Lamp Shade

My husband brought home a lamp for the living room and it just had a plain canvas fabric for the lamp shade.  So I decided it needed a little color.  I cut 8" x 2" rectangles from a Moda Breakfast At Tiffany's layer cake and chain pieced them together, sprayed a little basting spray, and then did a running stitch around the top and bottom.  Now it adds a little color to my living room!

Finished Projects

I have two full days of depos the next two days.  So I was anxious to get a couple of things I've been working on finished.  Here's a wall hanging I started a few days ago.  I got the idea from this cute blog. 

In case you can't read the embroidered words, it says, "Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are."  I just love that quote.  I found it online.

And this is a hoodie that I knit for Lady Liesl, my little West Highland Terrier.  I used exactly one ball of Manos Cotton Stria.  I'm going to make her another one that is a little bigger.  I think she likes it!  What do you think?  ;)

Current and Finished Sewing Projects

I haven't been doing so much sewing lately.  More knitting.  But here's what I've been doing lately.

                                       I finished this banner for my daughter's room.  It's really long
                                       so I had to take two separate pics of it.  It says Caitlyn's room.

I started a nine-patch quilt out of a Moda jelly roll.  Still working on the squares.

I'm itching to sew a small project that can be finished quickly so I can get that accomplished feeling.  I'm thinking about sewing some pillow covers to go on square throw pillows for my couch in my living room.  We'll see though. :)

I'm on a Roll!

Now that I've finished the Lollipop quilt, I can't seem to stop sewing!  It's starting to get addicting for me!  I started this Skinny Verna table runner yesterday and finished it up today with the binding!  It was so quick and easy!  I love it.  I am using it as a runner on my piano.

                                             

                                                 I can't wait to start something new now!!

Lollipop Quilt Done!!

                                   I am so happy my son likes it!  Here he is, holding his new quilt!  He even picked out the backing fabric.  We were at Beverly's and I told him I was looking for a fabric for the back of his Lollipop Quilt and he saw this and said, Look, Mom, Lollipops!  So this was the one he wanted.

My Little Prince and Princess

My daughter, Caitlyn, made these cute little crowns for her brother and herself out of paper and tape.  She is so creative!  Here is a rare moment when they are getting along.

Lollipop Quilt

My New Year's resolution is that I want to learn how to quilt.  I don't know anyone that can teach me.  So I'm learning by the internet and from books.  I'm thinking about taking some quilting classes. 

I've attempted to make a quilt for my daughter and I'm not happy with the way it looks.  This Lollipop Quilt is going to be for my son.  Hopefully, it will turn out better than the one I made for my daughter.  I'm at the part where I will use the fusible web to attach the lollipops to the squares.  So far, it's really easy and lots of fun.  I've been enjoying every step of the process.

Crafty Christmas Cards

My kids made these handmade Christmas cards and they had a fun time doing it.  Aren't they cute?  I got the idea from http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/. 

Sewing Practice

Here's a wall hanging I finished last week for my daughter.  As you can see, I didn't measure the backing square.  Don't ask why because I don't know the answer to that one.  Oh, well!  Lessons learned! 
I didn't use any tutorial or anything, just made it up. 

Then I just finished this hot pad today.  Not extremely happy with it.  I found a mitered binding tutorial on You Tube.  I definitely need more practice!

And here's the back of it.

Christmas Trees

Made these from a tutorial on the Sew Mama Sew blog.  It was quick and easy and adds a little Christmas decoration to my living room shelf.

Hemmed My First Pair of Jeans!

I bought some cute jeans recently and, as usual, they were too long for me.  I usually take them to the cleaners to have them hemmed, but I found a tutorial online that showed me how to do it easily.  Here's the link: http://www.daciaray.com/?p=38 So here is my first pair of hemmed jeans!  I'm happy with the results!

I know.  I need a pedicure! :)

 Here's what the inside looked like before I cut off the fold.

And here's after I cut off the fold with my new pinking shears.

Let The Sewing Commence!

I'm so happy I finally have gotten my sewing motivation back!  So I decided to start with a couple of pajama pants, one for each of my kids.  As you can see, they love them!  I used an old pattern cutout that my sewing teacher (who I haven't take lessons from in a while) let me borrow. 

I already have my next project fabric pre-shrunk and ready to be ironed and sewed.  I'm going to attempt to sew a t-shirt dress from the Weekend Sewing book. 

I've been listening to a podcast called Stash Resolution and Sarah, the podcast host, has really inspired me to start sewing again, and maybe even start podcasting again soon!  Yay!  Finally!

Art-A-Fair Weekend

My daughter and I went to Southern California last weekend to visit with family and to go to the Art-A-Fair Festival in Laguna Beach.  My mom has a photography booth at the festival, selling her photographs.  It's at http://cordovaphotography.net/ if you want to take a look at her work.  She is so talented!  Here are some pics of our fun weekend.

Here's my mom's booth setup.  That's my mom in the picture, taking a picture of my daughter and niece and nephew.

This is a photograph my mom took a few years ago of my daughter and niece and nephew and it is one she is selling at her booth. 

This is my daugter, Caitlyn, on the right, and her cousin, Trinity.  They both have the same exact teeth missing.  I thought that was funny!

This was a picture taken of Caitlyn and me right by our table in a restaurant inside the Art-A-Fair.  I love the background!

This is a huge house at the top of the hill, overlooking our restaurant tables.

