Countdown to LSU Football

It’s only

5

days until LSU football kicks off!

Does anybody in your house need new purple and gold gear?

www.personalitychildrensclothes.com

Now what?

This one’s for Mom or Kathy or any of you other quilters out there. I’ve got the top pieced. Now what??????

Just FYI: This was pieced using a Moda Wonderland jelly roll. It was my first attempt and I’m pleased. I just realized that I photographed the quilt upside-down. Oops!

And a little about that swing: This swing hung on my grand-parents’ front porch for a very long time. When my aunt and uncle moved out to the farm, they replaced it with their front porch swing. Since it wasn’t much good for swinging just sitting in one of the barns, my uncle passed it on to me! My hubby built the frame and repainted the swing and I finally have a swing in the backyard!

The Big 4

If you are new to sewing, you might have seen “The Big 4” while web-surfing and wondered just what it means. 

The Big 4 refers to the 4 commercial pattern companies that you can find at most chain fabric stores: 

1. Simplicity,
2. McCalls,
3. Butterick
4. Vogue. 

The fabric chains tend to run these on sale from $0.99 to $3.99 about once a month.  You can browse the pattern books at the store or on-line to get those creative juices flowing.

A cute table runner and a new favorite site!

I just discovered Moda Bake Shop (http://www.modabakeshop.com ). I love this site!!! It is chock full of cute ideas for kids clothes, gifts, quilts, and home decor. I’ve added a few of these projects to my never-ending “I must make someday” list: these suspenders, this dress, these baskets…

I thought this table runner was especially cute! And, it was linked to a contest. So, I decided to whip it up. You can see the original instructions here on the Sweetwater Make Life Sweet Blog website.

I wanted the look of spring daisies on a navy background. I’m not sure if that’s what I accomplished, but I’ll keep my thoughts to myself. ;)

Summer is officially over!

The BG headed back to school today! Second grade! Wow! Here’s our annual “leaving the house” picture:

Just for reference, here are last year’s and Kindergarten’s pictures too. I can’t get over how tall she’s gotten in the past 2 years.

Looking back, it appears that I’ve worn something I’ve made each of the last two years on her first day of school. (She has to wear a uniform, so no real excitement there.) Well, let me tell you about this year’s outfit…

Yesterday afternoon, BG and I went shopping. We were after the elusive khaki uniform skort, but we never found one. Instead, we hit 6 other stores. We browsed clearance racks and shoes. I chose She let me buy 2 knit shirts that she said she “could do something with that.”

My response: “Like what?”

BG: “You’ll need a belt or a headband or something.”

Me: “I will? Okay. Can I wear the purple one with my white skirt to your school tomorrow?”

BG: “Maybe. I’ll have to see what I can put with it when we get home.”

My big question of the day is this: At what point did I start asking my 7-year old for fashion advice??? Have you seen how they like to dress these days???

Never say never

I did something today that I said I’d never do. I quilted. Yep, you read that right. (Aunt Kat—pick your chin up off the floor!) I quilted. Here’s how it happened:

Mom and I were hanging out in her well-stocked quilting room. I was browsing the shelves, looking for fabrics for dresses, inspiration, gifts, etc. It’s better than Hancock’s. Really. Anyway, from the sounds I hear down the hall, it appears the children need to spend a little time away from one another. I call the Big Girl into the sewing room.

Me: If you were going to match 4 fabrics for a quilt, what would you pick?

Her (With her eyes as big as saucers scouring the shelves.): Can I pick?

Me: Yep.

…about 5 mintues later…

Momo: Look at these. (As she holds up a baggie of 4 inch squares all in pink.)

Her: Oh yea!!!!!

Me: Well pick four and lay them out as a square and I’ll show you how to sew them together.

Then the discussion turns to “place them right sides together”…

and “this is your presser foot, you lower it gently”…

I’m sure the casual observer would have also heard “don’t tug on the fabric”, “pay attention and line your fabric up”, and “don’t put your foot anywhere near that gas pedal” uttered plenty during that time…

Well, of course, one 4-patch is never enough, so let’s make 3 more. Do you know how many ways you can combine 16 squares (when you have 32 choices???)

After she finishes sewing her blocks together, her Momo puts the pieced piece with some batting and she quilts!!! Nothing fancy, just stitch in the ditch, but great for a beginner. She did a fabulous job.

Well…while all this is going on…the Little Man comes in the house. I thought Popo and his daddy were watching him, but I heard some commotion about a crowbar getting dropped on his toes…I don’t know. Anyway, in the true spirit of “anything you can do, I can do better”, I hear “Can I do it too?” So here we go again…

Did you see the sheer joy on that kids face? He was so proud of himself—until he found out she did 4 squares. Guess what. He got to sew 3 more squares. He laid out each one, “steered” the fabric and pressed the gas peddle each time. But then he wanted it quilted. That’s right, quilted. Since Mom was working on the binding on the BG’s quilt, I had to quilt. It wasn’t as painful as I’d feared—but don’t look to closely! Mom put the binding on his quilt also. (When you see his finished project, you need to remember he laid it out by himself, without our input. I was impressed.)

All in all, it was a great day. The spontaneous sewing lessons went well. My kids listened!!! We found out their attention spans last until the bindings! Here are their finished projects. Aren’t they great!

A Thread on Threads

Questions about which thread to choose?  Why not start with the folks who make the thread…

Coats and Clark Threads Advisor

This great table helps you choose the thread and needle appropriate for many types of fabrics you might use.

Through the eyes of a 4-year-old

We let the little man take his camera to the Aquarium of the Americas last weekend. Here are a few of the pictures he snapped. I think he got better pictures than I did!

Time

With school starting and summer ending in just a few weeks, I’ve again been reminded just how quickly time passes.  In fact, as of 7:11 CST, August 4, 2009:

School starts in 12 days, 12 hours, 33 minutes and 52 seconds.

There are 32 days, 4 hours, 16 minutes and 56 seconds until LSU football kicks off.

I’ll be proudly wearing my Saints jersey and hanging my wreath in 39 days, 16 hours, 45 minutes and 36 seconds.

I have 142 days, 5 hours, 44 minutes and 44 seconds to finish my Christmas sewing.

And—this one’s for Uncle David—I’ll be 40 in about 210,628,288 seconds!