Weekend of Work

I had a busy weekend filled with working! Peter and Julie came up so that I could pin and alter a bridesmaid dress. They had also hoped to watch Caleb's soccer game, but that got canceled about an hour beforehand, due to a flooded field. David started cleaning up the yard, raking up dead leaves, picking up branches, general cleaning up. He put all the yard waste into neat piles, and I started filling lawn bags. TWELVE packed bags later, we have this. I've made it about 1/3 of the way around the yard. Yesterday, after I filled the twelfth bag, I decided to take a break from that, and replenish the firewood. I split and stacked a lot! Caleb and Calvin helped me a little bit, but mostly it was me. I was worried I might be quite sore today (with wielding an ax and sledgehammer, not to mention all the hauling), but I'm not! I guess that means I must be in pretty good condition. :) Caleb had another soccer game in the afternoon, and we ended our weekend as usual, watching Nature at 8, then bed.

We still have a few daffodils blooming. I like these ones with the orange centers.

Lions! Tigers! Bears!

Calvin had a class at the zoo today, and we spent some time looking around afterwards. We saw lots of animals (including lions and tigers. His class was all about bears). Connor was thrilled to see the elephants (he has an elephant obsession).

We saw giraffes. I didn't know this, but they can go for a week without a drink!

We spent a lot of time watching this little guy. It was moving around, and we were hoping to see it change color. (it didn't, as it stayed on the leaves)

It was cool to see the green tree python baby. We read Verdi quite often, so to see a real one was neat. The mama (I think? an adult one) was hanging out on a branch in the habitat too.

However, the MOST coolest thing was the new cat house. The cats can come right up to the glass, and you are inches away from them. The lioness was pretty attracted to Calvin - we think she kept noticing the reflection of his glasses:

I didn't get it on the video, but she even snarled and snapped, which made everyone jump the first time.

Asian Linen Skirt

Here is the first of at least 4 summer skirts I have planned. I used New Look 6596 , which I made last summer. I've admired Beki's various skirts that she made using the Favorite Things pattern, but didn't want to pay $10 for a new pattern, so I just whacked my pattern into gores. :) I made this a 6 gore skirt, and added 2.5 inches to the length of the original pattern. I flat felled all the seams (because I ran out of black serger thread), and lined it in ambiance. This particular skirt will be quite versatile, as it looks good with my boots, my wedge heels, and some black sandals I have.

I wore it today to a Nancy Erickson lecture on jackets that was held at Bigsby's (that's also where I bought the fabric). It was a lot of fun to see all her Chanel jackets -- the construction on some of those is just gorgeous. I came home with a new copy of her 1945 jacket pattern (my pink tweed jacket is from that pattern) because the boys ruined my original one. I also came home with some beautiful fat eighths of some asian cottons. Those fat quarters and fat eighths are like crack cocaine!

Connor was not happy that I was gone all afternoon and has been on me like glue since I got home.

Still Around

I've been very busy sewing! Last week I made a set of 3 juggling scarves for Caleb (out of silk organza). He plans to dye them with my silk paints. They are a little stiff, so we may end up getting some silk chiffon or crepe de chine instead. (anyone juggle? what fabric would you recommend?). I also finished up a few more pinwheel blocks for this quilt -- they had been half constructed and sitting on my ironing board for months. The baby that this quilt is for will turn one in July; I hope to get in done by then!

My big project was building 3 garments for Milwaukee Shakespeare. Their production of 1 Henry IV opens on the 21st (if you are in the area, do try and get to a show, they are top notch). My boys came with me when we delivered the first two (and I ended up with the 3rd), and had a blast watching the rehearsal (they were doing some fight choreography), checking out props, and just being behind the scenes. I am in the middle of doing a 4th garment, which I plan to finish by tomorrow at the latest. I've had a lot of fun doing this job!

I took Calvin to a kid's fishing clinic on Saturday. I've always said I dislike fishing (and I still will not eat any seafood), but I sure had a good time with him. He's really good at casting, and is so patient, sitting there waiting for a bite. He didn't catch anything, but I've promised to take him fishing a few times this spring (and now I know how to tie all the knots).

