Going Green...

...in the grocery store. I made these two shopping bags and am donating them to my grandsons' school fundraising auction. I like both of them, but especially the embroidered one, because it is just darned cute! (at least I think so)
I tried and tried to make a collage, but Picasa is not cooperating with me all all. Darnit!

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"Not Exactly My Colors.....

Grams." I have had the wonderful experience of teaching my just twelve year old grandson to sew. And yes, these are not his colors, this is a bag he would never carry...and I probably would not use it either.....But, it is what was on hand, someone, a little girl might like this and it was a good beginning for sewing and matching up seams.
I think that he did a fantastic job. The only thing I did was show him what to do and I did do the pressing..showing him the difference between pressing and ironing.
I also helped him to sew a pillow case..no pictures..but flannel with "POW and SMACK and SOCCER and FOOTBALL on it.
I am amazed at how well he did. do click on to see how wonderfully he did

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Soaking It Up....

.....with this small set of coasters that I made for a good friend. They should help with the drips from her glasses of lemonade.

And for me, some knitted sponges. It is a silly little project, but I am so tired of my stinky old sponges. I do run them through the washer, or nuke them in the microwave, but these are much more aesthetically pleasing to me and there are enough here for me to wash happily away with a clean one every day, or two clean ones if I am feeling especially virtuous on the front lines of the never ending dish washing skirmishes.



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I Got Mail!!

I picked this box up at the post office yesterday.

The box measures 12"x7" and it's 5" deep.

Can you guess what came in that box?

...yards of fabric? No.
...40 spools of thread? No.
...an itty bitty sewing machine? No.
..35 patterns, a new pair of scissors, a measuring tape, a rotary cutter and some interfacing? No.

This box contained my brand new, teeny-tiny leather thimble!
Do you think the company has gone green yet? I calculate that it took 1/8 of a small tree to make this box and all for a thimble!

I am, however, absolutely thrilled to have it! My husband was chuckling at me as I was dancing around the kitchen with my thimble on my finger.
I asked him what was so funny and he just said, "I love it when you get so excited about such small things."
(Small things amuse small minds, I guess.) I am excited to have this lovely thimble and I have ordered two hoops. I am determined that one of these days I am going to learn to do a little hand quilting.
My only concern is that my car will not be big enough to hold the box that my new hoops will come in.

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First We Had........

........The Brave Little Toaster.







Now we have:The Brave Little Coasters.

These will be wending their way to their new home, ASAP! I've instructed them to fly swiftly with no dilly dally or side trips.





They were great fun to make. I was helped by a great tutorial from Jenny B. at allsorts.
The fabric is Sonnet Collection by April Cornell for Moda.





This was my first swap ever and I really enjoyed it.

I hope that the recipient will enjoy them as much as I did in making them.



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p.s. If you click on the coaster pic. you will get a better idea of how pretty this fabric is.

P is for..

...a little person's passion.
I was stumped for a personal "P", so I am borrowing from my three year old grand daughter and her Passion for cooking. I've blogged about that before, so I won't repeat myself here. I made this little apron for her last week and sent it home with her Dad on Sunday. I hear she likes it and is planning to wear it to church! I hope she is planning to wear something underneath it!

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Post Op Report

You may be interested in the fate of Coats and Clark All Purpose, Dual Duty Art.210 XC 161. Surgery was performed at 10:15 a.m. PST. The patient has survived, although she is still in recovery. No anesthetic was administered (note vituperative attitude of Surgeon) and, other than a hand washing, no antibiotics were employed. The Surgeon did note a bit of discomfort on the part of the patient when the initial cut was made, also when sanding devices were utilized, but this is not the Good Samaritan of Sewing Hospital, nor is it Our Lady of Perpetual Concern when it comes to recalcitrant, mean spirited spools. You reap what you sew here, and since the Surgeon in charge could not sew, a large reap (weep for her if you wish) was called for. Coats and Clark is now in ICU (oh, look, someone sent her flowers!) and it is hoped that her time there will be spent in quiet contemplation and in a determined state of atonement.
Note to any reader: Did you realize that emery boards come with a warning label.."Keep Out of Reach of Children". Now honestly, I raised two children and never felt the need to keep my emery boards locked away in a cupboard. Call me irresponsible, call me unfit, call Children's Services...I ask, what is it about an emery board that posts a problem? I did try to cut myself with one, slit my throat, injure the dogs, but nothing happened. Perhaps if I take two out into the sunshine and rub them together I'll be able to start a fire.

