I was a busy little bee today. Emersyn just wanted to color all day and didn't want anything to do with me, so I decided "heck with cleaning my house--I wanna sew." So that is what I did. I had 2 projects that I wanted to get working on and I dove right in. First, was another tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew. It was a great, easy 1 hour project. I made a changing pad/diaper holder. Click here for her amazing tutorial. She gave quick, easy to follow instructions. For some reason I chose not to follow ALL of the instructions and ended up with a few kinks in my finished project. My first problem...I did not have any minkee or chenille for the chaning pad, so I decided to use a towel. I had a beautiful yellow towel that had been stained (during a previous crafting experiment), but that was basically brand new. So I decided to use that for the interior---minus the stained part of course. It worked ok in the beginning, but then by the end it was just too thick for my machine. I broke a couple needles and had to make a few changes. I also did not cut my fabric to the right deminsions AND decided to make my pocket a little bigger--- because I always think that bigger is better--NOT SO. I ended up with a changing pad that is too big to just throw in my purse. BUT it will come in handy because I decided that it will work perfect for in the back of my car. It will hold 5 or so diapers and a wipe container, so that way I don't have diapers all over the back of my Pilot---GOOD THINKING HUH???

Plus it kept me busy and I think it is stinking cute. I think I need to make about 10 more of these for everyone I know and for ALL of my different diaper bags--LOVE IT!!

My second project by the way was to applique a few of my birdie blocks. I finished 4, which means I have 5 done in total. That is more than half way, so the finished blocks will be making an appearance soon:)

Problem SOLVED!!!

I am a firm believer that you can find the answer to ANY question on the internet if you are willing to look hard enough. I am also a big fan of blogs. SOOOO imagine my non-surprise that I found an answer to a dilemma of mine WHILE looking at blogs. So the problem is (and I know this affects ALL mommys)--PUZZLES. I am sure everyone has a few puzzles like this around there house...

And of course the problem is...where the heck are the pieces???? I don't know how many times Emersyn has brought me her animal puzzle and asked me where the all the animals are. Under the couch??? In the laundry basket??? WHO KNOWS???? WELL I am clearly not creative enough to come up with the answer to such mind boggling questions. My solution was to put all of the pieces into a zip-lock bag and then throw that bag into the toy-box. Kinda worked, but then we just ended up losing the whole bag!!! Good thing for me that Allison over at Cluck Cluck Sew does have a creative bone in her body and imagined a way to fix this problem---Puzzle Pockets.

GENIUS!!!! She added pockets to the back of her puzzles to hold the pieces!!!Click here for the tutorial. So I got the pocket bug and started adding pockets. SO EASY!!! Mine do not look as cute as her's do, but they get the job done. No missing kitty cat at our house any more!!

Now my only problem??? I cannot stop putting pockets onto things. The pocket possibilities are endless!!! I am thinking pockets on certain toys to hold small pieces, pockets on the back of board bokks that have small pieces, pockets, pockets, POCKETS!! I am sure there is something in my craft room that needs a pocket. Where do I stop putting pockets??:)

Emerysn is lucky she never sits still because if she did she may have ended up with a little purple pouch this afternoon:) Don't forget to check out Cluck Cluck Sew for this and other GREAT crafty projects. She is amazing!!!!! My next project is going to be the super dooper cute changing pad pouch---I am on a pouch kick I guess!!

Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along

OK. So thanks to Marcie (that is blame chica) I have decided to join a quilt-along. The quilt project that Rachel at P.S. I Quilt is teaching is just too dang cute to pass up. If you would like to join the quilting fun (AMY) or just take a look at all of her cute quilts, click on the button on the side of my blog (not the pictures because I did not know how to get that to work--sorry).

One of my goals this year is to use up some of my extra fabric and scrap fabric before I buy a ton more. So I decided instead of buying the layer cake I really wanted (yet) I would try it out using some random fabrics I had left over from other projects. I tried to mix and match and find some that went together. I am not sure if I succeeded or just made fabric vomit--so let me know if you have an opinion on the fabrics I chose. (I might be kicking the dark brown one to the curb--not sure yet). Also let me know what you think for the background color--white or creamish???? Or something else??

Now that I am committed and have spent some time cutting my 10 inch squares, I am ready to get started. I will let you know in 12 weeks what the finished (or at least 1/2 way finished) project looks like.

Beginning the year off with a good book

So I love to check Marcie's blog (for many reasons), but one of my favorite parts is the book list. She listed all of the books she read last year. It got me thinking...I wonder how many books I read last year. SOOOOO I am going to steal her idea (like the thief I am) and start a list.
On top of that----I also hate to start reading a book and HATE it. And THEN have someone say...oh yeah I hated that one too---you should have asked. I hate wasting my time on books that are no good. I am sure there are other people out there who also hate that. SOOOO I am going to be the opinionated girl that I am and give you a short rundown on the books I read(whether you want it or not).
SOOOO here goes.
For the first book of the year I read The Writing on the Wall by Dean Hughes. It is volume one of the Hearts of the Children series. It is written by the same man who wrote the Children of the Promise series (which I LOVED). The first series was about an LDS family and their experiences and struggles during WWII. Some of them go off to war, some stay home, one is a POW, one is a missionary, SOOOOOO much going on. I loved the series and could not stop reading. I learned a ton about the war and the many fronts--not just Germany. Part of the books concern Pearl Harbor, and there is also a portion about Germans fleeing from Nazi Germany. Amazing series. BUTTT that was SO last year. This year was The Writing on the Wall. It continues on with the same family--except this time it is getting close to Vietnam. It is the children of the main characters from the first series and is just as exciting. They go through Kennedy's death, Martin Luther King and the marches, and the fear of nuclear war. I love love loved it and cannot wait to read book 2.
Next, I switched gears. I borrowed a book by Mary Higgines Clark called No Place Like Home. It was a mystery and really kept me reading---very late into the night!!! The main character accidentally killed her mom as a child and then changes her identity because of the press. In this book she comes back to her home town (with her new identity) and horrible things start to happen again. It was really good and had no random sex scenes or anything. Just a good old murder mystery. Highly recommend for a beach or vacation read.
Well that does it for today. I am currently reading a Nora Roberts--so more to the list very soon!!

The forgotten Christmas project

Last year about this time I found a embroidery book with a quilt pattern in it that I was dying to try out. The pattern was shown in reds and pinks, but I decided to go PURPLE and make it for Todd's mom. THEN during the Superbowl, Amy and I began creating this blanket. After that day I put it away and never went back. I just could not get enthused about all of the embroidery. THEN it got close to Christmas, and I thought I would try again. SOOOOO I got it out, appliqued the circles in place, and used up MANY days of cheer practice embroidering myself silly. Then I decided it was too small and went back to the fabric store in search of some border materials. I am super glad that I persevered because I loved the final project. BTW...I did finish it in time for Christmas, but I did not want to ruin the surprise for Marilee. Then I forgot about it. Because I know Marcie would really like to see what our work turned into....here it is.




I machine appliqued on the bubbles, but then I hand embroidered them again to add some zing. I also embroidered the birds and branches and other embellishments. It was a fun project, but I am not sure that embroidery is in my near future:)

Em is a trooper and puts up with my quilting when she is "tired" of it. She tried "Amma's" blanket out for a little resty-pooh!!