It's go time

Need a thoughtful gift for a pregnant friend, or anyone that may be spending a bit of time in a hospital? I may have an idea for you. I am calling these "Go Bags".

I have/had two lovely friends that are/were very pregnant and due at the end of August. Do not fret, I did not misplace one friend. Her bundle just decided to come a bit earlier than expected. Mom and baby are both great, she will just have to enjoy my little giftie another way :)

I used the tutorial that Jeni, over at In Color Order, graciously shared with the internet for these lined drawstring bags and I think they came out really nicely. Check out her site, there is quite a bit of inspiration there. I also made some matching wash cloths, because I just can't help myself sometimes.

 

Then I filled the bags with little toiletry goodies so they could just drop these in their hospital bags and not worry about forgetting the little odds and ends.

They came together really quickly and I love how they turned out. I may need to make some more of these!

 

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Sneak peek

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Just a sneak peek of something I am working on.

 

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Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom is awesome. I would say that even if she wasn't my Mom (honest). In fact, since becoming a mother myself, my Mom's awesomeness has increased at least 10 fold. Not because she has changed any, but because now, I see. If you are a Mom, you understand that statement. If you are not, no amount of explaining will help.

My Mom is special for so many things. Artistically, she is more talented than anyone I know and I know a lot of creative, talented folks. It runs in the family, remember? You would never know it though, because she is beyond humble, another special attribute. She is quietly courageous, the calm in a storm, and the reason that I know I can do anything I put my mind to (I can even end a sentence with a preposition!).

Last Thursday was her birthday. So, for a special treat, I planned a quilt shop hop from New Braunfels to Houston. We all met in New Braunfels Thursday evening, got up Friday morning and shopped all the way to Houston. It was a family affair. My aunt made the round trip with me to join in the shop hop fun, my older brother and his family made a wonderful birthday dinner and cake, my younger brother and his wife put us up for the night, my dad drove on to Houston by himself, and hubby took off work to stay home with Charlotte. High five everybody! Thanks for making it a success.

I decided that the trip needed to end in a quilty gift for her, so I made this wall hanging...

In progress

Finished front

Pockets for hanging

Quilting

 

I really liked how it turned out, but more importantly, I think my Mom really liked it. I love you Mom.

P.S. I am already planning next year's hop. I think we need t-shirts :)

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Just call me Bloggy McBloggerson

Seriously, I got this app called Blogsy and it makes blogging so stinkin' easy, you guys might get sick of hearing from me. They didn't even pay me to say that.

Anyway, I whipped a cute little ironing board out quick like during Charlotte's ACTUAL nap time and I thought it appropriate to share.

A while ago, I bought one of those "travel" ironing pads. My thought was, it would be nice to put it on the table next to my sewing machine and iron my fabrics and seams and such, without having to drag out our ginormous ironing board. Well, it doesn't work well at all. Understatement. It actually works against you. Enter mindless scanning of Pinterest. Some genius had turned a tv tray into an ironing board! I didn't even need to read the tutorial, the picture was enough for me. I cut that travel pad apart, layered it all on top of the tv tray, added some cute fabric, and stapled it into submission. Sorry no before and after pics.

And the best part?

It still collapses for easy storage!

That fabric is called Butterfly Garden from Jane Sassman for Free Spirit, in case you were wondering. I bought it a million years ago, so you might be hard pressed to find it now, but you never know.

 

Laura Ingalls I am not...

...but I did make peach jelly yesterday!

You want to know something awesome about my already amazing husband? His family owns a peach orchard outside of Fredericksburg, Texas. On good years, we end up with more peaches than any one family should and we take full advantage. I may be partial, but I am pretty sure Uncle Mark grows the best, juiciest peaches around.

With the encouragement of my mother-in-law, Deborah, (who, in case you didn't know, is the boss on all things cooking, gardening, and canning) I decided to attempt making this jelly from the peels of the peaches I put in the freezer. I wasn't feeling very adventurous so I sought out a recipe and tutorial that sounded similar to what Deborah told me to do. I originally found an easy to follow one here and the author of that tutorial reposted it just today on her own blog.

