Zipper added

These are not the best pictures to show you the added zipper, but maybe it will give you an idea of what I did. The technique I used is one I found in the Lazy Girl Designs pattern "The City Bag". I hope I'm not stepping on any one's copyright toes by posting this, but I just had to share.

First, you measure the top of your open bag, end to end. The zipper should be at least two inches longer. Cut two strips of fabric 4" by length of zipper plus 2". Fold the strips to resemble double fold bias tape. Fold in half, wrong sides together, press. Open casing and lay wrong side up. Fold in edges to meet the fold line, press. Fold in half and press again.

Slip fabric edge of zipper into the casing. Leave at least 1/8" of zipper fabric showing. Use your zipper foot if you need to, or move your needle. The casing should be longer than the zipper at both ends. Stitch through all layers. Do this for both sides of the zipper with one casing piece on each side of the zipper. Press casing smooth. Trim the ends to about 1" longer than where the zipper teeth end. On the back side of the zipper, fold the casing fabric ends to a point keeping the raw edges of the casing away from the zipper teeth. Fold the casing again to form a square edge. Tack the folds in place. The casing should now be the same length as the zipper teeth. This might be the trickiest part, so I may take a few pictures to show how it's done.

Now you have a zipper enclosed in it's casing. This is what you top stitch to the opening of your bag. With the zipper tab UP, find the center of the zipper casing and the center of the top edge of your bag. Match and pin being sure to overlap the casing and bag by about 1/2". Sew the casing in place. Now, the pattern has you do it with the bag pieces still not sewn, but when you have a bag with side seams already sewn, it gets a little harder, but not impossible. Once you have the casing sewn on both sides, you will tack the ends down. I hope you can see in the picture where that is. Oh, when you begin to sew the casing down, leave about an inch on each side because that's what will be tacked down on each side of the bag.

I'm sorry if I got a bit long-winded because it really is an easy technique. I'm much better at showing you in person rather than writing it down. Any questions?

I'm off to work.

Trying to get back to normal

Normal. What exactly does that mean? Our normal for the last ten years has not been normal for anyone but us. With Dad gone, the feel of each day is so different. I catch myself beginning to plan around "who is going to stay with Dad?" I know I'm not the only one that's doing that. Jim, Judy, the boys and April all have these thoughts, too, I'm sure. It will take time..

In the meantime, I actually worked in my sewing room today. I picked Kerrington up at their house and brought her home for the day. The following pictures show what I worked on. I still want to add a zipper to the top of the bag. I plan on using the technique I use on another bag pattern. I pray it works.


Judy is spending the night with us tonight since she has no power at her house. Kind of nice to have her in the same room while working on our farms. LOL

It's late and time to get to bed to get ready for another three busy days at work. Oh, hop on over to April and Rob's blog for more pictures.

Until we meet again..

Today we will lay my dad to rest. It has been six days since we took him to the hospital but it feels like a month. I remember feeling this way when Mom died, too. Every day is spent preparing for the services. Every day we see more of the people whose lives Dad touched whether for a moment or for years. I know it will not sink in until all of this hubub is over. It has been hard for me to grieve for Dad because I am so very thankful that he is no longer in pain. He really had begun to hate the fact that he needed our help 24/7 and that he was not able to do much on his own. It is a sad day when a strong, independent person loses his dignity.

The brightest spot in our ordeal these days has been our sweet little Kerrington. We have worn her out every day, going from one pair of arms to another. Everyone wants to hold her and love on her. She has been a healing bundle of joy. Thank you, Kerri Berry! And, thank you Rob and April for being so patient with us and sharing her so freely.

Rest in peace, Daddy. We love you!

A heavy heart

Dad, Grampo, Big Grampo, Tio, Compa, Friend. Only a few of the words to describe a man loved by so many people. Dad went to his reward last night after suffering through a final bout of congestive heart failure. I just wanted to post this picture of him in his chair. He had finally resigned himself to using the thing because it did help to get him outside and down the street where he could stop and visit with neighbors. He will be sorely missed by his family and friends. We love you, Dad, and you were NEVER a burden!

Farm Town

Facebook has an interesting game called "Farm Town" Well, it's not so much a game as a time-waster! lol I've built up my farm thus far as you can see in the picture. You earn coins by harvesting and working on other farms then spend the coins at market. It's fun but sure can eat up precious time that would best be used quilting or on other productive activities.

