I Spy Quilts for the Grands!

 I have been planning these quilts for a while. I almost let time slip away from me so I had to get busy before the grands got too big!
 I did a couple of charm square swaps to get some of the squares, and I bought a few off of Ebay. Plus I added some of my own of scraps that I knew they would recognize.
 It was so much fun watching them open the quilts. It really thrilled my heart when I saw how much they really loved them. They are only lap quilts, but all three kids put them on their beds. Shelby cracks me up with her Christmas lights on the headboard.

 Here are some more pics. I embroidered a tag to sew on the back of each quilt. I wanted them to remember where they came from.  Cayden said he was so glad to have something to remember me by when I go to heaven. (That made me laugh and cry.)
 Shelby said it was nice to have a quilt because sometimes when people die, they wrap them in a quilt. (Literally LOL)
 Eric sleeps with his every night. Sweet boy!

 I did the quilting myself which was mostly in the ditch. I'm not that good at free motion, but I managed enough to quilt around their names. 

 I was pretty pleased with them. My husband asked how I was going to top this next year. I told him I wasn't! 

Thanks for visiting!
 

End of the 2014 Sewing!

 I didn't get nearly as many projects done this past year as the year before, but I had good reasons. Having knee surgery on Oct. 30 is one reason, and the other is because I spent about a month or more working on three I Spy quilts for the grands. They loved them so it was well worth my time. 

 After I had surgery, and I had healed for a few weeks, I managed to monogram 2 stockings, and to applique 2 pajama tops for the little grands. I made these letters in Font Engine in my Embird program.

 Normally these shirts would have taken me about an hour, but this time they took me at least 1/2 a day each. I just couldn't sit in this chair for long at the time plus it always takes me forever to decide on which fabrics to use. At least I got them done!  Both of the designs came from www.embroidery-boutique.com.

I have missed my actual sewing, and I hope to be back at that soon!
 Thanks for visiting! I'm doing another post on the I Spy quilts.

Missing in Action!

I doubt many have missed my posts because I haven't been keeping up my blog too good lately. 

 I had a knee replacement 5 weeks ago so that is one reason I've been away. It was rough at first, but my knee is doing good now. 

 My dear husband has been so good to take care of the house and tending to me. I don't know what I'd have done without him. I didn't have to go to a rehab or nursing home after the hospital. My doctor wanted me to come home and do physical therapy here along with using the CPM machine. Next week, I will be going to out patient rehab nearby. 

 In another week, I can officially start using a cane, but I've been practicing. My PT says I'm strong enough.  I haven't been out much, but I do walk outside everyday the weather permits.

 It's been a bummer in that I couldn't sew and make things for Christmas. I'm so glad I did make the little grands a special gift before I had surgery. I will post them after our family Christmas. 

 I do read a lot of blogs, but I missed out of doing that too for a while as I couldn't sit at the computer long at the time. I'm trying to get back into my old routines, but gosh, it's hard. 

 I did crank up the embroidery machine this week to monogram these stocking for my grandson and his girlfriend. He just bought his first home so he wanted to have a new stocking. The stockings were bought at Hobby Lobby.

 I do hope to try and blog more often. I don't want my blogging efforts to completely bite the dust!

The Office Makeover!

 I'm sorry to always be behind on writing a blog post. My days seem to just get away from me. I guess it's a part of getting old? 

 We were really pleased with the office outcome especially since it was done on a budget. The biggest splurge was with the huge sign my husband bought to cover that big, bare wall!
 So here we go! Before and After pictures:

Big Blank Wall

 

Empty shelves

 

The back wall

 

 

 The windows are very tall so we had to solicit the help of our two oldest grandsons. I forgot to get a picture of Bubba. Clayton is the one you will see in some of the shots. He is really good with setting up computer stuff and climbing ladders!

   My husband bought burlap curtains, and I had to cut them off so I just let the hem ravel instead of having to take the sewing machine to school. They looked just fine with a fringe type bottom. 

 Now for the rest of the pics. The big sign was made to match the smaller signs we bought at Hobby Lobby.

 A friend of ours gave us the two chairs in front of the desk, and we bought the other one at Goodwill. 

 It's hard to see in the picture, but he painted the old chair royal blue, and the dishpan gold which are school colors.

The sign I made!

 

 And last - the boss giving orders! 

 Thanks for stopping by. Clay is loving his new job as counselor! 
P.S. - I'm loving my uninterrupted sewing time. ;)

Project for the Hubby!

 Things seem to stay hectic around here for two old retired folks!

 Did I say retired? Well, it seems my husband is going back to work in August as a counselor in a private school in our parish. 

 He is definitely tired of teaching, but this seemed to spark his interest so he accepted. 
 I think I am sort of glad as he will be gone 4 days a week which will free up my time to sew more! 
 However, it does put a kink into a few things that I depend on him to do, or rather, things that we like to do together. 

 So he will be in an older school, and his office is the old book storage room. He has been picking up a few things here and there to decorate with, and also bought some drapes - all by himself!

 He asked me to help with a sign for his outside door. The hall is dark, and the wood is dark, he remembered we had an old mirror we'd bought a while back. We had already painted it to hang on the back fence - lime green! His school colors are blue and gold, so he sprayed the outside gold, and I embroidered what he wanted on some blue fabric.
 It was easy to do, and all I did was hot glue the fabric to the back of the mirror. 

  I think the students will be able to find his office! What do you think? LOL

Daylilies in Bloom!

 Our day lilies have been gorgeous this year. They have bloomed more than ever before. I always love for the end of May to get here because they usually start blooming then.
 We were gone for 5 days to the beach, and when we got back, I was just amazed at how many blooms were on each plant. It's been like that every day this week. 
 These are just the ones right behind our house, and outside my sewing room. We have more all through the back yard. 
 The two top pictures were made on two different days. 