I also cut out and am almost finished with a skirt for myself. It just needs elastic and a hem -- pictures later on in the week.

Spring Break

We are on spring break this week, and have been busy!

Monday we went to visit Peter and Julie for the day:
After lunch, Caleb wanted to carry Pabi home. He can carry his 33 pound baby bro up 2 flights of stairs; carrying his cousin in the bjorn is a piece of cake!

We went to the Notebaert Nature Museum (where Peter and Julie had their wedding reception), and played for a while.

We spent some time in the butterfly haven. It was hot and humid in here!

We managed to get some pretty good cousin pictures -- no easy feat with my wiggly Connor. Julie got some good pictures also, which you can see here.

Yesterday we spent the morning at Discovery World:
Calvin (and Caleb) tried out a bed of nails. Connor was going to, but changed his mind.

They also played with a bunch of robot stuff. I think here they are controlling a dinosaur. There was also a cool robotic elephant. The aquarium is really neat, with a petting pool and various fresh and saltwater tanks. Some of the tanks go under the floor, so it's like you are walking on the fish, and it took some coaxing to get Connor to walk on them!

We've got some other fun things planned for the rest of the week, plus I have a cool sewing-for-pay opportunity to do, so we'll see everyone next week! Happy Spring (ha! we are supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow sometime soon).

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

We colored eggs last night. I wasn't sure how Connor would do, but he figured it out right away, and made a lovely blue egg. We experimented by decorating some of the eggs beforehand with white crayon and white pencil, thinking they would act as a resist. The crayon did, the pencil not so much. Then we decorated plastic eggs with stickers. I was surprised with how much the boys liked doing this. I helped Connor do his eggs -- he'd pick the stickers and tell me where to put them. He tried sticking them on by himself at first, but he couldn't get the stickers off of his fingers and onto his eggs!

Our lovely dyed eggs -- we did a dozen. Next year I might even do more, as I love how they look on the table, and we love boiled eggs.

My mom brought Easter baskets for the boys. They were filled with all sorts of fun goodies: games, play-doh, candy. She also got each of them a bright beach towel with their name embroidered on it. Those will be fantastic for beach days this summer. Connor had a lot of fun with his basket. I had filled a bunch of plastic eggs to do a little egg hunt in the house this afternoon, but after our gastronomical journey, I didn't even bother getting them out. Maybe we'll do them later in the week.



After supper (ham, garlic mashed potatoes, 7 layer salad, fresh green beans), we had fun playing with a chocolate fountain. My mom bought this in anticipation for our annual Epiphany party for next year, but we had to take it on a test run. :) We dipped marshmallows (very good), strawberries (ruins a perfectly good strawberry, IMO), bananas (yuk, I don't like bananas more than I don't like chocolate), and pineapple (surprisingly I liked this). Somehow, Calvin managed to get chocolate on his back . Now that takes talent!

We ended our evening with a 'Family Fun Night' of games. We've been trying to do this every 2-3 weeks, taking turns between our house, my friend Beth, and my mom. Tonight we played The Game of Life, Scattegories, and Cranium Cadoo. (and yes, Calvin is climbing in the doorway behind me, and does that all the time)

¡Fin!

I stitched the binding down on Thursday night, and slipstitched it to the back yesterday. Here's a shot of the fun fabric I picked for the back: sock monkeys with the numbers one through five! It's a lightweight flannel, and I have enough leftover for some boxer shorts for Calvin. He's pretty excited about that.
The egg hunt was today, and it was literally freezing. When we pulled up, the car said it was 24 degrees outside -- I'm sure it was quite a bit colder with the wind chill. Still, we had a good time getting eggs. After getting about 10, Connor decided he was done, and wanted to go sit in the car. :) Not many people stayed for the raffle, and I have no idea who will get the quilt. I won a gift certifcate to Applebees.

Quilted!

WHOO HOO!!