Is this not the cutest little watermelon you've ever seen? My 10 year old granddaughter, Brittany, took this picture with her cell phone. She went crazy taking pics of Kerrington. Brit is going home tomorrow after spending three weeks with us. She is sure growing up!

Dad is still having trouble walking. His feet are swollen and very painful. Hopefully, the pain meds he took tonight will help some. It's just so frustrating to see him in so much pain and not be able to do much about it.

It's been a long day at the shop and then at Dad's this afternoon. We went to Juanito's for dinner (Joe stayed with Dad). It's almost bedtime so I will say goodnight.

Still hot

This is not my favorite time of year. Thank God the A/C is still running properly and the weather channel promises a drop in temps in the next few days. Maybe I can wear my makeup without it streaming down my face.

August 5 is my granddaughter's birthday. Brittany will be 10 years old! The picture below is a neck bone pillow I made for her last night. I used a pattern from her old pillow to make the three sides. I was going to show you a picture of her old, nasty pillow, but decided against it. It was just too "loved" to be pretty. Suffice it to say that the seam allowance tells the story of what color it used to be! She carried that thing around like a well-loved blankie. I did use the innards of her old pillow and had to add more stuffing to make it really plump. My biggest challenge was figuring out how to attach the handles but I got it done.


Jim and I were able to take a few days and run up to Ruidoso this past weekend. We had a nice, restful time. But, it was even too hot in the mountains! I got to see my Aunt Dolores and Uncle Tony and three of their boys, Joe, Robert and Gilbert and they're respective spouses and on of the grandkids. All in all, it was a very nice trip. We got back Monday afternoon.

Dad is having issues with his feet these days. They are hurting and seem a bit swollen. He has a lot of pain when putting weight on them so he can barely get from the bed to the potty then to his chair. Once in his chair, though, he goes everywhere. He's really enjoying being able to go outside and cruise. As for his feet pain..we think it may have something to do with a new medication, but then again, it may just be the cancer. If this continues, we'll have to get him in to see someone for more relief.

It's time to get ready for work. I need to find a gift bag for Brit's goodies. She's having a little party tonight at a friend's house. I need to leave early today in order to stop at the supply house for some hair color. Have a great Thursday!

Is it hot enough for you?

Oh my goodness, 102 and 103 temps! Thank God for air conditioning. I don't even wear makeup on the days I watch Kerrington. I can't see sweatin' it off when she doesn't care if her grama is naked-faced. I may not even make-up my face today when I go to work. No, wait. I will. When I don't, people think I'm sick. Maybe 'cause I'm so fair skinned and I look like I'm about to pass out. LOL

In spite of the heat, I made another blanket last night. These are so easy to make and Kerrington loves being swaddled to sleep. These blankies are not as hot as a flannel blanket would be, I think.
Notice I mitered the corners correctly? I don't know what I did with the previous blanket that caused me to have to re-design the corners, but I like the mitered corners much better. I have a feeling I will be making more of these for gifts.

I also worked on the tablerunner last night. I can't seem to make one of these without making mistakes. When I start one of these, I need to just keep at it until I'm done. Especially when using directional fabric. I stopped to get on the computer for a while and to make the blanket. When I got back to the runner, I'd lost track of where I was. Oh well.. I got it straightened out and hopefully will finish it tonight.

I STILL need to embroider three plush blankets for a client. I just get so lazy about setting up my embroidery machine.

It's shower time and I want to get to work a little earlier. Don't laugh.

"Design Opportunity"

Also known as a mistake! But, as you can see in the picture, it turned out quite nice. The corners of this receiving blanket were going to be mitered until I made a mistake, on all four corners, and I had to cut them to finish them in this manner.
I made another blanket with this pattern and it was fine. I don't know what I did. I'll have to try another one. The back of this blanket is part of a sheet that Judy gave me to use for this purpose. It's a very soft fabric and worked very well. One queen-size sheet will make four nice size blankets. The front fabric came from a stash that Leota brought me a while back. I WILL get the corners right! lol

I'm at Rob and April's right now and have just put Kerrington down for her morning nap. This child knows exactly what to do once she is swaddled. The trick is to swaddle her tightly because she will pull her arms out if given half a chance. But, if she's wrapped right, she falls right to sleep. No crying at all! Same way with her afternoon nap. She's such a good girl!

Ready for stitching

I decided all the July BOMs needed to be appliqued since the first one I did turned out so cute. I didn't feel like choosing different fabrics for each one, so they all look the same. Lazy, huh? The little bit of embroidery that is needed for the stems and lettering will finish them nicely and I'll use a blanket stitch with black thread around the applique pieces.

