Back To School!

I hope you all enjoyed the summer.  It was hot down here!  In fact, we only lacked three days of breaking a record from 1983 or something like that.  I was hoping we would fall short!  We had one day of light rain and clouds.  It was so nice.

The kids have their new school clothes and supplies all ready to go.  We went to the elementary school last week for "Sneak a Peak" and met their teachers.  School starts on Monday and it is going to be a great year!

I always put together a little goodie bag for the teacher and this year was no different.  I usually put in stickers, blank note cards, pens, etc. for the teacher to use.  I think they need these all year long.  For my daughter's kindergarten teacher, we put together this little bag:

I got lots of practice with tissue paper lately, so I made Mrs. McC. an apple to pretty up her bag o'goodies!

Wrapped up individual little presents...

... and took it to school.  I'm looking forward to another year with Mrs. McC.  She was my son's kindergarten teacher and she is awesome.  She's like the "child whisperer".  Seriously.  They all get so quiet and listen to her so well.  I need to take notes, I guess.

I didn't make a goodie bag for my son's homeroom teacher.  Third grade is a little different, and his teacher is a man this year.  I don't know him and wasn't sure what he would like or need.  I will plan something different for his third grade teachers later in the school year.  I'm serving as Faculty Courtesies this year and am already getting excited about some fun things to make to treat them with!

I wish you all a great back-to-school day or a walk down memory lane of those special times!  Next up will be Friday night football games, watching our sixteen year old march with the band and play the bass drum, homecoming, Open House, and Fall!

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Where did the summer go?

It flew by, that's what!  I always have great intentions to get so much done, spend tons of time with the kids, swim and enjoy the outdoors, etc.  Then, I look up and its gone.  I feel like I did nothing and even worse I feel like I did nothing with the kids.  Guilt sets in.  Sigh.

We did actually swim and try to enjoy some time outdoors, even with the awful heat wave going on.  Baby girl took swim lessons and now swims like a fish!  We went water park a few times and a few swim parties.  The younger two went to camp and VBS and had lots of fun.  We bowled.  We lazed around.  We went to the movies. 

Still, school starts on Monday and I feel guilty.  My baby girl is starting kindergarten and all of a sudden I feel like she's being ripped away.  What a range of emotions.  I have already warned the teachers that I will exit the building quickly come Monday.  So, that's that.

Now for a quick view of part of the summer...

Fringie flower trim added to a t-shirt.

Some slip stitching on a little dress.

 

I bought some great new books and did manage to thumb through them and daydream a little.  Nothing productive past that.  They did stimulate my creative juices though.

 Started on a major quilt project... and finished!  I'll post on that soon.

 Made some pillowcases to go with the quilts!

 

Played with beads.  More on that later.

Made a good 'ole fashioned chocolate cake.  Yum.

 

Watched baby girl work on her sewing skills.

Learned how to make my own iced coffee.  I'm saving tons of moolah!  Isn't it ironic that it is in a Starbucks cup?  haha

Made a "leather" cummerbund for my daughter's outfit.  She went to the Harry Potter premier as Bellatrix.  For just $20, she thrifted her whole outfit and she looked so awesome.  People were asking for her and her two friends to take pictures with them.  Fun stuff.

 Started a makeover project in baby girl's room... and finished.  There's a hint above.  Yes, more on that later, too.

My last photography class, Light and Lighting II started in July.  I was working with window light here and a little bounce flash.  It was really too early in the day to use this window, but I played anyway.  Once I've completed this class, I can start working on my portfolio.  That will take a little time and effort.  Hopefully, after it is graded, I will be deemed a "certified photographer", for whatever it's worth!  I don't plan to be a professional photographer, but enjoyed the courses and hopefully expanded my little brain a tiny bit!

 

Took a short road trip with the husband and two youngest kiddos to visit family.  I worked on finishing up a little quilt binding during the drive.  Sadly, the visit was primarily to see my sweet Aunt Helen who was battling cancer.  I wanted to go see her one last time, tell her how much she has always meant to me, and hug her tightly.  It was a tough trip for sure.  She was a wonderful woman whom I have always admired so much.  She passed away just several days ago.  I love you, Aunt Helen.

