Lyanna Jean Designs

A Great Gift

2012-01-27T22:05:00.000-05:00

You know how there is always someone in your life that gives you the best gifts, and they're always so humble about it?

Well, this year for Christmas I was given a massive jar of buttons from said person.

Yes, buttons. My 2 youngest and I played in them for at least an hour; matching, sorting, and finding treasures was all too much fun!

Now, I know most of you are thinking 'a great gift?', but seriously I was grinning ear to ear. You see, I LOVE buttons. I have another jar with at least this many in it, and another small box with buttons still on cards, and a pint sized jar with one of those boxes of random buttons they sell for crafts at JoAnn's in it.

You see, I love buttons. There, I said it. The jar is pretty rockin' too may I add.

I'm hoping tomorrow to make some great things with some of these babies, maybe naptime will be a productive one.

I've also been crocheting up a storm lately, it seems to be one of the things I can do to wind down and relieve some ankle/feet swelling at the same time. More on that soon, the crocheting of course.

PS: Sorry that I've been MIA for about ohh 2-3 weeks, you see I have 4 children (ages 9, 6, 4, and 2) and they decided to share a bit of a stomach bug. Being pregnant and dealing with that is just not good, not good. Then my computer decided to have it's own version of the virus. Fun times I tell you.

Pattern Review: Simplicity 5382

2012-01-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

When looking for a pattern for a girls nightgown I came across Simplicity 5382. I really wanted a somewhat old fashioned nightgown for the girls, and I absolutely love the options for this one.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Surprisingly, it did. I don't say that because my things turn out horrible or anything, but most of the time the drawings on the front don't seem very realistic to me (maybe I have issues with the artwork of it...).

Written Instructions:
Everything was very clear. There were also plenty of picture throughout each portion.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
First of all, I only paid one dollar for it, so it's fantastic just for that. But really, the best part about this pattern for me is that it has short or long sleeves and separates options. The pattern pieces are the same with just different cutting lines for the sleeve/pant lengths, which means I only have to transfer the piece once to thicker paper and can use it for a few seasons. There will be some summery nightgowns this year for sure!

Fabric Used:
I decided to use flannel backed satin since for some reason I had some, and 2 yards of 2 prints is quite a lot of some. I can guarantee that I will not be making nightgowns with flannel backed satin again. Maybe pajama pants, but that's about it. It was not fun to work with: didn't ruffle well and didn't stay lined up well even with pinning.

Level Of Difficulty:

Beginner to Intermediate (depends on how much details you're adding).

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I hemmed the bottom about an inch shorter for my 2 1/2 year old since I made a size 3 for her, I wanted to be sure she wouldn't trip up the stairs. Also, instead of making a loop for the button at the end, on the second one I used some elastic cord (like the kind that holds shoes in pairs when you buy them). Tie a knot, them sew it in on the step when you're sewing the ends of the yoke together.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes, I would sew it again. I love how it turned out and both my girls really like them. The next ones I plan to make will definitely be with either some linen or eyelet that I was gifted this last summer. Can't wait. Definitely recommend this pattern.

Conclusion:

This pattern is good for a beginner, not very complicate and you can omit all trims to make it more simple. The nightgown itself is very comfortable (from what I've been told), and keeps the girls nice and warm with the fabric I used. It is also loose enough for them to play in and not rip it.

Handmade Christmas Gifts Part 2 - Purses

2012-01-09T07:42:00.000-05:00

These were one of my favorite projects from December. They came together quickly and I used some fabric that I loved but never reach for when quilting (still not sure how/why that happens...).

I used Martha's Reversible Purse pattern, and I quite liked the sheer simplicity of it. I think I would like to use a heavier weight fabric for one of the fabrics the next go round just because there is no interfacing or lining to these and they seemed kind of light.

There is a blue one I made for me (not pictured), a little Christmas gift for myself. Love it.

2011 Mosaic

2012-01-07T06:57:00.000-05:00

Since it's a new year, and what-not, I thought it would be fun to make a mosaic of last years projects and extra bits that I enjoyed. I made it over at bighugelabs.com, very cool stuff over there.

1. My First Plain Vest, 2. Hexies, 3. Zig-Zag #1, 4. Doubled Cable Hat, 5. My Singer Treadle, 6. Nikia Hat, 7. Twisted Cowl, 8. Split Twirl Skirts, 9. Cauliflower and Lettuce, 10. My First King - Front, 11. Granny's for Crochet a Rainbow, 3, 12. Granny's for Crochet a Rainbow, 2, 13. IMG_3180, 14. Granny's for Crochet a Rainbow, 1, 15. Scrappy Disappearing 9-Patch, 16. Pink n Green Progress, 17. My First Pouch, 18. Grandma & Me- Bobble Block Blanket, 19. Ripple Scarf, 20. Marigolds, 21. FTR- Closeup of Front, 22. Christmas Came Early, 23. Baby Girl's Christmas Jammies, 24. Reversible Purse, 25. Snoopy Stockings, 26. Scripture Journal Cover, 27. Green and Yellow Sashiko Pillow, 28. First Ever batch of Home Canned Green beans, fresh from the garden!, 29. 1st Charity Quilt of 2011, 30. Home Canned Chicken is THE BEST!, 31. My First Mini, 32. Boy's Christmas Jammies - 2011, 33. Made a Bow Holder, finally, 34. Memorial Quilts - 2011 order, 35. Blueberry Upside-down cake., 36. 2nd Charity Quilt - 2011

Saugsage and Tortellini Soup

2012-01-06T06:16:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I love soup, I even have an entire Pinterest Board just for soup.

I found a few different recipes for versions of this soup, but really didn't follow any of them. Most of the time I look up recipes to get a ballpark idea of what goes in it; for example the sausage, tomatoes, and noodles in this one. Luckily, this soup was an instant hit with the whole family! I think my husband commented on it over 3 times, and that's quite a lot for him.

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. Turkey Keilbasa
- 1 can stewed tomatoes, un-drained and chopped
- 3 cups water
- 1 1/2 tbsp. French onion soup mix (or 1 pack)
- 1 beef boullion cube
- 1 14oz carton beef broth
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
- 2 cups chopped cabbage
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 16 oz. frozen tortellini
- Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Slice sausage and brown in dutch/french oven.

Add all other ingredients except tortellini and cheese. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes.

Add frozen tortellini, raise the temperature and return to a low boil. Boil for 8 minutes or until tortellini is done.

Top with Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

I served this with warm crescent rolls, but I think I would've preferred some homemade dinner rolls (typical).

Handmade Christmas Gifts Part 1 - Pajamas

2012-01-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

It was kind of hard for me to wait until after Christmas to blog about the gifts I made, especially since some of the recipients actually check out my blog occasionally. So, I'm gonna dish on the few things I managed to whip up for Christmas gifts this year.

After the holidays each year I always wish I would've been better about planning ahead to be able to have given more handmade gifts. Ahh, maybe this year right?

Either way, I love making my kids pajamas for Christmas, even though I always end up working on one set the week before Christmas. Never fails, no matter how early I start.

This year I went with some easier ones for the boys, just fleece pants. I did make some pants for their build-a-bear guys too, they were a hit.

For the girls I used the Simplicity pattern 5382. I'm thinking I need to do a review for that pattern, there are a few notes I want to remember for sure. The first one is: do not buy flannel backed satin unless your life depends on it (no, it really isn't that cute), it doesn't ruffle well and sucks when trying to keep things lined up.

They all came out well, and all the kids were very happy with them (bonus). Bad pictures though, I still need to work on my indoor lighting for taking pictures at night.

Have a Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T07:14:00.000-05:00

Naturally, we have been quite busy in these parts preparing for the 20 minutes of paper flying that is coming.

Hope you have a Merry Christmas!!

This Week...

2011-12-17T08:11:00.000-05:00

Tuesday brought with it my first (successful) knitting and crochet group. Two good friends came by my place and had their first lessons, one knitting and one crocheting. It was such fun! I don't think I've laughed that hard in quite a while.

Between trying to teach 2 completely different things, I did not work on any of my own projects which I really didn't mind.

Progress is coming along nicely with my ROYGBIV Ripple. I decided I didn't like the first yellow that I picked, the texture was all wrong. So, after on 3 rows of frogging I was at it again, and much happier with the second choice.

Lots and lots of baking was happening, and apparently Martha was the go-to source for recipes. This week I made:

Chocolate Crackled Cookies
These were great! They are like a cross between a brownie and a cookie, so good!

Cranberry Shortbread
These are a favorite in my family!

...and...

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies (not Martha's, but Hershey's)
New recipe for us, but everyone loved them. Definitely a keeper!

My oh my... I don't need to do much more baking or I'll need to make myself some mumus to wear (the not-so-pretty ones).

Friday night brought our church Christmas Party (one reason for so many cookies). We had lots of fun. My family along with my in-laws sang 'Away in a Manger' together, and I stood the farthest from the mic... I know better than to quit my 'day job'. Yes, our youngest is hidden in the back, but this was the best photo.

The best part of this week so far though by far was when my little girl sang 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' at the Christmas Party.

Thankfully today will be an easy one because we'll be celebrating this guy's birthday!

Nothing like tons of family around, and hopefully I get lots of photos.

Christmas Came Early This Year...

2011-12-03T14:08:00.000-05:00

Thanks Santa!

This Week...

2011-12-02T08:53:00.000-05:00

... I can't believe it's December already.

... half way feels pretty good.

... socks will be popping on the needles soon.

... homemade soup was/is delicious, I need to remember how much I like homemade slip pea with ham soup.

... 5 1/2 months comes and goes.

Photo courtesy of my 5 year old.

... the laundry fairy forgot to visit, I think they need to be fired.

... we ran out of hot chocolate. HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN??? It was almost the end of the world for some in this family.

How was your week?

Tons Of Tutorials - Make Your Own Christmas Stockings

2011-11-30T06:30:00.005-05:00

It's the last day of November, so Christmas crafting is either in full force or completely done for each of us and I'm sure someone out there needs to whip up a stocking or two to deck their halls with.

If, by chance, you don't have a need for some stockings then head over to Purple Panda Quilts because Lyanna (I KNOW, how amazing that she's got the same name as me!) does an annual stocking drive for foster children from October 1 to December 1. There are lots and lots of tutorials on her site as well.

Here is a compilation of TONS of different ways to create a stocking (quilting, sewing, crochet, and knit), from vintage-y to modern styles.

All but one pattern is FREE!

Each link takes you to the pattern for stocking, or if you want to be extra creative you can just use one of these as a template to create the shape you like and use whatever you have/want.

Quilted:

Secret Santa Stocking Pattern (PDF)

Scrap Stocking @ Maggie Makes

Christmas Stocking @ Stamp*Stitch*Create (bought pattern)

His and Her Scrappy Christmas Stocking @ Moda Bakeshop

Sewn:

Recycled Sweater Stocking @ The Long Thread

Rick Rack Stocking @ Martha Stewart

Jingle Bell Stockings @ Martha Stewart

Recycled Wool Stocking from Scraps @ Resweater

Knitted:

Zig Zag Stocking by Vicki Howell @ knitting.about.com

Personalized Knitted Christmas Stockings @ Canadian Living

"Basic Sock" Christmas Stocking @ Pickin' and Throwin'

Both Crochet & Knit Patterns @ Berroco.com

Crocheted:

Waiting for Santa Stocking @ Red Heart

Holly & Berry Stockings @ Red Heart

Free Christmas Stocking Pattern By HolyJeans30

Happy Crafting!

My First Table Runner

2011-11-28T09:49:00.003-05:00

Here it is:

I love how it turned out!

It's reversible, and both sides are quilted differently.

Things worked out exactly how I hoped they would, so it was a breeze.

It's a Christmas gift and since it was gifted already I can definitely post about it, lucky me!

What gifts have you finished already?

Our Creative Spaces

To Grandmother's House We Go

2011-11-22T09:41:00.001-05:00

Tonight we head out!

Our 'little' family will be going to my grandma's house in West Virginia, I've only blogged about it a few times... here, here, and here.

Thankfully, we'll be stopping tonight at my Dad's in Maryland and staying the night. It'll be nice to break up the drive, it would be about 7 hours one way (and that only includes 2 short stops) otherwise. Making that drive in a Mazda MPV with 4 kids isn't exactly easy/fun.

I've got a project (possibly two) going along with me. I'm pretty excited to get lots of hooking done on this soon-to-be baby blanket (on Ravelry here):

This is a project that was inspired by Lucy at Attic24, she's doing a ripple-along, her ripples are simply adorable!

Loving all the colors. Maybe I'm trying to get more into scrappy crochet... I've got tons of granny squares that I need to kick myself into making into something because I think I'm abandoning the original King-sized plan for them. (I know, how horrible to abandon an original project... it's either that or it's gonna sit for much longer than it already has.)

Wish me luck (and sanity...).

Double Cabled Hat Pattern

2011-11-17T05:58:00.001-05:00

This hat is great, and fits well since it is knit entirely in a cabled stitch. The head circumference is more of a ballpark figure in the sense that this hat will stretch quite a bit.

Materials:

Caron Simply Soft (or any yarn with 4.5 stitches per inch)
Size 6 and 7 16" circular needles
Size 7 double pointed needles (dpn)
Stitch markers
Cable stitch holder
Yarn needle
Scissors

Pattern:
(intermediate level)
Sizes: 19" (16 1/2", 21 1/2")

Cast on 96 (84, 108) stitches
Repeat chart all the way around until piece measures 5 (4, 6) inches from the bottom. (Chart below)
Begin decreasing on a row which you will NOT be cabling. You will also continue to knit in pattern throughout decreasing.
1st decrease row: *Knit 10 in pattern, Knit 2 together, place stitch marker* repeat until end of row.
2nd row decrease: knit entire row in pattern.
Repeat 1 decrease row and 1 row knit in pattern, with each subsequent decrease row like this: *knit in pattern until 2 stitches remain before a stitch marker, knit those 2 stitches together* repeat.
Repeat until only 8 (7, 9) stitches remain, switching to dpn when comfortable.
Cut 8 inch tail and thread tail into needle and through remaining stitches.
Weave in ends.
Enjoy!

