Stop staring and start sewing!

This one's for the boys

I'm having a wonderful time putting together some quilts for my boys (will re-paint their room and other stuff too as long as I'm at it).  I haven't made many quilts but I'm realizing some nearly make themselves while others feel like work.  This goes in the former category.  Since my wonderful Grandpa died 5 years ago I've had some of his shirts hanging in my closet waiting for me to do something with them.  Now I'm finally chopping them into pieces to be kept forever. 

Each block has a square from a shirt in the center and I'll add more around the outer edge when I get there.  I love them.  I love that I think of my grandpa when I look at them and they'll remind me to take opportunities to tell my boys how lucky they are to be his great-grandchildren.

 

I'm including lots of tool prints from the Be A Man collection since he was always fixing things and had a great set of tools.  I don't think he ever threw anything away, he just fixed it and kept using it.  I want my boys to be useful like that and fortunately their dad has mad fixing skills so they are learning.  I love they way this is so boyish without being baby-ish.  I've managed to sneak in a few florals but they are so subdued that they fit right in (and there's nothing wrong with boys appreciating flowers).

 

Anyway, here's the finished concept (I'm planning for grey in the solid areas).  I'll have the pdf pattern on my blog once I've finished and seen that this actually works (fingers crossed).  I'm going to cheat and use sheet's for the backing like I did last time.

I'll be sharing pictures of my new cabinets real soon here (they're gorgeous!!).  I need to run out and get some knobs for them and was waiting for them to go on sale at Hobby Lobby (which they have so I'm running out today).  In the meantime I've actually been enjoying keeping up on my laundry since my new laundry dresser keeps things so much more organized (which makes in an enjoyable room to be in for the most part).  Have a wonderful week!  It's a 3 day weekend ahead!

Making the most of our weekends (I think)

We're really enjoying our 3 day weekends now that Joey is used to the 10 hour days.  We're getting a lot done around here on that extra day and hopefully the house will start shaping up soon.  It still feels very discombobulated but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm working on some cabinets I got at a fun store that recycles building supplies from remodeled houses and businesses. 

They needed a really good scrub down because I think they're from a restaurant and they had kind of an oily coat on them.  I'm using the gloves because I washed them with TSP (because I mean business).  Today I had Joey move everything inside for me because the paint was drying too fast in the heat (it's been hovering around 110 for a week, ugh).  I'll be back soon with an update.

In the meantime, my knitting man has had time to work on a project for himself and is determined to finish soon in spite of the fact he's making a hat and won't be able to wear it for at least 5 months (seriously, this summer can not end soon enough).   See the furrowed brow?  Serious concentration is happening here.

He's got his pattern right there and he said this is the first project without a flub in it (knock on wood) so his practice is paying off (I think he did fine on my hat but I don't think I'd notice if he hadn't).

It won't look anything like the hat he made last Christmas for my brother-in-law Dave.  I forgot to share this one earlier, but Dave was very happy to have a new hunting hat and Joey chuckled the whole time he was making it.  Joey found the pattern on Ravelry where is he a member of SMACK (Straight Men Also Crochet and Knit).  He's awesome that way.

It's a new week!!  Make it wonderful (you can start by sewing something....I think I will)!

Much home improvement (and barely any bickering!)

We've been tackling some major disorganization around here and managed to accomplish quite a bit this past weekend.  Joey's work shifts have changed and he has Friday's off so I've managed to add a little to his honey-do list without sending him to the nut house (I mean the real nut house, not this one). 

I've had my eye on this laundry dresser project forever and we finally put one together.  We are completely re-organizing (and painting as you can see) the pantry/laundry room and this is such a great way to save space and keep the clothes from ending up all over the place.  A family of 7 makes for a lot of laundry so it can get out of hand quickly.

The best part is we used a small portion of the furniture scraps we found on a huge pallet at IKEA (and the whole kit and kaboodle cost 9.99)!!!  Look at all that in the car!  I've got enough stuff there for another couple of big projects and there was a whole shelving unit made from a beautiful honey colored wood which just needs to be reassembled.  Score!  So the only cost for the laundry unit was the price of the metal angle brackets that the baskets slide on (35.00 total) and 3.00 for each laundry basket.

We set the new unit directly under our laundry chute which needs a little finish work itself but is such a nice thing to have in a big house (Joey installed that after I looked at our house plans and discovered the pantry was directly beneath the master closet).  We need a few more shelves in here for our larger items and I'll finish painting (with my cute blue oops paint which cost 5.00 for the gallon) and then we'll be done.  Yay!

We decided to take on the boys school area too.  They are both being homeschooled this year and we realized the best place to put them was up in my sewing room (whimper).  So we took the opportunity to replace our bedroom door (which had a hole in it and some scribbling which I did not do) and used that as their new school table.  I bought some more laminated fabric at IKEA at a cost of about 19.00 for 2.5 yards (it's 57 inches across, yay!) and covered the door on the side without a dumb hole in it.

I just pulled it tight after cutting the excess fabric off, and stapled it in place.  My first try ended up too loose when we turned it over so I took out some staples and pulled the fabric super tight before stapling it.  That worked much better.

