As I was browsing around blog land today while the baby napped, I have found some more giveaways going on now.
Check out Michelle's! It's her birthday. What a great way to celebrate.
Also, check out Jane's A.R.K. Lovely stuff indeed.
Julie has reached her 100th post. She is giving away a package of "pink." I love it!
Elizabeth is giving away an absolutely stunning quilt! Check it out and sign up to win. I have added a banner in my sidebar to reach her giveaway quickly.
Happy Sewing,
ETA: The winners are Terry, Tammy and Sue.
I am happy to be participating in Fall into Fall Quilters Blog Giveaway being hosted by Debi from Quilting With Debi.
This is my very first giveaway. I am *sew* excited. So far there are 40 participants. Be sure to hop over and check out everyone's giveaways. Just click on the scarecrow in my sidebar to navigate there. By the way, Debi is giving away a prize to those who participate in this.
I could not decide what to giveaway, so I am having 3 prizes! All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post between now and October 14th. I will draw 3 names on the 15th. It is not necessary to have your own blog, but I must have your email address in the comments in order to notify the winners.
So without further ado, the goodies:
First up is the pocketbook I made with coordinating checkbook cover, zippered coin pouch, key ring and a nifty little notion from That Patchwork Place® called "Ruby Beholder."
Next up is an electric potpourri burner with ivy leaves, a grape smelling tart from Yankee Candle called Shiraz, and almost full yard of beautiful fabric with gold ivy leaves all over from Marcus Brothers. There is only a small rectangle cut out of the fabric as it was for a challenge in the quilt guild I use to belong too. The light is new, I did however take it out of the box and test it (and photographed it the other day).
Finally is a book of plastic templates for hand piecing called Best-Loved Quilt Patterns from Oxmoor House, a little fall fabric basket that I just finished, 4 fat quarters from an old collection called Morning Glory by Moda and a cute little composition book for your pocketbook. There are no instructions to the templates. My house flooded a few years back and the companion book that held all the color photos and instructions was totally ruined. I have decided I am not going to hand piece, so I cannot use these. The fat quarters are pre-washed as they are from my stash.
**Please forgive the dark photo quality. It has been overcast and gray here for days. Also, when I finished the little fabric basket it was already getting dark.
Good luck everyone and have fun!
Happy Sewing,
ETA: Please stop by Zana's Ninis. Her blog is very new, and she is participating in this "Fall into Fall" giveaway.
Also check out Quliter Going Bananas 100th post giveaway. Her prize is a mystery!
Hop over to Drucilla's Stitches for her Fall into Fall Giveaway.
So I am still very down in the dumps. Other things keep happening to me that have just knocked me lower and lower. I am trying very hard to not fall into depression again. Last major episode had me away from my love of my crafting for almost 3 years. I am attempting to keep blogging to help hold my head up.
I found some pictures that I had meant to post about. Apparently, I forgot about posting. So, I am going to do an update on projects, share the stuff I have done (even if it was a little while back) and give a sneak peak at some of the stuff I am going to put in my giveaway.
First up is some totes I made a few months ago before I started blogging. 
I had purchased 2 kits from a local sewing machine shop. The pattern was called "Totally Toteable Totes" by a local designer. I seem to have misplaced the pattern, so the name may be a little off. I have had these kits for many, many years. The kits came with the pre-quilted fabric and the coordinating prints. The pattern just intimidated me a bit.
Well, I decided to just go for it. It was simple, but I did change the construction some after making the black tote. I am disappointed in the first one and wish I had not used that fabric first. 
The blue and yellow one is made *sew* much better. I also added a little loop inside the second one to hook my keys to. It already had the potholder like pocket and covered button and loop closure. There is also plastic canvas in a sleeve at the bottom for stability. It can be removed for washing. The blue one is really not my style, but it reminded me of those Vera Bradley bags. She has one now that is going for $46 and another for $78!
I wanted the black one more. It is okay. I just did not like the way it was put together following the pattern exactly. I may be giving away the blue and yellow, or I may use it for my library bag. I have not made up my mind yet. I still need to make my kiddos a library bag.
Next are just some utilitarian sewing. 
I was just *sew* happy to have these UFO's done! They were in my pile for at least 4 years!Surprisingly they still fit my daughter! All that was needed was elastic on all of the knickers.
The tank is from a camisole pattern and just whipped up at the same time from some scrap fabric given to me by a friend who moved out of state. I wanted to use my new coverstitch binder I purchased off eBay.
I also made my second pocketbook I posted about earlier. 
I made the handles a little longer this time. I think it turned out really cute. I may be giving this away too. Still not completely sure. I want to make coordinating accessories first though.
I also won another giveaway! I had forgotten I entered this one. It is from Helen from her blog Quilts & ATCs. If you have not been there, cruise over there now. She is in the UK and does wonderful work.
