Where has the time gone......

It has been a while since I have checked in with this lovely little blog. Just found a cool site that I will be looking over in more detail at my next coffee break! Click here to check out some lovely fabrics. They are having a great little giveaway too!

What has been happening in life here... busy-ness..... sometimes it takes over. I have been sewing a little. Finished some Christmas items. Working on a jacket for me. Building a table top tee pee with my daughter, Olivia. I think I will take pictures tonight as we finish it. I will try to post them later. I WANT to sew some other things! Bought some amazing fabric that is full of texture! Can't wait to make a skirt!

Well, going to try to make something happen in the sewing room. Just need to set in some sleeves on a jacket and it will be done.

Blessings- linda

Will this month ever end.......

Not that I want time to speed by but, really, is my family the only family that does not celebrate Halloween? Every blog I read talks about decorating for halloween. People from church talk about trick or treating. My girls come home from school (they attend a private Christian school) and say they are the only ones not attending trick or treat tonight. We have chosen, as parents, to not celebrate Halloween on the basis that it is of satanic origin. Yes, I know that there are arguments leaning the other way but this is the stand we choose to make. We will go to Harvest Parties and such but not Halloween celebrations. So ready for it to be over!

Blogging has been limited this week. Spent Friday through Monday in Chicago with my oldest daughter and my new daughter-in-law. Had a nice time. Of course, coming home means messy house, catching up on things, mountain of laundry, etc. I have been palyign catch up all week.

Hope to take some photos soon of some recent sewing.

See you soon!

Linda

A TV star!

My eldest son, Jason, works for Carousel Works in Mansfield Ohio. They company was featured this week on Extreme Makeover, Home Edition. He was in part of the clip about the work they do. The picture above was captured from watching the show online. So excited!!!!!!

Tomorrow is hubby's birthday. We will have to postpone celebrating until next week as every evening this week is consumed with other obligations. What a week. Only 4 days until our trip to Chicago. I am taking my daughter and my newly acquired daughter-in-law for a three day weekend. Just girl time! Art Museum, pizza eating, pool/hot tub time, shopping, and Vogue fabric store shopping for me! The guys are heading out to Hocking Hills for a weekend camping adventure. The little girls are staying the weekend with friends from school. It is going to be great to get away!

I have been sewing and should have some more things to post before I leave..... Wish I had more time to sew something great for Chicago... My wardrobe is paltry to say the least! Oh, well, as long as I am dressed no one will even notice what I am wearing! LOL!

Blessings - linda

Bathrooms, sewing, and life.

We have had a whirlwind autumn..... High School Soccer seems to take over every year at this time. It is winding down and I have had actual sewing room time lately so that is a wonderful blessing!
I took a glass fusion class at Mansfield Art Center last month and have some really nice pieces to show for it. The main reason I took the class was to make some knobs for the custom cabinets in my newly remodeled main/kids bathroom. My father in law made the custom cabinetry for me and I been thinking and pondering knobs. I was at an art show in late August and a local Artisan had knobs for sale. When I was talking about having some made for my cabinets she mentioned she would be teaching a class on glass fusion so I immediately went and signed up. I had a blast! It definitely got the creative juices flowing again. I have been processing and planning sewing since then.....
Now on to the pictures....

The photo to the left is from the window wall of the bathroom looking out to the doorway. You see the tall built in cabinet. The mirror needs framed yet but time has not allowed that but that will make for a great winter project!


Below is a close up of two of the knobs I made. Really hard to photograph.....









Left is the tub/shower area to the left of the entry door. Curtain is a Micheal Miller fabric (I think....) that I fell in love with. Retro/funk is kind of the style of the fabric. You see a portion of the builtin cabinet along the window wall. I am slowly decorating this room... Thrift store and garage sael decorating!


The photo below is a straight shot looking into the bathroom. You can see the full builtin from this photo. The sink/vanity was a bargain find for sure! I was at Home Depot about 2 years ago and saw it ... a $400.00 vanity for $50.00. That was a no brainer as I knew we would be eventually remodeling that bathroom. The old bath was original to the 1950's home. YUCK! We really wanted to put in a whirlpool tub but size and such made it out of our pocket book range right now so we had the tub (a big, deep cast iron baby!) refinished..... I still have some decorating to do but am patiently waiting for things to fall into place.
Now on to sewing!
This top is Simplicity 2643. It is a cute top. I shortened it quite a bit. I think my band ont he front and neck is not as wide as the pattern but I am okay with that. The top is a sheer georgette giraffe print. The band is a faux suede found in the remnant bin at JoAnns'

It is on thing that turned out this week int he sewing room. I made a pair of Hot Patterns jeans and am not impressed. I till stick with my Sandra Betzina jean pattern for sure!

