Tuesday, August 31, 2010

A wasted Tuesday

Or maybe it just feels that way because I have spent all day fighting with my computer, and I  know there are many of you who have known that fight before! I wish I could have had computer training in high school - but I was hatched at the wrong time! :)

I definitely hope that you all have had a great day and one that did not have computer problems in it! :)
It was a beautiful day and I did take my 30 minute walk this afternoon. I know it is nothing to brag about but I have been trying really hard to pull it off every evening  and we all know we have to start somewhere !

Our weather was chilly last night -down in the 50's .I reached for my blanket and pulled it over my sheet in the wee hours of the morning-but it did make for a nice sleep. I need to go fall in bed as it is now 1:30 in the AM and that is not good because I know I will need my strength to fight again!

Love to one and all! Linda the pooped sewing granny! :)

Monday, August 30, 2010

Hello, Hello My Dear Blog Family

I hope this new start to our week is finding you "Bright -eyed -and Bushy Tailed"!  A whole new chapter is facing us and it is up to us how we will hopefully get to use it.

I spent the day doing outside stuff and came in and started finishing stuff up on the "puter". Next I decided I would wrap a few gifts for Christmas - that means they will now go into hiding in my Christmas Tote stored out in the storage shed.

See, I have proof. This way they are stored in plastic and will not get knocked in the floor OR lost . I have misplaced two , so I am going to hunt out in the tote to make sure if I have already wrapped them . I sure hope so!. 
I talked to my teacher/friend today about the stabilization of knits. She said that we did not want to pull on knit until it is taunt !That is what you are suppose to do if you are working with cottons and that kind of fabrics. She did say to use heavy stabilizer and a good spray adhesive . I do not believe that I have been using enough spray - so another clue to help me on my search to make sure my embroidery machine and I can come to an agreement. It is getting to be like a full stage Mystery and I am pouncing on clues to see what is the Answer! :)

Our weather here today was lovely - in the 80's . I was enjoying myself immensely until one of my blog buddies reminded me that they are facing SPRING and that means I am facing FALL! How devasting ! My Summer is almost gone! Time for my beautiful flowers to disappear and leave me heart-broken. If only it did not have to be. If only I could fly off into the wild blue yonder like the birds do and spend the time enjoying somebody else's Summer.???? That reminds me that I need to work on getting some starts off of my flowers that will be small enough to bring them in for the Winter - time! They hate it as much as I do -but you just do what you gotta do! :)
Love to All!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Testing new knowledge?

Hello, hello my blog family

I hope each of you are well and have had a wonderful weekend. I could not post last night because I was too pooped to pop! :) We had got all the supplies together to take back to the sewing machine shop and took off. But once we arrived there the lady was working in a different store and they read the note she had left that said the machine was sewing correctly on the designs that were in the machine and that she thought it was a stabilization problem with me. They said I needed heavy stabilizer and that I needed to pull the fabric so hard that it would be taunt!

I remember when I was sewing nightshirts for my mother-in-law a few years back and that was the way I did her shirts, But it always left something that made me think of a burn mark all around where the hoop held the fabric? Plus,when working with knits I have become afraid I would pull it out of shape because these knits have so much stretch to them?I got lucky and they did not even charge me this time.

It took me until this morning to get my courage up to see if I could have any success at this "tugging" part.
I did add another piece of cut away stabilizer since the last I had bought was not the same quality of what I had before and I did spray everything heavier. It started off great -BUT- then it started breaking threads again.(Hitting head on table!) LOL  But , I could deal with that -BUT-then all of a sudden it started to pull the bobbin thread onto the top of the shirt!GGGGGG!

I think I held my breath for a minute and I backed up and tried a couple of things -Which did not work! By now it was beginning to almost tear a hole in the shirt and now that it was almost finished -I sure did not want to lose the fight. I decided to use a trick I had seen my oldest daughter - in-law do. She would put the same color of thread in the bobbin ! Yea- I stole her idea and it even worked. It still was pulling the bobbin thread onto the top , but you could not tell the difference. So, thanks to a dear daughter-in-law my project was saved. LOL _ O, It just hit me how funny that was BECAUSE the shirt will be for her for Christmas! :)

Shoot, it does not show up very good in this picture - so I will take a close up of the design.