Chart Explanation:
Cable 4 Front means you place the first 2 stitches on a stitch holder or cable holder and bring them to the front of your work. You then knit the next 2 stitches, then pick up the stitches on the stitch holder and knit them.

Cable 4 Back means you place the first 2 stitches on a stitch holder or cable holder and bring them to the back of your work. You then knit the next 2 stitches, then pick up the stitches on the stitch holder and knit them.

Just a reminder, my patterns are for your personal use and enjoyment only. They have not been tested, so if you find an error feel free to let me know at lyannajeandesigns@gmail.com.

Our Creative Spaces

Yesterday Was A Good One

2011-11-16T09:59:00.001-05:00

First, I want to share with you the best part of yesterday: we got my oldest sons school pictures back.

Now, he's the joker when it comes to photos, and is always the one making faces. Needless to say, my fingers were crossed all day picture day that he would take a nice photo.

I couldn't be happier!!

It was somewhat painful to pay for these photos considering I just got a nice new camera for my birthday, but I am a sucker for school photos. (The color is a little off since I took a photo of a photo)

Another awesome thing about yesterday is that I did little selfish sewing and made a journal cover. I quite like it, I'll put together a tutorial the next time I make one for sure! It went so quick.

Front

Back

Inside flap

This cover came about because I am starting a scripture journal. I found this really really great site called The Redheaded Hostess and her journal is simply amazing! I have never thought of putting one together like this, and I am so so glad I found her site and can be motivated by her spectacular example. I'm a really looking forward to studying each of the topics, I used her outline as a jumping off point especially since this style of studying is new to me. Even if you are not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, you can adjust this outline to topics that fit.

So, naturally I 'needed' a cover for my new journal. I did press it like madness, but after having to flip it to be right sides out those creases just wouldn't come out (starch and all).

Another bonus yesterday was that my oldest son had a half day at school. We headed to get free frosties with our Halloween coupons at Wendy's and then went to the bank to cash in their piggy banks (this is a super exciting thing in these parts...).

Thanks to my kids for a great day!

Our Creative Spaces.

Vintage Navy Print Dress

2011-11-15T16:31:00.000-05:00

I love thrift stores.

I haven't been thrift store shopping in ages... well, months really, but it's felt like forever.

Every time I go thrift store shopping I look for a vintage dress for yours truly, EVERY TIME I tell ya.

NEVER have I found one, ever...

until last week. *sigh*

It was almost like love at first sight. I loved it so much, I just had to try it on (something I almost never ever do when thrift store shopping). I know the sleeves are a little short, but that's the price I often pay being 5' 9". I even got a compliment from the girls in my YW/YM Sunday school class, made my day!

It's so great I can even wear it pregnant because of how flow-y and loose it is!

On Sunday, we all went outside so my husband could take a few pictures of me. It's always awkward for me to have pictures taken, always has been. I'm glad he got a few good shots, even though I was having some serious static cling going on... I can never win.

I also took a photo of him in the vest I knitted and finished last year (and yes, I hate ironing clothes thus the wrinkled pants):

What do you think? It took me almost 2 years to finish this vest, I kept putting it aside for other projects. I put it on Ravelry here.

Holiday Crafting In Full Force

2011-11-10T10:03:00.002-05:00

How many of you are cranking away at all your holiday crafts?

I'm pretty impressed with myself so far, a little pat myself on the back I know....

Usually December 1st rolls around, I watch it pass, and I still haven't actually started any of the projects I have lined up as gifts.

Not this year folks!

Here are 2 blocks I've finished towards a gift, and since I'm not putting any more blocks into the project I feel like I've passed a milestone within it. They're both the same block, a Star of Hope, and the green came out a little darker in the photo.

Hoping this one will be done by tomorrow.

I've already finished up making PJ pants for each of my boys and their Build A Bear guys (hoping those ones fit... making a pattern from something so tiny was a little different).

Also, on the hook this week is the first scarf (of hopefully a lot) I'll be donating to a local charity that gives tons of stuff to the needy. I'm thinking a few hats and maybe some mittens will be in order too, just depends.

I can't remember the name of it at the moment, it's kind of a long one. But, they give bookbags with school supplies in the end of summer, hats scarves & gloves in the beginning of winter, and many other things to needy children locally throughout the year. A friend from church is a big part of it, so it's nice to be able to give her stuff as I make it.

Yesterday I got 10 Simplicity patterns for $1 each. Seeing that I saved $139.87 printed on the bottom of my receipt was like winning the lottery! Oh it was great I tell ya. I only got 10 patterns, and some 1/2 off candy corn (of course), so almost all of that savings was on patterns. It's absolutely ridiculous how much patterns cost sometimes.

I'm planning on making the PJ dresses for my girls, some bow ties for the boys, and my oldest daughter and I will work on a coat for her doll for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to all the sewing to come!

I even found a great pattern that will make a cute dress for me that I'm hoping will work great for the pregnant belly and even after wards, it's #2660.

Linked up with Our Creative Spaces, please check out the site it's pretty awesome.

This Month

2011-11-05T17:48:00.000-04:00

I was thinking it would be fun to jot down some randomness each month, you know sort of a 'to-do'/wish-list of sorts. Here goes.

This is what my marigolds in my vegetable garden looked like 2 weeks ago. I don't really want to put a picture up of what they look like now because it's just not pretty. I love how beautiful nature is and how amazing these colors look, but most of all I love how it is constantly changing. This month there is an awful lot I am looking forward to, change and all.

This month...

... I want to have a fire every single night, in the fireplace of course. Hot chocolate may accompany (grin).

... I get to have my big ultrasound. We're not going to find out what gender the baby is and I'm so very excited.

... My 'little' family is traveling to the farm in West Virginia for Thanksgiving. I can't wait! Visiting them/there in the fall is my most favorite.

... I need to tell my husband that I love him every single day because, well, I do.

... I'm hosting my first knitting/crochet group at my place, exciting stuff!! (And, I hope to get a good post up about it!)

... I want more things on my To-Do list to move to the Done list.

... I will wish most days that I had a mantel atop my fireplace because all the pine cones I keep seeing about are just calling to me. Maybe a wreath will be in order soon.

... Lots of Christmas crafting will get done, that way I don't feel so bad if I take a day to do some selfish sewing and make myself a new purse. I've had one 'on the list' since last Christmas (even have the most awesome Anna Maria Horner fabric for it, eeee!)

Photo from Fabric.com

Grandma Dot's Bobble Square

2011-11-01T09:02:00.006-04:00

This pattern is a translation that I did from an original work of my Grandmother's. She created the pattern but stopped working on it, and lost the pattern she wrote down. I tried my best, and credit goes where credit is due!

*On a side note: this is my husbands favorite blanket (apparently it's 'his' now) because it's just warm enough. He's the type of person who is always on the warmer side, and he just loves it.

Supplies:

Worsted Weight Yarn, I used Red Heart Acrylic, Super Saver size (any material will do, raid you're stash for a colorful blanket!)
Size H hook
Scissors
Yarn Needle

Pattern:
Block measures 7 inches square.

Pattern in US terms. I took a photo at the end of each round so that if you are a very visual person (like me) it might make things easier. Plus, you can hold up your work and compare if you want (I always do). The pins in each picture are placed in the corner stitches. Also, I got about 12-13 blocks from each skein, it is always better to get one extra skein when trying a new pattern just in case.

On Ravelry here.

Bobble: *Pull loop on hook slightly to make it a little larger. YO, insert hook into stitch on previous round, pull loop through.* Repeat twice more, total of 6 loops on the hook. YO and pull loop through all 6 loops, chain 1 to complete bobble.

Ch. 3, join to make ring.
Round 1: Ch. 3. 11 dc into ring. Join to 3rd ch. st.

Round 2: Ch. 1, pull loop to make slightly larger (about 1/2). Make bobble where you joined round 1. Make another bobble between the next 2 dc from previous round. Make one more bobble between the next 2 dc from previous round. Chain 4. Repeat making 3 bobbles then chain 4 a total of 3 more times. Join to top of first bobble in round.

Round 3: Slip stitch into space between first two bobbles of previous round. Make 1 bobble in space between the first 2 bobbles of previous row. Make another bobble between the next 2 bobbles of previous row. Ch. 1, 5 dc, ch. 1 all in chain 4 of previous round. *Make 1 bobble in each space between the 3 bobbles from previous round, ch. 1, 5 dc, ch. 1* repeat from * to * 2 more times. Join to top of 1st bobble in the round to finish round.

Round 4: Slip stitch into space between first two bobbles of previous round. Make one bobble in space between the 2 bobbles. Ch. 1, (1 dc, 1 ch) in next 2 dc from previous round. (1 dc, ch, 1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch) in 3rd dc. (1 dc, 1 ch) in next 2 dc. *Ch 1, 1 bobble in space between the 2 bobbles from previous round, ch 1, (1 dc, 1 ch) in next 2 dc from previous round, (1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch) in 3rd dc from previous round, (1 dc, 1 ch) in next 2 dc.* repeat from * to * 2 more times. Join to top of bobble to finish round.

Round 5: Ch. 4. 1 dc and 1 ch in space between bobble and first dc from previous round. Then continue working 1 dc and 1 ch into each dc from previous round and on either side of each bobble, in each corner stitch do (1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch).

Round 6: Ch. 3. 1 dc and 1 ch in each dc of previous row. In each corner dc from previous row do (1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch).

Crochet the number of blocks needed to make the size you would like. Each block measures inches square. I made 30 blocks, and 40 were given to me, so 70 total.

Sew blocks together to create the blanket. The one I'm working on is 7 blocks by 10 blocks, makes a nice throw size.

Just a reminder, my patterns are for your personal use and enjoyment only. They have not been tested, so if you find an error feel free to let me know at lyannajeandesigns@gmail.com.
Linked up with:

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Busy Bee

2011-10-27T10:57:00.001-04:00

This morning was one of those lovely morning when I woke up at about 3:30am. Went to the bathroom (being pregnant is wonderful), and then went back to my bed (fell asleep in my littlest boys bed). I tried and tried to fall back asleep, but my mind was anything but tired.

I was creating a mental list of things at 3 something in the am, that's how my brain works sometimes.

What is a mommy to do?

Well, for starters, the smell of fresh bread was in the back of my mind, so here's what was for breakfast today:

This little heel was all that was left of my ham & cheese bread. Next time I'm thinking much more ham & cheese, I'm talking gooey.

I also have quite a UFO list, and an even longer list of projects that I want to get done. Thankfully I was able to cross a total of 4 things off those 2 lists.

The first item being the sashiko sampler that I have been planning on turning into a pillow cover.

I am planning on adding a few buttons to keep the flaps on the back closed up nicely. Other than that she's done. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I didn't want to take away from the sampler, but didn't want a boring back either and I think I nailed it.

In my opinion, one can never have too many pillows. How many pillows do you have on your couch? On your bed? I have an L-shaped couch from IKEA, the Ektorp one I think, and I've got 7 to 9 pillow on it in addition to the cushions. I think there's about 8 pillows on my King-sized bed, and none of them are just decorative. I heart pillows, even have a pinterest board just for pillows. Clearly I need to add some more to it....

The other 3 things were: making a pair of leggings for my Little L from a shirt that was way too short for me, mend a pair of yoga pants for Miss A, and make PJ pants for a little boy who is a good friend of the family. I'll get a photo of this guy in his pants soon, I can bet it will be a good one, he's quite a character!

To top all of this off, I actually put together a post about it and on the same day to boot, with pictures.

Ok, can I go take a nap now??

But first, check out some more of our creative spaces.

Ripple It

2011-10-25T19:50:00.001-04:00

There are a few blogs I like to follow (ok, quite a few blogs...), one of them being Attic24. I love Lucy's color choices and her style.

Crochet was the first handcraft that I learned as a child, I believe I was 5 or 6. Not quite sure when I started because I nagged my mother and grandmother for quite a few seasons before they felt I was ready to learn (or they finally felt ready to teach - not sure which).

Either way, Lucy is doing a ripple-along right now. I've been eying her ripple pattern for some while now, and with it being baby crazy in my neck of the woods there are plenty of baby gifts to be made.

I think this ripple-along will help me stay motivated to finish this gift before it's needed.

This is indeed reviving my love for crochet and it's relaxing powers. Sitting and crocheting reminds me of the time spent with my grandma crocheting. She taught me to make tiny finger puppets when I was about 7. It's funny because stuff like that is all over the internet now.

If you feel so inclined you should join it! There's a Flickr group for it and everything.

Here is the project on my Ravelry.

Linked up with:

Happy 9th Birthday A!

2011-10-19T12:25:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Girl!!

Thank you for being the motivation to get my life turned in the right direction, at 19 that's hard to do sometimes.

I love you, and I'm not sure you'll ever understand how much you've helped me and changed me.

Just Make a Choice

2011-10-13T15:31:00.002-04:00

This morning was a busy one for us, or me mostly. Of course, most days are pretty busy for a stay-at-home-mom of 4 kids with one on the way.

Anyway, I was at the grocery store in the checkout line. This was my last errand for the morning, and I was to the point where the thought of being at home was a very nice feeling. The lady at the checkout asked "how are you today?" (she's the lady I go to just about every single time I'm in this store).

I didn't know what to say. I was tired, stressed, and thinking about the list that is 9 miles long waiting for me to do, at the top being: clean the kitchen where pots have been accumulating for 2 days and laundry.

I looked at her and smiled. Then I said "I could complain, but not today."

You see, I'm really trying to be much more of a positive person when I get really tired & stressed.

She smiled and said "sometimes it feels better to vent". So, my response was "well, I am a little bummed that it's rainy and the leaves aren't crunchy today to go play in."

She laughed.

I'm not quite sure why this was so important for me to blog about, but it seemed to be a turning point for the day.

