Adding to the stash

* if you are looking for the Large Quilt Block book giveaway, check out this post *

Just over a week ago, we packed up the truck and took a road trip to Bird-In-Hand, PA.  My husband had a few things to get for the farm and corn planting.  Punk had Spring Break for school so she and I tagged along.

We spent a very nice few days in Bird-In-Hand and just hung out.  We toured a small pretzel factory.  Went to tour Turkey Hill and got free ice cream out of that deal.  Swam our cares away in the 2 indoor pools.  It was family time at its best.

What I did was spend some money and brought home some cotton goodness.

I went with a very detailed list.  There were a few things I was determined to find.  Couple things I did, others were a bust.  Ah.  Just gives me an excuse to shop online.

Charms packs, big and small.  If you can't see the minis, those are "Aspen Frost".  I had a generic catagory on my list called "mini charms".  These fit that bill. 

A few patterns.  "Flirt" was on my list and I'm happy I found it.  I bought all the yardage to make this wallhanging a few months ago but never got around to buying the patten.  Now there is no excuses on my part.  I just have to find that yardage I bought.  It's hiding in my sewing room somewhere..... Dilly Dally jumped into my hands; as did Winter White. I think Marmalade will be Dilly Dally and Odds and Ends - Winter White.  That is my thought right now.

This Riley Blake yardage is strictly stash.  I just liked it so I bought a few 1/2 yard cuts from the line.

The neutral peeking in is for a memory quilt and I need to get started on for my Grandmother. 

The rest?  Pillowcases.  The farm themed yardage (the cows) is Punkie's contribution to my shopping.  She and Daddy, according to her, needed farm pillowcases.  I did not get any yardage for myself since there is a farm line that came out earlier this month that I adore and I will make my pillowcase out of it when I buy some.

All the pillowcase fabrics have been washed and now are in waiting.  I hope to get a few done on Friday.  Again, work has been busy and the weather has finally changed to Spring so we've been working outside on our landscaping.  No sewing here.

Hope all is well where you are!

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Hello? It's me.

Sorry to have been so quiet on the blog front.  You know the old story; life gets busy.  Work is crazy.  Blah, blah, blah.  With all that going on in my family life, no sewing happening.  I did take some time to work on 2 more barn blocks for my little wallhanging that I'm doing but decided that I will show you my completed (but not quilted) progress of a filmsy top.  So you will have to wait a little longer for any sewing progress pics.

What else?  Oh.  I have 3 personalized pillows to get done for next weekend so Punk is going to my Mom's for the weekend this week to give me some quiet sewing time.  She's looking forward to the sleep over and I'm looking forward to a whole Saturday of nothing but sewing.  I had planned on tearing apart my closet and Punk's linen closet but those boring chores can wait.  I want to sew.  That is my priority.

Did everyone have a nice Easter?  We sure did.  Eat too much but had a great day.  My husband made it out of hiding too.  He was down and out for 4 days last week with a terrible head cold.  For him to spend almost 2 days in the house, in bed?  He must have really felt lousy.  Between work and caring for Punk, I played nursemaid to my whining husband.  I'm glad he is feeling better though.  Double glad that I'm not sick nor Amelia.  We can do without it, thanks.

Remodel update?  Ummm.  Since my husband was ill, nothing progressed there.  Walls are painted in the dining room.  Our new dining room lighting was put up (my husband did it in between feeling better and not feeling better).  Flooring is still not in.  Fingers crossed that he finds time this month to do it.  I'm really hoping he will.  I'm tired of looking (and walking on) the sub-floor when I know my beautiful hardwood flooring is in the garage.  Our new back deck is staked out.  Maybe by the end of the summer that will be put in.  I need to clone my husband.  I hate to push him to get these projects done because I know he is busy.  But it would make me feel so much better to get my house in order the proper way and just be DONE with it all!

And that is that.  You have a run-down of everything that has been going on the last few weeks.

I should have something sew-y goodness to show you this weekend.  I have to dig in my stash for some fabrics for some upcoming fun but you'll have to wait to hear more about that.  ;)

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Sledding Fun

Did everyone have a nice Christmas?  We sure did.  I took this week off and we've been spending it at home.  Chilling out and just having family time.  I have been doing some sewing too and hopefully in a day or two, I will have the last of my Christmas gifts done so that I can show you.

We got our first big snow for the season and first good snow fall in a year.  We grabbed the sled and headed over to our local park which has some good hills and had some snow fun.

I was the official picture taker.  No getting wet and cold for me but my husband is a good sport.  We all had fun.

