Lamp Shade Slip Covers

I have had no luck finding any lamp shades I like for a couple of lamps I picked up at a garage sale for Lydia's bedroom. I found this tutorial at Amy a la mode for lamp shade slip covers and I used it to make 2 slip covers today. Lydia likes them.

Derby Skirt

I picked up this skirt from Goodwill for $4. It was a size 13 and with a couple of swipes with my sewing machine it's now a 6 and fits great. Wore it to practice this week!

Wallet Space Saver - Card Holder

You know all of those loyalty cards and such that collect in your wallet, preventing you from buttoning it shut? That is when an extra card holder such as this would come in handy. I found the Scrappy Loyalty Wallet tutorial at the A Spoonful of Sugar blog. This is draft number one.





Think I'll keep this one for myself.

Chococat Lunch Bag

The inspiration for this lunch bag came from the purl bee's Back to School Lunch Bag post. When I showed it to Lydia today she was all for it so after we made a quick stop at the Dance Education Center to get our new shoes and clothes for pop dance class this year, we went to Herrschnerrs to pick out the fabrics...

I cross-stitched the chococat a long time ago and always wondered what to do with him. We thought he'd work well with this bag. Lydia chose the brown polka-dotted fabric to match him. The purl bee pattern doesn't include a lining so I combined this pattern with another pattern I got from my friend Dawn for bags because it has easy directions for how to make a lining.

Lydia went to bed before I finished. I had told her it would be done by Friday (and she was very bummed because she wanted it for tomorrow) so she will be surprised when she comes down for breakfast in the morning and sees this at the breakfast bar.

We've Been Crafting, Just Not Posting!

Lydia and I pulled out the sewing machine the other day and made this pillow for her baby panda bear.
Lydia also did some cookie decorating at a holiday party...
I think she did a great job. So detailed!
I didn't finish the frog cross-stitch for Christmas so now this is a birthday present for my grandma. Her birthday is January 27.
Once I finish this I plan to get back to the "Strength" (tree) cross-stitch. I learned that I had been suffering needlessly on this. When doing work on such a small thread count you don't stitch in EVERY hole, you do every other. What a difference that makes! WOW! No more need for dramamine when working on this project.

(The above picture is owned by monsterbubbles.com.
You can purchase the pattern from monsterbubbles.com.)

Happy 40th Birthday Dawn!

My good friend Dawn turned 40 on October 2nd. Happy Birthday Dawn! I remembered she had commented on this book I got a few months ago called Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. She said she really liked the birds from the book. So, I made her some for her birthday. The first one, which Lydia got to keep, was a little tricky until I got the hang of it. If you make some of these birds from the pattern in this book, do not sew the loop in where the patterns says to. Move it up closer to the head or your bird will hang crooked.

Pleated Handbag

I have been a busy sewer these last few days. Today I finished this pleated handbag which is a pattern from Amy Karol's bend-the-rules Sewing book. This was my first time creating pleats. They are so easy to make! I will be using this bag for sure. It's a keeper. I love the shape and I like where it lays when I have it on my shoulder. Very comfortable. The instructions called for cotton flannel lining but all I had was a sheet of batting so I used that. It's a very cushiony bag.

When my mom was going through chemo a few years ago we went to Hancock Fabrics and she picked out this red fabric for a head wrap I was going to make for her. I never got the chance to make the wrap because she didn't live long enough. There was just enough of this fabric to make this bag. Also, the yellow fabric is a table cloth I got from my mom's craft room. Still using up the supplies I have on hand and I think my mom would really like this bag.

By the way, Amy Karol's bend-the-rules sewing book is a great book for beginner level sewers, FYI. I have made several of the projects now. There are many cute and useful projects in the book and they can be completed in relatively short amounts of time which is good for people like me who need to see results quickly.

Reversible Purse - Trick or Treat Bag

Lydia really liked my reversible purse so I made her one for trick-or-treating with some fabric I had left over from some bandanas I made the dogs a few years back. I am trying to use up some of my old stash.

Reversible Purse

I found this really cute pattern for a reversible purse at www.marthastewart.com. I thought it would be a great bag for church as well as for my annual weekend in Door County with the Jensen girls which is just around the corner! Woohoo! Can't wait. I used fabric I had on hand. I love this print but I thought it was too busy to do the whole bag in it so I cut up an old pair of jeans and used it as an accent. I am happy with how it turned out even though it does have a few imperfections. This would have been a lot easier had I not made modifications to the pattern to accommodate the printed fabric.

