Lose of a Friend

I apologize for this depressing post but I can't figure it out so I am trying to write it out to see if it makes sense. My best friend of 13 years is no longer my friend. We have spoken to each other almost every day. She was like my sister. I love her. But the last year or so she has changed a lot (some good, some bad) and our friendship has started to slip away. My husband noticed this a lot sooner than me or maybe I chose not to notice.
So, she stayed at my house a month or so ago and she arrived at about 9 pm. We went out to dinner at a local bar and chatted. We came home and she instantly went on my computer and started IMing a mutual friend for an hour while my husband and I sat in the living room. Then she closed her door and I went to bed shortly after. My husband said she finally came out and hour later and said good night. The next morning she was going to "fit in" 45 minutes for me so I didn't feel "used". I just left and hung out with my mom. I am not going to waste my time for 45 minutes if I am lucky.
I finally sent an email to her and said I couldn't believe how rude she was sitting in the room IMing while human beings are in the living room that she never sees. She apologized and we hadn't spoken until this weekend. I told her I could really care less about the rudeness but I felt that we weren't as close as we were and we didn't have much in common. She shrugged her shoulders, emotionless and said, "Well, as long as we can be cordial at group gatherings." I was shocked. She was willing to give up on our friendship that easily. So I explained again how I felt. I expected something like you nag me like my mom, we live further apart now, I have just been busy, maybe we should make plans to get together but nothing. I was so frustrated that she really had no reaction or seemed to care at all so I just said "fine, have a nice life" and walked away. I really wanted to say FU but I thought the better. Be a little more mature although I still wasn't. I just don't get it. 13 years of choice sisterhood and she had no reaction to our conversation. I just can't stop thinking about it. I'm hurt. On the childish side I went home, threw way her slippers (yes, she even had slippers at my house), took the picture off the wall she gave me, mailed her back her key and threw away a coffee mug we both had. Stuff that would remind me of her. I guess I have never gone through a breakup. I just want to know she cares too. Obviously, the conversation didn't go the way I planned. I didn't want to end our friendship. I just wanted to know she felt the lose too.

Another Swap

I signed up for another swap. This one will be entertaining. She wants an 8x10 artwook that could be framed. I haven't figured out what to do although I have a ton of ideas. Go on over and sign up before April 6th. Just click on the icon above.

Clamity Jane Apron Celebration Giveaway

Calamity Kim is has an awesome giveaway. She is celebrating one of her aprons being published in Apronology. Congrats Kim! Go check her website out! Look at this cute minature apron you can win. Adorable!

Waiting for the Tune Up

My husband thought it would be a good idea that my daughter and I take his car to the shop for an oil change and a tune up not thinking about the three hours it would take. Luckily, we did entertain ourselves. First, we spent some time at Taco Bell. My daughter just discovered tacos so she was pretty excited. Then we walked over to Joann's. Its his fault I had to go there. I decided I needed a new wreath or something for my front door. I made this little tin basket thingy. I couldn't find my metal cutters or I might have arranged it different.


All the flowers were 50% off and the basket was 30% off. I thought it was a good deal. Then to the fabric. I picked up two different ones. The picture doesn't show the blue very well but the color is great.



Then I found this cool owl fabric. I have no self control with owls. I really do love them. I haven't decided what I am going to make but I figure since they look like winter owls that I have until next winter. That's how I justify it anyway.



Well, we still had time to waste so off to the Goodwill. I like to look through the linens for backs to my quilts. It was 30% off for the manager's special. I only found one. This table cloth.


I haven't decided if I want to keep it as a table cloth or make it into a skirt for me or a dress for M. Decisions, decisions. I also found these 1/2 yard cuts. Three of them for $2. The original price was $5 each so I was excited. I have been wanting to make tea holders so this will be cute. I might make some dish towels too. Never have enough of those. Or maybe a apron for M. See decisions, decisions.

That is what my husband gets for making me entertain us for three hours. More fabric...

