Yarn and Love

My husband is fantastic. Last week, I needed 100 yards of yarn for each girl at activity days. My husband measured out 10 piles of the yarn, I only did two. I told you he is fantastic. I loved him so much for doing this, and at the same time felt so pathetic for only doing two. He is such a help with activity days, and I don't think he could say the same thing for me and scouts. Although I did cook a main course the other week for scouts. The girls made yarn octopuses, they asked me if I did all the yarn measurement, I said no, Brother (my last name) did, so when you see him at church thank him. They said he wouldn't have any idea what they were talking about if they did, I said I promise he will remember. None of them thanked him, they were probably scared of him.

Ah, isn't love blissful.

What every child doesn't need.

Don't you think every mother should make her child fabric alphabet flashcards? Well apparently I didn't get the memo, because I did it. My child now has fabric with batting in the middle alphabet flashcards. They measure roughly 5"x5, and all of them together make a stack about 5 inches tall. Yes this is definitely what my child needed.
PS aren't you suppose to put your child's feet in the pictures of sewing for children's?

Of course walmart didn't have a 5 inch ring, so I had to use 4 1.5" rings, with the 5th one holding the other four together. No walmart never has what I want, but they do have...a post coming later.

Its kind of a big jumble mess, not to mention its metallic because I bought them at walmart, and its all they had. I thought about tying them all together with a shoelace. My husband didn't like that idea. Speaking of him, he did my eyelet work, isn't he fantastic. Thats what I love about him, when I make over the top crafts for my child, that need eyelets he puts them in for me.

Heres the end isn't cute? I know in that competition with other moms on over the top things, I might win now.

Why I'm a mom

This is why I don't work.
Sometimes I think about doing something on the side. I fully intend to some day. I even know what I am going to do (heres a hint it doesn't involve crafts). But every time I start to thinking about it, I think not yet. Why rush, enjoy my kid while I can. He is never going to be this young again. I have ton of years to do things (at least another 60), but my kid does not have a tons of time being young. People always talk about wishing they had babies again, but hardly ever express the same sentiment about teenagers. I have to enjoy my child while he still thinks I'm the coolest person on the planet. I'm sure by the time he thinks the opposite, it will have only seemed like a matter of seconds.
On a side note the thing I totally do not understand is the women who says they are done having babies but then says they are baby crazy so they wants to hold the babies at church. (Maybe I will one day, but considering I've never been baby crazy a day in my life I doubt it.)

My Signature

One of my very best friends in the world just had her first baby. I really want to go see them, but atlas I am here. I only saw her once in the beginning of her pregnancy, and so its kind of hard to believe she is also a mother. But I bet the baby is dang cute. Her family loves dang cute babies, so they wouldn't settle for anything else. Anyway this is the blanket I made. You have no idea how hard it is to find non-florals calicoes in the spring.

Glass beads

I made this for my niece. (Don't hate me becky for not thinking of this for your daughter.) Seemed like a good idea, until I spent the money on the beads and sat staring at them. I don't think it was such a good idea, but my mother thought it was. Anyway, I made this, and hopefully no one expects me to make another when their daughter or son turns 8.

Free spirit Cutter

As I have mentioned, I'm working on making a bee blanket/quilt. I've decided to embrace myself. My mother calls me a free spirit cutter. Which basically means I couldn't cut a straight line if my life depended on it. I rely very heavily on my paper cutter. This creates a challenge if you want to quilt. Some may think I'm doomed as a quilter, but I decided to listen to my mother. She told me, once you get to the really fancy quilt none of them have straight lines, its about art not straight lines. She told me of this quilter, who extremely famous, and how she had a book of some of her art that I needed to see. At a past visit at my mother's house, she showed me a book about Rosie Lee Tompkins.
Here is some of her work.
After seeing her book I thought oh yeah I could do that (By the way, I don't think I could really do a quilt like that...), because it was the first time I have ever seen quilts that don't look like old stuffy lady things. I closed the book, flew back home. I really haven't thought of her since, except when I started the bee quilt and decided not to care if I cut it straight. So sure Kim said she approved but when she sees the finished product she might not.
Sure I could do the free spirit cutting, but the question is how does she get such emotion in her pieces. I mean she is much more of an artist than a quilter. Something I read about her compared her to Mark Rothko, an abstract painter, an artist who's work I also love. I'm sure Rosie Lee Tompkins work is the same way. So the question is how to I get from my point as a free spirit cutter to an artist. I'll probably never know, or develop/ try to develop that talent. My mother also tells fond stories of my young life as a cutter. Apparently I loved to cut and paste it was by far my favorite medium.