Dog Fashions

After our babysitter commented on how well she likes the bandanas our dogs wear, I have been wanting to make some for her two dogs. I went to the fabric store yesterday looking for fall fabric and found this. I will have these wrapped up for her when she comes over tonight. It was nice to use the sewing machine today. It's so relaxing. I enjoy dressing our dogs in different bandanas. Since Ken won't let me get a chijuaua (yet), this is as close as I can come to dressing my dogs.

American Girl Dress & Hat

Here's the American Girl outfit I mentioned yesterday. I think it may have taken me longer to make the hat than it did the dress. Now that I did it once though, I think the second would go quicker. Lydia loves the outfit and it's gotten her interested in her doll again. Ken mentioned yesterday he thought it was pretty cute to watch Lydia walking her American Girl in the stroller up and down the road along with Zoe (our Samoyed) wearing her matching bandana.

We went to the fireworks last night. We got about 2 blocks from where we parked when Lydia realized the hat wasn't on her doll any longer. She looked at me panicked and then asked if I could make another one. I had to smile and I laughed to myself because it took me 4 or 5 hours to make that hat, I wasn't going to let it go that easily! I walked back the way we came and found the hat a few feet from our SUV. Phew!

One more quick story. After I got home from biking to the pharmacy for some medication yesterday, the neighbor stopped by to ask me if I need drugs. He followed that by telling me that Lydia told him "my mom needs drugs". He replied to her, "oh really?" She then told him "my mom needs birth control pills because we already have one monkey and we don't need anymore monkeys running around". If you know my husband you know where she got this from. Sounds just like him. I had a good laugh from it.

Happy 4th of July Bandanas

I ran across this fabric that I found in my mom's craft stash when we cleaned out her craft room a few years ago. I decided it would make great bandana's for the dogs to get them in the festive spirit of the 4th of July. I decided I wanted to use all of the fabric up so I made a pillow case for a doll pillow of Lydia's and then I still had some of the fabric left after that so I made a dress for Lydia's American Girl doll. I plan to make a matching hat for her doll today so I will post a picture of the rest after I finish the hat today.

By the way, Scout is doing much better since he started his medication!

First Pillowcase Project

Lydia and I attended a sewing class together today. With a little help from mom she made this really cute pillowcase. She learned how to sew straight lines and how to press seams. Great job Lydia! I hope you will sew with me more often.

Family Time + Crafting Time = A Great Day

Today was a very nice day. We had a lot of family and crafting time. After a great sermon at church we had a nice brunch at Stone Crop Organics. If you live in the Plover area, I recommend it. The food is delicious. Today I also started and finished the baby blanket I blogged about here. I am happy with how it turned out. I would make another one of these. It's a good project for those of us who are beginner sewers.
I took a break after I had it cut out and we went to Emy J's for some coffee and a blue moon ice cream cone.
After Emy J's and some more visiting and hanging out around town we were back to crafting. Lydia had a lot (and I mean a lot) of fun breaking in our new Cuttlebug. She LOVES this thing.
and she created this beautiful hat.
Spring is upon us (although snow is expected tomorrow). Registration for the Cellcom Marathon is now open. The run is on May 18. I will be doing the 1/2 marathon. It should be a fun time. Several people from our church will be running this one and Dana will be running with me too. I need to take my running a little more seriously again and look into a training schedule to prepare for this half because the longest I have run since the marathon in October is probably 7 miles at one time. I am planning to do the Walk Wisconsin marathon on June 7 and I am considering another marathon in the fall.

What a Ride!

Front row (left to right): Lydia, Me
Second row: Ken

While at Disneyland we rode Space Mountain three times. It was our favorite ride with California Screamin' a close second. I am framing this picture and plan to hang it somewhere in our house because it captures how much fun this vacation was. The week we spent in California was wonderful and I hope to go back again next year.

I worked on a 7x7 scrapbook this evening for Lydia (that I started in the fall). It captures a sprinkling of the fun times and special moments we had together, starting off with her kindergarten graduation going through the summer and ending up with her first day of first grade. I just have some journaling left to do on a handful of pages. I would like to do more of these because Lydia absolutely loves to look at the albums I have made for her.

If things go as planned, I should be a busy crafter tomorrow. It is nearly April and so that means I need to finish my March block of the month and pick up the April Block. I would also like to get started on the baby blanket I mentioned a couple posts back because the baby shower is not far off now. While it was very nice to get away for a vacation, I am looking forward to getting back to my craft projects.

Craft Withdrawal

I am having craft withdrawal!! I must craft soon! I have been putting in a lot of hours at work and more hours working equals less hours crafting unfortunately. Thankfully I have a VERY wonderful husband who keeps up with the laundry and the dishes.

