Details.

Here are some details of the skirt I made from a tablecloth. Since the orange colour wasn't all over I appliqued some of it onto the skirt where it needed a little extra punch.

This flower is the big one on the front. It is printed where you see it I just added some stitching to make it blend in with the appliqued part.This is one side of the skirt back. The print is in 2 pieces both appliqued on.

Another appliqued piece.

And another appliqued flower. My friend told me to get creative with making a skirt out of the tablecloth so this is what I came up with! She said she loved it! Can't wait to see her wear it. Check out my earlier post to see photos of the finished skirt.

'Snow' Fun!

Snow and More Fine Seams!

This is what it did outside today.

This is what I did inside today!

Sewing Fine Seams!

This is a skirt I just made for me. I wore it last Friday night on a date with my wonderful husband:-) The fabric is Anna Maria Horner's 'Volumes'. I sewed a black grosgrain ribbon down the center. {TIP: if you want to sew a ribbon down the center, make the front with a seam. Then you just sew the ribbon right on top of the seam and you don't have to worry about getting it straight - just follow the seam!}


This is fabric and ribbon I have to make a skirt for a friend. Ribbon goes on the bottom of finished skirt.


This is a tablecloth to be made into a skirt for my friend too. I'll try to post some pics soon of how I decided to work this!!

And soon-to-be skirt number 3 for my friend!

Just a pile of other sewing projects I have waiting on me!

Grocery Shopping.

This is what happens when I wait 5 or 6 weeks before going to the grocery myself! It is amazing how long I can get by just having T pick up a few things now and then on his way home from work:-) This was right after Christmas and New Year's. I waited as long as I possibly could but eventually the day came that I HAD to take my girls and GO GET GROCERIES! Over 2 hours and $200 later I had well stocked cupboards and fridge again.
Do you put off grocery shopping?

COLD Sunday Night.

OK all of you who have been wondering where I went, I'm back!! Sorry, the room my computer is in gets a little chilly when it is cold out so I find it hard to sit at my computer for very long. Funny, but it doesn't seem to affect my kids, they still spend plenty of time in front of this thing:-)
The picture above is what I just fixed for my hubby to snack on this COLD Sunday evening. Brie cheese with apples, dried cranberries, and almonds. Yummy with crackers and breads. {No, don't always fix something this fun. Usually I let everyone fend for themselves!}

This is what Little Sister and I got to do one morning this past week. We got to keep 'Baby Meg' for a couple of hours while her mother grocery shopped. Can't tell Little Sister was loving it can you? I wasn't sure I was going to get to hold her.

And this is a recent project that is finished for now. I altered my sisters dress pattern while she was here at Christmas and just mailed it to her about a week ago. There was a surprise rolled up in there for her too! Love it when it works out like that! Sis, let me know if it needs more altering:-)

My kids are 'fending for themselves' in my kitchen right now. Ya think they will clean up after themselves too?????

They got an Easy Bake Set for Christmas and are mixing, baking, eating, and just making a BIG mess. Why is it always more fun to make the mess than to clean it up??? Oh well, good opportunity for them to learn to clean up after themselves.

I have several sewing projects to work on this week. I have a new skirt I just made I need to get a picture of to share. Love the fabric. I went to Columbus with some friends this past week and went to an adorable fabric shop, Sew to Speak. 'SEW' much fun, I can't wait to go back. Check out their blog, and if you get to Columbus make it a priority!

I'll try to blog more often again now:-) Right now, I'd better oversee the cleanup of the kitchen!

Crown Towl/Curtain

I meant to post this several weeks ago right after I got this towl but I kept forgetting:-( {Memory doesn't get better with age I've heard}

A friend gave me this {along with a delicious meal!}after I did some artwork for her. She knew from my blog that I like crowns and thougth of me when she saw this. Great friend huh?! Thanks Janice!

The phrase under the crown is Latin for 'by the Grace of God'.

I love it. I knew if I used it as a towel my girls would soon have it looking like it had been used to wipe spagetti off faces and hands, snow and dirt off boots, and everything in between. And it would look that way because that is what they use my kitchen towels for!!! {Maybe I need to teach them to dry dishes??} So it became a curtain at my kitchen door. I was due for an update there anyway!!

BRRRRR.

This is the inside of my kitchen window. And, yes, the ice is on the inside.

The bright morning sun is starting to melt the ice on this kitchen window but it was completely iced on the inside too. That is what you get with old windows and old walls that are filled with brick. So if you are dreaming of owning an old house just be prepared for what comes with it!

We had the walls in the room beside my kitchen insulated but the foundation needs some help that hasn't happened yet. With a west windchill of -25 it is not what I call warm! It is now up to 62 degrees with a very chilly floor! Just warning you, old houses look good when they belong to someone else!!!!!!

Stay warm!

Yummy!

I happened to stop in at McMaster and Storm right before Christmas. (just happened to, you know!) Kara was finishing up her gift wrapping and candy bags. Look what she gave me! I was very glad I stopped in when I did. Homemade Toffee. Yum. We are all hoping the next time Kara decides to make it she remembers us!

Thanks Kara, it was great.

A few more Christmas pics.

Our little entertainer!

Little Sister.

Middle Sister with her new Curious George stuffed monkey.

Little Sister with her new doll.
Big Sister and her cousin from Kansas showing off their dolls new clothes.

Little Sister playing with the nativity set she and the rest of the grandkids got at my Mom and Dad's. Fun to be able to play with this at Grandpa and Grandma's every year now!

Mom's cheeseball plate. Doesn't he look yummy!

Mom's table.

Cookies we made at Mom's with some help from the kids.

OK, here is how you use a less-than-user-friendly kitchen. It took a long time for me to get it perfected but bottom line is you just wing it and go with the flow - every time! Here you see the limited table space piled high, with the bag of pecans resting on a stool. Sometimes the chairs all have items on them too!

Here is the ONLY real counter space I have. The width of my dishwasher, which I DID NOT have when we moved in. It took a lot of talking and pleading to convince my husband it could be done. Since it is across the room from the sink the water line was challenging, especially since the crawl space under the kitchen wasn't big enough for a person to get through.

As you can see I use my stove for counter space too, which makes the stove fun to clean up!

To make the kitchen space work the best plan is to have the dishes in the dishwasher clean and get them all put away so you can be putting dirty ones in as you go.

This area can be piled a little fuller if need be. You learn to get very creative with the space you have. Notice the colander is full with a recipe magazine on top of it.

Sewing table in the room off the kitchen doubles as a cooling spot for a pan of Pecan Squares.

And the dining room table gets the honors of holding the baked cookies as they come off the pans! I used an old tablecloth to protect the table

One secret to GREAT cookies is the silpat. Love it. Don't bake w/out it!

Ready for the oven.

The only spot I had to put the hot cookie sheet straight from the oven.

And the end result!