Halloween Silhouette

I love the soft light that comes in my studio window early in the day.  I grabbed my camera to "capture the feel of the moment".

 

It really didn't turn out quite like I saw it (or felt it), but I like the silhouetted look, especially with my Halloween masks and "boo" sign hanging in the frame.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

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Randomness

Random stuff...

I found a super-easy pattern at JoAnn's several months back - probably one of the $1.99 patterns - bonus, right?  I love this little dress because not only is it easy to sew, it is versatile - with a t-shirt in the fall/winter and without for spring and summer.  Adding buttonholes is the most tedious part of the project.  I made two dresses last weekend and am going to attempt to make one with a single knit fabric.  I'm branching out, getting a little wild!  Although not that wild - I'm forgoing the sleeve action.  Well duh!

 

I bought the cutest buttons!  Which one for which dress?  They look good on both.  I'll show you the finished dresses soon.  They turned out sweet.  This is a cotton print...

 

And these are lightweight corduroys...

Next random thought...

My daughter took over my computer the other night - (stinkin' homework assignments!) so I fiddled around and made more of these....

Recognize any of the fabric?  Remnants.  That's why we keep them - all of them.  I still need to add the stems, but I thought that would be a nice project for movie night in front of the television.  And, I'm baking "tendrils" as I type.  Obviously.

  

I love the brown fabric.  I could put it everywhere!  I found it at Calico Corners years ago and I just adore it, Daaahling.  I just wish I had scads more.

 

I've made curtains and pillows with it and these cute little bags.

Next random thought...

The weather has been typical for this area - 80's in the day and chilly's in the evening!  I had to put the flannel sheets on the bed last night.  I love my flannel sheets!  We watched the high school football game last night and it was cold out there!  That's Texas football weather!  And, we won, oh yeah!

Okay, that's all I got!  I am off to carve pumpkins with the kids and then I think we'll make some Halloween confetti cupcakes.  Fun stuff!  Mr. La La is busy working on the pool and yard before the Ranger game at which time the rest of us have to "be seen and not heard"!!  He loves his Rangers!

Have a great weekend!

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Driving myself crazy!

I finally decided to invest in woven clothing labels and, well - I'm driving myself crazy!  It really shouldn't be this hard, right?  I think my first problem was looking at too many other examples.  Information overload!  Next, I thought I would just whip one up in Photoshop.  Uh huh.  Which colors?  What font?  Big?  Little?  Borders?  Logo?  ACK!

So, after several nights of making these:

 

... I've narrowed it down to these two.  Maybe simple is best.

I like the yellow and gray, but I'm not sure the yellow would show up well on the tag.  But, I need to make a decision and order them before I'm too old to sew! 

Please!  What do you think?

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Way down yonder in the pumpkin patch...

I decided to get a little farmin' done this week and grew myself some pumpkins!  These are fun, easy, and can be made to match any room in the house!

There are many ways to make these little (or big) cuties but I decided to make mine from rectangles of material using tutorials from Martha and the Thompson Family-Life blogs.  The pink and white pumpkins were made from a single-knit fabric which I found to be nice to work with.  

The stems were made from a brown, satin material although you can't really see the sheen in these photos too well.  I hand-stitched the stems to the pumpkins.  The "tendrils" were made by wrapping grosgrain ribbon around a wooden dowel rod.  I then baked them in the oven for 25 minutes at 275 degrees.  I opted to hot glue the tendrils to the pumpkins and they looked just as nice.

These pumpkins sit atop my kitchen table and I think I will make a few more for the living room, too.

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Double-Doozy! 1st Blog-Aversary and 100th Post!

Yes, a whole year has whizzed by since my very first blog post AND I've had something to say one hundred different times!  I hesitated to start a blog for quite some time and after I did, I fell in love with it.  It is a weird kind of rush, and yet a calming feeling at times.  It is addicting and I have had to peel myself away from Blog Land many times in the wee hours of the night.  

I have to admit, it has been very self-serving.  I feel like a big sponge most of the time.  I feel guilty that I really don't have much to offer YOU, but yet I have gained so much from you.  I do appreciate all of you though.  You have made me laugh and cry.  You have challenged me and made me quite jealous at times.  You have worked so hard to give me so much.  And, I take it all in.  I read it all and I love seeing part of your world.  I really haven't given much back.  You have seen some of my crafts and projects, my studio.  I've done one tutorial, I think.  I haven't shared much of my personal life or my family.  I haven't come up with any great new ideas or projects.  No cool swaps or buttons to share.  

But, as I have pondered over these things the past several weeks, I have realized this:  not all of us are trail-blazers, not all of us are chiefs, not all of us are leaders of tomorrow.  Some of us are worker-bees, some of us are Indians, and some of us are history teachers.  In my home life, I am mom, wife, daughter, Team Mom, Room Mom, chairperson, business owner, PTA president, and friend.  I'm okay at this time with who I am in my blog life.  I hope you're okay with it, too.

So, there is no big party, no fancy clip art or photography...  just me telling you how thankful I am to have you as my blog friends and sharing yourselves with me this past year.  I truly appreciate all of you who follow my blog and I hope to get to know you better in my second year of blogging.

Truly,

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Happy Fall, Y'all!

The weather around here was absolutely perfect all weekend.  Perfect for high school football games, perfect for yard work, perfect for Fall decorating, perfect for pork chops, sweet potatoes, and stuffing, and (taking a breath) perfect for baking pumpkin bread!  Perfect.

