confused.

Excuse the mess..I'm working on the page!

Ok, so how is this Google friend thing going to work now? I follow some blogs through the friend connect and some RSS. Am I going to have to go through ALL my list of the friend connects people that doesn't use the blogspot and add them to RSS???
A few weeks ago I noticed some of my feeds I subscribed to disappeared completely off my list..I ,luckily, one day wrote each blog I follow in a notebook and went through that and found a few good blogs I had been missing out on because they were not even on my list anymore! grrrr.
I love waking up and grabbing my coffee and reading my blogs!!!

I'm going to go over to Google and...well google up on this! And if you like, JUST to be safe and don't want to miss my ramblings and weird stories about me you can add me to your RSS feeds if you like..or subscribe to my email updates. There should be a box over there on the right...
I'm going to work on my subscription links today, I hope! I would love to add all my blogs to google+ and maybe in the long run that is their intentions...

If anyone knows what is going on let me know please!! lol Thanks!!

I sewed..

I made something for me, myself and I.  I will show you what I made for me first as I forgot to take pics of what I made for myself and I.

A faux leather bag!

I saw this purse tutorial here  on Sew4home a few months ago and knew when I get the time to sew for myself this is what I will make.. and me did... (clapping)

 I used a softer leathery fabric.. not sure what it is?? I got a whole yard of it from Joanns remnants. They have them half off the regular price of course , but that day it was marked down to another 30% I believe???  In the end I got it pretty darn cheap! I got tons of it left to make more goodies.And it is SOFT. I lined it with a thick interfacing on the lining and on the faux stuff. I also changed the handles a tad.. I didn't care for the plastic one's they used. How would I get my fat arms in those??

No, those are not my action figure toys in my purse. I finished it with Zoey staying with us, and told her, "Zoey look what Gramma made!! Isn't it soft and nice?" She grabs it, puts in her shoulder and bounds off to the toy box...ut oh. So she got to play with it while she was here. =)

The lining has teeny flowers on it and I think teeny purple hearts. I got that at the local quilt store, Busy Bee's.

Well when I'm not sewing for myself I try to sew things for my Etsy store. Here is what I got so far. I'm in the process of getting a new camera so trying to hold off to post them up! Some things are from before but most are new things I made.( Oh , after looking at this picture, I notice I forgot to put in two vinyl bags I made from using Sasha's tutorial.

 This cute little baby I made today! I LOVE THIS FABRIC... Its called Sunny Happy Skies by Riley Blake that I purchased from Julie in her shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheIntrepidThread

Ok last on the list...

I made a clear vinyl bag for my sister. She asked me for one like a year ago! I know, I know, I'm a worthless sister lol ..

She works in Staples warehouse and she is not allowed to carry bags in unless they are see through. I guess that way they can see if she saw some new postie notes or new tape dispensers she liked they would see she used a five finger discount.

Sooooo finally I made her one and hope she likes it.. I even made a tampon wallet to hide them little bits inside so they won't be rolling around inside.. embarrassing. 

Wanna hear funny story by me? I flipped my keys out of my purse once, and a tampon went flying out into the parking lot.. oops.and I left it..well?? what would you do??? 

But there ya have it kids.

---Forgot to add---- I used this tutorial from a free Joann's pattern called Zest tote bag. I believe I downloaded it from the site. Then I just used clear vinyl in place of the fabric choices on bottom.-------

Linked to http://threadingmyway.blogspot.com/2012/01/threading-your-way-bags-and-totes-link.html and http://threadingmyway.blogspot.com/2012/02/threading-your-way-purses-clutches.html

