Sunday, October 30

What I've been up to - Week 43

Another busy week for the whole family. Poor Bug missed two days of school: home sick with mommy working from home to keep an eye on her. Poor mommy also sick. This was also my last week before transferring to my new position at work. So on top of wrapping up as much as possible and passing on all the information that needed to be passed on, I also had to pack up my stuff to move one floor up. And then the hubby had to stay at work a couple of nights. And I had to squeeze in making a Halloween costume for a friend - Doesn't she look angelic as a nun ? Needless to say by Friday night I was wiped. 
No rest over the weekend though. Friday night the hubby and I had to dig out a path to the washer in the basement so the dead one could be hauled away and the new one delivered. 

Then Saturday, after the machine was installed and while I was wadding through the mountain of laundry the OCD bug bit me and I spent most of the day reorganizing the whole utility room, moved storage shelves and cabinets around, rearranged tools and supplies. Hours of cleaning and tidying and finding long lost items (always a bonus) while it was snowing - yes unbelievable but true- snowing outside. 


Today saw a long overdue project finally come to life ... I have a proper mantel on my fireplace!!! Yay, that only took 7 years. Uncle John and I put this baby together in a couple of hours. He did the cutting - I have a very strong aversion for table saws - I did the measuring, the drilling, nailing and caulking. The result is great!!  I still need to finishing sanding and painting so you'll have to wait a bit for the reveal ... But this is a picture of the early stages this morning.




 After that was done, Bug her dad and I carved pumpkins,


Bug insisted on classic Jack-O-Lanterns


 decorated the front porch


'
   and while daddy was off grocery shopping Bug and I baked (and ate) some pumpkin cookies.


Yep, all that crammed in one week...


What have you been up to?




Saturday, October 29

Blogger's quilt Festival Fall 2011 - A Very Hungry Caterpillar


Welcome fellow bloggers for this fall's Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Back in June I started working on a baby quilt using an adorable panel featuring "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". After picking  colors things went pretty fast. It's not a very complicated layout but I had only very limited time to get it finished and the it is also in keeping with the simplicity of the graphics in the book.


Bold colors

This has been such a pleasure to work on this quilt, not only because it has been a labor of love and a needed distraction while I was not feeling well but also because my little Bug and I adore the story, the images and I love colors, bright, bold colors. This was the perfect project for me You can see the earlier stages of the quilt here and here.
I finished it just in time to deliver it myself to my then very pregnant cousin Sophie in Provence


Bright and cheerful, it will keep her sweet child warm and cuddly.


I bound the quilt with a very plain white fabric with aqua polka dots and kept the quilting very simple 


Just in the ditch and some cross lines around the edges





And of course the outline of the butterfly and the caterpillar


Sophie liked it a lot! 
That day she also received the  translation of Eric Carle's adorable book so she could tell the story to her baby.


Barely 2 weeks later,  Sophie, her husband and the whole family welcomed sweet ChloĆ© to the world


Unfortunately after we returned home. I will have to wait until our next trip to hold little ChloƩ. In the meantime, the quilt I made for her will have to make do.

Amy'sCreativeSide





Thursday, October 27

Flower power: Fix ripped jeans

Do you have an active kid? I do... VERY active. I sew a lot for Bug, not only new outfits or updating old ones, but I also often have to mend, patch. Bug loves it pink and girly so what to do when a pair of plain old jeans gets a nice tear? Flower power ! 

First mended the hole in with a zigzag 

Then I used a fun quilt block cast off from a friend's project
Iron on with some Wonder Under

And a zigzag stitch with silver thread

The finishing touch, some pink flower lace at the cuffs


Flower power works pretty well for Bug


 Yep that's Bug, in Bug mode :)
Can you say active kid ??

Tuesday, October 25

Super easy headband

Nobody beats bug, ever. She is uber-competitive. But it is harder to play hard when you have your hair all over your face. Bug's hair doesn't hold barrettes very well so the solution we have found are headbands, elastic ones are the best. And this one was super easy to make: I found this cute elastic ruffled ribbon by the spool. One quick seams and pop a couple of satin flowers for the finishing touch . Super easy ..





Super cute ...


Super Bug

Sunday, October 23

What I've been up to - Week 42

What a week ! What a week! If I had to summarize it all in one line it would be: "the good, the bad and the ugly".

First the good. After months and months of uncertainty and 8 weeks of delays, my departmental transfer has finally been approved and I will be starting in my new position on the 31st! I'm ecstatic. Going to a different department means adjustments but also means new challenges and occasions to learn. I've very much been looking forward to that.


Also in the good, the hubby and I went in a long overdue date at a local cajun restaurant and had a delicious and spicy meal, followed by a decadent dessert: Godiva chocolate cheesecake. Not as good as poor Manny's (you have to be from the Utica, NY to know about Manny's) but yum! 

Yesterday we took bug to Larriland farm to find pumpkins. Bug had fun running around looking for the perfect little pumpkin. We will be carving those on Saturday because the weather has not been very favorable and we were worried that the pumpkins might rot very quickly.


Then the bad. Both the hubs and I caught a cold and we had a few lousy nights fighting fever and cough. Not much crafting got done. I was way too tired. And then our washing machine decided to quit on us and cough up a bunch of water in the basement. No damage done thankfully but we had to spend part of the weekend looking for a new washer which will be delivered next weekend. We got somewhat lucky though: the model we were after was on sale!

And the ugly. Well the ugly is that Bug is now sick too. Sick enough I had to call my boss and request to work from home. Lots of unpleasant washing and cleaning for mom and dad. Enough said. 

Thursday, October 20

Silver pendants necklace

I didn't make much jewelry lately. I lacked inspiration. Until I found those silver coin beads. And everything snapped together in one short afternoon. Black ribbon for the closure give several length options and the black is picked up again by the beads and small pendants. 'm still debating adding another row of the smaller coin beads. What do you think ?




Tuesday, October 18

Striped chiffon scarf

Ideas come often at the least expected moment. While reorganizing the top shelf of one of the cabinets in my studio, I bumped into a box of chiffon scraps left over from my scarf sewing marathon last year. And I found the perfect match to a couple of them almost immediately. I whipped 2 scarves and a wrap in two sittings: Tuesday night and Saturday morning. Here is the first one I finished. 

Pink and cream tiny floral stripes, married with a light grey and shabby pink turned into a very feminine kimono scarf. 


I took advantage of the fantastic fall weather for some outdoor photos. Probably one of the last chances I get to do this before it gets too cold.

 




It will go to Cheryl, one of my fantastic readers and a quilter, who send me a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" quilting panel she wasn't using so I could make a second quilt with it - Thank you Cheryl!!

Monday, October 17

Oops, I shopped - The loot

As promised here are pictures of the loot I brought back from my shopping expeditions in Pennsylvania:

A few zippers ($2)

Lace appliquĆ©s  $2 for 6 pieces - I got 3 sets of 6




Beaded appliques ($1 a piece)


Ruffled trim ca. $4 for 18 yards spools
 

Eyelet lace - $4 for a 18 yards spool

Large ribbon spools ca. $5 for 100 yards
Smaller spools 4 for $1
Elastic - $0.30 per bundle 

And buttons fished out of a huge caldron ... $6 for a pound - I got 12 ounces



 I also got a few yards of fabric for $1 a yard and some lace for Amie - Kitty Cats and Airplanes (she shopped with us by proxy via texting and photos...

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