one shabby chick

Finished project - just can't share it....

Finished the Christmas present for my sister - who I should probably tell not to read my blog until after Christmas...

I'll just share a sneak peek...

 

The cookie party was fun - of course we had too much food and cookies...

 

and I forgot to take pictures until the very end and people had already left...

 

We had lots of fun - my sister-in-law (who is not a baker/cook and had told me she burnt half her cookies) actually won the "prettiest" cookie prize - they were pretty but of course I didn't take a picture!

(desserts which we didn't even eat - I had to force people to eat samples of the cookies to vote..we were all too full!)

(my cookies)

Tonight we are off to a "white attire" Christmas party (sans kids!) - Hubby doesn't have anything white except a t-shirt and I have two white tops and that's it - hope it's not a "strict" dress-code..and I need to get a new cell phone before the party too since mine died yesterday and it's my only phone!

Tomorrow we have a wedding in the afternoon and I think Sunday will be spend resting....I have a couple gifts left to get and some small ones to make - hope everyone has a great weekend!

We are the pirates who don't do anything

If you have never seen this movie - then you probably don't know what I'm talking about - but apparently I'm liking the vegetable movies lately...

Whenever I think of pirates, I think of those little guys - sitting in their boat - singing about "piratey" things.

My little guy has been asking me to make him a eye patch for a while now...it was always at a time when I wasn't sewing or I just forgot (which is horrible - I know) so finally yesterday I was determined to make it for him.

I guess he's been watching this movie and loved the eye patch. It had to be green - he picked out the fabric. I had a little mishap and the first one got thrown away - my brain just wasn't functioning and I had made it so it was impossible to turn inside out...but the next one got a seal of approval from the little pirate - and of course Baby Girl needed one too after seeing her brother's...

I'm making these today for our annual Cookie Exchange party. We usually have it at my house but it's pretty crowded cozy so my friend offered her beautiful, spacious home so we are having it there instead. I'll try and remember to take my camera and snap some pictures. It's basically a girls' night out - with cookies. And I always have a few prizes (an apron and tote bag) for the tastiest and prettiest cookie.

Have any of you gotten the new voile by Anna Maria Horner? It's amazing...I'm trying to figure out a dress I can make for the girls for Christmas - it will drape so beautifully - for some reason I was thinking it was going to be like Heather's Far, Far Away but it's nothing like it at all - almost has a silk feel to it..

And I also got some Hope Valley in the mail - have already cut into it for a Christmas gift....

Oh and I almost forgot - made these for Christmas gifts for a few friends...inside is a gift card to Starbucks - I used this tutorial - really great and fast to sew up!

what I've been up to

My sister-in-law ordered some aprons for Christmas.....

(she ordered them for her "dog show" friends so I used some doggie fabric for the pockets)

and a tote bag too...

A friend of hers (yes, she's giving me lots of business) called today and wanted to see if I could make some mini crayon rolls (for only 4 crayons). I was just finishing up the aprons so I said sure....

and managed to finish them today - 25 of them :-)

   

They were fun to make and I had a good audiobook to listen to.

Planning on doing a bit of Christmas shopping tomorrow - hopefully....I have no idea what to get for my 12 year old....or my brother.

Bullet points

• The kids are back - they had a blast!

 

  

• BIG waves are here - and tomorrow night is our church's Christmas dinner here...which is right smack in the middle of this contest (if they are having it). The traffic is insane so I may have to leave a bit earlier than I had planned.

• Made up some aprons with Heather Bailey's new line - I love this fabric - the prints are just so cute!

• I'll do another post with more NY pics - just been busy with life :-)

(isn't that the cutest ornament? My sister got it for me at K-Mart) 

• Finally got our Christmas tree today - we went to Home Depot last night but they were all sold out (they got some more today)...it will have to wait until Wed. to get decorated though...got to finish up a few more things for the craft fair tomorrow.

Overwhelmed

I have just been feeling overwhelmed lately - and a lot is self-inflicted...

Taking on too much and leaving things to the last minute - never a good combo.

(new Christmas pillows - you know, sewing things I shouldn't when I'm supposed to be working on other things)

I had a bunch of log cabin blocks from this swap and so I sewed a couple for myself and have some tops quilted to make my mom a few for her birthday (this Friday)....

 

I did get a few things accomplished this morning and am feeling a little better...

Put Rebekah's blocks in an envelope (yes, they've been sitting on my desk for a month!)

Finished up my pillow for the Pillow Swap (and it's now ready to mail as well)..

 

  

 

and Allyn's blocks for October's A Notion or Two - they have been sitting there just as long as Rebekah's - I just couldn't get them to turn out right so I was not wanting to finish them because of that - but I finally did - sorry no pictures though.

 

I've made progress on the quilt too - just don't think it will be done this week...I'm going to have to ask Marina for an extension (she didn't put a time limit but she is due this week)...

Whew - so I still have 7 aprons to make - 3 for a soccer friend of mine and 4 for my sister-in-law...all are gifts for people on their list. I've started picking out fabrics and cutting them out too.

And my other two finally get home tomorrow....feels like they have been gone forever!

Oh - and the giveaway winners....here they are:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

18	37

Timestamp: 2009-12-02 02:21:14 UTC

18 - Kathy Murray

and

37 - Jenny

Congrats ladies - and thanks everyone for putting up with my slacker blogging!

Hi there

Didn't mean to take a break....it's been a busy week but I really haven't done much (does that make any sense?).

