Wedding bells ring, are you listening?

Ashley's finger is a-glistening!

Oh happy day! Our 24-year old baby Kyle is engaged to the most wonderful, sweetest girl in the whole entire world! Does everyone have those feelings of something you "just know"? Ashley was one of those. I just knew she was my daughter! Over these four years since I met her we have bonded. We share interests and traits and hopes and fears and faith -- what can I say, except that I love them both and I'm SO HAPPY! This is the best Christmas ever!(Can you believe Kyle was worried about how his fingernails looked for this pic?! Now that's a first!!! )

Here's my sister Deb, our enthusiastic family cheerleader with her official family welcome. This is so Deb. (Of course, the spontaneous real one was a little better than this staged repeat but still fun nevertheless.) A special family moment. Families are good. Ashley has an incredible family too. Real people - kind, friendly, down-to-earth, no pretenses. People you enjoy being around. I hope she can say the same for our zany family. Ashley is an amazing person in more ways than I can tell you. We are truly blessed.

Oh Happy Day!

I made my first Etsy sale and will ship a Christmas jumper to Massachusetts today - can you believe it!? I still marvel at how the internet makes such things possible. A few short years ago I couldn’t have dreamed of such a thing. It makes the world smaller, don’t you think? When I see that I’ve had visits (and comments) from exotic, far-away places like Australia (!!!) I am humbled!

Well, it was another busy weekend for us, I‘ll bet yours was too. Another Christmas party, this one sponsored by my husband’s place of part-time employment and so graciously hosted at the home of the managing owner and his wife. Mid-afternoon it dawned on me that a hostess gift would be nice . . .


So I whipped up this kitchen towel. With the addition of a box of chocolates, we thought we should have all bases covered (husband and wife).



I had a request for a couple of tiles expressing this sentiment. With the words being the focus, I kept them pretty simple in design. I like simple. I think simple should be my middle name. For a lot of reasons. :)





And a monstrance cover. In white satin. Satin works up so beautifully, you can hardly go wrong.


I added covered piping and an embroidery design I digitized myself. Simple elegance. Again with the simple!



That's all for now. Have a good day. We're in line for our first winter storm; I'll let you know how that goes.

Etsy shop is off to a start!

A slow start maybe - it takes longer to do those listings than you would think! But as of this moment I have three offerings. One is the Christmas jumper so to make that feasible I knew I had to get it up right away. A wallet and a purse round out the opening pieces.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Etsy -- it's an online marketplace for original handmade items. Items are listed with pictures and descriptions similar to eBay, but unlike eBay it's not an auction site. It's more like walking into a virtual boutique. Items are priced and available for purchase -- no bidding!

So if you're interested, here it is . . .

my MidwestChic Etsy Shop !

Click on the shop name to check it out. To find the shop without my link, you can go etsy.com and in the search area use the drop down options to choose "Sellers: usernames", then type MidwestChic (without spaces) in the search box. I'm continuing to add other items, so you'll find more later in the day.

Here are a few things from this week. I delivered these stockings earlier in the week. Can you believe another doggy named Izzy?!

And although I prepared this for a friend to give as a Christmas gift, there's nothing that gives a clue as to who it belongs to so I'm gonna show it now. I like this hoodie that she found. It's tough finding shirts with no writing or emblems.

Well, I'm off now to do more Etsy listings. Thanks for stopping by!

Class was good!

I had a group of the most lovely ladies and we had lots of fun. Or at least I did for sure! Everyone was able to get the jumper completed and some were able to get going on embellishments -- trim, applique designs, etc. There are going to be some adorably dressed little girls at Christmas time!

My only regret is that it's so far from home. Ya'll know I'm not so much a fan of driving and between class and driving it took the best part of the day. I left home at 10am and got home just a little before 7pm -- only to find out than that my sister had to take my dad to the ER in my absence. So I've been hospital sitting the last two days. My dad - oh my, what can I say? He has health issues but it's not just that. I don't know how to explain his situation other than to say that some people just have a harder time than others dealing with life in general. If you know someone like that, you will know what I'm talking about. My dad struggles with a lot of issues and every so often he crashes. This is one of those times. This episode has been going on sometime now. It's been a difficult time and reminds me to thank God every day for my sisters. I can't imagine how one could do it if you were an only child!