Our weather here today was lovely , right now at 6:32pm it is 84 degrees. I am trying to figure out what to feed DH and myself?????  O shoot - I had forgotten that I have beans in the crockpot -so I just need to make the cornbread? O shoot again - I am Almost out of oil - I guess I will just do the best I can!

Thank you so very much for visiting with me -love to each one!:)

Friday, August 27, 2010

Another RUN day!


Don't you just love those days when you run all day long and you feel like a puppy dog chasing his tail?? NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTT , I Hate those days.

We had left early this morning to be at the mill nice and early  while it was still cool - since DH's truck does not have air conditioning and the heat makes me sick - BUT - I still LOVE the summer! :)

On the way home we started talking about the embroidery machine not working and taking it back. He told me to check his checking account and he had 28.00 left at the end of the month and I had 18.00 so we just parked the truck full of feed where it could not get rained on and we grabbed the machine and a couple of shirts that had messed up and off we went for the 2 1/2 hour drive.

This was where we ended up at -in North Carolina and I had my paper from the last visit to show them what had been done. There was a REALLY nice lady there and she looked at everything  and it got crowded so
we Left. (uuuuhhhhh - we did take a minute to look at some of their embroidery machines and they were 6000.00  and we both almost had a heart attack! LOL

When we arrived back home - she had called and said that she had run a test on it with one of the designs on the machine and it had worked perfect -would it be possible to bring the designs I had a problem with and the fabric and the stabilizers that I use so she could watch and maybe help figure out what is really going on????

I kinda dread that because I will be as  nervous as a :cat on a hot tin roof"! :) They are really nice and really busy. Good thing that my little Tracker is so good on gas. I HATE to make that journey, but I have to do it . Ever since that dumb wreck I just DESPISE to get in a vehicle. Thank goodness that I have a DH. :)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Why do I ALWAYS Have to be the one who buys a LEMON?

Yes, my feathers are all ruffled up! That Dog-Gone embroidery machine Hates me and it is getting to where there is no love lost for it either! :(

When I had taken it to the last place in N. C. and they thought they had it fixed???? Well, it still is breaking threads and that only Mildly upsets me because at least I could just rethread it again and again and again -until I could finish a design. NO FUN- but I could survive. Now it has gone back to a trick that I had forgot about -which I cannot live with - is when you are finishing your design it runs a outline stitch around the project to make it stand out and look more finished. It is like coloring the outline and it starts where it is suppose to but at the bottom of the design it lays it down Below the object! Like a kid that has not learned to stay in the lines!  GRRRRRRR! I don't know anybody who would want to go to all the trouble to make gifts and would want them looking like that??????????????  Yes, my horns are starting to show!

I believe you can see why I am so upset. The chick to the furtherest right is what they are suppose to look like -the middle one is where it started to go off track from the belly up to the beak and it wasn't so bad - But the chick on the left shows where it went even further off . I am not one little percent happy because this one is to be for my youngest granddaughter and I think she believes the best that I can do. Poo!

As for the remainder of the project I did better than I have all week long - no monster disasters and I am SO grateful. After I did my evening chores and fed us -I came back in to hem the sleeves and the bottom . I used the blind hem stitch because for some reason I have fallen in love with it. It totally amazes me how after you pin it in place and then Aim the sewing machine to the fabric and "hold" your breath that I can move right along without even seeing where I am going to some times?


Humm? Would have been a really nice project.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Meagan's Shirt


I had really good luck with my younger daughter-in-law because I found this design two days ago. The reason I chose it is because it says -,"Two's a couple -Three's a Party".  I felt that would tie in nicely with her being pregnant and the party of life she is yet to experience. :)


I was pleased not to have any disasters on this design! Yea! So, now it is time to remove the stabilizer.The weather is nice here today . After it rained all last night all the plants look so refreshed. :)

Of course I did have to declare WAR on the neckband! It was SOOOOOO hateful to me and I ended up ripping it out TWICE! I still ended up with a boo-boo , but I am hoping nobody but me will notice. (hope,hope, hope) I just cannot figure out what is wrong with me? I cannot seem to do anything right this last couple of weeks. If it is lessons then I don't want any more of them for a while- I don't like "icky" lessons. Let me just coast and enjoy myself for a while! :)

The reason it is wet is because I used a water soluble stabilizer on the top to see how that affects the looks of it. I just sprayed it with water to remove it.

