I'm sewing!

Bitsy's back baby, she's back! I cleaned her and fired her up, and she's good to go! Actually sewing seems much smoother now, I guess they did some good fixing and tweaking at the shop! I sewed all the rows together...

I cut them apart and started sewing up these simple blocks...

You know what I did this time? I really paid attention to a scant 1/4" seam. Usually I sew right up to the 1/4" guide on my sewing foot. Then I wonder why my blocks are always a tad short. Well sewing just a bit smaller than 1/4" really helps. I'm sure everyone else already does this, and I'm just a little slow on the uptake, but I finally got it! Light bulb moment! LOL

OK, kids will be home soon...but I just wanted to tell you that Bitsy is home and well!

♥ Jen

Grab some coffee...it's a long one!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a week. Bitsy being away has left me less than crafty. I did cut fabrics for Annabelle's new quilt, but unfortunately(?) most of it is just strips so I really need my machine to do much of anything. But here they are...waiting....waiting....

Good news though--Sears called me yesterday and said the repairs are done! When I dropped it off they said to wait a day or two to pick it up after your get The Call, so it has time to get back to their particular store. So Bitsy's on her way! *happy dance*

We had a frightening experience in our neighborhood on Thursday night. I went to sleep around 11, then woke up right before midnight to hear a "popping sound," a smoke alarm, and I saw an orange glow coming from outside. Our across-the-street neighbors' garage was on fire. He was outside trying to put it out with a garden house but it was too far gone. I ran downstairs, woke up Dave (who had fallen asleep watching TV and we called 911 (they had already gotten a call about it). It seemed to take forever for the fire trucks to get there! Everyone got out, thank goodness, but their garage was completely gone and the fire had even spread to the roof of the house. They have a lot of smoke and water damage. I've never seen flames like that, going past the top of a two-story house. There was a Porsche inside the garage, propane tanks, and ammo (both of them are police officers). Very very scary. Five fire companies came, there were dozens of fire fighters and police officers. My friend who lives next door to them had some damage too...all the vinyl siding on that side of the house melted and warped. They lost some lanscaping as well.

Link to news story

The good news...the fire wall between the garage and the house saved it from being completely destroyed. Also, they happened to have a fire hydrant on their property so that helped save time. So we all have been doing what we can, I gave a bag of Mason's outgrown clothes for their 3-year old (all their clothes are smoke-damaged). The cause? The light bulb in the garage door opener melted the plastic casing which caught on fire and quickly spread. They had been getting ready for our neighborhood garage sale the next day so the garage was filled with clothes, etc. Very sad but they are doing okay and are staying with family nearby. Good, good people.

We sold some things at the sale...we had never been a part of one before. I was kind of surprised the "good stuff" didn't go, like the high chair, pack-n-play, and exersaucer. Maybe we priced them too high? But we lowered everything 50% towards the end and still nothing. $15 for a pack-and-play in good condition isn't too bad, is it? Anyway we're going to donate them to the church. Then things like stuffed animals sold. I can't imagine giving a kid a used stuffed animal, but to each his own, I guess! Kids books sold well. Oh and we got rid of the crib too, that was a good deal...$75 for it and the mattress.

Since I don't have any crafty stuff to show, I'll show pictures of stuff I got at Home Goods yesterday! Sound good? This is a planter with sweet little birds going around it. Not bad for $7.99!

Then I picked up this gardenia candle...mmm, smells just like the flowers! Gardenias remind me of my grandma, they're her favorites.

These bowls are for end-of-the-year teacher gifts. I'm going to line each one with one of those dishtowels you see and then fill them with homemade fabric apples. Apples for the teacher sounds right to me!

I got these Hello Kitty bags at Target the other day. Don't you love their dollar section? It seemed to be really well-stocked when I was there. Anyway I couldn't resist. Annabelle's already claimed one.

Since it seems like the warm weather is here to stay, I planted some annuals yesterday in the front. I was going to take pictures this morning but everyone was across the street and I felt bad. So I'll hopefully get some later.

I got a mammogram this morning, and everything's fine. Since I'm 40 I figured I should have another one. My first mammogram was a routine one when I was 37. They called me less than an hour after I got home to tell me it was normal. That was a relief, I didn't have to worry all day about test results. So my public service recommendation today is to get a mammogram if it's appropriate for you! Better to be safe than sorry! It's just a bit squeezy and it's over before you know it.

Ok, I'm going to call Sears and see what's up. Hopefully Bitsy feels all better!

♥ Jen

A new fabric day is a good day!

I was so happy when the UPS truck pulled up last night! I wasn't expecting my Fat Quarter Shop package until tomorrow. Let's see what I got!

This is my first French General fabric purchase. Can't wait to make something with them!

