Finished

But not quilted yet.  I just got the final border on my Sweet Pea top.  Love!

Pattern - Sweet Pea.  Fabric - Sanibel.  Both by Anka's Treasures

The colors just scream ME.  Seriously.  And I love it.  I'm talking myself into quilting this one myself.  Super simple like straight lines.  Nothing fancy.  I can't bare to mess up.  But for now, it will stay a flimsy until I find some backing for it.  I think I'm just going to get a brown of some sort.  Something that I can pick up locally.

Santa Sack Swap... ready to go!  Finally.  Slacker.  Now I have to get myself to the post office.  That will be tomorrow morning's chore.  Once Melissa gets the package and opens the ONE gift, I will show you the sack I made.

I have a few other things to show you but they aren't ready yet.  Amelia is away all weekend long.  She'll be back on Tuesday.  She's headed to NH with my in-laws for the holiday.  Which means that I have allll kinds of sewing time.  I have 4 more projects that are on my list that NEED TO GET DONE this weekend.

I'm going to be busy!
Enjoy your day!
Jen

Amelia's 4 Patch

Hello there!  Well, we are back from vacation and we had a great time!  Super.  The hotel was awesome with the indoor waterpark.  We did manage to get out and see some of Lake George.  I'll give you the highlights in pictures.

we took a steam powered paddle boat ride - The Minnie HaHa

Horse and Buggy Ride - that's Sunny

Played a round of mini golf.  Amelia's first time.  She loved it

Lake George

Amelia and Daddy

My future summer home.  HA!

We also rode go karts and did I mention the water park??  We had a blast and we will go back again next year.

Sewing is happening here but nothing is ready to show off.  I will show you Amelia's very first attempt at "real" sewing.  She picked out some fabrics and I cut them into squares and showed her how to do a 1/4" seam.  She did the sewing.  I did the pinning and pressing.  She's very proud of herself.  I am too!

She wanted to do some "fancy" stitches so I added a backing to it and let her have at it.

It's going to be a birthday present for her stuffed cat, Shitake.  This cat has a birthday every other month.  LOL!

I hope to have some projects of my own completed or semi-completed to show you soon.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Friday Night Sew In Results

One more row needed to be finished but I pooped out.  At least I got this far.  One more row and 2 borders and I can call this a completed top.  Very happy.

Pattern is Sweet Pea by Heather Mulder Peterson.  Fabric is Sanibel

I hope to get the last row done today.  We'll see how it goes.  We're getting ready to hit the road on Monday.  We're headed up to Lake George, NY for a few days.  Our "big" vacation for the year.  It's been a while since I've been there so I'm looking forward to the trip.  Amelia doesn't know.  She's clueless.  We're staying at a big hotel with an indoor waterpark.  I don't know how much of Lake George I'm actually going to see!  I think we'll be spending all our time at the water park.  So I'm busy picking up the house and getting laundry done, finishing packing... that sort of thing.  I may be a nut but I like to come home to a clean house.  So I need to bust out the vacuum and such.  Amelia will probably go run and hide before I give her any chores.

Have a great weekend!
Jen

Friday Night Sew In...

is happening this Friday, June 17th.  Head over to Crafty Vegas Mom to sign up if you're interested.

Enjoy what is left of Sunday!
Jen

Old Glory

Hello Friends.  How's things?  Things here are good.  I haven't been doing much in the sewing room, I'm afraid.  It's just been too dang HOT and I don't have AC in the room.  But I did get in there today for about an hour.  I got these two pillowcases done that I'm donated to Carol.  I'm happy that they are done and I'm not last minute with them.  Speaking of last minute, I still have to get my Santa sack made.  I only have 2 weeks to get it into the mail to my swap partner along with my first gift (that's all done) and I'm being really lazy about it.  I finally picked out the fabric for it so I'm a little ahead of the game.

Here are my pillowcases for Carol.

I have a feeling that I'll be making a variation for Amelia for her bed.  I REALLY like the flag with the white cuff.  I didn't think I would like it that much because the flag fabric is a bit busy but in a pillowcase?  Yup.  I like it.

We celebrated big yesterday.  My baby graduated Kindergarten.  She's now an unofficial 1st grader.  They had a very nice ceremony at the school last night.  Here are a few pictures.

pillowcase dress I bought off Etsy.  I love that Michael Miller fabric!

Amelia's teacher

Official Kindergarten Graduate!

Sigh.  Punkie is growing up way too fast.  I also have plans to make her another pillowcase dress.  I bought the fabric for it.  I just need to wash it and get it done.  I also have another summer dress to show you.  I hope to get Punk to model it next week when she is officially done with school (her last day is Monday).  Then it will be just Summertime fun!  This will be the first time I've been home with her for a whole summer.  It's going to be very interesting.  LOL!!

Have a great weekend!
Jen

7 things you don't know about me...

