Granny/Auntie Party Favors

Posted on March 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

Countdown to Alastair’s 2nd birthday party has begun.  The children’s teepee bags, both boy and girl versions, are ready to be stuffed with the supply of goodies laid in by the birthday boy’s parents.  The Happy Birthday table covers are folded, awaiting the folding tables, the balloons have been ordered and the ingredients for the Cupcake Choo Choo are lined up on the kitchen counter.

The dishtowels are still a work in progress, but the night is young.  A few are finished for Alastair’s other grandmother and aunties to take home as a useful souvenir of the occasion.   The microfiber white towels have been embroidered with the same train as the one used on the teepee bags.  This design is from A Bit of Stitch’s Baby Petite Borders collection.  The steam cloud is filled with the party theme, Two-toot, the engine bears his initials and the boxcar is embroidered with the party date.

Black middy braid has been stitched in place for the track and a border of bandana fabric adds some needed color to the little project. The next batch of towels will have the steam cloud stitched in gray.  Another improvement will be to stitch the initials in a brighter color.  Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in machine embroidery, Nana fun, party accessories and ideas

Rerun–Harry Potter Quilt

Posted on March 16, 2011 | 6 comments
 HarryPotterquilt

Our family is making good progress getting Aunt Aileen situated in a good nursing home. But there is still a great deal left to do. We are so grateful for the help of my other aunt, her sister Rheeta, who has come from Indiana to help clear out the apartment, make other necessary arrangements and visit with Aunt Aileen. Rheeta’s presence will go a long way in helping Aunt Aileen adjust to her new surroundings.  

So it’s  time for another re-run…..

I’ve added more information and details about the quilt than was originally posted.  I hope those of you who have not yet read the earlier post will enjoy it. It’s the best I can do right now. ~~~~~

Being ever mindful that Rebecca likes and specifically requested bright colors, I went to the drawing board.  I like to start a nursery decoration plan with a quilt.  That establishes the color scheme and allows many spin offs and opportunities for accessories.  But with all the visual fodder in the lengthy, seven book Harry Potter series, it was necessary to narrow the focus.

Deciding on “fantastic creatures, I set to work, looking for designs that could be edited and customized to meet the description of critters from unicorns to fairies (the easy ones) to a thesteral, Pygmy Puff and snidget.  The search was more fun than a scavenger hunt.

 

HarryPotterHedwig

 

 

Hedwig was my favorite design, purchased and stitched out exactly as digitized.  I got more creative with some of the other creatures.

 

HarryPotterpuffskein

 

The Pygmy Puff is nestled on a Mary Engelbreit overstuffed chair.  I extracted some fringe from another design and created the fluffy Puff. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in baby accessories, home dec, machine embroidery

Tagged , , , , , ,

Ready for Two-toot! Birthday

Posted on March 13, 2011 | 3 comments

Alastair with his birthday tree. Now, they are the same height.

Alastair is ready for his “Two-toot!”  birthday party next week.  He and his parents were with us for a long weekend and I was able to finish embroidering his engineer birthday outfit before they left. 

While this may not seem like a big accomplishment, for me it was.  Saturday, the entire family was here, busy with a variety of activities.  Robert (5) and Laurel (6) kept busy playing with cousin Alastair (2), the guys and Alastair’s mother watched the Florida Gators basketball game,    Laurel and Robert’s mother gardened and I spent some time gathering more clothes from Aunt Aileen’s apartment. I delivered these to her at the nursing home where she is getting therapy and visited for a while.  Correction at Rebecca’s behest – his mother was outside with the  babes all afternoon, not inside watching the Gators game.  Sorry, Rebecca!  

Later, we all sat down to a big family dinner.  As we finished dessert, Laurel made a presentation to fulfill a school requirement.  Even in front of her family, she was a little nervous as she read her report on the 5K fundraiser walk she and her mother did to benefit research for juvenile diabetes.  But she did a fabulous job, following up with a photo of her “team” as they completed the walk and displaying the medal she earned for her participation.

