Monday, October 12, 2015

WEEKS WRAP UP.....

Well it's pretty early Monday morning and I decided to TRY and get my post up first thing.  Monday seems to be "catch-up" with both my sister and my daughter on the phone and with one thing or another going on around here it just seems like the day tends to get away from me.  Honestly my head is all over the place this morning, and I am going to try to get myself focused.  I have had a cold these last few days and having not had one in a VERY LONG time, I have been reminded why I dislike them so, lol.  I have just about got it whipped though this morning it seems and I am grateful. However I have passed it on to hubby and I feel badly.  When I am not feeling my best I take it slow and even nap a bit or turn on a good movie and flop down on the couch, but poor hubby has to scoot off to work unless he truly can't put one foot in front of the other.  And I think I could practically count those such days on one hand for ALL the forty years we've been married.  He has been blessed with incredibly good health and how grateful we both are for that.  Had it been the other way around we'd have been in trouble for sure.  Hubby did have another skin cancer removed last Wednesday though and we are awaiting the results.  This one was a little more serious then all the others [and there have been numerous] and required deeper and more cutting then usual.  We are hoping to hear today or tomorrow that this is the end of it so we can put this behind us and move on.  In the future though he is going to have to be checked more thoroughly and more often.  His light Irish skin just has not done well over the years.  Too much time spent in the sun [before there were the sunscreens we have today] over the years has done its evil work that's for sure.  How grateful I am that our kids were slathered in the stuff right from the start and so hopefully won't deal with all of this when they are older.   He is such a trouper though.  He had the little surgery at eight am on Wed., and was in downtown LA at an appointment by 11 that same day.  He's got both inner and outer stitches [to the tune of 32 total] but it really hasn't slowed him down much at all.  I did get him to "take it easy" on both Sat. and Sun. with some football and he seemed to be happy to oblige...grin.

Last Tues I met my youngest sister at Joannes and we spent a couple of hours picking out fabric for their new Christmas stockings I promised to make for her family, and we decided I would whip them all up some Christmas pillowcases as well.  After MUCH deliberation she decided she would LOVE the stockings to be made out of a rich burgundy velvet.  Now personally I did my best to talk her out of spending the money that velvet would cost, but she really didn't seem to be concerned about the price, and I had a 50 percent off coupon which I gave her which helped this gal not be as concerned as well, lol.  However, I was feeling pretty puny by the time I left the store and moved at a much slower pace through the rest of the week putting some of them together.  I had never sewn with velvet before.....again, to pricey for my taste, lol, sooo I spent some time researching it on line to see if there were any tips or suggestions I could use that would make it easier.  How glad I was I did!  It was slippery and tends to want to pucker some but for the most part the tips I had gotten helped quite a bit. The biggest nightmare of the velvet as far as I was concerned with the mess!  Goodness, if I thought the fur was bad, it was nothing in comparison to that velvet.  Tiny, TINY little pieces of burgundy threads [or whatever you would call it] were just EVERYWHERE!  They sifted through the air and clung to everything they touched after that.  Even my scissors had it downright stuck to them.  It was awful, lol, and I can say without a single doubt I will NOT make anything out of velvet EVER again, lol.  HOWEVER, I will say that they are beautiful, and I am glad they should be able to enjoy them for YEARS AND YEARS to come.  There are 4 in their little family, and I have 3 of them completely done.  The 4th is all cut out [which is pretty much the end of the mess thank goodness!] but I decided to stop and whip up the pillowcases first before I finish that one.  I have to re-do the embroidery on the cuff of one of them, [a dumb blunder on my part, lol] so I decided to finish up all the pillowcases first as I embroider the names on those last, whereas the cuffs have to be put on first on the stockings. Anyway, this way I only have to dig out the embroidery attachments once instead of back and forth.  I spent a good hour or more cleaning every little square inch of my sewing area, sewing machine, table, etc yesterday afternoon and everything is SOOO nice and sparkling clean right now and it sure is a good feeling.  Let me show you what I did get done....

THEY REALLY DON'T LOOK LIKE MUCH HERE, LOL.  VERY TRADITIONAL LOOKING AND I DO LOVE THE COLOR.  THE TRUE WONDER OF THESE IS IN THE SOFT, VELVETY FEEL OF THEM

A CLOSE UP OF ONE OF THE CUFFS.  SHE CHOSE THIS FONT FOR THE NAMES AND I THINK IT LOOKS REALLY GOOD TOO.  IT IS PUT ON IN A RICH MATCHING BURGUNDY, AND THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM HAVE A DECORATIVE STITCH DONE IN GOLD METALLIC.  THEY ARE LINED WITH THE SAME WHITE AS THE CUFF WHICH IS THE SAME WHITE WE USED ON MELODY'S FAMILY.  THE LITTLE WHITE LEAVES ON WHITE.  LOVE THIS FABRIC

SIXTEEN YEAR OLD KATIE'S PILLOWCASE..  HER FAVORITE SONG

12 YEAR OLD BLAKES

2 DOWN, 2 TO GO.  HOPE TO GET THOSE DONE THIS MORNING!
In my cleaning this week-end I did a little re-arranging of some things that sit on top of my chest that holds all my fabric and sewing supplies in my sewing room and I want to show you real quick.  My sister Diane had given me this thread holder a YEAR ago on my sixtieth birthday and I finally got my threads cleaned up and displayed on it and I love it.  Originally I thought it would hold my embroidery threads, but the spools were to large for this holder.  The little mice fingerings all belonged to my mother who shared my love of sewing.