I also went shopping sometime last week or the week before. Here are some of the goodies I picked up.
Not all the fat quarters are new. I was playing with the colors and deciding that I want to might try the quilt in the magazine I got the pocketbook pattern from. I will not be using the top row of fabrics in the quilt. The rust, green and tan colors go well in my master bedroom. I also went to my local Yankee Candle store (my favorite candle and fragrance shop in the world) and got some more tarts. I decided to try out the oil, so of course I needed a couple of new burners! I will not get to do this much anymore. This was spent out of my one and only paycheck I received. : (
I am also playing around with these fat quarters:
I am calling it Salsa! (These prove my love affair with BRIGHT fabrics! LOL) I am not sure if it will be bag or a placemat for my doggie's food and water station. Poor little fellow needs something as he slips on my laminate floors when he is trying to eat. It is incredibly funny to watch, but I am starting to feel bad for him.
I need to make a jacket for my littlest boy as he lost his last year, and I am sure he has grown a bit. Just need to find a pattern, a zipper and pick up some fleece.
As for my daughter's quilt, I was playing with ideas for quilt designs and noticed that the top borders are really wonky.
Most of it I can deal with, but that top portion is just way too bad even for me. Can you see it? Looks like I need to frog stitch and try to correct it some. One day this quilt will be done and on her bed!
Now, I have decided to participate in the big fall giveaway I posted about a couple of days ago. This is my very first giveaway! I hope it goes well. I may have more than one prize. Here are some of the things I know I am giving away so far:
I am still trying to decide on what else I will include. I also want to make those little fabric baskets I keep seeing everyone make. If I get one done soon, I may include it too!
Of course I have been trying to catch up on housework and yard work too. I am close to being done with that...for a day or two at least. VBG
I have lots of things I would really like to get made. I want to redecorate my guest bathroom using 1930's reproduction fabrics. I want to sand and repaint my coffee table and end tables in the formal living room. I want to make a table runner for fall, lots of potholders, a Halloween wall hanging and *sew* much more. I am thinking about crocheting some new doilies or a blanket. I want to get a counted cross-stitch started. My, my, my. I do believe I have crafter's ADD. I seem to get bored easily and move on to something else, even before I finish what I was already working on. I may need some professional help!
Well, until next time...
Happy Sewing,
Okay, first off, I want to thank all the wonderful comments my few readers have left. Thank you for making me feel *sew* much better. I am still crying as I type this, but I know this will pass as it always does. I really wanted to work at that company.
As my dearest friend always tells me, when God closes one door, he surely leaves another one open, you just need to find it. Well I found a very tiny doggie door. I am going to see what it will take to open my own quilt store. It will be online only for many years if at all. I have a sweet, gracious sewing buddy, who has been amazing the past year as a true friend, that is very interested in owning and operating an online fabric store also. She is willing to partner up with me to see if we can make this dream we share a reality. I sure hope I can figure it all out as she will be backing this endeavor financially to start. Otherwise, it would still be only a dream. Anyone with any information about how to go about this, please give me a hint. <wink>
Since I have lots of time on my hands yet again, I have been catching up on my blog reading. I have missed several giveaways! However, I did find one this morning that you can still enter. Hop on over to My Yellow Farmhouse and leave a comment. Her blog is pure, unadulterated eye candy!
I did whip up a pocketbook like that I mentioned in a previous post. However, I used some home dec fabric for the first one. I truly love this little bag.
Hopefully, if I can keep my mindset
positive, I will get the other one done today. I plan to make matching accessories using some great tutorials I found online. These will be made to match the home dec fabric pocketbook as I purchased the small remnant that was left after I had my yardage cut.
In other happy news, I got mail!! LOL My prize 
I won from Linda over at Living4Quilting arrived yesterday afternoon! Again, thank you *sew* much Linda. It really helped me out of a very, very low mood.
Happy Sewing,
Well, I have started my new job. I love it, but my feet are definitely not use to standing all day long. The kids and hubby are still adjusting to the new schedule as is my poor old body!
The best part of this job is helping the customers with their projects and, of course, talking crafting and sewing all day long. A customer came in with a darling little pocketbook that she made. I simply had to make one too. So I picked up the magazine and some fabric to give it a go. She said it was quick, easy and pain-free. It is definitely sounded like my kind of project indeed.
Here are the fabrics I picked. Everything is cut and ready to sew up. I'm hoping to have it done tonight.
I have been neglecting housework all week due to the new job. I am trying to get that under control so that I can play in my sewing room.
I found the photos of another quick project I made a couple of weeks ago for my fur baby.
I used McCall's 3472 in the smallest size.
I recycled an old sheet for the pillow insert, and old pillows for 
the stuffing. My dog's name is Chili Pepper, so naturally I found some fat quarters with chili pepper prints. My plan was to make 2 covers, but so far only one is complete.