Michele at IslandLife Quilts awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thanks Michele!  Now I need to tell you 7 things about myself that you don't already know.  Hmmm, I'm not sure what to tell you and some of this may be a repeat but here goes...

My husband and I met on a blind-date.  Someone that I worked with (she is now my neighbor), her Dad and my now husband worked on the same firehouse crew once upon a time.  She told me that she had someone she would like me to meet.  I told her NO (Chris had NO IDEA he was being set up.  LOL!).  8 months later, I told her that I would be willing to meet him.  We had dinner, he tells me it was love at first sight and here we are, 9 years later.  Happy as clams.

Chris and I honeymooned 3 months before we got married.  Seriously.  We did.  We could not agree on a honeymoon destination.  I wanted something tropical, he didn't know what he wanted but he didn't want to hang out on the beach.  We both liked the idea of visiting Alaska.  So the Alaskan honeymoon was born.  BUT Alaska has a very short tourist window - Memorial Day to Labor Day.  And guess when we got married?  Labor Day weekend.  In order to visit Alaska and not put our honeymoon off, we went beforehand.  2 weeks in Alaska and it was heaven.  One week on land, one week at sea and it was perfect!  We even got bumped up to 1st class on our way to Alaska.  And a good thing we didn't put off the honeymoon because when we hit our 1st wedding anniversary, we had a week old baby girl!  We're quick movers.  ;)   LOL!

I don't like spaghetti.  Shaped pasta (elbows, ziti and the like) are okay.  Spaghetti?  Not so much.

I am a closet country music fan.  Shhh!  Don't tell!  I am a child of the big hair 80s and LOVED glam "heavy" metal music.  You know.... Poison, Def Leppard, Motley Crue (my #1) and have been to many concerts over the years.  But now?  Country is what I find myself listening to a lot more.  My 17 year old self just shuttered at the thought!  But who can resist a hunky cowboy like Toby Keith?!

At one point in my life I wanted to be a Kindergarten teacher.  For many years actually.  I thought how hard could it be?  Then I realized just how much schooling was involved and changed my mind.  I also don't like public speaking so talking in front of a class, even a class of 5 year olds, wasn't for me.

I also wanted to be a forensic scientist.  But alas, blood and guts are involved.  GROSS! 

And more to the fact above, I love watching "whodunit" shows and reading murder mysteries.  Law and Order, CSI, NCIS, Monk, Psych.... those kind of shows.  I can watch them all day long and since I've been home, out of job... that's what I've been doing.  I can solve any crime out there now!

So there you go.  7 things you didn't know about me.

I would love to hear random things about you!  Won't you tell us?

Have a great weekend!
Jen

Sweet Pea

Hello!  How is everyone?  Things are moving along over here.  I've been working on a lap quilt for myself.  I just love Heather Mulder Peterson's fabrics.  The colors and designs on her fabrics just suit me.  When I saw the pattern Sweet Pea and the fabrics used on the cover, I knew I needed it all.

Then I packed it away for a "someday I'll work on it" project.  Well, that some day is this week.  I busted it out and did all my cutting last week.  Now I'm putting blocks together has they are laid out on the pattern cover.

Opps!  Missed one there.

So that's what I've been up to on the sewing front.

Over the holiday weekend, my husband and I went away for overnight stay at a B&B in New Hampshire.  It was nice to get away, just he and I.  Of course he indulged me with some fabric shopping while I let him stop a few times to look at rusty old steel (tractors and construction equipment) so it was a win-win for both of us.

First place we stopped at was New England Fabrics in Keene, NH.  They have garment fabric, home dec and upholstery fabrics and quilitng.  Friendly employees as well.  Not a whole lot of quilting fabric but I did find some things that came home with me.  And I forgot to check their clearance section!

I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do with the fabric and now that I'm home, I wished I bought enough yardage of the Michael Miller flowered fabric (the dark gray) for pillowcases.  SHOOT!  I'll just have to hunt it down online.

On our way home on Sunday, we stopped at another shop.  The Norton House in Wilmington, VT.  A "Quilter's Paradise" it is not.  I was disappointed in that shop.  One being the fabric selection; I did find some nice patriotic fabric that I could use for something.  The other thing was the customer service or lack there of.  I walked in and saw two employees.  One sitting at a desk in an office but with the door open.  Another straightening shelves.  BOTH of them made eye contact with me more than once and neither one of them greeted me or asked if they can help me find a particular fabric.  I walked back to the patriotic fabric that I spotted and went to grab the bolts but I told my husband "forget it.  No one has even greeted me.  I'm not spending my money here." And we left.  Bummed me out because then I could have spent a bit more money at the store in New Hampshire!

The hot and muggy weather has left us for a while.  Today is cool, breezy and just awesome outside.  I may just have to go out there and enjoy it!

Have a great day!
Jen