oooh, and one more thing.....

Lest you think I was a bit of a lazy oaf today, sewing only 3 things, here is a 4th item I just finished up!!!
A PINK skull baby gown, by request. :) This fabric is AWESOME!! It's a very soft rib from Fabric. com, back a couple weeks ago when the had some nice knits on sale for $2.50/yd. I love it!!
Sorry for the wrinkles and the obviously un-ironed-but-just-sewn knit item look.



That's really all I've sewn today, now.

My hot hubby!! AND, Stuff I made today: a gray gown, a star hoodie, and a pillowcase.

Take that, Beth!!! :)



Stash game is TOMORROW!!!!!! I need to order all my diapers fabrics tonight so I don't lose points during September's game. WOOT!!! WOOT!!!!
I'm trying to finish up a couple of things on my table (but why, when I have a closet full of UFOs??) before the game starts.

First up is a pillow case by Emily's request. I'll try to get that packaged up tomorrow.


Another (and the last, in this fabric) baby gown. Notice mine don't have elastic at the hem?? What in the heck is that FOR anyway??? I love gowns for newborns, and for my babies in winter. They are so cozy in their gowns and wool pants for sleeping.


I made Aldous this nifty hoodie for his birthday pics. I'm probably going to applique a guitar on the front, but for now I'm calling it done. It's made from the Kwik Sew for Toddlers book/patterns. I lined the hood and did all the others "fancy" stuff w/o the book...I just made it up, cuz I'm CRAZY like that. I love this hoodie, and of course, Aldous.










Another obsessive block structure by William.

My Family Birthday and a recipe!!

I realize this is the third post about my birthday this year, so perhaps I will avoid posting about the other two birthday celebrations. :) I had a little get-together at my house for family, and was lucky enough to invite my sister and her family to join us, since she's just moved 30 minutes away (after being like 6 hours away FOREVER!!)

Boring pics, only family will love!!

Me, yacking it up!!


Alexander (my nephew) and William playing with some silly glasses.


The whole gang! well, mostly. Terah, Mikey and Audrey on the couch, and Carey and Evelyn on the floor.


Aldous and his cousin Zachary.


Aldous checking the birthday cake: Almost done!!


Alexander and both boys. They LOVED playing with their cousins!!


Alexander and William playing ball outside.


Baby Audrey!


Me and sweet Audrey!! <3


The chow line!! At the head, Evelyn, then Carey's daughter Ashley, and then her friend Raven.


Singing happy birthday and blowing out the candles. 20 years old, can you believe it??


Some of the food: spice cake with cream cheese frosting, grapes and strawberries, and french fries.



barbeque grilled chicken, salad with special dressing, made up at the last second. Shared below.



The roasted vegetables, before roasting. We also had rolls, which didn't get in any of the pictures.


Terah and Audrey


Me with all the babies and


Mikey, Aldous and Doug tending the grill.


Mikey and Audrey


Doug, with Ashley and Raven in the back ground.


Motley Crew (or Crue?? I dunno...)



More cooking!!!


Silly William!!



mmmm, yummy cake!!


Zachary and Audrey



Jacki's Birthday Salad Dressing

1/2c evoo,

1/4c canola,

1/2c balsamic vinegar,

1/4c raspberry jam (seedless, of course),

1T Dijon mustard,

sea salt and black pepper

combine in blender until emulsified. YUM!! Keeps well w/o separating.

Embroidered Gowns, William "fixes" my Sewing Machine, and A Few Funny Pics of the Boys

I'm loving these condensed versions of my life as I try to catch up from my few days off from blogging.

First are these hand-embroidered gowns, for a baby shower gift for my friend. They are made from flour sack fabric that I got in a five-pack of one-yard squares!! Perfect!!! The gown is self-drafted and only in a size 12 mths-ish. Obviously, a raglan sleeve can be worn for a wider range of sizes.

The embroidery designs are from Jenny Hart's book, Sublime Stitching. I adore Jenny Hart!! I saw her at Maker Faire in Austin a couple of years ago, and I was so star-struck, I couldn't even go to her booth to buy anything until she was gone. How dumb is that??




I wrapped them up in green tissue, and tied it with some pretty ribbon.



Then I stuck the package inside this pink gift bag and made a matching bow.


I also made this gift tag from a box and some fleece rick-rack trim.


Viola!! I think it's pretty!!




William "fixes" my sewing machine.

