I blogged a blog.

Well hello, blog.  It's been awhile.  After I write something new, I tell Michael that "I blogged a blog."  And then I get made fun of.  Apparently that's not the proper lingo.

'Tis the season for sewing.  Christmastime warms my heart.  I love sewing gifts for people, so this time of year is a lot of fun for me.  Slash super stressful.  I always get in up to my eyeballs somehow, and then freak out…I have how many more presents to make?  And there are how many days till Christmas?  And then I watch those warm Christmastime fuzzies float out the window.

You know what will usually snap me from crazy grinch mode back into Suzie Snowflake?  A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Something about that smooth Vince Garaldi jazz and hearing Linus read the story of Jesus's birth stops me dead in my tracks, and (dare I say it?) even make me tear up a bit.  You can add that to the list of things that make me cry.  It's so simple, really, and I make it all chaotic.  Bah humbug, me!

Moving on…

This year, for the very first time, my husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving at our house.

Yes, I know.

It is a well known fact that I am not culinarily inclined.  I cook because I have to, not because I want to.  This is a big moment for me, folks.  We are making dinner for our parents and siblings.  The tables have turned.  When we decided we're doing this, my husband immediately made an excel spreadsheet in his excitement.  (He's one of those.)  I immediately started praying.  "Lord, thank you in advance for Bellacino's Pizza right up the road, for when my house burns down with the dinner on Thanksgiving Day.  Amen."

…

In light of the recent election, I thought I would share with you my own political aspirations.  When I was in the third grade, my teacher had us write a paragraph on what we would do if we had a million dollars.  I recently unearthed this paper in my memory box back at home.  In list fashion, here's what I said I'd do:

1. Use some for my college education.
2. Give some to the "poor and starved people", most of it going to Somalia.
3. "I would buy a good paying job when I'm grown up.  A good job would be a congresswoman.  I would feel really special being a part of the president.  I think it would be a good job."

My teacher must of thought I was a strange bird.  "This 9-year-old has a million dollars, and she wants to buy herself a good paying job?"  I've said it before…I was born old.  America!

Cluck Cluck!

Cluck, cluck!  I am a like a proud mother hen...I have to show you this!

This iPad cover was made by my amazing little sister Karli as a gift to me for my birthday.  She is 9 years old.  She picked out the fabric and whipped it up with the help of Coach Grandma.  The R is for Ree, obviously.  I am so proud of her, and SO grateful for her gift!  Just had to show it off.

You may remember a few months ago when I shared my failed attempts at sewing clothes.  Well, I'm at it again.  As usual, it was a spontaneous, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of decision, this time in the form of, "Hey, I'm going to sew a summer nightgown!"  Because, those are wildly popular right now, right?  Oh wait...that was the 1950s.  Right up my alley.

But, good news, it wasn't a flop!  I actually wore it last night and it was comfortable and I had sweet dreams of performing in a musical with my little brother Luke (true story!).  I decided to make a scottie dog to put on the front, because that seemed pretty 1950s to me.  Here's a close up:

Once again, a big thank you goes out to my #1 fabric supplier, Grandma Alice, for the pink knit fabric and turquoise gingham.  I may end up making another one of these because I have a lot of knit up there in my sewing room!  Perhaps an old-fashioned nightshirt for Michael?

More amazing men's nightshirts  (click here)

We can only hope!

My Favorite Sewing Project Ever: Walker Bags

I have a new sewing project that's ongoing and very near-and-dear to my heart.  Walker bags.

Every time I say or write "walker bags", I think of this guy.  We all know how epic he is.  Can you believe that he is 71 years old nowadays?  A few years down the road Walker may be needing his very own walker bag.  Or perhaps a few decades down the road; after all, he is Chuck Norris.

Some of you may be wondering what exactly a walker bag is.  Basically, it's a bag that is attached to the top bar of a walker.  Quite the description, I know.  These bags are useful for a few reasons:

1. To stow away essential items like Kleenex (new or used), cookies, an extra pair of reading glasses, word searches, peppermints, hot pink lipstick, etc.
2. To be able to clearly recognize your own walker (walker mix-ups are a huge problem in many elderly communities).
3. To walk with flair.

A couple of times a week I visit a lovely group of elderly people in a nearby Assisted Living.  They are wonderful.  When I first started visiting this particular place, I spotted a few residents who were walking without flair (and repeatedly heard the common question, "Which walker is mine?").  Solution: walker bags.  This is an easy sewing project AND a great way to connect with the elderly.  

Before making the bag, I talked with the resident and got the necessary info (their favorite color, what they like to carry around with them, and of course their life story because that's always fascinating).  Sewing the bag is super easy and fast; some great tutorials can be found online.  Find the one that would best suit the person's needs and tweak it as needed.   Voile.   