Quilting Progress

Last night I laid out the backing for the I-Spy quilt on my basement floor, stretched it taut, taped it down, and laid down my batting (Hobbs Heirloom Organic). Then I laid down the top and pinned it with a million safety pins. Ok, not a million, but a lot. I started quilting last night, and got about 1/4 of the way done. This morning I finished another quarter.

Here's the quilt, so far. I plan to do some largish meandering in the borders, and then a 1/4" black binding. My goal for today is to get the quilting completely finished.

I-Spy Top Finished

I finished the I-Spy quilt top last night. My only criticism is I think I should've cut the borders about two inches wider. Ah, well, it's done, and I have 4 days to quilt and bind it. I'll go get the backing and batting today.

click on the picture to see it full-sized and go "spying". :)

Still Foolishly In Love

Today David and I have been married for 15 years (and it's raining, just like on our wedding day). We went out to dinner on Friday night. Originally we planned to go to Coerper's Steak House (where we celebrated our first anniversary), but then decided to just go down the street to The Cheesecake Factory. It was just wonderful -- we went all out on cocktails (mango margarita -- very good), appetizers (tex mex eggrolls -- yummy), dinner (chicken romano -- enough for an army), and dessert (lemon-raspberry cheesecake). YUM YUM!!! We had such a lovely time.

Since the 'modern' gift for the 15th wedding anniversary is watches, I went with the theme of 'Time', and gave a gift of my time. I made David 6 coupons for various things to do together. The only stipulation is when he wants to redeem one, he has to give me at least a week to arrange things. Finding somewhere for 3 boys takes a bit of time. :)

I-Spy Layout

Yesterday afternoon I laid out the I-spy blocks on my design wall. First I just laid them all out in the alternate straight set layout, with no regard to what was next to what. Then I found I needed 5 more blocks, so I rummaged around and cut them. Finally I started moving stuff around, trying to make sure the lights, darks, and reds were arranged in a pleasing manner.

Last night I cut the sashing and started piecing the rows. I do one row at a time. To be sure I keep the blocks in order, I do each row the same way. I layer the blocks from left to right (leaving the last one on the wall) with the leftmost block on the top of the pile. Then I chain stitch the sashing to the right side of each block. When I cut the chain apart at the ironing board, I make sure to keep them in order. Then I chain stitch adjacent blocks together, adding the last block in a set, if necessary. Lastly, I stitch all those sets together, making a long strip, and I put it back in its place on the wall, and go on to the next row.

After working on it last night, I have 3 more rows to piece. Then I'll cut and add the wider pieces that fill in the short rows, and the sashing between the rows.

I-Spy Quilt

I have to make a quilt for a church raffle by next Saturday (yeah, in eight days). I've procrastinated on this for a long time, but now the deadline looms! I've decided to make an I-Spy quilt, as the raffle will be held at the annual church egg hunt, with lots of children. Last year I made the Clifford quilt.

I've taken part in a few I-Spy swaps over the past few years, and have quite a collection of 8" or 9" squares, along with scraps leftover from various garments (like the kissy lips). Last night while Calvin was at gymnastics, I started fussy-cutting the 4.5" blocks. I finished the rest up this afternoon, and 75 blocks later, I am ready to cut the background. I plan on setting these in what I think is called an alternate straight set, using sashing. You can see my pile of scraps on the left. I found out a few weeks ago that a local quilt shop near me (Dovely Quilts) collects scraps for charity quilts, so now I have a place to donate them! They are getting a nice bagful this weekend when I go pick up the batting. :)

Baby Shower

Yesterday my friends Jennifer and Sara hosted a baby shower with me for our co-Leader Yael. I was in charge of the present, and made this pink batik baby sling. I added a zippered pocket and used wool batting in the rails, as that is what I had lying around. We planned the shower as a ladies 'tea', and had lots of treats: cookies, cupcakes, finger sandwiches, dips, cheese/crackers, and fresh fruit. Jennifer's oldest son and my oldest son came as our assistants, and helped take guests' coats, cleared dirty dishes, monitored the food levels, and were vigilant on candle patrol. :)

I was also in charge of the little party favors. I found a few different votive cups at Joann fabrics, at 40% off no less! I filled them partway with jelly beans, and then dropped a tea light in. They were finished off with a 12" x 12" square of tulle, tied off with 2 sheer ribbons. I had a lot of fun making these.