Putting 'the list' aside, and all the stress. I had a great morning!

I finished the bobble blanket I've been working on since late July of this summer. It's the one that my grandmother passed along to me, and I love how it turned out. I am usually a very colorful, random matching of things kind of crocheter for blankets that are done with squares, but the single color of this one works wonders.

My photo isn't so great, super overcast-y and drizzly day here so not really good light. Maybe once the sun shines again I can take it outside and get some good ones.

I also scored BIG at the farmer's market (Willey's in Townsend) this morning. They had local cauliflower that was huge and simply beautiful, 2 crowns for $6. Must have weighed at least 2 pounds each. The real reason I went was to get my supply of apple seconds:

50 pound bushel for $10. Last year I got about 16 quarts of applesauce and 8 pints of apple butter out of it (as well as eating just a few), and we just ran out of applesauce last month. I'm thinking of not making the apple butter this year though, no one here liked it. Maybe some apple pie filling is in order. Some smaller portions of applesauce would be a good idea too since we'll have a little one in need before this time next year. I have been thinking about getting another bushel, but I'll save the final call on that one for after this one has been taken care of.

My house smells so nice with the addition of this bushel of apples.

Did I mention that the gentleman who helped me take it to the car carried it on his shoulder like it was a beach towel? You should have seen me carrying it up the 6 steps to get it into my house, it was probably quite hilarious to any onlookers....

Besides, Thursdays in the fall can't be all that bad, Project Runway is on tonight!

My First Pouch!

2011-10-08T10:30:00.002-04:00

Yes, I am a little behind the wagon with cute stuff to make. And, I usually skip the easier things to make in the process of learning a new craft. For whatever reason, I go big or go home (not always intentionally).

Anyway, on to the pouch:

How cute is that??

It is a present for a very special 9 year old in our daughter's life (aka: her bestie from birth). I asked my daughter what her friend likes: nail polish.

Naturally we just had to make her a cute little pouch to carry these nail polishes in! I hope she loves it, and since she's not the 'everything must be pink' kind of girl I'm thinking these colors are right up her alley.

I used the zipper end cover that Florence at flossieteacakes did on her pouch tutorial (her pouch is adorable!).

I changed this up a bit, and squared off the bottoms so it would sit well with the nail polish in it. I wanted to quilt it, and I think I definitely need to use double batting, or quilt both the outside and the lining. Other than that, I am really excited about making some more!

Very happy with how it turned out.

October's Welcome Here

2011-10-03T18:08:00.001-04:00

There are quite a lot of things that I love about October. I do live in Delaware so the colors can definitely be enough for me to be in heaven most days!

The 10 degree outside temperature drop is definitely a bonus this year with all the heat we had this summer!

October, for our family, always starts with Conference Weekend. The thought of being able to sit on my couch in yoga pants, a fire blazing, and plenty of snacks and watch church on TV most of the weekend is simply glorious! This years Conference was no different than all the others we've watched, there was a message for each of us that we needed to hear without even realizing it. There were moments of happy tears, and moment of reflective tears for me (always more tears when there's a bun in the oven).

Saturday morning before Conference, I took the kids over to my oldest son's elementary school for their Fall Festival. This is something that the school has been pushing pretty much since the school year started. I have to say, I was rather disappointed. I felt like it was a drive-by yard sale, you know the one that you see fliers for everywhere and even see in the paper then you get there and it isn't even worth getting out of the car... yea it was a lot like that. They did have a moon bounce, so the kids could've cared less about everything else (or the lack there of).

I did get a few good pictures tough.

Dancing, she would NOT go on the moon bounce.

This weekend I also got lots done in the kitchen, which felt so great! I feel like I got my umpf back, finally!! I baked 6 loaves of pumpkin swirl bread, ohh the house smelled so good. Of course, I gave away 5 of them (I don't need to gain that much weight before the holidays...). And I canned about 5 pounds of dried beans. I know, dried beans store for-e-ver, but I find I hardly ever ever use them when they're dried. If I'm making a huge batch of something then I might use a pound here or there, but I like to can them (it's super easy) and I use them up that way for sure. I found the 'recipe,' or instructions really, that I use online at a neat site called The Recipe Link, they have a whole section on canning & preserving. It's got tons and tons of stuff! I'm planning to do another batch of beans this week and hopefully go get my mass of apples to do applesauce too.

Clearly I need to work on taking photos indoors!

For some reason I woke up pretty early both days last weekend. So, Saturday became baking day and Sunday morning I started quilting the Pink n Green Quilt I'm working on for my Mom.

I was originally going to do straight-line quilting for two reasons: 1- it's much faster than any other type I do, and 2- I thought it would look really nice to echo the white squares that the corners of the snowball blocks made. Didn't like it. So, I'm going to stipple it, avoiding the white square all-together since only some of them were trimmed so there is 6 layers of fabric in their intersections (yikes).

I quite like how it looks, and of course my photos are horrible because my lighting in the basement is lousy (to put it nicely). I do have lights that focus on my sewing area, but that's all and it's just no good for photos.

(This one shows the colors more true)

(And this one shows the quilting better)

Either way, it felt good to get started on quilting this monster. Honestly, I was avoiding it for a few weeks... I know, I know, I need to get cracking on holiday gifts. The thought of quilting another king just wasn't appealing... can you blame me?

Wanna See My Mean Face?

2011-09-29T16:39:00.002-04:00

This is our little girl's mean face lately. She will make it if you ask her, but it's much funnier to see when she really means it.

Ahh, much better.

Lets just say that I played with my new camera outside today.

We were heading out for the library, and it was just too beautiful outside.

So, I popped on my mega lens and the UV filter, and Ta-Da!

I actually 'look' like I can take nice pictures now. (none have been photoshoped or edited, don't have photoshop yet)

A few days ago I played with the camera inside, at night. Not good. I realize now that I have horrible lighting in my house... pretty much.

Now I just need to figure out this watermark thing, among many others.

Staying Committed

2011-09-22T11:48:00.002-04:00

to finishing this blanket:

It is the beautiful, awesome project that my Grandma gave to me upon my last visit.

I love my Grandma and have so many fond memories of spending summers and Thanksgivings with her. Watching her bake, cook, can, garden, crochet, and everything else was simply fantastic. I pray that I can be that kind of grandmother to my grandkids (and that kind of relief to my children in the summertime).

She would teach me to do everything and anything she knew how to do, and it was amazing.

(I'm trying not to cry right now - by the way- and I'm hoping it's just as much the hormones as it is the memories)

-Back to the blanket-
I'm just about done!! Only 7 more blocks to make, and only 3 rows to sew onto the sides. I'm so excited to have a blanket that both my Grandma and I worked on. It also feels nice making something that I know my family will be enjoying. I don't think there is a single quilt that I have made that we have kept.

Also looking forward to finishing things up so I can wrap my head around typing out the pattern (and it making sense).

Maybe I have issues with giving things away to other people that I think would need it more than us. I'm a sucker for charity!

My Monday Accomplishment

2011-09-20T15:49:00.000-04:00

On Sunday the kids and I decided it was time to pick our green beans.

Between the hot hot summer we had, all the severe thunderstorms, and that hurricane Irene back to back our little gardens didn't do so great this year. Our pepper plant bit the dust, our tomatoes got broken and knocked over, and our sugar snap peas didn't even make it through the heat, poor things shriveled up in the heat.

However, we were thankful to pick our beans. I was able to get them canned on Monday. Please remind me to do beans on the weekend next time so I can get the big kids to help with the snapping, nothing like snapping peas for over an hour.

I've decided that you definitely know you're a blogger when you find yourself taking pictures like these:

9 Pints!

In case you're wondering, I do prefer the wide mouth jars to the regular. They are much easier to pack and easier to remove bubbles & measure head space. On another note, I used Kosher salt this go round. Can't wait to see if there's a difference.

This is exactly why I love gardening! I get to preserve my own food for my family.

And yes, this was an accomplishment for this week. Been feeling pretty under the weather lately, and praying that it ends with this trimester!

I Got Spoiled This Year!

2011-09-15T16:12:00.001-04:00

Being the Mom usually means that you sacrifice everything and anything for your family. It's definitely a willing sacrifice, but a sacrifice none the less. And this year's birthday was surprisingly far from that!!

My birthday is this week, and my family celebrated this past Saturday. It was nice to have a party that was for our youngest son and me! We got most of the family together, which is all I really think is important for having a successful birthday party.

Some of out awesome friends lent us a 10 foot inflated water slide so we could burn some of the kids energy, and of course they all loved it!

Ok, so lets get to the goods!

This is what I got for my Birthday!!

Nikon D3000 - Source

How awesome is that?!?! I have been wanting a camera like this for about... uh... 4 years or so. And, I'm no photographer, so this is a fantastic entrance into 'fancy camera' territory!

I also got this amazing lens:

Tamron AF 70-300mm - Source

And a pack of filters. The only thing that I didn't get was the memory card (no one realized it did come with the camera). haha. So, I'll be ordering one on Newegg.com (best prices I've found) and then I get to play with my new toy, oh I mean camera.

Sooo excited!!!

If anyone knows of any good photography how-to info online, or any awesome tips/tricks please pass them along!!

A King is Still a King

2011-09-13T10:13:00.001-04:00

This is what I finished doing this morning:

The playroom was officially quarantined since Sunday. I pinned my first quilt yesterday morning, and this morning I knocked out this mammoth of a quilt, took me 1 1/2 hours to pin it. Of course, I am 4 pins short (4 pins... yea), so the very far corner hasn't been pinned. I think it will be alright since I plan to quilt the middle first using straight sticth. Then, I will do a vine with leaves through the white border, and finish it up with more straight line in the final border.

I am very excited to use the varigated thread I bought from Uncommon Thread. I ordered Sulky 30wt 100% cotton (colorway: Melon Soft I think), and they sent me a pamphlet that has every color they sell, varigated ones and solids. Oh, it was heavenly to open it and look at all the thread colors!

I do have to say that I'm not sure how many more King-sized quilts are in my future. They are just soooooo huge. Maybe my bed will be the last one I make a King-sized quilt for. We shall see.

Linked up to our creative spaces.

The Fifth, and Final

2011-09-09T21:21:00.000-04:00

Today I had my first appointment, and it's official (even got pictures to prove it) : I'm pregnant!

(sorry it's very fuzzy, it's a picture of a picture)

{I know, you guys totally wanted to see my insides. funny funny.}

I sure hope so, with all the morning sickness I've been having. Never have I been this sick! I've been hoping that the doctor tells me there is only one baby, and there is only one! (twins are in my family)

Every pregnancy is different to an extent, however, the emotions and nausea with this one are crazy. Of course I am very happy and blessed to have another baby, but this one is proving to be much more challenging than the others (at least for now).

I guess this explains, a little, why I've been such a bloggy slacker lately. I have however been cranking away on Pinterest, it's just so addicting and almost mindless, lately that's been quite nice.

Am I crazy to be having my 5th child, I think so. Crazy in love with my kids and the thought of having another!

Thinking about some things I want to make during this pregnancy has been really fun. There are tons of really cute patterns out there for just about anything and everything baby!


Annabel's Blanket

Baby Mary Jane Skimmers (if it's a girl)

Helena Sweater (for my 2 yr old)

Organized To-Go Bags

Flat Front Pants

Re-purposed Baby Pants (can you imagine these in cute boy/unisex stripes??)

Baby Food Lid Game

There are even sites with clothes altering ideas for maternity wear, google it for even more.

DIY Maternity

Click Here

One thing that has been quite nice is all the nesting that is kicking in already. I haven't been feeling well enough to really tackle what I want to, but the urge is there already! Must be something to do with how this is #5 and I know how quickly things will be over and another little one will be here to snuggle, love, clean up after, and adjust to. Just hoping I get it all done!

September 'To-Do' List

2011-09-07T13:20:00.000-04:00

It is quite amazing how much can be accomplished when the big kids are off to school.

I can say that I am much much closer to crossing a few things of my UFO list. The first one to get knocked off will be my first quilt. Yes, it is a pre-blog project, and I can't find any pictures of it, but I got the top finished last week. I kept it all set up the same way I had originally planned it. I am planning to use the blue variegated thread I have, I'm thinking it will really pop (and I want that this time, lol - remember My First King incident??)

Either way, I have a few things on my 'list' for this month:

- Pin and start quilting both My First Quilt and Mom's Pink n Green Quilt
- Fruity CAL with PlanetJune (how bout them apples??)
- Make new curtains for dining room (and hang...)
- Hang the other white curtains in the living room
- Make some flat front pants for my boys, check out Dana's tutorial it's a great guide!
- Pajama Dress for my daughter's birthday
- Finalize and start prepping for Christmas presents!!

Needless to say, I am a list maker. LOVE LISTS!!

On another note, I have been cranking away on my Grandmother's Bobble Square blanket. It's coming along quite well, and I'm loving how it looks! I'm planning to finish it up soon and take lots of photos!

Another thing from my UFO list that I've been working on is repairing clothes and making patterns from others. That basket is slowly but surely emptying! WooHoo!

How is your back to school to-do list coming along?

My Second King...

2011-08-23T07:24:00.000-04:00

Even though my desire to make another king-sized quilt just really wasn't there... especially since it took me for-e-ver to finish the first one I made, my Mom decided she wanted to quilt and we started working.

Many months later (thankfully NOT years later) the top is completed!! (Sorry, not that great of a picture... it was about 4am.)

*Happy Dance Time*

I always feel really great after I complete a quilt top. I'm not quite sure if that's because I allow myself about a week's vacation from the project or that I know I'm that much closer to the final product. Either way I like it.

Summer is Ending

2011-08-17T06:42:00.001-04:00

I know that the official end of summer isn't until September 21st, but with only one week left until school starts for us it feels like it's ending now.

