Migrainous

It's day 4 and I'm still feeling the after effects of the migraine that rendered me useless this past weekend.  Seems like there isn't enough coffee or advil in the world to make this one go away.  But alas, I must drag myself out of bed and get some things done.

I got to use up a couple pieces out of my stash recently.  A friend ordered a set of blankets for twins and I had the perfect fabrics:

Since the babies were not named yet, my friend decided to go with a different kind of personalization...pugs!  This was my first time doing a satin-stitch applique and I really like how it came out!  It was also my first time using Wonder Under, a fusible (iron-on) webbing with glue on both sides, and I'm a fan!  I used it to glue the shape onto the fabric.  Then, I ironed on some freezer paper on the back to stabilize and then zigzag-ed my way around the pug. 

 

Better get back to work now....got a rush order to fill in the next couple of days.  Hoping that the hurricane brewing in the gulf misses us completely!

Stashing

So, when I first started sewing, I read many blogs and saw many references to "fabric stashes".  I thought, I'm not going to be like that, hoarding all this fabric...buying fabric without a project to use it for....but I took a look at my study/sewing room shelves today and found this:

Guess I am a fabri-holic after all.  I seriously need to clean this out and make some stuff!  Better get busy.  

So I'm going to try something new.  I don't know how many people bother to read my blog (besides my moms and my best friend), but I'm going to ask for a little reader participation.   I picked up this fabric on my last trip to NYC and can't make up my mind as to what I should do with it.  

I've only got 1/2 a yard, so I can't make anything big.  But I'm looking for ideas and suggestions as to what I should do with it.  A bib and burp cloth set?  A bib and booties set? or something completely different... It doesn't have to be a baby item....a laptop sleeve perhaps? tote bag?  Think, what would you want to buy that is made out of this fabric?  Please do leave me a comment with your input!

Hump Day

I've finally gotten some of my sewing mojo back this week.  Last week, I took a sewing hiatus due to VBS, and have been having a hard time motivating myself to get back into it.  My orders have slowed down momentarily, and it's just so blazing hot outside. Watching TV, taking naps, sitting under the fan, and reading books all day is really quite tempting.  But, I was able to make this project relatively easily (once I figured out the dimensions and logistics).  It's always nice to do a project you can finish in a few hours.

A friend of mine recently cleared out her maternity wardrobe and decided she wanted to keep her favorite maternity  t-shirt that she wore all the time towards the end of her pregnancy.  Not wanting to wear the t-shirt anymore since it brought back memories of being uncomfortably large, she wanted a pillow made out of it as a keepsake.

The t-shirt:

Re-purposed as a pillow:

Now that I'm on a roll, I'd better get working on my next project before I get lazy again!

Berries and Dots

This weekend I made good on my wifely duties and sat through a Saturday workshop on stocks, options, and other riveting investing topics.  It wasn't too bad, I only dozed off for a half hour at the end :-) As a pre-reward, Andy took my out blueberry picking on Friday night.  We drove 22 miles to this blueberry farm that is really only about 5 miles as-the-crow-flies from our house.  Too bad we didn't have an amphibious ATV...then maybe we could've crossed the undeveloped land and creek separating us from the farm...

Anyway, we picked 7 pounds of blueberries....I think we've maybe got 4 left as of this morning.  They are so delicious!

Moving on to other round things, here's a polka dotted blanket a friend of mine ordered.

Since this blanket was ordered for a mutual friend, I used the leftover fabric and made a small gift as well.

TGIF

Well I successfully made it through VBS week.  I had a great time, but I must say, I have new found respect for elementary school teachers.  Managing a group of 6-8 year olds has really kicked my butt this week.  They are wonderful, lovable, but so full of energy, it's tough to keep up and not lose your mind.

In the garden, we're losing the battle with the hornworms.  Last night, I went out to pick some tomatoes, only to find that half my plants had been decimated by these fat buggers:

I think we picked off at least 10 last night and I found 3 more this morning.  They are huge - the only consolation is that they make a satisfying pop when you squish them.  Gross.  But, for the tomatoes that did survive, I've been enjoying some amazing bruschetta the past couple of nights.

It seems wrong to add some cute baby stuff to this post, so I suppose I'll just leave it for another day.  This weekend is going to be an exciting one (insert eyeroll).  Andy's signed us up for an all day investing workshop tomorrow.  In an attempt to win some major wife points, I'm going with him (after all I am the one with the economics degree).  I might cash in those points for a trip to this blueberry farm I just heard about sometime this weekend :-) I love picking fresh fruit (no matter how hot it is outside)! 

Taking a Breather

I've decided to take a break from sewing this week.  I've been helping out at VBS (Vacation Bible School) at church every day this week for four hours in the morning.  Herding around a group of nine 6-8 year olds pretty much sucks the energy from me and by the time I get home, I'm ready to just veg out on the couch.  So that's what I've been doing.

