Travel Fun

Vacation Time!

My sister (Lou) and her crew have been on vacation this week! When they were in the planning stages, Lou mentioned that she thought a backpack would be easier to handle instead of a regular purse. My ears perked up and I, of course, said "No problem, I can make you a simple drawstring one." As I pondered the idea, I was afraid that  the drawstrings wouldn't be enough cushion for her, so I went to Pinterest and found convertible bags! These are super cool, however, not exactly what I wanted or had the supplies for. So I did a bit of pattern squishing and made a trial bag. the straps pull up so it can be either a backpack or a shoulder bag. Abby loved hers, but Lou requested a couple changes- such as a water bottle pocket and a tab for the inside pocket (which fit her phone perfectly - rather amazing since I didn't measure it at all.)

                             When I brought Abby's bag over to the house AC was teasing that he needed one too, so Aunt Bobbie decided  to oblige. I ended up making one for each of the boys. 

Lou texted me the first day and said
it works great

Then Lou mentioned that she could use a travel pillow as well. I found this  dog bone one on Pinterest - it was very simple to make. I stuffed it with fluff and poly pellets (that I picked up at a garage sale for 25 cents a bag.) 

Whilst looking for the dog bone pillow I came across these seatbelt pillows.  Their vacation is a Road Trip so each of the kidlets needed one! I used fabric on hand except for Miah's- but I had a coupon for 70 cent fat quarters at JoAnn's so I only spent $1.40 on it. I aslo made the two little boys snap coin purses from Sew Can She or as we call them "Grandpa coin purses"  but I seem to have forgotten to take pictures.

Well that was dumb!
I stitched the entire pillow
right side to wrong side
My seam Ripper got a work out

Elijah's pillow even has a "DogDog"pocket

I got a wee bit carried away with the travel sewing and made a toiletry bag for Lou- the one she had was given to her like 20 years ago and had seen better days. I used this tutorial which is not in English Thanks to Google translate I was able to figure it out. I used a Priority Mail Tyvek envelope for the

I also made a small zipper bag to match

top and bottom interfacing and the cover from a coloring book for the sides. I was able to scavenge the hardware and strap from the original bag. I should really record Lou's reactions- they are always the best, she makes gift giving fun!

Show and Tell

I just got a notice
 that I had new followers- and much to my chagrin I haven't posted in ForEVER! However, I have been sewing like a fiend ( how exactly do fiends sew? - They prolly don't have time in between being fiendish. ? ?)  So I decided to just do a quick show & tell today and save all the fun extras and whys and wherefores for later

 Get ready for picture overload!

Seatbelt pillows

Elijah's has a pocket for Dog Dog

Drawstring Backpacks

Splendid Sampler 2

Bags 

 UFO from 2015  that is now gifted!

Professional Tote Bag (my version) 

Can you guess what profession :)

Garment Bag! 

 There you have it! Actually I know there are quite a few projects missing from this show, I will have to search out the pictures and possibly have the gifted photographed- I'll try to post all the fun stuff soon!
Have a great day-
 back to sewing- Sherman and I have 2 more pillows and one more bag to make this week!

Tea for two

Almost from the time my niece Abigail was born, we've been having tea.  My favorite pictures of her are when she was 2 and wearing Nana's hat, pouring tea from my tea pot (Aunt Bobbie staged alot of photos with the kidlets when they were small.)  Each year I try to have a tea party for her birthday,  sometimes with just the two of us, sometimes with family and other times we've sent out invitations to friends.
Last year she asked if she could have a tea party with one friend.... For some reason it never happened,  schedules conflicted and the such like.  So today we made it happen (only one year and a half later). 

     Abby's brothers and parents are in Iowa for Jr Bible Camp, so Abby spent the week at Nana Camp (the boys had Nana Camp in July while Abby was at Teen Camp)  part of Nana Camp includes a day with Aunt Bobbie.  We  had to split our day up, yesterday we painted pillows with Emma Bean and went to the playground.  This morning we had tea with  Christa. 

