New Fabric

I had received an email from Fabric Mart  about their pyramid of savings, then Carolyn posted about the sale and I couldn't resist any longer.  I filled my cart with many pieces, went over my budget, so eliminated a few.  The savings really made a difference and I bought some pieces I had been wanting for quite some time.  Today after a very long day at work, I arrived home to a nice box on my porch.

Here is my fabric goodness:

tops, dresses, jackets, cardigans, shirts, sweaters are my plans.  I was thrilled with every piece.

Fall sewing here I come, after a couple more things for Erin.

Fall Color

Today has been a busy, busy day and right now I am taking full advantage of the fall back for the time change!!
The twins helped me clean up the flowers and the yard, so I rewarded them by a fall picnic. Not many November 1st around here are 70 degrees. We drove about 15 miles to a historic covered bridge. Here is the view from our picnic spot.




Thanks to some local citizens the bridge was saved during the floods in July. These brave people went on the bridge and removed some of the siding. Why? Well, the creek was so flooded the water was as high as the bridge, even a foot or two above the bottom of the bridge. With the siding removed, the water was able to flow through the bridge, thus saving the bridge. A bridge in the same area (over 100 years old) was not so fortunate. This picture will give you an idea of how high the water was.


Another picture of some fall color:


The rest of my day? Out to dinner with some girlfriends and a trip to Joann's with them. They got a huge laugh at this, as none of them sew but one friend wanted home dec fabric to recover dining room chairs. I had to figure the yardage!

Back home by 8 and I went to scrapbooking. A couple of days ago, I spread it out all over the dining room table. Tonight I have all the pictures in the album and have a bit of journaling to do. February to June are all in the album, now to print off more pictures. I did make an 8 x 8 album just of dd #2's graduation.

The Weekend

First, thanks for all the birthday wishes, it was a wonderful birthday. The town gave me a parade, just take a look:

No, not really it was homecoming for the high school. My best friend and I joked they were giving me a parade. They could of asked me to be the Grand Marshall, right?

Saturday, the twins played in our conference middle school softball tournament. There was a 3 hour break between their first and second games. My mom, a friend and I headed to a nearby town to check out the antique and artist stores. I took a picture of this chair, it is bent willow with all these sticks poking out of the back. I asked permission to take the picture:

Now read the sign for the chair:

I thought is was too funny, especially considering I am going to be a mother-in-law. I told my son-in-law to-be that I didn't want to find this in their home!!

I made a purse tonight. I purchased 2 charm packs to make some pillows for the family room, this is what I had left over. Thought I would make a purse from the few left.

I have started sewing on a dress tonight, hurray, back to garment sewing.

Lindsay has asked for pictures of your wedding dress. I bought my dress but knew the minute I put it on, it was the one. I posted this picture in August for our 25th anniversary but thought I would share again.

Father's Day

Okay, I have to share a story from our Father's Day dinner. My parents came out and the girls were showing my dad (their Papa) the card they gave their dad. It is one of the musical cards and plays MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This". Well, dd#2 asked her Papa if he knew who sang it. He looked around for help and one of the twins whispered the name. Papa proudly stated, "Empty Hammer!" So much for getting help with the name, it did provided a great deal of laughter and a story we will be able to share for years to come.

Hope it was a great Father's Day for all. We had homemade ice cream, so it was a great day for me, too!

Sewing you ask?

Well, yes, I made 2 purses the last couple of days, 2 pair of pajama pants for soon to be college girl. Also, a trip to Joann's today for patterns, thread, buttons and some fabric.

My Whirlwind Trip

Okay, here is a few shots from my whirlwind trip but you have to picture the start time and conditions. Wednesday morning, 2:30, to be exact, 34 junior high kids and 8 adults start the two hour bus ride to the airport. This was a very chatty bus ride as for many of these kids it is their first plane ride and they are so excited. I so enjoyed hearing their excitement and you should have heard the oohs, ahs and cools as the plane climbed above the clouds.

Our first stop, Washington, D.C.
The White House:



An unexpected stop at the National Archives, the line was short and the tour guide wanted us to see the Declaration and Bill of Rights.



This is one of my favorite places to see in DC, the changing of the guards and the playing of Taps, I never have a dry eye.