We set the table on some trestle legs we already had in the garage, which is great because it's sturdy without being attached to the wall.  Joey found a great shelf in the garage (we already had the brackets) and I was thrilled to realize I had enough fabric to cover the shelf as well.  So much bang for my buck and it actually looks really cute in here so I don't mind sharing my space as much.  I filled in the holes in the wall and just need some more paint and it'll look so sharp.

I'm just getting started too!  I hope your back to school plans are going smoothly (or as smooth as possible I suppose).  It's a crazy time but I try to remember how much fun it was as a kid to have fresh pencils and Pee-Chees and that helps me keep from getting too crabby.  Have a great week!

Saturday is pancake day (a recipe!)

download recipe here

I've been wanting to share my buttermilk pancake recipe for awhile because it's the one recipe that always gets rave reviews from the kids (and adults too, but we know to be complimentary and not complain so it's more impressive coming from kids, right?). It's based on the pancake recipe in my Betty Crocker book but since I've had that book for 25 year (it's pretty gross looking and starting to fall apart) I've had oodles of opportunities to play around with it and make something a little more special that your average pancake recipe.  I adore pancakes and these pancakes are worthy of my adoration.

I knew today was going to be a busy day working around the house so I really wanted to start everyone off with a happy, hefty breakfast.  This recipe makes loads of fluffy pancakes so we usually have enough to freeze and the kids end up walking around munching on frozen pancakes the next day.

I couldn't really start until Skate took care of the fly buzzing around the kitchen (see him sitting there on the buttermilk bottle in a taunting pose).  We didn't need added protein since we were having sausage so the fly had to go.

With the butter, eggs, and buttermilk you are guaranteed some really tasty results (and I'm a stickler for real maple syrup which I pour sparingly on the kids pancakes because, at that price, they're not allowed to touch it).  Having a cup of Stumptown coffee right there while you're cooking can really kick it up about 20 notches though.

Once the kids are fed I make some especially for Joey and myself.  I try to be very discrete since I don't want to have to end up doing this for everyone next time.....once I flip them over, I add a nice dab of butter to each pancake and spread it around while it's melting.  Then, when they're hot on our plates, they get a nice drizzle of real maple syrup and it's like Mrs. Buttersworth on steroids.

Give it a try (download link at top of post) and have a great weekend!!

Feeling stitchy (and a word that rhymes with stitchy)

I'm trying desperately to get my homeschool mojo going and it's not happening fast enough for me.  We've already decided to scrap our kindergarten plans and go to something simpler.  The previous curriculum wanted him to be able to name all 7 continents after one lesson.  C'mon people!!  He's FIVE!!!  Between that frustration and the disorganized state of everything around here (not to mention the wi-fi problems that keep interupting the 5th graders online progress, argh), I've decided to call it a week and just try to get things organized and ready for a fresh start on Monday.

Anyhoo, I have had time for some fun sewing stuff and wanted to share this wedding set I put together with my new little business.  Isn't it great?!  I love it when people do something unconventional for their weddings so I was excited to do this one.  Plus, the bride wanted them pre-tied so I got to learn how to tie a bow tie finally.  I just used the instructions here.   She also requested a matching ring bearer's pillow with embroidery so that was a fun little challenge and it gave me an opportunity to brush up on my embroidery again.  I love weddings!

And baby showers are fun too!  But can you imagine the stress of making something for Heather Bailey's baby shower??  This onesie was my 3rd try.  I finally figured out I was better off embroidering on the knit fabric without stabilizer and just maintained a steady stitch and it started looking right.  I felt a little tacky using Heather's fabric for the booties but seriously, it was just too perfect of a fabric to pass on.  It was a very fun shower and so nice to spend some time around grown ups (Joey'd been gone for 2 weeks and I was really needing some chat time).  Oh, the embroidery pattern is from Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching book (a must have!) and the booties are a free downloadable pattern from Stardust Shoes (another must have).



Okay, I'm going back to my sewing room re-organization blitz.  I'm moving the boys' school desk up here so it's a pretty good overhaul.  It's a little hard to give up some of my fun space but they're cute and they make me laugh so it'll be good to have them nearby.

Coffee makes you stronger (a man craft)

Don't listen to the "experts".  I'm here to tell you that coffee builds muscles like nothing else.  We love this particular brand.  It's cheap and tastes pretty decent (it's not awesome but it's available at the corner market so that nearly makes up for any lack).  Oh, and I think the cans are cute.

My crafty husband decided to deplete my growing can collection for his new workout routine.  4 coffee cans, 2 lengths of pvc pipe, one bag of cheap cement.  Each one weighs right around 10 pounds and Joey's been turning into Mr. Biceps using these things (nice!).

 

I have a harder time working out with them and my arm was straining just to take this picture.  I'm sticking with my little girly 5 pounders.

Even the other guys in the house have trouble lifting them so I don't feel too bad about my own inadequacies.

I'm working on a couple of sewing projects and have been able to dabble in some embroidery lately.  I'd forgotten how much I love it.  I've been wanting to try the Cosmo floss for ages and now that Bari has opened an amazing embroidery store it looks like it might be time.   Oh, and you must start reading Bari's new We Love French Knots blog!  Serious inpiration over there.  Back soon!