MY HUBBY GAVE ME THOSE THIMBLES ONE YEAR SEVERAL YEARS AGO NOW FOR CHIRSTMAS

THESE ARE SOO DARLING.  SERIOUSLY I CAN BARELY GET MY PHONE CAMERA TO FOCUS ANYMORE, BUT YOU GET THE IDEA

SEWING ON HER QUILT...LOVE THIS ONE TOO
 My goal is to finish up the stockings and the pillowcases and a get a GOOD start on that last advent calendar this week.  I BRIEFLY considered making little Claire a velvet dress out of the left over fabric, but I have decided against, lol  It would have to be dry cleaned and who wants that for a six month old baby, right?  lol.  Let me show you some cute pics I have accululated in the last few days, oh and a darling little video of Luke.  It is only about seconds long, and it is worth the listen in this grandma's opinion though I do have to tell you a brief story about it.  Sam learned the little tune at pre-school and loved it so much pretty much their whole family was singing it soon including little Luke.  Melody has already recorded Sam singing it and when she realized Luke could sing it too wanted one of him doing it.  It really is pretty good considering he is not even 2 and half yet.  Anyway, Sam just could not understand WHY Luke was to sing SOLO for the video when it was HIS song, lol.  He is partly laughing, partly being muffled in the background unfornately, lol.  Oh the dilemmas of being so close in age.  Hope you all have a good week and consider and dwell on all the blessings around us.  OH, and hope your Fall weather has been nice.  We sizzled ALL week-end with temps well over 100.  Hopefully, this is the END of it!


4 YEAR OLD SAM TOOK THESE PICS!  DOES A MUCH BETTER JOB OF FOCUSING THEN GRANDMA THAT'S FOR SURE, LOL  MELODY SAID HER GIGGLES HERE WERE JUST THE BEST PART!

LOVE THESE FACES.....WISH IT WAS COOL ENOUGH HERE FOR SOME FLANNEL SHIRTS!

LOOKS LIKE SHE GOT THE LIGHT PORCELAIN SKIN LIKE HER MAMA AND HER GRANDPA....SOO GLAD THEY HAVE THE GOOD SUN SCREENS THEY HAVE TODAY .  LOOK AT THOSE LITTLE LIPS....BE STILL MY HEART!
AND GRINNING BIG IN THIS ONE.  SHE LOOKS MORE LIKE HER MAMA WHEN SHE DOES!











10 comments:

  1. You do such beautiful work! You get so much done even when you're not feeling your best! That Claire is a beauty - but so is her mother!!!

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  2. The stockings look so beautifully traditional! I am very much a traditionalist at Christmastime. Beautiful font and trims, too. Sam has quite the photographer's eye! My mother made my one-year old little girl (that would be 39 years ago) a red velvet dress with a white pinafore for Christnas. I loved that little dress! Are you sure you wouldn't like to gift Claire? LOL! Saying a prayer for a good report for your precious hubby.

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  3. Your post reminded me I forgot to pull our Christmas stockings out before everything went to storage. Boo. I am going to be doing a lot of improvising this year : ) Praying your hubs gets a good report.

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  4. I pulled our stockings out last weekend and was reminded that I need to order two more for the two little ones, so went immediately and took care of that. Claire is just adorable! Hoping hubby gets a good report!

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  5. Oh my, those eyes ... she's going to be a hard one to say no to. ;-) She certainly does look like her mama, doesn't she? I was working yesterday with a kind of a furry fabric (for accessories for T#4's Barbie ... she wants Barbie for her birthday), so I can relate to the mess you dealt with from the velvet. Praying that your hubby gets a good report back on that skin cancer they removed.

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  6. Stockings and pillowcases are amazing! How lucky your grands are to have all these treasures to keep for life!
    Those photos were adorable, she is growing fast...

    Hugs!

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  7. Oh my, he is so adorable and so is she!! Love the stockings and the pillowcases. I'm sure everyone will love them. You are such a good mom and grandma!!

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  8. I really love those velvet stockings...classic and beautiful. (Although I can imagine how messy they were!! Ugh.)

    Such beautiful grandchildren you have! Loved seeing Luke singing. He looked happy to be on camera. So sweet!

    Hope both you and your hubby are feeling back to normal by now!

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  9. In years to come, your grandchildren will fondly remember you whenever they crawl into bed, with those cute Christmas pillowcases. What an extra special gift! One you can't buy in the stores.
    I love when you share pictures of your grandchildren! The one of your daughter and little Claire is priceless!

    My husband rarely missed work either in his 40 some years, and we too are extremely thankful for that gift!
    I hope the tests come back with a good report.

    Thanks so much for sharing. I am thankful for our cooler fall weather, and hope you too can soon experience it.

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  10. SO good stopping by and catching up with you on your sweet blog. I do admire your sewing creations and always love pics of your beautiful family!

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!