Then it was time for a bonfire, which has become the piece de resistance of our family gatherings.  We used all the freeze damaged foliage for this roaring fire. The S’mores left everyone sticky and satisfied.

There are 125′ of azaleas up each side of our driveway. It is a spectacular sight.

The gorgeous weather was a huge distraction. Springtime in Florida is an awesome sensory delight. The air is perfumed with citrus blossoms and wisteria, while everywhere the eye travels it gazes on dogwood, azaleas and all other flowering plants in full bloom.  More about our beautiful spring after details of Alastair’s train suit.

 

The well-worn Oshgosh B’gosh overalls were already hanging in his closet, days away from being packed away.  The pant legs have a snap crotch for the convenience of Diaper Dandies, not big fellas like Alastair who has graduated to big boy pants. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in boys, clothing, machine embroidery

Re-run: Smocked Brother-Sister Frogs

Posted on March 12, 2011 | 2 comments

LaurelRobFrogs21

This post is a rerun.  I’ve spent most of every day this past week tending to my dearly loved  89 year-old aunt.  She has been hospitalized and has suffered a rather dramatic fall into dementia, so I have been trying to arrange a move from her assisted living facility to a higher level of care in a nursing home.

Between dealing with her needs and tending my 2 year old grandson Alastair, I have run out of time and decided to re-run some old posts until I can get caught up.   I doubt if any readers have read all  or even most of the 386 posts from the birth of this blog.  So here it is……

I love to see siblings in coordinating clothes.  My son and daughter are fully 4 years apart in age, so I was only able to indulge in this practice for a very short time.

But my granddaughter Laurel is just 15 months older than her brother Robert so I have made them many “matching” outfits.  Laurel loves it, her mother loves it and Robert, frankly, doesn’t care one way or the other.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in boys, brother-sister, clothing, girls, ready-to-smock finished projects, smocking

Two-toot!

Posted on March 10, 2011 | 1 comment

zTwoTootbag

Sewing for Alastair’s upcoming second birthday party is such fun. I’ve only just begun and I am glad to have another week to sew for this gala affair.

ztwotootbag2

A few of the “boy” teepee goodie bag favors are sewn up and I am working on the girl version in more feminine colors.

As usual, a simple little project turned into something more time consuming. I chose the pillow ticking fabric because it reminds me of traditional engineer bib overalls, worn by little guys (and train engineers) for ages. Until he was six, our son had a new pair every year because he wore them out as he explored every inch of our three acres, climbing trees and digging “forts” under the cascading bridal wreath spirea by the clothesline. It makes me grin every time I see Alastair wearing this same garb, 35 years later.

For the festivities, Alastair will be wearing his overalls along with a matching cap, both of which I plan to embroider with “Amtrak.” There is also a red bandana to tie around his neck, but we’re not sure he is going to be enthusiastic about that. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in bags, button machine, machine embroidery, Nana fun, party accessories and ideas

Planning Party Favors

Posted on March 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

He called me to say, “Nana, will you make train teepee bags for my birthday party?” But it sounds like “Eeeja ba Nana wakka nong choo choo dayda eeepeet.” No problem for this Nana. I may not speak the language, but I understand Alastairese.

In 10 days, Alastair’s 2nd birthday party will be in full swing. Could anything be more fun than ten 1-6 year-olds high on buttercream frosting?

Currently, Alastair is crazy about trains so that is the theme of the party. His mother and I are in agreement about the cake–a train engine pulling graham cracker flat bed cars, each carrying a cupcake. It will be so much fun decorating this with Rebecca the night before the party.

