::SEWING FOR BABY::

A few months ago a friend in our Sunday school class found out her son and daughter-in-law would not be able to have children.  Her son and his wife have been married for seven years and had had their ups and downs with trying to get pregnant to no avail.

Not too long after hearing this news they decided to go the adoption route.  They knew it might be a while before they would actually be able to adopt.  To their surprise, things moved faster than they thought and by the end of the summer they were new parents to a bouncing baby boy that they adopted.

I wasn't able to attend the shower that was given for them, but I was able to make a gift for them that I hope would mean a lot to them.

I am a big fan of  Dee over  at  http://www.redletterwords.com/    While I didn't have the cash to purchase a canvas for this sweet new family; I did have a blank canvas, some paint and paint brushes.  I decided to make my own with scripture on it.  I also made a receiving blanket with a crochet edge.  Giving homemade gives me great joy.
                                Here is the canvas that I painted with 1 Samuel 1:20 scripture on it.

 I really lucked out finding this fabric at JoAnn's.   Love the faith, hope and love circles in different colors on the fabric and the crocheted edge just completes the whole blanket with a little pop of color.

What have you made lately?

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{GLUTEN FREE and still sewing at the machine}}

Over the holidays I found out I needed to be gluten free.  I don't have celiac, but I do have a gluten intolerance.  I am so much happier now that I know what's going on.

I do some research on what all has gluten in it so I could avoid it.  You wouldn't believe all the stuff that has gluten in it...like almost everything I like to eat. 

I have had to come up with new ways to make my favorite dishes and even look into making new dishes to eat.  One of my favorite indulgences is bread.  Any kind of baguette, ciabata, french bread.  You name it, I love to eat it.  Sadly, the few gluten free bread mixes I have found to use just aren't doing it for me.  They just don't have the texture that bread with gluten has...nor the taste.  But I eat it anyway because I have to.

Suprisingly Wal Mart and Whole Foods as well as Target have a great gluten free section.  Everything from past, to cake mixes, cookie mixes, pancake mixes.  You name it, I have found it.  They are a little more pricey, but when I have a taste for cookies, pancakes or pasta, they do the trick.

Another down side...well, not totally a down side, but a wee bit of a bummer is that we can't eat out anymore.  Pizza has gluten in it.  Chineses food, if breaded has gluten in it and even hamburgers have gluten in the buns.  Ugggh!  It's been hard adjusting, but I have been making the changes.  One of the things I read on http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/ is that you can't cheat and maybe have some gluten here and there.  For me, I know I can't it really bothers my intestines, so I stay away from it.  She also suggests ridding your pantry of anything with gluten in it.  Last weekend I did just that. The only thing with gluten in there is cereal for my hubs and the kids.  I can't deprive them of that.  : )

I am still enjoying sewing on my machine and hope to have a finshed...or almost finished quilt to show you next week.
Happy Thursday!
CherylPin It Now!

;;ARE YOU TIRED OF LINEN YET?::

So, I still have some linen left.  A very little bit. 

I am not sure if I ever mentioned how I acquired it.  Long story short I had an 84 inch linen curtain panel I bought at Target on clearance.  Ended up never using it because our windows here were much longer.

So far, I have made the crochet case holder and the ruler holder that you saw in the previous post and I also made a baby blanket for a new momma at church.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able get a pic of that.  But rest assured it was lovely.  I had backed it with some baby blue chenille.  I loved the feel of the linen and the chenille together.  Hoping to make one for myself to drape over our couch.

If you haven't noticed yet, all my linen projects have been instant gratification projects.  Small projects that I can finish in about an hour.  With the last piece of linen and some scrap fabric I hope to make this.

photo:

http://bloomandblossom.blogspot.com/search/label/Australian%20Homespun%20projects

She used some lovely fabric scraps and I love the measuring tape fabric on there and the button.  But what really makes it sahweet is the word "stitch."  She actually had written this pattern and it was in Australian Homespun magazine.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

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:: LINEN, LINKY LOVE::

LINEN......

I shared in a previous post I was at my sewing machine recently and have enjoyed making a few things with some linen.  Finally, some pics to share with you.  I have been wanting to make a crochet needle case for a long while now.  I found an awesome tutoroial a while back and thought I would give it a whirl.   Christina at http://www.sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/ did a great job with the  tutorial.  I am happy with my crochet case.    I used linen for the outer fabric and  a Glacee paisely print on the inside.  I just love it.  LOL, don't look too close.  I need to practice sewing a straight line some more.

Next project I worked on was a sleeve for my 24 inch quilting ruler.  I am really loving how this turned out a lot.  So much so that I plan to make one for my 45 degree quilting ruler.  I have been wanting to mix media and textiles for sometime now and finally did it.  I am happy with  the outcome of this project and plan to do more mixed media projects in the future.

LINKS.........

Lastly, I have some links to share with you.  I have been surfing and have been inspired.  So, thought I would pass on the inspiration.

First up is Christina  from http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/2008/12/tutorial-rachels-crochet-hook-case.html
This gal can quilt and sew up some awesome projects.  As a matter of fact, Christina is the one responsible for the awesome tutorial for the crochet hook case.  Pop buy her blog and be inspired.  If you would like the link for the crochet hook case, click here
http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/2008/12/tutorial-rachels-crochet-hook-case.html and click the link provided in the post.