I took my coffee table (which is an old trunk) into the backyard and decorated the tree and clothesline  with fabric flowers and tulle.  I wrapped some pillows in fabric for the girls to sit on and brought a vintage suitcase &  books out.  I used bridesmaid's bouquets and loose flowers as well as fresh flowers from my garden. Hats and scarves were provided. 

 

 

Menu : Strawberry Cheese  Tarts with whipped cream,  Nutella Shortbread (Girl Scout cookies with Nutella) and Cinnamon Earl Grey  tea (*somebody* put the box of  the tea I had planned to serve- Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride - away empty and I only had Earl Grey and Cinnamon Stick left... The girls drank two pots full so they must have liked it)

 

I left the girls to themselves until after the second pot of tea,  it's rare that they see each other without crowds of siblings.  Christa brought a set of American Girl books and they played the game that was attached.  Then we read some poetry and Emma joined us. After Christa left Abby and Emma played dress up with the scarves. 
The weather today is perfect for being outdoors, it's hot but there's a beautiful breeze and the tree had fantastic shade until about 2pm.
Now it's time for Aunt Bobbie to go play in the sewing room!  Have a great day!

 

 

Putting my stamp on it!

 My California Parents are both retired from the US Postal Service, so when I saw the announcement for this hop, I had to jump on board. Then I was thinking-"what in the world have I gotten myself into? I don't know what to make." I started brainstorming and writing all sorts of things down- how do *I* put my stamp on things?  All I ended up with was a couple of pages of words describing me, but nothing was clicking. 

Then I went to my sister's to babysit her kidlets. The kids all came running, excited to see Aunt Bobbie and Miah said "I was hoping it was going to be you. We knew someone was coming to watch us, just not who.  Aunt Bobbie always makes the fun things more fun."  ( isn't he the sweetest thing?) 
Didya hear that click? :)

 here is my "FUN" stamp!

 Aunt Bobbie has nicknames for all the kidlets so I added fabric for each one. Abby is my Ladybug, Azariah is my AzA Rizah Roo, Elijah is my Lijasaurus, Miah is my sunshine, and Emma is my Bean 
 







 I used Carnival Fabric because carnivals are fun and there are hats and umbrellas on it (a few of my favorite things.) Just for "fun" I used a different stitch for each kidlet's section.
My Currency is 5cents because there are 5 kidlets represented on my stamp. My Country is USA.

yes that is a mentos geyser tube on my desk

I should tell you, I am an Activity Director at a nursing home- it is my job to have fun. If I am not having fun,  I am not doing my job. :) 

Dr Seuss was right!

 For my second stamp, I googled postage stamps and a Love stamp caught my eye- the theme for this stamp is LOVE- unconditional love. the background is the colors of the Wordless Book.  

 My heart was black with sin

until the Savior came in,

His precious blood I know has washed me 

White as snow

And in God's Word I'm told, I'll walk the streets of gold

to grow in Christ each day, I read my Bible and pray.

 My country is Heaven - this world is not my home!  Hebrews 11:16 says But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

My currency is the blood of Jesus- I Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's

My stamp is a FOREVER stamp John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

 I FMQd the word LOVE but wrote in the rest of the words, I should have used a different pen- I may cut off the edging and redo that part. I appliqued the background to some very stiff interfacing that I bought to make Madame Samm's indoor awning. I traced the edge of a small spool of thread for my "perforations"

 I plan on using my stamp for an object lesson in Kings Kids this year. 

Thank you for stopping by! be sure to check out the others who are joining me today- if you went in order Our fearless leader is next! I am sure she has lots of

in store for you!

Thanks to  Madame Samm and Thearica for another great hop! 
By the way yesterday was Postal Workers Day- and today is my Sweet Mommie's Birthday!!!!!! Happy Birthday  Mommie! I LOVE YOU!   
July 3

More Stars in Comanche

Dachsies With Moxie

NotionNanny


 13 Woodhouse Road

Heikesquilt’

Traveling Quilter

Jackie’s Art Quilts

What About Rheema?

From This to That <--------- that's me!

