Zig Zag

Well Christmas is over now and we're back home for a couple days of rest before we jet out to Long Beach. We spent Christmas with my husband's family up in Plano and even got a bonus white Christmas!  Who knew that you could have a white Christmas in  TX?  We had lots of great food, and exchanged a LOT of presents.  One of my favorites was the new enameled cast iron dutch oven I got - can't wait test it out.  My favorite gift to give was this quilt I made for my sister-in-law:

Here's the backside of the quilt:

So, all in all, it was another great Christmas.  I've got a couple of days to do some sewing before we head out to spend time with my husband's family in Long Beach.  Can't wait!

This Just In

That's right, I have official business cards now! And, the best part is that they were free (except for shipping).  After receiving these cards, I noticed that the font size was really tiny so I called them up and asked for a reprint with a larger font - they agreed and charged me nothing!  So, I should receive them sometime this week.  I'm going to use these as a tag on all my items as well and will put the washing instructions on the back side.  Much more professional than the pieces of paper I'm using now!

On the sewing front, I've been busy working on a few projects...I just finished up a special mystery project that can't be revealed until later this week (hint hint).  And, I've got a few baby blankets I need to get moving on since we'll be on vacation for the next couple of weeks.  Can't wait to spend time relaxing with family! We'll be up in the Plano area for Christmas and then fly out to Long Beach, CA to spend New Years.  With all that going on, I won't be getting much sewing done, so I'm getting a head start now.  I'll post some pics when I get a chance!

Back and Running

I'm back from my wonderful trip to Chicago.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and spent quality time with some of my closest and oldest friends.  I spent the first part of the week with my friends Cassie & Toby and got to meet my new "niece", baby Stella.  I also spent a few days with my friends Jeanne & Doug in their new swanky urban condo right in the heart of downtown Chicago.  Although I had planned on spending my vacation sewing-free, my sewing expertise was called into use as I helped Cassie make a few awesome recycled sweater stockings for her familiy.  While I was at it, I couldn't resist making a few extra booties for Stella and her friend Caleb:

My sewing nerdiness has been increasing each month since I started jslik designs....I think I reached a new level this week not just by sewing on vacation, but when my friend broke her machine's needle, I proceeded to produce a sewing machine needle from my purse....yes apparently I do carry around spare sewing machine needles in my purse.....and a tape measure.

As promised, here are some pictures of my latest blanket - a masterpiece!  I have to give credit to my friend Eddie for commissioning it and going fabric shopping with me.  We spent an hour or so combing through the fabric shop and finally came up with this:

Well it's gonna be a busy busy week for me! I've got a big project to finish up and it's gonna take me the better part of the week.  Plus, I've got to do my Christmas shopping...I've gone shopping TWICE now and managed to get nothing for anyone on my list except for myself! Whoops....:-P

Magic Pants

It's been quite a busy week as I've been trying to wrap up a few sewing projects in preparation for my trip to Chicago.  Earlier in the week, I accompanied my husband to Victoria (TX that is) and planned on spending my time in the hotel sewing, but unfortunately after packing up my entire sewing room and machine, I neglected to bring the power cord/foot pedal for the machine.....not one of my brighter moments...  After a few attempts at hand-crank sewing I gave up and spent my time watching Law & Order marathons instead.  So, that left me with a few short days to finish my projects. 

I'm excited to go to Chicago to visit my best friend and her 3 kids.  I decided to make what I have named "Magic Pants" for the two older girls.  They are "Magic Pants" because they're rolled and hemmed at three different lengths.  So, as the girls grow, you can take out the outermost seam and roll down the hem to make the pants longer.  Since I've pre-hemmed the pants at each length, you don't need to do any sewing, just rip out the seams and the pants unfold to a longer length. 

My best friend also just gave birth to a little girl 2 months ago.  I thought about making the baby some "Magic Pants", but decided flannel was not a good material for babies as it can't stretch to accomodate bulging diapers.  So, I decided to make a pillowcase dress instead.

Whew, got everything finished up just in time :-)  Well I'll be gone for a week, but I've got an awesome blanket to post about when I get back!