Sunday

Handmade Mistletoe

Mistletoe has been a required decoration since the little people have been old enough to get the concept of kissing under it! Each year we scramble to the places we know to find it and we are always put off for a week or so because the orders have not yet come in. In reality, the mistletoe we buy isn't very big or even very pretty as it is heavily preserved. So when I saw the pattern for Magical Mistletoe, here, I was thrilled! I worked with Aunt Betty and we made 7 sets. We used wool felt on one side and fabric on the other and used a much lighter fusible stabilizer than recommended. I also opted to use beads rather than the felt balls because of the large number needed for the 7 sets. I have just 2 sets left to bead for each of the kids rooms. I think these are lovely little holiday keepsakes!

Happy Hobbies!

Monday

The last week has been full of cinnamon tea and trying to finish my SSCS gift in time!

What are you working on?

Happy Hobbies!

Pretty & Practical!

Found this fabulous apron design with instructions in Stitch.

I decided that my day could be brightened while

doing my chores with an apron made from

this lovely piece of fabric!

It does make me smile!

Happy Hobbies!

Hello February...

I planned to do so many things over the weekend.

One of those things was to finish testing a pattern for a fellow blogger.
When I finally made it to my sewing space on Saturday, I had the sudden urge to reorganize.

(This usually happens January 1st.)

Things happened:

• furniture was removed
• supplies were sorted and/or discarded
• a list was made (I'll share that one later this week)
• knitting books and notions were brought from upstairs
• patterns from various blogs were filed
• things were cleaned and vacuumed

After about 6 or so hours total, I called it quits.

Instead of testing that pattern, I ended up making Annestelle a scarf with scraps from her quilt.

She loves it!

What are you supposed to be working on and what has you sidetracked?

Happy Hobbies!

Squares to go with the pinwheels...

which you will find here.

Happy Hobbies!

Piecing pinwheels for my Christmas quilt....

It is not really late...

I mean, what is another month,

considering...

I've had this fabric since August of 2007

purchased on a shopping trip with my mom and aunt?

Aren't these fun?

Can't wait to get back to the machine...

Still trying to find my post Christmas groove.

Happy Hobbies!

Play Tents...

The Little People and I spent several days in July having "vacation" days.

That fun included setting up tents on the patio where Simon & Annestelle played for hours.

After a trip to the library I found a pattern for these children's play tents.

I was pretty excited since our make shift tents fell down with any big gust of wind.

It took me until late August to finally make these tents.

My peeps choose to set them up close together and have already spent hours playing in them.

Annestelle playing last Sunday morning, still in her jammies...

(one of the great benefits of Saturday night mass is our lazy Sunday mornings)

Happy Hobbies!

Tea for two...

and a whole lot of happy girl friend chatter!

A bit of chit about

quilting,

sewing,

fabric,

patterns,

and some chat about

yarn,

knitting,

more patterns.

Some cinnamon tea

and some lovely blueberry pound cake

(made by my guest).

Scrumptious!

Don't forget the show and tell

of works-in-progress.

A bit of lunch.

More happy chatter!

We call that Well-Being-Wednesday!

Happy Hobbies!

1-2-3-Go...

I love the Quilts and More magazine and saw the current issue advertised in another of my quilting magazines prior to its release! I fell in love with the purse on the cover immediately. So off I went in search of the issue... I'll spare you the details of magazine hunt and just get right to the purse...
The pattern, called 1-2-3-Go, was pretty easy to follow and quick to put together. I spent about 3 hours from start to finish, after I found just the right fabric. The fabrics are scraps from a quilt my mom started last year. I'm quite pleased to have them reinvented into this happy purse!
Some staff at the local Jo-Ann Fabrics recognized my purse from the magazine cover and made a big fuss! Well, isn't that good for a girl's self-esteem?

Happy Hobbies!

Fortune Cookies

Yes, this picture is mighty blurry!

I made these happy little fortune cookies last week in about 15 minutes.

I used a pattern from CraftSanity and printed the fortunes from http://www.chinese-fortune-cookie.com/fortune-cookie-ideas.html.

The fortune cookies made for a fun little ice breaker for dinner out with a new group of girlfriends! These ladies are a fun group! Loads of laughter!

HAPPY HOBBIES!

Slippers

I got the pattern for these slippers from Angry Chicken.

As with most of the clothing I attempt, I couldn't seem

to get it right on the first try, or the second try.

Third time is a charm.

I was careful to follow the pattern directions

and seam allowances, but I ended up having to adjust the pattern

more than once as I over-adjusted it at first!

My feet are really happy in these slippers!
I think I've worn them every day since and I can
see that some of my seasonal scraps are going to make
some lovely seasonal slippers.
I did make a few changes to the supplies.
I used that grippy stuff (love that really technical term) from JoAnn's on the
bottom and then added batting in between the bottom
and the lining so that I wouldn't feel the bumps from
the grippy stuff!

Oh, and I must say that I really do love the fold over elastic.

Happy Hobbies!

Softies

Last weekend the little people decided

they wanted to make some softies.

They constructed their patterns,

picked out their fabrics & notions,

and I got sewing!

The robot leprechaun named Pink Neck

designed by Little Miss.

Teddy Jr. designed by Little Mr.

Happy Hobbies!

Monday bits...

Little Mr. Man and I spent some time this morning watching the birds since he was home from school with a nasty little cold.

