new dress made by me

made out of vintage sheets... i'm trying to decide if the little one "needs" yet another dress or if i need the money more...so i think i'm going to put it in the shop either the etsy one or the one here in town i don't know just yet. but making this made me feel like i've got my sewing mojo jojo back. i was missing it for a few days.

fall quilt top and amy butler patterns

i finished the fall quilt top and i have some left over fabric... sooooo i'm making a fall banner like my freedom banner...kind of excited! and remember my skirt made out of sheets? well this time i'm making the A-line skirt out of a clearance drapery for a window, it cost me $5 (i know a little on the costly side for me)
and then i got me this pattern and i've had this fabric sitting there and i haven't used it for anything yet cause i love it so much that i'm a little stressed to use it...so i just stare at it and pet it every couple of days...but i think a little handbag might be cute...or maybe i'll just wait cause just thinking of cutting it up is giving me hives...see sheets are so much easier for me to use! i should just stick to cutting up sheets for projects and petting and admiring other "real" store bought fabric!

Um excuse me, your cow is dead.

So instead of me trying to explain the situation I’ll just give you an idea on how the conversation went between me (the INNOCENT one who just thought the cow was “sleeping”) and the owner of the cow:

Ring ring…ring ring…
Owner: hello?
Me: uh, yeah, er..uh hmm, er this is Vanessa.
Owner: oh hi Vanessa what can I do for you?
Me: uh er…well…
Owner: silence
Me: well you know how your cows are in my pasture and they eat the grass, and drink water, and walk around all cute, they really are cute…anyways, you know how they moo, and are like oh I don’t know breathing and alive usually…well one’s not.
Owner: oh?
Me: yeah I mean it was walking around yesterday you know all cute, did I mention they are soooo cute? Yeah, well anyways…yesterday it was walking around and this morning when I went to go to the gym I noticed one was grazing and the other wasn’t, it looked so peaceful and sleepy so I went on my merry way and didn’t think anything of it.
Owner: oh?
Me: yeah and I didn’t really think about it till I was outside again in the backyard after dinner and I thought to myself “ha that’s funny, that cow is still sleeping in the same exact position as it was this morning…it must sure be tired”
Owner: oh…
Me: so I went to go check on it just to make sure…and yeah I don’t think it’s alive anymore…
Owner: oh okay I’ll go get my husband to go take care of it later tonight…
Me: that’s it? “Oh okay” no “did you give it Kool-Aid?” Or I don’t know “chase it up and down the street last week when your kids let them out on “accident”?” I mean what if it had a weak heart and I made it exercise too much or something?!!!
Owner: oh I don’t think so, it’s the little one right?
Me: yeah the smaller of the two
Owner: oh no it had problems from the start, so you didn’t do anything to it I’m sure.
Me: oh okay…well I’m really sorry…I like the still breathing one better anyways…

So aside from killing cows in my pasture I’ve been reading up a storm the count is 3 books in 4 days…it all started when I joined the gym and got on the treadmill…I’m a multitasker so I started reading a book…well three books down and onto my 4th…I have been working on the house in between reading so at least that’s getting done…but as for sewing...not so much right now. But I’m working on a new skirt for me and finishing up my fall quilt today! That is the plan at least…we’ll see how it all plays out

it's hard losing your best friends...

for 8 hours out of the day this poor little guy walks around aimlessly missing his best friends in the whole world, his two older brothers...oh sure he has katie and me, but we are no substitute for the the boys...he begs to go to school, and he asks constantly if it's time to pick up nathan and ryan. i don't know if he's going to make it the whole month he has to wait to go to pre-school!

