Better Late Than Never :)

I've been sewing so much for my etsy business lately

that I needed to take a day to sew just for fun.

I decided to use the time to get caught up on 

some long over due projects.

I stitched these Halloween/Fall charts for my friends,

Gena, Denise and Amy.

My plan was to have them ready to go before October.

Well I finished all the stitching,

but never made them into pillows.

Until now :)

I also stitched Captain Kirk for Gina for Christmas.

(Yes....he is also late)

Then I turned my attention to a table runner

that I had completed the top last year some time

and I machine quilted it and did the binding by hand.

I think it will be cute for Easter :)

It's made from a Riley Blake charm pack.

Love the colors! 

It always feels so good to chip away at my "to do" list.

Now it's on to the next thing :)

To Boldly Sew........

(A special "Thank You" to my hubby for letting me borrow his Kirk figurine )

Do you think the good Captain Kirk

did a bit of needlework in his down time

between saving the Universe 

and making out with alien goddesses?

No?

Well I have a friend who is a MAJOR Star Trek fan

(you know, the kind of fan who wears the costumes?)

and she's been spending a lot of time stitching these days.

So what better gift to give her

for her birthday 

than a Trek themed project bag?????

Now where ever she goes

she can BOLDLY SEW :)

I used gold toned fabric with tiny stars 

and black linen for the accents.

I stitched across the top

and added ginormous gold rick rack.

(You know Kirk loves him some flashy gold rick rack)

I made the trek insignia out of wool felt for the zipper pull.

Thanks to Joann's for releasing the Trek fabric this year

I found the perfect lining fabric.

Happy Birthday Gena!!!!

(sorry it's a bit late)

August already????

It's so crazy to think it's already August!

How did that happen????

I'll admit that I'm pretty excited that it's almost fall again :)

I bought some fall charm packs on ebay last night

just to get into the mood :)

(ever since the Quilt Festival I've been itchin' to quilt something)

So this week I've been busy making a couple of custom orders.

This little guy is on his way to Orgeon.

And this guy hops on a plane tomorrow for Australia :)

I'm also working on a cross stitch Nativity.

I started on the Leaping Cat chart last week,

but lost my interest in it.

That's never happened before,

but I'm sure I'll pick it up again sometime soon.

Ha.....I just realized when I looked at this photo

that I forgot one of the gold stars!

I'd better fix that tonight :)

I have a big bag to sew for my daughter

to use to carry Sunday school materials back and forth

and a project bag that my Mom asked me to make

and an apron for an upcoming bridal shower.

After that.......

It's quilting time!!!

(my charm squares should be here by then)

Traditions

It's funny how traditions get started. 3 years ago I made my hubby a fun Father's Day card with photos of him and our grandsons and it became his instant favorite. Seeing that today is Father's Day it's time to unveil the custom Father's Day card for 2011. He told me the other night that it's the thing he most looks forward to each year!.....no pressure...right?

He does sooo much for me every single day that it makes me happy if I can do something that makes him smile! This year's card is my version of an old John Wayne movie poster. The hubs is a huge fan of the Duke :) When I came across this poster, I knew it would be perfect. If you look closely you can see our 4 grandsons and our new little Sofia as well. He was so happy with it he had to show it at church this morning :)

This is the card that really started it all. I made this card in 2009 for Father's Day. At the time we had 3 grandsons. A lot has changed :) Since I had photos of each of them wearing helmets at different times I wanted to incorporate them into one card. I did a lot of paper piecing, cutting out their little bodies and cars. I used ribbon for the highway and brads for the hubcaps on the cars. This one still makes me laugh :)

Besides being a fan of the Duke, my darling hubby loves Star Trek. So last year I made him this card with our son and son-in-law together with my hubby on the front of the card and then my hubby with our 4 grandsons on the inside of the card. I make these cards by printing out the background pictures I find online and then going through my photo files and try to find pictures that will match up to replace the original actors. Then I cut them out and glue them in place. I know I can do it in Photoshop, but I love the look of layering real photos on top of these backdrops. The main thing is that my hubby really loves them and displays them in his office all year long. He asked me today to check into having them framed. That makes it all worth it. So I guess I've created a tradition in our household. I'm already thinking about what next year's card will look like :)

Also for the Dad's at church I made Caramel & Bacon Popcorn from a recipe I found at a cool blog called Zakka Life. You can get the recipe here. I don't know about the men around your home, but all you have to do around here is mention bacon and you have their attention!