Needing a second opinion.

I'm in the process of making a quilt out of cords, and pajama pants. I need a second opinion.
Should I make the blanket, 4x7 basically really skinny.

Should I make it 5x5, which basically makes it an oversized baby blanket

Or should I make it 5x6, which would make it a good size blanket for a growing 2 year old.

But I'm short two blocks, the two pairs of pants ran out of material. But I'm planning on putting yellow cord border around the blocks before the binding, I could add two yellow blocks in the blanket. I don't know what to do please give me advice. Leave a comment, on what way looks the best. Or if you are a reader who doesn't leave comments email me. Something, I need advice.

Here is what the material looks like close up. The green pants where Kim's hopefully she approves of how I butchered her pants.

Reversible Necklace

This is my latest necklace. I made it with lapis beads, and a few turquoise beads mixed in. The charm came from Israel, my dad picked it out of me. It is reversible. Stars on one side, and...

I think its a Muslim symbol for the third eye on the other side.

Just kidding its not.

This is what the piece of paper that came with it said,

"The HAMSA: Meaning five in Arabic, the hand-shaped Hamsa is a talisman that can be hung on a wall, worn as a pendant, or be put on a key ring to ward off the evil eye. Originating in Saudi Arabia, it represents the hand of Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Mohammed. She is revered by Muslins, who believe she can protect them from misfortune. This talisman was adapted by Middle Easter Jews, and was gradually accepted by Jews of different origins."

I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Easter in my house

My sister sent me these peep bunnies a few years ago. I love them, they are so soft. I love edible peeps, especially stale.

I went to three different stores and spend hours on the internet for this easter bunny. I love him, but he was expensive so I had to think about buying him for a long time. That's why I had to drive to three different stores, by the time I decided I needed him, I had to search because other people liked him too. He not only looks so springy but he looks so classic to me.

These are the easter baskets my son picked out. They small which is good, and they were cheap. I think $2 a piece.

This is my chick dressed up like a bunny, that I begged my mother to let me have instead of having it at her house. Turns out they are selling this year at walmart for $2.50. I guess I didn't have to beg so much.

This is my other bunny, which I spent $2.50. He is my resin chocolate bunny. I actually don't like eating chocolate bunnies, but these resin things are all the rage this year. He is only about 4 inches tall, perfect size, any bigger and he would be gaudy.

As you can tell we love holidays in our house, at least I do.

When I told my husband what the easter bunny was getting for my son, he said why are you turning Easter into a present holiday? I said because it is, its a holiday, all holidays should be present holidays. Why didn't you get me anything for Martin Luther King Day?
I was raised believing easter was a present holiday.
But not a big present holiday, just a present under 10 bucks, and some candy.

Green Holidays

I really like St. Patrick's Day, I think its because its green. Maybe its because of my middle name. Who knows? I wanted a Lucky sign I saw at the grocery store, but it was $10 and my husband said I could make something better than that for cheaper, so I made this instead:

This is my door sign, I bought for $2.50

This is the pillow I designed but my mom was actually the one who embroidered it 2 years ago.

Nap please

Crafts waiting upon my creation.
I know hobbies are suppose to make you happy, be relaxing, something you enjoy. But sometimes they are overwhelming to me, because I think deep down being overwhelmed gives me that buzz feeling.
Here is the list:
Humanitarian Blanket
Finish my St. Patty's decoration
Rag Quilt
Alphabet Squares
Spring clutch
Wall Quilt
Bee pant blanket

And really all I want to do every day lately is either take a nap or watch a movie.

