Birthday week!

This week we have 2 birthdays, me and S2.  We had S2's party on Saturday, so with all the party prep, I was surprised to actually get some sewing done!  First I made a bunting to go on the fence, but the weather was icky, so we hung it in the house in the entry way.

I had one pennant too many for the length, so I made a little one for the back of the birthday chair.

Somewhere in the house is also a crown I made for the birthday boy, but I have no idea where it went. 

I have no idea what is on the agenda this week.  I think we'll play it by ear and see what happens.

a before photo

So last week was pretty good on the needlework front, although I still haven't gotten any sewing done.  I am hoping that changes soon.  My "sewing room" is the dining room table, so every time some one needs the table, I clear it off.  It has gotten to the point I just haven't bothered setting it up.

I did finish my wrist warmers, as well as 3 dishclothes.  I found a huge stash of cotton yarn from a bath mat project years ago.  So many years in fact that I need to make another one, as that one is falling apart.  I have no photos because I still haven't had time to run to the store to get new batteries.

I did manage to squeeze one last photo off of the back yard project.  Here is a before photo. UGLY!!

I had no idea that the fence was doing such a poor job of holding the dirt in.  It was worse than I remembered.  This is one of those little corners of the yard that gets neglected.  It never needs mown, The dirt is so poor the moss doesn't grow, it's between the fence and the garbage can spot, so it just "is".  After pricing the cement block, the price tag was $600.  DH had a few choice words to say  about that!  So to compromise, the fence stays for 1 year, we'll use a wood bed he built me (you can see the corner of it on the right side of the photo).  even with the empty bed there, it looks better! However, he has to put aside some money every month so that we can get the blocks next February.  I'm not sure how I feel about a two year project being one birthday present.  But I suppose it is better than the dump run I wanted last year for my birthday. 

If I get batteries in the near future I'll update this post with photos.  Heaven knows text is so boring.  I see why they made the Illuminated manuscripts.  It broke the monotony of writing!

Winter?

It's February, and we've barely had a winter.  No snow, one icy day, and a lot of rain.  There is plenty of snow in the mountains, but none at our elevation.  Which makes me sad!  I love snow days!  A few years ago I came to the conclusion that snow days are good for the soul.  They force us to slow down, with schools and businesses closed, it means we have some pure downtime to enjoy our families, or that book we've been meaning to read, play some board games, or just BE.  I know many people have consequences to those snow days, but I still believe they are good for our health. (And I think bosses who don't get that have their own issues! LOL) So I am feeling a little betrayed by the weather. 

Last week I finished one project and half of another.  The one project i finished is a little table topper that I had stashed in my sewing dresser because I had no idea what to do with it when done. 

But....in the process of dusting I realized the place mat I had on a little side table was way to big.  Enter the "duh" moment!  This little project was the perfect size!  So now it is done and put away, and the place mat is once again a place mat!  That makes S2 happy because he likes to set a table "properly" once in awhile.  At 8, properly is open to interpretation.  But matching place mats are a must! 

I also got my 2 scrappy stars done last week, but my camera batteries died, so no photos!

My half done project is a set of hand warmers (or fingerless mittens, if you like) for ME!  I realized all my yarn didn't fit in my yarn box, so it was time to get some of the put off projects done.  I should be finished by Wednesday with them.  Then a break from knitting should be in order. 

I am also hoping to get a yard project started.  After getting ivy and blackberries (mostly) cleaned out last spring, I discovered some ugly spots in the yard.  One is a dry, brown, little patch of nothing between our fence and the alley.  Right by where we have the compost inside the chain-link fence.  I am sure the neighbors love that view.  I had tried planting and amending the soil (kind of) and nothing grew.  A few dandelions and a spot of grass.  Yuck! So the fence is coming out, and we (I mean S1 with supervision) will build a raised bed around the area, and after lining and filling it, fill it with rhubarb.  S1 loves rhubarb anything, and it should be a large enough plant to screen the compost from the neighbors.  And cement blocks should, I hope, survive any to quick turns into the driveway!  We'll see what the weather and the budget allow for next week!