second hand find and some lampshade lovin'

so my fabulous friend who just so happens to be a professional quilter was in the town 45 minutes away and she gave me a call from the second hand store "i have a table here for behind the sofa you want it?" "is it wood and can i paint it?" i ask "yes" she says "okay buy it! love ya!" uh yeah i don't even need to paint it, look at that blue i love it!!! so i called my friend that everyone thinks is my sister cause we kind of look alike and say "i've got a table for you that you need to see if you want it it's yours, if not it's going in the shop" sent her some pics of the table got the response back "I WANT IT!" okay first item from my second hand business SOLD!WOOHOO! thank you wonderful friends!
here is a lamp and a pretty ugly lampshade to go with it...oh and a lego...i find those EVERYWHERE, because the boys' new fascination is building things with legos...
i decided to cover up the lampshades (one isn't in the picture it's on the other side of the "hutch" which i'm still trying to get the motivation to paint) i still need to spray paint the bases either black or cream (which one do YOU think?) and i still need to do the finishing touches on the top and bottom of the actual shade. but all in all pretty fast little project that involved scissors and a hot glue gun (and a little swearing while i burn my fingers off again with the hot glue...what is it with me and hot glue? i actually got a blister this time.)

but that's about it, not one stitch was sewn all weekend long. i decided to give myself a break. i'm still recovering from the funeral for little alyssa (with how emotionally drained i was i couldn't even imagine what her parents and siblings are going through) and i really just wanted to enjoy my kids with nothing really to do or nowhere to go, read a couple of books to escape, and clean the house so it smelled like 409 and pinesol, two of my most favorite and comforting smells. did you have a good weekend?

simplicity 5695

so i don't speak pattern... this was a little harder for me to "get" but it's done. a little too big for the little one this year but i think that for next summer it should be just about right.i hate to use "real" fabric just in case i totally mess up so this was made out of a sheet as well. i added the fabric yo-yo pin and i think it completed the dress. oh and yeah i did join the gym so now i'm a gym going gal again. got to do something to counter eating whole boxes of things...

the difference between one and two

is night and day. the 6 year old (in blue) got up and was ready to go in a nano second and was getting his tooth brush ready with toothpaste as he gently reminded me that he still needed to eat breakfast and he didn't want to be late. oh yeah and he picked out his clothes the night before and laid them on the ground next to him so he could just jump into them the minute he woke up.
the 8 year old (in red) needed some prodding and some gentle reminders over and over and OVER again that we had a schedule to follow of scripture reading, morning prayers, and breakfast eating, and if he didn't help with the morning he was going to make us all late. the 8 year old rolled out of bed dressed in his pants for the day...oh they were clean and all but i guess he figured a few minutes of getting up would be postponed if he just had to roll over just to pick out a shirt to wear. the 6 year old on the other hand had taken it upon himself to get himself cereal and was eating, the 8 year old didn't want cereal he wanted waffles, and proceeded to slump in his chair to wait. we got them there right as the bell rang you know at lightning speed and swerving into a parallel parking space, all because the 6 year old COULD and WOULD NOT be late for his first day of school...as i dropped them off i yelled "i love you" 6 year old yells back not looking back as he sprints to his classroom door "love you too!!!" the 8 year old puts his arm in the air and waves "yeah love you too." and walks in a zig zag to his first day of class just a little late. so yeah the difference between one and two= A LOT.

chasing cows in flipflops and felt strawberries...

uh yeah the boys "accidently" let the cows out, but not just into our backyard....no not even into our front yard...when the boys finally came to tell me what they had done (i haven't seen them this scared to tell me ANYTHING in their lives) the cows were grazing down the street and were on the move. "what the...how the...UGH!!!!" so off running i go, and flash backs of the goats run through my head...i know how to chase i mean herd goats cause i had to do it every single day when i was dumb enough to have them, but i don't have a clue how to herd cattle...don't i need a stallion and some really cool cowboy boot and a hat (that wouldn't look ridiculous on the city girl really trying super hard to fit in?) so what did i do i started waving my arms and and "kakawing" at them...and why the heck did all of a sudden so many cars decide to come down my street and slow down as they passed me? pretty sure they were saying something like "there goes that stupid city girl doing...what exactly is she trying to do anyways?" yeah, so when the neighbor across the street (the ones that have lived here all their lives not the one that had her 6th baby) and asked "do you need some help?" i graciously and exasperatedly said a heartfelt "YES PLEASE!" all he then did was block their way one way (the direction away from my house...oh genius!) i sure could of used a lesson in not looking like a fool herding cows right about now is all i could think of...so the cows are back in, and i can't wait to hear "what were you doing out there with those cows?" comments from the town.

