{Post 1,113} Life Has Been So Daily

This past couple of weeks has been sooooo extremely busy.  Won't bore you with all the details.

I finished machine quilting my daughter's baby quilt.  First grandchild due in a few weeks!

My parents came down last week and stayed a few days, then went to FL to visit a few days with Emily, then came back and stayed a few more days.  My sister's embroidery machine came with them and stayed with me the whole time.  So I played on that some.  That meant several trips to buy threads, stabilizer, etc.  The only things I embroidered were some burp cloths (aka white cloth diapers) and bibs-to-be.  I am not an embroidery lover, but I think I could be. Since I used to sell fabric, quilt kits, etc., I have tons of fabric and likely won't even use it all before I die (not that that's in the plans for this week, but we never know, do we?).  I do not have the time, money, or energy to start a new hobby.  I'll never make all the quilts I have planned now!

Anyway, here are some pics of a few of the things I made.  I embroidered the monogram (or in some cases the name) on the burp cloth then used some specialty stitches on my Janome sewing machine to outline the edges (using embroidery thread).

The last day I would be able to use the machine, I had the (I thought at the time) bright idea of making some bibs.  When my children were small (I had 8 children in 10 years, so there was quite a procession of them), I made some bibs from small towels.  I just flipped down the top, cut a semi-circle for a neck opening, and used bias tape for a tie and to line the cut edge.  Those bibs lasted through all my children, and I'm sure hundreds of washings.  As it was on the spur of the moment, I didn't know the best place to buy small towels.  I stopped in a place I thought would be good, but they didn't have the type of towels I wanted.  I bought some largish wash cloths instead.  I bought a $1 bib to use for a pattern since I don't have a baby model in the house ;)

My plan is to line the bibs with a piece of fabric, sew them right sides together and leave an opening, flip them right side out, topstitch, then add Velcro like the one in the picture.  The terrycloth side will catch and absorb spills better than plain fabric, I'm thinking.

BTW, Bryan is my grandson's last name.

~Joan

{Post 1,112} Valentine Picture

I love knowing how to do all kinds of new things, but I hate the learning process, when it's just work, Work, WORK!!  

With that riveting, revealing, and brilliant introduction, I present to you my very own Valentine scripture verse canvas:

I made it on Photoshop all.  by.  myself.  Then I was able to perform the miracle of getting it into a file that I could take to the photography center at Walmart and have it printed into an 11 x 14 poster.  Then I Mod Podged it onto a canvas.  Voila!  I need to go ahead and make my next idea verse into a sign before I ferget how ta do it...again!

{Post 1,111} Spring Mantle Finished

It is no exception that everything I do takes way longer than I think it will.  This simple scene took so long to get together.

Here is the finished product:

My new friend, Kath, asked for more info on making the wreath.  Here are abbreviated directions.  A styrofoam wreath form, fabrics cut with pinking shears (I used a pinking blade on my rotary cutter) into 2-1/2" squares, a metal knitting needle to push the squares into the wreath about 1/2" apart after applying a dab of hot glue at the point.  I made a row along where the "flat" of the wreath would be, leaving the back uncovered then filled in rows up to the top.  I put the right side of the fabric towards the center (although I picked a fabric that would look good from both sides on purpose).  I pinned the ribbon into the back when I was ready to hang it.

Here are a few pictures of the wreath in progress:

I like the wreath because it looks so fluffy, like cherry blossoms or a hydrangea blossom or something like that.

Here are some shutter/window pictures.  I got all of them at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore in town.  A dollar per piece.  I broke the single-pane glass out of the window, sanded it just a tad, removed the weather stripping, and painted it with several coats.  Then I asked my DH to add a horizontal piece to give the wreath more stability after it was hung.  The shutters took 3 coats of paint.  I'll likely do another one later.  I just put a tiny nail in the back of the window frame to hang the wreath from the back.  Some in process pictures.  Notice the brown shutters lying on the shelf behind the window frame (under the whisk broom--nice, I know!).

{Post 1,110} Valentine Wreath

Here is a little craft I started tonight.  It's a heart-shaped styrofoam wreath that I'm gluing squares of pinked fabric into.

So far:

{Post 1,109} Are Those Quilt Blocks?

What do you know?  Quilt blocks on my hairdo blog!!

Here are some paper pieced blocks I worked on this AM.  I am going to make them when my scrap box gets too full.  Since it's a plastic spinach box, that happens rather quickly.    These are 4" square unfinished.  I'm taking them in my to-go bag for de-papering in my free time tonight before church.

No real solid plans for them yet other than to make a bunch!

Spent the first part of the sewing time piecing a back for my grandson's first quilt from me.  Head on over to my secret blog to see it.  If you don't have the URL, email me, and I'll get it to you.

{Post 1,108} Knot Braid

It's another hairdo.  This one was my very own idea.  How about that?  I was lying down on my bed reading with my feet up in the air (having problems with my feet swelling a LOT).  I started combing my hair with just my fingers.  I wondered if I could tie my hair in knots down the back to keep it out of the way?  Here's the result of my experiment.  Keep in mind that I did not comb it thoroughly first, so this is very rough.  Still, it's another twist on hairdos.

I divided it into a top section, then divided the section in half, doing a simple right over left tie, then added the next section down and repeated the tie motion, and so on until I ran out of hair.

{Post 1,107} Couple New 'Do's

I've tried out a couple new hairdos the past two days.  So many of you have commented on hairdo pics of the past (and I thought you ladies were here so see my quilts!).  So without further ado...here are my last two days' hairdos.

My son, Isaac, took both pictures.  He was much closer in the second one, so the flash made my hair look lighter.  It couldn't look that gray in person, right (cough, cough)??

The top one, I braided from my neckline up in a French braid.  When I used up about half of my hair, I braided the rest in a regular braid and secured with an clear elastic.  Then I pulled the top front half of my hair into a bun, secured it with 2 bobby pins and then wrapped the tail of the braid around and secured it.

The second one was much simpler.  I twisted both sides of my hair to the center back, leaving about 2" of hair down the center untwisted.  Then I did a regular braid with the left side, center hair, and right side.  Secured the end and then twisted it into a bun, again securing with 3 (I think) bobby pins.  

I used to wear one of those octopus-looking hair clips on a French-twist type thing for months.  This seems so streamline and neat.  It's my new-grandma look (just practicing for now!).