Sewstylish’s Weblog

Today this little sweetie turned 5.Plus he loves the shirt I made.I also was sporting a new skirt made by moi for a sheet.Pretty funny when I got compliments thru out the day I was able to chuckle to myself that I made it from a sheet and a matching headband.Ignore the roots since the sun is already lightening my hair.School snack was enjoyed choc covered strawberries and home-made cookies.3lbs of pasta casserole with fresh summer squash,zucchini,mushrooms,meat,broccoli, and cheese. Of course hubby thought we needed 5lbs and after all is said and done I probably could have gotten away with 2lbs. Oh well at least I have a nice big bowl of it in the freezer and that will come in handy one night for softball.what a climber.Getting ready to play laser tag”scary”Pure love. Should have wiped his face first.Ah well.The last cake of the day. That makes choc covered strawberries,choc chip m&m cookies,cake at friend party, and another cake at family party. It’s no wonder he didn’t want to go to bed until after 9pm and hour and half later than normal. Not to mention ALL of those great presents he got today. Happy Birthday my sweet boy we had a fantastic day and now Mama’s tired. Thank goodness tomorrow is my day of freedom and little man goes to his friends after school. Ahhh a nice lunch with two of my girl friends will be perfect. Now if I can get my girls room cleaned up from the winter clothes to the spring/summer clothes I will be happy not to mention be able to walk in there again. Than softball game tomorrow night. AHHH another crazy day. Maybe Friday will be quieter that is till little man gets his 5yr old shots in the afternoon.

It’s been somewhat crazy around here lately. Softball has started and with two girls playing in different leagues we are constantly on the run. Especially when they have practice at the same time and on opposite sides of town. A little stressful at times especially when people don’t turn right on red. I mean it’s legal and don’t people realize I have places to be. The mail man brought me the latest Better Homes and Gardens hardcover book which has the best quilts in it. I think it may be my favorite volume yet. I took a pic but for some reason my camera doesn’t want to download tonight so stay tuned for that pic. Also the quilt on the cover is the same pattern as my Earthy Mix quilt. The baby quilt is all quilted and I will show you once the binding is on. I have been busy putting names on theseAlyssa’s team visors and theseAbbey’s team visors. I also managed to sew up one of these skirtsThis is one of the sheets I’m using for the sheet swap that Lisa is putting on. It was rainy and to cold to wear today so once I’m able to wear it I will have a better pic. Hubby even liked it and got a kick out of it when I told him it was made from a sheet. Today the postman brought me a nice little treat all the way from the UK it was my long awaited Four Seasons Swap. I didn’t hear him knock so when I got the mail there was a slip saying we will re-deliver tomorrow. When I saw where it was from I thought there is NO way I was going to wait till tomorrow, so I jumped in the car and yup chased him down. After going around the block I found him three houses down and couldn’t wait to open it. With all my munchkins on the floor next to me I opened up this great package from Kate who happened to be who MY Four Seasons Swap went to.This great quilt which is already hanging, an awesome brick of Chocolate, Tea, and really cool note cards on a ring. What a talented person and I feel so lucky.Even her business card is cool. The kids and I also thought that the back of the Choc bar was neat since it says what the Nutritional Facts are and breaks it down for women,men,and child. Plus what we call calories they call energy.We have all sampled some and it is goooood. Thank you so much again Kate.

My oldest got these in the mail today and was very excited.

Aren’t they funky?! She’s also excited because they are from the “red” line which means a percentage of sales goes toward fighting aids,tb,and malaria. Well on the 30th a very special little boy will be turning 5 so tomorrow I will be in full birthday baking mode and getting ready for his party. Everything will be on his birthday so it will be a jam packed day. Starting with pre-school where he gets a party than an hour after that gets done he will have a friend party at an indoor play center and we will have gone to lunch per his request at a local restaurant. After the friend party we will go home for a little quite time before all the cousins and grandparents arrive. I will be making a pasta dish for dinner that night. So tomorrow I have four hair color’s to do including cuts, make cookies for school and choc covered strawberries, prepare pasta dish with veggies. Thank goodness I ordered his cake for birthday night. Plus one girl has softball practice and Oh yea I still need to wrap his presents I think Hubby will get that project and make him a new shirt with a  number 5 on it. Whew I’m worn out just thinking about it so I guess it’s rest time so tomorrow I can get it all done.

So I was tagged a while back from Kathleen about 7 random things you don’t know about me. Instead of tagging 7 people I will leave it open to who ever wants to do this just pass the word. So here goes I will warn you they may not be very exciting.

