What Has Been Keeping Me Busy

It has been a while since I last wrote but as things go I've been keeping out of trouble, mostly! I worked on a costume for a friends neice's 8 year old daughter... (got that?) it was a mermaid costume that she needed for a school something or other! Here is what it looked like when done; http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m5498-products-8714.php?page_id=915 It was a bit of a trial because I was told she had a 28 inch waist and then that she was 8 and I finally got her neck to waist measurement and waist to floor measurement. Not a whole lot to go on! Oh, and I was also told that they figured a ladies 10 would fit her? Hmmmm, not sooo much! We worked it all out I tried in on my friends granddaughter a day or so b/4 the little girl came to try it on... and took it in some thru the back and waaa-laa! Done! I didn't get a picture (I seem to forget the camera in situations like this) and so you don't get to see the final project... but it is done! They were happy with it... and mom told daughter that look.... you have your Halloween costume all ready too!
Now I'm working on an OOP pattern.... (out of print) just because... one I will put away because I'm not sure who it is for yet! It's a cute little purple plaid dress, button up the front and it will have pantaloons too that can be worn but don't really need to be worn.... I will find the pattern and post a picture of it and the material too. Now I've decided that instead of any type of lace I'm going with a cute light yellow Ric Rac... hopefully pic's later.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL MOTHER'S

I am posting a day early.... but, better early than my semi-usual late.
It's Mother's Day, and whether that brings back all sorts of memories (hopefully all good) or it's just a wonderfully relaxing day I hope that it will be a good one for you and all the mother's and future mother's out there.

I spoke to my mother last night. We have been playing phone tag all week and so we finally caught up and got to sit and visit for a while. Thanks mom for taking the time to track me down again!
My mom is one of the great women in the world. She is kind and loving and very supportive. Her journey through life has been in the company of a loving husband. (that would be my dad) Hopefully she doesn't really remember the trials that I personally put her through... (we won't go there!!!) and being as I want to make this day as wonderful as she is I won't bring any of those things up either! When I became a mom I knew that although I was a bit nervous about it all, (taking a tiny little baby home and caring for him was a bit scary) I knew that my mom was planning on coming to see us and helping out for a while! That was far more of a comfort then I think she knew. Just having my mom there meant that if or should I say when, I made a mistake... she would be there to back me up and help me make it right! My mom in her work a-day life was a court reporter. You know, the people you would see in the court room during a trial that take down everything you do or say. I know that it was a challenge for her. I'm sure that there were times that she just wanted to chuck it all and tell someone to go suck an egg! (ahem.... oh, well that is more like me not mom!) But as far as I know, she never did that. People came from far and wide to ask for her help and she would give it. She was Relief Society President twice while still working full time. She hadn't been a member of our Church for very long before she was asked to take on this responsibility. But, she did it and did a great job each time. Always there to comfort, console and sustain the members of her ward and stake she set a great example to me and to my family. (dad is no- slouch either.... but remember, it's Mother's Day... Father's Day is next month! )
I just want my mom to know that I Love her and that I would admire her even if I weren't the best daughter she ever had! (of course, I am her only daughter so she really doesn't have much to compare too! LoL...)
Here is a little Mother's Day Poem that we are sharing with our Primary kids and their mother's on Mother's Day. Oh, it is supposed to have some trail mix to go with it.... you will understand when you read it! Enjoy... and have a bit of trail mix on me!

Mother's Day Poem
(author unknown)

In this bag of goodies you will find,
Reason's that make you one of a kind.
The pretzels are for the twists in life you've helped me through,
Teaching me by example, the right things to do.
For all the times I've driven you "NUTS",
But if needed your door was never shut.
Times when I've made you mad, but still you'd forgive,
So the Marshmallows are for the squishy hugs you always give.
Raisins are for the wrinkles that will come your way.
But I still hope to be like you someday.
M & M's for all the times it's just mom and me,
I'm so glad I'm yours for eternity!
This bag makes a yummy mix which can become a big mess.
Luckily I know it will get cleaned because my mom's the best!

It's a bit childish... but you know, I will always be her child! And she will
always be my mom! Love to you mom! Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful
mom's and mom's to be out there!

What's That Old Saying, You Can Count On Death And Taxes

Well, at least the taxes are done! Hopefully I'm not quite to the point of the other one!

Things have been a bit hectic around here to say the least. But every now and then something gets accomplished and well that's a good thing.... (as Martha says, lol now I really could care less what "Martha" does or says. That is her business, but that is "her" catch phrase so I will just give credit where credit is due.) I finished my little GD's dress's. And here, is proof!

I should have taken a picture with her in them. But I was scrampling to get over to her mommy's house to help put a swing set together so I just grabbed the dresses and no camera.

I just found out that the neck on this red one is a bit big for her, so her mommy is going to tighten up the elastic a little.

And of course this is the one that was going to be an Easter dress, but when I cut my finger it made it harder to do right away. You really have to look closely to see that it is an Easter print, eggs, bunnies etc... but it will look cute on her. Maybe a picture some other time. Too funny, her daddy was just telling me the other day that the people who take care of GD in the nursery at Church were saying that they hardly ever see GD in the same dress twice. This gal is always excited to see what GD is wearing each week. Oops! Now that's not totally my fault! But she does look cute in dresses!

One other thing that I finished for a friend didn't actually have anything to do with using the sewing machine. You may have seen some of the patterns that will give you measurements to cut out pieces to make some things with? This pattern is for an apron. It's really cute, but since this friend is 89 years old, she was having trouble trying to figure out what and how to do this. So, I've made her pattern pieces to go with the pattern. Hopefully it will make it a bit easier for her to cut these aprons out. To see the apron pattern go here:

http://www.vanillahousedesigns.com/p132-four-corners-apron/#more-112 I could probably just take a picture of the pattern front, but it does say on the back not to make any reproductions of it. So, I will just let you go look if you are interested.