Well, I really didn't intend to share all that but if I seem distracted for a while, this is why. Keep us in your prayers. With God's grace, we'll get through it - we always do!

Getting a little done here and there

This has been an eventful week in my personal life, with a lot of time devoted to some unforeseen family matters. Even under ideal circumstances there was a lot I needed to accomplish this week and well, let's just say it was a challenge. But somehow or other, with the exception of one small finishing task, I have almost succeeded. Do you suppose that sometimes God just gives us hurdles to prove to us that we can do more than we think we can?!

I will teach my first class at Jackman's Fabrics tomorrow afternoon. I am excited, anxious and more than a little apprehensive. I'll let you know how it goes. I keep telling myself - relax, breathe deeply. It's going to be fine.

Tomorrow's class is the holiday jumper. Remember this . . . ?

Spring is coming - here's a reversible sundress.

One side. I love that giant rick-rack!

The reverse.

I love how this jacket turned out. It's made from the Children's Corner pattern "Robin's Little Jacket". What a great gender-neutral pattern and it's like a blank canvas to come up with some fun, creative ideas for kid designs. At our house, we like firemen. Wonder why? (It's all about my VFD husband.)

Can't tell from the photo, but that dalmation puppy is made of ultra soft plush. Pet the puppy!

(Can you tell the buttonholes aren't finished? Argh. That's the one thing I didn't get finished.)

And here is another tunic top. I may make some bottoms to go with it, I'm not decided on that yet.

So . . . it's way past my bedtime, the only reason I'm up so late is we just returned from our second Christmas party of the weekend. Tis the season and all. This party was for the bank where I used to work. One of my favorite co-workers, a branch manager from another facility, is preparing to move back "home" to a neighboring state. Don't tell him, but I'd been secretly praying their house wouldn't sell so that they wouldn't leave but the time has finally come. His wife is already there and working, he is simply wrapping up loose ends to join her soon. I tried but didn't make it through without a few tears. We shared some laughs and memories too though, and promises to keep in touch. I know it's a good thing for them and I wish them well in their new home . . . but I still wish they weren't going.

I better sign off now, try to calm my nerves and get some sleep. I'm going to need it tomorrow!

Foxy Behavior

Recent days have brought a couple of interesting observations in the yard. The scappy remains from the Thanksgiving turkey were carefully refrigerated so they could be doled out to the foxes over a several day period. One day I watched Bibsy (as I've named the bolder, white-bibbed one) visit the scrap pile. After devouring several bones he took a few from his abundance, moved them to a spot between a couple of trees -- and buried them! I am having so much fun watching their behavior. On another occasion while Rusty was barking at one of them, the fox paused, looked directly at Rusty and cocked his head back and forth in wonderment -- just like a dog would do. They are very dog-like, aren't they?

I have lots to learn

. . . about photography. About many things actually, but that's what I'm concerned with at the moment. I like taking photos (more so now with the blog) but I always viewed the challenge of taking good photos as such a huge learning experience and quite frankly I've been LAZY. But with my husband's announcement that I'm going to get a nice camera for Christmas (isn't he TOO GOOD?) I've gone into overdrive this past half-week, researching camera recommendations and important tutorial info. Turns out the camera I've got now is a pretty darn good pocket camera and as I always suspected, I could be doing much better. So with my new found knowledge I changed some settings and now I'm learning and practicing with this one.
Russell is my most convenient subject to practice on although I'm sure he will tire of this before long. You'd think I would have combed his hair first, wouldn't you?! But he's still cute.