We went to the Peach Festival down in Wyoming, Delaware, and the peach ice cream was divine. I loved it so much that I went back to Fifer's Farm later that week just to get some more. $5 a pint was painful, but with the taste of it still fresh in my memory I knew I would just hide it and save it until after bedtime. I know, I'm horrible.

The second quilt I was contributing to for our church project was also completed. I used the same loopy quilting on it and machine bound it. I like how it came out, I think the on-point setting and white sashing really helped it look a little more modern considering all the floral prints I had to work with.

I would like to add that all the fabric (except the white) was donated for use in these quilts.

Last, but not least, we have a visitor at our house. One who scares the crap out of me each time I walk out my front door.

That's my front entry, and you see that little tree like shrub? Well, this is what I found in it:

And, mama bird isn't exactly small. Or quiet. Either way, I hope her little ones hatch before we put the new front porch on. I'm thinking that our project will just have to hold out a little longer until the little family moves out, we've only been planning this thing for about a year... it can wait a little.

2011-08-10T06:38:00.000-04:00

Have you seen these 2 lines yet?

From Fat Quarter Shop

I have to back away from the laptop so I don't drool on the keyboard!

These might have to be purchased just so I can look at them all the time!!

Denton Shop Hop

2011-08-05T08:38:00.001-04:00

Last night I was lucky enough to escape to a shop hop at the fire hall in Denton, Maryland. It was a pretty small town, either that or I only saw one side of it.

There were some of my local shops there:

Delaware Sewing Center

Lil Country Shoppe. They had a book called Jingle All The Way - Art to Heart that I really want to buy now. The fabric line with it is simply delicious too!

There were also a few shops that I want to venture to now:

Serendipity had some super cute rolls of fat quarters, one of the lines had blue crabs and starfish ~ Loved It!! They also had some beach bags kits that were really cute, and lots of fun toys - I mean tools.

Shady Lane is a quilting shop owned locally by the Amish in Dover. They had really good prices, and lots of cute fabrics. I will be going there within the next few weeks.

There were also a lot of shops from Maryland that of course I don't remember their names.

Lots of raffle quilts too, one was a blue and white hand quilted- GORGEOUS! I would've entered, but the thought of winning that quilt then having to put it into storage for a few years would just make me cry. I would be petrified if the kids got a stain on it!

The thing that bugs me the most is that I took my camera, and of course didn't even take it out of my purse- errr. I did take my 2 year old with me, so that will be my excuse.

I did splurge and buy some 30s FQs:

The snowman FQ is the one I got when I paid to get in- free fabric is always great. But, I paid $3 to get in, so what exactly was I buying?? My FQ I think...

I'm collecting them for a quilt I want to make for myself, maybe my husband will be lucky and I might share with him hahaha. I already have some darker colors, reds and greens, and a few yellows. There was this one orange one I wanted, but they didn't have it in a FQ. Bummed is not the right word.

I got them at a booth with an online shop, quilts123.com. I really wanted to get their FQ pack of the full line they carried with 30s fabric, but I didn't bring $100 with me (shucks...).

Lucky to Receive

2011-08-03T11:29:00.000-04:00

When I was visiting my grandparents last week, I was lucky enough to be the receiver of some very wonderful things from my grandmother.

She gave me some homemade herbal tea, seasoning mix, and jam. The BEST in the world, by the way.

She gave me quite a few books.

I think these 2 are the coolest. The Victorian Crochet is a compilation of small newspaper type booklets that were published around beginning of the 19th century. And, the Star Wars is just self explanatory coolness.

She gave me quite a bit of yarn.

And, best of all, she gave me 40 squares that she crocheted. She told me that she couldn't remember the last time she worked on them, and had plenty of yarn to finish the project. I was so happy that she wanted to give them to me!

I think they are beautiful, and I can imagine the finished afghan in my living room.

My grandmother is a left-handed lady, so she crochets left handed. Growing up I was not able to 'read' her work and make a pattern from it because I wasn't able to grasp how it looked being produced by a left-hander. Since then, I have taught my daughter to crochet, and funnily enough she is left handed. So, in teacher her I had to teach myself to crochet left handed to better teach her (it was very hard to show her mirror image, facing each other).

Long story short, now I can read the pattern from a left-handed crocheter. It's still kinda tricky, but do-able.

I am planning to post the pattern, with photos, soon!

Back from the W.Va.

2011-07-25T17:18:00.000-04:00

Side note: So, please remind me the next time I plan to go to West Virginia in the summer to check and see if there's a heat wave coming. My grandparents don't have AC still...

Aside from the heat, our trip was great last week!

The kids and I left Monday afternoon and came home Sunday afternoon. It felt we weren't even gone that long, that is until we got home and I slept in my own bed again. I love my bed.

We headed to the DC area where my Dad and his wife live, and stayed there for 2 nights.

We went to see the temple and the National Zoo while we were there. When we were at the zoo we went into the reptile house (AC) and my #3 guy was absolutely mesmerized by these little turtles that swam so fast. There just may be a turtle to join our family in the near future (his birthday is in August).

Then on Wednesday we made the trip out to West Virginia, to the town of Weston actually. It was so great to see my grandparents!! I haven't been to the farm in 3 years, and I forgot just how much I really love it. The only pictures I got was of these moths on Friday morning, there were about 20 of them on the garage, all dead. It was sad, the heat must have just been too much for them. There were a few lunar moths, so pretty.

Friday brought us back to DC, and through a very nice thunderstorm on the way home. The temperature dropped at least 20 degrees while we were going through it. Simply wonderful, I love thunderstorms.

What trip to DC is full without going to IKEA? So, naturally my brother and I went on Saturday. It was great to get out without the kids for a little bit, and that AS IS section is tempting...

Hopefully you all are doing well through this heat wave, and having a fun summer at that!

My First Mini!

2011-07-16T12:27:00.019-04:00

Isn't it.... ok? I think I like it more in this photo than in person... so sad.

This was my first mini. I used the scraps from my Brick Wall Quilt. And, I did some swirly quilting, can you tell I'm trying to experiment with my free-motion foot lately?

I had a really hard time figuring out what to put on the back. I felt like everything either looked bland or didn't go with the front at all. I settled on a creamy yellow solid.

I made it to enter it with the other minis from the guild I belong to for our quilt show this October that will be raffled off. There is also a contest for those who enter, with 10 winners each getting 10 FQs.

Hoping I get to win!

I was, by the way, complimented on my binding when turning it in to the guild president. Thankfully I have fully converted to Amanda's binding method from Crazy Mom Quilts. I simply told my Pres. that I learned online. I love love a skinny binding, and fully machine sewn. Never.Turning.Back.

Loop de Loop Quilting - 1st Try

2011-07-14T14:09:00.000-04:00

I am working on 2 quilts for a Church project that will eventually be donated to a local charity.

A very wonderful woman named Mrs. Millie has given me over 35 9-patch blocks and just as many 5 inch square. She is in her 90s, and I would also like to add that if not for her donations I would've been flying solo with this one. She is amazing.

I separated the 9-patches into boy colors and girl colors since we are only doing 2 quilts. I was already given the dimension guidelines, so they're ending up small to me. I rarely do quilts smaller that 50 by 60.

Here are some photos of the boy one I finished up about 2 weeks ago:

Regardless of the mistakes, I really like how it turned out! I also decided to try a new way of quilting with my free-motion foot.

Look at these loops. I'm so excited about it, and I really love the outcome. I was somewhat hesitant, worried I'd be spending some quality time with my seam ripper, but that was not the case. Definitely will be doing this quilting again!

Here's an in progress shot of the girl one:

In this photo, the diagonal rows starting at the upper left are all sewn, but the rows are not sewn together. I plan to add a white border that is the same width as the sashing, and a 3 inch sage-like green border. Still not sure what to put on the back or bind it with, need to look through the donate fabric bits.

What's your silly shopping weakness?

2011-07-02T06:57:00.001-04:00

Now, this is pretty broad question, so let me explain.

I love school supplies.

I love to buy cases of said school supplies during awesome back-to-school sales, even when they are not on 'the list'.

I have been seen buying cases of:

-New Pencils
-Composition Books
-Pens!
-Binders
-School Activity Books
-Glue Sticks
-Construction Paper

and many more...

Who can turn down the deals? (obviously not me) And besides, those types of things will get used in a household of six.

Don't get me wrong, I can easily buy tons of other stuff too, but this is one of those things that just gets me all excited, almost giddy. Giddy like a 2 year old who picked her entire outfit on her birthday.

Supply shopping has always been my favorite part of going back to school.

So, like I said before, what' your silly weakness?

Happy 6th Anniversary Hubs!

2011-06-27T08:18:00.001-04:00

Here's where we went:

Best morning!!

Here's what I got:

It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

Love ya Wes.

Save Me! Attach of the UFOs

2011-06-14T06:12:00.003-04:00

First, I'll share with you a completely unrelated photo that makes me laugh every time I see it. I managed to take 2 photos within seconds of each other that I feel successfully captured the moment. See:

The best part of it you can't even see, he was laughing too!

Ok, now for the post:

How many of you have UFOs?

Seriously, I think I could go on and on with this one... but for time sake lets just say I have a few.

Yesterday I committed/convinced myself to finishing as many of these UFOs this summer as possible.

The way I look at it, they are all things that are cluttering up my, well, my everything. Granted, they are packed away in baskets/boxes so I don't see them out and about, but I feel like they are clouding my thoughts.

I have:
- The first quilt I ever started (wish I had a teacher to recommend something other than a larger than twin size pinwheel, yea I was set on it)
- A sashiko sampler I finished that has yet to make itself into a pillow.
- Knitted hat that needs a felt brim on the inside and tassels, yea that's all it needs!
- A king sized granny square quilt
- Little girls Christmas Dress that I started about 2 years ago (everything is cut out)
- Counted Cross Stitch of a Wizard, what was I thinking?? (this one may be permanently abandoned...)
- Lots of clothes to make patterns out of or upcycle to cover stains/tears.

I know I've got to have more, and have simply forgotten about them. But, I'm feeling determined to finish these, and I'm pretty sure that I will come across some others on the way.

Now, I am not considering any of these to be current WIPs (yet), since each of these has been somewhat abandoned.

Maybe, I'm feeling a little guilty for quitting on them... I think it's mostly my recent need to clean and get rid of un-needed things. De-clutter here we come!

What about you? Do you have any crafting goals for this summer?

Scrappy Disappearing 9 Patch Pattern

2011-06-03T06:31:00.006-04:00

Let's just skip all the small talk and jump right into the quilt.

Finished size measures 42 inches by 56 inches.

Materials:

12 Fat Quarters (FQs)
Rotary Cutter
Mat & Ruler
Sewing Machine
Thread
Batting & Backing, measuring 44" by 56"

(Sorry about the screaming green cutting mat in the background, maybe I should switch back to the yellow side....)

First, cut each FQ into 4 - 5 inch by 18 inch strips.

Arrange the strips in threes, and sew each set of three strips together. Press.

Cut each block across the strips into 5 inch sections. At this point you will have strips that have 3 squares in a row.

Again arrange the strips into threes, creating your 9 patch blocks. Sew these strips together. Press.

Once you have pressed each block, you will take your ruler and cut down the middle of the block both vertically and horizontally WITHOUT moving your fabric. Just lift your ruler and turn the ruler to make the second cut.

Now take 2 of the pieces from the block you just cut (making sure they are diagonal from each other) and rotate them 180 degrees.

Now sew these 4 blocks together (press again) and you have one finished disappearing 9 patch.

Finish the remaining 11 blocks and sew them together for a finished top, and press (it's worth it!).

Quilt, bind, and love.

Just a reminder, my patterns are for your personal use and enjoyment only. They have not been tested, so if you find an error feel free to let me know at lyannajeandesigns@gmail.com.

Link up to:

Oh Pinterest, How I Love Thee

2011-06-02T14:21:00.000-04:00

No, I am not working for Pinterest.

But, seriously, if you are a visual person, and happen to love organization as well as the internet, then you will LOVE pinterest.

I am officially addicted.

Here is a link to my pinterest, there is also a link added to my bar up there.

Say goodbye to your every growing favorite/bookmark/tag list (that doesn't have photos), and welcome the eye candy!

PS: There's a new pattern coming soon! I know, I finally got some 'free time'.

Summer Kick-Off Winner

2011-06-02T06:11:00.000-04:00

Drum-roll please...

And the winner is:

#7- kristin harwood jamar said...: comment #3...LOL; May 30, 2011 4:49 PM

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to insert the actual image from random.org, maybe next time. Also, I would like to thank you all for entering!

Summer Kick-Off Quilter's Giveaway!

2011-05-29T16:01:00.001-04:00

Comments closed.

I love summertime. Baseball games, fresh fruit, swimming pools, amusement parks, sandy toes, caramel corn from the Fisher's, fireworks, and so much more awesomeness!!

Since Memorial Day is the unofficial start to summer, I figured why not start with a giveaway.

What better way to start is there? (Besides a kick-butt beach trip, sorry that's not the giveaway...)

So, here is what one lucky winner will win:

Included in the prize package is:
- 74, 4 1/2 inch I-Spy squares
- 1/2 yard Picnic Parade, Book Stripe Blue
- 10 yards of binding (2 1/4 inch, straight grain, pressed in half)
- 1 package Heat N Bond Lite
- 1 spool Gutterman Cotton Thread, 250 m, color #1040 (off white)

Here's how to win (leave a separate comment for each):
-Leave me a comment telling me what your all-time favorite summer activity is (censored please).
-Follow my blog.
-Follow me on Twitter.
-Like my Facebook page.
-Post or blog about the giveaway and include a link.

That's a total of five entries!

Giveaway ends Wednesday, June 1st at 8pm EST. Winner will then be chosen at random. Please leave your email address with your comment.

Spring Planting is DONE!

2011-05-25T09:27:00.000-04:00

Oh, it feels great to be done with the garden planting for this spring.

In the raised bed, I decided to do 3 rows down the middle and put my tomatoes in the lower bed. Hopefully things will work out a little better this year.