Here is the real problem, my sewing machine sounded about as loud as the train that goes by outside my window. My mother told me I needed to oil it, well my husband is super nice, and did it for me, because I am a moron and couldn't find the directions on the back cover of my instruction manual. So now its all greased up, and it is still loud, I don't know if its because my sewing machine is around 40 years old, or if it needs more than oil. I can't remember what it use to sound like. I don't want to take it in to the bernina store if I don't need to, but I don't want it to break because I didn't take it in to get a tune up when it needed it. What am I to do?

My hubby's favorite.

I referred to my husband late birthday meal, in this post. Referred is the key word, the post was not about the meal, I just referenced Swiss Chicken. Here is the recipe:

Swiss Chicken
2 thin slices Swiss Cheese
4 chicken cutlets (1/4” thick)
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tbsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. butter or margarine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 tsp. dried oregano

Cut each cheese slice in half; place 1 half on top of each cutlet. Starting with a short end, tightly roll up cutlets, jelly-roll style. Tie securely with string.
On wax paper, combined flour pepper, Mix well. Add cutlets; toss gently to coat.
In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add cutlets; cook, turning frequently, until golden, about 3 minutes.
Add broth, juice and dried oregano to skillet. Increase heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 –12 minutes. Place on a serving plate; remove strings. Serve with rice.

This was the meal I first made Brent when we were dating. Coincidence that it is his favorite? I think not, turns out my husband is highly sentimental. By the way, I was not one of those girls that cooked for him because we were dating and I wanted to impress him. He was spending the weekend at my parent's house, and my mother was out of town which meant the cooking was divided between my father and me. I cooked Sunday, he cooked Monday.

Long overdue

I finally finished this apron. (Before I left for TX.) I bought the material almost a year ago. I copied the apron after my sister in law, Teresa. I hope she doesn't mind, I really don't copy everything from her, she uses some of my ideas too, I think.
Here are the aprons I've made in the last year.
I made this one for my old roommate when she got married. She likes the beach, she was planning to go to Hawaii for college. Yes that is a hand embroidered tea towel. Why she got hand embroidery when no one else did? I don't know I guess I was feeling ambition.
Also I never took a picture of this one, but I made my mom an apron with this material to match her kitchen, its yellow and blue, the kitchen that is, and obviously the apron is also.
Then I made one for my new sister in law for her bridal shower in december. They are a great bridal shower gift because they are not embarrassing to open in front of older women, but you can still look cute for your new husband (I give them with the intention the bride will use them fully clothed). Not to mention, its not embarrassing to model. I learned something doing this one, thin bias tape might look good, but go for the wide, the extra wide, thin will make you cry, will make you yell, will make you want to hurt yourself, and make you want to throw things at the wall. It will also make you end up in your room with the door shut until you can calm down and face your family again, don't use it, go for the extra wide.

Ma Jo

I totally found what I totally need!!
Seriously, if I was one of those rich people who thought of dollars like cents, and $35 was more like $0.35 I would totally buy it. I especially wanted it after my cute boy sitting on my lap said, "ma ma jo" that sealed the deal, if I would had $35 burning a whole in my pocket, it would have already been ordered. From this girl's etsy site.It is totally life like too! I have long legs, I like shinny accessories like sequins tutus and I love mary janes, I cross my legs, even if it has been giving me spider veins since I was 16. Not to mention we have affinity for bird in our house, I blame that on my husband. The only thing that will get me over not having them, is that they are 5 and 8 inches tall, and that is a little too big for my taste. I think 4 and 2 inches would be good.

Good thing I only have one...

Its a good thing I only have one sister because I have made her baby so much stuff there is no way I could be fair if I had more than one. If I have a girl before she has a second girl, her second daughter will also have way less handmade stuff from her only blood material aunt. These are my latest creations! I love them!

I think they turned out so cute! They are handmade, hand sewn baby shoes to match her blessing dress.

Here is the blessing dress my mother made her.

The shoe pattern is from Martha. But as usual, the instructions and the pattern leave something to be desired, I had to do plenty of modifications. The reason I hand sewed even though I think martha advocates a machine for this project is because I was afraid my machine would eat the little pieces of felt.