I went to MarthaStewart.com and got these great free Father's Day printables to

finish off the project. All the Dad's were pretty excited to receive these today :)

Star Trek, Menopause & an Octopus?

I recently made a darling brown & pink polka dot Octopus for my sweet little Sofie. At least I thought is was darling.  My dear friend Regena said that she didn't like it and she would never give her grandchildren an Octopus.

Oh really? We'll just see about that!

Well thanks to the fact that I am entering into the abso-stinkin-lutely-fabulousness of the sleepless nights in early menopause, there are many nights that my brain just doesn't want to shut down. So there I lay in my bed... trying to figure out a way to make Regena admit that the Octopus was indeed darling....
I thought about her Star Trek obsession and figured if I could somehow combine Star Trek with the Octopus, I could make an Octopus that even Regena would love!!!........ <---------- (insert evil laugh here)

Later that night while the hubs and the dog and the cat were happily snoring away ... I was designing "Spock-topus" in my head. I couldn't wait to get up in the morning and get started on those ears! I used fleece and felt and played around with the ears and the facial features for a while until I came up with this guy. I have to say I find him oddly attractive :) I'm thinking of making one for my etsy shop to see if anyone else would want a Spock-topus of their very own. Lucky for me, I actually made pattern pieces this time around. I guess my brain is not completely gone.....yet :)


UPDATE: you can special order your own Spocktopus here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/75679530/star-trek-spock-topus-plush-free-us

Live long and prosper.....

The week before last I made a set of felt Star Trek Peeps for a giveaway that ended this weekend.  My secret was that I made another set, a more personal set, for my dear friend Regena :) All week long she was telling me how much she loved the Peeps and how she wanted to win them. I was just hoping that the Random number picker didn't  pick her number because this set of 3 was made especially for her. She had mentioned before that she wanted an Evil Spock (with the goatee) and I even added a bit of "augmentation" to Uhura :)

 Let me tell you what kind of woman she is........if you mention that your church is going to make pillowcases for an orphanage.....she whips up some pillowcases and sends extra fabric as well.
If you mention that you are having a bad day.....she insists that you come over for bacon and biscuits that she is making from scratch.
If you have a question about sewing....she will whip up a tutorial for you to help you understand it.
If you are in need of prayer.....she is the go-to girl.
If you find yourself in a knife fight...she's got your back!....OK...maybe that last one was a stretch....but you get the idea!
She finally got them in today's mail so I can show them to you! It's nice to know that Kathy, the winner of the actual giveaway and Regena will take good care of my little creations! Live long and prosper in your new homes my Peeps!

A Giveaway for my Star Trek Peeps!

Today I am a guest blogger over at PunkProjects.blogspot.com. Don't let the name fool you. Jump on over there and check out Katie's crafty goodness! All this month she is featuring different bloggers and their amazing skills. So very cool! So in honor of my very first guest blogging "gig" (Thanks Regena for hooking me up!) I'll be giving away this set of 3 felt Star Trek "Peeps" that I made.

Some of my very favorite "peeps" in the entire Universe just happen to be Star Trek fans ( and you know who you are) so because of them, I often find myself coming up with silly things to make them smile :) For a chance to have these little guys beam over to your Galaxy, just leave me a comment. You only need to comment once. The winner will be announced on April 23rd and will be chosen at random.

OK....so I lied

 I know I said I wasn't going to post any more of the Sweetwater aprons with the labels.....but I just couldn't help myself.....kinda cute, no?

Here's a little sneak peek of the Star Trek giveaway. You can see the entire photo on Saturday the 16th when the giveaway details will be posted....so stay tuned!

Purple Haze......

