Happy Halloween

Kaitlyn and Meredith are going to a friend's house for Halloween, there will be a group of friends handing out candy and watching scary movies. This will be a treat for my girls, as we live in the country and never have trick-or-treaters. I think they will have a great time seeing all the kids in their cute costumes. Now, hubby and I have to find something to do. Maybe I can get a friend to invite me to their house in town!

Kaitlyn found this Halloween cake idea and wanted to make it for the party. Very cute cake, made from two bundt cakes.

The stem is a marshmallow dyed with green cake frosting tint.




Here is the front:

The twins and I are participating in a 5K tomorrow morning, the Happy Harvest Run. My friend, who owns the quilt shop sponsors this event. This is the second year and she has doubled the number of participants. It will be very fun.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween,

Wearing Simplicity 2804

I wore this on Tuesday and had Kaitlyn take a picture before we left for work and school. I really like how this turned out and my 22 year-old co-worker commented how nice I looked. That really makes me like the top even more.

Before and After Bathroom

I wrote earlier about Mike (husband) and I updating a bathroom. This bathroom is in the basement. Our house was built in the early 1960's by the farmer who lived here, so it has some interesting aspects. This bathroom is off the laundry room and has no sink. The sink is just on the other side of the door by the washer and dryer. We never wanted to spend the money to have a sink plumbed into this bathroom. Just wanted to clarify that, in case you looked at the pictures and wondered where the heck is the sink. We do have other bathrooms and they all have sinks, I promise!

Onto the updating. So the basement has the family (aka man cave) room, the laundry room, my sewing room and this bathroom. When our older 2 were in high school, they had friends over to watch movies, play video games, etc and with the twins in high school that is starting now. This small bathroom is convenient for the guests but it really needed some improvement and I just couldn't stand it anymore.


One morning, I started pulling up the old linoleum. So here is a before picture.




This bit of flooring was harder to get up.

To remove the glue, I read on the internet to wet the glue. That, with a scraper worked okay. We also used the small sander to smooth away the rest.

Two years ago, we had the shower replaced. The ceiling needed some work after that and we got to it now. Timely, I know.

A friend gave us some concrete stain, super easy to do, just wear nice rubber gloves as this stain has acid in it. I gave it one coat, used baking soda in water to neutralize the acid. Let is dry 24 hours and put on 3 coats of glossy sealer. I really like the shades of color on the floor.

Here is a cabinet I bought for the room for storage.

The finished bathroom, hard to photograph such a small space.

Mike and I didn't want to spend very much money on this update. The wall and trim paint we had from other projects. The concrete stain free from a friend. We had the sealer. We did have to buy sandpaper for the sander, patch for the ceiling, plumbing supplies (wax ring and brass ring) for the toilet and a new sharp scraper. The supplies were $50. I wasn't going to buy a new cabinet but this one was just the right size, so add another $50. Rug was $12. I walk by this bathroom and do a double take now, it looks so much better

Vignette Party

I follow the blog titled, Funky Junk Interiors and tonight Donna is having vignette theme. My great room is decorated for fall and halloween, so all my vignettes in there have that theme. So that is what I am sharing.





On my antique buffet:


The sofa table, I bought 3 Halloween painted softballs on ebay, perfect for my softball playing girls. The cross-stitch I made years and years ago, in fact just found it this morning. The jar with the softball on top was filled with candy corn, my hubby has eaten it all. He is the only one in the house that likes it!


Shelves:



My mantle. I found the tall black candlesticks at a flea market, $7 for the pair. Sticker is still on the bottom of each, Hobby Lobby $34.99 each.

The framed picture is from Graphics Fairy very fun site.

Yes, Simplicity 4076 Again

Your not surprised are you? This is one of my favorite knit patterns, in fact, I have lost track the number of times I have made it. Fabric from Needle Nook, love the colors.

Neckline close up

Mike and I have been updating a bathroom this week in the evenings. It should be done by Saturday, can't wait to show the befores and afters. Looks great and we spent very little money, the best part

Simplicity 2804 - Again

I made it before here and receive many compliments, which surprised me as I didn't know about it at all. Now I wear it quite a bit. So, I tried it again and here it is:




I had to rework it a bit. I tried it on the first time and I felt like I was wearing a big horse blanket! So I took quite a bit in on the sleeves (one piece front and back with the sleeves attached), took off the band and shortened the top by 2"and then reattached the bottom band. Much better. I really like the aqua color, one of my favorite colors.

Fall Decorataing on the Front Porch

I was inspired by this picture from Front Porch Ideas and set to try and re-create it. I think it is wonderful.





Here is my version. Upon comparison of these pictures I need bigger pumpkins and more mums. I better fix this!

Diaper Bag for a Friend

A friend at work is having a baby girl next week. He said they have a black diaper bag and he was very happy carrying that one. Well, I thought his wife and baby girl needed a very girly-girl diaper bag. I used this tutorial and changed it up just a bit. I used one fabric for the front and a different one for the sides.

Here is the front:

The inside:

The sides with a pocket:

Another front view:

Kaitlyn said I needed to add a flower pin.

Vogue 8534 Again

I have been pulling out my TNT (tried and true) patterns. I made this Vogue top in May and really liked it. Some people might not like the unfinished neckline but I don't mind it, a bit trendy and a quick sew. I used a bamboo knit from Needle Nook fabric and barely squeezed the 3/4 sleeve version out of my yardage. Another interesting knit top and you can tell more from the line drawing. Take a look at the nice darts ont he 3/4 sleeve version and the seams for the front bodice/yoke. Makes for an even more interesting knit top.

