Family Flies; When Their Having Fun

Hey I know your thinking where oh where has Jean been. Good question! Mostly I have had the Winter blog writing blues; But I'm back now and have a really important subject!
Those of you who don't know Google Reader will be closing down in July if you don't know about it; go here to check it out!
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/9934604/Google-Reader-petition-hits-100000-signatures.html

The last I saw (when I signed the petition)  they still need lots more signatures! Like a little over 5,000
which in the world of blogs isn't so much! It would make it sooo much easier if we could all work together and let them know we would like them to stick around! :)

Tell you friends; Facebook it (if you Facebook, tweet; etc....) get the word out!

O.K. now back to our semi-regularly scheduled blog post!

Things seem to be changing everywhere. Always something new. I sure would hate it to loose all the blog friends that I've come to read/love because Google Reader isn't around anymore!

I've been working on clearing out some of the odds and ends projects that have been cluttering my sewing room lately (let's face it, for months!!!). My last post    (  Ready and Willing; Just Not Able  )
I was working on a dress that had sat in the UFO pile for quite some time. In this post I mentioned that I was going to change the sleeve from a cute little extended shoulder to a cap sleeve. Ahem, what was I thinking?  When you have things in the UFO pile for soooo long, sometimes we forget what we were about to do! No understatement here! Too funny, so I cut the sleeve out (the cap sleeve) and sewed it to the dress!  BBBBBBBBBBBAP! WRONG!!!  I need one of those really noisy buzzers they have on game shows! Again what was I thinking!!! Apparently I wasn't thinking at all about the end result! It was a laugh that's for sure! Since the dress it's self had a bit of an extended shoulder already.... and then I put a cap sleeve on it! Well, you get the picture! Sad to say I didn't until I looked at it b/4 trying it on. Let's just say that was a terrific waste of sewing time! Back to square one I believe! I think I will remake the extended shoulder so it's a bit longer and call it good! So I can move on!!!

So I had this cute pattern from this book;

 And since I had a cute print in the fabric stash plus so many people I know from Church are having babies... like a dozen babies in the past year or more. I thought I should make something cute to share. Of course it's always more fun to sew for girls then boys.... (sorry mom's of boys!) well, at least some of the time's, at least there are tons of cute patterns out there for girls... many more for girls than boys. And I have a lot of girl patterns. Heavy sigh!
So, I made 4! Yep you read right! 4 of those cute little hats. I figured that since I was at it, I may as well put some in the gift stash! I also have a dozen receiving blankets cut out. They are a self binding receiving blanket from  this tutorial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqwdNqMZ8Ro
All it takes is 30 inches square of one fabric and 40 inches square of another. Cute, cute, cute!
We are managing to get healthy again, DH is spent some time skiing this winter, and enjoying every minute of it. We had a wonderful visit from our son and family a couple weeks ago. So, I will leave you with this cute picture of DH and one of the grands playing airplane!

They had a great time... you can see how matted down the grass is from all the snow we had; which melted just before they got here! It figures; they came to go skiing with our DIL's family.

Watch for the notions sales, nothing like getting thread, needles etc... on sale. Oh, and patterns too!

Ready and Willing; Just Not Able

So much for me getting right to blogging and sewing this year! DH and I have been sick since well, my last post pretty much! I finally gave in a few weeks back and went to the dr.'s. Bronchial Asma? Who Knew? Any way, after much medicine and much coughing (still coughing and mom, I feel your pain!) we are on the mend. Now if the terrible air quality would get better, things would move along a bit quicker.  DH and I went on a drive on Saturday to get outta all the bad air. We went onto the other side of the mountain where it's much more clear.... matter of fact the air there was wonderful!
So, although I've been feeling poorly I did get a few things worked on... no major projects, just some UFO's that I've been meaning to finish. I put a new zipper in a fleece vest, I took in the sides of a dress that I bought at the local thrift shop for $6. I still need to do a fine tuning... yeah, I tried it on and there were a couple little bumps at the hips...  My two oldest daughters gave me a cute corduroy skirt for my birthday in November... which was a bit shorter then I like to wear, so I brought down the hem and added a light weight black lace to the hem. I wore that yesterday to Church and felt much more comfortable in it. Going thru the UFO basket I found a dress that had been cut out without sleeves... the extra fabric was still with it so I managed to get some sleeves cut out for that dress. I go in bursts... I get a few things done and then get tired. So, that's probably why I haven't done much else. Oh, I did managed to get my pattern pieces cut out for the Burda 7128 dress. Maybe if I can get the UFO dress done and outta the way, I can get to the Burda dress b/4 Summer! LoL....
I've been doing a lot of blog hopping.... mostly enjoying other people's hard work.... and chomping at the bit to get back to some actual sewing! More to come.... hopefully soon! :)
Here is a picture of the UFO I'm working on.... I stopped working on it because I decided that it needed sleeves...  I like a bit more of a sleeve than what they have here....