No sewing photos today. Thanksgiving preps left me little time to sew and what little I did do I can't show till after Christmas in the event that one of the recipients would find their way to the blog. Which brings me to this -- an exciting milestone for me -- last week my blog had it's 1000th visitor!
Some of my blogging friends probably have that many visits in one day -- I'm grinning because I can hear you snickering, but I'm still impressed!

I'd been thinking about doing some fun little giveaway anyway and I think this calls for a celebration prize. I'll make a little something soon and pick a magical visit number. But this is the reason for the early heads up -- the catch is that you have to comment for me to identify you as that visitor number. It's not hard, honest. Some of you read the blog then email me comments separately - I'm telling you, this is easier. Really. It's simple and fun to comment here and I so enjoy it too. When I get something made I'll post a pic of the "prize", pick a number and let you know the count when we're getting close.

And another milestone -- did you see Free Kibble has reached more than half a million meals?! Hooray! Have you Free Kibbled today? Click on the pets in my sidebar. A simple fun way to do something kind. God bless!

Hello Mr. Fox

When I mentioned about the foxes last week I decided I needed a picture too. So when Rusty alerted me mid-morning to their presence I grabbed my camera and took a few photos from our upstairs bedroom window. On this visit I caught the bolder of the two. They're easy to distinguish as one has far more white on his (her?) bib and belly and while you see this fellow has gentle black tipping, the other is strongly marked in black, his legs nearly solid. "Blackie" is far more cautious. I'm not a good judge of distance but it is quite a long way from our house to the fringe of the woods yet it is undeniable that Blackie can see me watching from the window. He doesn't like it much. Later on this same day when he visited I tried to grab my camera but any movement whatsoever on my part will send him scampering. I watched for him to return at which time he stared me down for a few moments but when I raised the camera, he grabbed a cabbage leaf from the scrap pile and dashed off to the safety of wooded cover. That must have satisfied him at least for a while; he certainly wasn't coming back any time soon if I was going to harass him! Another day (maybe Friday?) I watched the two interacting at the scrap pile. I couldn't tell if they were actually challenging each other over the food - it didn't seem like a serious conflict but maybe more of a jostling for position, order-of-the-pack kind of issue.

This is the bolder of the two, I guess we need a name for him too.

I have no doubt he is looking directly at me, although this guy feels less threatened by my presence than his friend does.

Have I mentioned that we spent our summer watching a mama deer raise her twin babies?

Now, on to the indoor business at hand. I didn't get a whole lot done last week, I was only able to sew some on Monday & Tuesday. With the long awaited arrival of deer season, my guys headed to "deer camp". Sounds like I'd have less to do, doesn't it? But I cooked almost non-stop Wed-Thurs-Friday. I can't blame it all on them though, I had friends in on Friday evening, then on Saturday morning headed off to my sister's for a weekend long Thanksgiving gathering. Believe me, we ate well all around. And I feel like I've packed on a couple of extra holiday pounds. Already. Tomorrow I'll start cooking for my husband's family on Thanksgiving day. Over-eating is a holiday tradition for me.

So I do have one little project to show you - here's a tote for Izzy the dog, the same Izzy of last week's Christmas stocking. Yes she is a pampered pooch, isn't she? I totally understand!

The front . . .

The back. . .

And the inside too.

Now it is serious crunch time at my house. I have a December 1 deadline to turn in supply lists for five spring classes at Jackman's. I have to list each and every thing that might possibly be needed to complete the project, along with narratives - supply recommendations, what to do to prepare for class, etc. I've discovered the only way to develop these lists effectively is to make notes while you do the samples. SO . . . I have a lot of sewing and a lot of paperwork to do. And none of it completed. This is not a good feeling. And I have Thanksgiving dinner breathing down my neck, how did that happen so soon!? Someone who knows me well told me once that I wouldn't be happy if I didn't have too much to do. Well said.

I can't sign off without mentioning that I helped Ashley (my future DIL) work on kitchen curtains. Ashley has good taste, picked out some really nice fabrics and had great ideas. She made covered piping and inserted it below the header. It looks gorgeous and professional. She is doing some seriously amazing things for a beginning sewer; some day soon she will be leaving me in the dust! (You know, maybe I could get a picture of those curtains.) Ashley also took a pretty good cut on the finger from the rotary cutter that morning but we won't talk about that . . .