We did several monuments, in fact most of them and arrived at the motel at midnight.

Back up at 5:15 a.m. for a half-day in DC

We went to the Jefferson Memorial and FDR Memorial and the Capital.

Here is a fun shot, I composed with the girls.



At noon, we climbed on a bus to head to New York City. We ate in Little Italy.



Shopped lots in China Town and then went to the Empire State Building.



This was the favorite of many kids. End of Day Two, back to motel at 11:30.

That is all my pictures, the next morning I had an accident with my brand-new, Mother's Day present camera. I bought a bottle of Diet Pepsi and put it in my purse after drinking a bit. You guessed it, I did not have the lid on tight. The camera would not turn on for hours, I worried about the pictures I had already taken. Finally, the camera did turn on and I could see my pictures, a sigh of relief went through me. Something was not right for the picture taking mode, the colors are all in pinks, blues and yellows. To make matters worse, the twins' cameras batteries had died and we did not have their charger. Well, super-mom or crazy mom came to the rescue. On the ferry, to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, I bought a $18.36 disposable camera. The girls were thrilled and I felt happy as they could take pictures of this once in a lifetime event.

What else did we do: Wall Street, Trinity Church, Ground Zero, saw the Broadway Play, Wicked (fabulous, incredible, wonderful, specatacular), Times Square after the play (my least favorite, too many people and it was hard to keep track of our group) Okay that is Day Three and we are back at our motel at 12:30.

Day Four, we get to sleep in a bit 6 a.m. is the start of this day. We ride the Subway for our fourth time, old pros now, you know! Central Park, 5th Avenue (only an hour here), we went into FAO Scwhartz, Tiffany's and I took them into Fendi's for sticker shock! We only had an hour on 5th Avenue, I was trying to soak up the designer's windows while guiding 10 kids around. Then Rockerfeller Center and Times Square for a quick walk. On the bus for hour ride to JFK, our plane delayed, might have to spend another night in NYC or in the next city at our connection. A collective sigh went through the group, we want to go home. Well, thanks to our wonderful airline, Northwest, we did make it home, 4 hours late but that didn't matter we were home and now can look at the wonderful pictures and remember the sites we saw.

Want to hear about more water and my belongings? Well, we have had way too much rain since March and while I was gone the unfinished side of the basement flooded. What is in this part? Washer, Dryer and my sewing machines. The countertop where all the machines sit had standing water on it when my husband got home from work. He cleaned it up, lined everything up to dry and turned on my machines. I held my breath as he told me this, they came on. Hurray. This is the one thing did when I arrived home last night! Want to know what day this happened? You guessed it, the same day as the camera mishap.

So as my oldest daughter said 17 years ago "It is glad to be home!"

Quick Post and Picture and Catch-up

I am going to try and post each day in May (for the rest of May), as I have been such a bad blogger these last two weeks.

First, my latest project, BWOF 3/2008, #113, I will write the review tomorrow.

Today, I went to my 4th track meet of the week. Let's see, two for the twins, today for my niece, one for senior daughter and then senior daughter has district track meet tomorrow. That will be track meet number 5! I am tired but the twins are done and senior daughter can be done anytime. She has to place in the top four of her events to advance onto sectionals.

I did swing by a Hancock's today and did some shopping. I bought 3 different fabrics, some serger thread, two zippers and Kwik Sew 3558. I bought some silk wool at Hancock's to make the short sleeve version. Check out the back. I noticed this one in the latest Threads.

Thanks for the kind comments on Erin's prom dress, no I did not make it. We purchased it way back in January, she tried on several and didn't like them too much. Then she tried on this one and she knew it was the one.

My New Jacket

No, I didn't make it. I went into Ann Taylor Loft for a quick look and this was on the sale rack. $59.99 regular price, I got it for $34.99.

I went to the mall to buy dd#2 Under Armor coldgear track tights. I did bring those home, too, and boy, did she need them for our very cold track meet tonight.

Christmas presents

My daughters had some Christmas money and bought Guitar Hero III for Nintendo Xbox 360. We are having a blast playing this, I had a 111 note streak last night! I am hoping to play a couple of songs tonight.