  There is just nothing prettier than God's handiwork!

Martha Pullen Love of Heirloom Sewing Retreat!

  Yes, you read it right! I got to attend a Martha Pullen event that was only a little over an hour away for me. 
 When Martha posted it on Facebook several weeks ago, my heart did a flip flop! Martha was coming to Longview, TX! Oh geez! I just could not believe it! I've always wanted to go to some of her events, but they were always too far, or I was working, and couldn't take off. 
 This was just perfect! I booked a room for two nights, and I even found a friend to share it with me. We had a blast! 

 I left early on the morning of April 24th. Martha was having Sunday School when I arrived so I was glad I got to be there for most of that. She is such an inspiration, and she is on fire for the Lord! 
 Then we broke up into classes. My first class was with Pam Mahshie and Missy Billingsley. I have had classes with them both, and they are superb teachers. 
 We used the Babylock Ellisimo Gold embroidery machine to make an In The Hoop Cathedral Window Wristlet. The design is by Missy, and you can find it on her website HERE. She does a fabulous job of digitizing! The design stitched out just perfect. I took a few pictures as it stitched to share. 

After lunch, we had a lecture- demonstration session with Connie Palmer. She has a wealth of knowledge, and we all wished they'd had her teaching a class. She showed all kinds of notions, and many of which, I'd never used or never seen, so I did learn a lot from her talk. 

 Amy and I went to check into the hotel, and to eat some good Mexican food. 

 That evening Martha Pullen put on a show! Oh my! I never knew she was such an entertainer. It was all so interesting, and she had everyone dancing to YMCA. I did take a few pictures which I will share. I was having so much fun, I would forget to snap the pics. 

 She would pull out her phone every so often like she was checking FB or taking pictures. LOL I wish everyone could hear her Spanx story. It made me laugh until my ribs hurt. 
 She modeled this jacket the staff made her for their Sew Beautiful anniversary. It was a man's coat jacket, and they had used pieces of lace and trims that had been tossed on the floor during sewing sessions. I know it made her day. I wish I could have seen it closer, but when she finished the lecture, she was packing to leave. 

 She also brought about 30 pieces of her "Martha's Attic Collection" that she would show on her TV program that used to come on Saturday mornings. I was amazed that she passed them all around for us to see, touch, and examine which surprised me! We had a small group so maybe that was why she did that. They all had such magnificent stitching, lace, and style.  

  They took a picture of each of us with Martha, and she signed them all. 

 I snapped a pic of one of the lace shaping projects she taught us. We were given a Pizza Hut box, and we stuck our fabric on the back, and then proceeded to do the lace shaping. She also told the most hilarious story about lace shaping in a class where they had machines to stitch down the lace designs. This one girl kept calling for Martha to come to her, but it was very tight place, and Martha couldn't get to her. So the girl sewed her lace and fabric to the cardboard. Martha can tell a story so good that you actually feel like you were there! 

When I finish my samples, I will post more of these. We didn't have time to stitch them down, but she showed us the technique which is really easy.

 On Friday afternoon, we had a lecture with Missy Billingsley explaining some serger techniques, and then we got to make a little tea towel using the Enlighten. I love the wave stitch, and I wish I had that on my serger, but I don't. It makes a neat decorative finish for lots of things like table runners, place mats, blankets, on and on.

 On Saturday morning, we had a serger class with Kathy McMakin. She is another fabulous teacher. We used the Ovation serger. It is quite a big serger! We made a sewing machine caddy, but mostly we learned how to use some of the different stitches on the Ovation. She also told us some great tips about serging. I really enjoyed her and her class!

 We did pintucks on the serger, and the chain stitch is what you see going across the solid blue. We also made the little pin cushion. The only part we did on the sewing machine was the top of the binding and the ends of the pin cushion. She showed us a neat trick to make the binding on the sides by serging one side, and then cutting the lining on the other side 1-1/4" wider. Then we serged that side, and when we turned it, we had enough of the lining to make the binding on both sides. I need to remember that trick for sure! 
 We learned to attach lace on the serger with a rolled hem stitch. 

 Our last class was with Kari Mecca. We were given a little kit, and she showed everyone how to make a cute little flower using the Whimsey Sticks. However, it was getting late, and I left early since I had to drive an hour and a half home. I still haven't made my flower, but I hope to make something with all of the stuff in the kit soon. She has some really cute patterns out on the market so be sure to check her out online if you sew for little ones. 

 This event was sponsored by Sharman's Sewing Center in Longview, TX. They gave us a goody bag when we arrived. I love goody bags! 

 Sharman's also had a store set up at the event, and on Friday night, they invited us to their real store to shop. Sharman gave us 20% off anything we bought. They had lots of pretty fabric - I mean LOTS of eye candy! 

 The best thing is that they had fat quarters already cut for the fabrics on display. Oh yes, I had fun looking through those. 
 These are the things I bought. I can't wait to use that zigzag ruler, and the little 5" duckbill scissors are the bomb!

 
 This is Sharman with her dog, Chloe. This was the cutest dog ever! She was part Bichon and part Yorkie, and she was sooooo fluffy. 

The picture above is a better pic of Sharman, and also my roomy, Amy. Sharman has not just one, but two fabric stores. The other one is in Tyler, TX. They sell Babylocks, Pfaffs, and Brother machines. 
 I hope you have enjoyed my dream come true sewing event! I feel so blessed that I was able to meet Martha and all of the wonderful teachers from Babylock.
 Thanks for visiting!