Turtle of the Week - artwork

There is nothing better in this world than Kindergarten artwork!

A Child's Quilt

A child’s quilt

By a Grandmother stitched

Full of love

In every thread

In every square

A child sleeps

A child grows

Wrapped in warmth

Wrapped in dreams

Wrapped in love

Worn with age

A tattered quilt

Gone its warmth

Gone its beauty

But the dreams

And the love

These do remain

To hold and share

The legacy of a child’s quilt

And a Grandmother’s care

Quilt block 1967

part of a quilt stitched by Sarah Earl

written by Regina Earl Arlauckas

Christmas 1995

Sewing Plans

Finally - a Friday Night Sew In that actually coincides with a Friday night that I CAN sew!!! Woo Hoo!

Turtle of the Week - reprise

The Munchkin at Barret's Place park in Pendleton, SC - Fall 2010 (age 5.5)

The Munchkin at Barret's Place Park- Fall 2007 (age 2.5).

Either that turtle is shrinking (which I doubt - it's metal) - or the Munchkin is growing!

We had a great visit - more photos to follow after I get back in the swing of things - you know how it is when you feel like you need a vacation to recover from your vacation (it wasn't the vacation so much as the travel to and from that did me in - jet lag with no jet).

The Whole Lan-Yards...

Last month I participated in my 7th MD20 Lions Leadership Institute. 1 of those was as a participant, and 6 have been as a staff member - 4 as Coordinator of the program.

Each year I served as coordinator, I ended up making something for the participants, the faculty/staff, or both.

This year it was lanyards for all - thanks to a pattern from Two Peas in a Pod Designs that I came across one day. I did not go as patchworky as her instructions, other than the star insert on each lanyard. Our theme was "reach for the stars" but I had a very limited amount of this fabric, so I just inserted a bit in to each lanyard.

I also modified the finishing a bit - I don't have pictures of it but will go back and do a little tutorial on that if people are interested - it encloses both raw ends but only uses one ring in the bottom, unlike the double ring in the original tutorial. Both work equally well - it just depends on what the lanyard is being used for. These were name tag holders -I printed the nametags out on card stock - ran them through my Xyron laminator -and punched a hole at the top for the lanyard clip.

I will say that this project really drove home the concept of different fabric quality though - the black pin dot and star fabrics were a bit softer to the hand than the solids (although they were the same price!) - and after sewing on them all for a while - and having to change out my needle THREE TIMES when sewing through the solids - I would best compare the rougher fabrics to sewing through sandpaper! I could "hear" the difference in the machine as I passed from the solid to the stars on each lanyard!

It is just a good reminder that I should remember to shop with my hands as much as my eyes when buying fabrics!!! I DO buy online - but usually manufacturers I am familiar with and fabric lines I have "pre-browsed" in stores.

I will be making more lanyards - I wear an ID badge/swipe card at work and now think I need more to change up my outfits - but I think I will choose my fabrics a little more selectively!

Binding

Don't you hate it when you have something (good?) to write about - that would make much more sense with photos - but you don't have any, and forgot to take them while you were working on what you wanted to write about???

I WAS going to write about binding, and I WAS going to say that the past few evenings I have been doing little more than sewing strips into binding and pressing them in half, and I WAS going to say that I now have the bindings prepared for 4 different quilts (and applied on one), even though 2 of the 4 quilts have yet to be sandwiched, and I WAS going to say that I have the strips cut for two other bindings but need to remember where I put them (the quilts AND the binding strips) , and I WAS going to ask how people "store" their binding before putting it on the quilt (I roll mine). I WAS...going to write about lots of things.

...well, I guess I just did.

:-)

(sorry about the lack of pics - I will take pictures of the bindings ON the quilts - I promise!)

Wardrobe update

Many of you questioned my sanity (!) at only getting 2 of these awesome cardigans.

I know I know - that was a bit conservative of me... so I went back today and got a 3rd - "Rumba Red"... I did have the "Beyond Navy" in my hand, but then I decided that a pair of comfy sweats (mine are threadbare) and another layering tee were a smarter purchase.

The brown one held up to 1 1/2 hours in the chilly misty rain yesterday - and kept my lower back nice and toasty warm. Went great with my orange shirt, too (orange and brown are the school colors where I work, and I was "working" a press conference so had to dress the part)... it was back again today as the temp in our office hovered slightly above "iceberg" - love that the sleeves are not bulky on my arms as I am working on the computer.

:-)

Attention K-Mart Shoppers...

Last week I swung through my local K-Mart to pick up a couple of their long sleeved cotton tees. I like them for layering under blazers and sweaters for work, or for snuggling on a cool day, and wanted to get the pick of the new colors in my size range when they first came out.

After picking up 2 different colors, I looked around a little bit more, and then I looked up - and there they were!!!

Cardigan sweaters! Not just any cardigan sweaters - but PERFECT cardigan sweaters...
Cardigan sweaters like I have been searching for forever...
Well - not forever - but since around 1989 I think - when I had my last favorite cardigan and wore it to threads.

They had to meet the following criteria:
1. mostly or all cotton
2. no zipper
3. v-neck/tapered.
4. sleeves that fit my large upper arms and over another shirt comfortably
5. sleeves that were not super duper past my fingertips long
6. POCKETS
7. affordable
8. good basic versatile colors with no major embellishments
9. machine wash/tumble dry

I don't ask for much, do I? I nearly took up knitting just to get my perfect cardigan.

I bought 2 - black and coffee bean.
I may go back... it is not often that I can find perfection!

And now that the weather has turned cool and damp - it is perfect cardigan weather.
They just came out of the dryer - is it wrong to want to wear one to bed? :-)