Thank goodness it is finished . Now it is time for me to fix us supper and then finish up with my evening chores. I hope each of you have had a wonderful day with a precious new chapter in your life.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Discombobulated

Well, I believe that the Trolls that hide in my sewing room  tried to pull the wool over my eyes. I did fairly good this morning when I worked all morning cleaning the filters on my aquariums and then refilling the tanks back up where they belong. I was dirty and hot and tired by 2 pm , so I took a break and fixed us both some lunch, which consisted of homemade pot pie and rice.DH kinda grunted about the rice and said that he did not think that he liked rice anymore. I told him that he better learn to like it again because we had a nice big bag that our younger son had bought for us and that it would fill our tummies for the time being.



Then he asked me to come outdoors to help him run some water-lines down in a pipe so they would be protected. He is attempting to move our big outdoor water-stove and put a shelter to cover it for the Winter-time, and he is going to run a hot water line from the wood stove to see if it will help us to have hot water heated by the wood stove. So, he poked all the lines in a bigger pipe to protect them and I pushed the bigger pipe and he poked the lines in and we finally accomplished it. Then he went to covering the lines back up with dirt because a rain was coming our way.

We already had a warning on the computer and I could see the clouds moving in  all around us.

I came on in and did the dishes and finished putting the aquariums back in order - one more time. :)
Then I made the mistake of picking up that shirt I had started yesterday. I think "maybe" I was getting too confident about making these shirts and it was time that I was taken down a notch Or two. I went ahead and put the sleeves on and down the side seams-but then my luck ran out when it came to hemming the bottom shirt-tail and the sleeves. I pinned everything nice and neat and went to using my blind hem stitch around and some how or other the fabric twisted in knots as I went along - getting worse with every stitch-so I stopped and repined everything and would get going and I would run into the same problem. I had never seen anything like it???? Since I had never encountered this problem before - I was really stumped and twitter-pated! 


Well, eventually I managed to get it all sewed together . It even looks decent just hanging there with its "bug - off" design on it and it is a 3x size - but after the fight we have had today I almost expect to see it jump off of the hanger and twist itself into a roll . You know, like when someone ever took the towel and whirled it around so they could Pop something or somebody painfully! Just because it is hanging there -doesn't mean that I trust it????????

 It is just hard for me to understand -When I try as hard as I know how to do - and I am still haunted by disasters?????  I know - it is because I talk to myself and I must give me BAD advice!  WELLLLLL- that's the best answer that I can come up with.

Since it is midnight and I am still dirty and smelly I think I need to take a bath and fall in bed and tackle a different lesson tomorrow!  Night - Night  to some and Good Morning to others! :)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Bug Off Sunday

You know - some days it is just NOT meant for me to accomplish my goal- no matter how hard I try.It started out pretty good because I had the design I wanted and I had the shirt front cut out and hooped for the design . I EVEN managed to sew it out with only one little boo-boo and that was not my fault-it was the dumb machine . It had sewn the critter and when it went to outline it I went out of bounds with the outline mark. HUMM? But I was in a do -OR-die mode so I decided to forgive and forget.  That was until ****

Yep! In living color I sewed the band on and caught the body of the front shirt IN the stitchin around the neckband! GGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say I had a lot of ripping to do and not just the one time either-it ended up being 3 times and after the last attempt It finally hit me that the neckband was just TOO small and that was causing all the puckering. Now, I might be getting a little smarter , but I went and cut a new neckband and tossed that dummy one in the trash. Well, things are looking up for me and they should after I spent a half hour ripping all t he seams out of everything to have a clean start. BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

 And I almost missed it myself - I was down to my last ten stitches -But - all of a sudden I hear a POP!  Yep- made my day - broke my needle! GRRRRR!  Then I spent 10 minutes looking for the right needle and was all ready to put it in - ONLY- I could not find the right kit that came with the machine for such emergencies . I wasted 30 minutes checking out where I THOUGHT it should be -which of course it was not. Then I had a Brain Storm and remembered where it was . I  happily went to the cabinet where I keep the case that I carry the surger in. Yep- there is the kit - BUT- there is no little tool to take your needle out with. Yep, just gone.