The craft fair went great - I did really good (the best I have ever done at a craft fair!) but I guess a bunch of people complained that it was slow...it did rain the last hour so we finally packed up after getting wet...my sister was such a great craft fair buddy - thanks Cacia!

Had a soccer game on Sunday (which we lost) so by Monday I was wiped out. I don't know why, but as I was cleaning on Monday, I decided that I would re-arrange my sewing area...which meant I had to move all my fabric and re-fold it so there was no sewing Monday or Tuesday.

 

Yesterday we spent the morning at the doctor with an asthma attack (my 7 year old) but he seems better today.

I finally was able to start sewing again today...I cut out all the pieces for this quilt.

It's for this amazing photographer - she's about to have her 4th boy. Now I have to figure out the best layout on my design wall.

And since I needed my design wall, I sewed up this quilt - just need to add the outer borders.

 

And the best package came today - my Echino order from Fabricworm...this line is so gorgeous! I love them all! I'm thinking about making  up a few more totes for our church craft fair.

 

 

I do have a few apron orders to work on - and a couple birthday presents too. But tonight we have a babysitter and a group of us are all going to see "New Moon" - I may need to go watch Twilight right now :-)

Oh one more thing - Did everyone see Fabricworm is having a Thanksgiving sale - and they have Sandi Henderson's new line...plus they are getting Hope Valley in next week - yeah!!

A few aprons

They made it safely to NY and are enjoying their time so far...I'm so glad the kids got to experience something like this!

I spent yesterday cutting and sewing aprons...I have two more left to sew up and then I think that will be it...I think...

I did a rolled hem on the sides of the apron body and on both edges of the ruffle...I really like how they turned out - and it was so fun to play with lots of different fabrics on each apron.

It's a beautiful sunny day here so I'm hoping the same will be true tomorrow - last year we had a horrible storm all week December and the weather was ok for most of the morning but ended up pouring rain towards the end of the craft fair - luckily we had seen it coming and boxed everything up.

Oh, I almost forgot - have a couple cool links for everyone....

I subscribe to Sandi's blog and was so excited to see her 12 days of Christmas...and she gotten some amazing things - I am in love with all these pincushion toppers - like this one, this one, or this one - ack!

There's also an amazing giveaway going on here:

And I saw this on Randi's blog - have to make one! It's so pretty!

OK hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Big Apple

So tomorrow they leave for the big city. And yes, I'm a little nervous but I know my parents will take care of them and they will have a wonderful time. And my grandparents don't know they are coming so they will be thrilled to see them.

I will have two sad kiddos left here - one is extremely sad that his beloved sister and playmate will be gone for two weeks. He's already complaining that he will have no one to play legos with. We'll have to plan some fun outings next week.

I'm cramming this week - a stack of totes.....

and some fabric bundles (I have some to the conclusion that you can actually have TOO much fabric)....

And I hemmed three pairs of jeans for Bela - why do they make girls' jeans so long?

I hope to get some aprons sewn on Thursday and Friday (and maybe more totes?). I keep thinking of other things I want to make but it really isn't that big of a craft fair so I should stick to the basics.

My sister is coming with me and I think she's making jars of carmel sauce to sell. YUM!

I really want to stop everything and clean up my sewing area but I'll wait until next week...

I should probably fold the clothes though :-)

                      (there are a couple more baskets too)

And I haven't forgotten the giveaway - I've just been busy - I will do it soon - I promise!

How cool is this.....I saw it on Grosgrain - and have been playing with it - fun!

 

Oh - and one more thing...did you all see the AMAZING new Echino at Fabricworm - wow...I think it's my favorite so far...gorgeous!

  

 

Two more down

I have been trying to finish up some UFO's in between the craft fair sewing.

Some hand-sewing at night while watching tv with Hubby....

I've had these two dolls in a drawer (finished except for their hair) since last year when I first got this book - finally finished up their hair and I'm saving them for stocking presents for the girls.

I also ordered this kit from Olive Juice and Co. a while ago and finally sewed up my beautiful pumpkins - I love these!

I think I want to keep them out all year because they are so pretty. Need to find a good basket to display them in....

And I was a winner on this amazing blog - and we got some yummy chocolate in the mail...we all sampled some of each so we could see which was our favorite.

I love the Ramen Noodle - perfect combo of salty and sweet...but the Tortilla and Lime is right up there - the lime is so good with the chocolate. The kids all loved the French Toast - very fun giveaway.

And I know I promised a giveaway the other day - I have the cd's - just need to write up a post so I'm aiming for tomorrow! I'm too exhausted from my soccer game to write it up tonight.

Oops - meant to add....this one's for you Rebekah :-)

Cramming

We are trying to get a lot accomplished these days - schoolwork before the big trip, presents for birthdays and Bela's ballet teacher, and then making things for the craft fair next Saturday - and our eldest still has soccer.

I have managed a few totes...

and some ponytail holders (got my supplies here)...

I made this market bag for Bela's ballet teacher - I love this pattern - I think my mom and sister will be getting one for Christmas - it's the perfect market tote.

I even used some heavy-duty interfacing and made a removable bottom (and covered it in fabric) for a bit more stability.

And in fabric news....Fabricworm has Anna Maria Horner's new flannel line:

  

 

and the cutest dots and squares by Jennifer Moore - I just ordered some (along with the above flannel) - I am loving the aqua, orange and pink! Too cute!

 

OK off to finish up school and then sew, sew, sew....but I'll be back later with a giveaway (think: music)!