2013 is here!!!

Well, I didn't get anything done over the weekend.  I did spend a bit of time getting things "in order" around the house.  Mostly involving fabric.  With all the holiday events, I just did not want to take anything on.  I did, however, decide to purge the fabric stash.  I realized how much had been hanging around since S1 was an infant.  Time for it to go!!  I found an entire box worth of pink!  No one in our house likes pink!  But it had been picked up for various projects and gifts over the years and just accumulated!  I also had an entire box of green and another of blue, but everyone in my house likes those!  So they get rotated through pretty quick! I have a gazillion little squares cut for some 6.5" sawtooth stars, over 400 squares cut for mosaic blocks. I also dug out some scrap quilt patterns that I love so I could pretend I was working on something.  I even dug out the pattern for the little bitty 3" sawtooth starts to usethe left little left over squares in. 

 

Somebody did decide to help with the sorting!  

 Every time I got up, there he was!  I think I spent as much time shooing him away as I did deciding"do I really like that?"

My total for this year's OPAM is 149 finishes.  DH hasn't quite realized the difference it has made in the house, but he WANTS me to do it again this year.  So he saw something good come of it!  Now I am off to sort some more fabric!

Merry, Merry!

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I finished a few items in the last couple of weeks, although one gift was given unfinished because I need to size it!  Which D2 was ok with, as long as we finish it this weekend.  

This is D1's little karate doll.  Except.....I forgot to stick it under the tree!Oh, well. Christmas will just last a little longer!

 This is a pillow cover I started last year, and then lost.  I found it!  Now I need to figure out what to do with it!

 These are a couple of Christmas gifts,  the little sailboat is cross stitched and then sewn onto the side of the box.  My Christmas table runner is finally done, I think I started it 2 years ago! And a green table runner.  Which I also have to figure out what to do with!

Now, with New Year's on Tuesday. I am off to see what else I can accomplish!

Almost there!!!!

OPAM will be over in just a couple of weeks, and Christmas is here next Tuesday!!  I am happy to say that my Christmas makings are almost done.  I do have one project that I won't be able to work on til D2 is away for part of next weekend, but everything else is almost done.  I mean, I need to sew in ends on one other thing!!  I may even get some down time this year!!!

On the left are wrist warmers for D1.  She is moving to Kansas with her other parents, and we don't know if they are moving themselves or having the military do it, so we took that into account with her gifts.  On the right are elf slippers for D2, and in the middle a doll for D2.  The one item I need to finish off the last little bit is a doll for D1.  This is short and sweet do I can finish up my "have to do" list and maybe do some of those little extras!!!

I think the holiday season is here!

In the last 5 days, I've been home after bedtime.  So I am running behind and constantly trying to catch up.  So far it isn't working!  However, before the schedule went haywire, I did manage to finsh a couple of things.  First, a quilt I started 6 or 7 years ago.  

 I finished it for a friend who has a red white and blue living room.  Some of the fabric dates back to when I did NOT know how to tell cotton from not-cotton!  But she loved it anyways, so it is now being used instead of sitting on shelf somewhere.

I also managed to get 6 of these done, probably because I didn't do any embellishing!  DH said no, they are fine, and if I started I'd get frustrated and stressy due to time.  So for once I did as he asked!

 One for me, one for a gift exchange, one for my MIL, and three for friends.  I found the design here. She has some amazing projects on her site, and it makes me wish I could like white as a decor color!

And, at last, a Christmas present is done!  These are for D1,and I am hoping to finish the pair for D2 today.  Elf slippers are just the thing for the girls, however I need to get a third ball of green yarn!!

Off to a holiday luncheon, then shopping.  I think I want an early bedtime, or Santa won't leave ME anything! :)

One is better than none!

Last week I only finished one project.  I am okay with that at this point, only because I made huge leaps towards finishing other projects!  I finished the back of a sweater I started YEARS ago, and am half through the front right.  Thankfully, there are no sleeves to knit!  

So here is my one lonely finish.  As with most of my cross stitch, it was a kit that had come with my magazine.