Good Bye Sweety

I wasn't going to post this but then decided I wanted to document it into my life. If you are a animal person you will relate to this in some way. I'm not embarrassed to show my feelings for the furry friends in my life. I think dogs and cats are the most loyal people you can ever have in your life. They don't judge you and will love your unconditionally. If you don't care to read about my dog, its ok. My blog is about me. And this was a big part of my life...this gets teary so grab a tissue. Last Monday I had to say goodbye to a good friend. She was my friend for 17-/+ years and I will not forget her. I will miss seeing her when I pull up in my garage, I will miss hearing her famous "hello" growl. (and yes she did have a way it sounded like she was saying hello) This is Sweety.. Don't be scared!! lol! This is her smiling at the camera.. I would say SMILE SWEETY and that is what she did.. I swear this dog wanted to talk just like me. This was taken before all her teeth fell out! =) We are not sure exactly how old she was when she found us. But I narrowed it down to at the least 17 years ago! She was living out behind our house down in a gully in the woods in the dead of winter. Then we later found her staying out in a house we had been tearing down. I made friends with her and she was really sweet.. so that was her name. Sweety. We don't usually keep the strays but once in awhile they sort of stay around. Sweety stayed with us for ALONG TIME! She grew up with my boys, followed them all over the place. She would walk beside me when I would go ride my horse,I live out in the country so I tried to stay out of town area. Because Sweety did like to chase cars. She had one litter of puppies, all black. I never figured out who had a black dog around us??? LOL And she had a mess of puppies! I know it was at about 8 or 9. yeah. I have pictures of them with the boys but couldn't find my older photo albums. I should say box because way before digital came and on line storage I stored my pictures in shoe boxes and then stored those in bigger boxes. I have so many. But I found these pictures as I want to remember her this way.. Happy and young. I don't want to ever go through this again, but I know I will with Baby, my little chihuahua. ( my dog daughter) Sweety lost her hearing and then her legs were giving out on her. The the last couple of weeks were very bad. She was almost dragging her back legs and then couldn't breathe too good. I would have to water her soft food down so much she had to lap it up. I told Doug I'm sorry I can not do this anymore. Even though Sweety would still smile at me I knew she knew it was time too. Monday was a good day , it was sunny and we had a warm front go through. I called the vet and he said he would be out that evening. I spent time with her, helped her go out to the warm sun beam beside the garage. When the vet came it happened too fast. But I got down on the muddy ground and put her head in my lap, held her paw. Doug and my oldest son, Stephen came out too. We had a Marley and Me moment, I bawled just as hard as I did watching that movie. The vet said she will go to sleep then she could take her last breathe and not to be alarmed. She didn't take that breathe, she just simply closed her eyes and laid still. Before she did, she looked up at me and I smiled at her. I think she was trying to say goodbye to us too. I have had A LOT Of dogs in my life but this is the first one I had to put down. They usually would die on their own or we would give them good homes. My son went on to work, with red eyes. Doug and I laid a piece of carpet on a cart and then I found a flannel sheet and we wrapped her in it. Doug already had a place ready for her. I laid two dog biscuits she loved inside. We planted some peach trees last summer and he put her between two of them. She will have shade as there are woods to the north of her and we made sure she was facing the south east so she will always have the sun on her face. What was nice was as soon as we were done covering her up, a mess of birds flew over. I took that as a sign she is still with us...then I started bawling again. We gave her a hair cut a couple of years. She looked funny here. Some one told us not cut a dogs hair as it helps insulate them against heat and cold. So we didn't do it haven't that. Doug did try to cut it his self but with her double coat it was a mess. She looked like she had the mange lol This is my favorite pic of her. Well that is my story for Sweety. Me and Baby walk past her resting area every day on our walks out back. She stopped the first day and smelled the fresh pile of dirt then sat down and was quiet. Its like she knew? Dogs can smell anything so maybe she smelled what it was all about. R.I.P. Sweety. 1995?- 2/20/2012

Zoey

Photo911, a photo by appleheadthreads on Flickr.

This is a test !!! enjoy =)

Sew day!

I actually finished TWO projects today!! Well, they are the same thing but two items...all in one day. I will let you all look without me writing all about it first ...

 (I think I need to move that piece of elastic over??? the left bottom???)

 Of course  they are Kindle covers..You figured that out right?

(the backs)

I made them different from one pattern. The first one I made from this tutorial  on Busyquiltingmama. If you know me well, I hate putting on ANY type of bias or binding! It looks pretty and would love to master it , but I tackled this pretty well... ( no close up shots though hehe) But after sewing it I wanted to sew another one with some changes.. I didn't put the binding on but the one side..(because that is where I slipped my cardboard in..) But after sewing it up I figured out another way with no binding at all! lol But won't do that for some time....maybe... not.
The peace sign one is for Zoey's mommy. She went shopping one day for one and thought they were pricey..yep. She asked if I could sew one........YEP! It was only a tutorial away!
The black one is MINE! No, I don't have a Kindle but its the same size of one. I don't even read books on it.. just read email's or blogs. I still love a real live book in my hands.