Thinking about some Christmas sewing. Need to get my ducks in a row and get busy. It was so refreshing to have sewing time this week. I needed it. I was feeling out of sorts.


Well, off to sew something.. going to friends' house for supper! What a nice surprise ! Will be nice to get out and visit!

blessings- Linda

Another week has sped by.....

A week since I posted lst. It's not that I have done nothing to posst about but most of my week's activity has been the normal, mundane, humdrum of life. Taxi-ing kids to events and practices, grocery shopping, fixing a meal and cleaning up the kitchen to just do it again in a few hours.... you know how it is.......

I did get a little sewing done....... I will be posting a photo after I get my shower for the day... no walking for us today...... pouring rain so I am staying inside where it is dry and cozy! It is unseasonably chilly in Ohio this fall..... we have actually had a fire in the fireplace more already this season than we did all winter last year. We are determined to NOT turn on the furnace just yet (you can call us cheap. we will not be offended!)

I should walk around and take some fall decorating shots of the house so I can share on here..... I have been having fun gleaning ideas from some fun blogs.....

Well, I think I will close for now and come back later with some photos to post.

Blessings- Linda

October already?

Is anyone else blown away that the calendar says October 1, 2009? I cannot belive that this year is on the down hill slide..... and that Christmas is right around the corner. I have started my shopping and have lists from most of my kids...... The 16 year old son- that's a hard one.....
what to get him..... no ideas!

It was so cold this morning.... we had 39 degrees at 6:30AM. BBBBRRRRRRRR.... I did not turn on my furnace though.... we have a stone house so it keeps the warmth in pretty well. It was 66 degrees in the house at 6:30AM. Not bad! Dug out a sweater and am doing very well in the cooler house.....

Happy fall to you all..... off to sew!

Linda

One more project....

I forgot to include this project in my sewing room shots. The shelf is above my embroidery machine. It is part of a bifold door that I purchased at a Habitat for Humanity resale store. The supports were free from the same friend that gave me the shelves we inserted into the wall.

My sewing room... a peak into my mess!

Just thought I'd post some pictures of my sewing room in the state it is after a cutting fiesta I had last week. It is a mess but most of the pieces lying around are for projects that are bouncing around in my mind. I have been trying some new things..... like a full bust adjustment. Never did one before so cut out a button up top with some "so-so" fabric to give it a try.

Anyway, photos of my studio.

This photo is taken from my computer area. My cutting table is covered with a mess and our cat, Yankee. You can see the large fabric cupboard off to the left. It's full and overflowing!

This shot is the same area but taken form the entry doorway. You see the ironing board and the back "wall" which is a hanging curtain to cover up pipes and ugly!

This shot is from the entry doorway and is of my serger area. I also have a vintage machine that is strictly straight stitch that I use for heavy sewing.

This shot is from the doorway and is of the embroidery area and "regular" computerized machine and "desk" area. My embroidery is a Janome MB4- 4 head machine. I do most of my sewing on a Brother PC 3000 which you can see to the right of the black gooseneck lamp. My laptop sits to the left of the lamp.

A girlfriend gave me two white melamine shelving units that were 15 inches wide and 5 foot tall. They are perfect to slide into a wall between studs. So that is what we did. We carefully cut the drywall out so we could re-use it on the back of the shelves. The trim between the shelves is a metal measure stick. My hubby's idea! He might be getting some creativity in his "computer geek" body!

I am so very blessed! God is good!

A little sewing....

I was able to sew a little last week. I am struggling with fit right now. My body is morphing into something that has my previous fit thrown for a loop. I am sure it has something to do with menopause and being almost 46. Just trying to find patterns that look good and hide my muffin top is very frustrating!

Here is a picture of me in Vogue 8534

I think I might try the next size up on the sides and underarms for the next one of this simple pattern. I thought it'd be looser. It's not bad but could be better. The neckline is to be unfinished but I "clipped " the lines marking the folds for the pleats so I could not leave it unfinished so I simply turned it under and stitched it down. Worked fine for me.