Here is my top, photographed on our 100th straight day of no sun (really it has been 7-8 but feels like 100) plus 7" of rain this month. Gloomy, I tell you.

The tie is a nice feature, too. What do you think?

I have one more TNT knit top made and needs photographed. Plans for two more and then I am going to work on a Pea Coat from a gorgeous piece of teal wool.

Simplisity 2850 Again

I have made this pattern three times before - here and here and my favorite

So I pulled this pattern out for a fourth time, cut it out and went to sewing, the fabric was from Needle Nook, my latest shipment to land at my door. I was suppose to meet Anne (Needle Nook owner) on Wednesday. She was passing through my area, returning home after teaching out east. She calls me at work and usually I can get off and meet her, but not this Wednesday. Talk about disappointing, I had my new top on and everything!





I did get pictures before I went to work, not great pictures. The details of this top are so nice in this pattern. Gathered neckline, wide neckband, great sleeves. So here is the line drawing.



I made the sleeves from the dress with the elastic. I took pictures with the sleeves up and down, but my photographer cut off the sleeves when they were down! Cute either way, I will add a bit of length next time I make the long sleeve version.





Here it is, doesn't photograph the best in a print but this is a very flattering knit top. Just look at the built in shaping at the waist in the line drawing.

Simplicity 2701

Description: Misses’ Jacket with front, collar and sleeve variations.

Sizing: 4 to 20, I made a 10

Instructions: Good instructions with extras. The instructions include information for applying double fold bias tape for enclosing the seam allowances. A tip on turning a the button loop tube, directional staystitching, and excellent diagrams.

Likes/Dislikes: I like the v-neck view with the soft round collar and the shape of the jacket. Also, the back tab with the button is very cute. No dislikes.

Changes: The only change was to have only one button on the front.
I think a good change would be to lengthen the back facing and it would cover the back seam. The back is cut on the fold except for the top 1/3, a longer facing would cover this seam. This would make it look nicer without a lining.

Construction: I made this jacket quick and easy. I used my serger to finish all seams and did not line any part of it. I hadn’t sewn too many garments in the last month or so and I just wanted to make something. This pattern and fabric combination was out on my cutting table, so it was first up.

Fabric: A very inexpensive boucle from fabric.com.

Conclusion: A fun and stylish jacket. I really like the shape, neckline and collar. Plus it just felt great to get back to garment sewing.

A great day

Today I met Gwen from After the Dress at Joann's. She was in my area visiting family and sent me an email last week. We decided on when and where and I was so excited.

I walked into Joann's and went right to the pattern books, our designated meeting spot. Right away we recognized each other and it was just like old friends getting together. We talked and talked and shopped and shopped. It was an absolute delight.

Well, I am home between softball games (we are playing in 45 minutes for the District Championship- another great part of the day) and I was reading all my blogs. Well, look what I read from Grosgrain and the first thing that pops into my head - I met her today and this is so exciting. I saw her wonderful cards in person and she is such a sweet and delightful person.

So head over to Grosgrain and win a set.

Kaitlyn's Quilt

In August, I painted Kaitlyn's room, a very bright aqua, her choice. The furniture is black in the room and the trim is white, so the aqua looks incredible. She had a very nice black and white satiny comforter but the comforter does not stay on the bed. That satin just slides right off and Kaitlyn wakes up freezing in the night.

I decided to make a quilt for her. The fabric choice was easy, as I have adored Paula Prass Summer Soiree since it first came out so I ordered a half-yard set in the aqua family from Sew Love Fabric.

Now for a pattern, something a bit edgy for a teenager but not too hard for this part-time quilter. I found this one Mod Sampler Pattern with complete instructions. This was perfect.

The quilt came back from the machine quilter on Thursday, I put the binding on that night and on Friday we put it on Kaitlyn's bed. It really pops with the black head board and aqua walls. We did got to JC Penney's site and order aqua shams and hot pink bed skirt. Yes, bright.


We can't get sunshine around here, 5" of rain Wednesday to Friday, so we hurried outside during a brief dry period and snapped some pictures.

I took 2 of the entire quilt. I wanted to take more but Meredith and Kaitlyn's arms couldn't take holding it up any longer.

The first I brightened the colors up a bit in photoshop.

I added another row of blocks so it would fit Kaitlyn's full bed

A close-up of the squares and the quilting. We chose a square pattern, since the quilt had such wide white borders, Kaitlyn wanted the aqua thread to give some contrast to this.

I am really pleased with this and was so happy to create with this wonderful fabric.

Thank you all for my birthday wishes, it was a great day with my family. I received clothes and a new pair of shoes and several funny cards about my age. My girls are so sweet!

I have sewn 2 garments, and I will post about those this week. Yea, for being back in the sewing room.

Also, great fun tomorrow, I will meeting a fellow blogger at Joann's to do some fabric shopping. She is in town seeing family and we arranged a couple of hours to meet and shop, how fun and exciting. Details tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Here I am celebrating my 4th birtday, add a seven to the end and you have my age today.

Paige and Jesse are on their way, Erin will be here from college, too. Tonight all my daughters, son-in-law, hubby and my parents will be here for dinner, cake and of course, presents! It will be a wonderful day.