First 2 Pillowcase Dresses Done

Here are the first two! I had to totally deconstruct the animal print pillow case so that the animals would not be going down the dress, but across instead. I still have to hem that one, but it turned out cute. 

The second one has straight stripes on one side, wavy stripes on the other. I used the pieces I trimmed off to make a little purse, and to add a pocket to the dress. I like it.

This weekend I should be able to get 4 or 5 more done so I can add them to the donation box for Haiti and get that delivered to the church next week. 

Challenge yourself this weekend! Get out one of your own pillowcases, or get one from a thrift store, and try this. Once I figured out that the hem of the case = the hem of the dress and used store bought extra wide double fold bias tape for the arm holes, it was a piece of cake to make them.

If you do make one or two, I would love to see a pic of the finished products!

Pillow Case Dresses for Little Girls in Haiti

I read about this on another blog. http://jamiinaction.blogspot.com/  Jami is doing a lot for Haiti earthquake victims, and in the process of adoption from Haiti as well. How nice that she is inspiring others to make these simple dresses to send as clothing for all the homeless and orphaned little girls there!

The tutorial is here http://freshlypicked.blogspot.com/2008/03/pillow-case-dress-tutorial.html  and Jami said they take only about 20 minutes from start to finish. Here is a photo from the tutorial so you can see that it is perfect for the warm weather they have and how cute it turns out.

If you want to participate, Jami can give you lots of information, including addresses to mail to. Please join in!

Cowboy Cookies and Quilt Art for Kids and Tyler

I have made these twice in the last 2 weekends.

They are so good, I just had to share! I found the recipe in Family Fun Magazine (which is great) while I was teaching a preschool class at a local daycare center. Kids just love to help cook, and of course because we were making cookies, it was a big hit. We were studying the letter C, so Cowboy Cookies was a no brainer.

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/best-ever-cowboy-cookies-699671/  Here is the recipe link and it includes photos. If you make these, don't skip the refrigerating the dough part. It really helps.

Also, the current issue of McCall's America Quilts from the Heart magazine (Winter 2009/2010) has a wonderful piece called "Start with Art" about making your child's artwork into small quilts to preserve for them. How cute is that?   http://www.mccallsquilting.com/articles/Start_with_Art   What a wonderful idea! Those precious little drawings on paper just don't hold up forever. These will.

My grandson spent another day with the great grandparents and my mom yesterday. He is great therapy for my grandfather, who is forgetting a lot of things these days. He never forgets about Tyler, though, and boy does it make his whole week when my daughter takes him to visit. How could this little face not make anyone's day??

His bib says "Trouble is My Middle Name." LOL It might as well say "Just Try to Say No to This Face." He is going to be 1 in March, but is already walking and has had FIVE haircuts so far! That boy has his mama's (and my) hair!!!

Needless to say, I am saving the Cowboy Cookies recipe for cooking lessons with Tyler, and I am sure his mama will want us to turn his early artwork into quilted wall hangings when we get to finger painting and cut and paste stages.

Don't grow too fast, Tyler! I'll be patient.

New Ironing Board Cover

Thanks to Thimbleanna.com - her January 7th post - I was inspired to make a very easy new cover for my ironing board. The one that was on there was scorched and stained and due for replacement, but since it is an unusual size, I didn't want to have to look for another store bought one.

This was so easy! Just took the cover off, cut around it, making it an inch larger all around, and sewed it onto the old cover making sure I didn't catch the drawstring in the stitches. It took a total of 20 minutes.

I used a 2 yard cut of lemon print home decorator fabric I had so the cost was Zero Dollars!! Yeah!

It feels good to be productive, make something useful, and not spend money on it, doesn't it? And it is fresh and cheery too.

Here is the link if you want to make one too http://thimbleanna.com/?p=940

Fat Quarter Giveaway

I am posting about the great giveaway at Kati Cupcake. A stack of wonderfully girly fat quarters!

Someday I hope to have a granddaughter to spoil with tons of girls dresses and quilts, so if I win this set, I am going to enjoy looking and feeling the beautiful prints until the little girl comes along.

http://katicupcakequiltingco.blogspot.com/2010/01/this-fat-quarter-bundle-needs-good-home.html



Above is the giveaway link.  Amy is a wonderful designer and blogger, so add her to your blog roll and keep up with her daily. It is #1 on my blog list!

The other kind of buyer's remorse and stuff

Not like when you get something and it turns out to be junk. No, I am talking about when you buy an expensive item, like a new computer (because yours bit the dust) and new monitor (not cheap) over the weekend and then on Monday morning, your car won't start. Like that.

Yes, my baby didn't want to start today. A tow truck took her to the dealer this evening after Mr. This Is My Blog said it is not a battery issue.

So, what else is going on in Pensacola? Mardi Gras is approaching. I have yet to go to one of the local parades. Maybe I should put that in the calendar this year? I have been to the big party parades in New Orleans. It could be fun seeing the smaller scale local version, right?