Now I know this is the straw that broke my camel's back! I quilt - I give up! For the night . I gave it my best shot  , but it definitely was not good enough today. I will check and see IF I can borrow a tool from DH and hope my luck will turn around  for tomorrow.

Gosh, I just cannot believe that this month is Almost gone and that means that Christmas is only four months away. Seems like the harder I go - the behinder I get! :)

But it was a mind blowing beautiful day. There was a nice breeze and it was swaying  with the trees as they locked limbs together and former a musical waltz. The beauty was so awesome that it almost brought me to tears and that is just one more gift that I can put on my :count my blessings list. It overwhelms me as I think about how our Creator made all of this possible -not only the breeze and the trees and the sky -but even down to each little leaf attached so prefectly and dig deeper and about the photosynthesis that goes on inside each of thos little leaves . I let that train of thought work its way through my mind and I thought to myself that he can do all of these miracles - and I cannot even keep One little room clean and organized. Wonder if I can get HALF credit for being the one to mess up the room???? :)

Love to all!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

O NO ! Project that drives me crazy

And I am not but a short walk from that anyway. Bad Enough that the design HATED me-but also the project! The design has to be the second worst I have ever worked on in my short shirt history -probably about 5 years? It broke stitches about every 5 seconds , so I knew that was a bad sign. And then it even grabbed hold of the fabric and jerked it right down into the machine. That was BAD . Then it wrinkled the design and made it a night-mare to attempt to work on.After I finished the design I almost wanted to cry. I did not have any leftover grey knit that I could cut out a new front.So, I had to move on , with regrets that it was now "damaged goods".



I assembled the front and back pieces to sew them and low and behold - there was a HOLE right up near the top of the back panel! GRRRRRR! I thought I would outsmart it so I took the serger with the blade lowered and serged the hole. But this makes it look like it has a small dart- SOOOO I proceed to serger the other side and it looks even now????? BUT- after I realize that even though it looks even  - everything matches ----But I had serged it to where the stitch should be on the inside - now it is on the outside where you can see it and it is now sewn to the top shoulder. I will now have to rip the "dart" out and the top of the shoulder also.  Surely ! After all these boo-boos the worst is over????? Or is there more to come???



Well, let me tell you - Yes- there is more to come ! I went to do my zig zag around the neckband to make it all even when I attach it to the front and back and for some reason - now the sewing machine Hates me! I looked fine on the front - but on the back side it was a disaster Of big loopy stitches! :(  Sorry - it certainly did not make a decent picture)

I am beginning to think that this project is somehow Hexed. My next boo-boo was when I went to sew the seam up under the arm pit. The front piece was normal , but the back piece is a different story! GGGRR!
The back piece looked like a piece of selvage to me when I started and forgot about it-But- now that I am attempting to marry the two pieces - the bad side looks like someone painted a selvage of glue . It has dried hard and will not stretch out to be even with the other side, no matter how hard I tug it just refuses to Marry the other side! ????



I have no idea why this project had to give me such a fit. I thought it was just going to be a sweet project for a very sweet friend and now I am almost afraid to give it to her because it is a dud? :( So, I guess I'll just chalk this one up to experience and Try again?) I never have liked the hard lessons of life- I much prefer the happy - fun ones. But - "it is what it is"!  :)

It certainly did not turn out the way I hoped and I am disappointed in it, but that is the way life seems to go-no matter what lessons you are tackling. My silver lining is that I have a friend who will understand. She is so very talented and I  know that she has had the same experience. None of us are perfect and it gives us something to strive for.If she cannot get any use out of it - then I will tell her to consider it a "Cloth Card"! :)

Friday, August 20, 2010

Another week almost gone?

Where do they go to? I guess one second at a time as we scurry about from one thing to another, trying to accomplish our goals.I think my life took a fast track when I got married at 17. I had one more year of school to finish and I also got a job after school at a hospital cafeteria . From then on it was - always in a hurry to school and work and pay bills.