i did finish the cute felt strawberries that i've been working on for the little one. and i made some new pillows for my bed...pictures to come later on that... as i'm transforming my bed...i want to show you the final product instead of just bits and pieces...

the box said "reduced fat"

so i ate the whole damn box...i'm joining the gym on thursday

some clarification...

so here are some of the specifics (which i'm still working out):

**the store that i'm going to be paying rent in is already up and running as a scrapbook and consignment shop, but she doesn't want to do consignment anymore and has expressed that she needs help with decorating it and keeping set hours... this is where i step in.

**right now i don't have that much stuff because i think i've mentioned before i've had to pass up some stuff because my house is overflowing with things and i don't have set places for more stuff. this made me sad because lovely furniture with just a little bit of love and paint could be made into fabulous pieces of furniture and there they sat all sad and not being bought...but was i willing to get rid of what i had already acquired? no cause of the sentimental values. but now with this store i can shop my heart out make them into something better and then put them in the store.

**i will be making the things that i sell in my etsy store to put in this shop. i don't know about any other etsy people, but sometimes i feel lost, i haven't been doing it for the two years that some that have many clients and customers have, and i don't do anything out of the ordinary to put my stuff in the limelight, i'm just like every other mom out there making purses, and hair bows and such, so yeah a little lost in the online world but maybe an actual shop where there isn't anything like it for more than 45 miles radius would do a little better.

**will i buy commercial stuff to put in there? not for right now. right now i'm just doing second hand treasures of furniture and handmade things by me.

**store name...i have to keep with what the girl has picked because it still is her business, and i'm just part of it. her name is "country croppin" which is perfect for a scrapbook store, not so great for a second hand store, but my part i think will speak louder than words when i have furniture hanging out in front of the store, and i'm going to ask her to do some lettering on the windows with "second time around furniture sold here" or something like that.

**so yeah already somethings from my own house will be put in the store today, but i won't be in the store till next month, and hopefully by next summer i will have that shop full to the brim with big and small finds! wish me luck cause i think i'm going to need it.

what have i done

oh i think i'm going to throw up...but here i am telling all of you that i've done it...i'm going to do a second hand store here out in the middle of nowhere...i've been thinking about it for months, no, years...but it's actually going to become a reality starting next month. i'm paying rent and i'm going to start building up my merchandise during the winter months so that next summer, if i'm still alive after my panic attacks, i will be able to have a store where you can buy second hand treasures of furniture and trinkets, and where i will also be sewing up pillows and table runners, aprons and handbags...seriously, i'm scared out of my mind, but if i don't try, i'll never know if it would of worked or not.

little miss alyssa june 2006-august 15th 2008

alyssa passed away on friday morning after battling cancer. she was only three months older than my little katie and was the most adorable, cutest, yummiest little girl you could ever see. she could wrap anyone around her finger in minutes with her charm. these past months have been so hard as a community to watch this wonderful little girl and her family go through so much pain. we are so blessed to of known her, we are so blessed to know her family she left behind. we are all sad that she moved on from this life, but we are also rejoicing that she no longer is in pain and is now with our Heavenly Father. please say a little prayer for her brothers and sister, mom and dad and all her family members that don't get to see her on a daily basis anymore, but that someday will be reunited with her in heaven and be wrapped around her little finger once again.

they must of been passing out 1st place ribbons like they were going out of style

ah the parade, if you haven't done a parade in a super small town, you aren't missing much, but as we spend more time here, you get a little protective about it and there's no way i would knock it. so they must of been passing out blue ribbons like party favors 'cause somehow i ended up with 5 first places, for stitchery pillows (they were my own designs) and my katie quilt got a blue ribbon too. i also nabbed 3 2nd place red ribbons for my other stitchery pillows and for my little purse handbag, and my buggy barn flag quilt. so yeah the count was 6 blue ribbons and 5 red ribbons.
not quite sure who made this quilt but it got special recognition and will go on to the state fair... there were a few others but this one was my favorite to move on to the next round.