My grandson is in the photo contest to be on the cover of Baby Bella magazine. It is local too. I want him to win so he'll be on the cover, or at least in it. He's too cute not to be a little famous! Right? http://www.pnj.com/bellababy  Voting means making a small donation (25 cents per vote,) which goes to a good cause, supporting literacy in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. If you could, please vote for H. Tyler Dominic! He has no votes yet!

My quilting mojo is coming back, so I will be able to post some updates and photos about that in a few days.

Class at Joanns Fabrics store

I took the tshirt quilt block class last night! It was great! It seems so easy now, I have total confidence to make a whole quilt from tshirts this year. The teacher and other students were all so nice too.

While I was sewing and learning there, I thought about how I have only had one class on quilt making. Oh I wish I had access to more classes, but there is no quilt shop in Pensacola anymore. Even the sewing machine repairman packed up and left town. So I have spent the last 5 years figuring things out on my own from websites, blogs, books and magazines. Great resources. I am glad I have so much information available to me 24 hours a day.

Also during the class we talked about how wonderful all the gadgets are that make this creative process so easy now. Can you imagine cutting all those pieces by hand with scissors? Sewing by hand each and every stitch? I would not make it. I don't think it would be nearly as fun. Thank you, whoever invented the rotary cutter! And the acrylic ruler! And most of all, the sewing machine!

No home computer still, so no new pictures to post, although I would love to show you the block I made last night from a Yosemite tshirt. I promise to get one posted soon. We should be computer shopping today or tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

New Year's Resolution and local happenings

Well, we are still freezing here! It has been in the teens when I leave for work. The furnace runs constantly just trying to keep the house at 65. I am trying not to have nightmares about the upcoming electric bill. Who knows what the plants outside will be like come Spring. I have serious doubts about my lime tree. There is a beach towel frozen to it. Did that help at all, I wonder?

On the news this morning they said that the Gulfarium in Destin is rescuing sea turtles from our too-frigid waters because many have already died. They are here this time of year to lay eggs. I hope the rescue is very successful. We need more sea turtles! They eat jellyfish and we have TOO MANY of them every Summer!!!

Other local news: my grandson, Tyler, is 10 months old today! He is starting to walk already, and now has 6 teeth!! Such a big boy already. They grow so fast. I visited with him last night and we looked at the great pictures in the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I bought one for me and one for my daughter. (PW is an awesome cook, among other things. You must check out her blog here  thepioneerwoman.com  You'll be hooked! I can't wait to try more of her recipes.)  Tyler just loved looking at all the horses, cows, chickens and cowboys in there. We noticed that everyone wears a hat, which has been of interest to him lately. He doesn't really like wearing them for warmth, but he does occasionally try tupperware on as a hat. Too cute!

So, my resolution? I am putting the brakes on myself this year. In one part due to the fact that I made a lot of things in 2009 and not one thing has sold on Etsy pensacolaquilts.etsy.com yet (sigh) and also because it is embarrassing how many unfinished projects I have. I have counted 15 UFOs, and there may be one or two more lurking in bins that I have not remembered yet. FIFTEEN Unfinished Objects!! There is no reason why I shouldn't get those done and not buy or start anything else this year. This is a tough challenge to me because I am so addicted to fabric shopping online. I love so many of the upcoming and recent fabric lines, so I have to just not look. Also, I have so many wonderful ideas from magazines, books and patterns that I would like to make. But instead I am going to delete all those emails I signed up for and pray for strength. It would probably be easier to do the whole "I am going to exercise every day and eat right" resolution, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Other news is that my home computer is down for the count with a bad virus. I hope the tech people are able to resurrect it with all my pictures and data in tact. Should be a whole week without it, which means I can't add new photos here for the time being. When I can, I will post pics of the UFOs I am determined to finish.

Stay warm people!

Empty Nest Syndrome

I picked a fine time to start a blog. Had I known that my daughter and grandson would suddenly move out right before Christmas, and that I would slump into E.N.S. I think I would have waited to make this commitment. I apologize to anyone who is actually trying to follow my blog. I promise to pull it together and start posting regularly, and with pictures and stuff. It may not be the most exciting blog in the universe, but I can do better.

Speaking of not blogging, did you read that crazymomquilts is quitting her blog?   I was stunned and a little sad. I'll miss her posts. You can catch up on the past here http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com. She makes such amazing quilts and other projects. It was really great reading and seeing everything she has been doing. I hope she has a wonderful new adventure ahead of her.

So, while I try to pull myself together from having a suddenly empty house, and try to get my quilting mojo back after the holidays, I wish you all a wonderful start to the new year. Here are some holiday pics that I finally got from Mom. Thanks Mom!

Here is what is truly amazing and wonderful about this Christmas. Tyler gets to be with his great, great grandparents! He sees them about once a week, but it is so incredible to have 5 generations together. They were there the day he was born too. I think it is safe to say that they adore him.

Here is Mr. This Is My Blog with our grandson, Tyler. We got Grampa to get rid of all that grey beard after he saw this picture. Yeah! He looks 10 years younger with just the goatee and mustache.

My beautiful daughter with Tyler. He got lots of new pajamas, and lots and lots of toys and books, of course.

Happy New Year!