My Emily is Making and Selling 18" Doll Clothes Now.......

My Emily is taking an entrepreneur class and she was challenged to come up with an idea/item to sell.  Since she loves making 18" doll clothes she has decided to start right there with what she loves.  She has one item on Ebay right now that ends tomorrow night, and here are a few more items she's about to add.  We are discussing whether to put these up on Ebay or Etsy.  But one way or the other, she is in major cut and sew mode.  

This sweet little hat she crocheted for the 18" dolls.  I love how colorful it is!  And a flower is always a nice surprise!  This is her own design/pattern.

She stitched this adorable jean skirt too.  Love her straight topstitching!!!  She has partnered with Liberty Jane Patterns and has been given the ok to use their patterns as long as she gives them the proper credit.  That's so fun!  This is one of their patterns.

And so she isn't sewing alone, here is a sneak peek at a historical dress I made this week.  I'm waiting for the sun to come out so I can take better pictures.

And this cute dress that I showed you before is the one up for auction right now.  If you want it you can follow this link.  The auction ends tomorrow night!!!  So go take a look!!!  Please??

I've actually been sewing so much this week that it seems that all I've done is re-fill my bobbin.  I guess that's a good thing!!!  Back soon with more fun sewing projects.  And I have an idea for something really fun here.  I'm going to think it through a bit more and then I'll share.

Enjoy your weekend!!!!

My Emily.....

My Emily has been keeping herself busy lately.  She has been doing her "have to's"...that would be school work and chores around the house.  And she has been doing the fun and relaxing stuff.....which for her, are sewing, needlepoint, and crochet.  Yesterday she stitched this adorable dress made from a Liberty Jane Pattern.  It reminds me of a pillowcase dress and it would also look lovely in batiste with a bit of lace and a bottom hem tuck.

I've been keeping myself busy with all my "have to's" as well....plus a bit of fun stitching thrown in.  I've been working on some Wee Care gowns and also a shirt for Elisabeth.  Oh, I've also been crocheting some more cotton dish cloths.  I find them so addicting and mindless, which makes them wonderful to work on while I'm listening to a podcast or an audiobook here and there.

I hope you are fitting some stitching into your days too!!!

The Finished Quilt.....

I am always so happy to finish a project.  And I was ecstatic to finish this one.  I've worked on it off and on for years.  Definitely time for it to be finished.  Plus it's the perfect time of year for another warm quilt in the house.

And as I expected, we are all rushing to grab it when it gets chilly.  It is one of the largest lap quilts we have.  And I put a low loft cotton batting in it, which is my favorite because I love the way it feels.

I guess when it warms up outside it will be easy to find a place to display it.  It matches the colors in so many of our rooms.  But for now I keep it folded on our bed when not in use.  I am enjoying this quilt so much it has given me the itch to start another one.

Birthing A Quilt......

Wow!  Long time...no write.  Sorry about that!  We had a wonderful Christmas with our four children, plus my 18 year old niece came to spend the holidays with us.  We had fun in the new house deciding where to place the tree, how to decorate the front of the house, building our annual gingerbread house, etc.  Oh, plus we also made our new and old neighbors hand crocheted dishcloths with lotion, and a small plate of chocolate treats.  That is one of our favorite traditions each year.

With Christmas over and the New Year here....we are slowing getting back into our routines.  That was disrupted a bit as all four kids came down with the "coughing virus," as I call it.  It is taking awhile to shake it but I think they are all on the mend at this time.  They are running around the house irritating each other so I have to assume they are feeling better.  :)

As for me, I have actually worked in a bit of sewing here and there.  I was able to finish a quilt that I started awhile back.  The days, and nights, have been so chilly here and we have all been fighting over who has which quilt that I decided to finish this one so there would be another quilt in the mix.  And it's a huge lap size quilt....so it is the perfect kind for cold and lazy days!  Well, I really shouldn't say lazy....I find the kids wrapped up in quilts reading and doing school work pretty often.

Anyway, above you see all the yards and yards of binding I made.

Then I stitched it in.  I use my walking foot for just about all things quilting...but I use my edge stitch foot for the last seam when attaching binding.  It rides right in the ditch and catches the binding in the back for a perfect looking binding.

I'll be back with the finished quilt!

I hope you all have worked some stitching in too!!   Happy Stitching!!!

Halloween 2012....

Halloween has come and gone this year.  The kids gave me a few day's notice this time so I was able to finish their costumes with about 1 hour to spare.  Can you figure out who they dressed up as?