After I graduated I went to work for 4 local veterinarians. I told Mama that I had wanted to be a vet  - so I was going to work for them and get the first hand experience  first. I discovered one thing - I LOVED the work with the animals - BUT- I Hated the part of dealing with the public.

  After a very busy morning -my DH and one of our neighbors have gone fishing. Good for him and good for me. :) He needs some time out with a friend fishing. The fresh air will do him good and maybe he will bring back some good fish stories. LOL

As for me - I have my sewing to relax with. I have started on another man's shirt and on the pocket I have put the design.The guy this one is intended for is a real hoot - always full of himself . We are all lucky to have him in our family. Sometimes the good guys just get overlooked because they do not cause a ruckus all the time.

I am hot and tired and happy. The temperature is going down - 78degrees. I am tired because I took a little walk  and I am happy because I have another project finished.

I heard on the news just a while ago that there had been 7 toddlers left in the cars that died from the heat. Cooked to death -literally. They said the temperatures could rise to 130 degrees if the outside temperature is 91. That just breaks my heart.

                                                          BUT , I REALLY DID! LOL
                                                 Many happy stitches to each of you!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

A beautiful Thursday for us.


Hurray-hurray! I finally found a spot of time to finish that one shirt. So to prove it - I have laid the front and back together and will tackle the shoulders to get me on my way! :)

This one was a good little shirt. It behaved itself and had good manners to help me roll on by. Yea! Another Christmas present completed. :) I think it helped also that it poured down rain and we do not have "duck-blood"-so we stayed in where it is dry.  :)

I am happy to have this one completed. HO HO HO! :)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

You never know where a learning project will pop up


In our neck of the woods we are getting plenty of Rain! So much so -that we have flood warnings in effect. Thank goodness that we live up high ! I tried to place our house as close to where my grandparents house was that had burned down. So that should keep us kind of safe , except on the rare occasions that we do get flooded there is a creek that runs in front of our house and we drive through it coming and going. But - the last time we had a flood it came across the main highway where the pipe had gotten stopped up and it completely washed out our road. It was totally amazing to stand and look up -up-up Six feet in the air to the main road?? Thank goodness for our older son and his kind boss who loaned him the heavy equipment to rescue us. :)

SOOO on this nice rainy day I knew I would not have as much time as I had hoped for -for a project . But. last year my DH was using his buffer to clean the wax off of our car-when all of a sudden the fluffy pad just flew to pieces. He brought it in and I told him that I thought I could make him one. Well, he was not in a big hurry for it so I put it up in the sewing room until I could figure out what fabric I could use for it.

And remember that Sewing Guild that I got to attend last week with Lynne???? Well, that sheepskin like fabric was on one of the tables and it must have had my name on it because nobody else seemed to want it . :)
My next move was to make me a pattern of the pad and I guessed at the dimensions and this was the start .

 I was rather proud of myself for this amount of achievement! It was almost like I had a  brain -for a change. I believe that someone must have locked the door on that hateful fibromyalgia fog! Thank goodness for a reprieve!

See, it is starting to actually look like it might come together! I am so pleased!

Hummmmm? ? Today is my counseling day- maybe I was just inspired and the pressure lifted and I was actually able to kind of fit pieces together for once!

This was when we tested it on one of the pieces that you first put it on. It was nice to see that DH was enjoying the project because it pleases me to do something that any of us would appreciate and use.:)

Ahhhhhh - it is starting to actually look like something now! :)

It fits perfectly and while it may only be Just a tad prettier than the average commercial buffing pad - I am tickled! How about that? Doesn't it just make you smile inside when you pull off something? The ability to take a flat piece of fabric and transform it into an object that you can use is just such a wonderful pleasure. Well, maybe my angels were just watching over me today to help me complete a finished project with nothing tearing up along the way! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Tuesday to watch rain and tackle lessons?

Hello, Hello

Today was a very nice day - especially if you love rain. :) Because that is what it has done ALL day, but at least it was not a stormy rain-although I see my little weather monitor in the bottom corner just winking up a storm -so what I don't know might very well hurt me. :) It was in the 70's today and very pleasant. I had cleaned the floors today -wonder why I bothered with all the rain and mud . I guess I thought If I get rid of some of it might help?

