Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Peace, Hope and Love

Last night I finished "Peace"
the 3rd installment from Little House Needlework's
"Little Sheep Virtue" series.
There will be 12 in all.
Not quite sure what I'll do with them all just yet.
They finish out at 4" square.
I'm still thinking a table runner of some sort.

The chart called for teal floss and what looks like
water with 2 little fishies under the little lamb
but I wasn't feelin' it,
so I added a extra little white flower instead
and kept the green grass going all the way across.
And of course I added extra red :)
I like the way it turned out.
Now I'm waiting for the mailman 
to bring the next chart :)

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Happy Tuesday :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!
Yesterday I spent a bit of time at the machine
and made these little corduroy purses 
for my little ladybugs. Evie and Sofie :)
I used NewLook 6016.
I bought the pattern for the jumper
and leggings but the little purse was a bonus.
I think next time I'll just make up a pattern of my own,
because I'd like the purses to close
and these are just open on top.
Cuteness, none-the-less :)

I also finally got around to making the 3 grocery bags
for my dear Sewista buddies
We do swaps a few times a year between the 4 of us
and this time is was grocery bags.
We used my favorite grocery bag pattern
by Michelle patterns and you can find it here.
It's quick and easy and in my opinion
it's the best one out there.
(and I've made a bunch of other ones
 and didn't like any of them)
I use mine all the time and get so many complements!

And last but not least,
I received my fabric order yesterday.
It's called Happy Together by Riley Blake
and I'm using it in an upcoming project.
Aren't those tiny houses and hexies just to stinkin' cute???


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Friendship :)

Last night I finished stitching
Lizzie Kate's "Friendship Begins".
I stitched it on 28ct Carnation Pink Jubilee
with 1 thread over 1.
I changed all the colors
because the recipient loves pinks :)
I wanted to make my dear friend a needle book
and this is how it turned out.

I used pink and white wool felt inside
to hold the needles
and a red heart button to close it.
For the borders, tea pot, cups and tablecloth
I used rayon floss that my Mom gave me
from Germany.
The floss bundles say Elga Stickseide
but I can't find color names on the packaging.
I've never worked with rayon before
but it's very pretty and I love the sheen it gives.


Friday, April 12, 2013

Men, Men, Men, Men :)

I don't often sew for men.
From time to time I'll sew some pajama pants
or a shirt or two.
Last year for Father's Day I made mug rugs for my guys.
The year before it was cup cozies.
So I thought why not make a few mug organizers
geared more towards men for the shop?
It's a fun little gift and you can combine it
with an awesome pen
or fill it with their favorite snacks.
I think I'll make one for my hubby
as a safe place to keep his reading glasses.
(Not that he's getting old and needs glasses to read or anything :)




I liked the idea of the wine corks
paired with quilter's linen. 
And I don't know about your man,
but my hubby has a watch addiction :)

Then of course there are the Trekkies :)

And last but not least,
the handy men....God bless 'em :)


I also wanted to share something AWESOME with you all.
Maybe it's just me
but from time to time
I knock my bobbin box onto the ground 
and my bobbins go flying all over the room.
And of course they unravel
as they are flying everywhere.
Drives me nuts!!!
Anyhoo...
I came across this awesome bobbin box by Dritz
when I was at Joann's the other day.
It holds 28 bobbins and sells for $7.49.
But as I always say: I never pay full price!
I whipped out my 50% off coupon 
and scored this beauty for $3.75!
The foam holds the bobbins in place.
Can you do this with your bobbin box?
It just makes me sooooo happy :)
So I'm off to buy another one
because as we all know,
28 bobbins is just simply not enough :)
Oh...I almost forgot to mention
that the lid snaps shut so even if I knock it down
those babies aren't goin' anywhere!!!


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

April Showers Blog Hop!

Welcome to day 3 of the April Showers Blog Hop!

I'd like to thank Madam Samm of Sew we Quilt for all  she does
and our cheerleader Erin of Sew at Home Mummy!


We were challenged to make a mug rug that showcases
something that inspires us in April.
For me it was this adorable fabric I found
 that has these darling egg cups on it.
Eggs make me think of Spring and new beginnings.
It also reminds me of  breakfasts
of soft boiled eggs sitting in the most adorable egg cups.
Being from Holland,
egg cups are part of everyday life.
I've not noticed it as much here in America.
At least not with any of my friends growing up.
But we always had them in our house.
We had several different sets with matching spoons.
I have a cute set of 4 that I found on ebay 
with silly faces from Germany
that I just had to buy for my 4 grandsons :)
Each one is a different color
and each one has a different silly face.
I guess I'd better get some girly ones
now that the 2 little princesses have arrived.
My mother has the most beautiful
wooden egg cups with delicately carved 
and hand painted flowers that rise up
and hover over the egg.

For this mug rug
I fussy cut a small portion of the fabric
that had my favorite egg cups
and added co-ordinating fabrics
for the top of the mug rug.
I back-stitched the outlines
and drew some flowers and vines
for embroidering around the edges.


That little chicken and lamb just get me every time!
You can click on the photo to see more stitching details.


This little chickie didn't make it to the front
because there wasn't enough room
so I added her to the backside :)


Now I have a fun little mug rug to bring a smile to my face
when I enjoy an egg for breakfast !

Don't forget to check out all the other amazing crafters:

Hayley @ Mrs. Pickles
Karen @ Sew Much 2 Luv
Mélanie @ Les passions de Cliodana
Cindy @ Quilt Doodle Doodles
Jamie @ Busy Bee Quilts
Judy @ That Other Blog
Regena @ The Distracted Domestic
Amy @ Domesticity and other Ponderous Things
Denise @ My Whittle Adventures
Heather @ a Reformed Heath'n
Marica @ ~Englating~

Friday, April 5, 2013

Beautiful Springtime!

Today I tagged along with my Daughter
and Daughter in law as they took all 6 grandchildren
on a homeschool fieldtrip to the Flower Fields
in Carlsbad, CA.
I had to get up before the crack of dawn
for our 2 hour drive to Carlsbad.
But as you can see,
it was well worth it.

There were birds of all kinds
and even CHICKENS!!!
I'll admit it,
I have chicken envy.
Maybe one day I'll have a chicken or two.......


I'm in awe of God's handiwork!


The children learned about different kinds of flowers
and where they came from
and really enjoyed smelling the roses.
My Mom came along for the adventure as well :)


My 3 oldest grandsons,
Elijah, Caleb and David.

Little Miss Evie wanted to smell every single bloom :)


I love it when the little girls hold hands.
I can only image the fun they will have growing up
just 7 weeks apart in age :)

Miss Evie and Miss Sofie love love love their Oma :)

How cute is this?
Elijah, the oldest,
looking after his cousin Evie, the youngest.
Makes my Nana heart happy :)

Now it's "man time".
Just 4 cousins...hangin' out :)
Elijah, Caleb, David and Gabriel.

What a blessed day!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Finishes and A New Begining :)

Hard to believe that it's already April.
Does time go by faster the older you get?
It sure seems that way to me.
Anywho.....
thought I'd share a few finishes with you.
The first one is a LK Flip-it #F24 May.
I changed out the colors to make it a bit more vibrant.
Don't you just love that little snail charm?
Then I finished #2 in the Little House Needleworks
"Sheep Virtues" series.
I can't wait for #3 to arrive!
I just HAD to add red.
After all....it is my signature color :)

And now I'm on to a new little LK chart.
So what are YOU working on??????