Here's a photo of the raised bed, all the seeds went in this morning:

I also started a journal this year for my gardening, I figure it would be nice to be able to reference what I've done for years to follow. Go figure right? It's also one of my 'resolutions' for this year. I hate new year's resolutions, so I more have a 'more and less' list of goals in mind, and it so happens that the end of the year is one of the times I review that list.

Here is what I did with the side of the house yesterday:

Last year was our first summer in our house, and I pretty much spent most of it taking out what was already there, 2 ugly ugly bushes and TONS of weeds. So, my sweet Dad brought me some nice nandinas towards the end of summer that he was separating/loving for me until I was ready for them.

I quite like how it's looking, I bought some really pretty begonias, and 2 other flowering plants that I already forgot the name of, and of course didn't write down.

Lets hope the mulch helps and it all will still look nice through the summer.

Happy 30th Honey

2011-05-23T15:08:00.000-04:00

I'm glad you liked your cupcakes, hahaha. Love you.

Living Room & Sewing Area: Progress

2011-05-16T07:45:00.002-04:00

It's green! I'm finally done painting, and it feels great!!

It is very green though... and I quite like it.

What do you think?

We have a large mirror to place above the fireplace, and we need to separate the bookshelves on the left wall of the room to fit the piano in the middle. After some covering of the tv cables we'll be done.

After renting for what felt like an eternity, it is so very very nice to have color on the walls and know I won't have to paint it sooner than later.

Another fantastic new area for dear old me is my sewing area.

It is a huge work in progress! I'm hoping to be done with it soon, but it seems like there are so many things I have yet to do. (I was standing on the stairs trying to get a decent picture, no luck)

I still need to:
-hang my Gutterman thread box organizer
-find a carpet I like that's not an arm and a leg
-finish putting my quilting fabric on my mini-bolt things, got the idea at Smashed Peas & Carrots
-organize my pre-cuts (those bought and made)
-buy a cutting table from IKEA (and reassemble my drawers to fit under)
-do something about the overall lighting, I have plenty at the table but...
-find a new home for the extra carseats in the corner, and the stack of bins on the right.

I think I've forgotten something I wanted to do with the space... oh well... you get the point though.

*Side note: I'm thinking of using those shutter doors for something, not sure what yet, but I can feel it, and it's gotta be good.

I'm just glad to finally have it all in one place. I was amazed to see how much fabric I really have once I dug it all out of the million closets it was previously living. No really... it was almost funny.

Believe it or not, there are 100 different fabrics on that shelf, and I ordered more comic book boards because I had at least 20 more fabrics to put up there, see the stack? (Hopefully my dear husband isn't reading this, hahaha).

So, what does your sewing area look like?

Have you been stashing fabrics throughout the closets in your home like I did? Maybe that was my way to keep my husband from seeing all the fabric I have, especially when a few choices boxes arrive in the mail occasionally. Maybe subconsciously? I hope.

New Shirt Dress

2011-05-07T10:35:00.001-04:00

If only this were a post about a new dress for me, I've been die-ing to make one....

But, lucky for you I have a much cuter subject than myself to share with you today:

I did a Shirt Dress for my youngest using Dana's Tutorial from Made. She's awesome, and honestly this dress has been in my bookmarks for-e-ver (imagine it being said like on The Sandlot, hahaha).

What do you think?

I had to add this one, even though there's an ugly trash can in the background. Gotta love the tongue!

I am tempted to make a whole closet full of these for her, I just love it.

Bombastic Weekend

2011-05-02T14:41:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend I had the pleasure to attend one of the finest weddings on this side of the Mississippi. For reals guys.

Just look at this bride with her father walking her down the isle:

I don't think she could've been any happier!!

Thankfully she got married relatively close to my hometown, so naturally we stayed the weekend with my Dad. Good cookin', as usual!

On Sunday we went to visit with some of my family, and they were cleaning out their parents garage. Of course they offered for us to take anything we wanted since they were getting rid of just about all of it. Man I scored big!!

Among the items I got were some beautiful picture frames, 3 lamps, some chachkies, and a toddler bed.

Now, even though I have 4 kids, we have never owned a toddler bed before, I always felt like they were too much money for such a short time of use and not quite a necessity like a crib. We just went from crib to twin for each of the kids so far.

Oh my does our youngest love her bed!!

Just look at her.

Thanks so much for the bed Diane, Julie & Craig!!

Title?

2011-04-28T08:32:00.000-04:00

So, even though I feel like I've somewhat fallen off the 'being creative' wagon for a bit, I actually have been working on things from long ago in the to-do list.

For example, I finally made a hair bow holder for the girls room:

There are tutorials all of the place for these, but they are so easy to make or even to explain how to make. Since there are lots of colors on my girls walls, well only 3 but still, I decided to make one that's white on white and I love how it turned out!

I bought a picture frame from a yard sale, spray painted it white (with a clear coat on top for durability). Then I cut a piece of cardboard to fit, mod podged some white paper on it since I used eyelet, I didn't want the brown to show through. I cut a piece of fabric about 2 inches wider and taller than the cardboard, and mod podged it on (no topcoat). Lastly, I cut some ribbon a few inches longer than the long side of the cardboard, hotglued in place, and presto! Done and done.

And to think, I had thought about making the girls some more bows for Easter.... I think I would like to make another one of these, but with an oval frame next time. Maybe we could put the fancier bows on that one, and keep the more daily ones on this one. We shall see.

Another in the works project that we've been working on is finishing up the living room. I love love finally having our own house, and feeling like I can paint the entire thing (and not have to repaint soon). Here's what it looks like at this very moment:

My husband moved the TV over to the right wall, and we moved my sewing table and all it's glory downstairs last night. We stood there looking at what felt like a naked wall now. We're thinking that we'll move the smaller bookshelf from the other wall and put it in the corner, we'll get another to balance the wall. But, we're also thinking of getting some high-back chairs as well. I'm so happy!

Here's some ideas of chairs I'm lovin:


Ikea Stolkholm, multicolored

San Rafael Chair, Pier 1

Mitchell Armless Swivel-Green Floral, Target

Josette Chair, Pier 1

Cadman Puzzle Chair, Pier 1


Temani Chair, Pier 1

Banana Chair, Pier 1

I think my most favorite are the Mitchell Chair from Target and the Banana Chair from Pier 1.

What do you think?

Fastest Jammies in the West

2011-04-26T07:08:00.015-04:00

To MAKE of course... hahaha.

No, I do not live in the West, never have, maybe someday. And, unfortunately these jammies don't have any cowboys/cowgirls on them either. Oh well.

Regardless, this is the easiest pajama dress to make, for reals.

*Fits girls from about 5 to 10, depending on how long they like their jammies.

Supplies:

1 yard fabric 54" wide (1 1/2 yard of 44" wide)
1 1/2 yards lastin or fold over elastic (FOE)
Sewing machine
thread
ruler
scissors/rotary cutter with mat
decorations of choice

What To Do:

1- Cut 2 rectangles of fabric measuring 15 inches x 9 inches (with the grain lines parallel to the 9" side). These will be the sleeves.

Also cut 2 rectangles of fabric measuring 30 inches x 22 inches, with the grain lines parallel to the 22 inch side. Theses will be the front and back.

2- Fold your fabric in half with your fold on the left, and your two 9 inch sides on the right. Mark 5 inches down from the top outer corner along the 9 inch side, and 4 inches over from the top of the outer along the 7.5 inch side. (photo above)

3- Place a ruler as though you were drawing a line between the two points, and cut along that line. (photo below). Be sure NOT to cut the side where the fold is!

4- Repeat the last two steps to the other sleeve, and to the top portion of the two larger sections that were cut for the front and back. When you fold the front/back pieces in half, fold them so that your rectangle will measure 30 inches x 11 inches when folded.

These cuts will make your raglan style sleeves.

5- Using a serger, or a narrow zig-zag stitch, sew a sleeve to each side of the front, and one side of the back like this:

6- Take your lastin, and using a smaller zig-zag stitch, sew the lastin along the neck edge and the bottoms of both sleeves about 1/2 inch from the edge. Be sure to stretch the lastin as you are sewing.

7- Sew the remaining sleeve/body seam. Now your jammies should look like this:

8- Finish the jammies by sewing each side seam going from the edges of the sleeves all the way down to the bottom. Don't forget to add you labels if you have them!

Optional details:

- Sew lastin to the bottom 6 inches (or so) of each side seam, giving your jammies a rouching on the sides and a rounded bottom.

- Sew button(s) or bow(s) to the front of the jammies for decoration (and that way they can easily figure out the front side of them).

Side note: this pattern can be easily adjusted by simply changing the dimensions of your original rectangles to make other sizes, and besides, it's a jammie dress, it doesn't need to fit perfectly.

Just a reminder, my patterns are for your personal use and enjoyment only. They have not been tested, so if you find an error feel free to let me know at lyannajeandesigns@gmail.com.

Linked Up With:

From The Library This Week

2011-04-23T10:30:00.001-04:00

I go to the Library all the time, so much so that I have a place on my bookshelves just for library books.

Lately I have been reading the Elm Creek Quilts book series. I need to go get book 4 this morning (from the library of course), and I only started about 3 weeks ago. One book a week feel nice, not too much reading that I feel like I'm sacrificing other things. I love it.

Some of the other books I picked up are:

This book is really great because between all the recipes it actually reads, with stories about the author or experiences they had to develop the recipes. There are tons of recipes, tips, and beautiful pictures of instructions as well as final products. It gives me the desire to stay home all week and bake to my heart's content! Oh, the smell of fresh bread... mmm. This one needs to be in my personal library for sure!

Put 'em Up! is a great home canning/preserving book. The recipes aren't just plain boring, like a lot of home canning books I find that are a bit older. There are 'new' twists on recipes, and some of them seem just daring to me like pickled zucchini, oohhhh. There are plenty of photos, and even some basics info for new canners. Pretty awesome.

Another book I picked up (more food stuff...) is Root Cellaring : the simple no-processing way to store fruits and vegetables. This book appealed to me on so many levels! Not only does this book advise you on how/where to build a root cellar, but it shows you exactly how to pack the foods to optimize their shelf life. Simply AMAZING!! To top it off, this whole thing is encouraging a way to store foods without having to process them, no canning/freezing. Now I want to buy a farm more than ever before, it's funny that a root cellar may now be one of the first projects completed once that happens... more planning.

Of course I had to get some quilting books, nothing like some awesome eye candy!

This book is simply inspirational! Amazing, beautiful, wish I had that kind of time book. Check it out for sure.

Last, but definitely no least, is City Quilts. Can you tell I love quilts with a simple repeat? There are a couple of quilts that I absolutely need to make from this book. The simple lines, the straight line quilting, the choice of colors, breathtaking. The quilt I love the most from this one is the last one it the book. I can't remember the name of it, but it's the one with every color of the rainbow. Just awesome.

So, if you're not the library kind of person, I highly recommend each of these books to you! It was quite amazing that I managed to like all but one of the books I got from the library the last time I went, I usually don't have such good luck.

Yellow Cream & Sugar or White Sink?

2011-04-15T13:42:00.001-04:00

What has been the best part of this past week in my end of the world you ask?

Well, I'm not entirely sure actually...

We've been up to so much this week, when it rains it pours around here, come to think of it maybe that's the only way my husband and I know how to do things. Like Crazy, haha.

Last Saturday we went to church for our Primary's Easter Activity. They did a few crafts, had some cupcakes, and of course an egg hunt. This is the cream of the crop as far as my success with taking pictures went:

Next came our some what last minute decision to redo part of the kitchen, um like now. We wanted to change almost everything about our kitchen when we first moved in.

Can you blame us? The dark red wallpaper in the photo below is just the beginning of the hideousness. Once I find the photos I took of our kitchen before we touched it, I promise I'll post them.

My husband got some counter-top for dirt cheap, not exactly my cup of tea but we could definitely work with it considering how cheap we got it. And, of course I had to get a white sink, wishing the whole while it was a ginormous farmer's sink (next house...). It fits beautifully though, and I think anything else wouldn't really work with the size of our kitchen.

Isn't is soo purty?? Just ignore what's on the wall behind the sink, we'll get to the back-splash, hopefully soon. Wow my cabinet looks dirty....

I also had a little time to do some thrifting this week, BOO-YA!! Oh how I love thrift store shopping, minus 4 kids of course, but had no such luck with this week's trip.

We were on a hunt for jeans and church pants for my older son (somehow he grew about 4 inches overnight... I know, it happens), found quite a few pairs, and of course something else too.

Check these out:

Oh man, I was so cyked to find these. They called out to me from the shelf they were on. I love that they're yellow, and especially that they are flat-sided.

Can't you just picture them with cream and marshmallows just waiting for a hot chocolate social?!

Another FANtastic part of this week was that I finished piecing the first of my 5 quilts for the custom order I'm working on. Got the whole thing quilted during yesterdays nap time (thank you God for nap time, again).

I quite like how it turned out.

That was my awesome week, how was yours?

Teflon Pressing Sheets

2011-04-09T07:32:00.000-04:00

I had never even heard of a teflon pressing sheet until about 2 weeks ago.

Debra Gabel was the guest speaker for our last guild meeting, this woman is absolutely amazing fyi, and at the end of her lecture she gave a short demo for her workshop she was holding the following day. As part of this demo, she showed us her teflon pressing sheets.

My thought was, oh just another quilting accessory that I don't really need/won't really use. So, of course I was hesitant.

And, naturally, when I went to JoAnn's last weekend I saw a plastic-y looking pressing sheet and bought it (only about $7, so would only be out-ed a little $ if I didn't like it).

This morning as I was pressing all my projects I'm trying to wrap up, my 8-year old's library tote came upon the ironing board with it's soon-to-be attached Fancy Nancy patch.

Normally when I am dealing with fusible, I have a cheese cloth that I put under the piece before I initially attach the fusible so I don't get sticky's all over my ironing board. Today I put my new-fangled pressing sheet.

I iron.