I've spent most of the evening on Facebook. Waste of precious time, believe me! But, it's addicting. I'm building my farm and playing Farkle. lol I did clean off the dining room table to get ready to quilt the tablerunner I cut the other day and I've started another bag. Oh, I did cut and apply all the applique pieces on the BOMs.
I spent the night last night at Dad's. He did well. He didn't even beep for me. I know he got up several times to the potty, but he didn't have to call me. I just kept one eye open, ya know? Now that I think about it, it's time to get to bed. Maybe I'll sleep all night since I'm pretty tired. It's Kerrington time tomorrow! Seems like ages since I've seen her. It's actually been since Thursday.
Goodnight!

July BOM

A quick note to show you the July Block of the Month. I finished it this morning, just in time to hang at the shop today. Judy and I attended another Entertaining at Home party tonight so I just got home. I have a bad headache so I am going to call it a day. I have to work tomorrow and half a day Saturday, so I'm off to bed.

Quilting? What's that?

Finally! I sat down and actually did some sewing on a quilt tonight. Okay, a tablerunner, but it will be quilted. This is a quilt-as-you-sew project.
I have needed to work on it for several weeks now but so many things have gotten in the way. Actually, I needed to figure out how to make this runner longer as per my client's request and so I've been putting it off. After working with it tonight, it turns out that all I have to do is add more squares and sewn rectangles. The squares along the sides will be cut in half, making triangles and then I'll bind it in black. I call it a tablerunner but my client will use it to cover her piano bench. Thus, the musical note fabric.

I have it all laid out on the backing and backing and hope to get it sewn down by the weekend. I also have several fleece blankets that need embroidered names added. But, I'm off to bed. I had a wonderful day with my granddaughters and my dad. He's doing well and even came home without any bandages on his legs! Yaayyy!! I don't even remember how long he's had ulcers on his legs. This is the first time in almost 5 years, I think, that he is bandage-free! Please pray that he stays this way.

Another week gone by, again.

Wow. I did not realize that I had not posted since last Monday. Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. What kept me the busiest this past week was getting ready for the motor cross event that took place Friday and Saturday. I set up a booth to sell Scentsy but was only able to do it on Friday night. With the wind blowing and the sun so hot, I just couldn't do it on Saturday, too. My thanks to Rob, April, Leota, Chad and Crystal, Judy and last, but certainly not least, Jim. Rob, April and Jim did most of the physical work. Thanks, especially to Jim for sitting with me the whole time we were there on Friday night. My apologies to anyone I forgot.

My oldest granddaughter, Brittany, is here for about 3 weeks. It's her time with her dad and it is so wonderful to have her here. I couldn't wait to take pictures of both of my beautiful granddaughters.

I made Kerrington two more little hats. The white one is an eyelet fabric that April can clip ribbons on.
The polka dot hat will hopefully work with an outfit April has set aside for Kerrington to wear later this summer.



The headbands I made for Brittany. She was going to sell them, along with her lemonade stand when she and her daddy gave away puppies, but they didn't get around to doing that yesterday. So, she's decided she'll either keep them or share with her friends. Brit spent the night with us last night and went with me to Rob and April's this morning. She decided to stay with her dad tonight because I wake her up too early. lol I don't blame her.

Well, let's see what I can work on tonight. I hope I don't wait another week before posting again.

More Kerrington

Here she is with her daddy on Father's Day.
At Auntie Judy's office in her "watermelon" sunsuit.
And this is her new hat. It matches the watermelon suit.
I didn't intend for the sunsuit to be a "watermelon" suit, but the addition of the pocket with the polka dots made it look like a watermelon wedge. Oh well, it's summertime!

More little things on Father's Day

Well, I don't know if it's me or my computer or my camera, but my uploading has become more complicated and sometimes, non-existent. The following is a quick little gift tag I made to go with the photo album you see below. I also took a picture of the inside of the tag, (lift the polka dot flap) but the picture got lost somewhere between uploading and blogger.


This gift was sent to Pam, a soon-to-be new grandma and Erin's mom. Pam and her husband are the sweet couple that opened their home and yard to us for Rob and April's wedding. I also made a little cloth "First Book of Faith" for Ellie, the soon-to-be newest Faubus, but seem to have dropped the ball on taking a picture. Congratulations and best wishes to all of you!