I'm thankful for:

~ our service men and women (including my cousins Chris & Liz) who put themselves in harm's way to protect our freedom and way of life

~ being married to the most amazing man

~ the giggles we share daily with our kids, family and best friends

God Bless you all - Happy Thanksgiving!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

. . . in our little neck of the woods. Yesterday as I dreamed up a Christmas doggy stocking in my warm and cozy sewing studio (doesn't that sound hotzy-totzy!), Randy had to dodge snowflakes as he cleaned up leaves in the yard! Not that he minds. He likes snow. He likes Christmas. Sometimes I call him "Rudy-Lou-Who". You have to be a fan of the Grinch to get that humor.

Even I who fret and worry over the holidays can't help but catch a little whimsical Christmas spirit with fun projects like last week's bibs and this week's doggy stocking for Isaac & Avery's pup.

Now you know, sweet Rusty is going to want one like this too . . .

And a close-up 'cause you've gotta check out the ribbon.

(Darn, I don't have any more of that.)

Then, the diaper bag I promised from last week . . .

And finally a shirt for my husband. This was inspired by my friend Tammy's youngest, Tyler, who wanted something Fire Dept. related to honor the memory of his uncle Todd. Tyler has a lot of qualities passed on from his mom and Todd. He has a creative mind and oh-my, can he build things with wood! At 16 he has created some amazing outdoor furniture pieces like hexagon picnic tables and Adirondack chairs. He even sold a few this past summer. He got his business drive from his dad! Now I'm rambling (my husband says I do that) . . . here's the shirt.

My husband is pleased and that makes me happy too. A somber loving happy.

Today I'm thankful for:

~ a warm home and well stocked cupboard

~ sweet puppy kisses

~ the beautiful fox couple who visits our yard daily reminding me to live life simply, in faith that our needs will be met

What are you thankful for today?

Yes, I'm still here!

As of late I've been slacking in my blogging -- but not so in the sewing room. I've been busy busy, trying to make my way through a long list of projects. I am making progress but not enough in my judgment to be where I need to be as the holidays quickly approach. (EEK!) I also find myself with fewer pictures I can post for now, since so many of the projects I'm creating are gifts. But there are a couple of things I can show you . . .
Last time I posted bibs I mentioned how much I like to do them. They do take quite a lot of time (virtually all day for these 3) but I think they are just so darn cute! Oh, how I wish I'd had this machine and the time to do these things when our kids were small (deep sigh).

Fronts and Backs (they're reversible). Look closely to see the sparkle snowflakes!

These are fun because I love doing free motion quilting and using the bias binder. One of these days in the not too distant future, I'm going to start a quilt or two. I have a stack of Amy Butler Midwest Modern and a Moda Posh jelly roll waiting for that day.

Here are more Vandal bags . . .


and some velveteen drawstrings for Our Sorrowful Mother's Ministry.



In the wings -- I have a cute diaper bag completed for a shower this weekend, so I'll be able to post it soon. Also a couple other completed bags that are Christmas gifts. Oh won't we be picture saturated after Christmas?!

And finally, I was inspired by a post last month by Amy at Park City Girl as she began giving thought to what she is thankful for. Those thoughts have rambled around in my head as I tried to come up with a perfect list and finally decided a comprehensive list is too much pressure. So instead I'm just going to mention two or three random things with each post this month. Here are today's thoughts:

~ God's Grace that gives me strength for all things
~ His gift of life and good health to enjoy it
~ Our many blessings of comfort and security

Those are my profound thanks, next time I'll do more light-hearted. Have a great day and enjoy the blessings in your life!

Finished!

I got the outfit done and made real progress on my write-ups too! Hope to finish and have them in our box before Mikey the mailman arrives this morning. Here's the outfit.

