C'est finis :)

Finished and installed, and I'm very happy with the results :D The colors are truer in the top picture - they seem to be a bit faded in the bottom one. I did learn a valuable lesson tho - make sure your machine is switched off before covering it up!!! I went downstairs today to finish the project, and realized that I had put the cover on last night to fit for size, but I left it on overnight, and the machine was still on - OOPS!



I've received a weblog award from my fellow Canuck (fellow Ontarian, too!)Nancy-Rose - isn't this cool! She likes my eye candy! :) I'm struttin!!! Thank you kindly, neighbouroonie ... I'm honored! Please check out her blog to see her fabulous projects, stories and pictures of her yard sale finds - I never find goodies like that - everybody in this area seems to specialize in baby and kid stuff - been there, done that, not going there again until I get grandies!

Relief at last :)

Our incessant and seemingly never-ending computer/internet problems may finally be over and done with - we had TWO Bell techs come out to the house last week. Routers were replaced and moved, ethernet wires were replaced and rerouted, two laptops went in for servicing (that HURT! LOL!!!), fingers were crossed, curses were uttered, patience was stretched, but in the end, it seems everything fell into place. Our sons went without XBox live for months, and now that's up and running too, as are our laptops. Even my old clunky dinosaur back-up desktop computer is now online! Life is GOOD!!! I LOVE THE INTERNET, lolol!!

I haven't gotten much done in the last week - it was hot, and I was stressed and cranky. I did make this little bag last night to use as a gift bag ... I've LONG wanted to do this kind of project. This flickr album is what originally inspired me, and this particular picture is the one that got me going! Check out her fun blog for fun reading with lots of eye candy :) YAY for Vicki H. @ Turkey Feathers!

Here's what I'm working on today - a sewing machine cover, starring my delightful model Zoomer (lol) :) - using this pattern :)

Yo yos are fun to make ;)

More computer/internet problems - thats the story of my life now!! Yadda yadda yadda Sympatico yadda yadda yadda nice technician today yadda yadda yadda :D

I finally learned how to use my Clover yoyo makers - they're fast and fun - I have two sizes of the round ones, and I think I have the heart and flower, but I'm not sure where they are in my studio, lol. I've made a couple now to decorate some of my grab bags, and I decorated a couple of gift bags ... I keep finding great ways to use them!


I got a few more small projects done in the last few days - one of my favorites is a couple of gift bags I made using some fabric a girlfriend had given me. Thanks Chris - check out what your scraps turned into!! ;)



I also got a few more pillowcases made for ConKerrCancer.org ... some bibs for my great/grand nephew Matteo, and a couple more grab bags for the gift box - these are the ones I've already made yo yos for (for decoration), but I haven't attached them yet. Will do that soon :)

Happy sewing!! :)

The housework never ends - more tea towels ;)

I've sent my applique projects through the washer and dryer and they came out just fine, so I'm considering them an unqualified success :) Here are 3 more I finished yesterday :)

Tea towels, anyone?

I made these babies last night --- they're in the washing machine right now so I can test to make sure I did enough zigzag stitching so the appliques don't shred when they get washed! If they don't come out of the washer and dryer looking this good, I'm going to delete this post!

P.S. They made it through the washer and dryer just fine, so the post is in no danger of removal, LOL.

7+/7 done :)

Last night I cut out the pieces, and this afternoon I sewed up 3 more pillowcases for ConKerrCancer.org --- thats 12 or 13 cases I have ready for them now, and it means I finished my "7 in 7" resolution - days early :D Admittedly these were all small projects made with stash fabric, but --- 4 pillowcases --- 3 grab bags - 4 bibs - done in 5 days - thats pretty good! And it's certainly a nice little chunk out of my stash :) Each pillowcase takes about a metre, each grab bag is almost a metre, 4 bibs is 3/4ish of a metre - thats about 7 metres of fabric used up!

Tonight's dessert - Fruity Soda Bread - blogged and recipe here - DELICIOUS!

I, Applique Again :) (6/7 done!)

This site had a freebie pattern online a while back for Lobster Time Placemats. I downloaded it with the intention of lobsterizing a project some day. Well - some day was today, and I whipped up this applique'd bib for someone who shall remain nameless until she receives this in the mail ;) Her initials are JDB tho! (Aunt Sandra is such a card!) I'm not an applique expert but this came out quite well, I think - I'm pleased :) This is a surprise gift, so if it had gone shitty, I would have tossed it into the trashcan without a thought - I guess the lack of stress contributed to my success!

I'm counting this as completion #6 in my "7 in 7" resolution :D

Not happy with the results ...