This is the dress that was in the UFO pile.
So I took the sleeve from the pattern below;



Blue dress view... and it's all cut out. Now to get to some actual sewing! I have a cute short sleeve jacket my parents brought back from Thailand to wear with it. It should be great for Spring/Summer/and even maybe into Fall.... since the colors are sorta Fallish. So, I suppose I did get some sewing done... or at least sewing related things done. I may make this dress again (well... when it does get done) and try just making the sleeve they have a bit longer... we shall see! That was my plan all along, right now, with it being sooo cold... I hate to think of sewing dresses with shorter sleeves... it just makes me shiver! If you know what I mean.... it's been in the teen's as far as degree's around here for week's. If not colder! It's 10 degree's outside right now! Yeah for good working heaters/furnaces!
Don't forget to clean out your sewing machine.... dust, lint, threads... they all seem to collect under the needle plate and jam things up. It's a new year... time to clean things up!

Merry Christmas To All and To All A Good Night!

Being as this is now the ......day after Christmas, I hope that that means everyone has had a wonderful day with family and friends and that now you are recuperating! I stayed up wayyyy to late on Christmas Eve. sewing and watching sweet Christmas shows and just enjoying. So having stayed up late the night before, last night also being a late night I was somewhat lagging b/4 bed last night! I tumbled into bed and slept and slept. Now that I'm refreshed.... I'm ready to go again! 

DH has off until next week sometime and we plan on playing a bit..... you know the drill, movies, puzzles, left overs... pie.... sewing, more pie, hmmmm playing with the grands... and did I say pie? I never made it to the cookie making... but I promised DH I would b/4 New Years... (although, he did say that he wasn't really worried at all about not having any cookies!.... Mostly, cause there is ..... hmmmm

pie! LoL...) I only made 2 pumpkin... but it's nice to have it around... although, he finished off the last piece of 1 pie just a bit ago! Lots of other fun treats... that I need to try to stay away from! 

We had a wonderful Christmas time, spent with family and visiting on the phone with the ones that are not close at hand. Sharing our evening meal with some family and a friend who had no where else to go.  Last night we went over to one of our DD's house all the intentions in the world to watch the new BatMan movie.... (I still haven't seen it, and don't feel like I missed anything.... sorry for you who love it!). DD and I played with her new Brother sewing/embroidery machine! What's not to like? We learned all sorts of fun things and she ended up making a cute Butterfly patch as her first testing of the machine. Things to learn and play with. 

While DH is off skiing I'm planning on my own "playing" down in the sewing room.... plans are the best when laid out to sew!!!! 

So, enjoy the time off that you may have... and for those of you who have to go back to work! Enjoy that too.... you have a job! Many do not. We must above all count our blessings! 

Actual Sewing Post Coming

Stay tuned, actual sewing related post..... soon! :)  Hard to believe... I know, but things just get complicated sometimes. I wanted to Sew Burda pattern 116  from 08/2011 which you can see here!
http://allisoncsewinggallery.blogspot.com  on her 2012 07 post.  But after borrowing it from a good neighbor.... reality came knocking at the door and I just couldn't even trace out the pattern! I'm spoiled, I've used the Big 4 patterns for sooo many years that actually tracing out from the ohhhh soo many lines from Burda's patterns.... it about made me dizzy! LoL... you win some you loose some I suppose. Now I guess I will just have to see if I can find something similar in either one of the Burda patterns (that are in envelopes) or some other company! I really did want to make it with a 3/4 length sleeve anyway!

I did find this pattern though, which I plan on making in from view A; with 3/4 length sleeves. Maybe a tad bit shorter also... I will need to make it shorter in the waist as I'm very short waisted. Such is life!


I will have to go back to the fabric store and see if I can find something similar as I mentioned above!
Back again... hopefully sooner rather than later!
Oh, and we cut our Christmas tree yesterday... it took us far shorter time wise than in years past.  Funny story, I will have to relate later when I have a bit more time. We were home and back to our left over's by.... 6:15 p.m. Friday evening!

Keep your scissors sharp!