Here's a close-up of the top so you can see the straps - I love the way they are gathered into the bodice. Oh yeah, I kinda love those tags I made too (double-click to see). Aren't they cool? I printed them using a DIY recipe for photo transfer fabric. I don't know the extent of their washability, but right now they look good! I don't remember where I got the fabric treatment recipe, but if anyone is interested let me know.

And a close-up of the pants. They were fun. Makes me think I may try some decoupage jeans - have you seen them? There are some cute ones on eBay (selling for outrageous prices).

Speaking of prices, help me out. I may put this on Etsy and I need to figure out a price. Does anyone have an idea? I don't look for outrageous prices, but these gathered twirly type tiers take a lot of expensive fabric. What do you think moms? Grandmas?

I just had a light bulb moment, I'm thinking it needs a matching headband too. Yep . . .

Work in progress

I've kind of backed myself into a corner timewise - I have a deadline this week for Jackman's spring session. This isn't my style, I'm usually an early finisher. But not this time. I'm working Lisa!!! Here are a couple of projects in the works that may become classes.

Laura Gunn, talented artist, fabric designer and seamstress, recently posted a great tutorial on her blog for a covered milk crate and she graciously gave me her permission to use this for a class. Thanks again Laura! It wasn't easy for me to find a milk crate - she suggested Target; ours had none, they told me it was a seasonal back-to-school item. After a few other strike-outs I finally found them at Garden Ridge. However when I got home I found that the dimensions were quite different from hers. But I also bought this other plastic storage bin, considerably less expensive and I really like the shape of it. Laura's tutorial includes calculations to revise the size, so after a little tweaking, I got it just how I wanted it. So here's what it looks like:

I'm going to add fabric covered button/brads on the ends. I have the buttons on hand but have to go searching for some heavy duty brads. I just love this fabric - by Denyse Schmidt, from the Katie Jump Rope collection.

To find Laura's tutorial, check out her Paint in My Hair blog. She has the most amazing paintings and some very inspiring home dec ideas - not to mention the tutorials. Her creativity will dazzle you and if that's not enough, consider this - Heather Bailey is her sister-in-law and Elinor Peace Bailey is her mom! If you don't recognize their names, Elinor is a nationally-renowned creator of whimsical dolls and Heather is a wow fabric designer. (As in Pop Garden & Freshcut collections -- I have some pieces, but oh my it's hard to cut into those.) Her brother Isaac Bailey is a photographer, some of the gorgeous photos on her blog are his work. So -- is creativity hereditary or learned? What do you think? (BTW, Laura has commented on my blog and that makes me feel like I've been sprinkled with celebrity fairy dust!)

And here's the second project in progress - a little girl's tunic top. Yesterday I started a pair of denim pants to go with. I'll post the complete outfit later. The fabrics are Michael Miller, the Orchid Spa line.

Better run, I've got lots to do today!

Just a few things

One day at a time, the world moves on. I'm spending a lot of time with my friend Tammy and it's a refreshing release to be able to focus on time together and just the basic simplicity of doing what you want or need to do in the moment. I believe we all have a tendency to fall into that "life in the fast lane" routine, squeezing so much into our schedule that we can't possibly achieve it all, feeling like a failure when we don't, and in the meantime perhaps giving less attention than we would like to the precious ones we hold dear.

We've all heard it before, but I'm here to tell you again. Slow down, say no when you need to, focus on what is important to you and tell everyone dear to you how you feel. You never know, you may not get another chance.

Sniff, sniff - okay . . . I finally sat down at my machine this week one day shy of two weeks without sewing (yeah, I can't believe it myself), but the occasion was Tammy's birthday (yes, how painfully ironic).

How many of you have caught the rubber stamping addiction? We have. I had made myself a bag similar to this for my Stampin Up markers and she admired it, so this one was for her. And it came out WAY cuter than mine!

If you're familar with SU, you know there are 4 color families, with 12 colors in each. The bag has 4 sections, each holds 12 markers.