Inspired by this project, I decided to try a chickenscratch bookmark. It worked out quite well, actually, but I found the gingham fabric very thin - broadcloth thin - and hard to work with. It was hard to get nice crisp seams and nice stitching - and I had an awfully hard time getting the smaller square to finish up to a small enough size - the fabric was so soft/pliable it was hard to handle.

I'm not giving up --- I have a couple of things to try - one is to spray starch the fabric before working on it - to give it some body. If that isn't good enough, I'll look for the gingham designed fabric that has more body to it - thicker cotton, like you would use for a tablecloth. That wouldn't work for bookmarks, really, but for other projects it would be great - pillow cover, apron, tote bag etc.

I enjoyed the embroidery but the assembly just didn't work as nicely as I would like. This bookmark won't be gifted to anyone, but I'll consider it my trial run, and will try this craft again :) Definitely not counting this in my 7 in 7 resolution!

5/7 done ...

I finished the two (cat and batik) grab bags earlier tonight but didn't feel like going upstairs, so I whipped up 3 girl bibs for a gift - a gentleman my oldest son works with, has just had a baby girl - I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my blog - LOL - so I'm safe posting a picture ;) I'll count this as one project completion, as they're all for one gift.

Here's the fabric I got yesterday at Sew Sisters Quilt Shop in Toronto - I could have done a lot more $$ damage, but I refrained, so my credit card will live to purchase another day ;)

Now I've completed 5/7ths of my resolution, so I'm doing good! I wish I was always this productive, LOL!!

4/7 done ;)

My 7 in 7 goal is moving along ... I finished up two more grab bags today - thats 4 projects done, with several days left to go. I really didn't enjoy these bags the first time I tried the pattern - now I can't stop making them, LOL. I really didn't like the way they did the pockets so I've been doing them my own way - it's made a huge difference. In the (black) cat bag (on the left) the little pocket inside is decorated with a piece of eyelet lace and pink trim - I just happened to find the pieces in my trim box, and they were the exact width of the pocket. Obviously it was meant to be ;)

Judy - I'm looking forward to seeing more project completion pictures! :D

A rose by any other name ...

I took these pictures a few days ago - I don't have much of a green thumb so when something blooms nicely, I'm always surprised, LOL. These two miniature rose bushes were given to me by a girlfriend (hi, Mona!) last year - they wintered really well, and are blooming like crazy! Aren't they gorgeous?

Want to see some food eye candy? Here's what I made for supper last night, LOL. *insert blatant self-promotion here* :D

7 in 7 !!

Inspired by Judy @ Sew Sisters resolution to complete a project a day for 7 days (and she's made some cutie items already - check out her blog!) - I've decided to do something similar - I want to finish 7 projects in 7 days. I hadn't been at my sewing machine for about a week, so I needed a little bit of a kick in the hiney to get in gear!

For some reason now that my youngest son (18) is home from school for the summer, I haven't felt like coming down to the studio. I'm not sure why - he certainly doesn't need my attention, and in fact, spends most of the time with his girlfriend, at work, or anywhere but here at home, lol! He got called in to work today, I came down to the studio, and finished 2 projects, wooooooohooooooooooo. A grab bag from All People Quilt, and a (teenage girl, I think) pillowcase for ConKerrCancer.org :)

Goal status: 2/7 done :)

A is for ... Abbigale!

Now that the recipient has received this bib, I can post the picture --- if I do say so myself, it's mighty cute!! I made this for my bloggy friend Barb, who has a gorgeous new grand-niece named Abbigale - isn't she precious?



Here's what I made for supper tonight :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!! And ... there's a new car in town

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!! Our youngest lad, who graduated highschool last night, turned 18 today. How that happened I'll never know, because it feels like I just brought him home from the hospital 2 weeks ago!! I LOVE YOU Chris ... have fun at work tonight, LOL.

We just got the call from the car dealer - the insurance is in place and Nick (our 19 year old) can pick up his brand spanking new truck tonight. It's a 2008 Ford Ranger Sport 4X2 ... I have a picture somewhere but I'm so flustered I have no idea where it is, LOL. What did I ever do to deserve one kid turning 18 and one kid getting a truck ... ON THE SAME DAY!!!

Here's a picture of his truck - at least - I think it's his truck --- I haven't actually seen his in person yet!! Will see it tonight, I think. OMG I am SOOOOO not ready for this, LOL.