Also, spent 5 hours at the mall for exchanges. I did a very poor job on sizes for my twins. They are in-between girls and junior sizes. On a positive note, they were able to get many more items for their dollars. We found some great sales. I had to buy some birthday, too. My 17 yo daughter will be 18 on New Year's Day.


Also, decluttering - the twins and I went through each of their bedrooms. Their rooms and closets look fantastic! I started on my room tonight.

On a not-so-positive note, I have to go back to work tomorrow. Only a half-day, yea!

I was Bad

Does the title have you wondering what the heck I am going to blog about? Well, I was bad at Joann's today and spent quite a bit of money.




My 40% of coupon went toward this.......





Thread cabinet with 100 colors. My Joann's had one and it quickly went into my cart. $149.99 less the 40%, makes it $89.99. Still a chunk of change but there are 100 spools of thread and I live 45 minutes from a place to buy thread. It never fails to be 10 pm and I don't have the color of thread I need. Are you following my rationalizing? Oh, I can replace the spool when it is empty and always have a full cabinet.





What else did I buy? Lots, I tell you......25.5 yards of fabric - my Joann's never has the greatest fabric selection but it did today - rayon knits, a wonderful white cotton shirting, some plaid coating. The twins each picked out some fabric from the clearance sections for shirts. One will cost $8.99 and the other $7.50.





The cheapest purchase - a $2.99 catalog called "Fall Fusion" Featuring patterns by Simplicity. Wow, this is great. I couldn't find it online but took a few pictures. The back cover has 6 - 50% off coupons - 4 for fabric, 1 for notions and 1 for a dress form. The sewn garments are from fabric available at Joann's. Love this quote from the magazine "Sewing is for the modern woman..... one who wants to showcase her talents as well as her individuality."


Hope you can find this at your Joann's. BTW, each picture notes the pattern number, the fabric type and the SKU for that fabric.






I did cut out a New Look blouse (oh, yes, I bought 2 more NL patterns today, too) and now I am off to prewash fabric!

Inspirations

Fabric from Gorgeous Things Fabrics I bought it tonight


Inspiration from Anthropologie




Another piece I purchased from Gorgeous Things Fabrics and the top from Anthropologie, I will probably do a different neckline. I bought some solid black jersey knit from Needle Nook Fabric for this and another project.

I have a brown/aqua/cream jersey knit from Gorgeous Fabric for a wrap dress. It might be this Butterick, I sent Anne at Needle Nook a swatch and she matched the aqua perfectly. So I might use the aqua for the sash, what do you think? I also have the New Look wrap dress pattern

Or the fabric could be this dress, I have the Duro dress pattern from Butterick.

I think that is all for now, I have more fabric and patterns but will save those for a later date. Any suggestions on the dress? I am going to start that first and maybe it will be done for Easter. All clothing photo credits are Anthropologie.

Oh, one last thing, check out this sight, great inspiration, Frugal Fashionista, I am not much of a star watcher but I like this sight to get ideas.

Swapping Fabric

I have been looking at my stash fabric and realizing I wasn't going to sew some of it up, not really me, shouldn't have bought it. So, I listed this on Pattern Review



sold some of it. Now money in my paypal and the urge to make some new spring purses and other craft items --- I couldn't resist this collection Building Blocks and Peas & Carrots by American Jane plus a few other prints including Heather Bailey's Freshcut (just 3 pieces)!



Anyone else do this? I did rationalize it, the money wasn't coming out of the monthly budget, just out of my paypal "fun" money! Now to start stalking the mailman, I have many things on the way

• cards from Etsy
• birthday presents for college girl
• fabric from Needle Nook
• slipcovers for chairs

I think that is all but the night is still young, I might get more. No, better not, I will keep telling myself that!!

Shopping

Went to Joann's on Saturday, by myself, I might add.

I bought some pattern, notions and fat quarters.

Then some fashion fabric-

top for my niece's birthday next month, green for another Jalie top (maybe with the zipper), pink denim for niece and denim just because I was out. All was 40% off, the knit was 30%.

I then went a bit crazy and bought several quilting cottons. Purses and craft projects. The bottom few (browns and aquas) will be a purse for college daughter.