fabrics into the placement I wanted on natural colored linen, embroidered the words and shelf and used selvages to make the titles on the books-----notice the one in the middle is "Get A Clue With Nancy Drew" !!!! I added a pocket from one of my favorite pairs of pants to the book spine side, lined it with denim, left the seams out but pinked on the inside of the bag and made the handles out of the magnifying glass fabrics! I have already used it a couple of times and it is exactly what I wanted and I love it! 























I made a collage of the last few bag photos to take up less space.....If you can't read the quote, it is one I made up and says "BOOKS...are a wealth of knowledge that can take you anywhere you want to go". It's my own handwriting too, which is fun.












When I finished with the bag, I saw that I still had quite a bit of fabric left over and so I made the rest (minus a bit, like I said I still have some!) into a small lap quilt. My kids love this quilt and can't wait for me to finish it so they can snuggle under it! It will be a good size for them!

















I enjoyed this project and am now diving back into the literary world of Nancy Drew because of it. The books are so much fun! Have not read them since I was a teenager!

Friday, March 08, 2013

FMF: Home

I have not participated in Five Minute Friday lately. I'm not sure why, or if it has been the same reason each week.

Anyway, I thought I would join in this week as I am not quite ready for bed....

So, this week's word is Home. Let's go---

Home. The word brings an image to mind of a white manufactured house with brown trim, sitting on a hill, with a giant big-leaf maple in front of it and a forest of towering cedars and firs behind. It is the apple trees lining the drive way and the many "forts" hiding everywhere, waiting for a new generation to discover them. It is a happily tumbling creek and a broken down tree house that has seen better days. It is the faces of my parents, looking out the sliding down with obvious pleasure at our arrival.
It's the new things...like the little mail box waiting for my children each time. It's the garage holding boxes of my childhood treasures in it. It's the trips back into "Cedar Park" with my children.
That is the place that will always have first place as "home" to me.
Home also brings up longing for a home of my own, a house with land and memories for my children to make. It is fighting desperately to be content with the apartment we live in and not drown in the sea of wishes for the future.
Home is family and love and hugs and kisses from the kids who love me unconditionally still and who I love deeply, even when their creativity and curiosity turns into destructiveness. 

Home is where love is. And I have so much of it surrounding me.

Five Minute Fridays is a wonderful community of writers. Look here to find the others.

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Nancy Drew Blog Hop Schedule!


THE SCHEDULE

We've been waiting since November 2012 to see all the creative projects done with the fun Get A Clue With Nancy Drew fabrics from MODA. I am looking forward to seeing what every one has made, and getting to share my projects (yes, projectS!) with you on my day, Wednesday, March 13th!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 

Thursday, March 7, 2013 

Friday, March 8, 2013 

Monday, March 11, 2013 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013 

Thursday, March 14, 2013 

Friday, March 15, 2013