Curtains and Dust Ruffle

First off, I'll answer the question you are all wanting to ask. Yes I finished cross stitching my daughters Christmas stocking! I still have to sew a back on it, but the time consuming part is done! She will be the first of my 3 children to have her stocking done for her first Christmas!

And speaking of my daughter, I finally made curtains out of the fabric my aunt found at a garage sale. They didn't take my very long, once I decided which fabric to use. In the bag my aunt gave me there were yards and yards of 6 different corresponding fabrics. It was a little overwhelming! I started sewing while the kids were having their "afternoon nap", and finish them late that night.

I also made a change table cover, which is basically just a pillow case.

And a dust ruffle.

With the left over fabric, and there is a lot, I'll make a bed spread...or two! But not until after Christmas, at least! Now to complete her room we just need to paint her room a pretty pink or purple!

Where did September go?

So September flew right past me and I don't have anything to show for it. I guess that is not totally true as I did make some curtains for my brother and I have been cross stitching on my daughter's Christmas stocking. And I intend on finishing it tonight!!! I just have the reins left. And the lines on the drum. Oh, and the lines above and below her name, but that is it!!!

This past weekend I completed one more of my Pay-It-Forwards for 2013. When I post these things on Facebook, I take it seriously! I will send you something if you respond.

My sister was one of the 3 that replied and since this past weekend I was going visiting her (Ladies Night!) I thought it would be the perfect time to deliver her gift. She had been wanting to make bath salts for a couple months now, but we just never got around to doing it. I made up a batch and divided it in to 4 different scents.

Everyone always makes fun of me for saving boxes, but I can't help it! They are just so useful! Especially when you can make them into pretty gift boxes.

Then I decided it would be fun to put a little twist on it since I was going to be at her place. I made it into a treasure hunt for her to do after I left.

I folded up the clues like secret notes. It took me back to grade 5 when we passed notes constantly and this was how we folded them. I couldn't remember how to do it so I had to look it up!

Who wouldn't want to find this?

Kindergarten!

My little boy started kindergarten this week! He was pretty excited about it. We went school supply shopping a few weeks ago and he picked out his book bag and the kind of markers he wanted. The list also called for a cloth bag for change of clothes and a paint shirt, so when I was checking out the closing out sale at Clothworks (very sad about them closing) I picked out some fabric I thought he would like.

Of course, now that he is in school, everything has to have his name on it!

Giant Pillows!

This is the third giant pillow I've made now. I use it to put behind Victoria in case she topples over. Sometimes all three kids lay on it together and look at books. I used the Brick Road quilt pattern.



This is the second one I made. It was made to match a rag quilt I had made for a baby gift.





And I can't find a picture of the first pillow. I made it a few years ago and used a Cars panel. It turned out very well! I'll keep looking for that photo!

A Pink Zebra?

My husband's niece's birthday was last week. Months ago she asked me if I would make her a cake. This is about the 3 year in a row that she has asked. It never worked out in the past, either they were on holidays or we were. This year I was determined to make it work! We were gone the week before her birthday and they were going to be up at the lake for her birthday so I needed a fairly simple cake that needed no prep work! I've wanted to do zebra strips for a while, and decided this would be the perfect occasion. Pink is one of her favourite colours so that is what I went with. It is a little wild maybe, but great for a 9 year old!

When we packed up the car for the lake, I made sure there was a safe spot for the cake - on the floor, under Victoria's car seat! It actually made it there safe and sound! We dropped it off at their camper as soon as we got there. Avery had quite the surprise when she got back from the beach! She loved it! She came running and gave me a big hug! I was so glad it worked out and I was finally able to make her a cake.

Beach Bags!

I've had this Butterick pattern for a couple years now and I finally got around to making it! Part of the struggle was finding canvas I liked! I checked at Fabricland and they only had solid colours. Turns out Walmart had just what I was looking for. I haven't bought any fabric at Walmart since they got rid of their bolt fabric. It was a very sad day for me when they removed their cutting tables. It was my main reason for going to Walmart! Now they only sell pre-cut fabric and the selection never changes. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find they had a nice selection of canvas.

I haven't used this one yet since I didn't have the contrast fabric in the right colour. I should be able to get 2 medium size bags out of one bolt.

Here are the bags I did make!

I didn't use the fusible interfacing, so the sides aren't stiff. They are so perfect for going to the park, or beach, or grocery store, or anywhere!

I need to make some more! So handy and so much cuter then the ugly Extra Foods bags I have! :)

Red Roses

About a month and a half ago a lady called me in a panic for a wedding cake. Luckily we were going to be around on her wedding weekend, so I was able to help her out. It was a pretty straight forward cake - 2 tier, white, black ribbon and red roses. As I as making the roses I realized that I have made pink, white, burgundy and blue roses, but never red roses! Red is such a tricky colour. You have to use a lot dye or you'll end up with extremely bright pink! In this case I used well over half a bottle and my roses look very red!








We delivered it to the hall and the bride thought it was beautiful. It made me happy that she was so happy with it! It is a nice feeling, knowing your contribution made someone's day a little more special.