  I do have to say, I've never seen a photo these guys smiling, but he is rather cute.  He will be a gift for a mom we know who is from England.  

These week I am going to keep trudging through.  And maybe attempting some Christmas shopping while I am at it.   

His vacation is over!

DH was home for the last week, and the kids were home for all but ONE day!  So last week I posted nothing, and finished almost nothing!  It was a good week, but between everyone home and the Thanksgiving weekend, all the schedules were out of wack.  I don't think laundry got done for three days!  So this week is catch up, with a "how much can I get done" vibe.  With 1 month left of OPAM, I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by how many projects I still have to finish.  I am going to have to schedule time without the kids home to get some Christmas stuff done!!!

My finishes last week were simple.  First, a bookmark for S2.  I wasn't keen on the kit but it came with my magazine, and I was going to stash as a "I have no money" project.  But he LOVED it.  So I worked the kit up for him, and told him he probably shouldn't take it to school, LOL.

So here it is, in all it's retro glory.  Now he is desperate for a book worthy of it. Next was a Christmas bunting for etsy.   I love buntings.  I love how they change the look of the room, how easy they are to change in and out, how easy they are to store...so many reasons to love them! 

For this week, it's just cram time.  I have several knit and crochet projects in the works. Granny squares are easy when the boys are having nerf wars and the girls are baking.  I have some new sewing projects as well as ll the old ones to finish.  So I'll just keep my fingers crossed no one gets sick!

On this Monday.....

I want to start out by thanking our servicemen and women for their service.  I know some who are feeling like this day is a joke this year, after what has been in recent news.  And maybe there are elements of truth to that. But for me and my family, we are grateful for those who are or were willing to serve and those of our older generations who fulfilled their draft obligations. 

On a much more mundane note, my week was more productive than I had expected.  I finished several items for the school bazaar.  Below are 8 felt rings I made.  The girls tend to snap these up on the first day.  So I make as many as I make, and let them sell out.

 And I finished these boxes.  They only had 4 left at the end of the first day!  I love doing projects like that, because when they sell out, I know somebody is happy with I made.  And that is the whole point of crafting in my world!

I also finished an autumn bunting for etsy.  I really love how these warm up some of the empty spaces in our house.  And with a 1960's split level, we have a lot of bare walls and windows.  I do need to find a spot that is a bit easier to reach for taking photos.  Climbing up the side of our entry way is one reason I am not getting a lot of these done!  Someplace eye level would be good!

This week I think I only have one meeting, so I am hoping to work on Christmas presents. If I can get time without kids in the house!  My only major complaint about homeschooling is that I can't work on gifts while they are right there!!!

What is it about phones??

As soon as you are the phone, the kids need you for everything! LOL...and you really can't do much while you are on the phone!  There were lots of phone meetings for the school carnival this week, which let to lots of starts and stops. But I did finish a couple of things.  First, the table mats I had left off with last week.  Done!  I only took a photo of one, since they are so similar.  Stitching down the binding is a little tricky when taking notes and holding the phone, but definitely doable.  As long as you don't lose the needle!

 These eyeballs were a pattern in my knitting magazine.  The kids saw them started making color requests.  DH said get the yarn, and even drove me to the yarn store! So I think he likes them as well.  The purple and orange were made following the yarn and needle instructions.  The big red one was crocheted, and the little red one followed the magazine pattern, but with a much smaller yarn yarn and needle.  the kids are hoping for more, but we'll see. Not exactly a have to do kind of thing.

I do think the jar needs an "eye of newt" label, even if the eyes are too big.  Or, if I make enough, an eyeball garland along the windows!

Next week, school carnival.  So there maybe nothing posted or finished.  We'll see how much phone time I get!

Can it be holiday season yet?

With a birthday and Halloween still 3 weeks away, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas, and New Years, I am ready to start my holiday preparations.  I AWLAYS seem to bite of more than I can chew.  There is so much fun stuff to do, as well as the actual work, like winterizing the house, and getting everything cleaned up outside.  The past week has been busy, between popcorn sales for Scouts, canning blackberry jam, working on the Halloween projects.  The good news is boys are making good progress on their popcorn goals, I shouldn't have to buy jam for awhile and, I am almost ready to break out the the Thanksgiving stuff!  

