A Day in the Life...

My Girl Wants a Horse....Bad!

(I know...I know...it should say "badly", but for some reason "bad" sounded good to me, so for you grammar gurus, kindly overlook my faux pas.)

A few months ago I won some horse riding lessons at an auction.  It was perfect for us.  A little taste, but no big commitment.  Well...turns out...Alli would like a commitment. 

This is her at the lesson. 

She even loved the grooming part.

First time on a horse...

I know it's hard to tell, but trust me...this is the look of sheer contentment.

 

I'm observing from the lovely covered porch.

She didn't want to leave. 

Since this day, she's been on a quest to get a horse.  Not a quest for more lessons, but a horse of her own.  And a barn of her own that she can go to every morning to care for her horse.  She has gotten dozens of books from the library and is pretty much now an expert on anything to do with horses (except riding them).  She even subscribed to a horse magazine.  Yes, my girl desperately wants a horse. 

Yesterday, she tried to make that happen. 

Poor little Millie...

I had no idea that American Girl Doll saddles would fit on 10 lb. dogs. 

Our sweet, sweet Millie didn't seem to mind one bit. (hehe..)

NOTE: No cockapoos were hurt in the making of this blog post. :)

Painting Project

While Rachel and Alli were in an art class this week, learning to paint like pros, Erin and I did some painting of our own.

I found this desk at a thrift shop and thought it need a little TLC. 

Over the next couple of days, we got to work.

After seeing it with white primer, I was tempted to paint it cream, because I love, love, love white furniture. 

 

But Erin's bedroom has red accents, so she made the command decision to go with red instead of white.  (Good choice!)

Isn't this the cutest desk!!  I can't wait for her to sit here and write stories. :) 

 
 
  
  

A Darling Apron Pattern

Jona has done it again!  My creative genius of a friend has come up with yet another nifty pattern.  I love being a pattern tester for her.  I'm constantly amazed at what she comes up with.  And it's no easy venture, let me tell you.

I, myself, attempted to throw together a super simple pillow pattern once.  The whole pillow took about 15 minutes to make, but trying to create a pattern to describe how I made it was a completely different story.  Needless to say, it didn't turn out well at all.  It would have taken hours and hours, and many pillow samples to get it right...nowhere near the 15 minutes it took to make the pillow. 

All that to say, I have a tremendous amount of respect (and awe) for those who can accurately transform an idea into a usable pattern that others can understand.  My left-brained self is amazed! 

What really blows my mind is her homemade bias tape!  In part of the pattern, she teaches you how to take 18" x 30" of fabric and make 7 yards of bias tape.  Wow!  How nice to have bias tape from whatever fabric you want!  No longer do we need to settle for the boring colors at the fabric store.

Here is my first attempt at the apron. 

The reverse side...

 

I see lots of these darling aprons in our future.  

Thanks, Jona, for coming up with great ideas and fun projects!   

Necessity...

It really is the mother of invention.  My need...a small pillow everywhere I go due to back problems.  I've also decided that I need one in each chair that I spend a considerable amount of time in at home.  Those being...my office chair, my kitchen table chair, and of course...my sewing chair.  I had originally made this pillow for my sewing chair, but it made its way to my office chair and decided it liked it there. 

Meanwhile, I've been cramming whatever I could find in the sewing room to use as a pillow while sewing.  Just so you know, a wad of fabric just isn't the same as a nice, supportive pillow. :)

That led me to come up with a real solution.  I had made this table skirt a couple of years ago and had some random scraps. 

 

I have never quilted, but I've seen Jona piece things together, so I thought I'd try something new. 

Here's what I started with...

After trying a couple of things, I came up with this look...

 

I folded it in half and sewed the corners in the bottom part of the pillow...

 

I worked the pillow into its new home and stitched up the bottom.  This is what it looked like when I finished. 

This was really fun!  Next step...quilting!  (Maybe...)

The Bags Keep Getting Cuter and Cuter

These fun little Zombie bags are just too cute!  Here's the latest one:

I made this one for our friend, Shelby.  I had made her mom a diaper bag out of these fabrics a while back and thought it would be fun to do a matching mother/daughter thing.  I love the way it turned out.  These fabrics are some of my favorite.

I almost wish my name was Shelby so I could keep it. :)
 

A Cute Little Zombie Bag

I like making bags.  I think you all know that by now.  Hey...straight lines, no zippers, no buttonholes...that's my kind of sewing.  E..A..S..Y! 

Here's my latest favorite bag.  It's a new free pattern from Happy Zombie.  What's really cool is that it only uses three fat quarters.  So, that means that I can finally do something with all those cute fat quarters that are stacking up in the craft room. 

Here are a couple that I got as a sample.  I think they are from one of Amy Butler's lines.  (The stripe was some extra fabric I had.)  They had just been sitting on my fabric shelf with no plans what-so-ever until I happened up this pattern.  I'm so excited that I can now enjoy them! 

 
They are such pretty, soft colors.

