Hobo bag

Here's a hobo bag I made for a friend of mine who needs some cheering up this week.

There's a lot I like about this bag. The shape, the applique, the fabric, the fall-ishness of it. I also like the rings.

But this part is my favorite--the zippered pocket in the lining. Thanks to that genius Autum and her tutorial . I even made a special trip to the store just to buy invisible thread. It was so hard to see I could barely make out if the machine was even sewing.

As I was working on this, I was thinking back to just a couple of years ago when I was starting to sew in earnest. I'd made this camouflage tote bag for Davey and didn't think to put a pocket on it until after it was all done. And then I was all frustrated because I couldn't fit the bulky bag through the machine to sew the pocket on. Duh! I've come a long way, baby. It's a good feeling.

Thanks for the tut, Autum!

Happiness

Remember the baby shower back in March where I made the table centerpieces out of Dick and Jane fabric ? I still have quite a bit of that fabric left, but have been slowly working my way through the stash. A friend and I are sprucing up the church nursery, and thought it could use some personal touches. So here's what we've done with it so far.

A patchwork valance:

and a tufted bulletin board with fabric covered buttons:


We also framed pictures of applehead's small people:

Can I just say how much fun it is to sew/craft with a friend? I just discovered a new blog the other day--Life in Yonder. I was reading through her archives and came across this--and I'm quoting here:

Thank God for good friends. I have found out that I can live without sewing machines but never without friends. And when I am as fortunate as to have good friends with sewing machines the happiness is complete.

Amen, sister!

Dream Wall

I don't really have a craft room. I've pretty much taken over the dining room with all my sewing paraphernalia. But we only really use it twice a year for dining, if that.... I don't know. I kind of think it's time to just quit pretending that it's a dining room. I love the big table that's in there, but I'm getting a little tired of working around all the chairs. The other night, Dave came home from a meeting and caught me peeling off wall paper. It's ugly. It's original to the house and screams 1987. I know I have no business starting something that I can't finish in a timely manner. Especially since we will be having a full bathroom remodel in the next couple of months. Anyway, it's just time. That's all I'm saying.

Six

Davey turned six years old last week and wanted a party at one of those big blow up bouncy places. I appliqued a T shirt for him the night before. Here's the action shot.

This was hilarious. My son beating up a GIRL!!!! Don't worry, she was pretty good at defending herself. They only boxed for about 2 minutes. Those gloves were so heavy that they kept falling all over themselves.

Keith wanted a shirt too, so I made him one right before we left the house. Here's his action shot.

SPROING!!!!!!

For Hillary

A baby sling and burp cloths for a special baby and her mommy. Welcome to the world, sweet Hillary!

My New Motto

You all are so wonderful! Thanks for putting up with all my public navel gazing, and for not making fun of me (too much). It appears I can't quit blogging, since I like it--and you. And it's crazy that just when I was considering giving it all up something quite amazing/blog-related happened that would make it silly for me to quit blogging. I can't tell you yet what it is just yet, and that's killing me. But I will say that I'm feeling very happy about it--the

I-can't-fall-asleep-at-night-because-I'm-so-excited kind of happy.

Anyway, I hope all you Americans out there had a good fourth of July. My hubby suprised me yesterday with a gift card. He took the kids for the afternoon and sent me on a shopping spree. Happy independence day indeed!