These are my finished sewing projects from last week.  Three out of five table mats done.  One is for me, one is for a silent auction/drawing basket, and one is for etsy.  I'll probably finish the other two today and tomorrow.  Then I only have 4 more Halloween projects to finish.   I think.

Here is a close up of one of them.  the thing I really liked was how 1) I have no more Halloween fabric to use. (YAY!!! New fabric next year!) and 2) even though they use the same fabrics, some are brighter and some are darker, depending on fabric placement. My favorite fabric is the black and white "cartoon" fabric.  It reminds me of some of the book illustrations when I was younger.  

We canned 25 jars of blackberry jam, and the kids are hoping for more.  We'll see if we get more berries.  They are coming really late this year, so I might be able to get at least 2 more batches done.  We also have green beans to make dilly beans with.  Half the family loves them, and the other half not so much.  My sewing goals are all over the place.  I have so much I want to do and only so much time!! 

Last week was a flurry of activity.  On top of my sewing projects, we got two sides of the house primed, and one side painted.  We only have one left!  This has been a project that has taken way to long.  We didn't have to money to rent a scaffold, so DH has been using a ladder.  Which made it go so slow.  My dad brought scaffolding up for a day, and we knocked out as much as we could between the morning burnoff and sundown.  If we can get one more day like that, we'll be done! 


As for sewing, I finished 4 more Halloween buntings.  The top three are for my etsy shop, and the bottom one is mine for Halloween.  Not that there is any difference, but it helps to plan it out so I know where to put it when they are done! :) 

I have a few more to do, one of which will be used for hot lunch on Halloween, and one that will go into a silent auction at the Halloween carnival.   Those are on the agenda for this week.  As well as finishing up some the little projects laying around!  I need to leave in some room for making jam this week, as all the berries are sitting in my freezer.  And since the kids picked them, I need to do something soon! Maybe I'll do that on DH's day off this week.

Fall is here!

I love the colors of fall, but I really hate the temperatures!  There hasn't been frost yet, and after the morning cover burns off,  it has been beautiful.  But really cold!! 

I've finished all but 2 of the boards for the closet down stairs.  Guess what I get to do shortly?  Wednesday DH will finish installing them, as well as some of the trim we are replacing in the kids' rooms. 

Popcorn sales have started for Scouts.  I love watching as the boys learn how to handle the various situations that come up, but it is exhausting!!!  There is something about watching them try, try, and try again, with the results being they made no sales that time, and learn to handle that with grace. Or that they made more sales than they realized and asking "how did that happen?"  Even the older boys are still learning, the difference is that their goals are bigger.

As for sewing, the only thing I finished was a bunting to hang in the entry way!

This piece has S2's favorite fall fabric in it.   The patch on the upper left.  It has the "helicopters" or "spinners" seed. I have no idea what tree they come from, I just know ALL my kids were fascinated by them.  Nothing says fall like those do!

The desk Daddy brought up has been amazing!  The kids are fighting over who gets to do homework first!  And it gave me an excuse to do another purge of the house.  I have no idea where everything comes from. I go grocery shopping once a week, and household/project shopping once a month.  With the budget being what it is, I don't spend much and I don't stray from the list.  I'm starting wonder if little stuff-bunnies are breeding in closets and drawers! 

This week is full of nothing.  Just trying to get through everything and get it out of my house!!  I do have quilts for D2 and S2 to finish, maybe I'll get one of those done!

And another thing almost accomplished!

Last week, we did some some more canning, plum conserves. My goal was 25 jars, and we got it done.  We always give a jar to the neighbors that let the kids pick the plums, plus 2 jars a month til next year. 

We also got started on a house project that I have been wanting to do for years.  But it always seemed too big for our DIY skills.  Now that we are working on it, it is disgustingly simple.  Here is a photo of the space that we had.  We have no idea what it was for.  To small for coats or linens, but in the wrong part of the house to be a broom closet.  It was just a space where it was. 