Father's Day, 2009, has started out as usual. I went to Dad's and fixed breakfast. He was doing very well this morning. I hope he feels as well this afternoon since we plan on loading him into the car and taking him over to Rob and April's for a Father's Day dinner. He's never seen the inside of their house and I think it's time he does. I know he will balk at our suggestion, but, hopefully, since it's Father's Day, he'll see it our way. We want to help Rob celebrate his first Dad's day in style! I have been remiss in buying Dad a gift this year. Joe beat us all to the punch and bought him new phones for the house. Not that he needed them or anything lol. Good job, Joe!

Time to get some things done. Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there!

Still here

Good morning! Yes, I'm still here. For those of you that follow my blog, I apologize for not updating for a whole week now. I haven't done much sewing so I don't have any pictures. If you want to see some cute pics of Kerrington, though, hop on over to April's blog. Click on her name to get you there.

Dad's doing well and I'm enjoying my time with Kerrington. I'm still coughing a bit but feel much better. I need to get going and get some bills paid before I get ready for work today so I'll try to post more this weekend.

Kool Chick

Another little receiving/swaddling blanket for Kerrington. She's getting so long, (she's 3 months old today!) that she may not take to being swaddled much longer. She does sleep soundly, though, when she's wrapped up nice and warm.

I've tried to upload a little video I took of her the other day, but Blogger is not cooperating. Here she's sitting in her little bouncy seat.

I finally finished the little sunsuit last night. It needed the snaps and I couldn't find the tape with snaps on it. So, I made my own, sorta. It'll work for now.

I have not talked myself into working on some of the bigger projects on my list. Soon.. Right now I'm trying to get all my Scentsy ducks in a row since I made Director last month. My downline is waiting for me to give them guidance. lol Good luck. I need guidance! I know where to get it, though. I'm feeling a bit better every day, but I'm still coughing at night. Not feeling well has been my excuse, uh, reason for not doing much, but I'm getting better.

Dad seems to be doing well. He still has trouble walking but that's why we have his motorized chair. His pain is all but gone, thanks to the shot they gave him for the prostate cancer. He's able to do more for himself lately.

Tomorrow is Friday and a busy day at work. Goodnight, all.

Once a seamstress...

Seamstress : a woman whose occupation is sewing. Alright, so my occupation is not sewing, but I do enjoy it as a hobby, pasttime, obsession, passion, whatever you might choose to call it. Before I was a quilter, I did sew a few garments. In high school, my favorite class, after English, was Home Ec. I remember starting out with an apron. By the time I graduated, I'd made dresses and a suit made out of double knit. It was so comfortable! lol Stretched every which way. I even made my first wedding dress. Uh, my only wedding dress because Jim and I had a very casual ceremony at the courthouse. But, I digress.

See the pattern picture above? Notice the one on the left. In the upper right hand corner, you can see a price of 85 cents! I bought this pattern back in 1975 to make the pantsuit for Joe. The one on the right I bought yesterday and was somewhere in the vicinity of two or three dollars but there are others to be had out there for fifteen to eighteen dollars!! I was shocked. I knew pattern prices had gone up, but, seriously, from 85 cents to nearly $20??

But, I had to try my hand at making Kerrington a little something. The bubble dress in the bottom picture is made from the "old" pattern and is too big right now. It's a size 3. I figure maybe she can wear it next year. The little pink and green suit is made with the "new" pattern and may fit her right now. I still need to add a "snap tape" (didn't even know there was such a thing, lol) to the bottom so we can change her diaper easily. I bought three other patterns to try and they have sunbonnets, or hats, that coordinate with the outfit.


You might ask, "Why would you go to the trouble of MAKING a cute little outfit like this when you can hop on over to WalMart and pick one up for a mere $5? Good question. I agree. But, where's the fun in that? I thoroughly enjoyed crafting these little sunsuits and they are definitely one-of-a-kind. They may only last one season (lets face it, I'm a better quilter than clothes-maker lol) but it makes me happy.

Before I get back to working with the cute fabric and patterns I found yesterday, I've got to finish the bullseye blocks. Deadline to send them in is rapidly approaching.

I'm still coughing but feel better. My blood pressure and heart rate are the lowest they've been, well, ever, that I can remember. I've got to get back in to see Dr. Hassan to get an echocardiogram (he thinks I should get that done) and then get my meds regulated for good. I'm thinking that maybe the dosage he's got me on for now might be a tad too much since the cold medicines are no longer playing havoc with my electrolytes. I still want an allergy shot!