The birds really are quite lovely against the white snow!

This picture doesn't do the birds any justice, but isn't there something about that gray?

This pair of fingerless mitts is on it's way to a best friend in Massachusetts.

Happy Belated Birthday E!

More of these are in the works...

I just started another pair over the weekend.

Christmas is coming!

This little note taker was delivered to another birthday girl this morning!

Happy Birthday J.!

My aunties suggested the little felt bird on the bottom.

Isn't helpful to get a few more pair of eyes to point out what should be obvious?

Happy Hobbies!

Bits and Pieces...

My Status:

I recently resigned from my job (that I love) and am so very happy with the decision I made. However, I will continue to work until my replacement is hired and trained. Hopefully sooner rather than later! My hope is to have most of December free for enjoying the Christmas preparations and last minute gift making, but I'll happily go with whatever happens. Regardless, I'm making plans for the future including getting back on a regular schedule for home-keeping, mothering and hobbying. At this point all of those things are being handled in an exhausted haphazard manner and I feel as if I'm riding on a roller coaster in Chaos Land!

Progress:

I'm about 10 rows from finishing the second "fetching" glove. I'll give a peek of the completed project in a day or so. I completed another note taker for my sister-in-law's birthday. I made some improvements as you can see below.

Weather:

After spending Saturday afternoon taking care of some of the outdoor fall chores, we woke up to this on Monday morning. My little people thought it was "soooo beautiful...." It really is but I wasn't prepared to get the rest of the winter gear out yet!

Happy Hobbies!

The First Note Taker

I can definitely see room for improvement on this.

I'll probably piece the front section for future

note takers to add a bit more interest to the outside.

This was a gift for my husband's aunt and she loved it!

The pattern can be found here.

Happy Hobbies!

A present for the teacher assistant...

I finished this present for the little peoples' preschool assistant!

She's ending her duties early in order to finish up a degree.

These are the coasters I made from this pattern.

The assistant loved them!!

Happy Hobbies!

Productivity...

Our weekend was packed up with a huge pot of busy!

Saturday it was errands... birthday gift shopping, groceries, lunch out,

return of a cell phone accessory, return trip to the Lowes....

Saturday night I sewed on this improved sack!

For this sack I used firmer interfacing and made it a few inches taller.

I'm very happy with the end result.

Little Mr. I'm 5 was tickled and loaded it up with

Thomas trains for a trip to his cousins' house on Sunday!

Saturday night I finished this hat for HobbyHubby!

I used Noro kureyon and like it better than the first hat I made for him last fall.

I'm a bit full of myself because I started and finished it in a week's time!

Sunday morning we went to church where the little people tested my faith!

I'm sure you can imagine just how loud Little Miss Finally 4 could say, "You're a bad mommy" in the middle of the priest's homily? Ever been there? Oh yeah, you know it! And don't you know that before I had my own kids I just couldn't imagine why a child might act that way?

NO reason necessary. It is just to see how far a parent can be pushed in public!

By the end of the extra wiggly service HobbyHubby and I couldn't help but laugh!

Little people are the greatest gift, even when they're at their worst!

After church we headed a few hours south for my nephew's birthday party!

On the way I started my very own Lucy bag!

She's going to be special!

I'm knitting this sweet bag with self striping Noro and some red Cascade, both 100% wool.

As usual, I'm in love!

Happy Hobbies!

Bridal Shower Gifties

Auntie Z is hosting a bridal shower luncheon for her soon to be daughter-in-law tomorrow.

Oh what fun! I offered to make some jewelry for the giftie give-aways!

It's been ages since I was into my bead box and I decided to make some earrings.
I made three pairs of earrings but wasn't sure how to package them.

Here are the earrings...

I put the earrings on little cards I made from scrapbook paper. I sewed two pieces together and then sewed little envelopes with the coordinating paper. I added buttons and embroidery floss to make the closures.

Funny...Most often I can't just complete something without major plans or patterns. HobbyHubby even called to see if I was getting all worked up about the jewelry. (He knows me so well!) I tend to fret about jewelry construction; maybe obsess would more properly describe my state of mind. Not today!! I'm just as happy and fret free as can be! Maybe it had something to do with the turkey I ate yesterday! HA!

Happy Hobbies!

Quilt Tour, Part 1

I thought it might be fun to take a little tour through my house. Today we're starting in the master bedroom.

This is called "Nine-Patch Garden" and was completed in 2004. I believe I started it in 2003 while I was pregnant with Little Miss Almost 4. This is the first bed size quilt I ever made. It is a queen and the pattern came from a special 9-patch edition quilt magazine (not sure which one). Most of the 9-patch blocks are scraps from my Auntie B's scrap basket. The vine, leaves, and 9-patch flowers in the border were hand appliqued, a task I'm not sure I would take on again! I quilted it with my Pfaff by stitching in the ditch and free motion stippling most all of the open spaces. I also made the dust ruffle using the left over valance fabric and sheer material from my windows (see below). I never made pillow shams and am planning to make a large pillow for across the other pillows that says, "Always Kiss Goodnight!" It's on my list. By the way, that's HobbyDoggy, named Charlotte, after the city!


I stenciled a border around the room to match the 9-patch vine in the quilt border.
Next time we'll visit Little Mister 5's room!

Happy Hobbies!