When I went to make us something for supper I started out testing a apple pie that makes its own crust . When I pulled it out it looked good-but when I tasted it I would give it a failing grade ! So, I guess that will be one that I "chuck in the trash".

I also made a rice soup and it was funny because I always like it . It fills my tummy and that is its job. All day long DH complained that he was starving. After he ate a full breakfast -30 minutes later he was starving and then 30 minutes after he ate he was starving to death??? But when I fixed the soup and pie ? He was eating the soup and looked up and said -it didn't have much taste. I had to laugh at him because I told him maybe he would not over eat and would get full??? Well , that has been a whole two hours now and he has not hollered once that he was starving .

I am spoiling myself right now with some preacher cookies - you know the ones that have been around forever and you don't have to bake them. Yummy! :) DH does not like them - I cannot imagine why? They are chocolate and oats and peanut butter and he likes all of that.

Finally I made it to the sewing room and laid out the embroidery hoop  and prepared the machine for business. I even knew where the design was so I sandwiched the project all together and kinda held my breath to see what was going to transpire ???? The first color went nice. Then the second color was good - I was starting to take a breath! I thought I was going to love this design because it only had a few colors to change. It got down to the final dance and that was to outline the project . It was doing a good job on the back part of the design and as it moved down to the face - the silly think was like a wild horse -it took a direction that it wanted too and just ran completely out of the lines! I was so miffed at it. It was to be the face and front paws of a tiger and it is right in the front of the design! GRRRRRR! WHY DO MACHINES HATE ME? 

Can you see all that white showing under the legs and face? It is suppose to be up on the orange!Well Pooh!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Too much excitement


This was where my day went to. One of my precious granddaughters went into labor yesterday and was at the hospital all night and they finally had to take the baby because his heart rate dropped from the stress of the contractions . Baby was ready to make his appearance, but Mother's young body couldn't co-operate, plus she was already exhausted.

She had to be the one of the bravest Mom's to be I had ever had the privilege of sharing this experience with. I was so glad she was in the hospital when she got into trouble because they are professionals and know what to do. I did not get a picture of the new arrival due to all the families on both sides. They were all busy snapping pictures till I thought the little arrival might go blind. :) He was 7pounds and 14 ounces and his name is Zane. He had a head-full of black hair and when he cried so softly he sounded like a little kitten.I bet it won't be long before he will go on the Prowl. LOL  I am just so glad that Mother and Baby are both doing well. Mom of the Mom broke down and cried when she saw there was trouble but when all was ok - she was one of the first to be so joyful.

I made it home and started searching for a design on the Christmas shirt for the Mom - hoping I could find one and tell her that it was made with love for her on the day of Zane's birth. That will make three birthdays in August for this family. It is a wonder to be able to watch this new generation start the cycle of life all over again. :)

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Another day is come and gone


I do wish the days could slow down just a little bit!I noticed today as I worked outdoors all day that I could not even remember if it was Friday or Saturday???????

When I finally went in I was so tired and dirty. I could barely move to take a shower. At least that part felt so good. About two months ago I purchased a Bar of Shampoo!Yep- you heard me right- A BAR of Shampoo and it has been wonderful for my hair. I had to go to a health food store and I had been having trouble with my hair looking all flyaway and dead looking. So, when I saw this little bar of shampoo at the store it was just strange enough to capture my imagination. But , it  has been wonderful for my hair -really helping to bring it back to life and get rid of all those dead fly away ends and when I dry it and go to brush it there are almost no tangles. I have always had long hair and believe me - it is a treat just to be able to brush or comb your hair without a fight.My little bar is getting so small that it is hard to hang onto -so I will have to plan ahead for next month to get another bar. I guess  I do have something to do with a Bar! LOL

I ran out of time and energy tonight to tackle a sewing project - SO- I decided to still make do with something ???? Which turned out to be wrapping more presents and storing them outdoors in totes . I am making progress - just one gift at a time! :)

Friday, August 13, 2010

New Treasures


Just check this out- I have New and special treasures and I owe them both to Lynne! She invited me to go with her to the local Sewing Guild Meeting  and WOW - it was awesome . It was held in a Big church that was so lovely and it was SO hot that I thought I would pass out just walking to and fro in the parking lot.