I lift Miss Fancy Nancy off of the pressing cloth and all the glue around her is now stuck on my pressing sheet. Moment of panic. Crap, I just ruined it.

Throw it on the floor in sheer disgust.

I finish ironing on Miss Nancy, then put books on top of her because her hands and feet just are not cooperating (another issue to pair with this moment of irritation of wasting money, and on my first use too, err).

I come back to the new 'ruined' pressing sheet. All the glue has dried, stuck forever I think.

Not quite, it all starts to flake off.

Genius.

Go buy one, seriously.

The Tip of the Iceburg

2011-04-04T04:20:00.000-04:00

Want to see what stacks of approximately 240- 7 inch squares and 288- 5 inch squares look like?

Like this:

I am half-way done piecing the first quilt of a 5 quilt custom order I recently got, barely the tip of the iceburg.

The two larger quilts are gonna get done first, about 60" x 80" each, and the other 3 will be soon to follow measuring about 36" x 45" each. So happy to get sewing on these finally, the cutting of shirts takes a loooooong time.... seriously. But, having a quilt made from a loved one's clothing can be priceless!

I Can Read

2011-04-02T07:35:00.000-04:00

I can read, I can read (sang with my best impression of Wilbur singing 'I Can Talk' in Charlotte's Web).

Hahaha, I know, Mom and Dad must be awful proud right??

What I mean to say really is, I have time to read again. And oh is it wonderful.

My kids and I go to the library weekly, and sometimes more than once. I love books, and I love reading. The only dilemma I had for uhh years was that I didn't feel like I could fit in anymore time to leisurely read. Whenever I actually had time to read I tried to read my scriptures, but it usually ended up being a cookbook, how-to book, or crafty/pattern book.

This week at the library when we walked in to pay our late fees I saw it on the top of a small bookcase and I knew I had to read it, now.

So, I picked up:

I love it, on Chapter 3 already and only had it since Tuesday. I find myself thinking about the characters and what may be coming next while I clean or fold laundry. It makes the takes go by must faster. I have also been thinking about what I want to read next, probably a John Grisham novel (loved ready his pre-babies).

Even though it's been at least 5 years since the last time I read a novel, I am falling in love with reading all over again and it's awesome!! The amazing part is that I'm not even having to find time to read, it's fitting in all over the place. So, if you're a mommy with lots of little ones, don't hesitate to grab a good book, as this book encourages, just cast on.

I've also put together a little "Bookstore" of sorts through Amazon. It features some books that I love and the kids love too, check it out.

On a side note, here's what for breakfast this morning:

Paula Dean's Gorilla Bread

We do really yummy for Conference Weekend, can't wait!

Part 8: Along For The Project- My First King

2011-03-28T04:22:00.011-04:00

Done and delivered!!

I had such a great time going to my bestie's Bridal Shower, it helped that it was held at her parents gorgeous house on the Chesapeake Bay. I only took one picture of the view, yea only one, I had to hold back....

One of the best parts was when her dad answered the door and didn't even recognize me. My first thought was, yup I gained about 40 pounds since high school (doesn't help that I was about 20 pounds under weight in high school). Hopefully it was just the sunglasses.

On to the quilt, to sum up the experience of making my first king-sized quilt is: I'm not sure when I really want to make another king-size, hahaha. It was a love/hate thing, and I totally love that it is in the hands of it's recipient now and no longer residing as my current elephant in the corner of my living room. Wonderful thing is that she loved it, and everyone else who was there to see. All of the ripping stitches and late night sewing was totally worth it in it's 10 foot by 10 foot existence, one of those labor of love things.

Note to self section:
-trim all corners/points that stick out past the block within the seam allowances, yea it shows
-when free-motion quilting lots of curvy-ness, up the tension on the top thread
-when in doubt just pin the stinkin' binding, it turns out right the first time
-don't go crazy with the thread color on large quilts, just blend
-do not use interfacing with applique, it sucks
-I really like closely stitched straight line quilting, and it's easier

Other than the gorgeous bride-to-be (right up there), the beautiful house and views, and the party with awesome food (as always Kim) it was so great to finally see my besties from high school again. We have all grown so much and yet are exactly the same 4 girls when we get together, unfortunately I am still the loud/random one (working on that, but it's hard when you're related to Derek...). Miss you ladies already!!

The rest of the posts about the progression of My First King can be found by clicking the link.

Friday Find: Crochet A Rainbow

2011-03-24T21:20:00.001-04:00

This week's Friday Find is a charity-type thing, wow that was specific.

The author of the wonderful (self-titled) website Sarah London has been running this shin-dig for a bit. She is accepting donations of Granny Squares to sew them together and make blankets for flood victims of Australia.

She has even provided step-by-step visual instructions here.

I simply love it when someone organizes something like this, a charity where tons of people contribute what they have and the people organizing it puts the pieces all together to make something beautiful. When you think about it, every person who organizes a charity does this, but with crafting projects it is a much more visual experience. (I am a very visual person)

Here's what I've been working on in my 'waiting time' this week:

You should use your extra yarn and whip up a few, if you have any extra yarn that is...

In Our Neck of the Woods

2011-03-18T14:28:00.001-04:00

Things have been busy around here lately, good busy, no wonderful busy!

Someone's first dance class.

Trip to Pop Pop and MeMa Reesa's.

There

And back

Adorable Valentine's.

And, of course, new projects.

50 Shirts that will become 5 quilts

It's actually navy, but for some reason photo'd really light

Hexies atop their traveling project box.

But, maybe the best of all is outside.

Picnics are the BEST!

Cabbage in the back, and Lettuce up front. Getting planted ToDay!!

Tons of Tutorials - Make Your Own Easter Basket

2011-03-15T08:04:00.002-04:00

*edited to add another tutorial, at the end*

I have been considering making Easter Baskets for my kids for a while, since we all know how much room traditional ones take up. We have regular baskets for ours, the wicker-type kind, and they are huge.

I wanted to be lazy and just use a pattern to make them instead of actually thinking and making my own. It happens...

So, what's a girl to do?

Google 'Fabric Easter Basket Tutorial' of course!

Here's what I found:

There's so many to choose from!

Fabric Easter Basket Tutorial, Me and Madeline

Fabric Basket, Pink Penguin

Easter Basket, Distressed

Via Moda Bake Shop

How to Make a Fabric Basket, Dabbled.org

Easter Basket, jcarolinecreative

Woven Recycled Easter Basket, Resweater

Coiled-Rag Basket, DIYNetwork.com

Recycled Wool Easter Basket, Resweater

Split Twirl Skirt Tutorial Review

2011-03-14T16:46:00.000-04:00

I made Char's awesome Split Twirl Skirt from Crap I've Made last May, and I love how they turned out!

Even though it has taken me forever to comment on the pattern, I did post about them here. I'm not going to do an all formal review of this because it is a tutorial, so here goes.

First, lets start off by saying that this is a skirt that my older daughter picks to wear constantly, and I'm sure my younger daughter would too if she wasn't 1 1/2. I'm sure she would if she was older. And, I'm also sure that many more versions of this one will be made. (Can you tell we love it?)

The one for my older daughter was made a little longer, which is another great thing about this tutorial: it's so easy to custom make this since you are taking your own measurements! It is pretty much an equation that you are building, a very very easy equation.

The next best thing about this skirt is that it's entirely assembled with rectangles! How wonderful if you want to crank out masses of these for your girls!!

So, I highly recommend this tutorial for Char's Split Twirl Skirt so much so that I think I may be making one this week with linen now that I'm thinking about how easy, fun, and pretty much instant gratification this skirt is, maybe even in my size...hahaha (evil laughs don't translate well to type, hmph).

Finished My First Plain Vest

2011-03-07T16:57:00.000-05:00

I finished the plain vest in 4 days.

That felt good.

And I love it.

Quite often, I don't have the opportunity to finish a project that quickly.

Maybe my biggest hold up was picking buttons...

Could you imagine why? May jar is a gallon size, and is full.

I did make some modifications to the original, all on my Ravelry page.

Do you have any projects that just made you feel like you were king of the world, even if only for a moment?

Friday Find: One Day Without Shoes

2011-03-04T06:10:00.002-05:00

Lets start by saying I think TOMS shoes are adorable, no?

Lets also say that I need a pair, seriously, but can't see myself spending that much on a pair of sneaks right now. I'm not on a 'buy something awesome for me kick' at the moment.

The best thing about TOMS shoes is that for each pair they sell, they give a pair to a person/child in need of shoes. They give away a BRAND NEW PAIR.

On April 5th, 2011 they are encouraging everyone everywhere to spend One Day Without Shoes to boost awareness of those around the world that go without every single day.

I have pledged to blog without shoes on April 5th, 2011, and hopefully I can do something a bit more influential without shoes, like have a party, or maybe just a playgroup... hahaha... without shoes. I need to do something good though, cause honestly, I live without shoes most days (do slippers count???) as soon as the weather is nice, I am sans shoes.

Rounding Second

2011-03-02T05:47:00.000-05:00

I knew yesterday was gonna be a good one, from the moment I woke up.

I didn't say perfect, I have 4 kids people, and a trip to the post office was in order for the day... enough said.

However, overall, yesterday was pretty amazing. Amazing like that feeling of rounding second base because you're third base coaching is yelling and you've just realized you hit a home-run/infield home-run. That moment that you achieved something amazing, but you're not quite done yet and the best part is yet to come.

Photo Thanks to The Baseball Zone

Side note: I love LOVE love baseball.

To start the day off, it was about 4am, and all was quiet on the home front. I tip-toed downstairs to a waiting sewing machine and a great project needing some love. There is nothing like waking up and being able to sew for 2 hours *hopefully* uninterrupted.

New stats on the quilting of the King:

Sashing: All
Blocks: 20 of 25
Block Border: 10 of 25

Man, I am almost done! It's kinda funny how I keep calling it the King though, sometimes I feel like I'm talking about Elvis....

Another great and wonderful thing about yesterday was that I started a new knitting project: Pickles Plain Vest. I have had this post in my bookmarks menu for what feels like forever (said with a Sandlot voice... hehe), and I absolutely love it! Reading all the reviews on Ravelry.com sealed the deal, everyone was so happy that it knit up so fast. In my experience, most things that are knit with 2 strands of yarn go quick. I really like how it's coming along. You can check out my project here: My First Plain Vest. It is a work in progress, and pictures will be coming soon.

Possibly one of the absolute best BEST things that happened yesterday was that my little guy finalized his potty training!!! Oh YEA! I can't even describe accurately how monumental this moment is. It is not that he's taken forever to do it, he's only 3 1/2, but now I only have one kid in diapers. He was almost done about a month ago, but of course he had to get a week long stomach flu, and everything was at a stand-still. I don't think I can ever have more than one child in diapers again, well at least I hope not. We went from having 3 kids in diapers to only 1 in one year. Score.

I think a trip to Target for some more big boy underwear is in order for today. Hopefully they have batman/joker ones, those are on request.

Modge Podged Magazine Storage

2011-02-26T13:04:00.015-05:00

We all know how awesome Mod Podge is right?

Well, if you haven't ~~played~~ worked with this stuff yet, you should really give it a try. It's pretty fun.

I covered some cardboard magazine holders I got from IKEA a while back, they were pretty cheap and just white cardboard, ie: boring.

Here's my supplies:

I pretty much painted a thin layer of Mod Podge on the cardboard, pre-assembly, and layed the paper on top.

Let dry, then applied another coat of the Mod Podge on top. The paper I used was really textured, and all that still showed with the Mod Podge over it.

They look so bright in this photo...

Now I have some lovely storage for our thin books and magazines on my lovely/overfilled bookcases. Hopefully we can get the last 2 bookcases soon.

Wow, I can't believe I just shared that photo... messy messy.

There is an awesome site called Mod Podge Rocks that has tons and tons of tutorials & links to some pretty cool projects. The possibilities are pretty endless.

Part 7: Along For The Project- My First King

2011-02-25T12:57:00.000-05:00

Progress feels good.

As of 4:37am this morning, I have quilted this much of the King:

Sashing: All
Blocks: 8 out of 25
Block Borders: 10 out of 25

Does that count as half-way yet?

I have decided to do straight-line quilting in the sashing, random free-motion quilting in the block borders, and stitching in the ditch of blocks. I quite like how it's turning out, and honestly I think I like the back of the quilt just as much than the front (if not more).

I also am using gray thread for top on the sashing and in the blocks, white thread on the top for the block borders, and white thread for all of the back. It looks nice.

I love this quilt, but I'm not sure how many more Kings I'm going to make... at least ones with a deadline. gees

Can Some Chicken, It's Worth It

2011-02-22T06:18:00.000-05:00

Most people that can things make their own jams and jellies. I find the most joy in making jams and jellies, they are always so yummy, and my kids can help make them.

However...

Today I will share with you how I can chicken. The taste of home-canned chicken, I have found, cannot be matched. I wait until I can get boneless skinless chicken breasts for less than $1.79 per pound, then I buy increments of 14 pounds because about 1 pound of chicken fits into one pint-sized jar, and my canner can hold 14 pints.

I have a copy of this book:

Photo from Amazon. Click Here to go to website.

If you are seriously into canning, this book it a go-to resource for all things canning. For real.

They have a recipe/guideline for canning Chicken, and all other types of poultry. I follow this pretty much to the T. The only thing I do differently is use room temperature broth instead of boiling. I figure that if the entire jar, contents, and canner are room temperature, then I should be good to go.

The Ball company also publishes small paperback books called The Blue Book. There have been many many versions of these printed over the years, and I recommend follow the most recent guidelines for canning since there is still research being done on this. For example, my Grandmother has Ball Blue Books from the over 30 years ago, and back then they home canned pureed pumpkin. It has since been found to not store well in these conditions, and almost breeds botulism=BAD!!

On a side note, I usually use Ball jars. I have had some for over 8 years, and a lot of mine were given to me or bought second-hand. In other words, if you are canning correctly, they will last a long long time. Don't get me wrong, I have broken jars before, and am sure it will happens again (because it just does sometimes).