Alli wanted to take a few shots of the bag.  Being her typical creative self, she absconded with my camera (again) and the bag to see what she could come up with.  (The camera comes back with interesting stuff sometimes.  Last week, she took some pretty crazy pictures of a half eaten chocolate chip cookie.) :) 

Here are a few of her shots...

 

This one was funny...

Close-up...

Here, she told me to hold it like a little old lady...

Yikes...I just realized I was totally dressed in my slouchy mom attire, wearing my maternity cardigan from 14 years ago.  Flattering...no; comfy...yes!

Good job, Alli!  But next time, have one of your sisters hold the bag! :)

   

School Has Taken Over...

We started back to school early this year...the first week of August, to be exact.  We are already finishing up week 6!  That's hard to believe. 

Unfortunately, school takes over for the first couple of months, which means...not much sewing, no picture taking, and no elaborate meals.  I am desperately missing all three! 

I'm feeling withdrawal symptoms.  I must sew!  I must cook!  And I must photograph something!  Now!!

Here's the last fun thing I cooked.  This was way back at the end of July for Erin's dog-themed birthday party.  I'm telling ya...I'm due for cook-fest.

Sushi Lessons

Last week my sweet neighbor invited us over to make sushi.  I, being a sushi fanatic, jumped at the chance.  The girls were less than excited.  The thought of raw fish sent them into a tizzy and they asked if I could go by myself.  I reassured them that she would certainly have a California roll option and not to worry. 

(She had no idea I was bringing my camera.)

The girls would agree...it was even better than California rolls.  There was nothing uncooked to be found except for the veggies.  It was slightly different than your typical sushi.  Hers was the Korean version.  It's called kimbob, which is easy to remember because her name is Kim and her husband's name is Bob. 

The appetizer we made was with these nifty sweetened tofu pockets.  You put seasoned rice into these little things. 

 

Then turn them upside down and they are ready to go.  They were delicious, but a bit sweet for an appetizer.  I liked them more as a dessert. 

 

Here is a picture of all the goodies that went into the sushi.  Included is cucumber, carrots, thin slices of egg and tofu, asian pickled radish, along with spam...yes, spam.  I was a little surprised by this, but I've heard it's quite popular with some Asian cooks. 

We're ready to get started.  Kim and her daughter gave some instructions on how to spread the rice.  It's trickier than you might think.  (At least it was for us.)

Then, the girls were let loose.  They did great spreading the rice.

 

Then added their ingredients. 

 

And rolled 'em up.

 

Each girl had her own method of rolling. 

Some were more gentle than others.

 

That was the first type of roll.  The next one was the big hit.  It was about as far from traditional sushi as it gets...maybe that's why the girls loved these so much!  Hold on, you purists, you're in for a shock. 

This roll is made with Miracle Whip, American cheese, Korean BBQ beef, and some shredded lettuce.  I know, I know...it sounds so "out there", but I have to say...it was fantastic!!!  

 

I added some of this...yum!

My camera battery died right about here, so I ran home and got the charger and let it charge just a little more so I could get this shot.

 

As Alton says, it was definitely....Good Eats!!!

Gift Bags

My in-laws and niece are visiting.  After seeing all the bags we've made over the past several months, they expressed interest in having one too, so I custom made a couple of purses for them.  They each hand picked their fabrics.  (I think they did a great job!)  And then, I made the inside pockets the exact size of the belongings they wished to put in the them.  They turned out great!

Here's the one my mother-in-law designed. 

 

I love, love, love this Amy Butler fabric.  I bought it last summer to make a cute top, but never got around to it.  I'm glad it's getting some use!

We found this polka dot for the inside lining.  And I used a magnetic closure for the first time.  (Super easy to do!)

 

Chantelle chose more girlie fabrics...some of my favorite Heather Bailey Fresh Cut prints.

 

  

It was hard to say goodbye to that one!

But, they both love their bags and I loved making them...win, win!

Summer Can End Now...

The list was waayyy long...my list of summer projects, that is.  Since we did not take a vacation this summer and we finished school in early May, I've actually managed to get quite a lot of that list checked off.  But even if I didn't get anything done except this, it would have been a successful summer. 

I've been waiting for the right time to do this project for a year and a half.  It's not something that can be done during the school year.  I'm the teacher, so I actually need to be in the house mingling with the students.  Last summer was filled with trips here and there and several visitors, so no free time then.  But this summer, I was finally able to refinish the buffet in my dining room.  

I can't tell you the sense of relief and happiness I have when I walk by the dining room now.  I used to grumble and mumble and may even have growled at the room once or twice.  That's how much I disliked it. 

 

Ick! 

The dark wood, light wood, and white furniture clashed in a big way.

 

Now, it feels more cohesive.  I'm still debating about whether or not to remove the wallpaper.  I guess I'll live with for a few months and get a better feel for it.  Maybe I'll even hang something above the buffet so that the wallpaper isn't so overwhelming. 

 

Still, what a vast improvement!  No more snarling at the dining room.  Yeah!

If summer ended tomorrow, I'd be perfectly content.  I don't feel like anything has been left undone.  It's a good thing, because we start school in August.  :)