Swan

It has been a difficult year. A sadness has pervaded my life and I have worked diligently to combat it in the face of great adversity. Despite it, many gifts have been discovered, and almost daily something special happens. Today, this big fellow landed on the lake in the back yard. It is almost inexplicable how special it was to watch this lone swan on a cold December morning as he glided through the shallows. He watched me, I watched him and all was well for a little while.

Woody in the Backyard

We have now had every type of woodpecker in the back yard. This is the pilieated woodpecker. I keep a "dictionary" of Eilene on the refrigerator. Eilene used to call them "hoopuckers". I love original words!

Receiving Blankies for Twins

Here are two sided receiving blankies for twin boy and girl. Fleece on one side and flannel on the other. I used a Martha Pullen applique pattern for the corner of each.

Sugar Biscuit Quilt

I went crazy for a neighbor who is having twin boy and girl very soon. Here is the girl quilt based on the sugar biscuit pattern. I should have used the flash!

Rapunzel Rapunzel

Eilene was "Tangled" for Halloween. She loved the froggie tat she got at the Halloween parade at her pre-school. I have made all of her costumes and this year I let her select the fabric. This was by far the most expensive costume I have made, but what the heck. When I'm dead and gone, she'll know it was a labor of love from her elaborate costume collection.

What Kind of Hawk?

Here is a hawk that has been frequenting our backyard strafing the birdfeeders. I have no idea what this fellow is. We have a cooper's hawk that does it occasionally, but this one does not appear in my bird books and is not a cooper's or sharp shinned hawk. The two are distinquishable by the shapes of their tails, but this one is bigger. We also have redtails in the area, but this one doesn't appear to be a red tail either.

THE Mom Project

Mother's Birthday was in August. Not that it matters, we seem to throw random birthday parties in our family, but I tried to stick to the date for this one since it was her 65th. I based this project on a DIY Bride blog project in which a photo was decoupaged to a tile and displayed on a plate stand. It was beautiful! However, when you have as many children and grandchildren as my mother, you have to downsize the tiles and change plans a bit. The challenge for me was rounding up baby photos of everyone between the ages of 3 months and 3 years going back 45 years, scanning them, Photoshopping out all the errors, grayscaling, cropping, resizing them to fit the tiles and then doing the decoupage. In the end, I think it came out pretty nice. I used silicone tile glue to put navy felt on the back of each tile. I'm the really gorgeous baby up in the corner and my kid is the baby you can barely see up on top! I must have hit the mark. All of my siblings have been calling asking for their own tile set. Now at least I know what to do for Christmas gifts this year. Think anyone will let me off the hook for chocolates? NOT A CHANCE!

What are you thinking?

Sometimes I wonder what is going on in that little head! I get looks like this and I have to smile within - there is some unknown food substance around the mouth, hair has been combed with egg beaters and I am fixed with a look such as this! What does it all mean?

Apron Mania

My friend Sheila has been coming over to sew. Here is an apron we finished last night. The pattern is Venetian Vacation from "The Perfect Apron" by Rob Merrett. She had made the Sweetie Pie apron for her grand daughter from the same book, and decided to make this one for her daughter in law. Sheila is an artist in heart and soul. I love the fabrics she selected. Am I a good coach or what!

Booties for the Twins

Ducks and Sailboats are a good theme if you are having twin boys. Here are the sailboat booties. I'm still sewing the lining into the duck booties to match the pacifier clip.

Paci Clips

I made these for a friend who is having twins this month. With one baby a dropped pacifier is no big deal. With two playing pick up will be a pain.

Princesses & Frogs

Here is a quilt I made for Addison Elaine Kidd. I figure all new babies need a gift made from the heart, so I made her a quilt. I love this theme. Princesses just might have to love a few frogs in their lifetimes, they might as well be cute!

Summer Harvest Britches

One of the great pleasures of motherhood for me has been making all the little getups for my daughter's activities. Here is E two summers ago in the peach orchard. She is wearing the girl's Comfyalls from Sewbaby in embroidered denim and cotton size 2T. I loved the daisy motif!

The little ruffle around the waist was a great first experience with the gathering foot on the sewing machine instead of hand ruffling with two basted rows. I highly recommend the technique if you haven't tried it.

Crayon Bag

I dug up this photo of E with her beloved Crayon bag which I made a while back. The pattern is from Clothesline Quilts and I think they actually sell the coloring bags too! I enjoyed making it sooo much, I made another one for one of Eilene's little friends with chalkboard fabric from Nancy's Notions on the non-crayon holder side and monogrammed the very top of the bag with her name. You only need a little rectangle of the chalkboard fabric, so even if you run out of paper, or fill up your coloring book, all you need is a piece of chalk and your bag and you're good!

I have a in the hoop crayon roll that is for older children. Fits in your backpack nicely. My thoughts always turn to these projects when school supplies go on sale.

Licensed Teacher - Martha Rocks!

I did something a lot different this month. I went to Huntsville, AL and became a Martha Pullen Licensed Teacher. Martha Pullen is an amazing woman, whom I will forever admire. She has surrounded herself with some of the most talented and wonderful women I have ever met. These are the in-the-hoop booties I made, and can now teach. There are matching bonnet, bib, pacifier clip and paci-keeper. There is a boy's set too with embroidered sailboats. Just precious!

Jungle Babies

Here is a quilt I started a while back for someone who had her baby. I hope to finish it and give the gift!

Cargo Pants

Eilene is between a 3T and a 4T. I end up altering her pants or sewing them myself. I made these from a cute Simplicity pattern, but they were a bit boyish, so we decided to embroider the pocket to "girl" them up. Eilene picked the butterfly herself.

Easter Bunny is Coming

Eilene made her first stacked sugar cookie. She promptly ate the Easter Bunny. Not bad for a 4-year old.

The Penalty Flag Hits the Field!

A friend of ours, Toby asked me if I could make penalty flags. I did not know until I researched them that they are exactly 14 inches square. I made 4 of them. I think Toby will be pleased to throw these.

In the Hoop Napkin Rings

My friend Laura's daughter Emily got married Saturday. Here is her table linen with a monogrammed in the hoop napkin ring I finished today.

First Birthday Pillowcase Outfit for Annabelle

Here is Annabelle's first birthday pillowcase outfit. It was a pool party, so I felt the water theme embroidery was appropriate. I dispensed with the dress idea and went with a ruffled cargo pant and top.

Pillowcase Dress

Eilene picked her own fabric for her first pillowcase dress. This was the prototype for a pillowcase dress for my grand niece Annabelle. My sister asked me to make a pillowcase dress for Annabelle's first birthday. I had to add the monkey applique for my little monkey.

My first attempt at redwork

Here is Eilene in her Christmas redwork. I figure if you are born on Christmas, it is appropriate to wear redwork.

If Friends Were Flowers...

My friend Sheila had a birthday. She is so dear to me, and she has been redecorating her house. I love the yellows, green, purple and fuschia, and her white couch! So I got out the silk ribbons and made her something special. Here it is. I am sooooo glad others took the time to teach me how to sew, and that I am constantly filled with inspiration from people like Sheila for beautiful ideas!