keep on truckin'

Chris sent me this link today. He feels it's the perfect retirement for us. We can combine his dream of long haul trucking with my favorite hobby. Help me.

Watch the video, I love the set up he has in the back of his cab.

dedication gown

Spring cleaning has begun around here. That means going through the girls' closets to put away the dark, long-sleeved dresses and start bringing out the brighter, short-sleeved ones (even if it means layering them with long-sleeved tee shirts). In the back of Trixie's closet I found this:

It's the gown I made for all three kids' dedication ceremonies. I suppose with the last ceremony being nearly 4 years ago, I can safely store it with their other clothes that I can't bear to give away.

This was my first and last attempt at hand smocking. An easy pattern, but plenty of a challenge for a beginner. I wanted something simple that would be appropriate for both boys and girls since I was making it for Glenn, but had no idea if we'd have more sons or daughters. The sleeves gather with a cotton drawstring. The back has two shank pearl buttons with elastic loops.

The fabric is batiste - incredibly soft, though sheer enough that I put all three kids in a white cotton sleeper underneath. Plus, all three were dedicated in colder months. After each service, I embroidered their initials near the hem.

This weekend Glenn, Chris and I will be attending the Bar Mitzvah of a friend's son born just a few months before Glenn. Hard to believe that this gown is close to 13 years old. I could swear that both boys were still into dump trucks just yesterday.

these are the quilters in my neighborhood

It's my turn again for the Common Threads quilting bee. You saw how last year's round turned out, so you can imagine how excited I am for this year.

Below is my inspiration quilt for this round. It's called The 'Burbs from Material Obsession by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke.

I've asked the women in the bee to create themselves in fabric.

Below are the flesh tones and background pinks for the blocks.

Each quilter will get a different dress print, but she's free to choose something that's more representative of herself from her own stash.

Read more about the challenge here.

round one, done!

My Common Threads quilt from round one is on the living room wall!!

You can read more about it here.

happy gadgets

Just a quick update to provide a little information about the transfers I used on the dishtowels.

They're an Aunt Martha's Hot Iron Transfers pattern called "Happy Gadgets 3929". Commentor, Anne Marie, says she has seen them online. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby. For those of you with one in your area, the Aunt Martha transfers are on sale this week for $1.19.

I used this set for the towels I made about ten years ago.

The towels are also an Aunt Martha product. I bought mine three to a pack at Joann Fabrics. I don't think I've ever seen them on sale there, but those 40% off coupons come in handy for stuff like this. Sorry, but I couldn't find them on the Joann website.

Thanks for the nice comments and emails. I've enjoyed reading them and using the towels all week.

saturday

friday

thursday

wednesday

tuesday

monday

sunday

When I wasn't working on hexagon diamonds the past couple of weeks, I had the embroidery hoop out.

The days of the week dishtowels I embroidered when Glenn was in preschool are showing their age. Here are their replacements in a one-a-day installment series.

hexies

Several days ago Jan asked what we worked on during the Olympics.

Jan, great minds must think alike. Among some other embroidery projects, these hand pieced hexagons have taken over my life.

They were purchased last year at the garage sale. I brought home a box of antique UFO's and among them were these hexagon diamond blocks.

A few were finished, but most were not. I started with the ones that had the centers and next round done. You know, sort of a quick fix to feel like I'd accomplished something. After that came the ones where I had to sew the individual hexies together and then put them on the block in a row. Took a little longer, but it's amazing what you can do when figure skating's on.

I wish I could say that these are done with the precision of Jan's English piecing (I think that's the method she's using). That's one drawback to picking up on a project where someone else has left off. These were done in a more haphazard way. None of the seams are exactly 1/4". They aren't pressed in any order that I could make sense of. Some of the hexagons are slightly larger or smaller than the others. It's definitely a make do project. Nothing a steam iron can't fix, I'm finding.

I'm nearing the end of them. I have about 3 more blocks to go and then I can start assembling them. (There are actually more that I didn't photograph. In the end I think I'll have about 20.) The best route to go seems to applique them onto a background fabric - more handwork and the summer olympics are two years away.