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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

MAYbe I will.....

 I didn't even realize that I hadn't posted since February.  I have been busy with little projects and some family gatherings.  I have been wanting to link up to the NewFO Party over at Cat Patches, but I keep getting busy with stuff.  Amazingly, I did do quite a bit of sewing this month.  


http://catpatches.blogspot.com/p/newfo-challenge.html

While searching for fabric to make a quilt for one of my nephews, I found a bunch of cute fabrics, that I had to make pillowcases out of.  This one is from Joann Fabric and is called Get Happy Birds (think opening song of the Partridge Family)
.... Annnnnd you're welcome for the earworm.  Ha Ha! 
You have to admit, it's cute fabric.



Bruce was helping with my search and he found this fishing fabric for his pillowcase at Jay's Fabric Center.


 And then I saw this irresistible, cat fabric. It's called Calico Cat, by Michael Miller.  I had to have some, and it also immediately made me think of Barbara, at Cat Patches. She is always so generous with give-aways, and I love reading her posts, so I made her one too.  The Pink cuffed case is hers and the Green is mine (of course).


I also made an adorable one out of this fabric, called Strawberry Bears from Henry Glass & Co., for my Grand-Niece.  I found it at Country Quilts and Bears.


A year ago I bought this fabric, when I visited my friend Stella in Arizona, to cover my ironing board. It's called Lil' Miss Sew & Sew by Dan Morris, and I thought it was perfect, since I pretty much only use it for ironing fabric for sewing. (I am the epitome of wash and wear.)
  I had found a simple tutorial, (so simple, that I should've known how to do it without the tutorial - DUH).  Here's the link to the tutorial I used. Easy peasy!  

This next image is of my  nasty, old, gross ironing board cover.  I was finally motivated, by the cats, to recover it. If you have a cat, or cats, you will be able to relate, and the rest of you will probably will be grossed out. The fact is, that one of my seven, adorable felines happened to relieve themselves of their hairball, and with it, some of their partially digested dinner on the ironing board.  Yuck, Yuck, and Double Yuck. 
TMI?  Sorry.
Probably, but these things happen when you have pets. 


 When I removed the disgusting blue cover, I discovered a pad and another old cover and thin foam pad.  Here's the second cover. 


 Honestly, I was surprised there was so much underneath the outer cover, considering it almost felt as if the cover was sitting directly on the metal board...  (I got this Ironing board from a friend, when I was helping her clean out her mother's home.)  I hand washed the two pads, to reuse, and added a layer of batting, to bulk up the board a little.  And Voila! New Cover! I did spray it down (twice) with Scotch Guard.  I'm hoping that will help it stay pretty a little longer (or at least keep it safe from kitty barf).  I will also be making more of an effort to fold it up, when not in use, from now on. Of course, Oliver had to help hold down the fabric as I was working.


Then, no sooner had I put the new cover on, than Lilly had to test it out. It looks good though, right?  And it is nice and smooth to iron on. 

I finally found the fabrics for my nephew's quilt at Happy Apple Quilts, with help from Bruce and one of the extremely friendly ladies that works there. Here is a partial shot of the flimsy, with Multi, in her best Vanna White impersonation.

 Here's a close up.  I was trying to show that there is a bit of shimmer to the fabrics, but this is the best I could do.  All four fabrics are from the Artisan Spirit shimmer collection by Northcott.

 I found the pattern in Quilty magazine.  It was called "Go Gingham".  It's a beginner level pattern, but with the colors I was given to work with, I thought it turned out well (and masculine patterns are not as plentiful as I thought they would be). Actually, when I first saw it, I thought it resembled some of my favorite flannel shirts. Yep, I'm a real high maintenance kind of girl. You could use any color combination. I'm sure I'll be making more variations in the future.
 

I also started this Dalmatian cross-stitch, that when finished will be donated to Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay to auction off.


And believe it or not, there were a few other, small projects squeezed in, that I forgot to photograph!  We ended the month with a rare family celebration. My Mom's side of the family doesn't gather too often. This past Saturday was a big day though. 
My Grandma turned 98! 
She is starting to slow down a little, but she still lives in her own home, goes for an afternoon walk every day, and is as sharp as a tack.  Here's Grandma in her Birthday get up. Cute, isn't she? She's very petite (notice the light switch?) and spunky, and Italian (think Estelle Getty  from the Golden Girls, without the sarcasm). She has eye issues, so she rarely takes off her shades. 

She has been a strong influence in my life and I am extremely blessed to still have her around. She was a seamstress/corsetière in the 1930's for Lord & Taylor in New York. Back then you had to have Bras custom fitted and made - there were no mass manufactured bras and corsets. She was the Assistant Head Fitter and even got to work with Eleanor Roosevelt once. She specialized in working with women who had physical abnormalities, such as a mastectomy, etc. Her mother was also a seamstress. My mother..... well....She did make our Halloween costumes as kids, and hem stuff if needed, but she doesn't enjoy sewing like I do.  Grandma still has her Singer sewing machine, in it's huge wooden table. It does have a motor that was added at some point in time, but the big deal is, that when I was a little girl, probably 7 or so, she told me that I could have the machine when I grew up.  I loved to watch her sew. She would give me a needle and thread and let me sew Barbie clothes. She's blind in one eye now, so she doesn't sew anymore, and she often reminds me that the machine is mine, whenever I want it, but I tell her that I'm in no hurry. 


 Whew... that got much longer than I intended..... I hope you had a marvelous May!

Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

5 comments:

  1. Welcome back! The pillowcases are really cute and yes the earworm worked, I'm humming it now.
    Happy Birthday to your Grandmom, how wonderful you still have her :)

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  2. What a great catch-up post! You have been busy! Your ironing board cover looks great - I'm inspired to sew a cute cover to replace my boring muslin colored one :) I have also never tackled pillowcases - need to remedy that stat!!

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  3. Sweet pictures of the kitties. I put my pillow case on the pillow i use under my knees to keep my back supported. Nice to have those bright colors for my "orthopedic" pillow.

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  4. CUte fabrics. I know every one will love their pillow cases. I have a big board ironing board that we made and covered. If I am in that room, there is a cat on it! He is not afraid of the iron! Why do they love ironing boards?

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  5. My goodness what cute fabrics and your ironing board cover is the greatest! Your grandma is a goer! Her pic reminds me of my husband's mom who just turned 97 and has probably the same eye problems. They keep going though, don't they! Fun post.

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