I went, I enjoyed, I came back

Have you noticed that we haven't posted this week? No? Just pretend that you have, okay.

Tuesday morning Zachary and I boarded a WestJet flight to Edmonton, AB. We were met at the airport by Suzanne, Tessa and Sophie! We were excited to spend 4 days together. So much so that Suzanne had the 'itchy finger excitement' that she hadn't felt in years!

We had a wonderful time together. Sewing, baking, chatting, coffee drinking and chocolate eating. We managed to get out to the local quilt store and McDonalds with the kids. So much fun!

Here we are:



And here's Zachary (21 months) and Sophie (2 years). The expression on their faces pretty much tells what their relationship was.



We'll be posting photos of the sewing project(s) we did together on another post.

PS It is fitting that this is our 200th post on this blog. What a way to celebrate!

A great day with a good friend...

I had an old friend (well she's not old but we've known eachother for a long time) come on Wednesday til Thursday.  We had a great time chatting and crafting.  In less than 24 hours we managed to get to Fabricland, make a scarf and a couple of skirts!

I had tried making a scarf with this grey jersey I had but my first attempt didn't look so hot so I tried it like I saw on this tutorial and it worked out great.  Very fun - I'm sure I'll wear it often.

We made the skirts using a pattern in the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love.  This one is mine using some cordoroy I found at a Thrift shop and some other fabrics I had...

This is Karen's using the fabric I just bought for a little jacket (I guess I'll have to go and get some more :) and the underskirt is some thin curtains I had from my sister.

We both hope to add a bit more detail before they're all the way done!

Thanks for coming Karen!  I had a great time!

And now I get to look forward to Alisa coming in 4 days!!!

Burda 9596 - Thrifty Threads #18

This is the third time I've made this coat and at this point I think it will be my last!



I am so happy to be finished with this! I've had it in the queue since October. That's 3 months.



Melissa is very pleased with it though and thinks I made it really quickly. She didn't see me work on it until I was finishing it up.



I always like the lining to have a bit of punch. Red flannel to keep her warm. This time, though, I used a satiny lining for the arms. It is difficult to get an arm out of a coat with flannel lining.



I bought the denim at the thrift store for $4. It is hard to see on the photos, but it is a really nice denim. I spent about $6 on the lining fabrics. The pattern is one I've used before. So about $10 for a Sunday coat. I think it will last her for 2 winters. If not, I have two more girls to wear it out. :-)



Please excuse the terrible photos. I was playing with my camera settings to get a decent photo in dusky conditions. It is dusk all day here right now. Really.

Quick Change Trousers - Thrifty Threads #17

Last month I got the book Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner. So far I really like it! (BTW I didn't pay for this book. I bought it with my Swagbucks. So this really is a thrifty threads!)



To start I made the Quick Change Trousers. Very easy and came together perfectly. I opted to use a much less daring colour palette than is shown in the book.



I used an old skirt of mine for the denim and an old shirt of my husbands for the lining. I think it came out cute.



I had another pair all cut out from an old pair of pants and some flannel. As I started sewing I realized that I had cut 2 left legs! I'll try again soon.

Pants for Sophie

In December I made the girls nightgowns but Sophie's was a bit short (=cold) for our winter weather.  I didn't have enough scraps to make pant so she was wearing them with some other clashing pj pants until a great friend told me she had some of the fabric in her stash!  Yea!  Not the green but I think the different colours looks cute :)

I just cut around another pair of her pants for the pattern.

"Look at my shirt"

"I can bend in them too!"

"Thanks Mom!"

My curtains are finished!!

You don't know how good that feels!! After finishing the first set I lost my motivation to get the next ones done but I wasn't sewing anything because I felt I had to finish these first! So they're done, hung and we really like them and the privacy we now have.

It's very difficult to take pictures right out a bright window but I tried...

Now I can move on to other (more fun) things! Yea!

On my Design Wall

A Psalm Book Cover

When we opened gifts last month the girls all got nightgowns and Lukas wasn't left out in the handmade gift department. He got a Psalm book cover. And was very happy with it!

I was going to embroider his name in the canvas band but didn't have time so it stayed like this.

Hopefully now his Psalm book will stay in good condition!

Quilt Top Complete!

I've had this project in the works for quite some time. You can read about the start of it here. It's still not finished but it's one step closer.

Thanks Karen Marie for helping me put it together. You're the best!

Before and After

I was shopping at my thrift store in early December and just had to get this. Of course I couldn't leave it in it's lovely green vinyl condition. It was just asking to be recovered, don't you think?


I love how it turned out!


And so does Zachary!

He's not always this cute. He uses this chair for purposes other than sitting on.

Hello 2011

Hello 2011! I wish all of you the Lord's blessing for the New Year.

Looking back at 2010 I have to say it was a more difficult year for me. At the beginning of the year I had some dreams and goals and I didn't really complete them all. I didn't even start some of them. In looking back I realize that I was way off the mark in even wanting some of those goals. Our life took different turns than expected and we experienced sadness in a number of ways. But God has led us through these tougher times to strengthen our faith.

So, we embrace 2011 knowing that God will continue to lead us through the valleys and mountains and also the plains.

The only thing I made this Christmas. I made two of them and gave them both away. Both recipients were very happy and so was I.

Actually, I made this too. Benjamin helped me. It took about an hour and I had a wreath for my door. It was fun to make and looks good too. I just wish I'd had a big red bow to put on it, but I had to use what I had on hand.


Part of entering a new year, is planning for what the year will hold. Obviously things can change and a new plan will then have to be made. We plan to put our house up for sale in the Spring. This is pretty big for us, as we don't change too easily. We do love our home and neighborhood but we would like to move closer to where our children go to school. And another bathroom would be kind of nice too. (1 bathroom - 7 people.)

In preparation for this I need to get my house in order. So, I made a master list of what I want to get done in the next 2 months or so. Gord also has a list, but it's not all nicely typed out like mine. You don't really need to read it (it may not even make sense to you), but you can see that I have my work cut out for me.


I also made a Big Sewing List, because I need to make time for some of that too right?

See that big section on the righthand side? Yes. So I can add things to the list. Because I am sure that I will.

So how about you? Do you feel all fresh at the beginning of a new year? Do you make lists?