Last week, I had the opportunity to take a sewing class where the project was this fabulous pillow.
The process included creating the center design which I believe is called a “baseball” block in the quilting world. The center of the block was machine embroidered. Following the creation of the center block, the circular quilting was done.
The back is actually two pieces that attach with really fun buttons. This is the area that allows the pillow form to be inserted. The final step was placing a binding around the entire outer edge.
This was a very fun project to make and took about 4 hours using pre-cut fabric and pre-made binding. I enjoyed it so much that I purchased several kits to make more! I also received the pattern to make a quilt using the same blocks which I am looking forward to trying.
I have the television on, as I usually do in the morning, and I was intrigued by a travel story I just heard about New Zealand.
My husband and I have always talked about traveling to Australia, I may just have to check on flights to New Zealand after hearing of all the wonderful things to see and do there. New Zealand is known for it’s beautiful beaches and water sports and there are also lakes, walking trails and even vineyards to visit. If you prefer the ocean, there are dolphin and whales to be seen as well.
I’m going to certainly be talking to my husband about possibly planning a trip to New Zealand for our 25th wedding anniversary. If we start saving now, we’ll be able to go on a trip of a lifetime!
My Mom made it! She drove for two day and arrived late last night from Arizona! I am so happy she is here.
I got up this morning as usual and got myself showered and dressed and then got my daughter off to school. Mom is still sleeping and probably will be for a while. She brought her little dog Suzie with her (of course!) and she is sleeping too. My little dog Plinko even went back to bed this morning, we’re all tired.
The unusual thing this morning is that I feel like I have some free time on my hands! My house is all clean because I worked on it all weekend. I think I’m going to go into my sewing room and get busy!
I really wanted to be sewing over the weekend, but I decided it was more important to take a little break. There are actually a few reasons, but the most important one is that my mom is on her way and will be here later this evening. She’s driving in from Arizona and I wanted to make sure the house was neat and orderly. With all the sewing I’ve been doing lately, the household chores have taken a back seat to my sewing machine!
Amazingly, the house wasn’t too bad, mainly just a lot of clutter. I had to spend some time sorting through papers and getting rid of junk mail, as usual, but once that was done I just had to dust and vacuum. I cleaned all the bathrooms too which always makes me feel better. I hate doing the bathrooms, but I sure do feel like I accomplished something when they’re done!
Probably the worst room in the house was my sewing room. I’ve just had so many projects going and haven’t stopped long enough to reorganize. It had reached a point that I thought I was going to have to put on some tactical boots to protect my feet from any pins or needles that I may have dropped on the carpet! There were so many thread clippings on the floor that the carpet was looking like it was shades of many other colors! I got the vacuum in there and it looks so much better!
I also ran to the grocery to pick up some things for tonight’s dinner and some muffins for breakfast. Thankfully, my husband is grilling the steaks I bought so I had time to go out and pick up all the mounds of grass my daughter raked up yesterday after she mowed for the first time this season. I also managed to cut back the mums which are right by the front door, so things look pretty decent outside now as well.
Hopefully Mom will be here in the next few hours. It will have been a very long day of driving for her today, so I’m sure she’ll be anxious to get off the road.
I hope you all had a terrific weekend! I think I’m going to sneak back into my sewing room now and see if I can start the second block in my block-of-the-month club.
I have been having so much fun with my sewing machine lately! I have recently taken a break from sewing fabric bags so that I could spend some time creating some cute baby snuggle blankets. These are a bit smaller than a regular baby blanket, they’re perfect for cuddling with, especially because they are such soft fleece. They measure about 27″ x 27″. I completed this one this morning and just had to share it because I think it’s so darn cute!
By the way, I am selling these blankets for $15 each plus shipping and I will ship anywhere in the U.S.A. and Canada. If you’re interested, you can contact me at thesewingmom1(at)aol.com or simply leave me a comment here and I will respond to you.
It’s Friday! I’m celebrating by posting my favorite weekly meme, Four Foods on Friday. We didn’t do this meme last week because of the Easter holiday and I have to say, I missed it! Glad it’s back this week.
#1. What’s your favorite form of potatoes? This is difficult, I love a really good fried potato, but I can’t make these, so I don’t get to eat them too often. My second would probably be a tie between a totally loaded baked potato, or mashed potatoes with gravy.
#2. Pie crust. Premade or from scratch? The only person I’ve ever known that could truly make a good home made pie crust was my Grandma. Unfortunately, I didn’t inherit her skill at making pie crusts, so, on the rare occasion I make a pie, I use pre-made.
#3. Vegetables. Fresh, frozen or canned? I probably use mostly frozen, although I try to buy fresh when they’re in season.
#4. What one dish do you wish you could prepare better? Meatloaf. I don’t really care for meatloaf, but I know my husband likes it so every now & then I attempt it. I just can’t get it right.
FeeFiFoto is having a Mother’s Day contest, and it’s a really easy contest to enter. Just visit their website, choose the gift you’d like to give and leave a comment on their blog post. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the lucky winner of a personalized photo gift item, up to $50 in value.
Personally, I’d love to win the canvas tote to give as a gift to my Mom this Mother’s Day. With all her traveling, she could sure put a tote to good use.
This contest ends April 14, so, what are you waiting for?
This is a quilted charm bag that my sister just completed. It is done in a “rag” style with Moda fabrics and is beautiful. It’s completely lined and has reinforced handles and bottom support. This is a larger size bag with many uses. Isn’t it pretty?!
Tags: fabric bag, rag quilt, sewing, Wordless Wednesday
Are you ready for an Xtreme Spring Break? Think of all the wonderfully warm places you could go! There’s always sunny Florida or the beautiful beaches of California, but don’t forget about Texas. I spent many a spring break at South Padre Island and loved every Xtreme minute of it!
Before you go though, don’t forget to visit Opotion.com to get your sun care to protect and nourish your skin. Ocean Potion’s Xtreme Tanning product line is Paba free, cruelty free, and most products are also fragrance free.
I’ve created this video to help promote the Ocean Potion tanning product line and am entering it in the Spring Break contest and hopefully win either $5,000 or an Xtreme Dream Vacation!
I’ve had so many things going on it was difficult to choose which one I was going to post as this week’s Tackle it Tuesday! My daughter was out of school all last week and so we decided to do some seed planting and that’s my tackle for this week.
As a kid, I always just put my seeds in the ground outside and, after several waterings, they’d pop up and turn into beautiful flowers. As an adult I’ve tried this same technique and achieved nothing. So, to help my daughter enjoy the planting process, i purchased a seed starter kit. We went to Home Depot and selected our seeds.
We put our seed starter kit together, added the water and placed the seeds in their little dirt filled containers. The lid was placed on top and the unit has been positioned in front of a window to receive as much sunlight as possible and now the waiting begins. Hopefully, we will have more success this way. Keep your fingers crossed!
