A Happy Mothers Day

Mothers Day... come and nearly gone now. This morning my son arrived with a basket full of laundry lol... AND and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He had also stopped at Dean & Delucca on the way and brought me chocolate and 3 special dessert confections. How absolutely sweet is that, I'll tell you, I must of raised this boy right! 

He and Hubby then prepared a fabulous brunch. The sun was out and shining, we sat out on the patio for the 1st time this year soaking up the warmth.

Both of my daughters called, you know how those phone calls just make your day so extra special. 

After brunch we went to see "The Great Gatsby". Loved the movie, elaborate backdrop of mansions rich with opulence, beautiful costumes and characters depicting the fabulous lifestyle of a great novel come to life. 

Last but not least Hubby had a special gift for me, charms for my bracelet. Two girls and 1 boy charm, 1 kitty charm for my sweet Cleo who I still miss so very much. 

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family. I hope your Mothers Day was filled with love and extra special too! 

Over The Rainbow

My sweet Cleo went to kitty heaven this morning, my heart is still heavy accepting her loss. A recent checkup found she had stomach cancer and she was barely eating. Although we could hardly bare the thought of letting her go, we had to keep her best interests in mind. With great love, Jerry and I by her side, she went peacefully.
Many thanks to my family, friends and FaceBook friends, for their compassion and kind comments while I faced this difficult decision. 
Cleo was my constant sewing buddy these past 13 years, she loved to hang out with me while I worked. She had many friends in the quilting community who sent her notes and pictures of kitty friends, we read and enjoyed them all!
In her honor I put together a slide show of some of my Cleo inspired patterns, as you can see she left some very big paw prints on my heart! 

Free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

Is it Spring Yet?

Is it Spring yet?? Well I don't know about you but I sure am ready! We have had a bit of everything this month, from our largest snowfall in years to thunderstorms. Temperature swings from teens to 60's in all in a matter of days, those poor little daffodils are too frightened to stick their heads up just yet. 

I have been doing a little Spring decorating, changing out the winter candles, floral arrangements and nick knacks to pastel colors and bunnies. Speaking of bunnies, you know I love my bunnies... I released a new penny rug design this month titled "Easter Egg Hunt". Love these wool felt colors, and the bunnies are just way too cute :)

My currant design I'm working on skips back to a winter theme. I know I know... I said I was waiting for Spring and here I am back to snow and such in my head. 

I did however find the perfect hanger for it. 

So while I'm not sewing I am planning my St Patricks Day feast! Silly me, I'm not even Irish, but on St Pats Day everyone is are they not? Even Cleo! 

The truth is I never even had a corned beef dinner until after Hubby and I were married. And to please  

my 1/2 Irish Hubby this German girl learned how to make his corned beef with all the fixings many years ago. Not all my attempts were too spectacular, sometimes the green beer was probably the best part lol! But I am proud to now say I have this meal down pat and make the BEST EVER CORNED BEEF! Yes I do  Bobby Flay! Our son and his girl friend will be joining us, I look forward to their company and cooking for them!

This St Patricks Day may joy and peace surround you,

contentment latch your door;

and happiness be with you now, 

and bless you ever more!

Bunny Central

Good morning, I should have plenty of time to blog today, our second big snow storm hit last night and I'll just say we are not going anywhere too soon! Hopefully we will be plowed out tomorrow, but for now it is pretty to look at and we have power, who could ask for more.

It is hard to believe just a week ago Hubby and I were in Dallas and it was 72 perfect degrees! We drove down to visit our daughter and cute little twin Grandsons who turned 7 this week. On our girlie afternoon out my daughter and I visited 2 quilt shops near by, Quilt Country in Lewisville and The Old Craft Store in Carrollton. Each store was unique and fun, I bought goodies at each. The flannel pictured below will be stitched in to 2 baby blankets for the expected arrival of my Nieces twins. I am trying the "self binding" baby blanket instructions, I'll let you know how that turns out. I also purchased a Frixion marking pen for my embroidery tracing, it is supposed to disappear with a hot iron. Normally I use the water soluble tracing pens so I am curious to see if I might like this better, have you tried one?

The drive down and back is long and rather boring, I stitched all the way. My bunny penny rug is nearly finished and will be a pattern soon!

Bunny kits and patterns have been hopping out the door since I got home, it feels like bunny central here. Easter is early this year, time to put my few Valentine decorations away and bring out the Spring decor.

And after gazing at this scene out my front window, I know I'm ready for a little Spring, how about you?

Meatloaf, Valentines & Flat Stanley

Meatloaf in the oven.... mmmmm, smells pretty good in here and now I have a little time to

plop down and write a quick post! I love Valentines Day, a sweet little day to break up the winter doldrums. A day filled with hearts and candy, cute little cards that say I Love You.... :)

Do you decorate for Valentines Day? I found darling Valentine kitties to scatter about my sewing room. Add a stack of Robert Kaufman polka dot fat quarters, how purrfect would that be for a Valentine project! 

Valentine kitties tacked to the bulletin board in my sewing room and a strand of vintage Valentines, my sewing room is a happy place to be.

This past week was very busy here and enjoyably so. Friends of ours from Buffalo NY flew in to visit, 

friends of 35 plus years, so special to have such a long lasting friendship. We had the BEST time and did a little bit of everything, their time with us flew by way too fast! 

We had another "guest" during their visit. This little guy flew up in an envelope from Oklahoma City,

meet my "Grandson" Alexander lol! Perhaps you may be familiar with a school project called "flat Stanley". If not, a school age child mails a paper image to you with a request to show "them" around your city and provide information (postcards, maps, pictures etc) telling the class about your city. You then mail all the info you gathered back to the school for their class to learn from. I did one for another Grandson last year. His flat Stanley was only envelope size. This one is actual size and more cumbersome to drag around.