Let me just say that I receive no compensation from Sweetwater (although if anyone from Sweetwater is reading this...I am not opposed to it......just sayin'  :) and with that being said, I realize that I am a bit obsessive about these labels and this apron pattern is really fun to sew. Especially after having made it before and tweaked it a bit. (I promise I won't post any more of these aprons....at least for a week or so) Anyhoo...I am signed up for the Spring Fling apron swap and my partner requested a spring cleaning apron and her favorite color is purple. Not being a purple lover myself, I had nothing in my stash to pull from so I went shopping. I found this Alexander Henry floral called Mimosa and because it is a "cleaning" apron I used purple twill to give it some weight. I also used purple gingham for the accents. I added a large pocket that is divided into 3 compartments. The label that has all the spring references and the green coloring matched perfectly for this apron. I only have 2 labels left and I already know where they are going to be used so I guess I need to get some more. I've also been working on a Star Trek project for a giveaway coming up on the 16th..so if you are a "trekkie"

 you can check back here for more info on that in the next week or so. Have a great weekend!

Mmmmm..... Chicken!

I've been waiting to post pictures of the Chicken apron I made for my swap partner Regena until she received it. I didn't want to spoil the surprise. We both got our aprons today and at almost the same time too! So here it is! I used medium weight denim and this really cute red chicken fabric.

I embroidered "finger lickin' good" on the pocket because she's sassy and it suits her :) I also made her a "Jane T Kluck of the Star Peck Hen-terprise" chicken pincushion. I'm sure you can guess that she is a Star Trek fan :) I also included a copy of my favorite cookbook, Peanut butter Chocolate eggs, and a tea bag holder. It's pretty funny but we both bought the same fabric for each other and still our aprons are totally different. Regena used my absolute favorite apron pattern and embellished it with 6 yards of rick rack!  How adorable is that...I mean seriously? She included Lindt chocolate chickies (Lindt is my fave!) and fun polka dot cupcake cups. She knows that I am planning 2 baby showers in the next few months and those will come in handy. She made me the sweetest little yellow chicken pincushion that will never be poked by a pin....EVER! I just want to carry it around with me :) There is a set of totally cute chicken salt & pepper shakers and a hysterical yellow chicken candy dispenser that plays the cymbals. Also a wonderful apron pattern for little girls that will get good use when my 2 new grand-daughters start playing with Nana in the kitchen! And last but certainly not least...she gave me a tube of "chicken poop" chap stick! How hilarious is that?

This will be my last apron swap for a while. I have tons to do before my 2 little grand-daughters arrive in May and June. Time to start sewing tiny girlie things......yippie!

Are you out of your Vulcan mind?

So I've mentioned the Stocking swap that I'm doing with a few friends and besides the stocking we need to make a Christmas ornament. I decided that these 1/2 eaten gingerbread men made out of felt were definately the way to go as soon as I saw the free pattern. One of my swap partners told me that Star Trek IS Christmas to her! So how could I not make this Twisted Trekkie Spock cookie for her? I took the basic gingerbread man pattern and added some Spock flair to it. I knew that Spock would never make that crazy "Oh No" face. It's just not logical.....so I decided that even if someone had eaten one of his legs and 1/2 of his head, gingerbread Spock would never show emotion, he would merely raise one eyebrow. Now that I have finished Spock, I have so many other ideas swirling around in my head. Just wait until you see my "Ninja"-bread cookie ornament :)

It was all about the boys!

Yesterday was such a wonderful day! Sometimes I tend to over-think "special days" and expect things to go a certain way and sometimes everything just unfolds into a beautiful series of moments that become lasting memories. Yesterday (maybe because I've stopped over-thinking everything) turned out to be a really lovely Father's Day. The last thing that my husband said to me before we drifted off to sleep was "Thank you for today. It was really awesome." I am so blessed in my life to have such a loving family! God is so good! So here are the pics of the Father's Day card I made for the hubby.



He's a major Star Trek fan. Not the kind that dresses up in costumes and goes to the conventions (although I'm sure that if I went with him, he'd love to go but I have to draw the line somewhere). Anywayzers.....he's a fan of the "Captain Kirk" era as well as "Captain Piquard" next generation era. I think it came out pretty good. He loved it and kept picking it up and laughing.

We had a yummy lunch after church and then we all went out into the backyard so the boys (big and little) could play with their water guns. The only sad part of the day was that my oldest grandson was struggling with his asthma and couldn't really run amok as he normally would. Good news is that he's doing better today.