And I did all of that this weekend, and then some!  It just had that Fall feeling - crisp air and cool breezes.  So I climbed up in the attic and hauled down my five crates of Halloween and Fall decorations.  Sounds like plenty, right?  Not nearly.  When I start pulling it all out I think, "Man, where is this gonna go?"  But after I spread a little here and a little there - it looks sparse.  I wonder if I can convince the local Hobby Lobby that because of that, they should donate a bunch more!  Ha!

So, I started with my little buffet in the kitchen and tried to do something different than last year.  Not sure if I did, but I like it just the same.

I kept my pink runner.  Pink looks great with orange and yellow for Halloween (to me, anyway!)  I added some black with this cake stand and neat companions.  They both say "Happy" on one side and either "Halloween" or "Haunting" on the other side.  Fun to be able to switch up.

Remember this little house that I decorated last year?  In case you didn't know, I LOVE glitter.  And, I haven't spent any time with it lately.  I hear it crying in the closet.  "Don't worry - Momma's coming baby glitter!" *snicker*

I was also able to put some orange lights and garland of leaves over my front door and some of my lighted pumpkins.  I just love this time of year!  I'm happy that most of my decorations last for two months!  I'm glad you stopped by and I would love to hear if you, too have been decorating for the Fall season!

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Down to the K N I T ty-gritty!

Where in the world did the time go since my last post?  I had good intentions, really I did - to catch up with you much sooner than this.  Okay, kids are asleep and all is quiet in the house.  This is a long and possibly exhausting post.  Get a cup of coffee and enjoy... here I go!

So you've all gone back and seen all the great pictures of the past retreats?  The food.  The awesome accommodations.  The busy sewing area.  The best sewing buddies in the tri-county area.  And, the hostess with the mostest.  Well, it was groundhog weekend and that was okay by me.  That's why I have been FIVE times in less than three years!  I missed going to the hamburger joint and meeting up with everyone on Friday.  I HAD to stop at the local sewing shop and get ball point needles.  That's what my directions said to do! 

Our busy room.  I can't believe we don't blow the breakers when we are there.  At least eleven sewing machines, maybe ten sergers, three irons, about twelve lamps, and one new embellisher AND a new coverstitch machine.  For real.

My happy place...

... all organized and "ready Freddy"!  Doesn't look like much?  Pshhhhh.  I'm so good that I know exactly what to take.  (and if I forget anything, someone else will have it!)  Notice my tape measure?  Of course not!  It is camouflaged as a cupcake - ha!

Some familiar faces and some new...

All of the ladies are super sweet and super talented.  The knowledge in that room was some powerful stuff!  So, we had to take frequent breaks to rest our powerful minds.  Relax, unwind, and dine.  Check out a few of the things Miss Linda made for us.

And that was just some of our treats!  Five pounds I say, five.  What was that?  Oh, what did we actually sew?  Minor details.  Well, I started out with this little dress from McCall's pattern #6154.  It really went together nicely.  I had some pocket issues but I think that was just because I am a dingleberry.  Operator error.  Got past it.  This isn't the greatest picture and I think it will look sweet with a little t-shirt underneath and maybe some leggings.  The polka dot is cotton and the print is a soft corduroy, both from Hobby Lobby.

My daughter thought it was okay, but she was more thrilled with this one...

Yes!  I sewed with knits!  Jenny - you were right, girl!  You're my new best friend!  What was I afraid of?  After the whole pocket drama, I was nervous about starting this project.  But, weirdly enough, nothing happened through the process.  No serger snafu's, no seam rippers, nothing.  It just all fit.  Weird.  And awesome!  Well, I will say this - when I finished it I noticed the neck didn't stretch.  I had cut the neck piece the wrong way.  No problemo.  Lorene helped me cut it out and we put in another. But, the pattern and the material were great.  Thanks Patty!  The dress was a kit from SewItUp.com.

Lorene educated us on the different kinds of knits and the associated sewing items such as needles, thread, etc.  Single knit, double knit, gauzy knit, ugly knit - you know.  This Micheal Miller knit was great to sew with and was super-soft.  It didn't stretch or move in the process and pinned very nicely.  Having said that - beware - it did shrink - a lot.  So, when purchasing your knit you may need extra.  Pre-wash!  Just saying.

We had so many great projects going.  Some knits, cottons, shirring, smocking, serging, tulle, embroidery - you name it!

I always learn so much at these retreats.  It is so hard to soak it all in sometimes.  I hope that it is stuck somewhere back in my brain and I'll recall it at a later date!  One thing I learned to utilize better is my "ditch" foot.  I love this little foot and use it as much as my clear foot now.  It is great for top-stitching and putting on those pesky little pockets!  The stitch is nice, even, and best of all consistent.  Get one and use it!

I started on another project but had to finish it up at home.  I'll post about it later.  Thanks so much to Lorene and all the ladies - I had a great time and always enjoy your company.  We laugh into the wee hours of the morning and with little sleep, get up and do it all again!  I have to say another big thank you to Linda and Bill, owners of Southern Comfort Retreat.  You just cannot imagine how hard they work to make us comfortable and happy.  I look forward to seeing them and feel like family going to visit.  They must be the hardest working couple I know and they always do it with a smile!

Thanks everyone for stopping by and sticking it out til the end.. of the post!   I'm so glad to be able to share a little bit of my world and I really look forward to hearing from you.

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