Here he is having tea and pastries with my friend Kathy and I at a local favorite chocolate shop!

Perfect timing, the oven buzzer is going off, time to put dinner on the table. 

Bon appetit!

A Sweet Child's Apron Tutorial

Happy Valentines Day To You!

Child's Half Apron Tutorial

When I 1st saw Pam Kitty Mornings sweet Love line of Valentine fabric I just knew I would have to design something special integrating that cute Valentine block panel in my project. Cleo and I chose two blocks for our pockets and used that darling heart selvage for our waistband. 

Ties were made simple by using satin ribbon!

To get started you will need: 

1/2 yard fabric for apron skirt

1 Pam Kitty Love Valentine Block panel for waistband and pockets

1 fat quarter white fabric for pocket and waistband linings

1/8 yard lightweight fusible interfacing for the waistband

2 yards 1-1/2- inch wide washable red satin double faced ribbon

white thread, quilters rotary cutter, acrylic ruler and cutting mat

Cutting directions:

From fabric for skirt cut 1 rectangle 15" long x 30" wide.

Pockets- choose 2 quilt blocks from the panel,

carefully center the design and trim each block to 6-1/2 inches square.

Waistband- cut selvage from end of the Valentine block panel to measure 2-1/2" wide. 

Trim selvage to 16-1/2" long centering the heart designs you wish to feature on your waistband.

Cut 1 fusible interfacing 2-1/2" x 16-1/2" for waistband.

From white fabric cut: two 6-1/2" squares for pocket linings and

one 2-1/2" x 16-1/2" strip for waistband lining.

Use 1/2 inch seams unless otherwise noted.

Lets get started! 

To hem the bottom 30" edge of skirt: fold fabric 1/4" to the wrong side and press. Fold over 

1 inch and press again. Stitch hem close to the 1st fold line through all layers.

To hem side edges: fold fabric 1/4" to the wrong side and press. Fold over

1/2 inch and press again. Stitch hem close to 1st fold line through all layers.

Here is your cute pocket block, design all centered and trimmed to 6-1/2" square.

With right sides facing, pin block to pocket lining. Sew around the pocket leaving approximately 

3 inches open at the bottom edge for turning. Clip corners close to stitch lines. Turn pocket right side out and press. Make a 2nd pocket in the same manor.

Pin pockets to apron, placement is 1-1/2" from side and bottom edges. 

Stitch pocket to apron on all sides except the top edge. 

Gather the waist: using your longest straight stitch setting, sew two gathering lines along the top edge of your apron approximately 1/4 inch apart. Pull bobbin threads to gather top to measure 15-1/2".

Here are your 3 waistband pieces all laid out: heart selvage, lining and fusible interfacing. 

Fuse interfacing to wrong side of the heart selvage strip. With right sides facing, pin and sew lining to selvage along the top raw edge. Press seam towards lining.

Attach waistband to skirt: right sides facing pin gathered edge of skirt to remaining selvage edge of waistband. Waistband should extend 1/2" on either side of the skirt. Adjust gathers making sure they are spaced evenly, sew skirt to waistband. 

Remove gathering stitches, press seam towards the apron waistband which

should now look like this!

Press long edge of waistband lining under 1/2 inch to the wrong side. 

Right sides facing flip lining on top of waistband as pictured below.

Cut ribbon in half to make two 36" pieces. Cut one end of each ribbon tie diagonally,  this will keep the cut edge from fraying besides adding a pretty finish.

Sandwich ribbon ties in between waistband and lining matching straight raw edges and pin.

Stitch across the waistband 1/2" side seams encasing the ties within. 

Trim seams, turn waistband and ties right side out.

Pin and slip stitch folded edge of waistband in place on wrong side of apron.

All finished, now go make some cupcakes with your little darlings!

XXX000

Barbie Jo and Cleo

PS: if you make an apron using our tutorial, feel free to email Cleo a picture of your finished project, we would love to see and include you in a special Valentine LOVE post! 

Ushering in the New Year

Another Christmas come and gone in the blink of an eye. Were you good? Of course you were, what did Santa bring you? Amongst the bubble baths, chocolates and book gift cards, all things that I love, I opened a gift from my sister on Christmas morning that made me smile :) She crocheted this adorable kitty scarf for me, I was so surprised! I had "pinned" this scarf on Pinterest, I just can't believe she found time to make it, gifts from the heart are so special. Santa also brought me an Intuous Pen Tablet for my computer, a very thoughtful gift for any designer, artist,  illustrator, it is used with Mac Photoshop and Design programs. I am very excited about this and will be burning some midnight oil while trying to learn new techniques.

Christmas here was quiet and laid back. Dinner with our son and his girlfriend. After the dinner mess is quickly put away I start whipping up appetizers for the after party. Several of our sons friends always join us for games, Jerry and I always look forward to it and enjoy these young people so much. This year we played Apples To Apples. The cream cheese penguins are a hit as always! 

New Years Eve was quiet here as well. It snowed all weekend and we just settled in. New Years Day I made our Pennsylvania good luck dinner of Pork Roast, Sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.. yum! 

Temperatures have dropped to the teens and Cleo hops from fleece to fleece keeping warm. My pretty girl! Every evening she hops up on the couch in between Jerry and I and watches TV with us. I think we are going to need a set of 3 recliners, one for each of us!

This Year is going to be one of many changes for Hubby and I. Jerry retired the end of December after a lifetime of work. I think it is going to take some time for him to adjust, right now it seems like he is still on vacation, a very long vacation lol! Wish us luck as we start this new journey together!