It was a whole lot of work, but I am glad I tried it. I think the next time, I will be more confident and more efficient. We haven't tried the jelly yet, but they all appear to be setting up properly. Fingers crossed.

Pretty jars in a row

Peach Palooza 2012

 

Tap, tap, tap....is this thing on?

Hello strangers. Long time no post. Where does one find the time? Well, it helps when you can use a few nifty apps and post straight from your iPad. Perhaps now I will be more prolific. We shall see.

Anywho, I have been keeping busy and have done so many creative things. Let me just catch you up with a photo post.

Waaaaay back in October, my little brother married a wonderful young lady and I helped with the table decorations at the reception. I was really happy with how they turned out.

We made magnolias out of crepe paper and attached them to fallen tree branches from mine and my parents backyards. It was a great way to add some decorative height in that large reception space without creating something that you couldn't see around.

My mother spent a bazillion hours on the centers of these flowers. I think we made a total of 84 flowers...whew! She also made a few of these little resistor dragonflies to grace the center of some of the flowers. LOVE how they turned out.

And what reception table would be complete without a few found object robots of love? I am particularly proud of these guys. It was a lot of fun watching each little guy come to life as I put them together (with the help of my Aunts Patty & Liz). This is just a sampling, I think there were 16 or 18 of these. Special guests got to take them home at the end of the evening.

Moving on...

I made this ladybug costume for Charlotte. Detachable wings for easy washing.

I found and reupholstered this chair for Charlotte's birthday. The pillow is my favorite part :)

I made this baby quilt for some good friends that are expecting.

I decided to also make this little elephant from a pattern I found online...will need to link that as soon as I can find it.

(My quality control advisor pointing out an issue.)

I had so much fun making the first elephant, I decided that a set of little twins I know needed one of their own. (I also made that runner they are standing on, but I can't seem to find a good photo of it).

Quilted coasters. I made these for a swap at a friend's Pintrest party. I really like how they turned out and might try more. Everybody may be getting coasters for Christmas :)

Another runner. I really like this one AND I did a pretty good job on my free motion quilting. That is a whole lot harder than I thought it was going to be. (sorry for the poor iPad photos on this one).

Well, that about wraps it up the last 8.5 months. Lots of sewing going on around here. It seems to be my newest obsession. Now off to find that pattern for the elephant so I can link it and give credit...

Cheers,

Katie

 

Morticia would be proud

At least I would like to think she would be.

I decided to change my Halloween decor this year since I had idea after idea popping into my head once the fall catalogs started dropping in the mailbox.  This is my all time favorite mantel and it was fairly inexpensive.  Some Goodwill finds and a little spray paint will go a long way.  I wish you all could see it in person!

All of the frames, with the exception of the one in the center, came from the Goodwill store.  The candelabra did as well.  All of these items got a coat or two of black spray paint.  The silhouettes are clip art from free online sites that I cut out and mounted on craft paper.

The before photo. When I was shopping for these items, I was paying attention only to the shape of each item.  The black paint is a great unifier, but it also can make things a bit drab if they don't have an interesting raised detail, relief, or shape.

I also purchased some large red silk roses and gave them a light dusting with the spray paint.  It gives them great depth with out much effort.

If you are going to use a candelabra, make sure you burn down your candles.  A spooky house wouldn't have brand new tapers!

I also added a bit of black wax to my tapers to give them a more aged look.

I didn't have any Halloween photos of Charlotte, so I "spooked" her up with a witch's hat and jack-o-lantern :)

To finish it all off, I put a fine layer of spider web over all of it.

Some more photos around the house.

A certain large home decor store was selling burlap table runners for $50! I happened to have burlap in the closet.  Add a little black paint and Voila!  I will say, I cheated and used fabric glue for the seams.  I didn't want to mess with lining it.

  A spooky critter here and there.

I hope you all have a spooktacular Halloween!