Whale of a good time!

I've been sooo busy sewing for the holidays and wrapping and taking care of my mom that I haven't made a blog entry in a very long time.  Well, holidays are over, wrapping is way over and mom went home yesterday so . . .

My niece texted me this morning and told me she had been crazy busy (she has a 7 month old son and she is a high school basketball coach and it is basketball season, so she is one very busy lady) anyway, she had a shower to attend this afternoon and hadn't had a chance to go shopping so was there any way that I could stitch up a few things for a special friend?  She told me that the nursery had a nautical theme and they loved whales and it would be a girl, so . . . I headed to my sewing room to see what I could do.

I made the burp cloth first with the deep blue whale and pink name and I added a wide striped ribbon on the bottom of the cloth.  I knew that the nursery was blue and green with some pink but not sure just which blue or which green, so I tried several different colors each with a hint of pink.  Second I made the white onesie with the little pink whale and deep pink name.  I found a cute little onesie with little hearts all over it so I just added a monogram to that one and then I decided that a receiving blanket with a whale would be a nice addition to the mix.

I heard from my niece this afternoon and she said that the gifts I had stitched were the hit of the shower.  That made my day.

On another note I made a cute shirt and skirt for a friend's daughter in Florida for her fourth birthday.  I think the set turned out really cute.

I've also stitched up a few new T's for one of my grandsons.  He loves wearing them to preschool.  Can you tell that he LOVES trucks?

It's late and I need to get to bed.  Just wanted to share a few things.  Happy stitching!

Holiday Towels and Turkey??

Holiday dish towels or bar towels or hand towels . . .

Does anybody use these anymore?  The metallic thread on the tree doesn't show up in the picture very well but it looks really nice.

One of my daugher in laws uses them as decorations hanging from the handle of her oven in the kitchen.  She changes them with the different holidays and seasons.

 They make me smile, but I am pretty easy to please when it comes to embroidery :)
  I'm thinking Aunt Joy will like this one . . .

 ps - cooked a tofurkey for dinner tonight.  Don't even think about buying one to eat.  I am pretty good about eating healthy and not being overly concerned about taste if I feel it is good for me, but the tofurkey (tofu supposed to taste like turkey) was disgusting.  The stuffing in the middle wasn't all bad but the tofurkey itself was so disgusting it is hard to put the taste sensation into words.  I covered it in cranberry sauce for Stan and he gobbled it up saying anything tastes good smothered in cranberry sauce.  Oh well, I tried.

We have been really good about trying to eat vegan and raw most of the time.  Stan is still at the minus 15 pounds weight and that is terrific.  I still cannot figure out why he is sticking with this eating plan but it is working so I'll keep cooking the healthy stuff as long as we are eating it. 

Oh, I bought a dehydrator and used it this week and it is fabulous.  I dried kale and that sounds awful but it is crunchy and delicious like a chip.  I mixed it with some seasonings before drying it then let it dry in the dehydrator overnight and I was very pleased with the end result.

I am going to try drying some bananas and apples tomorrow. I'd also like to try and make some fruit leather. 

Christmas for the Girls

Sewing, sewing, sewing.  I monogrammed the onesie and then made the skirt.  You can't see it in the picture but there is a layer of red sparkle tulle in between each of the ruffle layers.  SOOOOO cute!

Also made a matching set for B's cousin in Texas . . .

Added the pants to the skirt, onesie set.    And I couldn't forget Mr. Jack who LOVES Bob the Builder right now . . .

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!

Another week of sewing and also cooking raw

In the midst of all the sewing I am finding time to get more involved in eating raw.  I purchased a Vita Mix and a dehydrator this week.  The dehydrator just arrived (now I can make my own kale snacks :))

Still waiting for the arrival of the VitaMix.  Smoothies and dressings should be so much easier to make with a high powered blender.  This week my husband and I both really enjoyed eating brocolli fritters and wild rice with mushrooms.  YUM

Now, on to the latest sewing projects . . .

I made this adorable onesie with a turkey on it and the matching skirt.  I used scraps of courdoroy for the skirt and had to put the nap going crosswise but it came out really cute and my 7 month old grandaughter won't mind :)

This outfit is for one of my other grandaughters.  I purchased the skirt at Walmart for $5 (can't make it for that) and made the holiday onesie to wear with the skirt.  I'm working on a matching set for her big sister.

Mom needed a few more items for the grandchildren of one of her friends so I tried used metallic thread on the snowflakes of the Be Jolly shirt, came out pretty cute although hard to see the sparkle in the picture

I honestly cannot begin to explain the amount of fun I am having and have been having since my sweet husband gave me my sewing machine last Christmas.  I absolutely love making gifts like this to give to my friends and my family.  I get such a sense of accomplishment looking at the finished products and my heart just glows inside when I see any of my creations being worn by the recipient.  I get that same sense of satisfaction with my knitting.  p.s. I am working on a beautiful knit stocking for one of my grandaughters.  I'll post the picture when I am done.

Guess that's enough for today. . .

Busy Week

So, I was somehow able to get a lot of sewing done this week and I have some new things to share . . .

Appliqued three with name embroidered on top of the three.  I think it came out pretty cute.

Next, some baby gifts for friends of one of my daughter in laws.





and for my mother's friends . . .

and for some friends at work . . .



and one for "yellow day" at preschool :)

not to mention my continuing work on the Christmas goodies . . .

Too much for one post?  Sorry, just had to share :)

First Christmas Shirts

Haven't done much emboridery over the last week.  Waiting to really get started with the Christmas things.  I did make these two shirts for my great nephew.  His mom selected the designs she liked and I just stitched them up.

Tonight my daugher in law and I are off to JoAnne's to buy some tulle for those oh so cute little skirts/tutus that the littlest girls wear.  I'll post a picture of one of the skirts as soon as I get it finished.  Trucks and tutu's.  Such fun being able to sew for both girls and boys. :)  I am a very happy grandma =)

Peppermint Candies and Turkeys

I met this terrific new woman who invited us to golf with her and her husband.  It turns out that she has a daughter named Jayme and some new twin grandchildren.  First off, I cannot believe that she invited my husband and I to golf with her and her husband after having played with me once and it was really the first time I had played with another person.  I was soooooo nervous but played pretty well the first time (it was only nine holes).  So the second time I played terribly.  It took me about 9 holes to stop being so crazy nervous and I finally started calming down.  I played about 6 decent holes and then I started getting tired.  Anyway, she was so much fun to play golf with and she was very encouraging to me that I really wanted to stitch up something cute for her grandbabies who are coming to visit next week.   Look what I stitched.  I think they came out pretty cute.

Last night my niece and her husband stopped by and had some dinner with us and they brought my most beautiful grand nephew.  The men played chess and we stitched up a few things after dinner.   I forgot to take photos of what we made for her friend but I did snap a picture of what I made my grand nephew to wear while he is eating his first Thanksgiving dinner.

Pretty cute, huh?