Happy Thanks Giving Every One

 So many of the people in our Nation and around the world have had trials, disappointments, hardships of all sorts, some people have been morning losses of loved ones or even homes or jobs. Today is a day to reflect on the past and strive to move forward. As hard as these trials can be, we truly need to work hard to over come these things. And the way we can help is too look around us and see what we can do! You may know of someone who needs a helping hand, words of encouragement and love can do a lot for those who have suffered from any type of trial.... whether it be getting a bad grade on a mid term.... or losing a home. Everyone can use words of love! Maybe someone just cut you off on the road somewhere... try to put yourself into their shoes... they may not of even realized that they did this to you. Turn the other cheek, maybe shake your head... instead of your fist! Share a smile, a hand shake or even put what you can into a donation pot. I know a few of us.... (o.k., maybe just me) have a hard time trying to decide whether the person pan handling at the side of the road is doing it professionally or really needs help. (Can you tell I've seen way too many shows like 60 Minutes! LoL)  To be honest, I guess that's not for me to decide! If you don't want to feel like maybe that person is going to take advantage... maybe help out through a local Church, halfway house, non-profit organization etc. There are a lot of ways to help... United Way from what I understand is a great organization also.... the Red Cross does good work all over the place. Oh, and if you can't help out with a donation of money (let's be honest, this can be a very wallet stretching time of year) volunteer to help with your time. Granted this also is hard sometimes this time of year. But.... then again, what about helping kids read at school or some other volunteering during the rest of the year! It doesn't have to happen like.... TODAY! 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while your counting your blessings today... please make sure and see if you could maybe answer someone else's prayers! Be good to your self, your family, your friends and your neighbors... you never know when you may be the person who needs to be uplifted or helped; whether it be financially, mentally, physically or Spiritually. 

Take care and God Bless You and Your Family During This Wonderful Season of the Year And all the rest of the year too!

Oh, and don't get caught with an empty bobbin! :)

When Is It Going To End?????

You know, sometimes I wonder what I've gotten myself into as far as canning goes! LoL... it's my own fault... I got my family used to eating home canned stuff and now well... that's what we like!
Spaghetti sauce, veggie soup, green beans, thick chunky apple sauce (and at this point I say, yum!), various fruits... tomatoes, beets (well, most of the family doesn't like those... just me! I'm worth a little effort aren't I?) and dried or/fruit leather fruits. You get the idea... this all takes time... time, time, time!!! Late to bed, early to rise.... makes a person... CRANKY!
Sewing time has been sadly neglected!!!! What is that saying; if you want to make something a habit, do it for 2 weeks (or is it 3) and you will just keep doing it! Guess I had better work on that!
O.K. that's my rant! Now.... breakfast and off to see the grands play soccer!  O. K. so it's not sewing, but it is something very worthwhile! ;)
Grandkids.... doncha love em! :)

Hopefully I will have a sewing related post soon!

In the meantime, don't sew with your presser foot up! LoL...

A-l-l  A-b-o-a-r-d....................................................!

In August this little guy down below.... (ahem, the one on the left!) turned 4! And for birthdays, we have

decided that the grands don't really "need" another toy. So, we are taking them on dates! This little guy loves trains, although from looking at his concerned face you wouldn't really know it! We  DH/Dgrandpa and I went to this train park on a families private property where they have 4 trains. The other 3 are much smaller, where each person sits one behind another and hangs onto the sides of the train... we figured little guy would really love it.  He took one look at the smaller trains and pointed at it and said, "I don't think I want to go on one of those!"  There was no way we were going to get him onto the small train. So, we took him to see the larger train...(see above) and showed him how big it was and that we could sit inside (and that we would be with him) and he relaxed a little bit! 

After a few minutes, he relaxed and let go of the death grip he had on my arm. He was pointing out all sorts of things. Your supposed to keep hands/arms/feet inside the cars at all times (hmmm, sounds like a Disney ride doesn't it?) and next thing we know he is just about hanging outside the train! LoL... he had a great time.

We bought him a wooden train whistle that you really have to work hard to actually make much noise out of... (thinking we were safe w/DD #1, so he wouldn't drive her nuts with noise) to be given to him later.... didn't want him to drive us nuts in the Jeep! LoL... we weren't born yesterday you know! On the way to lunch after the train ride, he started making train horn sounds on his own.... (he didn't even know we had bought the whistle) and so DH and I looked at each other and then opened the whistle and handed it to DGS... it was cute. We ate lunch, with him bee-bopping to the music (right in sync to the music) put a french fry into his mouth and started using that for a whistle.... ( we didn't let him take said whistle into the eatery...).  At home while we were taking the booster seat out of the Jeep he ran into the house and almost hyperventilated telling the family how much fun he had! Cute cause we weren't all that sure he enjoyed it that much. He wasn't doing a lot of talking and all.  We had a great time. Next one will be in a few weeks.... DGS's birthday is coming soon... First DS's birthday and then FIL's 89th birthday and then DGS's #7 birthday. Hard to keep up! Another passenger took this of us all together... guess we should have squatted down...

Now, onto sewing...