Now I need to get an I-spy quilt made for the Easter Raffle at church.

New Steamer

Calvin broke my little handheld steamer on Thursday. I was so mad! I loved it -- nothing cleans a toilet that boys use like a steamer! Sunday afternoon I bought a new one. Yesterday I attacked my oven.

Before cleaning the inside (I had already done the door). I swear this oven is as old as I am, and it's supposedly 'continuous clean' which means it never is.

After about 30-45 minutes of cleaning, using the steamer and the scrub brush attachment, it looks a LOT better. I didn't even have to use much elbow grease -- the only hard part was leaning into the oven, and trying to see where I was cleaning, though all the steam. Best part? No stinky fumes or icky chemicals. Now I've got my eye on the gas grill. :)

Bike Rider!

Look who can ride a bike now!

He did it for the first time on Monday, and now we can't get him off of it. :)

My Spring Line

Last weekend Julie and Peter were up here visiting, and Julie and I did some shopping at H&M. I found a cute skirt and two blouses (well, the same blouse, in two different colors). I also saw a bunch of other cute blouses, and remembered I have a really cool brown and aqua Amy Butler print that I wanted to make into a skirt.

Wednesday I go back to H&M to exchange one of the blouses (I had bought a 10 and a 12, and needed the 12. Unfortunately, they didn't have a white one in 12), and brought my skirt fabrics (yes, plural) with me. I found 3 more blouses, and now I have the beginnings of my 'Spring Line':
First, my blouses. I have a cute brown eyelet (may have to go back and get the white), a striped aqua wrap, and a brown wrap. (I have this in black too, and am waiting for them to get it in the proper size in white. I'm not the only one that buys every color of something I like, am I?)

The skirt fabrics. On the left is the AB print, and then an aqua stripe (left over from this bag). I will make these into New Look 6596, using the stripe as a small ruffle on the bottom. The middle fabric is probably going to be made into a skirt like Beki's. The last two fabrics will also be a skirt, with the diagonal stripe used as a 1/2" binding on the hem. I haven't decided which of the previous two skirt patterns I'll use for this one.

Between these three skirts and three blouses, plus the brown skirt I bought last weekend, and then the white wrap blouse I'll go pick up, I have a nice little spring fling going on. Hey, it's almost like a SWAP! These will be great for kicking around in. All that is needed is to order some linings, and then .... SHOE SHOPPING!! :D I'm thinking some sort of brown flat, because even though I love heels, those aren't terribly practical for walking to the library, or biking to the park.

Serenades

This week has been crazy busy, but tomorrow is the last hectic day, and then some normalcy (or at least what passes for that here). For now, some music:



and



both sung to me while waiting for Calvin's gymnastics class to end. Yes, he has the hiccups. :)

Just Bite Me

Remember the embroidery I made for my friend Beth for Christmas? She decided that she wanted it made into a little pillow that she can hang on a doorknob. This way, she can move it around the house. We went over to Joann Fabrics in January, and she picked this black cotton for the pillow part (it's a great print for the embroidery, but boy, is it crap. I can't imagine someone making an actual quilt or garment from it). Yesterday I made it up. I think it looks pretty cute, though I've got the hanger part much too long. She also said she didn't want it stuffed very full, so it stayed a bit flat (I used some scrap wool batting I had laying around). I haven't decided if it should have a little bit more though.

I'll be seeing her this afternoon, and get her thoughts on the changes I want to make. At a minimum I'll be shortening the cording. BTW, this chart can be found in the book Subversive Cross Stitch. I have another embroidery in the works, inspired by the Project RunGay boys; hopefully I can share a picture soon.

