i have to say...

i am loving...

...these lovely flowers growing in my entryway.  it is a tree not ready for outside planting that decided to bloom indoors.  what a beautiful sight to see.

...friends.  how nice to be blessed by people.

...sewing skirts with aubry.  that kid makes me laugh.

...the sunshine.

...growing boys.  what a treat to see your boys become men.

...this song.

...ben and jerry's "half-baked" ice cream.  serious yumminess.

...that my mom is moving here.  yeah!  i am so excited about that!

...my man.  he makes my life an adventure, for sure.

...doing karate again.  even though my muscles ache because of it.

what about you?  what things are you loving?

great news!

I am pretty sure that the Sewing Seeds skirts will make it to Haiti for no charge--free!

Can you believe it?

My friend whose brother-in-law is a missionary there, called me yesterday to say that a family from our area is heading to Pennsylvania  (this is where the missionaries are from and where extras are sent out) in two weeks.  They are traveling within one mile--ONE MILE--of the drop-off location for the skirts.

Awesome, if you ask me!

All I have to do is to package them in plastic bags, get them the family who is traveling in two weeks, and from there our skirts are heading to Haiti.  Missionaries from that area have been regularly traveling to Haiti since the quake and the skirts will make it there in their suitcases.

Isn't that great?

God is awesome and He even orchestrates the little things.

I hope this adds some sweetness to your day. 

It sure did to mine!

busy hands

Aubry and I finally--FINALLY--started working on our skirts this week.  She did as much sewing as I did and she was quite good at it.  Her seams are starting to straighten out.

She did manage to sew the tablecloth to one of the skirts which lead to some crying on her part, but I managed to convince her that it would make a funny story.  She is such a drama queen sometimes.  Wonder where she gets that?  :)

The pile of skirts for Haiti is getting big and I am so excited about getting them to their new owners.  My friend is starting to look into how we can transport these and I am hoping for something easy and inexpensive.  We will see...

How about you?  What are you working on these days?

soaping

My daughter and I have been making soap like crazy over the last couple of months.  A few of our batches are ready to use, but most are still in the curing stage. 

My favorites are stacked above: sweet citrus, lavender chamomile, citrus spice.  We also have honey oatmeal, and plain ol' soap.  I might have picked my faves based on the fact that they are calling my house home, while the other two are rooming with her.  I suspect this because the last two are her faves.

We tried our hand at goat's milk soap this week.  For some reason I have quite a few goat-keeping friends, and they were willing to let us try some milk.   This soap came out SO creamy, and we can't wait to be able to use it.  The color is fading to a buttery-yellow and we are both happy about that.  This color matches our skin too closely and it seemed an odd shade to us.

Here is the plain ol' goat's milk soap:

Here is goat's milk sandalwood spice:

I also made some bars (pieces?) for laundry detergent.  Unscented, citrus and lavender are all curing:

Well, that's our soaping adventure so far.  My girl hopes to open her Etsy shop in the next couple of weeks and I will post here when she does. 

Have a great Monday!

shop notes: lots of new goodies!

This has been one of those weeks where the new stuff just keeps comin'!  I always love those weeks!

Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow is fresh, clean and stylish, just as you would expect from him.

The new additions to Metro Market are perfect for spring and summer sewing!

And the new Hedgehog prints from Michael Miller are just plain cute!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

i admit i had to try hard to find this...

...but a flower is a flower, right?

Searching for signs of spring is getting easier, isn't it?

Hopefully we will start working on our raised beds this weekend, but it looks like some snow might be on the way.  If not, next weekend, for sure.

Have a lovely Friday!

"On the Road to Spring" quilt-along

It is such an exciting thing to sew the last couple feet of the binding on a quilt.  I have to hold myself back from rushing, rushing, rushing to the end.  The last stitch feels oh-so-good.

Finished.

Last night I read while snuggling under my new lovely and it was warm and comfortable, just like I knew it would be.  Of course, it was fun to glance up occasionally to remind myself of the colors and patterns that I picked.

So springy.  Just like I wanted it to be.