I think that they said that they had gained two new members last month to make a total of 102, but with my prize winning brain I might be off a tad.They were having a special dinner to raise money for some good cause -or course I have forgotten. But, the Dinner was way beyond Delicious in my opinion. Since I am the vegetarian and it was a bar-b-q , but I fell in love with the side dishes! There was potato salad and apple salad and some kind of salad that had a mixture of things I did not know and it had ramein noodles in it and it was soo good and soo different from anything I have ever had. Of course I topped it all off with some kind of lime jello and a Brownie. One of my weaknesses is Brownies  and that one really topped the list in my opinion.

They had set up tables at one end of this large room and people put their pattersn and books and fabrics on them to accept donations  and they were so wonderful . I wanted them all, but didn't have the green bills to do  right by them.

Another smaller table they had piles of fabric - some already turned into baby blankets and some you could check out to turn into baby blankets for the hospitals.  They had already made 300 and some and were shooting for 500.

Then they had a Ugly Fabric Contest . Last month people had brought their ugly fabrics and they had a drawing and that was how they all got these fabrics to turn into a usable project. You would vote on them and then they had three winners and the winners got gift certificates for a JoAnn's Fabric Stores. I think they were 15.00, 25.00 and 35.00,.It was absolutely amazing at all the talent in that group. The first lady had received a piece of turquoise -striped with white and she agreed that she hated the fabric so she turned it into a reversible vest . She used that piece for the lining and also the back yoke of the vest and it was really pretty. One young lady turned hers into a very nice tie. One gal took the one she received into a gorgeous bag. She cut the fabric into strips and added strips in between them that she had at home -but it was amazing all the different techniques she used on the alternate fabrics to make them tie in together with her ugly fabric. The pattern on the Ugly fabric was kinda like a fern so she embroidered ferns on the plain strips. She used several more different techniques which of course I cannot remember , but she put a Lot of work into the bag and it was so lovely. One you could really be proud of . I think she used all of the different techniques just to enjoy the process of being creative.Another lady made a very fancy vest also and she got third place. I cannot remember what was second place -but first place turned out to be the cutest chicken . I could easily see how that fabric would have been called Ugly Fabric but she said this chicken was called , The Lap Chicken and it was precious. After making a whole flock of The Flying Chickens that you use to hole scissors and threads - I really loved the chicken. Lynne had entered too and turned her piece of Ugly Fabric into a nurses scrub hat and a beautiful apron and a pot holder.

Then three of the gals had gone to a conference in Atlanta , Georgia for three days and they told about their experiences.One of them brought projects for us to see. She had made bras and panties and told a little about the class and I Loved the Samples because I have been pondering something like that . The fabrics were so soft and dreamy.

Then they had a Show and Tell where people brought what they had been sewing on in the past month! O Yea - I loved that too.Three of them had made a very large Quilted Star that was made of little tiny blocks and it looked like it was exploding . They were beautiful. One gal brought a precious Teddy Bear and he had the most gorgeous Blue eyes and she had made him almost 30 years ago and he was jointed and all of his joints moved.

One beautiful lady who was a senior citizen and she brought a whole bag full and they said she did that each month. But this time it was one of the Christmas tree skirts , and some table runners that would be for Halloween with the pumpkins and kitties and they were all quilted so pretty. She had also crocheted two beautiful baby blankets.Another brought two dresses she had made for herself . One was a beautiful blue summer dress and she had lined it and the other one was one that she made to wear with her husband for their anniversary celebration .It was truly amazing to see all of these beautiful projects come to life and I was so pleased with my treasures.

I would not have had this wonderful adventure if not for Lynne and her generosity and kindness. So, that is just another example of what I mean when I say Friends are one of our most beautiful gifts in life.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Second day on son's shirt

Isn't it amazing how many disturbances can come between you and your intended project! So back again !

So, I guess I will take off where I left off yesterday. Now I am down to putting the sleeves on the shirt.

