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.

Frustrated

I'm so aggravated. I still can't find my camera. I got sidetracked from the tunic project and tried to make a couple wristlets (with zippers) to put on Etsy. Zippers and I don't get along. It's weird. The very first zipper I put in turned out perfect and it's been downhill ever since. Every one since then has been a battle. Oh well, Maggie and Ellie have a couple of new purses to play with. I won't use them since they'd just aggravate me to look at them. I'll post a pic of stroller quilt that I started recently. It's on my other computer so I'll do that tomorrow. All it needs is the binding. No zippers for that.

Doll Quilt Swap

I'm so excited! This is the first time that I'll be participating in the Doll Quilt Swap.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/dollquiltswap/. It's a secret swap, kind of like Secret Santa at Christmas, but here are a few things I'd like my partner to know about my tastes - I like bold bright colors, no pastels. I prefer more moderate and contemporary designs, or simple patterns (I love pinwheel quilts and chinese coin quilts for example) but with an updated, more funky (symemtrically wonky - does that make sense?) twist to them. I don't really care for the traditional country'ish patterns or patterns. I like different. I like white on a quilt.

Here are some examples of patterns I love...

http://www.ohfransson.com/photos/quilt_gallery/7.html

http://handmadekate.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8350d447569e201157153c157970b-pi

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3493/3739515751_e4cfa8f687.jpg?v=0

I'm going to start on mine this weekend. I've got a good idea on what my swap partner likes so I better get quilting...

where in the world....

is my camera? I started sewing last night but can't find the camera. Going to have to check Maggie and Ellie's bedroom. Last time I lost my wallet I found it in Maggie's bed!

Whew....

Glad that's over...I hate cutting out patterns. It's no wonder I prefer quilts with squares and triangles - so much easier. Tomorrow I start putting these pieces together. Let's hope my cutting was fairly accurate.

Birdies

My mom loves birds so Maggie and Ellie and I made these fabric birds for her tonight. They were so easy. One of our holiday traditions is that when all guests at Thanksgiving dinner sit down to eat, there is a Xmas ornament at each place setting for them to take home. I think I'll get some Xmas fabric and whip up a bunch of these. they'll make great ornaments!

Getting Ready for Sew-Along

Here's my fabric and pattern for the sew-along. My plan is to make the tunic/top shown in white in the middle. When it comes to clothes I'm not too experienced so I wanted an simple pattern and cheap fabric. The fabric was on sale at JoAnn's for $3.49 a yard and please note that the pattern does say "Easy" on the cover - let's keep our fingers crossed. I actually love the fabric so I hope they're right! One thing - I'm going to try and take some more pics in natural light so they come out better. But this will get me started.

Sew-Along

On one of my favorite sites, SewMamSew, there has been discussion amongst some of the members that we'd like to find a sew-along to join. I looked around a bit, couldn't find one so decided to start my own! I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants here since I haven't done this before, but starting next Monday the sew-along will begin. I think it will be for something to wear. I'll post pics as I go along. This will help me pace myself as I work on a project. Normally I can only work at night on something or the weekends. If all goes well, we'll do some more. We had suggestions for a bag/purse sew-along and I'd like to do a mini-quilt one also. So, let me know if you're interested and we'll get started on Monday. This will give us enough time to get patterns and pick out material.

Maggie and Ellie

Here's a recent pic of Maggie and Ellie. Maggie is the oldest by 5-months and is on the right. Ellie is on the left and is the adventurous one. Ellie is the fashion diva of the two. Even at 7yo she knows what she likes and what she doesn't in clothes. She's always trying to get me to buy her heels (usually very tall and sparkly!) and she refuses to wear pants. I made a dress for her recently and as she described the kind she wanted she ran her hands down her sides....as in "real tight Mom!" Where does she get this???? We watched a marathon of Project Runway one Saturday afternoon and she was just transfixed by it. Afterwards she ran and got my stapler, I heard clack, clack, clack, and she came back with a outfit made for one of her stuffed animal! Then she informs me, "I'm ready for my competition Mom." She is one very confident girl! As long as Maggie is in her jeans and black Converse tennis shoes she's happy. She just rolls her eyes when Ellie gets going.

New Direction

I've left my previous blog http://simplyrita-rita.blogspot.com/ which followed my adventures of adopting two girls from China (now 7.5 and 8yo) and moved on to one with another focus - our life as a complete family and my attempts (and I say that loosely) at creativity! Thanks for following along!