I would have liked to show the bag with markers but mine were at Tammy's where we were making dozens of handmade thank-you cards. Just pretend these are SU markers. :)

I gave Tammy the bag on her actual birthday. There will be a birthday party this weekend so yesterday I helped Macy & Maddi each create a gift of their own for their Nana. Maddi's gift is a cupcake pincushion. It was so simple. Maddi is 4 and she honestly did a great deal of it herself, even threading the ribbon through the little holes we punched.

She was delighted, can you tell?! But then, she's always delighted, she's just one of those kind of kids.

She took this pic herself

Here's Macy (age 7) with her pillow top, so proud of using the sewing machine. She's already planning what she will do next and more importantly, when she will get her own machine!

I did the applique piece before she came, but she did all the patches by herself.

And finally a project from "before".

It's a carry-to-grandma's bag for a good friend's granddaughter. Little Mattie is 3 and her Nana tells me she loved the bag. I'm so pleased.

She loves butterflies and purple.

That's all for now.

Goodbye Dear Friend

I've been out of the loop for a while and many of you already know why. Ten days ago the world lost a remarkable soul when our friend Todd left this world for a better place. There are no words to describe the confusion, helplessness and devastation one feels when such a good person, so loved by so many is taken suddenly and far too soon. Even with the assurance of Todd's place in eternity, it is an impossible reality to accept that there can be a world without Todd in it. Todd was a beloved friend and confidant to my husband and cherished brother of my best friend Tammy. He was a brother in the truest sense to his brother-in-law Brian as well as his own brother Ted & wife Angie. His nieces & nephew Brandi, Brittany & Tyler simply adored him. He had found and married the love of his life, his beautiful wife Abbey and was a loving and devoted dad to Drake, Gracie, Lexie and Dalton. He was a source of pride and happiness to his parents - mom Nancy & Ken, dad John & Louise, Grandma Lois, Grandpa Bud & Edna, Grandma Martha, and parents-in-law Mike & Joellen Wehrle. For these, his beloved family, and for all of us who were simply blessed to know and love this incredible man, the world will never be the same.

Todd was a visionary, incredibly creative and talented beyond description. He built beautiful homes for a living. He was an artist, his ideas were always outside the box and he had the skills to make them a reality. He was a workaholic, passionate about whatever project was at hand. In the 12 years that Todd lived next to us, it was routine for him to come over and take up some project with my husband that would most likely drag on past darkness while I begged them to take just a little break to come in and eat something for goodness sake! Sometimes we would come home and find our yard mowed or some other little something magically done. When you mentioned it, he'd just grin. Todd was one of those kind of people. He was multi-talented. He was proud to be a volunteer fireman, he loved and was loved by his fire department family. He was a great outdoorsman, a morel mushroom hunting king and world class hunter. Ask his buddy Brent about that. Mere days ago Brent's phone received a self-portrait of Todd posed in camo against a tree gazing into the great beyond and below the picture a caption -"Hunter of the Year". His sense of humor was as big as his heart. Yes Todd, we will miss your jokes, your deep chuckle and your endless wisecracks. So save them up - until we meet again . . .

And Dear Todd, Please watch over your beautiful sister, she needs you so.

In the news . . .

I just have to share this. On Sunday morning as my husband was reading the St. Louis Post Dispatch, he asked me if I knew who Jen Gray was. Of course I do - she's the owner of The Time Boutique where I have some of my bags. So he read me the following:

Now that the dust has settled and Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden and entourages have left town, let us relate the sight 'ems. Here are some of the highlights: Ashley Biden, daughter of Joe, prevailed upon Jen Gray, owner of Washington Avenue's chic The Time Boutique, to unlock her store Thursday night for an after hour stop. . . .

The article goes on, but that was what interested me. What a surprise. Makes me wish I had taken some new, good stuff more recently than my last visit two months ago!

Not a big deal I know, but it sure made my day.

More Display Samples

Tomorrow I'll deliver these two display samples for the adult sewing classes I'll be teaching in December.

