A Typical Week

I have had several people ask me what a typical week is like around here.  Well, it is a little crazy.  I think I am a little crazy, too.

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I thought it would be fun to share some random pictures... just a little sneak peek into my week- the the kids, crafts, and life in the country.

Warning: sunblock like this will melt and get in the eyes!

Mix in a lot of messes, cleaning, cooking, boo-boos, screaming, laughing, and chaos.  That is my week  in a nutshell. Thanks for taking a peek!  I am linking up here:

 

Madison, Martha, and Mandy

Last week, I had the opportunity to be a pattern tester for Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop for the new Madison Dress.  I think it turned out pretty cute!

I don't even normally like to use patterns, but this dress was very similar to Plan A of my Halley's Plan B dress so I wanted to know what I was doing wrong.  You can find the pattern HERE and Amy was so super helpful when I had any questions or feedback (Thanks, Amy!) She has a shop chock full of cuteness- and a lot of variety, too!

There are frogs all over this fabric- I busted out the "camofrog" collection I had been hanging onto for a few years.  I am running out of larger pieces of fabric to work with for larger dress sizes- most of my stash is 1/4-1/2 yard cuts.

The next day, my two oldest daughters saw the scraps and began asking me to sew for their baby dolls, Martha and Mandy.  They mostly wanted diapers and I ended up getting a little carried away...

I traced the dress that Mandy came with to make my own pattern- it has velcro in the back.

Martha's collection includes a peasant dress.

I had to make my own patterns for the diapers- I wasn't happy with the one I used before and these fit WAY better!  I thought I could scan my templates for the diapers and bibs and upload them with a tutorial if anyone is interested(?).

Little Star Quilt

 As I was stitching on the last little bit of the binding, I realized that I pieced this quilt 8 years ago!  WOW!  It isn't even a large quilt- only about 22 inches on each side.  Talk about procrastination!!!

I like the soft sage green and tan fabrics, but there is not much contrast between these colors.  The piecing is not perfect- I have definitely come a long way in the last 8 years!

I machine quilted it "in the ditch" to get get it DONE!  (I rarely machine quilt, but thankfully I didn't have any trouble with this one.)

I will be donating it to a good cause. :)

It also qualifies as another finish towards my 12in2012 goal of finishing half of the UFO list over there on the sidebar and the Quilter-in-the-Gap 2nd Quarter Finish-A-Long! Two things in one week! WOOHOOHOO!!

Redecorating Progress

I spend A LOT of time in my kitchen.  In canning season, I feel like I live there. Last fall, after canning season was over, I snapped. I couldn't take the seashell wallpaper any longer, especially since the walls looked awful next to the new curtains I was making!

The fish matched the old house... it really bothers me now seeing these pics!!

Unfortunately, when I ripped it down, it was even uglier underneath!

Then I took off that sub-wallpaper paper, scraping it off bit by bit, and it got even uglier!!!  I can't seem to find a picture of it, but picture more vinyl paneling in 8 inch wide horizontal stripes in... wait for it... PEACH!  I was wishing for seashells again.  So, we decided that the easiest thing to do, given the assorted patterns we had going on here, was to wallpaper.  I picked out a paintable textured wallpaper from Home Depot and ordered it online (pretty risky!)  The pattern is bigger than I thought it would be, but I like it!  It really brightened the whole room!

As I said yesterday, I finally finished my kitchen curtains.  The original ones that came with the house were cute white lace-edged valances (that are getting to be in rough shape) with the bottom tiers made from light blue sheets.

Last Friday, I had a very special visit from my friend, Anita!  She brought me some lovely gifts including this...