And here's a close-up of the house.  Isn't it beautiful?  I'm so envious of whoever lives here!

My Little Valentine

I just finished knitting and sewing together and stuffing this Valentine Pillow that I made for my daughter, Caitlyn.  She is my little valentine because she was born on Valentines Day.  It is a pattern from the book, "Hollywood Knit Style" by Suss Cousins.  It was fun to knit.  (mindless).

Caitlyn started 1st grade yesterday and this is a picture of her right before I took her to school.  She was so excited to start 1st grade and she is really liking it.  I am so proud of her!

Sewing Quickie

I've been needing a new pair of sweat pants to wear around the house.  The pair I've had is all worn out, with holes.  So I cut off one of the legs of the old pair and used it as a template to cut out a new pair and got it done within an hour!  They're so comfortable!

I used elastic for the waist.

Simple Sewing Project

After going a while without sewing because I haven't felt like it (been knitting instead), I made this pillowcase from a pattern out of the sewing book called "Sewn Spaces" by Joel Dewberry. 

It seems that every sewing pattern I use, I always get stuck in the middle of the pattern.  The first part makes sense, but as I keep going, I get to a point where I don't understand what the pattern is saying to do. 

For example, this pattern says, "Place folded edge of border flush to cording."  I was guessing "flush" meant "along" the cording. 

Then later on at the end of the pattern, it said, "Right sides facing, pine pillowcase fronts to backs."  I tried googling "pine" for sewing terms, but nothing came up.  So I just did what I thought looked right and this is what came of it. 

This was my first time doing piping, which is easy and fast.  At least I understood that part of the pattern! ;)

Anney Top Finished!

This is the Anney pattern by Emily Johnson.  I'm so glad to be done with this, after all the cables!  I did the decreases on the yoke just as the pattern said to, but it doesn't look quite like it does in the picture.  Oh, well.  It's not noticable and I'm still happy with it.  I think this is my favorite knitted top I've knit so far! :)

Fabric Art

I got this idea from DIY Dish Network Podcast.  All it is is fabric-covered canvas.  I think it's cute.  I have it hanging in the sewing/craft room in my house.  I like the first photo.  My daughter likes the second photo, with the black designs all in one row.  I think I'll switch it up when she's not looking! ;)

i heart patchwork

This is a new sewing book I just got. It has lots of cute sewing patterns in it. Caitlyn (my daughter) wanted me to sew her this little cosmetics pouch. It was really easy and quick. It's the first time I've sewn a zipper on anything. I had to hand sew it because my sewing machine doesn't have a zipper foot.

The solid squares are made of linen and the patterned squares are made of cotton. I like the way the linen fabric looks. I notice most of the patterns in this book call for linen in a natural color. Unfortunately, my local fabric store doesn't carry linen in natural color. So I'll probably have to order some online. Actually, I think the light violet linen fits my daughter better anyway! Also, it has a solid cotton lining on the inside, which was also a first for me.

This is the skirt I started a few days ago.  I was going for the one that's on the model.  It's the first thing I've sewn for myself, besides pajama pants.  I'm stuck at halfway through the pattern because I don't understand the instructions.  I tried on the skirt and it's too tight around the hips and the waist is about five inches too small.  I chose the size four, thinking that's about the size I wear in store-bought clothes, and didn't pay attention to the size in inches on the back of the pattern.  I guess I should have trusted the pattern more.  Oh, well.  This is going in hibernation for now until I either lose five inches off my waist or have the desire to start over again.

First Quilt!

This is the quilt I've been working on for my daughter.  It has a thick polyester batting in the middle.  The three layers are only held together by the stitching on the border.  I've started tying knots in the center of the squares with embroidery floss, but I'm not done yet.  I'm hoping that will be enough to hold it all together.  My daughter loves it and sleeps with it every night. 

This is the back of the quilt.

This is a close-up of the squares.

                                                                                                     

On Vacation At Home!

With the kids out of town at their grandparents' house for the week, my husband and I are enjoying going out to eat and relaxing without the kids around.  It's been nice having a quiet house for a change!  Here's a picture of us at McClintock's in Shell Beach/Pismo Beach.  They have yummy food and sex on the beaches!  We also just got a new camera, so we're having fun trying it out.

Congratulations To My Sister!

I went to Southern California last weekend to see my sister graduate from nursing school! I am so proud of her! These are my kids in the picture, too.
Going out of town and with work being so busy lately, I haven't had any time to knit or sew, only a few rounds on the Bintje socks and that's it and it's already Friday! Hopefully, I'll be able to get back to it this weekend though!

Cluck. Cluck. Sew.

I'm entering a giveaway contest at http://www.cluckclucksew.com/ to win a fat quarter bundle!
I have to blog about it for one out of four chances to enter.

Little Miss Piggy

We caught Lady Liesl up on the patio table, looking for food. No such luck though. All she found was dirt in a bowl that my kids were playing with earlier. She is such a little piggy, always looking for food, even when she's had a lot to eat! She's so cute though!

Ruffled Skirt Finished

Finished the skirt for my daughter, with the help of my sewing teacher. It needs to be ironed because I just washed it. It goes all the way down to her feet, but at least she can grow into it. She likes wearing it! I'm not sure I like it, but my daughter does and that's all that matters, since it's hers! Oh, and by the way, I won't be doing ruffles again for a while. It's a pain in the butt!