Friday, July 8, 2011

Southern Sewing Sistahs!

Whew!  The kids are asleep and I'm finally at a point to sit down and post about some fun things that have been happening over the past few weeks.  I'll start out by introducing you to a few of my favorite girlfriends (aka the Southern Sewing Sisters).


(L-R:  Janice, Moi, Brenda, Mary Lynn, Sherry, and Nancy)

Four of us angels live here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, one sweetie is from Mississippi, and one darlin' is from Louisiana.  We met a few years ago at our favorite sewing retreat and have become good friends.  I wish we could see each other more often.  We get together about twice a year, but already have plans for October and are working on next spring!

The Martha Pullen Sewing Market was in Arlington a few weeks back so we planned some fun around that.  We hit lots of quilt shops and fabric stores in Fort Worth on Tuesday, then more on Wednesday in Dallas.  Thursday and Friday were market days, and we had some fun sewing on Saturday and Sunday.  Thanks Brenda for opening up your home and office to us so we could stay and play!  She has a huge office with a nice, big conference table that worked great for all our machines and another room with large tables that doubled as pattern and cutting tables.  Big hugs to her hubs, Bill for fixing great breakfasts and dinners while we were there.  He even whipped homemade biscuits and in the shape of Texas!  He's a keeper!

I found a few cool things that week that I HAD to have...


 

Fabric, (well duuuuhhhh!), the new Sewing with Whimsy book by Kari Mecca (and some cool toys to go with it), sewing gadgets that I obviously need (how did I ever get along without them?), a free copy of the Sew Beautiful magazine (yay Free!), and the lint roller (he swore I would never need to buy another one... he looked honest to me!). 

And look what Janice brought us sisters!  Love her!

 

Sewing market is always fun.  Free classes, demos, lots of goodies to buy!  And, we got to see a few of our other sewing buddies!   Molly and Bettie came for the day - they always make me wish I had a sister!  And, Lorene of SewItUp.com was there in her booth showing off her latest kits and creations.


And, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Kay Whitt of Sew Serendipity.  What a sweetheart!  Kay lives in a neighboring city and I found out she grew up not too far from where I lived.  Small world!  She was obliging and posed for a picture.  However, I had to go back later and ask for another picture. I felt like a goober.  I guess I didn't see the lady who was standing behind Kay and holding up something she was looking at in the booth, thus exposing her arm in a not-so appealing way.  So, we took another.  Thanks Kay!


I bought her book and have already picked out fabric and muslin (all washed and ready to go).  I'm looking forward to sewing a skirt for myself.  Kay is working on her second book and I know it will be amazing, too!

Lastly, while at market, I took a sit-and-sew class from Missy Billingsly who works with Martha Pullen.  She is a doll and a wonderful teacher.  These 2-hour classes are great!  They provide Babylock machines and sergers and everything you need to make your project.  

 

Last year I made the heirloom baby bonnet by serger and this year I made a zippered purse on the serger.  I don't do much on my serger other than three or four thread overlock or rolled hem, so this encouraged me to branch out a little!  We even put in a zipper using the serger.  See how cute it is!


Too bad my five year old has already claimed it.  Looks like Barbie's got a brand new bag!


Okay, so that is just part of the fun.  I'll have to fill you in on the rest of it in a day or two.  Thanks for stopping by and see you soon.  Stay cool!
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Monday, July 4, 2011

There is Liberty

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
 2 Corinthians 3:17


We were worshiping yesterday at church and as we were singing, I saw something that really caught my eye.  Yes, we had props in front on the stage from our monthly sermon, and the pastor, the band, our choir.  We had five beautiful American flags, lots of red, white, and blue everywhere.  But what struck me in the midst of all of this was what stood out just two rows in front of us.  A young man, probably in his late twenties was singing and had his arms stretched out to God.  On his left forearm was a large tattoo of the Statue of Liberty.  

To me, it was the perfect picture of what our country was born from - the fight for FREEDOM.  Freedom to worship to God, freedom to sing, freedom to assemble, freedom to be ourselves.

I am thankful to live in this great country.  And, praise God that He has given us the ultimate freedom.

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Sunday, July 3, 2011

Another go at it!

Well, I just couldn't stand it.  After the great gazebo-snow fiasco and tree limb incident, I thought I had given up on my back patio.  But, we found this "conversation" set at a price we couldn't pass up.  So, I'm giving it another go.

 
 
 

I will admit, I have asked my husband to haul it all in and out of the garage a few times when bad weather hit - better safe than sorry!  Dare I say, "so far, so good"?

Oh, and forgive the ugly door in the back.  It needs some work and paint to match the rest of the house.  It's just been too hot to mess with!

Have a wonderful 4th of July!
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Saturday, June 18, 2011

Too hot to handle!

I've been wanting and drooling over the Rowenta DG5030 steam iron for weeks now.  After receiving the beloved 20% off coupon from Bed Bath and Beyond, I promptly ran down and purchased it for considerably less than I could find it anywhere else.  I came home, opened it up, starting using it on lots of new fabric that was just washed and dried.  

The iron worked great.  The steam was great.  All the wrinkles were gone with one swipe of the iron.  But, it was so stinkin' hot!  Yes, I know that irons get hot.  I'm talking about the pure heat that emits from the whole machine.  I couldn't even touch the counter underneath where the machine had been.  Hot.  You've seen my studio - not huge, but plenty enough room.  This iron heated up my whole studio!  I even had my purty fan running.

Sorry, DG - you've got to go.  I drained the tank and made sure it was all dry and boxed 'er back up.  And this is what I came home with - the Rowenta DA1560!


I made myself chuckle!  Isn't she cute?  Let's call her Stella.  Talk about from one extreme to the other!  One of my Southern Sewin' Sistahs has this little cutie and let me tell you - it is deceiving!  It puts out plenty of heat and nice steam.  

So why go from the steam generator to a travel iron?  Well, I would still like to find a good steam iron that I can  use to iron my newly washed fabric and bigger items with.  I figured the travel iron would be perfect to use when I'm sewing - good output but takes up less space and is good for smaller ironing projects like pressing seams.  And, obviously good for travel.

Now back to my current project. I found yet another McCall's pattern at JoAnn's for $1.99 (right in my budget).  I'll let you know how (well) it turns out!

Have a great weekend!
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Sunday, June 12, 2011

I just wanna sew...

... all day... every day!



What about you?  Is there something you could dive into for days?
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Friday, June 10, 2011

Perfect

Youngest daughter:  "Mom, can I paint something?"  
 Me:  "Paint something?  Like what?"
YD:  "Ummm, how 'bout one of those things.  You know, those little houses."
Me:  (long pause, thinking hard....)  "Oh, the little bird houses?"
YD:  "Yes!  Can I?"

To be honest, I almost said no.  Well, because it was being saved.  Saved for that PERFECT craft.  Saved for that special gift.  "That" occasion.  You know, saved.

And, I would have to drag out the paints, cups, water, brushes, blah blah blah.  Sigh.

Wait!  My baby girl wants to craft.  To create!  Its washable paint and the birdhouse was a dollar for Pete's sake!  It will give her something to do, keep her busy for a while, hone her painting skills, and improve her dexterity!

Me:  "Sure, let me get the things you need.  How about in the kitchen?"

It sits in my office and doesn't match a thing, but it is PERFECT.  That worked out nicely, didn't it?

 
 

P.S.  Before I could even get back to what I had previously been doing, she was done!  Maybe I should have given her glitter... Pin It