The first one was made entirely wrong. I do not know if I was still asleep or ill that day, but I messed it up completely. I have to re-cut all the side pieces.
So far that is all I have accomplished in the crafting/sewing/quilting department. If my schedule stays as it is right now, I will have Friday, Saturday and Sundays off. Also, I have not been scheduled to close either. I have my fingers crossed that it stays this way as it is ideal for me.
Happy Sewing,
Having all my fabric up on my old/new shelves in my sewing room closet makes such a difference in being more productive. I apparently purchased this beautiful fabric specifically for backing of my quilts.
I loved the soft hand and soft print. No wonder I purchased over 10 yards of it.
Good thinking on my part! LOL
Now I can get this quilt done for my daughter's room. 
(The background fabric says P.S. I love you! I plan to put seed beeds or tiny buttons for the eyes.)
Happy Sewing,
First up is the picture of me just getting started. I used 1/2 inch plywood (the nice 
sanded type) and added a layer of heavy duty aluminum foil. I then wrapped that with 100% cotton batting (Warm and White), 2 layers. I am thinking now that I might want more padding. The plywood was more expensive then the regular type because I was not paying attention when I picked it up. Regular, cheap plywood is fine. Also, the foil may not be necessary, but I wasn't sure. My plywood was supposed to measure 30" x 60" but was a little more in both length and width. Which was strange since I watched the woman measure accurately. She may not have cut as accurately though (she was new at Home Depot).
I then wrapped bleached muslin (the cheap kind-no photo) and the silver 
ironing board fabric. If I recall correctly, I used 2 yards of each fabric because of the widths they came in. I stapled around the edges like crazy. I think I get carried away with the staples on any project like this! I was undecided about what fabric I wanted to use, thus I purchased the silver stuff and the muslin. I then decided to put both on so that when the silver stuff needs to go, I still have something over the batting. I also chose Warm and White batting and bleached muslin because I tend to burn the seeds in the natural types and stain my fabric.
I decided for now to just 
screw it to my old ironing board. I added some handles for easy moving by myself. The handles, screws and ironing board base were all re-purposed stuff I had on hand. The wood, foil, fabrics and batting were all new. The handles I cut off a free bag. I really despise those particular bags as they do not feel like real fabric. They tear way too easily.
Another view of the back, leaning against my fabric closet:
(You should be able to click on the pictures for the larger version to see any details that may be of interest. *wink*) I think I am going to add one more larger handle to the opposite side for ease in standing this thing up. I open the legs while it is like leaning because I cannot do it the normal way the old ironing board works. However, I cannot seem to stand it up on my own very well. Another handle should fix that though. It is not really that heavy. The old metal stand I am using is the heaviest part, lol!
Here it is set up as I will normally keep it in my tiny sewing room. 
Please excuse the mess and the nasty carpet. This is the only room with the original carpet still in it. I have yet to shampoo in here during my deep house cleaning the past week or so.
I love how at the top height it snugs up perfectly against my extra cutting table by the window. This allows me to keep my irons and ironing supplies off the board.
Here is the board in use. Of course, this is not a large piece of 
fabric. I wanted the set up out here to be visible.
When I want to iron my large pieces of fabric and quilt tops, it will be set up here in the formal dining room. This room is still mostly empty as my large dining table is in the small breakfast nook right now. I like it this way at this point because this empty floor space is where I cut and pin patterns that are oversized like home dec, and where I layer and baste my quilts. It use to be my sewing room, thus the fancy design wall you see in the background. My new sewing room, oldest son's old room, is unfortunately just too small for a design wall.
I must say again that I am loving this board. I realized that I do still need a regular ironing board. I wanted to be able to remove the big board and still use my ironing board, but for now I purchased a small table top one for only $7.88 (guess where at that price, lol, the 88 cents is a giveaway). That will work fine for now. Eventually I want a really nice ironing board for garment construction and regular clothes ironing. I also no longer care for ones with T style legs. I'd much rather have the type with 4 legs as they are more stable to me. I have had this ironing board for, most likely, going on 17 years.
I also did not do cleats or anything on the bottom of the board to hold it on my old ironing board. This way, I can take it off, and it fits perfectly on my main cutting table in my sewing room. Here's a picture of that cutting 
table without the board on top as I forgot to photograph it while it was on there before screwing it down. Duh. Anyway, this table is old and broken so I do not fold it up and move it around anymore. I like that I can store stuff under it unlike the newer one from JoAnn's. One day when I make curtains and other stuff for my sewing room, I will make a skirt to hide this stuff and protect it from sunlight.