Well, let me back up for a sec...remember the cat fabric I got for Annabelle's new quilt? Here it is, with a yard of Anne's (1/2 price!) Petite Maison bird fabric.

The cat fabric's pink was a bit hard to match. It's kind of a blue-based pink. So I decided to make most of the other fabrics match the yellows, oranges and reds. They are all Lakehouse.

Let's look at them one by one, shall we? Save the applause til the end, please!

I really love this one...all the colors in the quilt are here!

Happy yellow flowers

I know! The mango elephant fabric! *squeal*

Color's off, but it's a beauty

Sunshiney polka dots

This one is so cute in real life!

More of my favorite polka dots

Sweet little rosebuds

I adore this daisy print!

All together now!

This is the pattern again...

So now I'm off to do some pre-washing, pressing and cutting! Enjoy your day too!

♥ Jen

Chocolate brown

Mmmmm! Just pulled these Ghiradelli brownies out of the oven...they smell soooo good! Double chocolate!

Did you have a good weekend? Mine was very busy, but fun! Dave and I did a ton of gardening both days, adding new plants and putting down chocolate brown mulch. We finally found some furniture for the front porch...also chocolate brown! Here are some pictures of our handiwork.

Very comfy resin wicker...Dave found them at Home Depot. Rock on!

Weeping Crabapple tree

We still have a lot of mulching to do...both sides of the house, the other front bed, and a bed in the back...but we'll get that done during the week. You can see the big pile we still have by the garage. I do love the smell of fresh mulch! Then in a week or two we'll get our annuals in pots and such. Ahh, Spring!

Annabelle had three friends over on Saturday...they all stayed for dinner and two stayed overnight. Well, one did, the other girl got homesick around 10 pm so she had to get picked up. Luckily they included Mason and Julia (friend from across the street) in all their activities so they all had a good time. Annabelle and Mason were both exhausted yesterday though!

I'm hopeful that Bitsy will be back this week...Annabelle's fabrics will be coming in so I'm EXTRA excited to start sewing again. I think her quilt will be super cute! I can't wait to get started!

Have a great day!

♥ Jen

Saturday

What a boring post title, I know! The fact is that I FEEL very boring too...Bitsy is still not back and the only thing I've been working on is this stitchery.

Showing the progress would not be exciting...Gee, look, I added 20 more backstitches! Blah. I have another quilt planned though! Annabelle's been asking for a bigger quilt, and we found this adorable fabric at Fat Quarter Shop. It will be the "focus" fabric...

This is the pattern I'm going to use...

I had so much fun picking out all the fabrics to go with the kitties. I'll show those once they come in the mail.

Have a great weekend friends!

♥ Jen

Getting by

Hi friends! How is everyone? How was Mother's Day and the weekend? I told you I was going to visit my grandmother on Saturday...it was really nice. My dad was there, aunt and uncle, and a few cousins. We had a yummy lunch (with kielbasa...DELICIOUS kielbasa!) and had a fun visit. Grandmas' doing well...she's 91 and still has lots of energy. Truly one of the best people I know!

Ok, you got me. This picture is a year and a half old. I forgot to take pictures this time!

On Sunday, Mother's Day, the kids and Dave gave me really nice cards and stuff they made in school (well, Annabelle and Mason, of course). Annabelle's was so funny...she made a poem in school, where she had to think of three adjectives/verbs to describe me. The ones she chose were Caring, Shopping, and Sleeping. Ok, I can see the first two, but sleeping?! I'm always up at 6 and I go to bed at 10 at the earliest. She said she thought, well, everyone sleeps! LOL So later that day we did a little shopping and I came home and took a nap. I figured I might as well since I had the rep anyway! I wonder what her teacher thought?

Yesterday we got a weeping crabapple tree planted in one of the new beds in front of the walkway. It's got pretty little pink flowers on it...well, it did, it's "past peak" now. But here's what one looks like...

We've had frost the past few nights so annuals will have to wait to be planted. Can you believe that we had SNOW on Mother's Day? Crazy. It didn't stick but it was cold and windy...usually we go to a cute little lake town on Mother's Day called Skaneateles. We walk around, have lunch, etc. Not this year!

I have a "migraine hangover" today. I get migraines occasionally, only about 1 to 2 times a year. The aura/headache are no picnic, plus the next day I feel like I have an actual hungover. Only without the fun of the party the night before. I'm trying to work through it though.

Sears called, my sewing machine needs a new "PCB board," whatever the heck that is. It's going to cost $70 to fix. Oh well, it's got to be done! Can't wait to get Bitsy back, I miss her!

All right, time to get something to eat and do some weeding or such. Have a wonderful day!

♥ Jen