Goal Check In

Two months have passed by for 2007, and I thought I'd check my progress on my goals. So far, I'm not doing so well. The only things I've managed to do so far are some charity sewing and stay on top of the gift sewing. I haven't sewn anything for myself, haven't made anything for my boys, haven't put Ms. Belinda on her diet (and after Valentine's Day I need to go on a little one myself), or do anything with the windows. The sewing room is still a mess too.

On a good note, my 'sis' is sewing now! Take a look at the darling bags she's been making. I think they look fantastic, especially when you consider that she started sewing in January. I'm pretty sure she made the patterns up herself too.

Lastly, for something new and different, it's snowing. Again.

Chula Vista Resort

We were to get a big blizzard this past weekend, but it didn't really materialize as bad as they predicted. This was great, as we had planned our annual mini getaway to the Wisconsin Dells. Sunday morning we left and had a nice time at the Chula Vista Resort. My FIL and his wife were to come from Iowa and meet us there; unfortunately, they DID have the bad weather, and wisely decided not to make the drive. Since we had planned on 7 people total, we had a way cool suite, with a full kitchen, fireplaces, 2 bedrooms, the works. It was an awesome room at a great price (Sunday night rates are way better than Friday and Saturday ones).

The boys had a BLAST swimming in the water park. Connor took a little bit of encouraging but once he got in, there was no stopping him! We did manage to leave his backpack at home, so we got to the resort and all he had were the clothes on his back. Ha! Thankfully all these hotels in the Dells sell swimming suits and diapers. Caleb managed to get Connor on a few little slides. At first Connor didn't like them, but once he'd go down one, he'd want to go again.
Calvin loved the lazy river and the 'baby pool'. We also had a lot of fun going down the big water slides; Calvin made the cutoff height by about 2 inches (yeah!). Being there Sunday night meant I missed most of the Academy Awards stuff (I do like seeing all the dresses), but watching my boys play like this trumps any TV show any day:

The Arrow of Light

Last Sunday we had the annual Blue and Gold Banquet for our Cub Scout Pack.

Caleb earned the Arrow of Light, which is the highest award a boy can earn in Cub Scouts. We also got him a real Indian arrow, which I then decorated with beads and feathers. Each bead represents some aspect of his time in Cub Scouts, such as badges he's earned, participation in community service, etc.

He worked really hard to earn the award, and we're really proud of him.

Some Miscellaneous Sewing

I've been sewing on some quickie miscellaneous projects:

This is a chalice veil for my mom's church. They needed a black one for Ash Wednesday, and instead of ordering one (for $250!), my mom decided to make it. She came over to get some advice on fabric (the green one was our sample), and I showed her some stuff from my stash. This black wool was perfect. I even had ambiance to line it with, and offered to sew it up. It's a 28" square, and took me an hour.

Yes, another superhero cape and cowl. This particular one is for a little boy up in Eau Claire. His family suffered a horrible tragedy about a month ago, and a few of us on NMSL are putting together care packages for him and his mom (due with twins in april). I also made one last Saturday for a friend of Calvin's. I've made FOUR of these already this year!

Valentine Goodies

The boys had a fun Valentine's Day. Parties, goodies, treats, fun. The best goody of all?

Vacuum-sealed frogs!





Yep, all ready for dissection! Is that cool or what? :)

A Few More Bags

The pattern club meeting was last night. I didn't get all the Amy Butler bags I had cut out finished, but I did manage to get these done. From the left: Swing Bag, In Town drawstring bag, Chelsea Tote, and an In Town handbag (yes, this is just like the one I made for Julie -- I was able to cut out two). I used scraps leftover from my nephew's quilt to make the drawstring bag. I am partway through the Favorite Clutch, and then I'll work on the Cabo Halter muslin (I did an FBA on the pattern, and hope it works out). I also have one more In Town bag to do, this time with bamboo purse handles.

