On My Mind...

Shared scraps...

MONTHS ago, Jennifer at Cozy as Spring had a give away for fabric scraps and I WON! I was so excited!  When I received the fabric in the mail I was even more excited...it wasn't small scraps, there was some good size pieces of fabric in the bag.

The fabric sat and sat.  I didn't want to cut it, I didn't know what I wanted to do with it...then I decided...

Log cabin quilt block for an envelope pillow...two of them live on our couch very happy and I still have a pile of scraps :)  Hopefully they won't lay around as long before I decide what to use them on.  I'm loving the patchwork pillow on her blog today!

Jennifer thanks so much for the fabric! 

**pattern for envelope pillow with log cabin front found here

Snippets of what we have been up to...

• best smoothie - spinach, blueberries, strawberries, agave nectar, flax seed, oj, and some grape juice - will have your 4 year old asking for more as long as you keep the spinach hidden
• why have underwear on the table?? - to accurately draw superman of course!
• flower bows...found all over the blogs - so quick and fun to make
• sprouts grown on the counter - stir frys, on bagels, in sandwiches...
• more snow and ice!
• I try to remember the feeling of seeing snow when I was young and trying to be a fun mom even if it is cold outside...I'm much more fun in 120 degree weather
• groundhog day
• eating snow ice cream with snow that we froze - Tanner was way more impressed with the idea of making it than actually eating it 

• Chinese checkers with a big sister
• beautiful bird out back that I need to figure out what it is
• heart garlands...seriously addictive...they look great everywhere!
• nothing better than a good book..."If you give a..."
• something about the sound and smell of dinner in the pressure cooker...good childhood memories
• a little something I have been working on...I'm loving having my sewing machine out where I can use it anytime I have a few minutes!
• mousetrap...don't understand the playing of it, but it sure is cool to play with!
• everyone at the table working on Valentine's...she's got her own way of spicing everything up...joined people holding hearts, modge podge tissue paper...amazing girl with creativity
• heart garland...I told you it was addictive!

Quilt in the works...

I have been reading As Cozy as Spring for awhile now.  I love her pictures, I love when she writes about knitting, homeschool, sewing...all the things I read about.  When I started noticing her quilting posts, I had to e-mail her for some more info which she quickly e-mailed back a list of links to only build my interest more...another hobby is just what I am always in the market for - just ask my honey!

I have always had a love of quilts, I have 2 grandmas and a grandpa that quilt.  I have stacks of quilts in my closets.  I had one problem...I could not sew!

This year I have been working on teaching myself to sew and I am getting better with help :)  I have sewn some bags, a couple skirts which I LOVE, and with all the pretty pictures over at As Cozy As Spring, I have started a quilt.  Since I won the snippets today :) I felt like I should post my progress on my very first quilt...

This is not my Grandma's sewing...

Emily made the apron in an hour since our aprons are Christmas fabric!  She did such a great job...I would like one now! 

Bet you wouldn't find my Grandma sewing with laptop beside her...whatever it takes to learn since we can't have Grandma sitting with us to teach us everything she knows.

Sewing adventures

I am loving sewing - and I just keep telling myself the more I do it, the better I will get  :)

 

this little bag came from this site - i'm sure for people who really sew it will go much faster...this is the second go around...both the 1st and 2nd attempts are in the playroom for the kids :) my 3rd attempt will be a keeper though!  I just thought the bag was too cute to not figure out how to make it - this one I did with an old sheet...thanks Jenny :)

 

 

The skirt is for me!  I just need it to stay warm - I've decided maybe I am a warm weather skirt girl

The second skirt I made from the same pattern, I just made it longer and in a knit material...love it!  It took me two hours...not to shabby for someone who is still struggling to learn to sew...

The patterns for the skirt come from this book... the book is well worth the under $20 I spent - I can make skirts any size, length, you name it...too cool!

**Really this post is for you Leslie, so you can see my skirt...and I think you should whip up some bags like the one above for your girls, some friends...in your spare time of course :)

Easiest handmade gift...EVER!

I was going back through pictures and found this one...

I made a corn bag for one of my kiddo's mama after she was in a car accident.  I just used some cute scrap fabric, made an inner bag and filled it with feed corn, made an outer pillowcase for it out of even cuter fabric and voile...easiest handmade gift ever!  Seriously took me maybe about 30 minutes!

 

The Making of a skirt...in progress...

These are the fabrics I picked out to make 2 skirts for me.  The polka dots is for a pocket on the  squashed circle fabric . I love it!

 

If you sew and you are looking at my pattern thinking "uh I think that has too much curve to it"...you are right!  Wish you were here in my dining room helping me rather than laughing at my pattern...the fun of learning to sew on your own...with a book.  Maybe in my mind I am way curvier than in real life  :)

 

This book is too cool!

The Emily Hat...and other things going on...

A start to a new year has brought me to finally be going good on Emily's hat!  The hat was supposed to be a Christmas gift...didn't happen!  Emily's mind works differently than mine...when I mentioned I would knit her a hat, she picked out beautiful yarn, and some wonderful patterns. Trouble is, I am a beginner knitter!  She finally settled on a checkerboard pattern that I thought I could manage.  After many trips to my local, wonderful, awesome yarn store...I am working on it.  Granted the pattern changed a bit as I started knitting it, that's the beginner part, but I am getting it back on track!  I would have never thought about a checkerboard pattern for a hat...leave it to Emily to come up with something wonderful!  :)  As I am working on her hat, I am learning alot!  I can now look at my stitches and figure out if it is a knit or pearl  :)  I start another 3 saturday knitting class this weekend!  Yay!  Thanks for my Christmas gift card daddy-o...I will be well on my way to sock making...eventually warm socks will find a way to you  :)

 

I have also been working on making a basket...this one did not work out for me...I lost my handles somewhere inside, my lining is NOT fitting right!  This one will find its way somewhere...but, I have another one that I will be starting...hopefully with more success!  It's all a learning process right?

Hand sewn birds

We spent some evening time relaxing, watching Christmas movies, and me teaching Megan how to hand sew birds...she loves her new bird, and it turned out so cute!

 

 

Gas station flags?

 

 

This Christmas fabric bunting ended up in "my room" - who knew I had a room that was mine!  Now I just want to know who keeps putting toys in there!  My husband thinks they look like gas station flags...but he sure was smiling big when I showed them to him...I think it was because of my excitement over making them.  What an awesome guy he is!