MY WEEK AND PLANS...

Well here we are to Friday, June 13th already!!  I honestly just can't believe it.  My week has been a slow and relaxing one, and I hope many of you can say the same.  The weather has been NICE.  Warm and sunny but not hot.  I LOVE June in California.  I do know that the hot triple digit weather is a coming, so I intend to enjoy every minute of this.

I have not done a whole lot at the sewing machine this week, but I am have sure made A LOT of plans and the piles of fabric are starting to look HUGE, lol.  I did whip up hubby's Father Days gift by making him another shirt.  He has worn the last one I made him soo many times that it is starting to look like his uniform, lol, so hope he likes this one as much.  I saw this fabric at the quilting store weeks ago and have had it in the back of my mind ever since.  I was really glad there was some left when I was finally ready to buy.  Let me show you....

LIGHTING IS BAD, AND TAKEN ON MY I-PHONE, BUT YOU GET THE IDEA...

A LITTLE CLOSER LOOK ...LOVE THE SAIL BOATS!

The only thing that concerns me about this shirt is that the fabric wrinkled kind of bad just while I was sewing it.  It too is a Moda 100% cotton fabric like the last one, and it has done wonderfully, but this one just seems different.  Guess time will tell.  I also spent an entire morning at Joannes pouring over their snuggle flannel fabric which is on sale 60% off.  Just isn't going to get much better than that.  And since my niece has asked me to make some burp cloths for her best friend who is expecting her first baby (a girl!) in Sept., I figured the time was right to buy the fabric.  I make the burp cloths with coordinating fabrics on each side, so it takes a bit of planning and choosing.  Had soo much fun doing this.  Got some really cute combinations, trying my best not to be TOO cutesy (which I guess is a big NO NO these days!).  Not sure when I will actually get to this, but the fabric is all ready.  There will be enough to make matching bibs out of the fabric as well, so I "might" do that too.  I already have tons of warm and natural which I put in the center of the burp cloths and bibs.  Let me show you a bit of that.

JUST LOOK AT THE PILE OF FLANNEL...PROBABLY WON'T MAKE THIS ALL UP FOR JUST THIS ONE GAL, BUT THEN AGAIN WHO KNOWS?  LOL

LOVED THIS...SOO FUN DOING "GIRL" FABRICS...ARE FLOWERS TOO CUTESY?  not in my book, lol

THIS IS MY FAVORITE...THOUGH I AM SURE THIS ONE WOULD BE CONSIDERED WAY TOO CUTE!  HAHA

THOUGHT THIS WAS SOO CUTE...LOVE THE LITTLE BIRDS...GUESS MAYBE THEY ARE ALL A LITTLE BIT CUTE HUH?!

I also got to spend some time with my step sister Barb this week, and it was soo nice catching up.  She works in a school office and is off for summer now, so hopefully there will be some more lunch dates with her before she heads back.  And then yesterday my sister Diane came over to spend the day with me.  This is the sister who shares my love of sewing and we have decided to get together at least once a week this summer, and do just that.  Our first project is to work on dividing up the quilt our mom left for all of us girls. This quilt was made by my mother's grandmother, and is out of her baby dresses.  It is HUGE and it is both completely put together and then quilted by hand.  It was my mother's wish that we "somehow" cut this quilt into 4ths and all of us girls have a piece of it.  Now truthfully that seems like a crime, but I think we have figured out a way we can do just that.  Each of us girls has 1 daughter so we can then pass it down to them as well.  We could have left the quilt together and passed it from house to house (my mom could never make herself chose just one daughter to have it!) but there are A LOT of issues with doing something like that.  I think that's why mom came to the decision she did to divide it up.  Meanwhile for this last year since mom passed away it has been tucked away in a linen cupboard in my house.  I was afraid it would just sit there forever.  I don't know about the rest of you, everyone is soo different, but I am of the opinion that while something like this is a treasure heirloom, it also should be SEEN and enjoyed.  My intention is to get "my piece" of it and display it on the back of mom's chair which is in my bedroom.  Some of my other sisters are sure to tuck it away in their hope chests to be taken out once in a while and looked at.  Nothing wrong with either of those plans, but like I said, everyone is different.  Sooo yesterday Diane and I got the quilt out and carefully looked it over (really in pretty good shape!) and then took it with us over to the quilting store to ask their opinions on how to go about this challenging project.  The gals there were all very helpful, but we did have a few varying opinions of course.  But we did settle upon a plan that both Diane and I think will work. My other two sisters do not sew one stitch, and are very happy to let Diane and I make the decisions.  But one thing they ALL agreed on was to soak it in a solution which should restore the fabric to some of it's original color.  Truthfully, I think the fabric used for the background was a combination of white and tan, so honestly I am not sure how much is discoloration from aging, and how much is just different fabric.  But soaking did seem like a pretty good idea.  So I agreed to wash and put it to soaking, which it is doing as I type this.  I am anxious to see how it comes out...