Meanwhile, I am assembling all the materials for teepee bags, my standard little-kid party favors. I hope to work it out so that the metal zipper teeth will pass for train tracks. A train design has been edited so that the “choo choo makes a nearly right angle turn, trailing around the bottom of the bag and then chugging up the zipper. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in party accessories and ideas, uncategorized

Toe Bows

Posted on March 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

“If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly until you get good at it. “  Martha Pullen

ztoe Bows1

Hidden beneath the satin ribbon is a narrow yellow gold ribbon stacked onto a blue polka dot grosgrain bow. The button in the center is a tiny orange flip flop.

In my humble opinion, this is one the most astute and helpful statements I’ve ever hear Martha make.  It has been at least 25 years since I first heard heard this kernel of wisdom and it has influenced many of my efforts. Like these bows.

My life has been incredibly hectic this past week.  But always I sought a tiny window of opportunity to make flip flop bows to match the embroidered sundress posted in the previous entry of this blog.  Finally, this evening, I seized the moment, leaving Bob alone in front of the tv to cheer on our beloved Gators as they battled Vanderbilt on the basketball court.  FYI, the Gators were victorious.  Yeah!

 

ztoebows2

 

I was not so enthusiastic about the results of my freshman attempt at bow making.  To me, it is important to mention that I have not yet received the videos I ordered from www.learntomakebows.com.   I probably should have waited for them to arrive before starting.

It has been said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and I think I proved it with these bows.  But still, I had fun and my precious granddaughter Laurel will offer hugs and kisses of appreciation with virtually no criticism.

So, thank you Martha for your timeless assurance that a poor first or second attempt is all the more reason to follow up with third, fourth and fifth attempts at improvement.

I have 4 more pairs of flip flops for Laurel.  I hope that’s enough.

Leave a comment

Posted in hairbows

Summer=Sundresses

Posted on March 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

 

Almost 2 year-old Alastair needed daycare this week.  His mother, my computer engineer daughter Rebecca, was called back to work full-time for a big project so I am tending the little guy on the west coast of Florida while his parents work.  I love it but his presence adds a new dimension to the challenge of snapping photos for a post.

plain jane sundress, unembellished except for cat hair

The dresses (one embroidered, one plain) were carried here in a bag, meant to be ironed.  But Alastair thought that was not a good use of our time and nixed the session at the ironing board.  Okay, we’ll live with the wrinkles.

Then I wanted to sew three tiny buttons onto the bow knot on one shoulder.  But before they were stitched in place, Alastair snatched them from the leather ottoman where they were resting and ran like the wind with them clutched in his hot little hand.  As he ran, he squealed with delight that Nana was chasing him. 

When I finally convinced him to return the buttons to their rightful owner, he dropped them onto the oriental rug where they became invisible.  I quickly recovered the buttons and sewed them to the bow knot. Finally, I got things set up to take a picture. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in clothing, girls, hairbows, machine embroidery, Nana fun

Coming soon: St. Patrick’s Day!

Posted on March 1, 2011 | 1 comment

“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time-a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.”  Adrienne Cook

zComingSoonshirt

Though March 21st is the official first day of spring, March 17th is truly the harbinger of sunny days to come.

St. Patrick’s Day is just plain fun.  Snakes are said to have been driven away by this popular saint and yet parades “snake” through town in celebration of all that is Irish.

 

ComingSoonshirtscanBRITE

The holiday implies no responsibility for candy or roses or gifts or greeting cards.  A celebrant’s only duty is to wear green, The Great Equalizer that enables people of all nationalities to share a single ancestry for a day.  Of course, there are always those who take advantage of a situation and sport shirts or hats demanding “Kiss me.  I’m Irish!”

On this day, everyone of good humor is Irish.   Though the smallest dab of green on one’s clothing implies participation in the day’s festivities, it is more fun for children to dress for the occasion. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in button machine, embroidery blanks, girls, hairbows, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery

Tagged , , ,

YIKES!!!

Posted on March 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

I have just accidentally deleted the current post with the gingham check luggage!  I am working to recover it, but whether or not I do,  there will be a new post later tonight.

Leave a comment

Posted in uncategorized