I have a bunch more pictures from our hour or so of fun but you get the idea.  :)

Enjoy!
Jen  :)

Candy, candy everywhere!

Tis the season!  Time for gingerbread house decorating 2012.  For reasons that I can't remember, we didn't decorate a house last year.  But made a point to do one this year.  We gather at my aunt's house and get to work. 

We all take the easy way out.  Buy pre-assembled houses that come with the icing all done (no messy mixing needed!).  All that is needed is (extra) candy and a willing person to get messy.  We tried the house kits one year that come baked but not put together.  Yah.  Pain in the butt.  These are better. And while it's not "home baked"; who cares??  The kids want the candy, not the cookie house.  At least my kid is that way.

Here's most of the extra candy that we all donated to the gingerbread cause:

Hmmm, looks like I missed the OTHER end of the table because there was a lot more than that!

I wasn't sure how Punk was going to be.  In the past, she showed no interested or very limited interest in the house.  This year, she and I planned our decorating strategy.  What we wanted for a roof.  What other things she wanted to see on our house.  She wanted a chimney and we bought candy to make a chimney but we both forgot about it.  I took her to Walmart and spent a MINT on candy.  The cashier probably thought I was a bit late for Halloween for all the candy I bought.  LOL!  It's okay. We all shared.  She surprised me and was very excited to decorate and actually sat there with me and decorated.

Okay.  On with the show.

Here is Josh's house.  He is going to be a big brother TOMORROW!  I'm so excited!

he kept giving me "bug eyes" with his smile.  LOL!

And some of the others.  There were 2 other little boys there and then my 2 cousins and my aunt who all decorated a house.  Amelia and I shared one.  Next year, I will make my own.

And our creation:

Punk is eating a candy cane

By the time we were done, there was no rhyme or reason to the candy placement.  We just stuck it all on there.  Amelia and I added a candy sleigh to our side yard and everybody else followed suit.  It far from perfection but it was envisioned by my little girl and that's all that matters. 

We had a great time and hope to remember to make time and decorate again next year.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Baby Gifts - Round 1

I have 17 more days before the new baby of the family will be making his birthday debut.  I have been scrambling to get baby things made for my cousin to use with him.  My problem is this: I keep ADDING to my list!

I need to stay off Pinterest. 

Seriously.

It is toooo addicting.  Too much eye candy.  Too much of "ooooo!  I can make THAT!"

Instead of waiting for everything to be finished, here's what I've completed so far.

Bibs.  I found a very simple tutorial for the bib and I have 2 more in the works.  One patchworked and another with the waterproof PUL baby fabrics.  I should have modeled them on one of Punkie's dolls.

love the woodland animals



soft flannel for the back

 Next... burp cloths.  I think these are going to be the death of me.  I was a bit zealous and bought the 10 pack of cloth diapers instead of the 6 pack.

my favorite flannel in the bunch so far

And lastly, some flannel blankets.  Bigger than receiving blankets.  I have one more of them to finish.

On my Baby Gifts - Round 2 list are: last 2 bibs, finish up the burp cloths, 1 more blanket, a wipe holder and diaper clutch with changing mat and a soft fabric basket to hold some of this stuff.  Do you think I can do it in 17 days??  My cousin told me not to sweat it.  I asked her to hold him in a bit longer but she's really uncomforable (I remember that) and her c-section is all scheduled so I have no choice but to finish what I can and give the rest when Baby Boy #2 is here... the parents are still deciding on a name.  I gave them MY pick of names but they aren't biting.  Texas Ranger* (T.R. for short) was one of my picks.  *If you have seen the Will Ferrell movie "Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby", you will understand my "Texas Ranger" name reference.* 

Sadly, I have been calling the baby "T.R." since she found out she was having another boy.  I hope my bad habit will go away once he's actually HERE! 

Enjoy your day!
Jen  :)

In Baby Mode

Nooooo.  Not me.  My cousin, who is also a very close friend.  You could actually call her my best family friend.  Growing up, if there were family functions that we were attending, the question was always "Is Denise going?" "Is Jen going?".  We had a great time together growing up and now as adults, watching our kids grow up together.

Denise is expecting her 2nd baby - a boy - at the end of November.  Now that my sewing mojo has found its way home, my mind has been on overdrive, trying to figure out what to gift to this newest bundle of sweetness.

I found some fun tutorials online for bibs and dressing up those cloth diapers to use as burp cloths.  I bought some flannel and hoping to go to town on some baby sewing soon.  I'm going to make some whole cloth blankets.  I'm a slow piecer/sewer so making a quilt isn't in the cards.  I want cute, homemade but QUICK! 