 

This is what the bottom half looks like now.   We used cedar tongue in groove planks to line the back, although my hubby has to go get more because I am lousy at math!  The sides will be lined in cedar as well, and we will be spacing the shelves every other plank.  The perfect height for our DVDs to be in!  There should be plenty of room for all the movies we have, but I have already told the children and husband that if they don't all fit, something has to go.  My goal this week is to finish lining it while I look for what shelving I want. 

This is the one sewing project I finished.  It is the trial and error version of our teacher appreciation gift for Halloween.  I'll be making each teacher a set of two, as well as baking some treats to go into the staff lounge on the day of Halloween.  I figure even our single male staff need kitchen towels!  I hate getting stupid useless gifts. I can appreciate the though without appreciating the gift.  LOL, I've had a few of those in my life.  I tend to lean towards things are useful as well as attractive.  Although everyone has a different view of attractive. I haven't had any complaints yet, so I think I'm on the right track!

 
This week should see some progress on the closet, hopefully all of the lining in, and a few of these towels done.  I'm starting early, just in case life gets in the way!  With school starting up, so is everything else!!

woo hoo!! I got stuff done!!

This week I finished a bunch a of little projects.  After doing the coffee cozies last week, I think I finally got back into the swing of things.  Which is good because school is starting in just over a week!!  This week, I finished another group of boxes for the school bazaar.  As well as the three in the photo, I also finished a brown and green one. I only have 14 more to go!  Then I have a few other items to send in as well.  I wish I could rent a space there!!!!  I also finished a needlebook that came with my cross stitch magazine.  I think I am going to use it for either my quilting shorts or my tapestry needles.  I haven't decided yet!

 These buntings I did are one of my favorite projects ever!!!! 

This little one is 60 inches and looks amazing over a door.  The original plan was to donate to our school Halloween carnival, but there are changes afoot there, so that is up in the air right now.  I made several, and some are up on etsy.  I really wish I had a wood fence, to string them on, but since we still have industrial chic going on, I have no "good" spot to photograph items than hang. :(

This one is around 6 feet long, and will hang along our banister over the Halloween week.  I am looking forward to hanging something there, as it is right when you walk in the house.  It needs something!!!

In the garden, my second planting of peas is sprouting! YAY!  And the two not quite dead plants that I had left in are getting new growth, including new peas!  So, I think this week, I may stay away from plans again, since it worked so well last week! 

I got to sew!!!!

I finally got to sew this week.  Just a little bit, but that's better than none!  We started out with a rather quiet week as all the kids except S2 took off for various events.  We ended the week with me literally sick from exhaustion.  Since we only had the youngest, we could do whatever.  "Whatever" included a camp out with his scout pack, and attending WashJam 2012.  He had a BLAST!!!  And of course there was all the house cleaning before we left. I hate walking into the house and seeing a pile of dishes.  Yuck. 

Back to my sewing.  I finished 12 coffee cozies for a friend. She had requested them to use as "thank you's" for events that she hosts bi-monthly. 

She let me have all the leftover fabric!  The button fabric is absolutely adorable, as is the pattern fabric. I also finished 2 cross-stitch projects.  S2 is hoping I can finish some more since he is eyeing a bookmark I started.

  

This garland has been waiting for at least a year and a half to be finished.  It may wind up in the laundry room when we get that finished.  Right now it is over our kitchen door.

This heart sachet is another "been around" project, but not for nearly as long.  I think I only started this past spring or early summer.  I stuffed it with stuffing and cedar shavings to hang in our coat closet.    Both of these projects were kits that come with my cross stitch magazine.  I love the patterns and projects in it, but I only ever seem to get the kits finished! I may need to start tossing the kits into a pretty box, and only work on the actual projects in the issues that I want to do.  But then I'd open the box and say"ooooh, I want to do this today!"  Which is a big enough problem as it is. 

I have no idea what this week will bring.  I know I need to get on school shopping, and D1 is coming home today, and S1 came home last night.  But there is so much I want to cram into the next 2 weeks before school starts!  I think I'll need to take it one day at a time, and just start work my way through.