1. I have a tattoo on my ankle of a blue dolphin. I got this when visiting my brother in Hawaii when I was 18 and it’s probably the only wild thing I did in all of my teen years.

2. I almost failed Home Ec in High School and now look what my favorite thing to do is. Go figure.

3. I am fairly laid back but am also quite “high Strung” if that makes any sense.

4. I love Chocolate.

5. I was named after my Maternal Grandparents.

6. I don’t really care a whole lot about what people think and sometimes this can come across as bitchy although I’m really not. I just can’t stand the whole clicky high school non-sense  that some adults play into, I have a husband, kids, family, friends, career, and don’t really have time for any of that crap.

7. I used to Alpine Ski competitively.

So hope I didn’t bore you to badly.Here’s where I would like to be right now. Heading to our favorite family vacation spot.

Here’s the post I was going to do the other day. Have you ever thought about who inspired you or taught you how to knit or quilt or sew? Well lately I have been doing just that. It may partly be do to the fact that my  parents are down visiting my Nana or Nanny as we call her. (My dad’s mom) We didn’t really grow up seeing her a lot since we didn’t live close but I remember her always knitting or sewing/quilting. A few years ago she moved up  near us and I asked her during one of our weekly beauty days if she could teach me how to quilt. During these weekly visits she would tell me more about herself in younger years and quite a lot of info I didn’t know. So I took her to the fabric store and she helped me pick out the basics for starting a quilt. Well Nanny didn’t know about rotary cutters so eight years ago I learned how to quilt using a cardboard template. I was hooked even if this method seemed crazy. She told me what to do and this is my first ever quilt.I think I’ve come a long way. Well she ended up moving back to her home in Florida since the winters were just to harsh. But thankfully we had that winter together and I will always be great full that she taught me this fantastic craft. I also quickly looked in the yellow pages for a quilt shop that was teaching a class on beginning quilting because I new their had to be an easier way. Thank you inventor of rotary cutters and rulers. Once back in Florida she went thru a lot of her boxes and sent ME boxes of fabric. I still have some in my stash, as a matter of fact the backing fabric for my four seasons quilt is from Nana’s stash and it was perfect for this quilt. With some of the fabric I made this.This is our beach/softball/always in the car quilt, probably was my second or third quilt I did and yes it was done with a rotary cutter and ruler, but I didn’t know about strip piecing yet so each square was pieced individually. ugh. Here are a few of my Nana’s quilts the first one my  Dad remembers her piecing with  his grandmother  all by  hand.It hangs in my hallway and was to big to take down so here’s a small view. This next one was done about 50years ago by hand and I  will need to repair some of it since the binding is coming off. I remember this one being on my parents bed at one time. It is hard to see the quilting but you can kind of get the idea and boy is she accurate, it’s just amazing. She is also an amazing knitter/crocheter. However I learned how to knit from MY Mom and her Mom. So it is really neat to have learned my two favorite crafts from each Grandma. I will have to find an afghan that my Mom had made if she still has one since I don’t have any in my possession. I do remember one that was in warm earth tones and it was soo soft and I can picture laying under it in the winter with my brother Scott watching tv. Of course Mom doesn’t knit anymore I wish she should start again but my Aunt S sure does and her stuff is beautiful. I do have an afghan from her that she made for little man when he was a baby. Hmm and the little sewing knowledge I have learned is from my Mil who is incredible, she even used to make wedding dresses. So I think when she comes back from her winter in Florida I may have her help me with those pesky patterns I tried to make. Of course all of this reflection was done over a cup of tea in the morning sun in my pjs and reading a little of this.I have since finished it and am now onto the second in the series.Sweet girl setting up “Nap” time on our three season room which I’m so glad to be using again I think it’s my favorite room so cherry and bright. Check out all those webkinz she had to put down for naps. Sky Sky was even joining in.(pre tail bobo)