Without further adieu, here is the recipient of my very first walker bag, Gigi.

This woman is spunky and no-nonsense.  She now has her walker bag filled with all the essentials and that makes me so happy.

Gigi's walker bag.

Here's another one, more compact...

Cathy, one of the sweetest and most intelligent people I know.

I've made a couple more and can't wait to do even more of these!  However, in the future, I'd like to sweeten the deal by delivering the waker bag filled with the recipient's favorite goodies.   This ongoing sewing project warms my heart unlike any other.   I learn so much from these people and always walk away rejuvenated.  

And, really, I do have so much to learn.  One of my best friends, Kristy, and I have plans to move in together when we're old ladies and relive The Golden Girls.  She is Dorothy Zbornak and I am Rose Nylund. Her sister Wendy is Sophia.  We're still looking for our Blanche.  Any takers?

Thank you for being a friend...

Trash to Treasure (or How Badly I Wish I Was On American Pickers)

My brother Adam recently flew home to Illinois from California.  This is always a real treat because  A) I love my brother and B) we enjoy doing a lot of the same things together.   This trip, Adam and I headed to the next farm town over to go thrift store shopping (and to make a quick stop at Rural King...that place always smells the same).  There is something so wonderful about rummaging through piles of junk and finding things that are a real treasure to you, usually for mere pocket change.

Sadly, I was off to a bit of a rough start at the big thrift store.  I was about to own up to the fact that I would go home empty-handed when I struck gold.  Guess what was for sale in between rows of sheets, dish towels and nasty old comforters....FABRIC!  I don't know why I never thought of looking for fabric at thrift stores before, but it's there.  Woo!  What's really great about thrift store fabric is that it's vintage...REAL vintage.  So tonight, after dropping Adam off at the airport, I got right to work on a sewing project using my new fabric.  I found this thick, mustard yellow damask fabric from the 60s or 70s (a good yard-and-a-half for fifty cents!), and I had a pattern for a bag that would be the perfect match.  Here's the end result...

The cute floral fabric on the inside is from Grandma Alice's collection...thanks, Grandma!

I love my new bag!  I can't wait to tote various things around in it, or possibly just use it as my everyday purse.  Here are some potential candidates for "items to be toted"...

Candy (of course), my current reading material, and a fun/challenging card game

Or there's always Slam.

One other really cool thing I found was this wooden candy bowl from the 1950s (very "space age", isn't it?).

All in all, it was a great trip.  Adam made it home with a few new-to-him shirts to remind him of the midwest and a retro puffy vest.  As an added bonus, Adam also found some copper wire in the inside pockets of the vest when we got home.  Hmmm....

Probably one of my favorite moments from this trip, though, was getting dressed up in costumes and going trick-or-treating on Halloween with all of my siblings for the first time ever.  Thank you, choice residents of Hillsboro, who gave me candy instead of weird looks when I rang your doorbell with my wand.  I'm 27, I'm in a costume, and I want your candy.  Thank you.

Luke (15) as Mail/Male Model, Karli (9) as Fat Elvis, Me (27) as Professor Umbridge, Adam (26) as Vampire Clown

Domestic Daredevil

I imagine that if those who know me were asked to describe me, "hardcore" is not the first word that would come to mind.  In fact, a friend recently compared me to Dr. Leo Marvin's wife Fay, from the hilarious movie What About Bob?.   Enjoy one of my favorite clips...

"Mmmmmm.  Fay, this is so scrumptious.  Is this hand-shucked?"

While I am completely flattered to be compared to her, it just goes to show how very un-hardcore I am.  And I'm okay with that.  But sometimes, there is this little part of me that wants to believe there is a daredevil underneath all of this Fay-ness.  Someone a little more like this...

So, today I tapped into my inner Xena, and did something really daring.  I mean really REALLY daring.  ...I made an oven mitt.  (Insert Xena battle cry here.)  But not just any oven mitt.  One with a little edge to it--one with tattoos.  

Honey, of course I'll bake you an apple pie.  Right after I tune up my Harley.

Really, making a tattooed oven mitt is probably a combination of both Fay and Xena.  Either way, I was pleased with the outcome.  I will thoroughly enjoy baking/cooking as a tattooed domestic diva. Hmmm...perhaps "enjoy" isn't the right word, but I will at least do it with flair.  

For my parting shot, the oven mitt in action:

Works like a charm and fits like a glove.  And thank you, Gramarion, for the lovely mug!

Check It. Proof That I Did Graduate High School.

I had an afternoon to spare recently, so I did a quick little sewing project that was long overdue.  Take a gander at my old beat up checkbook below.  