Just a little bit behind

All of the camps are over except for 2, neither of which do I need to be there for.  S1 is going on a 50-miler for Scouts, and D2 will be doing a dance camp.  Easy-peasy for me.  I finished one project last week, a kitty print bone pillow.  I took a photo, and promptly lost my camera, so no pictures! 

The girls' room is still waiting for the last little bit of trim, and then I will be painting S1's room while he is gone.  I am very happy that no primer is required!  Just get the paint on!  He chose a soft grey, named "sharkskin".  Appropriate for a teenage boy, I think.  When we first bought the house, there were glow in the dark castles on the wall, but I got some primer and paint on the first weekend we were in the house.  It wasn't pretty, but it wasn't glow in the dark either.  I am hoping this paint job won't take an entire week.   I also have a quilt to finish for the D2 and a bunch of other little projects to get wound up and finished. 

We have spent the little free time we had last week de-cluttering the house.  In two days we took 10 boxes to the goodwill.  And the girls are still saying they have nothing to wear. HA! They are learning the error of that by doing laundry this week!  I'd like to get through more drawers and closets this week, but I am not going to hold my breath.  It is amazing how much stuff we think we need, and how much we never really use.  DH says we "need" the  two or three 8x8 casserole dishes we never use because it takes all three cook enough for us.  I say get one the right size, and get rid of all the rest.  Maybe he needs to dishes more often! LOL...

On the yard work list, I am hoping to build a real compost bin this month.  We have a semi-contained pile, but with 6 people, it get bigger than average.  We get great dirt out of it, and it isn't spread out all over, but I am sure the neighbors would like something a little bit more screened off.  So now I am off to see what I can get done sooner instead of later!!

So little time...

And so much that has to be done and that I want to do! Last week was full of meetings to finalize various day camp plans, as well as getting kids to from activities.  We did get a bunch of unused stuff out of the house!  Boxes of too small clothes, toys the kids don't play with.  We still have more to do, but I am happy with the progress, and the kids are happy with how easy and fast it is to clean their rooms.  If we spend anytime on the purge this week, it's the rest of the house.  Books, movies, whatever.

I only finished one sewing project this week.  It has been waiting to be finished for 3 years and it was for my bestest friend.  I thought I had tons of work to do on it, but when I actually sat down to finish it before I saw her this weekend, it only took 15 minutes!  Anyways, here it is.

A bag holder for all those plastic grocery bags.  Her kitchen is blue and yellow,  so I used squares of all my blue and yellow fabric.  She was very happy with it, although I felt horrible that it took so long to finish.

As for this week, there are no plans, just survive cubbie camp!  Anything more than that is  bonus!

It's July!

Almost to the summer halfway point. And  I am so not ready.  We had a quiet week with 2 kids away at camp, which meant...I got stuff done!  Only three crafty things, but lots of home stuff! 

The first item I finished was the girls dresser scarf.  The last one for the house! YAY!  I also finished a non-seasonal pillow cover for the living room.  I love changing them out for the season and holidays, but you can only get away with St. Patrick's for so long, LOL!  I also knit myself a cowel, I think it will be easier in the winter than wearing a scarf around the house!

 The applique on the pillow is from one of my cricut cartridges.  I used fusible webbing and the stitched it down once it was in place.  I do NOT like round parts!  D2 liked the left over sashing fabric, so that is what we used for her runner.  I have one little scrap left, so I think it was well done!

Below is the "before" picture of the girls bedroom walls.  Ugh! They hated them.  Those flowers glow in the dark!  So does the trim!   They designated the "over the closet" part of wall for posting photos.
 

The girls picked out a soft yellow and wood trim, so two walls are painted, trim in being stained, then I get to move the furniture over and paint the other two walls.  Fun. And time consuming.  But it was the only way to do it while they were at camp.  They got their share of work in, though.  All clothes had to be gone though before I would start!

I don't have a lot of plans for this week. Mostly finishing the room, and getting ready for more camps.  But I have high hopes of getting a couple other rooms painted this summer, as well as some stitchery projects I've been wanting to do.