Daisy Kingdom Easter....Apron??

Being the mom of five daughters, I have bought my share of Daisy Kingdom fabric and Daisy Kingdom patterns. You know...the nice frilly dresses with puffy sleeves and big twirly skirts. Yes, I bought them, stored them and sadly did not make them in time. My youngest daughter is 10 and my oldest just turned 18 and I am going through some strange emotions. My son is 22 and out of the house, my 18 year old could be soon and I am feeling time fly way too soon. So, I'm trying to hold on to those precious moments with my younger girls.

I was determined to make a nice Easter dress for my youngest daughter so I went digging in my stash and I found my Daisy Kingdom Easter fabric. I found it in blue and pink and I called her in the studio to choose her favorite. That's when she informed me that she had already chosen an Easter dress from some hand me down dresses given to her by some friends. And that's when it hit me. You missed the frilly dress stage with all of them. Wow! Time flies way too fast.

I decided to make lemonade from lemons, so to speak. I was determined to make something for Easter with my Daisy Kingdom fabric that I have held on to for so long. I made myself a really cute apron. I took the design from the bottom of the panel and added to the top part of the apron and added a cute little yo yo. I think it's cute and hey....someday one of my girls may want it. One can hope. I also decided to make a Easter basket/tote bag for my daughter. It is almost finished, I just have to add handles. I will try to post a photo tomorrow.

If you are reading this and you are a mom, just a word of advice. Don't worry so much about whether the house is totally clean. Instead, play with the kids when they ask you, go for that nature walk and by all means, make those frilly dresses while they are young enough to enjoy them.

Happy Sewing and enjoy being a mom,
Susan

Yikes! My Baby Girl is Eighteen!

It's 12:48 am. This time 18 years ago, I was in the middle of labor and it would still be another 17 hours before I would see my first daughter. I had a precious baby boy who was 4 years old and was excitedly waiting for his baby sister, Abby. I had prayed and prayed for children and since I already had a son, I desperately wanted a little girl. God blessed me with Abby plus four more daughters. I am truly blessed. I actually had fertility problems and my husband had to have a vasectomy reversal before we could have our children. The Dr.s gave us little hope, but we asked that they just do the reversal and we would leave the rest to God. And...well...let's just say that God showed off with granting us with 6 children including a set of twins. God is so good. I just had to share with you, my readers. I pray that God will answer your prayers the way He has answered mine.

Be Blessed!
Susan

Please Vote For Me

Hi Friends,
I've entered my Hexagon Baby Quilt in the Quilting Gallery's Contest this week.
This quilt is what kept me sane during my mandatory bed rest while I was pregnant with my 6th child. I have since written this pattern and taught it to more than 50 students. The photo is not that great, cause I was in a hurry but it is truly pretty. Please vote for me, here.
Thanks,
Susan

Are We There Yet?

I am finally in the mood to sew and I will be stuck in the car for 15 out of the next 24 hours. My girlfriend, who is a hairstylist has to drive to North Carolina tonight to style the a bride and her wedding party. She asked me to keep her company and being the good friend that I am, I said yes. You would know I am in the mood to lock myself in the studio and sew for days. My solution: I'm going to look for some hand sewing projects I can do in the car. It might be piecing hexagons or some embroidery, not sure what. I just know for sanity's sake, I'd better find something.

I hope you have a fun and productive weekend.

Happy Sewing!!
Susan

Made Baby a New Outfit

Baby's New Outfit

Side View
Yesterday was a very successful Friday Night Sew In. I actually started around 2:00pm and cleaned the studio a little because a friend was supposed to come sew with me. She never showed up but I got SEW much done. I made something I've wanted to make for a long time. I made a cover for my baby, my Brother 8500 sewing/embroidery machine. I bought her when I worked at a Brother/Bernina dealership many years ago. She is old in today's standards but she is very dependable and I love her.

I made my own pattern and used an design from Emblibrary. I had a glitch when it embroidered the "I". I was heart broken but not enough to start all over. I used fabric from my stash which is always good. I am planning on making a cover for the embroidery unit, hopefully, today. Then soon I will make one that says "I love Quilting" for my Grand quilter.

I hope you have an amazing day!
Happy Sewing!!
Susan

TGIF & Friday Night Sew In

Well, another Friday is here. And what makes it even more special is it's another Friday Night Sew In. I love participating in these cause it makes me get busy and get some sewing done. It's also really neat to think that there are women all over the world doing the same thing. I like that we are all sewing 'together but apart'. :)

I am having a sewing friend come over and sew with me tonight so it should be extra fun. I have been so busy this week with homeschooling the girls and looking for a job so I've been extra stressed. Sewing is my favorite form of therapy. Speaking of therapy...there will be no chocolate or goodies for me this FNSI. Nope. I'm back on my diet. I've lost 40 lbs. since August and have stabilized pretty well. I am now going to try and lose the last 20 lbs. I've lost another 4.2 lbs in the last two days. Yay Me!

I started a huge project this last week, which was unpacking boxes and boxes that we have not unpacked since we moved last year. I found a bunch of fabric and more UFOs. I have no clue what I'm going to work on tonight. I just have too many choices. I do know I've got to spend some time organizing my studio before I can do any sewing. On that note, I'm gonna get to work and wish you all a very Happy Friday! I hope you can join us for Friday Night Sew In. Just click on the picture to follow the link.

Happy Sewing!
Susan

Valentine Dish Towel

This is one of the projects I was working on during the last Friday night Sew In. I got these plain pink dish towels on clearance at Target. I used an embroidery design from EmbLibrary and made a little border with the scraps. I love projects that are short and sweet. We've had to cancel the girl's Valentine party because my husband lost his job again. The girls aren't that upset about it. I think I was looking forward to it more than they were. They still like to see the house 'dressed up' a little for holidays and so do I.

I hope you are getting to do something that makes you happy today.

Happy Sewing!!
Susan