HERE IS THE PRODUCT

SOAKING

I think after we have cut it into 4ths (THAT will be scary I am not going to lie) we will simply find some coordinating fabric (there is lots of retro fabric!) and bind them.  Obviously, I will keep you posted on how all of this goes.  I also bought a Christmas panel to make up a quick little quilt for myself.  I want a Christmas quilt and this one of course will be super quick and easy.  But it is the right colors for my living room and I thought it was soo pretty.  I haven't decided for sure if I will leave the whole panel in tact, or cut the squares off and do something with them.  We will see...plenty of time till Christmas, lol.  Let me show you...

SOO PRETTY.  WHAT DO SOME OF YOU QUILTERS THINK?  LEAVE THE SQUARES WHERE THEY ARE, OR DO SOMETHING ELSE WITH THEM?

SOME COORDINATING FABRICS FOR BORDERS, BINDING, AND BACKING.  CAN'T REALLY SEE THE WHITE ONE BECAUSE OF THE LIGHTING, BUT IT HAS PRETTY GOLD DESIGNS ON IT.

And then my fabric for the quilt I intend to make for Melody's sister in law who is getting married in Oct. came this week.  I am loving it.  Boy did I ever pour over patterns, and colors before settling on this, and I am soo hoping she is going to like it.  Her taste runs much more to the modern, and her colors are greys and yellows, so this should work.  Let me show you that too.

THIS IS THE PATTERN AND THE INSPIRATION FOR THE QUILT.  I GOT THIS FROM QUILT STORY WHICH YOU CAN FIND THE BUTTON ON THE UPPER RIGHT HAND SIDE OF MY BLOG.  IT IS JUST HALF SQUARED TRIANGLES PUT TOGETHER IN SUCH A WAY THAT THIS PATTER SHOWS.  I LOVED THIS ONE!

I DECIDED SINCE IT WAS JUST HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES, THAT I WOULD MAKE THE CUTTING OUT PARTS EASIER ON MYSELF AND BOUGHT A COUPLE OF CHARM PACKS OF THE LINE I LOVED, AND ALSO A LAYER CAKE FOR THE WHITE.  THE GREY FABRIC YOU SEE THERE WILL BE BOTH THE BACKING AND THE BINDING.  MY SQUARES WILL BE ABOUT A HALF OF INCH SMALLER THEN THE QUILT ABOVE, BUT I THINK THAT IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH IT WON'T MATTER MUCH.  I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT CHARM PACKS FOR THE WHITE INSTEAD OF THE LAYER CAKE OF COURSE, BUT THEY WERE OUT OF IT IN THE COLOR OF WHITE I NEEDED, SO I WILL HAVE TO CUT THE LAYER CAKE INTO 4THS.  NOT TOO BIG A DEAL, LOL  I AM VERY ANXIOUS TO GET STARTED ON THIS.

SOME OF THE FABRIC OPTIONS....LOVE THEM!

I KNOW this is already really long, but I just have to show you some of the recent pictures I have gotten from Melody of the boys.  They take me down such a memory lane as they are just soo summery.  I LOVED them.  Hope you enjoy them too.  Hope you all have a GREAT week-end, and spend time celebrating all the wonderful dads out there!  My own father passed away almost 35 years ago.  Honestly many of my memories of him were not all that good.  But I have sure been blessed by the kind of father my hubby is to our children and grandchildren, and I thank God everyday for him.  Blessings to you all!  Debbie

RESTING...LOVE THIS PIC OF SWEET SAM

LUKE'S FACE SEEMS TO SAY, "HEY, DID ANYONE NOTICE WHERE I AM?"  HAHA

WATERING THE GRASS TURNED INTO SPRAYING LUKE OF COURSE, LOL.  THEY BOTH LOVED THIS!

SOO THIRSTY...NEED A DRINK!

OH LUKE LOOK, SOME MUD TO PLAY IN, LOL

BETTER LET ME CLEAN YOUR FEET OFF BEFORE MOM SEES!  LOL

LOVE YOU LUKE!

TIME FOR A POPSICLE

LUKE TOO

SAM'S GOGGLES FOR SWIMMING CLASS.  TODAY IS THE LAST DAY.  HE HAS DONE REALLY WELL TO INCLUDE JUMPING OFF OF THE DIVING BOARD.  NO FEAR IN SAM!  WISH GRANDMA COULD HAVE SEEN!