Lacks a little flair, wouldn't you say?  Except for one thing.  Notice the big white card on the middle of my checkbook (hard to miss, I suppose)?  Let's take a closer look:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen.  That IS my high school diploma.  Shrunk down and laminated, made to fit right in my wallet.  A gift from HHS as they sent me out into the "real world".  The gift of preparedness: that I should always be armed and ready to present my high school diploma in case I would ever need to prove it to somebody.  And goodness knows I've said and done plenty that could leave a person wondering...  

Obviously I still carry it around with me almost a decade later.  In college, I was shocked to discover that my boyfriend (future husband) didn't have one in his wallet as well.    I guess I thought everyone received a tiny diploma when they graduated high school.  He still makes fun of me today for carrying it around.  Jealous, that's what I say.  He wishes he was a Hillsboro Hiltopper!  (And, yes, I did spell it correctly...where I come from we spell it as one word and with only one L...the right way.)  But let's get back on track.

The old brown checkbook and I have been through so much together.  I remember buying it at Walmart in high school, a purchase that I felt to be very grown up and sophisticated.  Whipping out the checkbook to flourish my signature on a check seemed glamorous and oh-so-mature.  But to everything there is a season.  So, out with the old and in with the new...

Ta-da!  Much better.

And the inside.

I am sad to point out that I no longer have a piece of vinyl on the front to proudly display my diploma.  But you might notice it peeking out of the top pocket in the second picture.  It will never leave me.  I will always need proof that I graduated high school, just in case.

And now for a blast from the past...

Me, a high school graduate, with Mom and Dad.  :)

The Big Reveal: My FINISHED Quilt!

Well...here it is!!!!

Ta-da!!!!!

Here's the back.

You guys, I seriously feel like I just finished a marathon!  I feel like I'm on some sort of running high; a quilting high, I guess.  I'm an old lady.  I am so glad this project is over but I feel so good about having done it at the same time.  Will I make another "big quilt"?  You bet your britches I will.  Will I have a little break before starting my next "big quilt"?  Yup.

The finished quilt measures 58 1/2" square. Big enough for me to be wrapped comfortably in it, but not so huge that I'm drowning in it.  Here are some of the steps that went into making my "big quilt" dream come true:

Cutting lots of fabric and sewing together 32 of these bad boys.

Taping fabric to the floor and making a quilt sandwich.

Putting 192 safety pins in it...Michael counted them.

Machine quilting the beast.  Lots of frustration here...and learning!   :)

There were some other steps in there, like hand-stitching the binding around the edges (while watching several episodes of PBS's Downton Abbey), but you get the gist of it.  Now that I've finished it, I like to keep it in view at all times.  I've thrown it over beds, chairs, the couch, etc.

  

Someday I will probably get sick of looking at it, but I'm nowhere near that point yet.  Now, I'd like to give a shout-out to the women before us, who did all this stuff BY HAND.  My hats are forever off to you ladies.  

Wish I had this hat.

Before I bid you farewell, I wanted to share my favorite picture of the quilt with you all.  

Slam and Paul Terry approve.

This Book Deserves Better

Every once in a blue moon, you stumble upon a book that you feel was just written for you.  I am in the beginning-to-middle of such a book right now.  This evening, I bombarded my husband with the details of this book and why I'm enjoying it so much ("and I'm only to page ten!").  Turns out I was actually to page seventy-two...it's a real page-turner.  It has everything I love...the exploration of a decaying castle in rich detail, old ladies with a mysterious past (I hope to be one of these someday), haunting memories, and even reference to olfactory memory (when you smell something that triggers a memory from long ago--this has always fascinated me!).

Anywho...the tiny scrap of paper I was using as a bookmark HAD to go.  First, I was so enthralled with this book, that I felt it deserved better.  Something more substantial and hearty, to coincide with the greatness of the words inside.  Second, it's always annoying to use a little piece of torn paper in a big book.  It gets lost in there!  Time to make a new bookmark...sewing-style.  :)

Voila!

The "r" stands for Ree...or Read...or Really Good Book.  I feel so much better having a real bookmark in there.  ...or Real Bookmark.  Okay, I'm done now.  So the title of this great read is The Distant Hours by Kate Morton (thanks, Brandi, for the recommendation).  If you are an old soul like me, pick it up.  I still have a few hundred more pages to go, so I'm really hoping it holds up to all the hype I'm giving it--at page seventy-two.

The Distant Hours...and the puny scrap of paper that used to be its bookmark.

Now, I get an extra dose of satisfaction every time I close the book.  I love what I just read and I know I'll definitely find the place where I left off!  I hope this bookmark finds its way through many more great books...maybe even all the way till I'm an old lady with a mysterious past.

My Attempt at a Stuffed Animal

Sometimes I get a wild hair to sew something "creative"...meaning, without a pattern.  I get this sudden burst of energy (and confidence), and think I can make anything in just a few minutes.  Ha.  A few weeks ago, this wild hair resulted in a stuffed animal...a wild hare, if you will.  Bu-dum-chhhhh!

