I found this drawing on the family room floor.  It's Jane's work.  She is designing a whole line of shirts.  I love her color combination and the composition on this one.  And the message is spot on.

My girl rocks.

The zipper tutorial is finished.  Hooray!

It took me FOREVER to decide on what kind of pillow to make....I thought about patchwork and actually made most of a log cabin piece before abandoning it.  I thought about embroidery also, but settled on good old applique.

Let me know if you follow the tutorial and have any problems.  I have read it over once, but I am always afraid I might have missed some crucial step.  Happy Sewing!

There was no way I could make just one.  This time I got all crazy and made my own bias tape.

I am in love with the brown and white gingham on the bias.  Crazy in love.

This time, I remember to take a photo of the back, too.

In case you were wondering, there will be more.  I can't stop.  And I don't want to either.

I feel like August just came and went.  That was fast.

Last month I received two lovely packages.

Autum sent me a sweet little bundle of all things green!  She wrote that she saw this charm on etsy and thought of me.  Is that not the nicest thing?

She also sent me some lovely Amy Butler scraps and lots of pretty ribbons.  I love it all!  Thanks Autum!

Heidi sent me a box of goodies, too.  She put together a great pile of scraps and made me the sweetest wristlet.  Darling!

And inside the pouch?  Lots of vintage notions....ric rack, trims and buttons!  Oh my!  Thanks Heidi!  You were so sweet to share your thrifting loot with me.  My end of the swap will be on its way this week.

You can see what I received at the craft swap over on flickr.  I got some great stuff!  I am lucky to be part of such a talented group!

And up this week, the zipper tutorial.  Yes, procrastination rears its ugly head again.  I have it almost finished, it just needs fine tuning.  Wednesday is looking like the day!

Happy Labor Day!

When school started, I was all set to start knitting my knee socks.  Wouldn't you know I couldn't find my size 1 double points?  Hmmm....Then it hit me.  I still hadn't finished Jane's socks.  For a split second, I thought about buying a second set, but then thought better and started knitting her socks again.

To be fair, the first sock was about two-thirds finished.  Now I realize it was a good thing I didn't finish them back in the spring.  It's no secret that my two little girls are very close to the same size.  Jane, who is two years older, wears one size bigger than Kate in everything, including shoes.  She must have had a big growth spurt this summer because the foot portion of her sock ended up being about two inches longer than Kate's.  And Kate's socks....kind of small now.  Lesson learned.  No kid sock knitting in the spring.

I was sweating it a bit, but thankfully there was just enough yarn to knit them both.  When I cast off, I had four and half yards of yarn left.  Phew - that was close.  I used this pattern - easy to follow and very simple.  The yarn is Claudia's Hand Painted, fingerling weight, Red Wagon colorway (as best I can tell from the website - I lost the tag!).

I chose the On Your Toes pattern from the summer issue of Interweave Knits for my knee socks.  Thanks to lots of tips from Leslie, I am knitting right along.... on the airplane earlier this week, at the doctor's office yesterday (sinus infection - ugh!), in front of the TV at night and, of course, every day in the carpool line.

Happy weekend folks!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes for my mom.  I think she had a great day.  My dad flew all the adults in the family out to Telluride to surprise her.  It was a quick trip....22 hours door to door which is a bit shorter than my last journey out West.  It was great being able to celebrate with her.  All that eating and drinking and not enough sleep has left me completely worn out.

Moving on....craft swap was on Monday night and, as always, was just great!  One of our group is recovering from major surgery and decided to sit this swap out.  Well, we really couldn't let that happen!  We all made an extra craft for her and, with her husband's approval, held a surprise craft swap at her house.   We swooped in with food and drink and handmade goodies.  What isn't there to like about that?

Inspired by Amy and Courtney, I made coffee cozies.  My original intent was to make them patchwork using fun fabrics from my stash, but when I found the chocolate brown linen on sale, I decided that it was better.  This way all little coffee drips will blend right in.

I embroidered everyone's name with a running stitch and chose fabrics to compliment the floss.  There is one layer of batting sandwiched in the middle.  I wanted to quilt each one differently, but in the end decide that less is more and went with two simple lines.  Each cozy closes with little fabric loops and two buttons.

My friend Laura pointed out that these would make great teacher gifts....sew up a cozy and pop a gift card in the cup.  I think she's right.

Every one made such wonderful items at this swap.  I haven't had time to photo them all, but I will in the next day or two.  I am also working on the pillow zipper tutorial....I had hoped to have it up this week, but it may be a bit longer.   After our quick trip, groceries, laundry and rest are at the top of the agenda.   Back soon.

Today is my mom's birthday....it's a big one.  And I so wish I could be there to celebrate with her.  So Mom, my hope for you is that this year is filled with happiness and love, friends and family, good health and good times.  Have a great birthday!  Don't forget to eat a piece of cake for me.  I love you.

Dawn and I had a little swap.  One of her Love Creatures in exchange for a twirly skirt.  Well, imagine my surprise when I opened the package and found Gloria

and Brady!

Oh my!  TWO!  Indeed, I am a lucky girl.  I knew I was getting one made out of the green floral fabric, but the little patchwork guy was such a great surprise.  They are both so adorable - I just love them!  Of course, the girls thought the rabbits were for them.  Ha!  Well, I guess I should share.  I just don't want to!  There were some other little goodies in the package including some different teas and Pocky sticks (all gone - I did share that!).  Thanks Dawn!  You are so nice and extremely talented.  You really spoiled me.

While I was in the thick of the encyclopedia of me, Dawn tagged me for eight random things.  Although I feel that there can't be too much more to tell, here goes:

1.  I was a History major in college.  If I could do it all over again, I would study graphic art.

2.  During the school year I work five hours a week setting up and printing invitations at a very nice stationery store.  Yes, only five hours.  I have been working there since I was pregnant with Jane.  When the kids were smaller, I would work one Saturday a month.

3.  People pay me good money to address invitations and write out place cards.  I used to do calligraphy, but now I mostly just use my regular handwriting.  It's a great gig because if I am busy, I can say no to a job and heck, I get to work while in my p.j.'s.

4.  My freshman year college roommate is now on Saturday Night Live.  I lost touch with her, but she is a great person, very fun and nice.  She totally deserves what she has worked hard to get.

5.  I eat the same thing for breakfast every day.  Right now I am on an oatmeal with nectarines kick.

6.  It annoys me to no end when drivers don't use their turn signals.

7.  I go to the grocery at least four times a week.  At least.  I am not a good meal planner so I find myself shopping for one or two days at a time.  Sometimes I do big shops to get all the basics, but more often than not I just pick things up as we need them.

8.   I have seen Breezer in the back yard.  I wasn't convinced before, but now I really do believe in ghosts.