OK here is something else I made.. more scrunchies!

I gave some of them to Zoey, she looks quite cute in them and has plenty of hair for them! A couple more go to a custom order...actually they all were suppose to be one order but after I got them all done.. she said "oh I just need 2" ...hmm k.....

So, did you see something pretty in the back ground in all these photos? Something new??? I spy with my little eye... something colorful??? I made a new ironing board cover!!

Isn't she pretty???!!! My old one was nasty ... and when Randi on I have to say posted a sew along for one, I joined right up! Of course you don't have to join it to make one , you can go right over there and get the tutorial for one! Easy too!
I did this when I had Zoey with me.What was I thinking??? I was thinking she would be more interested in watching Caillou then what Gramma was doing...

But no..she enjoyed... cough cough.. helping me. As you can see...

I don't know what she thought it was, the iron board was laying top side down on my fabric. Looks to me like she going for the gold in bob sledding. Love that little girl =)

I took her to the library Saturday. She loves going there with me, but now she wants to run up and down the aisles. Of course its a little library and the ladies that work there know her and love all the kids.. nothing like when I was little and you had to hold your breathe the whole time in one and be as quiet as ever. My mom always asked why my face was so blue when she would pick me up....
But anyways..I been teaching her "Marco polo" and well..she decided she wanted to play it in the library. Oh boy was that fun! lol Seeing her run past the open aisle , giggling was so cute. 
I don't have plans for anything but sewing tomorrow!! Wish me luck!!!
You been sewing anything?

Cross stitch anyone??

Back in the 80s and 90s I did A LOT of cross stitch. I still would do it..but with a medical problem with my shoulder and having surgery my pointy finger still stays numb.. I got feeling in it but not like my other fingers.. doctor told me my nerve that connects to that finger from my shoulder area probably was pinched off way too long and is not coming back from the dead.. soooo no more cross stitching! I tried to pick it up not long ago but didn't work.. so I have some unfinished projects laying around as well = (

But anyways enough of my whining...... I have TONS and I mean A LOT Of books and magazines on cross stitch patterns.. some Leisure Arts mags too! I think the other magazine is Counted Cross Stitch or something like that? Some are hard back books.. so... would anyone be interested in these??? I would ship them to you for just shipping costs.. and I would use the flat rate boxes !! Stuff those suckers in there! If anyone is interested I can take some pictures of some of the stacks and send them to ya...let me know!!! 

A little sewing...

I was pretty tired this evening... but after my son took Zoey home to her mommy (she been here since Thursday morning) I needed to get a few things finished up.
I have a couple to finish too, but need supplies and well I thought this was a good time to get the little things outta the way!!

I was asked to make hair scrunchies. I thought well shouldn't be too hard.. I've about tackled everything else.. This is what I came up with...

 The girl wanted peace sign's. I have plenty of that fabric.. and through in some different types..

  I had a picture of Zoey modeling one but deleted it from my email and not sure if its on my phone still.. she liked wearing it as a bracelet.. while I was sewing these up today she kept running off as soon as I had one made up and then I had to go through the house searching for them..I think at one point she was chasing the dog down with one too...sigh.

Ok I didn't make those tonight..this is what I made tonight..

 I tried my hand on free motion style sewing on the machine.. is that what it's called??? And actually made a mug rug with a good finish on binding!! I'm quite proud of myself with this one. I just used some fabric I had laying in my "good pile". I wanted to quilt around the edges of the cup but got lazy and its getting late and wanted it finished!
Maybe some of you have seen this before?? I got it from Sewhappygeek. She has a few tutorials on some mug rugs there. But this one caught my eye and looked cute..
Mother nature has changed her mind again.. it was a whole 18 degrees today .. BRRR Last week it was 50's and I heard frogs and saw a turtle!  I did not go out much today. Fed the critters outside and got the mail and that was it!! I kept my jammies on all day hehehe..

I bought a new bag/purse pattern yesterday.. I tend to stay away from big purses , as in making them and using them.. (when I use them I just can't find nothing in them!) I love the looks of big purses though. But seeing my friend from http://mskrspinkstitches.blogspot.com/  make this purse from http://www.emmalinebags.com/ I had to try it out.. I got the Teardrop bag.. I can't wait to make it!! (Christy from Pink Stitches is on facebook too and you can see more of her bags there!!)
Ok, its time for me to get settled down for the night....hope everyone is having a good weekend!!!
OHHH and a shout out to Sasha for getting her first sales for her BEAUTIFUL project bags !!! She's very talented!!! You can see them HERE!!
good nite.