Well, that's my DIY board. As I said I love it. I am re-ironing the backing for my daughter's butterfly quilt now. One of the reasons I finally made this board was that backing. It was a nightmare ironing and was still very wrinkled using my old ironing board. The backing is 90 inch wide bleached muslin.
Next post, I will be posting some photos of a few finished projects that I have been working on. Until then....
Happy Sewing,
Check out the blog of Designer Heather Mulder Peterson. She is giving away a pattern. If you comment, mention that that Sunny sent you there, and we will both get a copy! How cool is that! I am always finding these giveaways from anotehr blogger and sometimes mentioned who I got the information from. This is sweet.
AND....browse Debi's blog. 200 posts!
Happy Sewing,
Ok, today was the first day of school. It was just a crazy, horrible day. The kiddos and I were running just a few minutes behind, so we missed the school bus. Ok, no prob, grab the keys, lets go. Oh no, I left my engagement diamond solitaire with my anniversary diamond surround wedding band on the nightstand in my little boy's room (I took it off to lotion him up after his shower this morning because he has really dry skin and eczema). I tell young man to grab it for me so we can go. I am outside when the other mommas (and dads) are coming back from the bus stop. Of course we chat for a bit. Then, lo and behold, the bus comes back by the front of my house and stops for me. I literally throw the younguns on and am saved that traffic nightmare. Whew!
I continue to chat with my neighbors. My sewing friend decides to come inside to check out my closet I have been stuffing and for some chatty time. All of a sudden I realize I do not have my wedding rings on! Oh no, little man did not give them to me. He sure enough went back in the house to get them. My friend remembers me telling him to go back in and get it. She also remembers he did not give it to me.
I start to panic. It has been at least 20 to 30 minutes since this has happened. I jump in the car, drive to the school and get there just as classes are starting. I rush to his class, he doesn't have it. He gave it to me! No honey you didn't. Where is it? I don't know. I gave it to you. No baby, what did you do after you went inside to get mommy's rings? He cannot remember. I had already checked EVERYWHERE I had been that morning to be sure he had retrieved them as I had instructed. My heart is racing and I am getting upset. He keeps changing his story because he is getting upset, plus he just doesn't remember exactly (he is only 6 and entering 1st grade). I checked all his pockets and backpack. Nothing.
Ok, I run to my daughter's class. Ask her if she knows. She knows nothing about the rings at all. Okay. I am in tears. He must have dropped it on the school bus. Not good. The bus was already off to make the other rounds for the other schools and older kids. I run to the office and ask them what could be done to catch the bus driver. Nothing really, call this number. Yeah, right! It's the first day of school all over here. Getting nowhere!
Run back home, tear the house apart. Go outside and look all over the ground and even the street where the bus stopped. Nada. Then I cry, scream, cry, call husband, cry more. I called my buddy to come back over so at least we can sit and talk sewing. Maybe that will make me feel better. She is coming up the driveway along the grass on my pavers I installed.....AND THANK GOD! she is scanning the ground too and finds it in my grass! Oh my blue heavens. Thank the Lord! What a relief. Of course more crying...tears of joy!
Thought that was the worst start ever of a day, but it only got worse. Little man got sick and the school called around noon. I had to pick him up. He threw up at P.E. Oh no. When I get there, I finally figure out that he fell in P.E., scrapped his knees and then started to bleed ever so minutely. Well, he throws up when he sees himself bleed! No matter how small. I don't know why. No one else in my family has ever done that. Well we went home and decided to get my errands finished.
I take back purchases to stores from our school prep shopping spree. That itself was a nightmare. I really hate returning things, but it had to be done. Then I wanted to do some grocery shopping and get some more stuff to prepare for the storm Fay. However, lines were so long, that I had to leave without my purchases to rush home as my daughter would be arriving home on the school bus. I had to be home. Well, the buses were 30-45 minutes behind. Goodness. My friend, my angel, said she would wait for my little girl so I could go back and get my groceries. Awesome.
Go grocery shopping. Stop at several stores for bottled water (hurricane prep) and cannot find any. Happens all the time when there is a storm a coming! Oh well, I will figure something out. I run back home and my dear friend is just leaving to take my daughter to her house because I was taking so long. So sorry.
I get a call from the school system automated thing that school is canceled for tomorrow. Terrific. And here I was really looking forward to school starting today so I could get so much done and play in my sewing room and relax and ... (you get the picture). Well today was most certainly not what I had expected.
So tomorrow, I am sleeping in, then doing nothing but watch cartoons with the kids. I hopefully will get my post done with my pictures of my DIY "Big Board" up. I have been using it and absolutely love it. I don't know why I waited so many years to make one. Ironing my large yardage (and even smaller ones) have been super quick and pain free now! Hallelujah!
Until then....
Happy Sewing,
Sunny (too burnt out to do anything fancy in this rant of a post...good night all)
Happy Sewing,