Gifty Bibs :)

I can post these pictures now because the bibs arrived at their intended recipient's house :) Aren't they cute? The red pieced ones were made with Nascar fabric ... the baby's parents are Nascar fans, and I just happened to have some scraps of Nascar fabric! I am just THAT COOL!!! ;) (yeah yeah, my sister and my kids are rolling their eyes at that, I'm sure, LOL) :)

Odd that the background color is so different in the pictures - they were taken within minutes of each other, in my basement studio. Weird!!

Grab Bag and Pillowcase :)

Pillowcase #8 completed ... and Grab Bag #1 completed as well. The grab bag pattern is a bit fussier than I normally like, but if you go slow it will work out fine. It's a good size for a lunchbag - too small (in my world) for a regular purse or project carrying bag. It would make a great bag for a kid - the smaller size and neat design would, I think, catch their attention! I did this grab bag in stash scrap fabric so it isn't the prettiest looking bag - next time around, now that I know that the pattern will work, I'll use something nicer :)

Garden Angels, Drippy Kids and Flamingos ;)

These are the delicious knobs I picked out from a blog giveaway from Kim and her sweetie Juneau - thanks again, Juneau - you ROCK! ;) They arrived in the mail yesterday - aren't they fabulous? I have an idea in the back of my mind for a rack to hang aprons/teatowels on in the kitchen ... with flamingo knobs - must put on thinking cap!! Thanks again Kim and Juneau!!

So far I've had quite a productive day :) I finished mending two pairs of pants for my kids - one pair left needs to be hemmed so I'll do that later - I hate hemming *aarrgghh*. I finished up 2 (donation) bibs, and used up some more stash to make a pc for conkerrcancer.org -- thats bib #7 I have ready for them :) Those items will go into the rubbermaid container to be delivered when I have enough stuff finished up :) I didn't photograph the pants because - well - they're boring :p

Using up stash ...

Pillowcases take about a metre of fabric each -- thats quite a stashbuster when you get a bunch of cases made!! I've done 6 so far for ConKerrCancer.org ... and I have the fabric picked out for another dozen. I'm also busting stash trim on these ones - thats a lot of fun!!

And now for more entertainment from some weird minds ... apparently I wouldn't make the best human shield in the world, LOL!

47%

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Cadaver Calculator, LOL!!!!!

$5575.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth.

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Please - if you do the test, post your results here - this is too funny, LOL!!! I wonder if I'm worth more or less because of my fat BUTT!!!

2 more pillowcases, 2 more bibs :)

Goal reached -- I made 2 more pillowcases for ConKerrCancer.org - lime green + fish fabrics, tarted up with orange and green trim where the cuff meets the case :) I also got another 2 bibs done but they're gifties, so I'm not posting a picture of them yet. Good day - 4 bibs and 2 pillowcases ... plus I made a huge pot of macaroni salad for supper (that's not a 5 minute job, either!) and tried a new recipe -- Fresh Green Beans from Pioneer Woman Cooks - yummy!

Kids are out looking at a desk from craigslist -- judging by the length of time they've been gone, I'd say the desk met with their approval, and they're taking it apart to get it to fit in the car. They took a whack of tools with them, to be prepared. I hope they haven't been kidnapped and sent into white slavery --- those people will be surprised at how much TEENAGE BOYS EAT!!! HA!!!! I'm not totally blase about this - they both have cellphones with them and I'll be calling them in a few minutes, plus I have the seller's phone number and address, lol.

So many messy babies!

I'm still on a bib kick, and can't stop making the little sweeties! These ones are all made with scrap or freecycle fabric ... I've made a lot of girly ones lately so now the boys need coverage as well! I have a couple more made but won't post picture of them until they get to their intended recipients - I'll be mailing some to Jenn this weekend, and a surprise one to a ******* buddy who needs a little ****-**-** :) Will post pictures later, lol.

I finished 2 bibs today (not pictured), and my goal for the afternoon is to finish up two more bibs, and two more pillowcases for ConKerrCancer.org -- I was at the fabric store yesterday and one of the associates told me she has 30 cases ready for them! I picked up a metre of fabric to go with some fabric I already have, so I should be able to get two cases done today :) (1 metre each of two fabrics makes 2 pillowcases)

Good luck Chris, writing his last exam this morning!!!

I got an award!

