Finishing Up....

With my stamina not being normal right now, I have been happily working from my sewing basket full of unfinished projects. It has come as a blessing to have so many designed and planned out projects that do not require me on my feet for all of the prep work! One of the few times that I am actually happy for not having finished what I had started! After a very quiet and needed rest day-much of it spent in bed yesterday. I found that today I had a little bit of energy to sit at the sewing machine. The kids finished up school and are all happy for time to play together outside, so I have been finishing up some of these things this afternoon.

A fun infinity scarf made from vintage jersey knit-love the Charlie Brown stripes!

A new set of 4 cloth napkins made from 2 pillowcases.

A maternity dress I appliqued with birds-for the shop.

And some new patches made from scrap fabric.

Felt good to accomplish some more.

I was able to finish up a pair of sleeping pants for Joslyn as well-but forgot to get a picture of them;)

UPCYCLED BED LINENS SALE TODAY ONLY...

IT IS THE THURSDAY'S UPCYCLED BED LINENS SALE. ALL RECLAIMED BED SHEETS, PILLOWCASES, FAT QUARTER BUNDLES, QUILT SQUARES, YARDAGES, AND FLAT RATE BOXES ARE 25% OFF TODAY. HAPPY SEWING!!

Planned for Years...

Years this has been brewing in that creative part of my brain. Years I have been patiently gathering shades of lovely color. Years I have been fighting the impulse to begin too soon when I peered at my shelves of magical color. But this weekend....it was time to begin. Here are glimpses of a peaceful work of hands. Worked on while waiting for precious friends to arrive, worked on after they left this morning giving me a chance to ponder all they had shared about the new adventure they were embarking on, and worked on after a good afternoon of yard work while I sat and watched my kiddos play under the sun. Just small snips of time, but each filling this rug with warm memories. I hope to finish this within a year, but I will not rush, I will simply enjoy and hope that it will become an heirloom.

A Pair A Day...Once Again...

I know it seems a bit silly to be thinking about mittens right now, just as the sun is beginning to warm our days and the winter gear has been packed away. But I took a few months off of mitten making and it was just enough time for me to enjoy other projects and look forward to working on new designs. So, here we go with the "pair of mittens a day" with 2 new pairs finished this weekend.

Saturday's were the Spotty Crocodiles.

And today's were the tide pools finished after the kiddos were in bed.

Beautiful layers from the Past...

I finished with a big wholesale order this week and it has been a few weeks since I have sat at the machine for anything else:). Each night, I thought I would be able to sit down to work on some ideas swimming around in my brain, but the nights came and went with other priorities to tend to. But today has been a rainy day with no pressing needs outside the house, the kids have been hard at work on their studies and in between working with them, I was able to finish a new tote I hope to use at Easter. Most of my bags are pretty dark or wild:) so I have been slowly designing one that is neutral and a tad bit elegant for those dressier occasions.

Here is what I began with....

Two basic but lovely beige linen napkins-I found these at a thrift shop. I bought 4 of them for $2.00.

I have some muse boxes that I keep my laces, trims, doilies and hankies in not only for projects but for inspiration. I pulled these out to find just the right pieces to add to the tote.

I start by playing around and layering hankies and the needlework pieces I think I want to use.

Once I have it the way I like it...I take a picture for reference(the age of digital is so fabulous!) because then I back track and start sewing each piece on one by one, slowly layering them. Here are the steps I went through...

Sections of vintage hankies went on first.

Next I added the vintage needlework pieces, pinning them a bit just to keep them from bunching.

Once the front of the tote is finished( I left the back plain)-I picked out the fabric for the handles and the lining. This type of tote really would not need to be lined due to the way it was sewn but a little extra strength to it is always nice. I had set this striped bed linen aside for some summer beach pants for my Noah but there is just enough extra to cut a strap for the tote. It was just way to perfect looking to pass up.

Then for the lining I decided to pick this softer and subtle daisy bed linen fabric that kind of plays off of the yellow flowers on the hankie.

This is how it all turned out. It is a larger tote. I believe it is something like 20x20. But especially on Easter, with my husband being a Pastor, I am usually single- momming -it and require a few aides which require a large bag:) Let's call it the grown up version of a diaper bag since I no longer have babies but my wee ones still need a few things on longer mornings.

And here are a few favorite pics of mine of the process. ah..peace...

And last but not least, a quick pic of part of the wholesale order I filled this past week.

6 fun pillowcase dresses. It is that time again!

WeEkEnD sALe-FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY....

The weekend sale has begun....

Everything is 25% off. Happy Shopping!!

I Think I have a New Favorite Color...

Just finished another few brooches. The part that is the most fun about these, is the picking of the unique color combos. They all take on a life of their own when the colors get mushed together. No 2 are the same. Here is my new favorite. I think purple is my new favorite-too bad it is such an extremely hard color to find in old wool sweaters! Here is a peek at the new brooch.

When do I sew?