and then we went to the park where i paid disneyland prices for really unhealthy food the kind that sticks to your ribs but you only eat once a year kind and for the jumper slides which the boys thoroughly enjoyed for 3 hours... the boys are at the demolition derby as we speak, and then that is it for the fair...good times, good times. we missed the rodeo, but i wasn't about to tackle that all by myself this year. next year hopefully i'll have pictures of the rodeo as our children ride the mutton, chase a greased up pig all around the fairground, and then we will sit and enjoy the high school boys and their dads destroy cars at the demolition derby...sigh...what a way to end the summer...

fun was had by all

to all the friends and family we got to see this week we had a blast thank you.
to all the shopping i got to do because of my sis-in-laws thank you for letting my kids have a blast with you for a while, while i window shopped and did some shopping as well.
time was enjoyed with cousins and with friends we havn't seen in a loooong time (can't wait to meet up at christmas for our annual girls night white elephant gift exhange!)
but now we're home, and we are hitting the tail end of the county fair. ahem my quilts won ribbons, we'll see for what tomorrow! it's good to be home.

day 3

the two older boys are at cousin's houses, so that leaves the two younger ones with me...WOW having just 50% of your kids makes for easy times! so i went to T.J. MAXX, downeast homes, the wood connection, IKEA, and JOANN'S, just to name a few... i finished my second book "magic study" and now have started "fire study" lets see i haven't sewn, not even a little bit but i did get all excited to start my new quilt when i get home....hmmm, wonder when the other boys will get back...i'm not used to so much down time...
when i went to get the photo of me and the two younger ones hanging out on the swing i saw the pics of the "road out of nowhere to slc" the clouds were awesome, even if my 8 year old kept calling me weird for taking picture after picture after picture of just "nothing".

graceful is my middle name

so we're in slc AGAIN...this time it was for an appt. for the little one. the doc just wanted to make sure that she didn't have hip displacia (sp?), which she doesn't and my very happy remark to the specialist was "oh yay! it's only that she's as graceful as her mother." no, she probably has more of a chance, they believe it all has to do with her ears and her equilibrium. so no hip displacia for us! yippie! my mother in law talked me into staying for the week, so i'm relaxing, reading, and seeing some old friends. blogging may be sporadic due to ALL THE SHOPPING PLACES that there are around here. seriously, how do you people stay home when there's sooooooooo many places you could go? i probably wouldn't get anything done! oh yeah wait i used to live in a city. oh and yeah i have 4 kids...nope i would probably not be going to all the shopping if i lived here.

rainy skys=quilts and movies

it's been raining for most of the afternoon here with no let up in sight, so that always puts me in the mood for movies and snuggleling under quilts. the boys loooove to use thier quilts that i made for them (i'm a meany and only let them use them for special occasions because it cost me so darn much to make them...i'm currently collecting fabrics from old jeans , old shirts of theirs, and old sheets of thiers to make them each every day quilts, i know this will take forever, but whatever right?!
and look at these yummies from the garden (not mine sad to say but from a neigbors) i cut it open and water just ooozed out of it! YUMMY!!! so we had vegies sauteed, i liked it more than the kids...but i'll just keep starving them till they enjoy them as much as me! just kidding.
pretty much a perfect end of the week for us. i'm going to finish reading my new book "magic study" and i rented myself a couple of chick flicks for when the boys and the little one goes to sleep...sigh...good times. it would be better with my G.I. JOE husband, but you got to do what you got to do, and anyways the chick flicks wouldnt fly so easy with him around...just trying to look on the bright side of things...