Don't sew with dull needles... it snags the material! I tell you this because I keep forgetting to change mine!

Last But Not Least, Some Sewing Does Get Done Around Here

Before all the rig-a-ma-roll over my figure, I was working on several projects. I was going to cut out a dress or two for DGD. That didn't happen until afterwards... and well it took longer than I had planned. You try cutting out fabric around pattern pieces with a finger sticking straight out! It tended to get into the way a bit! LoL... but that part is all done now. The dress isn't made yet, but I plan on working on that sometime tomorrow.

Her is the pattern that I'm using Simplicity 5895 view A I believe it is. The pink one.

And here are the fabric's the plaid is a cute and bright fun one. The other piece is turned the wrong way... (sorry about that) is an old Daisy Kingdom piece. It will be lined with a pink fabric to show off the print better.

Everything is cut out.

For today, I'm doing a hem on a prom dress for a friends granddaughter. We shall see if I get a picture or not.

I almost forgot!

Here is the basket of strings (strips) that I was working on when the "unfortunate accident" happened! I did get a bunch done on it, even with finger pointing going on! I decided it would be easier if I just used scissors! So I did! This is no small basket either! It's picnic basket size at least! Sad thing is, this didn't even put a dent into the stash!

And then the next picture is some of the string quilt blocks that I made. I put a black variety into the middle section. These were pieces that I had left over from when I made DD#3's wedding quilt. But the pattern is neat because you can turn them in different directions for different effects. I made the muslin backing pieces 5 inch squares. You could make what ever size you wanted. It's a great way to use up your scraps!

Alright! That is it. I'm all caught up on what I've been doing in the sewing room.... that of course is not all I've been up too!

Last weekend DH and I had some fun hanging out under the kitchen sink replacing the faucet! Yep! And it doesn't even leak!

Make sure you have either resharpened rotary cutter blades or a new one on your pinking rotary cutter... it's the pits to try to use them and only get the cutter to work ever so often!

Hope that your days are filled with joy and/or sewing!

Wait! What Happened To Spring?

Last week everything was all pretty and Spring was popping out all over and then over-night we got this! DH and I woke up bright and early, and it had turned cold with beautiful (it's always pretty to us!) snow coming down on the dog as she did her early morning potty break! She came into the house with snow all over her coat. It's my job to make sure she gets wiped off. You should see how she looks at me when I get a towel out! I don't let her come upstairs until it's done and she is more than ready to get up to the warmer area's of the house.

A couple of weeks ago, (I'm still trying to play catch up!) just b/4 DD#1's birthday, we girls got together to go shopping! What's not to like? We took her to Ross's (for those of you who don't know Ross's is a discounted store that somehow gets all (well some) of the things that weren't selling at the major department stores and sells them at a huge discount!) to see what we could find for her some of her birthday presents. Her sisters go through and pick out all sorts of things clothing wise for her to try on and we have a great time having her model stuff for us! You are only allowed 8 pieces each person to go into the dressing rooms.... and believe it or not with the 4 of us... we had exactly 32 pieces! It was a hoot really! These girls are not brutal, which is helpful. But being sisters they are a big help to one another and point out what works and what doesn't!

Too funny, last year b/4 a family reunion I took them (o.k. so they dragged me!) to Penney's to find a bathing suit for me! I won't go into the embarrassing details about how we finally came to a deciding factor but, we now keep an eye on DD#3! (You know who you are! We love you!!!) It's a lot of fun, with lots of laughing goes on. And I'm sure more than once people asked to have a different changing room! Enough said!

All and all we had a great time... as is always the factor when you get the 4 of us together.

Afterwards we ran over to Cafe Rio for some dinner. Good Mexican food. They don't want pictures taken inside the cafe.... so, so be it! No pictures of all the lovely food... yum! I'm suggesting next time we just go somewhere for a dessert! Or as my friend Karma calls it.... Non dinner!

I had fun... and hopefully I will be excused for any embarrassment I might have caused the other 3! It happens to everyone! I will leave it delicately at that!

Next post... I have been doing some sewing! What I was doing when I cut myself!

Playing Blog Catch-Up

For those of you who do not like to see things like stitches etc... you may as well not even look at this post... your not really missing anything. Really! Just a couple of pictures of my finger that got cut. One has stitches and there is one after they are taken out! So... if you are squeamish you don't even need to read this one!

Things do get busy when your behind sometimes. For those of you who like pictures... these are the before and after of my finger stitches.... before as in when I had the stitches and after... hmmm, yes, that would be after I got them out. Oh, and sorry that the first one is a bit blurry... it was after I took off the wrappings and for some reason I couldn't get it non-blurry... yet the second one is not. Go Figure!

At this point I was trying to bend it, because it was super stiff from being straight and pointing at everything/everyone for 10 days!

I'm now where I can bend it and pretty much flex it pretty well. As you can read.... I'm typing again! (Which to me seems to tell me that it is much more flexable... probably was the best thing I could do to help recover!) O.K. that's that... on to more interesting things.

Pictures of The Underground RailRoad Blocks

So, here are the two blocks or in the second one's case partial block... it kind of gives you an idea of the block size. 6 inch square. The second one still isn't finished because well.... I had the cut finger issue!

You can see how small these pieces are because that is a standard large spool of thread. More later when I get them done!