Sew We Quilt

Mysteries and Mayhem

the handprint belongs to the recipient of my project

I have had sew much fun just looking at everyone's Nancy Drew Projects! I have been sew amazed at the talent and creativity shown by everyone! Detective Samm and Detective Carol have done a fantastic job keeping us amateur sleuths in line! I think they deserve a promotion!

As I was puzzling over what to make for this hop, I started thinking of mystery stories in general. Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, The Three Investigators, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames, The Dana Girls were all a part of my childhood, and I have a niece that loves to read as much as her Aunt Bobbie. Her favorite books seem to be the same ones I loved.  I knew I was making her a pillow, but I had no CLUE what pattern I would use. Footprints, clues, hidden treasure, creepy passages, old clocks, lilacs – nothing was clicking and then I had a hunch of my own!

“Read read read Thats all I can say”
― Carolyn Keene, The Secret of the Old Clock

A Question Mark!  Every mystery starts with a question- Who Done it? The Three Investigators use the Question Mark as their symbol because “they stand for questions unanswered, riddles unsolved, mysteries unexplained." I couldn’t find any patterns on line or even a picture of a quilt with a question mark so I made up my own. 

 I picked up a few clues from my fellow sleuthy bloggers.  Every mystery has clues- footprints and .......

FINGERPRINTS

so I tried my hand  at FMQing some fingerprints into my quilt



I had to play with the color so the  fingerprints would show up in the picture.



Another thing a good mystery has is a secret, whether it is a secret passageway or a secret compartment-

"After Nancy had discovered Fay on deck, and Captain Easterly  had been sure he would not return, the thief had made two visits to the clipper and hidden in the secret compartment of the wardrobe"

the Secret in the Pillowcase

So of course my project had to have a secret compartment too (mine is not as cool as the books behind the painting that we saw earlier this hop, but it is hard to see.) Since this pillow is meant for a reader and that reader has glasses, I added a secret glasses compartment on the back of the pillow- if she is anything like her Aunt Bobbie, she needs her glasses right at hand.

Abby’s Birthday was the 3rd of March, but I didn’t have her present quite finished- we took pictures anyway!

Here is the finished project (without the pillow form)

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."

— Walt Disney

 



Abby forgot to put Samantha's coat on her.
And then I sat her in the snow! :)



I was taking a blog reading break during my Nancy Drew project and Amy, over at Naptime Crafters was hosting Dressing Up Dolly. Mom 4 Reals shared a tutorial for a book bag for an AG Doll- I had a few “too small” HST’s  and squares leftover from the pillow top so I put them together and made Abby’s doll, Samantha a book bag.  What is a book bag with out books? I didn't have access to a printer so I wrote up some handwritten books. I used quotes from Abby's favorite books: The Bible, Little Women and Nancy Drew. I have plans for an Anne of Green Gables books too.  I stitched the bindings on the books with my sewing machine.



My Camera has blink detection and after every picture of Samantha,
it said Blink Detected!
 Reminded me of a Trixie Belden Mystery-
 the case of the Blinking Eye



Abby said that Samntha LOVES her new books!
"They're just the right size!"

Like Madam Samm, I Love my coffee and I love tea too so when I came across a cup cozy in the midst of my sleuthing frenzy... I had to make one- Can't read a good  any book with out a cuppa -

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice



it fits my regular sized cup and...



I added a tab so it would fit through the handle
and be adjustable, however, it barely fits my big cup!  
I still need to sew the velcro on- the glue melts when the cup is hot!

Thank you for stopping by to see all my sleuthy projects- I hope you are having as much fun on this hop as I am! Be sure to hop over to my fellow detectives and see what they have come up with! I have a hunch you will love it!

Thursday, March 14, 2013 

Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm

Quilt ‘n Queen

Our Busy Little Bunch

Just Quilt It

Hilachas

Loves to Quilt

Sew. Darn. Quilt.

From This To That<<ME!!

LynMarie At That Other Blog

Friday, March 15, 2013 

Little Mushroom Cap

Why-Knot-Kwilt

Daisy Days

Julia P. at That Other Blog

The Day Before This Day

Sew Far

 Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes.

Les passions de Cliodana

That’s Sew Julie (moved from 3/8)

Sew We Quilt <<<<Our Fabulous Head Detective!