The delicious Lettie has honored me with a THREE PART award - I am struttin around like Queen of everything I survey!! I'd like to thank the members of the Academy who voted for me, and my producers, and my family, without whom this award wouldn't be possible, and the mailman for always bringing my mail on time, and my kids' teachers for keeping them out of my hair for many hours during the day so I could BECOME the blogger that I became, and Miss Kelly and Mrs. Campbell, my grades 9-12 typing teachers, and the bus driver on York Region Transit bus #32, who generally gets me to my destination within an hour of the time he's scheduled to get me there, and to the baker up the street that makes such good dinner buns, and to Fruit of the Loom for making a strong enough bra to hold up the girls, and to my sister who takes good photographs but who can't sew a stitch (she's the duct tape princess) ... thank you all, from the bottom of my heart!!! ;)

Awwwwwwwwwww thank you Lettie (the Queen of all things polka dot!) for choosing me ... I can't believe that someone who creates such beautiful projects as you do, would even find anything read-worthy about my blog - I'm dying to move next door to you so I can admire your goodies in person, or even just absorb your creativeness by osmosis! Like - could it get ANY cuter than THIS???!!!

Pretty in Purple :)

Awwwwwwwwwww 3 more sweetie bibs, decorated with rick rack ... you can see they're made with scraps! I love love LOVE using up bits and pieces like that, lol.

TAG - I'm it!

Some delicious ladies (hmmm I just realized I call a lot of things delicious - things I enjoy, things I find comfy and homey and sweet - consider it a compliment!) have tagged me --- Jeanine @ Baking Beauties and Karen @ South of Purple ... here we go - the boring details about MOI, lolol.

What was I doing 10 years ago? 1998 - that wasn't a good year for me - I lost 2 members of my family (mom and my little brother Brian), battled some personal "demons" ... not my favorite year!!

What are 5 things on my t0-do list for today?
1. Finish up 3 bibs.
2. Find the bacon for stuffed baked potatoes for supper.
3. Send my son to drive to the grocery store.
4. Vaccuum the main floor.
5. Send a thank you email to someone that sent me a surprise gifty!

Snacks I enjoy: Judging by the size of my butt/thighs/belly, apparently I enjoy too many snacks ... too often ... ROTFL!!! Favorites - sour cream and onion potato chips, any kind of ooey gooey cake/brownies ... Goodies candy. I should just apply them to my butt, aarrgghhh!!

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Put aside $$ for my kids for when they're older, and buy them each a car.
2. Pay off mortgages and car loans for family.
3. Buy a new sewing machine. NOT A BABYLOCK! And maybe an embroidery machine :)
4. Travel, woooooohoooooooooooo!!
5. Donate to my favorite charities, and help out a few friends (anonymously).
6. Hire a technician to come in and fix our computer/internet problems :)
7. Get my teeth fixed!

Places I have lived: Ontario!


Jobs I have had: babysitter, waitress, licensed insurance broker, customer service for a computer firm that sold insurance software, receptionist for a real estate appraisal firm, typist, counter help in a bakery.

A "Feed Bulletin" isn't an RSS feed/link ...

I've had a bloglines feed for the Baking Beauties site for months now. They post delicious recipes and I try quite a few of them. The last one I tried was the Italian Bread Wedges, and it was a HUGE hit in our house. Lately they haven't been posting new recipes, so I figured they were just taking a break. No, somehow I accidentally subscribed to receive updates about their trouble alerts, feed stat reports etc., LOL. Today I realized that they HAVE been posting recipes, but I haven't been receiving notifications! They also "tagged me", so I'll be doing that later on today.

So, my blogging friends - if you see the following on your RSS feed list, it will not send you recipes on a regular basis!!!! ;)
FeedBulletin for: BakingBeauties
This is FeedBulletin, a personalized feed for BakingBeauties. FeedBurner uses this feed to report account changes, "FeedMedic" trouble alerts, feed stats reports, and occasional FeedBurner announcements.

Apparently I'm a blogging dumba$$, LOL!!! I've just been looking through their blog and I'm going to have to work overtime to try out all the fun new recipes ... starting with POUTINE!!!

A few minutes later - I have no idea what the problem is, but for some reason, I can't get a bloglines subscription to the right "area" of Dawn & Jeanine's blog - the options I have either show up ZERO updates, or only show updates from mid-May. This is very odd!!! Must continue to investigate!

Catch Up Post!

We've had ongoing/on/off computer/internet problems for the last [almost] 2 months, and there were some things I meant to post about but didn't. Time to ketchup (catch up)!

A few months ago I won some delicious items from blog giveaways, and didn't post about them. I've rescued the pictures from the old dinosaur computer, and present them here for your viewing pleasure :D

Check out the gorgeous flamingo sack! This came from Barb @ So How Was Your Day? :D She also sent some BBW bath goodies but they didn't make it into the picture because I ran upstairs to use them as soon as I ripped the package open, LOL! Hop over to Barb's blog - she's probably packing right now for her move, but check out her gorgeous new grand-niece Abbigale - what a DOLL!