Really, it's a dog.  But everyone else sees it as a rabbit, so I've come to terms with this reality.  I made a floppy-eared pink rabbit.  My mom had a thing for stuffed rabbits when I was a kid.  We always had a few of them sitting around the living room, in their prairie dresses.  Some of them were lucky enough to be sitting on their very own bunny-sized bench or wagon.  And here I am as an adult, sewing my own bunny. Everything comes full circle, I guess.

Making the rabbit was fun--at first.  But then I figured out I was doing it all backwards, which resulted in me hand sewing (ew!) all of its appendages on.  By the end of this endeavor, I was muttering mean things under my breath towards the bunny.  But I was pleased enough, and learned how to make a proper stuffed animal for the next time around (which, let's be honest, probably won't happen for a LOOONG time).

I knew I wouldn't be sewing a prairie dress for my bunny and sitting it on the mantle in the living room (although I'm sure my husband would have loved this), so I decided to give it away as a gift.  Luckily, I have a 9-year-old sister.  With much anticipation and excitement, I handed her my bunny, complete with blood, sweat and tears.  Her giggly reaction: "Uh....what is it?"  "A dog," I told her.  "No it's not.  It's a rabbit.  And its arms are crooked!"  Hmm...not the reaction I was hoping for.  But it makes sense.  She had a similar reaction to the last thing I made her: a nightgown...ahem...muumuu.

Patterns aren't always a bad thing, it turns out.  But I am secretly proud; I recently found the pink bunny amongst Karli's other prized stuffed animals on the bookshelf in her room.  It was the only one that was homemade.  And, since the stuffed bunny thing is apparently genetic, I know she really loves it deep down inside.

Feather Explosion

I usually sew things because I want to, but occasionally there comes a time when I do it because I have to.  Here's what we came home to one day a few months ago:

A feather explosion.  At this point, we hadn't had Paul Terry (P.T.) for very long and he was still adjusting.  His angst was directed toward our pillows that day.  We may still have a few of those feathers floating around our house somewhere.

Time to sew some replacement pillows.  However, I wanted to do it on the cheap, for a couple of reasons: 1) Who knew when P.T. would get the urge to start another pillow fight? and 2) I love to NOT spend a lot of money.  But, pillow forms and sturdy fabric are not cheap.  Hmmm...

Light bulb!  My dear friend Amanda (future link to her blog, Part-Time Homemaker) hosted a Shopping Spree for Free, in which girls bring their gently used clothing/household items, everyone swaps, and you go home with a bag full of new-to-you items for FREE.  So much fun.  So I picked up a couple of pillows there.  Then, one day, while perusing the aisles of Joann Fabric, a couple of wire bins caught my eye.  Wait...did that sign really say what I think it said?  Home Decor fabrics: 2 for $1.  Sturdy fabric...dirt cheap.  Amazing!  So, I happily went home with four beautiful swatches of home decor fabric for $2.  

I immediately went to my sewing room, ripped off the covers of the two free pillows I got at Amanda's house, and sewed away.  15 minutes later, I had two brand new "reversible" pillows for my couch.

Side A

Side B

The best part is that they're still there.  P.T. is now feeling comfortably at-home, which is what makes me the happiest.

Starting My First "Real" Quilt

Today, I did something crazy. I started my first "real" quilt. I say "real" quilt because it's my first big quilt. Recently, I made a small, oddly-sized one just to see if I could do it or would be interested in going all out to do a real quilt.

Here's how that one turned out...Not too shabby, for a first-timer. The quilt top sat in my sewing room for 10 months or so, until I finally got the guts to finish it last month. It was definitely a learning experience, hence the far-away view in the picture so you can't see all the mistakes. :)

Shortly after I finished it, I was invited to a St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild meeting by my friend Laura. I must admit, I felt like a total rookie...especially during the show-and-tell portion of the meeting. I was in awe of the amazing craftsmanship that these women, young and old, displayed. I was blown away by the complex patterns, intricate stitching and jaw-dropping fabrics. However, when my turn arrived to stand in the middle of a circle of 50-ish women and show my tiny first-ever quilt, I received a warm and encouraging round of applause from these modern quilting masters. And I was hooked. Side note...there aren't many things these days that draw the older and younger generations together. But I think quilting does that, which is another reason why I am so excited about it all.

So today, I made my first cuts into the fabric that will become my first "real" quilt. You better believe I already made mistakes, but I am beyond excited to meet this challenge. With a lot of patience (and help from this book, loaned to me by Laura), I will sew, press, and sew some more, and eventually cozy up under my quilt to watch Harry Potter movies with my husband. And then I will start on my next one...

Here's a sneak peek at my favorite fabric that will appear in my quilt (by Jenean Morrison):