I did get out this past Sunday after church and a much needed massage (ahhhhhh...a gift from that wonderful husband) to pick up this fabric for a baby blanket I am going to make for a friend who is expecting. The blanket is one of the projects in the bend-the-rules Sewing book by Amy Karol which I mentioned a couple posts back.
Lydia and I visited with my grandma today and we were given this bowl made by my aunt. My aunt is a very talented quilter and she has been using her scraps (I think) to make several of these bowls. I love the colors in this one (orange is my favorite color). Very cool bowl isn't it? I don't know how she sews these on her machine (the bowl is thick) and I hope to find out because I would like to make one of these.

Clever Coasters

It was another crazy day at work today but I balanced it out with a really fast 5 mile run and some sewing. I could hardly wait to pull out my bend-the-rules sewing book by Amy Karol this evening. I bought it back in October when I was in Portland; Saw it on the shelf yesterday and decided to crack it open. I got inspired. After Lydia went to bed this evening I did the Clever Coasters project. We needed some for our bed-side tables. The project called for just two 5 and 1/2 inch pieces of fabric for a coaster but I wanted to use the leftover scraps from the quilt I made recently and I didn't have any pieces left that were that large so I got out my handy dandy calculator and came up with this design. The back of each coaster looks just like the front so I guess you could say they are reversible? The colors will go great in our bedroom. Going to try out my new coasters now. Until next time...happy crafting!

Block of the Month - Block 2

I spent the afternoon at the quilt shop. It was so nice to get out of the house for awhile to do some sewing. I finished Block of the Month #2 and when I finished with that I worked on this tote bag. The quilt shop was closing before I could finish but I was able to sneak in another hour this evening at home to finish it up. Lydia wanted to help so I asked her to model it for me. This is my first tote bag. It was easy to make. Thanks to Dawn for the pattern. Now that I know the basics of how to make these, I plan to play around with the pattern and make another with longer handles and a shorter body. This tote will be great for carrying books and craft projects when I am on the go. I try to take advantage of the free time I get like when I am waiting for Lydia while she is in dance class.

Keeping Warm at Christmas Time

We live in Wisconsin and it's definitely winter here right now. We have more snow than I have seen in years. It reminds me of the winters we had when I was a kid. Lydia spent the afternoon today digging tunnels and sledding down the snow piles in the front yard. While doing so, MY fingertips went numb from the COLD while working on my laptop IN THE LIVING ROOM. When my brain finally registered that my fingers were numb and I was shivering I checked the thermostat and discovered the furnace had stopped working. The fireplaces are keeping us toasty until the furnace fixer guy can get here (tomorrow morning hopefully).

Lydia opened the package with the American Girl brush, then the packages with the American Girl outfits, and still was surprised as could be when she opened the box with the American Girl DOLL in it. She named her Erin (my brother's girlfriend, Erin, was with us and may have something to do with that). I think the doll will be well loved.

Erin read my blog post about the sewing machine and so Lydia got the Alex Sew Fun sewing machine for Christmas. Lydia and I already made a purse with it for her doll and we will make many more projects with it. It's so cool! And so is the purse they got me which is one of my favorites on Etsy! Thanks Uncle Matt and Erin.

The scarf I started on September 23rd did not get finished in time for Christmas but I am making progress. I am thinking of snazzing it up with some beads and ribbons. We will see what I can come up with. My new goal is to finish it in time for Lydia to actually be able to use it before the winter is over.
I spent last Saturday at the quilt shop and caught up on my quilt. I learned how to "stitch in the ditch". I am hoping my next post of the quilt will be the finished product! There is just one more class on January 8. I have decided to sign up for the intermediate quilting class which will be with the same group of ladies and I'm also considering a class that meets monthly which will be for smaller projects like bags and table runners. I am going to give quilting a bit more time before I decide if I like it or not. I love the finished projects I see and would really like quilting to grow on me.

For those of you who haven't already, I recommend you Elf Yourself for a good laugh. You have until January 2. This was the extent of our Christmas card this year but it could also be used for best wishes in the new year.

Hanging out at Home

We were invited to a few things this weekend but we all needed some down time so we stayed close to home. Today Lydia tried out her new apron and a recipe, Reese's Haystacks, from her Silly Snacks recipe book that she got for her 6th birthday from her friend Jurnee. She did a great job at making the haystacks and we had a lot of fun.

Yesterday I was able to spend some time at my sewing machine and got a ton of mending done. I turned two pairs of Lydia's pants into shorts because the knees were completely blown out on them.