I do not have any towels that hang from my stove handle, and I absolutely love this one!  It has a basket (perfect!) full of pretty flowers and it matches my new kitchen colors.  The kids and my husband know how special it is, so they are afraid to touch it!  My husband washed his hands and asked if he was allowed to use it, and I was busy cooking and said, "No!  Your hands have to be clean!"  Um... he just washed them!  Anyway, thank you, Anita!!! :)

Last, but not least... my kitchen room and dining room are connected, with a long window that is in both rooms.  So, the curtains are for both rooms and I will be redecorating the dining room a little, too.  Recently, I scored some new (used) furniture deals from a county yard sale facebook page (convenient!)

They just got thrown into the dining room for now, but they give me a nice starting point!  I don't expect fast results, but we are making some progress!

This is my little "Sneak Peek" for the week and I will be linking up over at StudioJRU.

Do They Grow Faster with Extra Love?

My son came home from wrestling camp last night after being gone for three days.  When he saw the bunnies he said, "Oh my gosh!  They are HUGE!  They grew so much!!!"  Well, 

I wouldn't say they are huge, but they really did grow a lot in the last week (just look HERE if you don't believe me) and they are soooooo stinkin' cute!  So, I am sharing some adorable baby bunny pictures!  They are only about 2 1/2 weeks old.

AND I finished my kitchen curtains this morning!  

EW!  That fish needs to go!  It matched our old house... we only moved 6 years ago.

Actually, it is for my kitchen and dining room, so that makes me feel more accomplished.  

I think they are bright and cheery!  This also marks off one of my Quilter in the Gap Finish-A-Long goals! And ya' know what?  Since hubby won't let me touch the wallpapering bit - only one eensy piece left to go there- I am knocking off one of my 12in2012 goals, too! WOOHOO!!!

Swaddle Baby

 Just a quick show-off of the little swaddle baby that I made for my niece's birthday.

I think it turned out pretty sweet, although it took me FOR. EV. ER. to sew a gathering stitch to make the head.  Easy, basic stuff, but for some reason I had lots of problems.  Then I smudged the face when I was painting and had to make a new one. Grrrrrr...

Not sure if I will make another one of these, but I loved the idea.  You know, when toddlers like to play with baby dolls but they need you to wrap them up for them every 20 seconds. This blanket is attached.  Genius!

I found the tutorial right HERE so you can check it out if that sounds helpful to you. :)

Well now, I just looked up and saw Grace standing there with a baby doll in one hand and a blanket in the other, so come to think of it, maybe I will be making another one sometime soon. :)

Sew It Yourself: Kids Clothes Guest Post

I have a little guest post today over at Fireflies and Jellybeans for this CUTE halter top that I made for my little Grace as part of their Sew It Yourself: Kids Clothes series. You can check it out over HERE. :)

Puffy Petal Flower Tutorial

This week I made something special for my baby girl!  I am sharing the full tutorial over at Fireflies and Jellybeans next week, but here is a little sneak peek...

I made some fabric flowers with five petals to match the fabric and embellish her outfit a little bit.  I have made fabric flowers before, but after playing around for a few minutes, this just seemed like an easier way to do it.

Cut a piece of fabric 8" by 4" and fold it in half, right sides together.  Make a template 1" high by 1 1/2" wide and trace on five curves- keeping them tight together to create a scalloped edge.

Sew along the lines you drew, trim around the scallops, clip the curves, then flip it right side out.  It won't lay perfectly flat, which is fine and gives the flowers more poofiness anyway.  Sew a long basting stitch along the bottom about 1/4" from the raw edge.

Pull the thread to gather the petals together.

Sew it by hand to a small circle of felt.  You can pull and shape your petals a little better in this step.  The stitches do not have to be pretty- no one will see this. Then sew a button on top and attach it to your project, a hair clip, or a headband!  (Of course, the button is a choking hazard, so consider yourself warned.)

So pretty and cute! For the larger flower, I sewed each petal individually, which gave me more control over their shape and made them longer, but it wasn't as fast. 

 

Make sure to check out my tutorial over at Fireflies and Jellybeans!  I will update this post with the link when it is up!



UPDATE:  You can see my CUTE Sweet Summer Halter Top tutorial HERE!