However, I do have a whole bunch of items to show since last weekend was a big weekend for baby showers.  So here is a pair of custom booties I made:

And this was a blanket I did a little while back:

Weekend Escapades

And it's back to Monday after a whirlwind of a weekend full of surprises and adventure.  It all started Friday night when we rescued a little lost yorkie.  I saw the dog running (or bopping) down the street and sent Andy after it.  I'm not a dog person, but I'd say 85% of my neighbors are and they are always rescuing stray dogs, so I was inspired to help a dog.  In my mind, I was thinking that if the dog had a collar, we'd help him and if not....well....I didn't think that far.  Sure enough when Andy brought him back, he had no collar.  Now we were stuck with the dog since it was too late to take the dog to the shelter....so I had to let the dog into my house (which if you know me, was a big step for me because the thought of a dirty dog in my house really raises irks me).   I compromised and the dog was confined to my utility room.  By a stroke of luck, we looked at our community discussion forum online and saw a posting for a lost yorkie matching the description of ours but said it had no teeth.  We called the owners (several times) and left several messages, but heard nothing from them.  I was getting a bit anxious because the next day we were going up to a friend's lakehouse early in the morning and would be out all day.  Of course the thought of this dog locked in my utility room all day with no way to go outside to do his business was stressing me out.  Then, there was still the question of what we feed a dog with no teeth! In the end, the dog spent the night, we made one more call to the owners early Saturday morning and finally made contact.  So all was well, dog and owner were reunited (turns out the dog was 16 years old!) and we were off to the lake adventure.

At the lake, we got to swim, go boating, ride jet skis, and chow down on some great fish fry.  We had such a blast - I got to take a jet ski out on my own and had so much fun riding the waves.  The water was so bumpy that I nearly made myself sick, but it was definitely worth it.  Here we are, hanging by the lake...Andy's lobster burn is already beginning to show.  Guess he should've spent more time with me in the shade :)

All in all, a super fun weekend.  I think I'll sleep all week to catch up on my energy...

Christmas in June

It's been a last-minute busy kind of week as evidenced by my lack of posting.  I've busy with my other jobs such as diving into the archives of my Algebra II knowledge daily, watching 2 year olds throw temper tantrums, and trying to squeeze in some sewing.  I pretty much do a little bit of everything - I'm a tutor, a notary, a babysitter....the list is still growing.  I like to think of myself as "Jen-of-all-trades".  It's funny because I was approached with these jobs by my neighbors...I guess you could say that I'm employed by my neighbors.

A project I finished up recently is a re-creation of some stockings.  My client hand-embroidered each stocking cuff while she was pregnant with each of her children 20 something years ago.

The embroidery is still in good condition, but the rest of the fabric was not, so she had me re-do the stockings for her.

Before:

After:

Skirts and Beets

I've been on a bit of a skirt fix lately....After making my first one, I just keep seeing wonderful fabrics that would make great skirts.  So, I made one for my best friend as a birthday present.  This one is a bit more fancy since I put a lining in it so it's not too see-through.  Couldn't pass up the opportunity to test drive it and model it for you all.

We've also been trying to persevere at our backyard farming attempts.  It's gotten so hot out, half my plants are just drying out...  Since we have no children yet, sometimes we joke and refer to our garden as our vegetable children...although if my farming success is any indication of how I will be as a parent, I think I might be an epic fail.  My cucumbers plants have grown an inch in the past 3 months and are withering in the heat...What? A couple days without water....no biggie...

But I will proudly say that I pulled up the biggest beet ever last week:

I'm pretty sure that it is half the size of Andy's head...

Maybe it will last us through hurricane season....

Name Game

This week has flown by...between dealing with our a/c issues, cleaning my house, and other things, I've managed to put out some orders and posted a few items in my shop.  They're bib and booties sets that I've made before, but since they have custom embroidery, I can post them before I've made the actual set....I realized my shop had mostly girly things, so now there are a couple of boy things to balance things out :-)

Haven't posted a baby item in awhile, so here's a blanket I made a little while ago.  It's always interesting to see what names people are naming their children.  So far, this name has been the winner of the name game...it's the most interesting name I've seen....

And I thought Sokolik was hard to spell....  This baby is going to be a spelling bee champ one day!

Memorial Day

It's been a week since my last post...I know it's been awhile, things have been a bit busy around here.  I spent the holiday weekend partying it up with the Sliks.  We headed up to Chestertown, MD for a wedding celebration and of course, I took way too many pictures.  So the delay in posting is partially due to busy-ness, and the other due to my procrastination of going through and editing my photos for posting.

We arrived on Saturday, thought about crashing the annual Chestertown Tea Party, but instead headed out to the rehearsal dinner which was held on this beautiful serene farm.  If you've never been to Chestertown, it's beautiful with rolling hills and well-kept farmhouses.  I can't say the same about the local Acme and liquor store where there were some shady characters, but the farmland around the town was definitely beautiful.  Spending the weekend driving around the countryside made me really miss the east coast.  The whole weekend was very laid back, we ate, chatted, and enjoyed the scenery.

Here's the couple-to-be:

Scenes from the rehearsal dinner farmhouse

Since we were in Maryland, of course we had to get us some crab.  So we hit up the local crab shack for some of this:

Take this:

add this:

and get this:

Here's the aftermath: my bro-in-law is showing off his crab crusted hands.

Delicious.

After we de-crabbed ourselves and awoke from our food comas, we headed out for the wedding, which was at a different farm (different from the one we had the rehearsal dinner at).  This one was right by the river, a lovely site, where Tara and Chris got married to the lapping sounds of the water on the shore.  It was pretty sunny, so they provided some fun favors for the guests.  You can't tell from here, but the glasses say Tara & Chris on one side and May 30, 2010 on the other.  Here's my awesome husband modeling them for everyone:

Then the wedding was off:

It was just so simple and beautiful, like the quintessential country wedding.  And then, in true Slik style, it was time to party it up.  We spent the rest of the night tearing up the dance floor. 

And I will leave you with this...

Told you the Sliks are a rowdy bunch!  Gotta love them :-)