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.

Summer and all its Glory!

I just love summer! Having these gorgeous hydrangeas on my table makes me so happy. Compliments of my friend Tammy; I don't have a hydrangea bush. I've also enjoyed zinnias, snow peas, okra, green beans, tomatoes and zucchini this week - all shared. So far I have my bumper crop of cucumbers. LOL.

So on to this week's projects . . .
A custom order diaper bag, changing pad and wipe case. I scanned then digitized parts of the fabric design to coordinate the embroidered monogram.

Remember the twins? They had more than one shower. These are infant-size hooded towels their grandmother had made for the second shower.

My friend's mother had this hooded towel made for a birthday party. This one's made differently, more appropriate for a toddler.

Here's another diaper bag. Anna's mommy picked out this plaid fabric and it was a challenge for me. The soft, muted colors and small scale aren't what I'm used to working with so I had to think about this one for a while.