The GARMENT BAG: I've admired this fabric line for some time but needed a big-sized project like this to make the large scale print work. The collection is XOXOXO the Cat, by Wendy Slotboom. I have another piece from this collection too; I'm sure you'll be seeing it one of these days. I love the trendy colors and I think the fabric would appeal to a pretty broad age group, don't you? The bag is lined in a kiwi green stripe.


JUMPER: This is super simple to sew. The pattern is Lucy by Children's Corner. I used black velveteen with red pom-pom trim and buttons.

Here's a close-up of the applique design. Very simple. I had in mind some vintage Christmas ornaments like my baby sister collects. I sketched these then used a compass and some simple paper folding to clean up the design and make the ornaments symmetrical. It's very basic and I'm hoping a simple introduction to fusible applique.
So . . . there they are. I believe the class schedules will go out before the end of the month. It's kind of a scary feeling.

Bed Head & Sleepy Eyes

It's a tough job being a perfect puppy! I just couldn't resist sharing this photo of Prince Russell (aka Rusty). He's not a morning dog and rarely makes it out of the bedroom before 9:30 or 10. I'm sure some of you will be thinking OMG, does he sleep in the bed? Oh yeah. When he feels like it, that is. In my defense, he's not that pampered. I do make him do a skoochy poochy while I make the bed around him. I have a favorite cousin who likes to keep dogs in their place. To him we say . . .


Good Morning Uncle Gordon! :)






This week's sewing projects start out with something I've been postponing (dreading). A Halloween outfit for sweet Sarah who wants to be Cruella Deville. With nothing to go on, I did some exploring on the internet and found the color scheme. I winged it from there (without a pattern) so I hope it fits. The fur is white plush with dots cut from black felt and free motioned on top. There's a slit up the front of the skirt, can you see it? I believe Sarah's mom said she had some black fishnet stockings. Does anyone know if this even looks like something Cruella would wear? Or does it just look fruity, like the Emperor's Robe or something? Ugh, too much worrying!

NOW THE BIG NEWS: I got a very surprising call yesterday afternoon from one of my sisters, to let me know my niece is expecting. Did I say surprising, I meant shocking! So shocking it made me light-headed. My, oh my. I'm sure I'll be posting more about dear Lyndsay and her miraculous adventure into parenthood.

Delivering Display Samples on Amy's Birthday

Amy's birthday celebration and my first delivery to Jackman's was moved from Sunday to Monday. It worked out well on several levels. First it was her actual birthday! It also allowed Randy to be home for his beloved football game, eased my conscience about the shopping-on-Sunday issue and let me attend a child's party that I didn't want to miss. Unfortunately Kyle and Ashley weren't able to join us last night as both had to work, Ashley headed to night shift and Kyle driving home from a distant service call on another marathon work day. (His peak season has begun!) Amy did bring her roommate Andrea, who coincidentally celebrated her birthday the day before. Anyway . . .

Here are displays I dropped off yesterday --

PET PILLOWS: I wasn't all that excited about this project but they came out much cuter than I anticipated. They loved them at Jackman's and were making kits as I left.

THE DUFFEL BAG. This thing is monstrous! I added the sneakers to give some perspective as to how big it really is. Don't you love the fabrics? (Click in to get a better look.) It's from the Park Slope collection by Erin McMorris.

Thacker's birthday party was Sunday. His first. His mom is a party nut -- all parties are totally themed (can you believe she's already started with next year's!); this year was a farm theme, thus the barn and red bandana trim for this hooded towel.

I'm working on two more display samples, one is nearly complete and I just love it! Can't wait to show you.

I've also picked up two great new books from Jackman's. Last week I got Keri Mecca's Sewing with Whimsy, yesterday I brought home Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam & Nicky Lintott. The Whimsy book includes four patterns and there are 16 quilts plus a bonus project in the Jelly Roll book! And YES, I realize that my excitement over these books shows the depth of my addiction. Just don't tell Dr. Phil!

So much to do, better get rolling for the day -- Have a good one!