Quite frequently, William escapes from my sight and runs off to do the devil's work with his idle hands. One day, he was gone long enough to tinker with my sewing machine.
When I went into my sewing room, and sat down to my machine, I noticed the empty bobbin storage box to my left.
When I saw that empty box, my heart just stopped, because I just KNEW that somewhere was a tangle of bobbin thread waiting for me to wrestle it. However, a quick perusal didn't show them in my drawer, on the floor, or on the table...hmmmm, a mystery!!



I also noticed that the top thread had been undone, and the end was somewhere inside my machine, so I opened it up in order to get it. ACK!!!!
This is where all of my bobbins were!!


Not only were there about 10 bobbins shoved into this area, my spindle for my second spool of thread was in there, too!!! I'm glad I looked in here before starting up my machine!


And, last but not least,
Funny Pics of the Boys!!!
These were pics worth sharing but with no blog worth story attached (in my opinion).

Aldous, sound asleep, still in the ergo carrier. We love this carrier, by the way, and I recommend it!!!
I also warn people against purchasing a baby bjorn. They are a waste of money.



Here is my block master, William, with yet another of his building block masterpieces. There is a new one every week and I can't quite keep up!!



Also, there is a bi-monthly coffee creamer masterpiece as well, accompanied here by the cheeseface. Notice he has taken my coffee mug to fill up with creamer?? In reality, I use only 3 teaspoons of creamer in my coffee, not an overflowing mug-full.

More Fabric, a rave on Uberstitch, and How I Carry My Embroidery Projects

My title is TOTALLY backwards, or at least, out of order. First up is How I Carry My Embroidery.
I had three different friends give me little bags for my birthday. It's like they teamed up, except they didn't. Anyway, I put them all together to use for my embroidery projects. Most of them are small and I carry them with me to work on where I might be waiting, or riding in the care, etc.

Please notice my awesome phone, the G1 in the upper right of the photo below. This phone is great because it has a REAL keyboard as well as a touch keyboard, still and video cameras, GPS, bar code scanner, all of Google stuff including maps, directions, tasks, calendar, email, chat, all of that. It is the BEST phone I've ever had and I absolutely love it.

Commercial break over. Below are the small canvas bag, the green zippered pouch, and the pretty hand made zippered pouch with nursery rhyme toile lining!! (by my friend Sarah, of Maison Boheme


Inside this Maison Boheme pouch is all of my embroidery thread, and a needle.


In the zippered green owl and bird pouch, I have my scissors, pencils, sharper, and eraser!


I put this all in my canvas bag, add a hoop and my project, and VOILA!! Embroidery to go!!



I GOT NEW FABRIC!!!!
I got a JoAnn gift card for my birthday, THANKS TERAH!!! and I found more OWLS!!! (and I just saw some owl fleece today while I was out, but it wasn't on sale. Please send bad sale vibes for that bolt until I can buy some.)

I found this woven, and this flannel. Cutey-patootie!!


I found this turquoise bandanna print and this floral lightweight, loosely woven cotton!! Boy, I wish I would have found a bit of this early in the summer!! It's nice!!


I also got some pattern tracing stuff (I prefer the unlined, but they were out) and some gripper stuff for pajama feet for little people.



Then, I went to Thomas Sewing Center, in Mesquite, and picked up these gems for the Christmas outfits!! The three babies have Christmas pics around Dec 3rd. I also plan a trip to Greenville for Santa pics, as the line is much shorter and I get super-duper pics!! I hope I remember to share last year's: it's a riot!!



I order some fabric to make a friend's dress, and the woman at Uberstitch on etsy(and it's a short "e" sound on etsy, not EAT-see, FYI) was just AWESOME!! She answered all of my silly and numerous questions on a Sunday morning with such promptness, it was like an IM chat!! I love her. She heard the desperation in my virtual voice and packaged up my fabric right then to be shipped out first thing Monday.

When my fabric arrived on Wednesday, it was wrapped so adorably in a tissue paper pattern and tied with this strip of fabric I impatiently untied before I realized I should take a picture. Oops!


She had these totally clever tags made out of recycled stuff. Like this one, from a map or atlas.



And this one, I don't know what it's made of, maybe a brochure or magazine.



And finally, the fabric. Alice Kennedy's Apple Line, for Timeless Treasures. These trees are so beautiful and made a wonderful dress, which I will post later, perhaps modeled by the beautiful owner!!


Th, th, th, that's all, folks! For now, anyway.