I didn't go to Dad's this morning. I told Joe that I just need to slow down for a bit. I was hoping to sleep late, but habits die hard. I was up by 7:30. I didn't even get to sleep until after one a.m. since I was watching a movie. Okay, maybe I didn't watch it all, but I was trying.

So now I'll either nap, shower or work on the bullseye blocks. We'll see what happens first..

Feeling better tonight

I think I'm seeing a light at the end of the sinus infection tunnel tonight. I'm still coughing a bit, but not as intense as last night. I certainly hope I can sleep better tonight. My blood pressure and heart rate are staying exactly where they should be.

Here is the June BOM. I wasn't sure about it when I first saw it. I did think, "It'll be fast!" lol. This one will hang at the shop tomorrow. The cricket is what threw me when I first saw it. But, it actually makes the whole thing cute.

My day with Kerrington was wonderful, as usual. She's beginning to try to mimic things you do and is definitely reaching for things. She is turning over onto her tummy every time you lay her down. I stopped by the shop for a minute and the ladies just love to see her. One lady exclaimed, "She gets prettier every day!" I agree. :-) I'll have to keep myself busy for the next five days because I won't see her until next Tuesday!

Dad seemed to have a better day today, too. He doesn't have as much pain as he has had but still has trouble moving his legs. We had to get some fluid weight off of him, too. He hates it when we pull out that little yellow pill for him to take.

Been a bit under the weather

To all of you that remembered me in your prayers the last few days, "THANK YOU!"

So, here's what happened...I worked all day Friday knowing I would run to the after-hours clinic to see if they could give me something (again) for this sinus thing I've had going on for a few weeks now. When I got into the inner office, the PA asks, "What brings you here?" I tell her about my sinus problem and she says, "That is the least of my worries right now. I am worried about your elevated (135) heart rate and blood pressure. I want you to go to the Emergency Room, RIGHT NOW!"

Well, being the obedient and about-to-freak patient that I was at the time, I rushed on over to the ER. I called Jim on my way and he met me there. Judy was watching Kerrington and Dad at the time so she couldn't be there, but Robert came on over. April was off work and at her grandfather's since her step-grandmother had passed away that very morning. Joe was working and couldn't come right away. Needless to say, I wanted ALL my family around me at that time! LOL And, they put me in the ER room where Dad nearly died! I told the nurse I didn't like that room and she said "there are no other rooms available". Ok, fine. I'll deal.

There I am, tethered to heart monitors and O2 machines and doctors and nurses coming in to do their thing. When my heart rate reached 150 (I had just had a coughing fit and was extremely frightened) the doctor suggested that he could give me a shot of a medicine that would shock my heart back into rhythm. Get this..the shot stops your heart for an instant. He actually said, "You'll die for a second." Can you believe it?? Um, I said, "I don't think so! At least not until Dad's cardiologist has a chance to see me first!" Instead, they tried several different high blood pressure meds injected into my IV and one of them brought it down sufficiently. Whew!

They admitted me for observation for the rest of the night and things settled down, thank God. Ultimately, it seems that all the meds I'd been using to try to get my sinus problem under control finally took their toll on my heart. I'm not supposed to use Sudafed anymore and no more caffeine. After taking the 'scripts Dr. Hassan prescribed, everything looks a lot better.

I can't wait to get back to normal tomorrow and see my sweet baby K-akes. I'm in Kerrington withdrawal! Speaking of Kerrington, here's a blanket I fixed for her. I just added the satin binding.


A final note...If you're needing any Scentsy, please get in touch with me this evening. I'm placing one more order before midnight tonight. Thanks!

May is winding down...

As I eagerly anticipate the unveiling of the June BOM, I finally finish stitching my May blocks. These have been very portable and a wonderful project to have on hand while sitting with Dad and/or Kerrington. One of these days I'll gather them all together and actually quilt them! lol
Since Kerrington is growing so fast, she has outgrown nearly all of her swaddling blankets. I decided to try my hand at making one. The pattern I used called for two layers. Not a good idea with summer coming up. It came out alright and will be a nice weight for cooler days, but I want to try again with one layer and maybe some different edging styles.

Got to dry my hair and try to put on my face. I've been sweating so much these days that I've gone makeup-less most of the time. But, I'll be seeing lots of folks today so I'd better get presentable. My little Miss K. doesn't care that her gramma comes to see her with a naked face! LOL