My husband just handed me a warm cup of sleepy time tea, which is code for "You need to get some rest" after listening to me cough and cough. Fall is my favorite season by far, but with it comes months of allergy mayhem, sore ribs, difficulty sleeping, blah blah blah;). And the cold season has taken our home as well, and even tough the disinfectant spray is at my side arming me for battle, I have been taken down with a cold. So, what do I do when I get sick, I cozy up on the couch with my favorite quilt, softest pillows, pop on the TV, and that lasts all of 10 minutes! Actually what happens when I get sick, I sew which is no surprise because I sew when I am happy, I sew when I am mad,I sew when I am sad, I sew when I pray, I sew when I am bored(never happens), I sew when I can't sleep, I sew when I should be asleep, I sew when I watch TV, I sew when the kids are watching TV(helps me keep a close eye on what they are filling their minds with), and so on.

So back to what I was trying to get to, when Friday hit, and school was done for the week, it was time to crash. Matt came home from work and said he really would like to go see one of our students play in a football game Friday night, we always wish there was more time to do that, so I was excited for him to go do that! After the kids were in bed, I snuggled in at my cutting table for a bit and worked on some mitten designs. I did a bit more yesterday when I was up to it, and was able to get some sewing done this afternoon in between making caramel apples with the kids, and watching Madison and her best friend Emily work on a lip sync.

Here are some of the works in progress and some of the finished pairs.

These are a few pairs that are in the works for a friend. I have the rest of the pieces cut now waiting to be sewn up. Here is one of the finished star pairs.

I finished another pair of the fallen tree mittens and have them listed in the shop. Truly season inspired!

This design I first made for a friend and have begun putting some more of them together for the shop. They are my holly berry mittens. They are in the shop now.

A fun new pair of little blooms for a young girl of around 5-8 years old. In shop tonight.

And I realize that most of my mittens are girlie-so with that thought, I have added some star design mittens. They are for 5-8 years old approx. In shop tonight.

BED LINENS SALE TODAY ONLY....

All reclaimed bed linens are on sale today! 20% off....see shop for details.

Glimpses to Share

It has been awhile since I have posted regularly on projects around here, so I thought I would just share some glimpses of them, lots of lovely little impulses for summertime, chances to give my feet a break, bringing a calm to those tough, busy days. Some of these may even become tutorials, maybe when the kids are back to school, I will have a chance to do a bit more writing. But, here it is , a summertime of inspiration in progress.

Put up a little tent in the back yard for the little ones! I think maybe I will escape out there to do some reading!

Ahhhh....summer.....

I took a bunch of squares left over from different projects and put them all into one quilt called random joy. It is a quilt of eye candy for any scrap lover.

A few minutes here and a few minutes there, on this one. No rush, just relaxation.

Some "works in progress"...Making Strawberry Shortcake quilted throw pillows out of vintage bed linens.

Also working on Vintage Annie Pillows too

I have been working to get the store restocked with wee ones caps for the fall and winter season. These caps were made from some super soft and playful colored turtle necks.
I have actually found a pattern I liked working with-I am not much of a "pattern" girl. But this taxi tote was a lot of fun. I have enjoyed being able to use some of my favorite fabrics in my stash for this.

Madi worked on a taxi tote for a friend of hers that just moved away. We are really missing her already. It is a perfect design for beginner sewers!

I found a beautiful rose bowl on one of my hunts and have filled it with old scrabble letters. It has been used as a centerpiece on our dining table, the little ones love to crawl up on the table to play with them. I pretend I do not see them up there;)

I have been working with the large amount of sheet hems that I end up with when cutting them for the fat quarter bundles in the shop.

I am making a ruffled blanket with them. One layer at a time......

Here it is so far....IT IS HEAVY!!!

We had to pull out the carpeting down in my workroom due to our air conditioner leaking:( But the carpet was overdue for being removed anyways. We had to pull out my fat quarter wall though, so it was alot of work.

The wall is all put back together. We got a carpeting with some good padding-which my feet are desperate for. I have been going through getting diagnosed with what has turned out to be multiple heel spurs. I am actually waiting on MRI results to see just how bad they are. Staying off my feet is just not very easy with 5 kids!!and a fabric store;) But this carpet will help when I am cutting fabric. So, the work of replacing it has been well worth it!

Josie and I went thrifting together one afternoon and found her a "treasure" box. We are working on painting it. She has so many ideas!!! Fun to work on a project together!

Tonight, I was able to get the side curtain panels finished in our living room. I had worked on the main window weeks ago but wasn't sure what to do for the smaller windows. I did not have enough of the original fabric I intended on using - but I am so glad because I believe these turned out even better. They are just simple fabric shades that get tied up during the day. All made from vintage bed linens.

They matched so nicely with the curtains already up.
This lovely little needle work piece is going to be a pillow. It took a bit of thinking to figure out how I could design the pillow to showcase even the delicate edge. So I attached the entire panel to a scrap piece of white cotton. The cotton will be what I attach the back to allowing the little ruffle to be seen when finished.

Sweet little scrap pillow. I did some deep cleaning of my supplies and decided to put some things to use instead of storing them. I had a few pillow forms that needed some fun slip covers. Perfect little scrap project!!

All finished....

Took some time a few weeks ago to get a hutch painted and added to a dresser in our kitchen. There has not really been any room in our kitchen for decoration until now. Loving having my cookbooks easily accessible!

All finished!!! Well, it is getting late, I should get to bed. There are a few more to share, so I will have to do a 2nd post on the glimpses of inspiration around here. Hope you are all having a great summer!