I did get out to have a little fun with some of my girlfriends.  Several of us went to see "Change Up".  So darn funny, inappropriate, but funny.  I'm just being honest.  Then, one of my sewing sistahs and her lovely daughter came in to town and she called up the rest of us sistahs who live nearby so we could have dinner and a movie.  We watched "The Help".  Awesome movie!  Unfortunately, Janice didn't get to come, but we are all going to see each other in October for retreat!

The rest is a blur.  Back-to-school shopping, school registration, meet the teacher, etc.  Another sigh.  I'm going to go love on my lovies a little while.  I'll be back in a few days.

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Girls Day Out

It was "Girls Day Out" for Harry and Mo!  My girlfriend Harriet and I took the day off all by ourselves and headed to the big town of Waxahachie, Texas - the Crape Myrtle Capital and Gingerbread City!  That's pronounced /ˌwɒksəˈhætʃi/.  Did you get that?  Try this:  Wok-seh-hatch-yee.

Awesome fun!  Harriet, being my ever-faithful and all-knowing guide, took me to the Common Threads Quilt Shop first.  Oh yeah, you don't have to twist my arm.  The shop is full of great fabric and the nicest folks!  We both walked away with goodies we couldn't live without.

 

 

This beautiful hand-embroidered piece really touched my heart. I feel the same way today that this sweet gal, Sarah must have felt back in 1893!

Okay, let's mosey around the corner to The Dove's Nest.  Whoa!  How cool is this place?!  Talk about spending hours.  They carry the neatest things.  Fun and unique.  And when you think you need a break, stop and have a bite to eat and enjoy some of the best tea you've ever tasted.  Then, get back to shopping.  What a treat!

 

This cracked me up!

Last stop of the day, and conveniently just a few stores away... The Crafty Scrapper!  Wow.  Just wow.  I'm not a scrapbooker (is that a word?), but I was in scrapbook heaven!  They carry everything.  I just walked around ooing and aahhhing and saying, "ooooh, Harriet - look at theeeeeese!"  It was almost embarrassing.  And, I found the best trims.  Ever!

I just realized I didn't take pictures of the inside.  Just this one of the building.  From the car.  Whilst traffic stopped and waited on me.  Sorry!  And, thanks!

And when I realized it was time to head back home, I suddenly felt the need to take a few more.  From the car.  Whilst traffic stopped and waited on me.

 

Every courthouse in Texas looks a lot like this!  I love these old buildings.

Lots of sweet houses, too.  They were all dressed up for July 4th!

 

Why have I never gone to Waxahachie before?  Seriously, it is only about thirty minutes from my house.  Harriet - you ready to head back?  Let's go!

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Finished Shtuff

Is it hot enough yet?  Yep, I'm pretty sure it is!  These 104 degree days here in north Texas are getting to me. 

Anyhoo, I wanted to share with you two of the projects I worked on when I was with my Southern Sewing Sistahs.  I purchased the Two-Hour Tulip Purse pattern by Anything But Boring at Berry Patch Fabrics and got to work on it right away using the perfect laminated cotton I found at Cabbage Rose Quilting, both in Fort Worth.  

I had not worked with laminated cotton before, so I was excited to try it out on this project.  The purse went together well and the instructions were great.  Since I was using other cotton fabrics in the project, I had no problem with the laminated cotton.  However, I have been told that using a teflon foot helps when sewing with the laminated cotton. You don't want to put pins in the fabric as it will leave obvious holes - just pin inside the seam line and all is good.

 

So what do you think?  My daughter loved it right away.  This is the jumbo sized purse.  The small would be perfect for a child to carry around.

I also finished this little dress.  This is Michael Miller's Gypsy bandana in pink and border in lime.  So fun to work with!  The pattern is Simplicity 2167 and was quick and easy.  Lots of great possibilities.  And, it didn't hurt that I only paid $1.99 for the pattern!

What projects have you been working on?  Or should I say, "playing with"?  It's not work, right?

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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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