Surprises!!!

I was expecting a package today but not a BIG surprise package!! It was heavy and before I saw who it was from I thought I ordered some books..again. But then I saw the name Sasha on the return addy and thought what has she done this time???

I had help opening my goody box, Zoey kept saying ,”my presents”…

On the top of everything was this paper

(long story lol but she knows !!!)

sorry about the gloomy colors. I need a new camera!!

I can not remember which I (Zoey) opened first so these are not in order…

Each had a tag for instructions…

Sewing therapy…

Bath therapy….(Sasha made these soaps!! They smell so good too! Zoey said mmm cookies when she saw them lol ooops)

Organizational therapy…(She also made this.. she has a free tutorial for it HERE )She had asked me a while back if I wanted it as she wanted to make her a new one.. I was like.. hmmmm…..yes please!!!

*photo used from Sasha with permission

-------its getting better!!!-------

Emergency Stress Relief (the small bar)…*keep in your purse at all times! Eat one piece every 5-10 minutes until you feel better!

And…Severe Stress Relief (the mega bars!)…*take as needed until you smile so much it hurts!

I got a confession to make…. There were two smaller bars in the package….(whistling….) I had help….

But OMG…. what a total surprise!!!!! I totally LOVE dark chocolate!!! How did she know that???? I want to tell Sasha THANK YOU SO MUCH and you are the greatest person evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! AND just opening all this up made me smile plenty!! Now.. this is one friend I think I will keep around!

Thank you soooooooooo much Sasha!! I can't express that enough... My stress level is on the low down now….

Oh I did sew something but will save that for another time…

Here is Zoey opening "her presents"

 She thought the wall hanging organizer was a blanket... omg her hair...

My son is sitting in the background , I think he was excited about the package too lol

Mouse pads!!

I didn't want to sew last night but was in the sewing room trying to clean up and came across a page I saved how to recover your mouse pad.. OHH no sewing required! Just heated up the iron and this is I got...

I have two computers so, two mouse pads I made...

 I love this print!!! I wanted to use a lighter color fabric but the background would of shown through...I love the acorns and little squirrels in this one. = )

 See, Taz is lurking behind this one.. good bye Taz.. you watched over my web searching for a long time and you looked too grumpy anyways.. so needed something more cheery...

This project is super easy!!! If you know how to work scissors and a iron well then you are set.... 

All you need to do is take your old mouse pad and lay it on your fabric and cut around leaving about a inch extra ,then you cut the same size from Heat and Bond Ultrahold. 

Then I ironed the Heat and Bond onto the fabric wrong side up. Ironed it about a minute to make sure it holds!! Then I pealed the paper off and laid it on my mouse pad right side up. Iron that baby down again... I started to smell a slight rubber smell..so be careful hehe I tend to leave my iron on the highest setting...

After it cools I laid it face down on my cutting board and cut around using my rotary cutter very carefully.. you can use scissors too I reckon. On the first pad I put FrayCheck around the edges but I didn't with the second one.. see how it holds up.. But thats it!

I have saw some tutorials on using Modge Pod on these. I'm not sure why you would want that but this is fast and simple and no mess...

I ordered my fabric for a iron board cover sew along over on Randi's blog , ihavetosay.

It doesn't start until Feb 14th so you still have to time to join in!! You can use fabric you already have, which I did have some, but her prints looked so fun and bright I had to get them!!

Have a good week! You never know when I will pop back in = )

One day to sew ....

and I'm making the most of it!!! I have no kids in the house today and I went full swing into the sewing!!
PREPARE for lots of pics!! (some will be some things made a couple days ago but the first few are what I did today!)

Take a look into my sewing room... I wanted to make a banner FOREVER and just started cutting it up today.. I didn't do anything fancy.. just simple pendent shape.... I didn't even double it or nothing.. just one piece of fabric.. I figured I wasn't going for a chance to win the most beautiful banner so I went the easy fast route.. ( I use the easy button alot)

 I just used what fabrics I loved the most.. and even had to cut into some FQ's I didn't want to but I thought.. why did I buy this for?? I can't drool over it forever.. so snip snip...