Stay tuned.  I hope to have a little something to show you soon.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

All was not lost afterall

My husband.  He is a good man.  He kindly entertained Punkie for a good part of the weekend.  They mucked out the barn.  He took her to watch the corn get combined.  He took her to see the calves at a local farm.  He just spent some time with her.  In turn, I had time to sew!  Not as much as I wanted to do but I did get 2 out of the 3 projects on my list done.  I had a mini solo sew-a-thon. 

Happy girl here.

Those Christmas Pixie fairies panel?  I got them all done up.  Wanna see?

Isn't it CA-UUUUUUTE???  The tote pattern is the Tahoe Tote by Pink Sand Beach Designs.  I've had the pattern forever and never did anything with it.  I walked into my LQS last week and BAM!  There was their store sample, using the pattern and the pixie fairy fabric.  Oh yes.  I needed to make one.  Bonus that the pattern was already in my pattern stash.  I have 2 more fairies to do something with.  I may make them into throw pillows. 

Happy dance!  Got a new tote for the Christmas season.  I can't wait to use it!

Come back tomorrow to see the 2nd project I got finished. 

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Some exciting times here at home.  The Tooth Fairy came to visit for the very first time on Saturday night!  Amelia was talking to me and she abruptly stopped and got a very wide-eyed look.  She proceeds to tell me that her loose tooth was stuck behind her other tooth.  She pushed it out with her tongue and it fell out of her mouth.  LOL.  Let's just say I had a happy kid on my hands.  We called Daddy at work to tell him the good news and found an envelope to stick the tooth in for the Tooth Fairy.  I, during all this, was having a mild internal panic attack!  I don't normally have cash on hand.  I am very much tied to my debit card.  That is my life line.  I don't think Amelia would have liked an "IOU" from the Tooth Fairy since I was on my own until Chris came home from work the following morning!

The Gods smiled on me and I had $10.00 in my wallet.  A lone 10.  I didn't want to be cheezy and give her just 4 quarters (I always have change in the house).  I wanted it to be a special morning for her.  So her first tooth cost the Tooth Fairy 10 bucks. 

Lessoned learned: go to the bank and get a bunch of singles to have on hand for the next couple of years!!

I did explain to Punkie that while the Tooth Fairy was VERY generous with her first loose tooth, I didn't think that the trend would continue with the rest of her teeth.  The first loose tooth was special.  After that, the Tooth Fairy would probably be more practical and give only a couple of dollars for the rest of them.  She seemed to have accepted my explanation.

So I have an empty wallet but a very happy little girl.  I can live with that.  :)

Don't forget if you are interested and haven't commented yet... 500th post giveaway happening here.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Late for the party?

Or early?  I'm going with early.  One of my 2012 goals was to get the (2010) 12 Days of Christmas BOM from the FQS completed this year.  I only had the last block to piece and I got that done yesterday.  Next up is sashing the blocks and get it into a top.  But that will come in time.  I need to do a little shopping.  I went to the fabric store on Sunday morning and I looked at their red selection and nothing was quite right.  I think my option is to find some 12 Days or Flurry red online.

block 12

all 12

For some super Christmas cuddling, I'm thinking backing in flannel.  I know it's not much but it feels good to get part 1 of this WIP off my to do list.

We did end up spending an overnight at a hotel on Sunday (it was FREEZING outside).  We had a good time.  We took Amelia to the local aquarium for a while and then we spent some time in the hotel pool.  Would have been better if the pool water was about 10 degrees warmer but us adults survived.  :)  It was a nice mini getaway.

Last night we got some snow.  First big snow since October.  October we got knocked out by snow.  This morning?  Only 2 inches.  But it was enough to give Amelia a 90 minute school delay.  As I'm typing, she is outside enjoying the snow before school starts.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Candy Sleighs!

Ellyn posted some very cute candy sleighs that she made a few days back.  I put them in the file for "next year" and then, as always, I needed to make them NOW.  I made a list and hit Target on Saturday (finished my Christmas shopping, btw) and loaded up on chocolates and candy canes.  Amelia and I set to work last night and we finished what we could this afternoon.  We had enough mini Hersheys for 11 sleighs.  I have one lone one waiting in the wings.

I intend to buy more mini Hersheys (and Kit Kats) when I get back from my business trip to make more.  I have another whole box of candy canes to use.

Cute, huh?  We'll be giving them out to the little kids in the family and maybe some "big kids" too.

A little bit of sewing has been happening here.  I'm almost done with those coupon clutches but they will have to wait until I get back this weekend.  Unless I find some spare time to finish those up before I leave.

Enjoy the rest of your day!
Jen