Our quilt-along consists of 6 lessons that you can access at any time.  You can go as slow or as quick as you like.

week one: choosing and preparing your fabrics

week two: cutting the pieces for the quilt (all squares and rectangles)

week three: sewing your quilt top together

week four: assembling your "quilt sandwich"

week five: machine quilting

week six: binding your quilt

This quilt is good for beginners or experienced sew-ers alike.  It is a great way to play with color.

Be sure to check out the Flickr group.  There are some wonderful quilts making an appearance there!

Happy sewing!

it's march!

 
I am a day late to the celebration but I needed to post a quilt tutorial on March 1st, so I figure that March 2nd will do!

The fact that spring is so close is almost too much for me. 

This weekend we plan to start working on our garden area.  We will be making a raised bed and it is going to require a lot of work, but working in the garden is work I don't mind doing at all.

I can almost see the flowers and the green leaves and the vegetables and new life everywhere.

Soon it is going to be nice and warm, just right for shorts.  That's why I dragged all of my kids to the riverwalk yesterday and made then run with me.  The exercise does us all good.

Spring is on it's way!

sewing seeds update

The pile of skirts is really growing.  Everyday I receive boxes and packages bursting with such loveliness for the girls in Haiti.  This makes me smile!

I have decided to extend the deadline one more week, until March 12th.  So if you are behind with making your skirts (like me!) you can relax and breath and not worry about it (like me).  A number of people had asked about extending the date, so I thought it would be a good idea.

As soon as the deadline gets here, I will post pictures of the huge pile of skirts.

Have a great day!

On the Road to Spring quilt-along (week six: binding your quilt)

I can't even believe that I am posting the last quilting tutorial! 

When we started it seemed so exciting that spring would be just around the corner when we completed this, and here we are!  When we were driving around town this weekend we noticed that the globe willows are starting to show a green blush, and that means that leaves are a comin' soon.  You will hear no complaints from me about this, that's for sure.

This week we will be binding our quilts.  This is the step that provides a clean edge for the entire quilt, as well as a frame for your creation.  The color you pick for the binding will highlight those same colors and tones within the quilt, so choose accordingly.

Your first step is to cut the excess batting and backing off of your quilt, even with the quilt top:

Cut seven 2-1/2" strips using this technique.  Seven strips will be a bit too much, but I always like to have too much than not enough.  Basically, you want to make sure that the total binding pieces measure longer than the outside measurement of your quilt:

Sew all the pieces together, end to end:

Open all of the seams and iron them flat:

Iron your binding piece in half along the entire length:

Personally, I find it more effective to pin and sew the edges of the binding on one at a time.  This way you don't end up with puckering at the end.

Start pinning the binding to the quilt edge in the middle of one of the sides:

When you get to the corner, lay out the binding like this and make a crease with your finger:

Now fold the corner like this:

Now fold the edge like this and pin in place:

You can now start sewing your binding on, but start approximately 6 inches away from the first pin (that six inch piece will be sewn down in a little bit):

When you get to your first corner, sew like this and backstitch:

Remove your pin and refold the edge:

Now start sewing approximately 1/4" from the corner of the quilt:

Keep sewing around the entire quilt, pinning and folding the edges in the manner shown above.  Stop approximately 6" from the end of the binding. 

When you come around to your starting point you will fold and iron your binding like so:

You will open the fold and pin the binding using the ironed fold as a guide:

Now sew along that ironed seam to connect the binding.  Pin the binding in place on your quilt and complete the sewing.  Your binding should be sewn around the entire quilt now.

Flip the binding to the back of the quilt and pin in place:

Once you have pinned the entire backing, you will hand-sew the binding in place:

Once the binding is completely sewn on, you are holding your finished quilt.  Some clipping of threads will be needed, but other than that it's done!

DONE!

I have to admit that I have not finished my hand-quilting, but as soon as I do I will post pictures and post links to all 6 quilting tutorials so they can be easily accessed for use at any time.

I hope you have had fun because I sure have!  Quilting is a rewarding, artistic endeavor that only gets easier and more perfect over time.  Never forget that practice makes perfect.

Happy sewing!