Here's a general run-down of how I roll:

Supplies:

Chicken
Pressure Canner
Broth (I use Kitchen Basics, it's the BEST)
Cutting board and knife
Canning funnel (It has a really wide hole so that foods can fit through)
Jars, Lids, and Bands
Stove
Clear Plastic Ruler (designated for Kitchen-use only)

What To Do:

I do a raw-pack method, which basically means everything is not cooked when it's packed. I think there is a better outcome with this method.
You need to start with clean jars, lids, and bands. I just run them in the dishwasher for a whole cycle. Then open up the dishwasher and let them get to room temperature.
Get your chicken, cutting board & knife, broth, and jars out. I like to just take over the dining room table so I can sit while cutting all this chicken.
Just start cutting chicken into manageable sections and put it in your jars. I pretty much cut the pieces small enough to fit through the funnel. You really want to pack the chicken into the jars. Fill each jar, leaving a generous 1 inch headspace.
Put a little bit of broth into each jar, fill to barely cover the chicken. Use your clear ruler and push it down the sides of your jars to release any air bubbles. Then add more broth if necessary to get the 1 inch headspace.
Screw on bands using your hands until they feel tight, don't go crazy and break your jars muscle (wo)man (yea, I've done that before...)
Put your jars into your canner. I would read the instructions manual for you canner and follow any guidelines there may be (position, water level, etc). Put lid on canner.
Bring water to a boil over medium-high heat, vent steam for 10 minutes, then close vent. Continue heating until you get to the 10 lbs. pressure. Your gauge should gently rock with a hissing noise coming from it, nothing too crazy.
Process the pint jars with the boneless chicken for 75 minutes, yea it really takes that long so grab a movie, book, or project and get going.
When your timer beeps, turn off the heat and let the canner release pressure all by itself. Wait a few minutes after it's done, and open the lid. At this point I usually wait 20 to 30 minutes or so so the jars are cool enough that I can just pick up the jars with my hands. Let the jars continue to cool, putting them on a kitchen towel and keeping them away from drafts. These jars are glass, and will break with rapid temperature changes.
Once cooled, rinse the outside of your jars, label (if you don't inhale it as quickly as we do), and store. You're done!

If you can, what do you like to can?

Another AWESOME Weekend

2011-02-21T08:48:00.000-05:00

Just incase you didn't read the title of this post, haha, I had an absolutely awesome weekend!!

Friday night I had a Premier Jewelry party, fun fun. I made these pumpkin whoopie pies, so delicious.

Saturday morning I met with a woman who has asked me to make 5 quilts for her! Yea, that's huge for me, like biggest custom order yet. The best part about this is that she had a Singer Treadle sewing machine that she wanted to get rid of. Well, we worked it out, and she sold it to me for $150. How incredibly ROCKIN is that?!?! Here it is:

Isn't it beautiful, ahhh.

Sunday was the perfect wrap up for the weekend. In church, I taught the lesson in Relief Society, the one I was called on Saturday around 3:30pm to teach. Thank goodness for lesson manuals! It was fun to teach, never thought I'd say that, but I am enjoying it the more I do it.

Sunday afternoon my Mom came over to hang out. She and I went to pick the Singer Treadle machine, did I mention that it actually works! Afterwards we played with her blocks for her quilt and set up the layout. Here is the center of the quilt top:

It's pretty hard to see all the prints in this photo, thanks to an overcast-y afternoon. We will be adding a 3 inch white border followed by an border of the snowball blocks. Can't wait to get it finished up! I will definitely be adding some better photos once it's done, I think we may do a little photo shoot. Hahaha, I say that like I'm actually a photographer, but we all know what my photag skills are like .... (sigh)

How was your weekend?

Crafting this Week

2011-02-18T05:26:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, the zig-zag quilt was delivered. Here's the front and back of the finished quilt:

And, of course, it being used for the first time:

(that little boy is so cute)

I also finished up a blue hat that my 5-year-old has been ~~bugging~~ asking me about almost all winter. Yea, I'm a ~~bad~~ mom, and didn't finish it until the week that it finally got above 60 again. It happens.

Apparently it is best for wearing on the couch with some comfy clothes. Still very cute.

The pattern for this Cabled Hat will be going up in Ravelry later today.

Seriously Comcast??

2011-02-15T06:45:00.000-05:00

This was just so ridiculous that I had to blog about it.

Incase the world doesn't know, my Valentine's Day was fantastic!

I was puked on and pooped on all before 8am, fun times. The day could only get better from that point, and luckily it did.

The best part of the day though was our visit from Comcast.

Now, we are Verizon people. We had Comcast when we were first married, but since the switch, we have no desire to go back. Just cause.

So, a door-to-door sales rep knocked at about 5:15pm last night. Mind you, I can't stand door-to-door salesmen, girl scouts are a whole nother story though, they're welcome at any time of the day!!

He sees me in yoga pants, with no front tooth (I had it knocked out, getting an implant, and just recently had the next to last step done, so I walk around my house toothless so it will heal faster), and looking like I haven't left my house in days. It gets better.

He proceeds to share with me how they are offering a $200 gift card for signing up, since some people do have cancellation fees with contracts. Side note: I did tell a little lie and explain that we were about 10 months out from ending our contract. Why did he not get the point that I wasn't interested??

He also wants me to know about all the free stuff I would get for the first year of the contract, again I give him the "I could really care less" look.

Enter my #3 child, and his face is covered in Spongebob Squarepants sherbert push pop, the strawberry flavor. Great, now this guy thinks I don't clean my kids either (I'm still without a front tooth too...).

The best part about this entire adventure is when he finishes his speech.

All these deals ended that very night at 9pm!! And he continues to explain that only Comcast sales reps can give these deals, and they only do them for 1 week at a time. I then wonder, why on EARTH did you knock on MY DOOR with less than 4 hours to take advantage of an opportunity to change cable/internet services. I know, I know, it doesn't take that long to sign up for something like this, but it's the point of the matter.

Needless to say, I was very NOT interested. Besides, this guy just took up about 20 minutes that most of my kids were sitting quietly. Seriously dude...

Hopefully your Valentine's Day was a little better than mine.

Cook & Tell

2011-02-15T05:48:00.022-05:00

This is a great recipe blog that I am privileged to be a co-author of, even though I don't post here anywhere near as much as I should.

Cook & Tell

Please take a look, I can guarantee that there are recipes that you will LOVE!!

See:


Peppermint Patties


Cranberry Vinaigrette

Blueberry Cinnamon Frozen Yogurt

Croissant Egg Boats

These are only a few of the recipes on Cook & Tell, there are lots lots more!

Could you tell I'm having a craving for sweets right now??

I Think I'm In LOVE

2011-02-12T05:43:00.001-05:00

About a week ago I got one of these:

(Photo from Amazon.com, click here to go to site.)

I love LOVE smoothies, and I haven't had a blender for about 2+ years now. This one does the job quite nicely with a very easy clean-up.

Apparently the 'natives' love smoothies too.

Yesterday was a Big One

2011-02-11T13:43:00.000-05:00

Here goes:

I finished building the 2 billy bookcases and the besta cabinet I got from IKEA. (woohoo)

I finished the Zig-Zag quilt, now I just need to wash it to it's crumply softness.

And, I decided that today was the day to start moving all the storage out of where my sewing area will be. (scary scary)

All of this whilst taking care of 2 little ones with a stomach bug, poor things.

I did realize this morning, while moving some of the storage stuff around, that I still have 2-3 boxes from when we moved into this house that I am still not sure exactly what's in them. I have dubbed them the 'mystery boxes'. I think it's kinda amazing that I still have boxes that are full of who-knows-what a year and a half later.

Anyone else have that problem??

What a Great Weekend

2011-02-08T11:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's Tuesday, and I'm finally getting my post up about this weekend...

What can I say, I took a day trip yesterday = no time for posting.

I'm not sure if there are many more places worth having a day trip to besides the best, IKEA. Oh yea, I went and only took 2 kids! Does that count for exercise this week?? I'd like to think so.

I guess I'm kinda doing this backwards, cause I'm gonna start with yesterday and move back through the weekend.

I bought lots of awesomeness at IKEA yesterday, I think my most favorite purchase was the fabric I picked up:

Isn't it just beautiful?! I only know for sure what I'm going to do with one of them, and that's the tree print. It will make an awesome Rollie Pollie for the boys room, the colors are perfect! Who knows what the other 2 fabrics will become, maybe some totes for summertime, maybe some awesome fabric boxes for storage on our shelves, or maybe...

I also picked up a new bunk-bed for the boys room, the 2 twins were just taking up so much space.

Next on the list to pick up was some more billy bookcases for the living room, and a cabinet for our entertainment stuff, cable box, ps3, wii, a dvd/vhs player, and all the controllers/etc. that go along with them. I ended up getting this (ours only has 2 sections instead of 3):

(Photo from IKEA website. Click here to go to page)

That was it for IKEA, you should've seen all this fit into my MPV. Oh my, the man who was working outside just picked up the boxes like they were just a sack of flour. If only he could've come home to help me unload.

Sunday was great! The Superbowl was a good one this year. I am glad that the Packers won. What a sore loser the Steelers coach is!! I was a little shocked actually.

Pre-Superbowl, I finished quilting my orange and gray zig-zag quilt. I love LOVE it! I just echo quilted the zig-zag seams, one row of stitching on either side. It is so exciting to see the progress you can make in a quilt in only one afternoon.

Sunday morning brought Church meetings. I really enjoy Fast Sundays, the testimonies that some people share are simply amazing! I love getting the kids dressed up all cute too.

Saturday was a doosie this week. Wes has been sick since Friday, I think he ended up with the flu somehow. Poor guy. He even had to go work on remodeling his parents bathroom, he promised them, so he felt he needed to go even though his pillows in bed were calling. He got all the tiles laid, and it looks great.

The kids and I went off to Sam's Club where I feel like I spent millions... gees. There's just so much to buy there, and I'm only even thinking of food. They were having an evalue coupon on their chicken breast, so I bought an extra 2 packs and canned them. I absolutely LOVE home-canned chicken breast, I won't even touch the store-bought canned chicken anymore. Seriously.

I'll be posting later this week about how I do my chicken, so easy.

I hope you're weekend was just as packed-full of fun as ours was!

Progress and Frogging

2011-01-31T17:04:00.000-05:00

I have the strips for the top of the quilt for my nephew that I started, the orange and gray one. I really like how it's turning out. Wanna see?

Tomorrow will be finishing the top, putting the stripe down the back of the extra blocks, and pinning. I'm going to use the gray/black dot for the binding, I think it will come out great!

On the other hand, I am frogging for the first time, err. It is somewhat stress relieving, you know the whole ripping something apart thing?

I made my son a hat, and "it's itchy on my ears". Just what every mother wants to hear, especially when they just finished a weeks worth of relax-time knitting said article. If I didn't use 2 strands of yarn it sure would be a lot easier.

I think I'm seeing a new vest in the near future... in light blue superwash wool. haha!

Can You See My New Colors?

2011-01-29T05:30:00.002-05:00

Let me first start by saying that Photobucket is quite amazing these days. Indeed.

I decided that it was time for a new coat of paint on the old blog, do you like?

I started with this photo of a really cool spiderweb covered in dew that I took a few summers ago in West Virginia:

Then, I cropped it to be 990 pixels by 400 pixels, this seems to be the best fit for my header. Then I added some text to the photo:

I liked it, but they have these newer advanced editing toys, uh I mean tools, for color editing under the 'effects' tab. I had a lot of fun pushing all the different options just to see what I got, here are a few:

Blueprint Option

Bronze Option

Invert Option

It was really hard to choose! And the one I went with finally was what I got from using the Pop Art option:

Oh how fun photo editing is. Now I just need a better camera to play with too.

What Else is a Snow Day For?

2011-01-28T05:45:00.007-05:00

Crafting in jammies of course. This is what we did yesterday morning:

Thanks again Oma for the Sun Catchers!

Step 1 is Done

2011-01-27T06:00:00.009-05:00

Amidst the gazillion home repair and remodeling projects we have for our house, we have successfully settled on our next room to do. It just so happens to be the living room, the room where most relaxing and family gathering happens (aside from the dining room table).

Of course, our living room is somewhat of am awkward space. When you walk into our home, the powder room door is right behind the front door (when it's open), and you enter directly into a hallway. About 4 feet down on the left is the entry for the kitchen, and another foot or so is the stairs to go up on the right. Approximately 3 feet later, the hallway opens into the dining room, with the wall from the stairs remaining on the right hand side. Beyond that is the living room, with only a railing separating the dining room from the living room.

That is where the awkward comes in: the living room is pretty much the same room as the dining room, with only a railing and 2 steps down separating them.

So, the 2 rooms have to kind of 'go' together with colors, but without being all matchy-matchy. (I am very NOT matchy-matchy).

On to the photos, all but one were taken in the middle of the night, that's the only time I can paint walls around here (would love comments, be honest...).

First here's our horrible before:

Followed by our somewhat better after (the wall that the fireplace is on will also get painted, it just needs some drywall repair after we move the TV), with my now ability to see how much better it will look:

Hahaha, can you tell the only box of books I have opened and put on our new shelf is my husbands church books along with his missionary plaque. Too funny...

Mind you, the TV and couch are the permanents that we have to work with. Also, the darker of the 2 bookcases (the new one) is staying. We are going to buy enough dark bookcases to cover the length of that one wall. We may get some doors for the bottom halves of the bookcases, not sure yet. And, the TV will be moving to the wall that my sewing table is against (which will go downstairs after our attic access door and a few outlets go in this weekend).

This means that I will officially have a designated sewing area!!! We are going to buy either some nice, solid room dividers or make a half wall with a little half door to block off the area from the play room. It's kind of a little nook area already. Exciting stuff.

