Not bad for a first try

I finally did it. I finally made a dang pot holder! I've been putting off getting into quilting for over a year. I want to, I'm just really really scared! So last night, with all my supplies around me I stepped in and made a pot holder. I didn't do a patch work top, because I wanted to figure out the mechanics first, but I did made a usable pot holder. Not bad for a first try.

All my materials ready to go.

Quality Inspector making sure all my cuts are straight.

All the pieces ready to sew!

See the front and back!

Sewn together.

And bound. My binding sucks, but it's functional. I'm going to try again after my dress is done and see what I can do! At least I can say I made a pot holder before 2011!

Fabric purchased

I had a successful trip to Mill End last night.

1. I got my fabric for my dress. I'm going to classify the color as Dark Teal. It's really pretty and I think with the right accessories it will be really sharp. Plus I can wear brown or black tights which makes me happy. I don't have to chose! I'm trying to decide what to do with my hair and leaning towards a headband with some red on it to compliment the teal. We shall see what happens! The fabric was 3.00 a yard and I got it half off so $3.00 for that, $1.50 for the elastic and I bought thread which was a few bucks. The pattern is 99 cents, so about $7.00 for a new dress. not too shabby.

2. I got batting for pot holders. I fear pot holders. I fear the fact that there are multiple layers and binding and you have to quilt them. But I'm going to face my fear. I have all the other supplies. I've had the quilting supplies and books for a year and I'm just so scared I haven't done anything. This weekend, I will face the pot holder. My plan - to make some pot holders without the four square top to figure out binding and batting and quilting and all that jazz and then jump into four square tops. I have a whole bin of fabric from my mom to work with. None of my pot holders will match, but they will be functional and sometimes, that is all that matters.

NYE dress

I want to make a dress to wear on NYE. It's Tuesday, NYE is Friday, this might be a problem. But I have Friday off, so we shall see!

The party I go to every year is hosted by some friends of mine from college. They always do it with a dress code suggested as cocktail attire. In past years, they've done black and white as the theme, but this year, we're allowed to punch it up with some color.

I found a great Butterick pattern that I thought would be fun (5523) but they aren't on sale. McCall's patterns are on sale starting Thursday so I'm thinking McCall's 6112, 6026 or 6200. I'm leaning towards 6112. They show it (see above) in an animal print, although I don't think I'll be doing mine in an animal print. I'm going to head to Mill End after work and see if I can get the fabric. Then Thursday I can get the pattern and hopefully when they say Easy McCall's, they mean it! If not, I have some other options in my closet. I just want to start the new year with a new dress. Is that too much to ask?

Another Christmas come and gone...

Christmas is over. I'm not really all that sad about it. I had my fill of family and gifts and giving for a year. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but some ppl get so into the gifts and not the thought behind them or the effort to get/make/wrap them. Luckily for me, my little girlies appreciate things.

I have to share something my dad did this holiday season. Background: Father Redmond is a retired priest that is really good friends with my Grandpa D. He's a really neat guy and my dad and Father have bonded over their love of restoring things. Father had to take some trees down at his property, so he gave dad some of the wood to make a few things for Father's house. Dad knows a guy who makes pens out of wood so Dad gave the guy some wood that is from Father Redmond's property. Below are the pictures of Father and Grandpa Jerry with their new pens. Dad made the box out of the wood and he layered the different types. Both the pen and box were beautiful. I know the gift meant a lot to both Father and Grandpa. My dad is a pretty thoughtful guy.

Fabric Heaven

My fabric heaven has a name and it is SR Harris. This place is out of control. If you've never been in the midst of 30,000 square foot of floor to ceiling fabric, you must try it. I had to snap one pic to show the sheer enormity of their fabric selection. It does no justice, but I'm sharing it regardless.

My to do list...

Source unknown.

I have so much to get done this weekend. I have presents to wrap, presents to finish, baking to do...basically, I'm going to be a busy little elf this weekend. My main goal is to hit up a fabric store and get the material for little Brin's tutu skirts. I'm hoping tonight I can get some lists made so the weekend will be a breeze! Cross your fingers blog readers. I need all the help I can get!

I saw the above picture on a blog today and I love it. And now that I've saved it to share, I can't remember where I pulled it from! All I can say is that it's not mine...but I'm sharing anyway!

Last night I was able to finish Peyton's jams. They turned out really good! I'm really excited for her to try them on.

I also finished the doll jammie pants. Just need to do the little tshirt. So excited!

and it's Monday again

I had a very productive weekend despite all the hanging out I did.

I made some more cookies. My gingerbread men got a tad hefty!

I attempted caramels for the first time. Boil boil boil.
Then waited for them to setup. It seemed to take forever! They turned out wonderful!

Then I did some sewing. My quality assurance manager was watching for any mistakes or safety violations. He's so picky and such a micro manager.

But despite his hovering, I did manage to finish another piece of Brin's Christmas present.

I decorated almost 80 cut out cookies (thanks to Amanda for saving the day with some backup frosting when I ran out!)

And then I packaged up some of the goods to take home. Below is a small sampling of our cookie bounty. I ended up with two cake pans FULL of Christmas treats.

I didn't get anything done on Peyton's present, which makes me a bit sad, but that's what next weekend is for. I'll be sewing and cooking. Hopefully on a post next Monday I'll be able to say I got mom's cut out cookies done, Brin's skirts done and Peyton's PJ pants completed. That's my hope at least! We'll see how that goes!

I wanna dance!

Last night I finished one of little Brin's tutus. Finished except going back over for some add'l lose threads. Not the skirt part, just the body suit part of it. The picture is bad (is that a theme throughout my blog? I feel like I type that sentence a lot). But you get the idea! It's much more red than the picture leads one to believe. This particular tutu has no sleeves. The pattern does have the option for sleeves, so when I make the purple one I plan on putting short sleeves on it for something different. If I have enough fabric left, I might make a few extras in a smaller size. The 3 just seems so big and she's such a peanut. Although Peyton might fit into the 3s. Apparently one of the last times she stayed at my mom's house she wore size 18mos PJ bottoms (and she's almost 5!). If I have an extra size 2 tutu, I know a little girl in Lino Lakes that would look very cute all dressed up and has a birthday coming up in January! BTW...this is pattern 5545 from Butterick.
I also got the bow fixed on Peyton's PJ shirt. I'm not 100% in love with it, and might try to add some more detail, but I'm in the mode right now that it's ok if I don't have the time to fix it up.

Tonight on deck is possibly some cookie baking with my sister. If that doesn't happen I'll be trying to get a purple tutu cut out and sewn together. My goal is by Saturday when all my weekend plans start to have a clean apt (only one room left to clean) and have two tutus 100% done. Next Saturday I will be working the skirts and the PJ pants.