 I have a cluttered look sewing room..I see so many lovely rooms on blogs and think.. does it REALLYYY stay that nice all the time?? really??? yeah, right. (actually this is just cleaning it up today!!) the picture above is the west side wall.. with my computer and serger hidden under those quilt blocks. ( no I didn't make them lol) my mom gave me that little shelve thingy there on my cutting table.. I love it! I put all my nice papers in there.. grinz =D
 Above that is fabric I want to use soon for some goodies..

 Above is the north wall. It has my cutting table that Doug the builder made for me.. and its has a teeny space for cutting!!! This morning that cutting space was much bigger.. don't know what happened...
Rachael Daisy little doll quilt I won in a giveaway a while back holds a spot on this wall =)
Can you spot that lol oh..and my Ottelite I won is there too!! This is like a I spy game....

 I re organized my cork board.. It was a mess. I had a 2010 calendar on there!!! geeezzz
But now it holds a cute little Owl calendar I made from this site..http://www.myowlbarn.com/p/owl-lover-2012-calendar.html
You can pick what you want for each month.. I love it!! I would have a story for each little item on that board but I'll just tell you one that is funny..
There's a button of my youngest son, Sean, on the top right corner.. he was maybe 6 or 7 years old when that was taken..
We were at a department store and he always had a habit, like most kids.. of wandering off.. I can't even remember what I was looking at or what but poof he was gone.. after searching the clothes racks (he has hidden inside them before) and asking some people around me if they saw a little blonde boy.. ( I was starting to feel frightened about then) well, 10 minutes turned to 20minutes.. maybe longer.. I was getting nervous.. leaving my cart I was going down the aisles yelling for him.
A lady said there are some kids over there .. I ran over and pulled him away and was almost yelling at him .. you know you mothers what I'm talking about.. you freak then you yell, then you are like OMG hes ok.. about the time I was looking at his "deer in the head light eyes" he hands me this button with his picture on it.. in the picture he is holding a sign saying I love you Mommy.. oh crap.They were doing a button making thing for kids for their parents for valentine's day..
yeah.. well who's the smuck now.. lol But I did have to explain to him he can't leave my side for anything!! He had a smart little boy remark and said.. "but mommy it wouldn't of been a surprise.."
But that's not half as bad as once my sister had her little girl with her and her girl was throwing a fit about something and my sister said to her girl "if you don't stop this you are going to get a whipping"..About that time a lady walks up and asked if she would like to give a donation for child abuse.. omg. LMAO well she felt silly and I think she gave the lady some money. We had a laugh over that !!
Now a day's you even say whipping in public or you get a free trip to the county..hmm k
I grew up in the 70's and 80's where a butt whipping fixed it all. But of course, I only got one whipping my whole life.. my grandma. PHEWWWWEY can she use a switch!! I learned my lesson not to go out to the road!! lol

Ok back to my sewing....
oh here is a close up of the banner.. I should of put that up above . sorry

I also made a few burp clothes. Made my own pattern.. then made a little tag toy. Made these for a Zoey's new little baby cousin. they named her Choley (not sure I spelled that right?) but thought it was cute.. Zoey , Choley. 

 I made a couple of zipper bags here with just making my own size's.
Had to order some clasp's for them so no handle's attached.. These are for sale.. going to try to put them in Etsy soon!!

 I bought this yellow print from Busy Bee's quilt shop. (local shop)
It is some of the 1930's reproduction line. She has a whole wall of the 1930's line..Oh here is a pic of that wall!!

 love it.
I bought some FQ's and will be using them for these zipper pouch's.

I made another sexy zippy wristlet using ProjectsbyJane's pattern. She has helped me ALOT trying to get this zipper just right!! 

The first one (on top) I sort of messed up the zipper end.. grrr.

My second attempt much nicer!! Thank you Jane for your help!

Well I couldn't end this without a picture of Zoey-bug.. We are having some great weather for Indiana in February! The wind is still nippy but very mild for this time of year..so taking advantage of it.. Me , Zoey and the critters (pictured in the corner) took a walk around the pond.Zoey loves to throw rocks into the run off ..Papa might have to reload the path of rocks soon!! = )

Hope all is well with everyone!!!