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A Short Note

Dear Coats and Clark....specifically All Purpose, Dual Duty, ART.210 XC 161,
May I take this opportunity to tell you to what extent you have ruined my afternoon of sewing. I would prefer to swear here with gusto and conviction, but I have all ready done that, right before I turned off the machine, the lights, closed the door and stomped down the hallway in a proverbial huff!
I was blaming my poor innocent sewing machine and my stupidity, only to realize that after six attempts to fill the bobbin, and one attempt at a long seam, that it is entirely your fault. If this were winter, I would throw you in the wood stove in an instant, and with great glee. You are brand new, pregnant with thread, but refuse to cooperate because: that damned doohicky notch on you catches the thread every time. I have tried to "sand" that slot down with a finger nail file. It hasn't worked. I hate that groove anyway. It takes an act of God to find it in the first place, and then another miracle to release the end of the thread from said groove.
The obvious solution would be to turn you around so that the slot is on the opposite side of the thread as it's released...but that doesn't work on my machine. It has to feed one way and one way only. I am unsure at this point what awaits you, but at this juncture, it feels as if you may be facing a violent death...and one which I may prolong, just to torture you as much as I possibly can.
I am going to play in the sprinkler. Don't you dare move from that spot, don't even think about it for an instant. You are in Time Out!
No sincerely, no love, no solicitations,
Ellen

Inspiration

I am going to use these colors that are just outside my back door as inspiration for sewing a little something...that is as soon as I can beat a path to my sewing machine. I hope that this miracle will occur in the next 48 hours! It will take nothing short of a miracle at this point.
I'm realizing more and more that I need to find a better system for storing "stuff". I am not sure what that is going to entail, but I do know that if I have to shift lots of boxes around to get to what I want, it creates more of a mess and is very discouraging. I'd love to have a bigger area to work in, but that is not going to happen. I do have a small bedroom and that's more than I had before my children flew the coop. I do appreciate that even this small space is a luxury. I need Mission Organization on hand!
I love the colors of the flowers and like the bit of blueishness of the hose thrown into the mix.

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edited: one of my flower shots refuses to be downloaded...they are zinnias in bright pinks and oranges.

HELLO KITTY!

Hello Kitty!
Hello Kitty!
How are things in
Camp Sew Pretty?
I'm so happy with your newness,
And I just adore your jaunty, shiny blueness.

You're a wonder,
Nine pounds under,
And I'm twitching
To get stitching.
You're a tiny, sweet patootie,
Let's get sewing, let's get going, do your duty.

Hello Kitty!
Hello Kitty!
Things are great in
Camp Sew Pretty.
You're so charming and disarming,
I'll just mention one more time now,
Hello Kitty!


with apologies to Allan Sherman

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Oh, These Were The Days My Friend

Only a few shots of some of the patterns I dug up. Wow, was this the 70's or not? I've kept some, most have pieces missing, and many that would be suitable for today, are not suitable for a 65 year old bod. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about that young thing I used to be.
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Three Bags Full

These are the "Easter baskets" I made for my two daughters-in-law and a friend. I filled them with tea, a scented candle, a little sachet and some yummy smelling soap. All in all I was quite pleased with them and I think that they liked them too.
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A Little Book Bag for a Little Friend

I just can't get a decent picture today of this little bag. It's too dark and I have no photography genes in my make-up.
I put this together today for a first grade girl who loves to read. I am going to be her substitute grandma at my old stomping grounds where I taught for many years.
The pocket holds a little felt bookworm who is holding a book titled The Big Book of Butterflies. I wanted to name the book Ten Easy Steps to Metamorphosis but thought that that might be lost on a first grader. The little worm comes out of the pocket and although he is a bit chubby he could be used as a bookmark. I'll add a few books to it before I go over for Grandparent's Day. I hope she likes it as much as I loved making it.
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