My Mamie Made It!

Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over

the lives of little children .  ~Alex Haley

Even though she hasn't been feeling her best, Mamie knew what little Amelia needed for her birthday...a faux fur vest, with matching headband.  And of course it needed a beautiful monogram just like Mamie's not so faux fur.  The label proudly claims  "My Mamie Made it!"  just like Amelia does whenever she recieves a compliment for her attire.

Mamie used a Simplicity pattern, a satin lining, and pretty white frogs to serve as closures for the front of the vest. She reported that it sewed up quickly; in fact it could have been done in about an hour, except for the usual glitch that we both seem to experience when it comes to turning  these things.  You can see from Amelia's smile that she is more than happy with her birthday surprise, and what better way could a Mamie find to wrap up her sweet Amelia on a cold January day?

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie...

The minute that Kathy showed this quote to me, in my heart of hearts I knew just which little girl would wear it!  Our petite Sarah, the powerhouse of the grandgirlies... 18 months old, and this little girl takes care of business.  She doesn't ask for help, if she needs something, she moves furniture or climbs until she gets it.  She doesn't tantrum; a slight shake of the head informs her bibi that she prefers not to comply with the request.  Before her bath, she marches unclothed through the den taking her dirty clothes to the laundry room.  I picture her as the CEO of a corporation someday.  While this may have been a winter of discontent, this little girlie has brightened our lives; she keeps us in stitches.

This quote was digitized by Kathy, she used the Giselle font for the first 2 lines and Alice for the last.  I did have some difficutly stitching it out, but after trying many different solutions, I came out with a product that would work . I backed the onesie with polymesh cutaway.  My thread (I use Isacord) kept shredding and breaking, and this was I problem that I never have.  I rethreaded several times, checked the bobbin, dusted the case, oiled it, changed needles, ( I was using a 75/11 ball point), slid a second piece of stabilizer under the hoop, all to no avail.  A text from Kathy suggested a larger needle, so I ended up using an 80/12 sharp, and then decided to decrease the top thread tension just a bit.   The rest of the quote sewed out like a charm!

I can't wait to see Sarah in this; my love for this little girl is as constant as the Northern Star!

Pillowcase for Tony O

Sleep all night, in my sight

Though you're off to dreamland.

Then tomorrow with the sun,

Back to Mama, little one.   ~  French Folk Song

 

Little Tony Owen, Kathy's precious grandson, needed a birthday pillowcase.   Kathy went to work and  whipped up this bright one, with his name in applique and colors to suit an active little boy.  The font is the Happy Applique Font from Five Star Fonts.  The pillowcase is made from a yard of fabric, with an extra strip of bright red trim.

To make the pillowcase, 3 different fabrics are used; Kathy used a strip of the main fabric for the cuff of Tony's.  One strip is 27 inches, one is 9, and the trim is 1 and a half inches long.  You line up the strips on top of each other on the ironing board, matching folds and selvage edges as closely as you can.  Use a rotary cutter to trim them to the exact same width.  Now make 3 circles of fabric, you can use a serger or french seams if you like.  Then sew up the end of the largest circle, making the body of your pillowcase.

Now fold both the small trim strip and 9 inch cuff strip lengthwise and press. 

   Baste the trim circle to the cuff, then encircle this piece on the outside of the case.   All of your pieces match nicely because you took time to trim them all the same length.  (not in my nature, but boy is this a good idea.)  Sew the cuff and trim piece to the body of your pillowcase, trim the edges and finish the seam.  

Little Tony must certainly need his naps.  His  late afternoon antics are sometimes shared with us as he facetimes with his grandma, and his red hair and big smile are often the bright spot in an otherwise dreary day!

Yes, She's outa control!

She lives in Fairhope, Alabama; we have been friends for over 40 years, and her passions are her family, any holiday, and Alabama Football.  We met at the University of Alabama while our husbands were in graduate school; we taught school in Tuscaloosa County and formed a friendship that has lasted through the years.

Cindy is modeling her houndstooth pajamas which were a gift from her daughter, her lovely baseball cap, my scarf which has my crimson monogram and her new makeup case which was a gift from me.  The shaker in her hand has seen years of Alabama football games,  from either the stadium or her den.  A few of her former kindergarten students have gone on to play for her favorite team, and she cheers them on proudly.

We won't be cheering together, but tomorrow night will be an exciting one for Rick and Cindy, Joe and me.

Write it on your heart...

That every day is the best day of the year. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today is a big day in my little world. Thank you, gentle friends, for your prayers. And as soon as I figure out this iPad, or get my camera and laptop out of the repair shop, I will show some more of my little projects!

A December birthday present

Run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!

I have my camera in the shop because the colors just aren't showing true. Regardless, this hunter green apron needed some brighter colors to bring it to life.
The applique came from Planet Applique, the font is Sugar and Spice. I added trim in hot pink and lime green, and it looks really pretty on the darker green.

My birthday present for Lynda is complete!

O Christmas Tree....

A friend gave this little collar to Issa when she was a baby, and Mandy thought a yoke dress was just what it needed. It has a pretty little Chrismas tree in shadow embroidery, then tiny candy canes on either side. I made the dress without a collar; as soon as Christmas is over I will use it for a pattern and make a white collar with a monogram or an applique for Valentine's day.

I had more red gingham to use, so I cut out a size 6 from the Bodice Dress that I had used to make her Easter dress. I used white piping and red rick rack around the cuffs and under the bodice, and it took some time to figure out just how to do it. I did the bodice first; I ran a basting stitch around the bottom to hold the lining to the dress, then attached the piping using the #23 applique foot. After several false starts, I decided on the #12 foot to attach the rick rack on top of the piping, in just the right place so that when I flipped the piping over just the red triangle of the rick rack would peep out below it. The groove on the underside of the 12 foot was large enough to hold both the piping and rick rack in place; the right side of the foot is higher to accomodate the extra bulk of both trims. I caught Issa before lunch looking at a Christmas ornament, she had her Sunday shoes on, and the little ballerina foot caught my eye. I wish the light had been better, but I loved the photo.

Bibi's bows

For these little gifts I cut my ribbon about 24 inches long, and embroidered the narrower of the two. I used the large hoop with Stable Stick, scored it with a straight pin, then laid the ribbon carefully down on top of the sticky surface. By using the large hoop, I was able to get all the ribbons down without rehooping.
The flowers are from the artista software, the tiny rosebud is from the Martha Pullen CD, Sweet Baby. The font for the larger ribbons is Lisa, and Peyton's font is Blackboard. Then it was a matter of stitching the ribbons together, and I'll attach them to a ponytail elastic so that they can bounce around on little pony tails.

Merry Jingle!

Kathy stitched out this pillow on a pretty print dishtowel; I added the trim and sewed up the sides. We thought the font would be nice on a holiday pillow, it is Christmas Card; she brought it into the Artista Software and digitized it to stitch out. You cannot see in this photograph, but she outlined each letter through the software also, and it is really pretty in person. Then we just stuffed it with a little travel pillow.

Just 3 more weeks to finish off my Christmas gifts!

Christmas Ornament Shirts

It's time to fix up some Christmas t-shirts for my little girlies. I put Sarah's in the mail this morning, so I don't have a picture of it. The Chrismas ornament frame for the monograms is from Embroidique. I played around with different fabrics; Katelyn's and Mae's shirts have gold lettering. Again, I slowed the machine to half speed and did not have a problem at all with the metallic thread breaking; I used Gutterman thread.

Mae was pretty excited this afternoon telling me about Stella the elf who visits their house each night. I have a feeling it is going to be an extra special Christmas.