Laugh-In Anyone?

I've been working on some new stuff for Etsy. I love this retro fabric I found, lots of blues, greens, yellows - very cheerful. For some reason it reminds me of Laugh-In. Anyone remember that ???

Estate Sale Find

Viking-Husqvarna #6460. For $25.00 got the sewing machine, two manuals, all attachments and the extension table. It's in great condition and is wonderful to use. Very quiet but powerful. I love that I can drop the feed dogs so I can practice my freemotion quilting. It originally didn't have the extension table, but the lady that ran the estate sale called me and said she found it, which was perfect since I'd been unable to find one on EBay. I can even slow it down so Maggie and Ellie can use it (and it came with a finger-guard, which is a nice addition).

Busy Weekend

Ellie's class had a "performance" on Saturday at a local reading festival. She had a great time but it was beastly hot - I swear it was 300 degrees outside! LOL Sure wish they'd do these things in December. After that we spent a lot of time in the pool. The girls are becoming very good swimmers thanks to their Aunt Kathleen's coaching. I've found they don't listen to me in the pool (or elsewhere for that matter)!

M.I.A.

Trying to get back into the swing of things. We've been very busy with back-to-school stuff, sharing the flu back and forth, just the usual stuff. I found a great deal on a Viking sewing machine (model 6460) at an estate sale last weekend for $20! It works great. I've already put my old Singer away and am enjoying playing with this cutie. Maggie and Ellie love it, I can slow it down so it doesn't go too fast for the kiddies.

I flaked out on the sew-along. I cut out my tunic and pretty much freaked out because it was SO BIG! I'm plus-size, but geez, it was REALLY PLUS-SIZE. That got me thinking about when my grandmother used to try and teach me to sew when I was little. I didn't really take to it right away like my other sisters. I think now it was because it was always because I couldn't find clothes to fit - I've always been a big chubby. So why am I surprised that I didn't want to learn how to sew?? It was humiliating not being able to go buy ready-to-wear clothes. So, long story short - I'm not doing anymore garmet sewing for me anymore. Just home deco, quilts, kid stuff, bags, totes, etc. No clothes for me. In the meantime I'll just keep trying to eat healthy, exercise, and lose weight.

I don't want this to be me

Anna Quindlen is one of my favorite authors. This is a quote from Loud and Clear (2004). My girls are only 7.5 and 8 but I'm already guilty of "hurrying" them along. It's something I work every day to avoid doing, but sometimes I just get caught up in thick of things. I'm making it a goal to read this every day.

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”

Baby Blanket = Sewing Machine Cover

This started out as a baby blanket but I ran out of fabric so now it will be a sewing machine cover as soon as the finding goes on. Don't you love the colors?

Found Camera

but haven't taken pics of my tunic yet. I haven't finished it yet. I find when I get too frustrated with something I throw it in the corner and do something else. So this is what I did instead with a pair of jeans and shirt that I couldn't wear anymore. Made a basket out of them - what else???? Much easier.