At least one of my inspectors is involved in her own project. She worked hard to get her bone in here and she has almost demolished it. She did need it to be inside because it is back to 95 degrees outside.

Funny how they look so different after you get all the pieces of the puzzle together. I was starting to worry that they might be too small and I had used the same pattern that I always use which is a Burda and I have really liked it ever since I first used it.I think I might have worried because I noticed , After I had finished it that this jersey knit does not stretch as much as the double knits I have been working with?? I will just have to wait until Christmas to find out for sure. :)

This is a close-up of the younger son's motorcycle that is on his pocket. I hope he likes it and I hope it fits?
Well, I better go fix DH some kind of lunch. Greeting to everyone! Have a wonderful day.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Youngest son a tee shirt for Christmas

What a lovely start on the day! It is Very Warm , but the clouds overtake us and that helps make it pleasant.I did all the chores and we ate lunch for breakfast.:) I fixed homemade veggie pot pies and baked beans and we stuffed our faces!:)

I felt really bad this morning - so tired I could barely drag around so I headed into the sewing room.

I started out with the challenge of that dumb pocket. Things  look so strange outside  my little tiny window. Everything is sooo cloudy and dark. But I can see the apples on my little "jungle" apple tree . I call it that because it has taken over part of the porch and I can see both kind of apples on it-because it was suppose to be a crabapple  grated onto a regular apple . But, I let it grow wild and now I have both kinds . Next month I will put the regular ones in the crockpot and cook them and freeze them to make apple pies in the winter and the crabapples will become crabapple jelly and amaze me with the beautiful red color it turns????:)

Well, it certainly did not take me long to get into trouble! I was attempting to zigzag the sides together on the neckband and somehow it froze up the machine!  A VERY scary sound to make as it screams to me that something is WRONG. I wondered if maybe it is sitting too close to that embroidery machine and taking up that ones "BAD" habits?????? :)

 Well now - here is what is wrong - my supervisor is sound asleep on the job! :)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Oldest Son Tee

Hello, Hello!
  
It is such a beautiful Tues. and I have been a busy little bee(maybe not too Little - lol ) this morning. I got up and went out and did all the chores and made sure that all of my critter babies have plenty of water for this is going to be another hot and thirsty day.

Then while DH was frying us some green tomatoes I changed the sheet on one bed and did two laundries  and ran the vacuum to chase down all my furbabies run away fur!:) We ate and it was so good -I believe it is extra good because the green tomatoes came out of our little garden and the eggs from my"feather babies" -Cluck - cluck! :)



DH had been working on his truck and he thinks that he has it ready to be inspected. He offered me to ride with him, but I begged not to! That is how I managed to be in the sewing room and how wonderful is that! I am working today on my oldest son a tee shirt for Christmas. I know he will LOVE the light grey colore -but since he still smokes he always wants a pocket on the front . I Always have a problem figuring out how to position that thing. First I fight with where to place it and then after that I take a look and then I realize that I will probably get it crooked up and down wise??? As I was studying the old store-bought one I kind of chuckle to realize that I am not the only one to have a problem with that because it is as crooked as crooked can be! :)

OOPS? DH has returned and his truck passed inspection. That is wonderful -one less thing to have to worry about for a year! Yea! Well, he is hungry -so I better go round up something ?? I think it is going to be rice and a turnip and Brussels sprouts recipe. The rice I can cook in the rice cooker that a friend gave me and I really do enjoy it. The turnips and Brussels sprouts you precook for about 5 to 15 minutes (depending on how soft you want them.) Then you put a couple of tablespoons of butter and sauté a half cup of walnuts -then add your veggies and 2 tablespoons of honey.  It was good , so now my evening is passing away .

So I hassle back into the sewing room and finish the tee shirt. Now that it is sewed together it looks kinda small, but I have used this pattern many times so I  hope I have not goofed it up?


Still, so much I hope to accomplish this afternoon. But this is one less ! I hope he will like it , as it is soooo lightweight and should be good for a hot summer day. :)

Remember when I said , the only difference between the men and the boys- is just the price of their toys!:)
Hope you all are having a perfect day! :)