tutorial:: binding your quilt

i don't know about you but i can not follow directions without someone "showing" me. either in person or in pictures...so i hope this helps if you need it! (and yes that's my katie quilt.)
measure your quilt and determine how many strips you'll need to cut for the whole quilt (i usually hate to measure and most of my quilts are throw size so i just figure 2 strips per side and always end up with about the right amount if not extra, but if you're anal go ahead and measure!)
cut your binding fabric to 2 1/2 inches (you could do it on the bias but i hate cuting on the bias, so i don't do it unless it's gigham or stripes)

using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew all your strips together end to end.
then you'll press with an iron down the middle of your looooong strip of binding.
now lets get it on the quilt (i'm lazy so i don't pin, if you want go ahead and pin!) make sure your raw edges are faceing the same direction as your quilt's edge (out). start in the middle of your quilt's edge and make sure you have a tail that's about 3 inches long. (this will be your connector in the end)
sew all the way down your quilt till you get around a 1/4 inch from the corner of your quilt and backstitch. take if off the sewing machine...
next pull your strip up to a 45 degree angle (this is your corner, so you want to make sure it's 90 degrees) see how my binding looks like it just continues into a straight line from the quilt? that's super important!

now holding tightly to that 45 degree angle, pull down the binding strip and line it up to your quilt's edge so you will be able to continue sewing down the next side. (make sure you don't loose your 90 degree angle under there!)
go and sew down the next length of your quilt and repeat for each corner the 45 degree angle, the continuous line of the quilt and the binding and then the fold over.
now here's the hardest part in my opinion...closing your binding. make sure you leave around 3 inches of work space in between the beginning and the end tails.
pin together ends to equal the length of remaining quilt. and sew together the two tails.

now before you cut it down make sure it lies flat on your quilt, if it does then cut and proceed to finish sewing onto your quilt.

next we're going to use a blind stitch link here for a visual when blind stitching make sure you go as close to your edge of your binding as posible, this way the thread will be "invisible" and make sure you go directly beneath your stitch on your quilt so that the stitch stays "invisible"... oh go look at the you tube video i linked it's easier to actually "see" it
when you get to your corner you will fold over (hopefully very easily because you were so careful with your 45 degree angles!)this will make a nice corner on your back.
and i like to make sure i do one stitch right at the edge of my corner so it gives you a clean corner look. oh yeah and make sure your cat enjoys sitting on your quilt as you are hand binding the thing, it makes it super easy to move your quilt around...hardy har har. voila! you have your quilt all done!

ps i'm not sure why my spell check isn't working so i'm sorry for the horrible spelling if there are any that i missed!
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awesome august weather

every morning the skys are clear and sunny. but it's august so that means thunder storms, and when being out in the middle of nowhere that means the thunderstorms are right there... you can see the lightning touch down and there is no 1 one thousands to count cause the thunder is immediate sometimes...makes for a really awesome sight (from indoors)

help with the cranky

so i've been super cranky for the past few days. i've realized that i havn't been sewing and the house is a disaster. it's all due to the 700+ pages i've been (trying) to read non stop since i got the book. but thankfully (and sadly) it's over now and i'm back! the day yesturday was spent cleaning like a madwoman, and then at night i was able to finish a little project i've been wanting to do. bought this at walmart the little one likes to use it all over the house with her doll. i wasn't too excited about the cover so i decided to use some of my sheets that i got at the second hand store to re-vamp (vampires on the mind) it.
i still have to add the belt but katie saw it and started using it before i could finish it.

the little one loves it (not that she didn't love it before but now i love it too) and you can't really tell but the little doll is sporting a skirt just like the katie. she actually picked out her own clothes today. crazy how fast she's growing up. i can't believe that i'm going to have two of my boys in full time school either! ahhh! is it that when you get older, time just goes by in warp speed?

oh and i've had some questions about the pinwheel quilt if it's easy to make and such...yes it is, i'm working on a tutorial on binding your quilt (that one's for you ginger!) and i'll then work on a tutorial on making triangles so you can make your own pinwheel quilt! okay off to binding the quilt and folding my laundry i go. the boys and i did a science project this summer of making salt crystals and they are bugging me to look stuff online so that we can learn ALL about it so yeah busy day. its amazing how just a little bit of sewing and cleaning will help with the crankies!