R & R in Vermont

We were lucky to spend Christmas through New Year's at our good friends' lovely home in Vermont. Our friends traveled to Canada for Christmas and generously offered to let us enjoy their home while they were gone. Despite schlepping our entire Christmas up and back, we had a great time! Sledding, baking, crafting, sewing, movie-watching, etc. made for a truly relaxing break. Oh, and here are my cuties with the stockings I made a few years ago. Did I ever mention that I love monograms?!!

Halloween Part 3: Tinkerbell's Debut

True to character, little Tinkerbell appeared on the scene with a bit of a pout on her face. Snow White tried to cheer her up and Superman attempted to save the day--to no avail. Luckily storytelling, a magic show and popcorn and cookies were on the horizon to turn that frown around. The light green skirt is from a failed attempt at a bridesmaid skirt for my brother's wedding. The dark green fabric is from the Boston Ballet's awesome costume shop stash sale a few years ago. Oh, and too bad you can only see a peek of the wings--they are my favorite part of the costume. I'll have to take a close up of them sometime. Sparkly pipe cleaners were used to give the wings flight!

Halloween Part 1

Sometimes I feel like the worst mother ever. Like when I offer to make my kids Halloween costumes and then don't even get them made in time for Halloween. This has happened more than one year--ugh! The one costume that got done in time for the ward trunk-or-treat was the gypsy. The red wig threw everyone for a loop. The other three costumes may look familiar as they have been worn anywhere from one to five Halloweens before. I offered to do facepainting during the party and my first customer was this cute little cowboy. I think that little mustache totally made the oh, so last minute costume. Stay tuned for Halloween Part 2, where I just might have completed one more costume! Luckily the Halloween events around here take place over a few weeks, so if the costumes don't get done for one event, there's always the next one.

Drumroll, please. . .

Ladies and Gentlemen,

before your eyes is the first real quilt I've ever sewn. Yes, I've bound the edges of fabric before, but never pieced and machine quilted before. It was so much fun! I relied heavily on Denyse Schmidt Quilts book for tips on binding, machine quilting, etc. The back of the quilt was totally inspired by Denyse's use of off-center and slightly wonky lines. My favorite part of the whole process was definitely the binding. I love having a reason to just sit on the couch! Thank goodness the quilt was very small--a gift for our newest neighbor, Baby Benjamin.

Rockin' Birthday

Once again, to prove that I do stitch in addition to running around taking everyone everywhere, here is a fun birthday present I made.  The Twin's little friend loves High School Musical and Camp Rock, so they thought it would be fun to make her a guitar pillow for her bed.  I just sketched out the design for my pattern and used scraps already in my stash.  As you can see it was quite a hit!

Use it Up, Wear it Out and Make it into Something Else!

A few years ago my favorite charcoal gray winter coat finally wore out.  The ends of the sleeves were threadbare, the buttons (several times re-sewn) had taken big chunks of wool with them when they popped off for the last time and the collar began to look lumpy instead of crisp and neat.  I begrudgingly put it in the Salvation Army pile, but then realized that NOBODY would want it!  Even Salvation Army would throw this pitiful pile of wool away!  

In a stroke of genius I realized that not every part of the coat was worn out.  The back of the coat was practically new as were the tops of the sleeves.  I felt a bit nostalgic for the Great Depression when I began to cut up my beautiful-only-to-me coat to make something else useful.  All the while the famous mantra, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" ran through my mind.  And what did I make?  A tote bag, of course.   And an over-the-shoulder bag, of course.  I didn't realize these are the only things I've been making lately until I started this blog!!!  I can sew other things, believe me!  

I love the grey pinstripe lining in the totebag--it seriously makes me so happy every time I peek in my bag!  I also cut up a pair of my daughter's favorite, yet very worn out (but not in all places!) pepto-bismol pink velvet jeans to be the lining of the shoulder bag.  She was a little surprised to see her jeans reincarnated as a bag--including the pockets!  Do you have a favorite shirt, pair of jeans, coat, etc. lurking in your closet, just waiting at a chance for a new life as a tote bag, stuffed animal, applique, etc?  You should give re-purposing a try!

Reuse, Recycle & Renew

A few years ago my friend was throwing out a pile of upholstery fabric samples and asked if I would like any of them.  Of course, I had to take a look!  Many of these fabrics were obviously from the 70s and 80s and oh so cool.  One of my favorites was this butter yellow/chartreuse/cornflower blue floral bit 'o fabric.  Also in her give away stash was this wonderful pompom trim reminiscent of my 1970s childhood bedroom.

My scavenged finds were all very lonely in my stash until I found the perfect "re-use"--a tote bag for my younger sister. She's the type who shopped at Savers and loved vintage style before it was cool (at least among the mainstream!) and so I thought she would love this print made as a tote bag for all her knitting supplies. I lined it with leftover fabric from another project and included inside pockets for all her supplies.  It all turned out so cute I was seriously tempted to keep it for myself!  

On a side note, I do love the little sister on the side of the photo peeking at what all the fuss is about.  She is definitely my most curious child and no secret, bit of news or detail gets by her!