Made another top today to experiment with pattern Simplicity 3536. View E. It's okay. I made view D this summer and really liked it. I will probably put view E under a jacket for fall and winter. The fabric was cheap walmart table stuff that was in my stash so I am not out much if I decide I don't like it! Oh, to have that skinny body I once had where everything looked good on me! This picture is of the top on "ADNIL" , my dressform.

Laid back weekend

We had a weekend with no soccer so it was rather laid back for us. Friday night Rick (hubby) surprised us with a family trip to the dollar theater to see Night at the Museum. Saturday morning I had a glass fusion class at the Mansfield Art Center. I will post pictures once they are fused and in my possession. I am addicted to this form of art. I would love to have a kiln and all the materials to make fused glass art.

Saturday was just a day of getting some things done here at home. The garage was over run with furniture finds from dumpster diving and garage sales so I had Rick cart them to a spot in the basement storage so that this winter I can tackle recovering them. I helped our 8 year old daughter clean and rearrange her room. We really should have named her Messy Mary or Pack Rat Patty!

Today we went to church and had a wonderful service. After church it was off to a family reunion for my husband's side of the family. It was nice to see people. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing around here. I should have worked outside but it was nice to have some down time. Daughters and I actually danced in my sewing studio.

My plan for Monday is to cut out some things for sewing for me for fall. I have some Christmas plans as well that I need to get moving on. Christmas will be here before we know it! YIKES!!!

What a weekend! We got a lot accomplished. My sewing room had been a disaster so I decided to get it together in there. Before I could get to it, a friend gave me some narrow laminate shelves- 2 sets to be exact. I had a lightbulb moment and decided to have hubby dear cut into the studio wall (back side is a storage room) and insert these shelves. I will post before and after photos soon. That led to creating a shelf from part of an old bifold door and rearranging and moving stuff around in the sewing room. Hubby also made me a bin to stand my home Dec fabrics in so that they stay where I put them and not slide around. I am so pleased with the outcome... now to get busy sewing! I have lots of ideas swirling in my head and fabric and patterns laid out. I just need to get the mojo to do it! I have been struggling lately with fit. After losing 40 pounds a year ago, I have managed to put 8 back on. I am frustrated wtih myself. I know that my "sands are shifting" and it is causing a magnitude of fitting issues. I am feeling very fat and frumpy lately! Need to get those 8 pounds off but struggling .. trying to follow my WW plan but the pounds are not moving.

Stay tuned for photos of my sewing room.

What a whirlwind

Life has become a whirlwind around here since the wedding day! Freezing corn, making and canning spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and tomatoes has been my focus. I hope to find time this week to get some sewing done. I would love a few new tops for fall as well as some jeans.

Soccer games and practices are keeping the "mom's taxi" humming up and down the road!

Life is good. God is good. He just keeps finding ways to bless my socks off!

Blessings- Linda

The wedding day has come and gone. Son, Jason, is now a husband! These are just a few pictures of the many snapshots taken by us and grandma!

This photo is of our entire family.
Left to Right Back Row- Evan, 16, Jen, 28, Jason, 25, Me, Rick (dad). Front Row- Geordan, 10, Jenny, New daughter, Olivia, 8.







This is a photo of the entire wedding party. I made all the dresses including the bride's gown.

That was a tall order. I had some photos to work from. It is a knock off of a very expensive designer gown. Hard to see the details. I will post a better photo once we receive the ones from the photographer.







The beautiful couple. I made her veil too.

Lots of prayers and love went into this gown.


















Mom and Dad with the groom, Jason.

I made my dress too. I hope to have a better shot of it later on too!









All in all, it was a wonderful day. She is a sweet girl and we are happy to have her join our family. I hope to not be a "Mother-in-law" but rather a second mom. A woman that she can trust to have her best interests at heart. My prayer for their marriage is that God becomes the central focus of their life together.

Trying my hand at this....

I am trying my hand at the blog thing. Not sure I will ever be able to accomplish what so many other women do with theirs..... I am already stuck. Would love one of those fancy ones that reflect my personality but have sttled for a standard template one..... someday when hubby is bored I will seek his help..... right now his work is overwhelming so I will be statisfied with what I have!

I feel like this might be a place where I can express myself so that I can "see" what I am thinking and feeling. Right now my life seems to be chaotic and that chaos is prohibiting me from thinking clearly...... we will see. Also want a place to share my sewing accomplishements (and disasters)!

Anyways, welcome. I hope you are not too bored with what is to come! Blessings- Linda