They were from The Gilligan's Island, of course, minus a few characters.  However, we did have Ginger (with long sleeves because she knew she'd be cold), Mary Ann (with a coconut cream pie, of course), Gilligan and the Skipper too!  So much fun we all had.  We visited with some of our new neighbors and also went to our old neighborhood to visit with a few of our friends there too.  Oh, how I truly miss our old neighbors!!!!  It made my night when one of our old neighbors told me she was so happy we came by because every year her whole family looked forward to see what my kids were dressing up as.  I loved that!!!!

And for those that are interested; here are the sewing details.  The Ginger dress was made from a McCall's pattern #M6098.  It only had sleeveless and short sleeve options so I just drafted it to be long sleeved.  As a side note, this dress has absolutely no shaping and I wouldn't make this as a casual dress to wear but it did work for a quick costume.

Mary Ann was made from my old favorite stand-by Miss Madeline from The Handmade Dress.  As another side note here, my dear friend Samantha just had another precious baby girl.  You can see pictures of her here.

For Gilligan, I drafted his pants and I must say he LOVES them so much he won't take them off!!!  Sometime I'll have to get closer pictures so you can see the hip pockets and the detailing I put on them.  I love them too.  I think I'm going to get some more fabric and make him some more but in navy and brown.  He even has these on as I type this.  And his hat was made from this free pattern from Oliver + S.   (Ethan asked me if people would recognize him.  I told him other kids probably wouldn't but their parents would!!!  Funny!!!)

For the Skipper, I did make him a different pair of khaki pants but since I had to wake him from his nap to leave the house he wasn't too impressed with his pants.  I also made him a "belly" pillow to give him a Skipper's belly......but again, he wasn't nearly as impressed as I was.

As for moving news, it has gone well and we are now fine tuning everything.  I'll be back soon with more updates.  I hope you all are enjoying this lovely fall!  The colors of the trees in my neck of the woods has been spectacular this year!!!!  Blessings to each of you and take some time to stitch!!!

We're Moving.....

Wow!  Two months later!!  I'm still here but even busier than I was the last time.  The last time I posted we were just busy with the normal summer stuff.  Now we are busy with moving!!!  We've randomly looked at houses off and on for a few years.  But last month we looked at a house, and looked at it again, and again.  And finally decided we should live there.  Now several weeks later and lots of craziness.....we are packing and moving!  We are only moving about 4 miles down the road....but we still have to move everything just the same.  So for the friends that have called, emailed, or otherwise....we really are fine.....just moving!  And I still won't have a dedicated sewing room....but the kids will have a bit more room and we will be on a larger piece of property on a beautiful river.  So it's all good!  Hopefully I will be back soon with something.  It may only be pictures of the new house but I really hope to get back to sewing soon.  I need some sewing therapy!!!

Busy, But Fun Summer.....

We have had such a fun summer already.  I thought I would share a few highlights from it thus far:

Right on the heels of Ean's 3rd birthday was Emily's 13th birthday.  I know!  I can't believe it either!!  Thirteen years old!  She is helping out with Vacation Bible School at our church this week and she is exhausted!  She is working with 28 preschoolers each day.  She comes home ready to eat and nap.  

Elisabeth taught Ethan how to ride a 2-wheeler bike.  Her bike, nonetheless!  They both were so proud of each other....her for teaching him and him for actually doing it!!!  I love watching them help each other.  But trust me in that it isn't always like that around here.  A blog is nice in that I can show you what I want to show you.  I spare you the fights, tantrums, etc. 

And going to the Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge, TN is my kids favorite thing to do!!  Even if we just stop by the gift shop.  Actually last week we were in Pigeon Forge and it was hot and busy!  A really bad storm came through last Thursday evening that caused quite a bit of damage and killed a few people in the Cades Cove area.  Really sad!!!

I'm going to pack up a few little ones and head back to TN this weekend so that I can visit with my dad a few days.  He's traveling from FL just for the weekend and I look forward to seeing him.  He'll be 84 years old on his birthday next month.  Amazing!!!  He's going to TN for his high school reunion in Knoxville this weekend.  I think he graduated in 1947.  I know he is going to have so much fun reminiscing with former classmates !!!

I hope you all are enjoying your summer!  And I hope you are sewing something fun.  I haven't sewn much at all....but I do hope to soon!  My friend Laura of Ellie Inspired has some adorable patterns I want to stitch up for my Elisabeth.  Back soon!