So I had another post in mind for today but do to an unexpected accident this was necessary. Yesterday while walking outside I didn’t see our cat Skyler next me and shut his tail in the door. At first he seemed ok but after about a 1/2hr I went to check on him and he was very quiet. While feeling his tail to check for injury I noticed it felt funny in one spot and as I started to examine it saw blood and thought oh shit! When I moved the fur aside he had a laceration that went down to the bone.  To graphic for a pic and while almost getting sick myself and feeling awful at this point my daughter quickly got me the phone so I could call the vet. Yes he needed to be seen immediately at the emergency clinic. So we put him in his carrier noticed that hubby’s cell phone was on the counter (that figures) he always has it with him I left with two kids in tow. Once on the highway for the 15min drive which felt MUCH longer I called for some moral support. Thanks Dad. Even thought my parents are in Florida right now I still found the support I needed. I mean how awful would you feel hurting your baby. After checking him in they told me he needed a few staples, medicine, and to wear a “lampshade” thing so he didn’t lick at his tail. Talk about being emotionally drained. When we got back home he did purr when I pet him so I felt he forgave me he even slept next to me all night so while he may have forgiven me not sure if I have forgiven myself yet. But I wasn’t able to sleep since I was afraid he would pull the staples out in the night. He is doing pretty well and the Dogs are even cuddling with him. Now everyone has been told to please watch shutting doors and by the time this is all said in done I’m probably looking at a vet bill of $300. OUCH. Just think of all the fabric I could buy. I still feel awful looking at him and now you can see why.Pretty said isn’t it?! So that ended our spring break. However on Saturday morning by oldest was playing Nims Island doing something “stupid” as she puts it and did this to her leg.OUCH. See Mom you leave town and all hell breaks loose. Oh yea and while in the grocery store this morning I dropped pasta sauce and it went EVERYWHERE. Talk about embrassing. Hopefully our bad luck is over. I did win on a blog drawing recently and it came today which was just what I needed and it’s this cute “wallet/coin purse”  with awesome fabric from overseas. It’s so cool to get mail from another country I just love it.Thanks  Christine.Hopefully tomorrow I will post what I originally had planned for today. The kids are all back to school so hoping to get some sewing done tomorrow. The weather is still so nice out and the kids want to be outside which is fine but it means no sewing for Mom, plus softball has started and we have three practices and girlscouts just this week. YIKES.

Spring Break is almost over and so far we’ve had a great week. The weather has been unusually warm so we have actually been laying out in the sun in our bathing suits. Today it hit 82 which is high for this time of year. I now look like I went south for vacation and have a decent tan already thanks to the genes on my Dad’s side, we get tan FAST. The other day we saw Nims Island which was cute but I somehow ended up being the only adult with 5 kids. They all listened and we were well behaved so it wasn’t to bad. The only issue was I had them all go potty before we left the house and guess who didn’t go. Yup, Mom so I had to hold it for more than half the movie because there was no way I was leaving five kids alone. I haven’t gotten much sewing, or spring cleaning done this week but I did get this bag finished.

I got the fabric cut out for the baby quilt, and am almost done with the knitted bag I started the other day. Picture to come on that. With all of our days pretty much spent out doors we have made a few of these fairy houses.picked some of these

and watched my little ones play outside. Little man was having fun spinning.and look the grass is even starting to turn green.

With out further ado here’s my Four Seasons Quilt for the spring. I’m very pleased with how it came out. I tried paper piecing which was a new technique to me and embroidery as well. Hopefully my partner will like it too. The backing fabric I love too, as it has what I believe to be violets all over it and once it gets a little warmer in this neck of the woods we have them growing in our yard. The sun is shining here and the temps are supposed to be in the high 60’s low 70’s so spring is FINALLY here. Even though it’s supposed to be beautiful out the kiddies have voted to go see the movie Nims Island. At least it’s something they all agreed on. When we get back I’m sure they will be happy to play outside and maybe I can get some more sewing time in. I’m finding that Iced Coffee in the afternoon is giving me that big boost I need to keep working after they go to bed. Happy Spring

Well Lisa has tagged me so here goes.

1. Why did you start a blog? I started a blog because Lisa got me hooked on reading blogs and I though it would be fun to have one of my own.

2. How did you come up with blog name? My friend no blog Deb came up with the name Sewstylish because she said it suites me.

3.Do friends and family know about your blog and what do they think? Yes they do know and I believe they enjoy reading it or at least I hope so. For my family who doesn’t live close by they are able to see what’s been going on. Especially since I’m really bad about using the telephone. With three kids you can imagine why.

4. How do you write posts? I write my posts according to what I’ve made, what’s been going on in my life, or just what I’m in the mood to “chat” about.

5. Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments? Not sure what a troll is but all of my comments have nice.

6. Do you check your stats or care how many people read your blog? If you care how do you increase traffic?I do check my stats pretty much daily and I enjoy seeing that they seem to be consistent. So even though people tend to lurk and not always leave a comment I assume that they like to “check in” on a regular basis. As far as increasing traffic I just hope that people like what they see/read and that maybe I can inspire someone. I would like to have more comments but hey not everyone is comfortable doing that.