Second, if you haven't heard of Miss Mustard Seed you are in for a treat.  Marian is a sweet, talented gal.  She shares all her wisdom on refinishing furniture that she has found curbside or Goodwill finds, etc.  She also sews.  She has said she doesn't enjoy it much, but she is pretty good at it.  You have to check out her dining room here.
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-dining-table.html

She recently shared part I of her video slipcover series.   Part I is all about piping and how to make it.   Here is the link
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2011/02/video-slipcover-series-part-1-custom.html

Pop over and say "hello" to Marian and grab a cuppa and surf around her blog a bit.

Okay, that's it for a couple of days.  Gonna be a busy week this with normal day to day duties and I am hoping to sew some more.  Later in the week I will share  with you a spot I am hoping to carve out for my creative space.  The mini sewing studio if you will.   Would love to hear your ideas on how I can make the most of this possible space with what I have.

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Pinwheels, soup, yarn and more....

Good morning!

How is that for a blog title? This is a little bit of everything post.

Okay, first of all, be sure to scroll down to yesterdays post. I shared a great autumn soup recipe. I am actually baking the butternut squash now. I will be sure to let you all know how it tastes. Here is a teaser pic for you.

Photo: Taste of Home

Remember over the summer I should you how sad our deck looked? Here is a before pic. Not so pretty.
and here are the after pics.


We had to replace the old storm door, but didn't want to put one on both sides of the french doors on the outside. Too expensive. We have an odd size opening and it would of had to be cutsom done. So, we opted to replace the storm door with the screen and reapaint so it would look fresh. Here is the after pic for the deck.




What do you think of the two tone look? The seating was sealed with a clear coat for decks and the part you walk on was a hunter green deck stain. We originally said we were going to do the seating white, but after seeing the seating stripped, liked the look of the natural instead and went with that. Here is a back view.

You still with me.??? Sorry for the long post.

Next up is the progress on the pinwheels. I still have eighteen more to sew up! And what is up with four of those pinwheels looking larger than the rest of them?? LOL, I know why. I started the other ones before I caught a Fons and Porter quilting episode on PBS. She was showing how to get your pinwheels to lay nice and how to sew and iron them. I plan on having a white block between each pinwheel and then white border around the whole thing and then bind it.

Here is a close up. I really love this Glace line.

Sorry for the not so great pics. I took them early this morning. Not enough natural light or anywhere to lay them out either. I layed these out on the floor to take a pic.

I am starting my slipcover project for my wing chair in my living room this week and I have two winter projects I plan to work on. Crocheting up this blanket is one of them. I love the texture of it with all all the popcorn stitches on there. It will be a nice project to work on in my fave chair with a crackling fire nearby.

The other winter project is to make roman blinds. Oh yeah! I found the absolute best tutorial and she makes it look sooo easy. Go check out Jen's tutorial. You will want to make roman blinds for your whole house. She is a sweet lady to boot. I had a question for her and she was sweet enough to reply and be so very helpful.

http://jenduncan.typepad.com/whats_new/2008/11/roman-blind-tutorial-in-20-pictures-or-less.html
Don't forget to scroll down to the next post. I posted a recipe for the corn and squash soup.

Okay all, have a blessed day in your part of the country .

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Busy...

With a little of this. Trying to get child number one more independant so she can get her own wheels. Pray for us. She doesn't feel quite comfortable behind the wheel.



and I still am working on a little of this too. Man, I so don't like cutting out fabric squares, but love piecing. If I could only find some white charm squares, life would be so much better. Once pieced and quilted I have decided to give this to my sister for a Christmas gift this year.

I have a goal to finish four quilts before Christmas. Hopefully I can do it.

Pinwheel quilt for sister.

Beach quilt for in-laws

baby quilt for a friends daughter who I think is now about to turn four. Yikes, I know....better late than never. Lastly, one for our family. My darling son asked who the pinwheel quilt was for that I was working on and when I told him, his comment was, "Mom, you need to make one for us...for our home."

So, there you have it. I am on a mission. I'm outta here. Need to go sew!

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Sewing to gift

Did a bity of sewing yesterday. Made a ladies toiletrie bag for my daughter for her birthday. Filled it up with some goodies and voila! A nice gift that is practical and pretty. I used this tutorial at http://patchyapple.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/patchyapple-boxy-bag-tutorial/ Stacy rocks with this tutorial. She guides you through each step of the process. She also has great visual photos as well to go with the written directions. I see myself making more of these to fill up and give as gifts for Christmas. They don't take long to make. I think it took me a little over an hour to make the one I made for my daughter. I used decorator weight fabric for the outer bag and cotton canvas for the the inner. Stacy suggest using fusible fleece on the outer fabric. I didn't have any, so I didn't use it. I think I will use it on my next bag though. It will help it hold it's shape more.

My eyes got big as walnuts as I finished up the last stitch and started to turn it right side out. I was so excited that it came out looking the way it was supposed to. I love the fabric and I think I will be making myself one as well.

This bag is one of the things I had on my "I want to make that" list this year. So, now I can scratch that one off. I would love to be able to make something with piping, but haven't seen any tutorials with that so far. I would also love to be able to make some slipcovered pillows that have zippers in them. Such a nice finishing touch to a pillow. Erin over at http://houseonhillroad.typepad.com/ has a pretty good tutorial for that. I gotta tell ya though, I am a little intimidated of that zipper installation. I don't know why, but I just am.

What tutorials or patterns do you like that you want to attempt to try this year? Share them with me. Who knows, maybe it will make it on my ever growing list as well.

Have a great day!

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