Here you can see the linings I chose. The Chelsea Tote is reversible, and has a false bottom. It's going to go live with a friend of mine -- I hope she likes it. I bought a button to make a closure for the handbag. The meeting was a lot of fun. Someone had made the Kimono Robe from AB's In Stitches book, and I got to try it on. That was helpful, as now I have a few modifications in mind. Two people made the Messenger Bag. Both said it was a LOT of work, but it looks fantastic. Kelly didn't make it, though. :( I was hoping to meet her and check out her Cafe Apron. I'm sure the snowstorm we had was a definite factor in the smallish attendance (I was 30 minutes late myself).

I'm really looking forward to the next few months of the club. Next month is Nancy Erickson's Fashion Sewing Group patterns, and then Jalie patterns in May. In the fall we have a month for HotPatterns and Decades of Style, so that should motivate me to get my HP pattern made up (and maybe order a few more! ~G~).

More Snow

We woke up to more snow this morning.
I had hoped to get a lot of sewing done this weekend, but only managed a Swing Bag and part of an In Town Bag. Connor was up Saturday night complaining about his ear, and my nose started dripping like a faucet yesterday. The pattern club meeting is tomorrow night, and I'd still like to make a Chelsea Tote and the Cabo Halter.

Once the snow stops I'll get out and shovel.

Card Making

Valentine's Day is coming, so we are working on making cards. I got this idea from a Family Fun magazine (the 2/2006 issue, I think). We cut hearts out of white cardstock (these hearts are 5" tall and 5.5 inches wide). Then we cut the same size heart from pink translucent paper (on clearance at Michaels -- how convenient!). I was able to get 3 hearts out of a standard sheet of cardstock, and 5 hearts from the 12x12 translucent paper. I then used a fancy edge scissors (deckle edge maybe?) on the pink heart. The boys then used the foam stamps to stamp a heart on the cardstock. The stamps are all different kinds of hearts, and we used bright pink ink.

Next we punched an even number of holes around the edge -- we found 16 was a good number. If there are too few, the candy falls out. Now we laced 1/4" sheer ribbon through the holes (24" was just the right length). Before the boys get to the last few holes at the top, they put some candy in the valentine. Some Gobstoppers and Sweet Tarts seem to be the winning combo. I'm partial to Conversation Hearts myself.

Our finished Valentines! Pretty cute, no?

I RAN OUT!!!

ARGH!!! I ran out of yarn for my purple sweater. I have only 3 more rows of ribbing to do (222 sts each row) and then the bind off row. I'm probably only short 30 yds or so. I could just scream! (well, I did). Anyway, if anyone has a bit of Classic Elite Duchess in color #1095 (a plum) and in dyelot #169 you could send my way, I'd be so grateful. I'll send you a little something as a thank you.

I'm going to try the yarn shop, but I don't have my hopes up.

my good friend Esther has found some for me!!!!

Amy Butler "Pattern" Festival

I belong to an Independent Pattern Club, and each month we pick a pattern line to focus on. For February, we'll be discussing and showing Amy Butler patterns, one of my fave indie lines. I want to bring a bunch of her things to show, so I had a "pattern festival" (you know, like a film festival) last weekend. Clockwise from the bottom left I have: Drawstring Handbag and two In Town Bags, a Chelsea Tote Bag, a Swing Bag, and the Favorite Clutch, from the 12/2005 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting (I'm told this is the clutch from the Dorothy Bag pattern, which I believe has been discontinued). I also cut out a muslin of the Cabo Halter.

I stitched up the drawstring bag this weekend (it's cute!). The rest are all prepared with fused interfacing or basted canvas and ready to stitch. Our club meeting is on the 13th, so I have about a week to get them made up.

Soliciting Ideas

Two months from yesterday is my fifteenth wedding anniversary. I looked up an anniversary gifts table, and have found that the traditional gift is crystal, while the modern gift is watches. Usually David and I don't really do much of anything, maybe dinner out, but this year I want to do something special for him. I am stumped for ideas that would tie into either crystal or watches (wait, I could do something along the lines of 'time'. hmm....). Ideas anyone?