So I guess it is now my turn to tag some people so hopefully I will do this correctly. First Kathleen,Margaret,Linda,Megan,andBeki. So hopefully I’ve done this correctly.

Not quite sure what happened this past week but time just kept getting away from me. We are all fine here just crazy busy. Let’s see if I can recap the last week. Last Monday this wonderful package arrived from my scrap swap partner and I totally hit the jackpot. Thanks so much Karen.The magazine is fantastic, my kids are loving the cookie cutters of all things Australia and at quilt guild that night my scraps were greatly admired. My kids are now on Spring Break for the next week and we have already done quite a bit. Last Friday I pulled them out of school early so we could go on our annual shopping trip with Gramma. Gramma and I were exhausted by the time we got home and everyone was able to get a bunch of clothes. I even managed to find some Donna Karen stuff and Calvin Klein for myself in Macys, and it was even on sale. Friday night we had a little excitement in our neighborhood. Apparently some teenagers have been using the vacant house across the street to have underage drinking parties. Hubby and I were woken up by noisy kids and than four police cars showing up. It was actually very exciting to watch, kind of like watching the tv show cops but right out your own window. About 30 kids ended up coming out with one kid getting arrested and all the rest got to walk away. Not sure why their parents were not called but if my teen was at a party that got busted I would be a little pissed if I wasn’t notified. All of the neighbors seem to feel the same way. They did make them clean up the mess and take all the empty alcohol away which they preceded to dump in the lawns of the houses the cops couldn’t see. While I understand teens are teens where did all these parents think their kids were at 2 and 3am in the morning? SO anyway we took the kids to Lake Placid for the weekend and got a little later start Saturday morning do the excitement of the night before. I was able to go into this great yarn shop and  of course  came out with a few things.

I’ve already started on one of these projects to make a felted bag. This is how far I’ve gotten.

This handbag is another special order bag and I really hope she likes it. Not sure if she reads my blog so she might not see this for a few days.  Back to our mini vacation since hubby has to work we only got two days away but it was still fantastic. We were able to see a really pretty waterfall but it was snowing so not sure how great the photo is yes I did say snowing. We woke up yesterday morning to a lot of the white stuff coming down. However even though it was a little bit of a bummer there’s something about Lake Placid when it snows it is like this magical winter wonderland in some far away village. Or at least that’s how it feels to me.

Here was the view from our balcony. A little overcast but still pretty.

The little munchkins enjoying some indoor swimming time while Mom and Dad had some  “cocktails” All in all it was a  relaxing weekend. So now that the kids are home for the next week we are planning on going to the movies one day and doing some spring cleaning. Of course sewing is at the top of the list too. I have another bag order and quilt order that I’m hoping to get started in the next few days. Here’s a book I highly recommend it’s a little sad but still great.

Almost forgot these came in the mail while we were away.

The last photos are of our hotel the view is just amazing on a day when it’s not snowing. So that’s what I’ve been up to the last week. Phew now I’m tired. Hoping tomorrow to have pics of the four season quilt done.

On a trip to Barnes and Nobles the other day with my littlest in tow I picked up a great novel called The Knitting Circle. So far I’m really enjoying it. I also picked up this book which has some great ideas in it.

I of course also picked up some other novels about quilting to read as well. When I got home this was waiting on the front porch.

I haven’t had time to try it out yet since yes I’m a little intimidated by it and I had these two bags on order for tomorrow.

Not to mention it was finally really like spring here this weekend and the kids wanted to play outside. So that meant while the youngest was out riding his bike I had to be out too. 4hrs each day. Yesterday I read thru my sereger handbook while getting some sun, and today I sat and sewed part of the binding on my four seasons quilt while talking to the neighbors. I also ended up with another bag order yippee.  Our neighbors DIL was looking for a new bag and new I made them so she came over and looked thru some samples and has put in an order. Nothing like doing business out of the back of your suv.lol. With spring break coming soon the extra $$ will be nice to have when we go away for a little change of scenery. Not to mention I’m finally starting to feel like I have a business, which is such a great feeling. Another must read which I finished last week thus the trip to Barnes and Nobles was this book.

I ended up picking up two more books by her as well. So now the “GPS”man won’t need to be coming to the house for awhile. I think I actually picked up about 4 books to read,shhh. But don’t worry, little man was fantastic and was rewarded with some books of his choice and a sugar cookie at Starbucks which conveniently is in the book store.