The best part about the whole thing is that my Dad wants to make us a mantle!!! A big pretty mantle!! Oh, I am so very excited. I also have 2 large mirrors to choose from to hang above it. Man, I finally get to have a living room that doesn't feel like it's a dorm commons room... SCORE!

It is so very exciting to have decorating projects, am I right??

I'm a Member of Helping Hands

2011-01-25T07:38:00.002-05:00

I officially joined my local quilt guild last night, Helping Hands Quilt Guild of Dover, DE. I had been to one other meeting, and even though I am by far the youngest member, I was very happy to join.

If you live in Delaware and are looking for a guild, here is a website with info from Delaware Quilt Guilds.

A few things I really liked about the meeting:

I found about the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Absolutely amazing!! I know I need to donate at least one quilt to that this year.
There were some quilt magazines that people were getting rid of, so I got 2 new-to-me ones!
The guild is participating in a Quilt Show in October, and they are collecting minis to sell and fund the guild. Now I have the urge to venture into minis... uh oh.
Oh yea, and I found out that being a guild member, I get discount cards to JoAnn's and other shops!! Jackpot!

I am very excited about joining my first guild, and look forward to all the fun adventures it will bring.

Happy Crafting!

*edited to change post title from 'I'm a Member' to current title.

Friday Find: Emilynn Handcrafted Jewelry

2011-01-21T21:47:00.001-05:00

Technically, it's still Friday, even though it feels like it is way past my bedtime today. I had the middle stage of an oral implant done today, so I'm still super sleepy. Therefore, please excuse anything that doesn't make any sense (including spelling...) haha.

I was browsing Etsy, favorite past-time...

What did I stumble upon?? This beautifully colorful array of handmade jewelry, also know as Emilynn Handcrafted Jewelry.

I am not a big jewelry buying person. Maybe because I have this whole lack of funding thing, and well, jewelry I don't even think is ON the totem pole. Or, maybe it's because I love so much of it that I can't decide what to get. Either way, it's tough for me to buy jewelry.

Back to what I found:

I mean, holy cow this is GORGEOUS!! I think this is my favorite piece from her shop, the piece is called The Secret Garden. The photo is courtesy of Emilynn Handcrafted Jewelry, very obviously NOT mine... nother story.

The *two women who run the company are a mother daughter team. Mum, Roseanne, and daughter, Emily,* live in NSW Australia. And, I think I desperately need to go to Australia now, if this woman gets any of her inspiration from her surroundings, I think I want the same surroundings.

Simply Lovely!

*edited to correct owners names*

Current WIPs

2011-01-15T09:51:00.004-05:00

Lets just say that I do have a very extensive "works in progress" (WIP) list. So much so that if I were to photograph and blog about each project, it may just take me until summer. Seriously. It doesn't help that I only have naptime and bedtime to blog.

With that said, I would like to share a few quilts I am working on right now (actively, mind you).

First up, my first king sized quilt that I'm making needs to get quilted, hopefully that will get started by February. It does have a need-to-be finished by date, so I'm on the wire.

Next up is the second king I've ventured into making. My dear Mom is redo-ing her room again, and what else could possibly grace her bed besides a quilt that we will make together (my Mom's first). It has been very nice to work on it with her, I'm hoping we get in some more sewing days!

This is a rough layout with only 5 of the many prints.

My Mom and I decided to do a repeat snowball block, with her colors being pink and green.

Only about 170 squares.

The only drawback is that we are doing a 6in finished block. That translates to roughly 324 blocks. Yea. 324 6 1/2-inch blocks to cut, and 1296 2-in blocks for the corners. All the corners will be a white on white print, with the colored prints as the main fabric.

He wanted me to take a photo of him with the fabric, funny face :)

Quilt #3 on the sewing table this week is an ORANGE and GREY. Man, I love me some orange. I've wanted to do a zig-zag quilt for quilt a while now, and this will be my first. I'm excited.

I know, the spots don't match up... maybe they will after sewing it together.

It's funny though because I love just about all colors, but Blue and Orange are by far my favorite!

This quilt will be close to a twin size, and is going to my adorable nephew The V-man. He's a dirt-bike loving, 2-wheel riding little boy who's turning 3 at the end of this month. Yea, he's 2 and he rides a 2 wheeler, he's awesome.

And last, but not least, I'm doing a patchwork quilt with the leftover block parts of the custom Boy Oh Boy quilt I did a couple months ago. This one will be backed with minky (yum), and is going off to my shop. I really need to make some more inventory, maybe once I have some more time.

Sewing With Mom

2011-01-13T10:07:00.000-05:00

I was going to post today about some of my current works in progress (WIPs), but I had a very rare occurance transpire yesterday...

I was sewing with my Mom.

Yea, I know, lame and lame.

But, the last time I sewed with my Mom I was sitting on her lap. Ha ha, I just realized some of you may be picturing a grown woman trying to sit on her mother's lap and manuver fabric through a sewing machine. Not the case. I think I was about 9 the last time I sewed with my Mom, about 18 years ago. Wow, it has been too long.

A few months ago, my Mom decided she wanted to redo her bedroom, again.... *enter sigh*

Chabby chic was the winning design style, and with that, she needed a quilt. Apparently not just any quilt either.

What was she to do? My Mom doesn't quilt, and has never learned to.

So, I told her I would be happy to show her. This turned into me simple telling her what to do and showing her things I had already put together (current WIP) so she had a visual.

Yesterday afternoon I picked up my oldest, and we all went to Oma's house (my Mom's). The bigger kids got to go out and play in the snow, and my Mom and I got to take over the dining room table and sew sew sew.

I can't even tell you how wonderful it felt to sew with her, chatting away the whole time. The kids played nicely, and it felt like it was meant to be.

My Mom even told me "I am really not as bad at this as I thought. I quite enjoy it, even the ironing part." (She knew that I didn't care for that aspect as much).

We only sewed for about an hour and a half, but it was well worth it!

Love you Mom!

Where Oh Where Have I Been?

2010-12-12T01:20:00.000-05:00

No blogging, I know. No adding more goodies to the shop, I know. But, but, but.

It's the Holiday Season! And Santa Clause has got a toy... (keep singing, I can't hear).

Ha ha.

But, no really, I've been lots of busy doing fun family stuff, making tons of Christmas presents, and eating waaayyy too many cookies... with milk of course.

I haven't even had any time to even read my favorite blogs lately, boo hoo right??

I just wanted to drop in and wish everyone a Happy or Merry Whatever-You-Celebrate!!

Oh yea, and lots of this:

Thankful

2010-11-26T21:32:00.000-05:00

(Warning: non-professional, unrelated photos included.)

I am thankful for my husband.

My family was lucky enough to be invited to my big brother's house yesterday for Thanksgiving. It wasn't that long of a trip, only 1 1/2 hours, but it was well worth the drive.

I am so thankful for the ability to bear children.

Growing up, my Dad would pile 3 crazy, wiggly, and prone to fighting in small places kids into our van and we would drive the 5 1/2 hours to Grandma's house. Yes, over the river and through the woods, lots and lots of woods.

I am thankful for my children.

I wish with all that I could wish with that I could do the same with my children, maybe next year we'll make the trip. Grandma and Grandpa would more then welcome me and my large-ish family, but I think that my 2 boys would just drive them up the wall. The week of Thanksgiving is the first week of hunting season in West Virginia, and there are lots and lots of hunters that drive all the way out to our family property for good game. So, the prospect of hiking and playing outside is greatly diminished. And the thought of 4+ kids in a 600-700 square foot living space is just scary at times.

I am thankful for my family.

Back to yesterday.

I am thankful for the love that we share.

My brother put on quite a spread, and I was very happy to be his wingman for the day. And, I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the sweet potato casserole he whipped up. I think I might actually be able to make and eat sweet potatoes now. The texture of them gets me, yuck. But, his were delicious!

I am thankful for curiosity.

I put together a little craft for the kids to work on, and of course Oma was right in the middle of it all with me. We made placemats, I got the idea from this tutorial for woven placemats, I really liked the finished size of these. However, I didn't find any large construction paper at JoAnn's, so I went with a pad of watercolor paper that was the same size. Wouldn't you know that my kids didn't even want to do it?? So, me and my niece & nephews cranked some out. They quite enjoyed it, as did I.

I am thankful for holiday and projects with the kids.

As this is a time to be thankful for the things in our lives, I am of course thankful for quite a lot. My family, my faith, our health, our home, our talents, and of course our love are just a very few of the things I am thankful for. Some of my most favorite pastimes of the season are crafting with the family, making handmade gifts, and of course baking more cookies/cakes/treats than I should make even in an entire year. I look forward to doing all of this all over again in the next few weeks. Hopefully I can get my living room painted and done before the Christmas decorating really gets rolling though... we shall see.

I am thankful that I live in a land of plenty.

I hope you all have an amazing holiday season!

Crochet Shower Puff

2010-11-20T09:00:00.002-05:00

Looking for a quick gift?

This one can be made in less than 2 hours!

So, I tried a few different patterns for making a shower puff. I didn't really like the finished product that I got, one was too big, one felt hollow in the middle, and another just felt so dense.

What's a girl to do?

Make a pattern, of course. The pattern can be finished in about 2 hours, with intermediate skills.

This is a great gift that is very quick to produce, just incase you need a last minute something....

Without further ado, here it is:

Materials:
-1 skein Lily Sugar N Cream 100% cotton yarn
-size G crochet hook

ch= chain
sl st= slip stitch
sc= single crochet

Ch 35, sl st to first ch. This is the handle.

Ch 6, sl st into where you just joined the loop for the handle.

Round 1- Ch 4, sc into smaller loop. *Ch 3, sc in smaller loop*, repeat from * to * 18 more times, making 20 loops total.

Round 2- Ch 5, sc into first loop of Round 1. *Ch 4, sc in same loop. Ch 4, sc in same loop (total of two times). Ch 4, sc in next loop.* Repeat from * to * all the way around. You should now have 60 loops.

Round 3- Ch 6, sc into first loop of Round 2. *Ch 5, sc in same loop. Ch 5, sc in same loop. Ch 5, sc in same loop (three times total). Ch 5, sc in next loop.* Repeat from * to * all the way around. You should have 240 loops now. I know it sounds like a lot, and if you don't have that many, know one will know but you ( ha ha ha, in my best evil chuckle).

Tie off, weave in ends, and call it a day, you're done!

I was able to make 2 puffs out of one skein of yarn, I only had about 3 to 4 yard left though, so be careful.

Happy Hooking!

Just a reminder, my patterns are for your personal use and enjoyment only. They have not been tested, so if you find an error feel free to let me know at lyannajeandesigns@gmail.com.

I feel productive... well somewhat

2010-11-17T10:08:00.000-05:00

I finally got my computer back, and actually hooked it all up. Why is it so terrible to actually plug all the junk in sometimes??

Better yet, why didn't I think to get my hus to do it?!

So, that isn't my 'productiveness' I'm referring to in my post title, though somedays it sure feels like things like that are my only ounce of productivity for the day... yea.

In case you haven't notice, I managed to put together a new blog header:

I quite like it. My first photo montage one. And, yes, I know it's at the top of the blog, but I wanted it in a post so that if someday I feel like making a book out of this nonsense, then it's in here.

Also, I managed to bind & wash the custom quilt I'm making. It's my first one!!

I'm off to deliver it today, it was requested by an acquaintance, and I'll be in the area she works today, so it works out great. Besides, this way I don't have to take 3 kids to the post office... we all know how fun that is (either personally, or watching the poor woman behind you do it).

Have a great last weekend before the holiday madness! Yup, Turkey Day is next week.

A Day in The Life

2010-11-05T05:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a long one.

Woke at 4am- sew for 1 1/2 hours.

6am, Breakfast for the masses

7am, Off to School

9am, Inchworms class at the Y for my little man, his first day and he's not too sure, but LOVES it! (I get to crochet in the waiting room for about 1 hour, score)

11:30am, Pick up the big man at Pre-K, but we're a little early so I get to squeeze in a little knitting (I keep some in the car). He had a good day today.

12noon, Lunch, Daddy comes home today and our little princess is overjoyed.

1pm, Time for a nap (not for me, bummer), and more crochet time while I wait (watch) for them to go to sleep.

2pm, More sewing to do... man, am I glad I like to do all this, haha. The big man has decided that today is not a good day for a nap for him, apparently working on his letters is more important today....

4pm, Everyone's up, and Daddy comes home to tell me MeMa is on her way, and just the grow ups are going to see a movie!! (By the way, Red was good).

(This is what happens when you try to get them to actually sit together for a photo.)

7pm, Home from an impromptu date night (I didn't even get to get all cute... how could he be spontaneous?? No, really, I was wearing faded jeans and a hoodie.)

Now it's bath-time, 3 in a row.

8:30pm, Little miss princess has retired for the evening, now we just have to wrangle the boys to be quiet and not wake her, and by quiet I only mean prevent them from yelling/screaming. (Apparently when there are 2 boys instead of just 1, there is no sense of volume control.)

10pm, finally we all get to sleep. And, I get to start all over again at 4am.

You know, I think I would die if I had to do a 9 to 5...

*All the photos were taken on a different day. Don't you just love the 80's look? haha

Haleluah!!

2010-10-28T09:53:00.000-04:00

I finally finished picking out all the quilting I did on my first King.

Now, I get to pack it away till after Christmas so I can get all my presents done... whole 'nother world, holiday gift making is.

Been lots of busy lately too.

Got another custom request, this time it's a quilt though. Here's my fabric pallet I'm using:

There's some from the 'Boy, Oh, Boy' line done by Holly Holderman. I just love this line and the girly one she did like it. Whatever isn't in this line is just coordinating fabrics. Gotta love Chick's N Stitches for nice selection.

I bought between 30 and 40 pounds of apple seconds at Willey Farms in Townsend, DE yesterday for $10, oh yea.

So, last night I made my first batch of applesauce. My house smells amazing!!

I'm hoping to get 2 more batches of sauce and one batch of apple butter out of the lot. I love canning.