Here we have some hand painted coasters from Dawn (of Dawn and Jeanine) @ The Baking Beauties - they're my Manitoba connection to recipes that your family will actually eat :D In particular, here are a few I got from them that I've made at least half a dozen times :) Macaroon Cake, Italian Bread Wedges , and Veggie Chowder (I always add diced chicken or ham to this one when I make it). I'm pretty sure I posted about the recipes in my blog as I made them - even tho my kids think it's bizarre to take pictures of our food before we eat it ;)

Thank you ladies, for the sweet goodies and the fun blogs!

Sugar and spice - that's what little girls are made of

More bibs with stash fabric - most of the fabric for this batch was from freecycle, as was most of the trim. I had GREAT fun adding rick rack and lace trim to these bibs - it makes them so girly and special!


I have baby blue flannel from the same freecycler, so I hope I can find some boy-y trim in my stash!

B is for bibs :)

Here are several of the bibs I completed this weekend - the one on the far right was made from fabric scraps sewn together to make a piece big enough -- thats why there's a row of rick rack in the middle, and a different fabric on the side --- scrap stash busting!

Back to the sewing machine :)

Got some sewing done today - it was REALLY hot out so the a/c is running full blast, and my studio is in the same room as the furnace, so it's mighty comfy down there! ;) Actually in the summer it's so cold in there that I have to wear a sweater, lol. It's not that cold YET, but it's coming! Here's a quilt top for a kiddy quilt for Caring4Canadians (a yahoo group) - I'm making a pile of stuff to take to them to distribute next month - I have several quilts ready, and a ton of bibs ... I'm trying to get things finished up to deliver them!

Yesterday I found a link to a group called ConKerrCancer - they make pillowcases for sick kids, and it turns out that the local chapter for Ontario, is situated one town south of me, and makes pc's for the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto. My oldest son is a "graduate" of the hospital, so I think this will be a great fit for me, and I'll be very happy to make them some pillowcases! I made the first ones tonight, and picked out fabric for several more - I'll be working on them over the summer - a good cause, and a good way to use up stash!

Stop rubbing me - my good luck streak is over, lol

Our computer/internet/router problems are back with a vengeance - this is incredibly frustrating, and I'm about ready to tell Sympatico to take their wireless internet and shove it where the internet doesn't reach!

Am trying to get help from an online technical forum, but it's very slow going. Whatever happened to the good old days when a company you purchase goods from, actually PROVIDED CUSTOMER SERVICE!! They shouldn't be making ME jump through hoops to fix the damn problem myself! *attempts to calm down, because all this stress is making my psoriasis go batshit!*

Enough computer stuff. I haven't been at my sewing machine for days now, but here's another picture from my sister - we're discovering she's a hell of a photographer!!! WELL DONE SHERRY!

Rub me for good luck!

Blogs are very dangerous critters. You can go from fun blog to fun blog with just the click of a mouse, and before you know it, 3 hours have gone by ... eeeeeeeeeeep!! Been there, done that, many times!! This weekend I entered several blog contests, and to my total surprise, I actually won TWO OF THEM!

b b in a box is where I won a gorgeous set of 12 ceramic door knobs (she has FLAMINGO KNOBS!! YES!!!) ... and Cottage Magpie is where I won a quilt. Yes, a quilt. Go visit the sites these wonderful ladies have put up, and have a peek around!

I have pictures on my old computer of some other delicious goodies I've won on blog giveaways - I lost track of where I stored the pictures so I don't think I ever posted the pictures. I'll have to crank up the old machine and see if I can find them and post them --- I still read the blogs regularly so I'll give them a public shout-out as well!!

I don't want to do a photoless post, so here's another picture my sister took in her front room - isn't it gorgeous?! Nice photo, Sherry!!

Gift for Gabe :)

I don't think they read my blog, so this should still be a surprise. If they DO, oh well - hi, Aimee, hi, Mona!

In 1997 I "met" Mona in a chatroom on the computer. We became online friends, then met in real life, as she also lives in Toronto, and was only 30 minutes away. In 1999 we started chatting with Aimee from the Philippines. We all became fast friends, and Aimee came to visit us in Canada several times. She ended up meeting Mona's brother Steve ... they got married and had Gabriel, and she moved here with her two daughters and G-man. We get together regularly :) Meeting people from the internet isn't always a bad thing!

This weekend we're celebrating Gabe's 4th birthday, so this is what I made him. Back row - travel pillow (12 X 16") ... pillowcase (standard size) ...
Front row - throw rug (18" X 24") ... playdough (cherry!) ... drawstring gift bag to hold everything (nothing to go into the trash, unless Gabe hates his gift, LOL) :)