Birthday Quilt

I wanted to post about something new since I had plans to work on my projects this weekend but my mother in law ended up in the Intensive Care Unit. She went in to get an artery cleared in her heart and the physician accidentially poke a hole through her heart wall which made her bleed into her chest. She is fine now. Well, not perfect. They didn't even clear the blockage so she will have to go back. Crazy. So my weekend was spent at the hospital keeping her company and my husband sane.

I made this a few years ago before kids and when my husband was in Iraq and I was in Germany so I had a lot of time on my hands. I decided I would make quilts for my two best friend's birthdays. I didn't really sew quilts at this time but I really had a lot of time on my hands. Both of the ladies were very special to me. They were both my bridesmaids. This quilt was for Tracy. I will show Andy's later. I met her in college. We graduated in the same program and it being such a small program (Community Health) we became very good friends. The quilt is a Learn to Quilt called Triple Threat. I couldn't find the specific pattern but here is a link to their free patterns. This pattern has tons of triangles. I actually cut out a ton more and hated how it looked so I bought more fabric and now I have a bunch of extra triangles waiting to be used. The main fabric is Daisy Kingdom's Donna's Picket Fence Small Packed Daisies. Its really cute and simple which at the time was really her style. The quilt is just a lap size. You can see I have it hanging over my quilt rack so that can give you an idea of the size.

Oops and my owl

So, I was all ambitious and I wrote all these posts and I was going to post them periodically. What I didn't realize was that it will post it the date you started writing them so if you have been checking my blog- look below this post there may be some you haven't seen. Hmmm...

I have had a recent obsession with owls. It reminds me of summers at my Grandma's house when I was a kid. In my mind it was always sunny, rows of roses always in bloom and Grandma always had cookies that we snuck in the kitchen to steal. The latter two were probably true but the always sunny in Washington - doubtful. How that connects to owls? My Grandma had little owls all over her house. I don't think it was intentional. She had some magnets and a thermometer in her window sill that we would put our empty pill bottles full of water and rose petals. I learned a valuable lesson those summers. It takes a lot more than rose petals and water to make perfume. It does mold great though! Anyway, I have bought so much owl fabric and patterns lately. I don't know what I want to do with them. I had a cold the other day so I grabbed some scraps and played around and made this little owl.



The pattern is from Lavender Rabbit Distributors. I bought it at the Sewing Expo year before last but never did anything with it.
The owl I made is the top middle one. I'm still not done. I have to sew it down and figure out what to do with him. I'd make the wall hanging but since I really haven't planned it is not set up right. Suggestions?

I'm a dork.

So my office mate always reminds me of this because she thinks it is the funniest thing ever. You think I am exaggerating. She took a picture of it and at a Seahawks game she started showing strangers! She still is showing people and this was last summer (the nice thing about starting a blog - everything is new to you so I can tell you.) and I was busy getting my child out the door that I didn't notice my shoes. I slipped them on and out I went. I walked to my office that is quite a trek and I felt like my hips were misaligned. I figured I just needed to see a chiropractor. So, I go to work and I am chatting with the ladies and I am sort of leaned around this divider we once had so I could see the other lady and I glanced at my feet and yelled "OH MY GAWD!" Man, was I embarrassed. Not only are they different colors but one goes between the toes! How did I not feel that difference. I am such a dork! If you are wondering - I didn't go home and change my shoes but I did make my office mates buy me lunch. I refused to leave the office unless I had too!

Grandma's quilt

So, last year M turned three and we made her room into a big girl room. I would have taken a picture for you to see it but you can't see the floor at the moment. Anyway, we got her a big girl bed. My mom and I were just browsing at IKEA and in their broken or display stuff they had this cute wrought iron bed, really low to the ground. It was super cheap. They were discontinuing it and this was the display model. We bought it right then. Try to fit a bed into a car with two adults and a car seat with child in car seat. Along with all the stuff we picked up when we were browsing. It is quite a challenge, let me tell you. Anyway, so Grandma wanted to make her a big girl quilt for her new bed. This is just a close up of it. It is so beautiful. She used the blue and white fairy frost that makes it all sparkly. She has a Brother Disney fancy dancy embroidery machine so in each of the Dresden plates has a Disney princesses. I really didn't want an obsessed princess child and luckily I don't. If we knew she would become dog obsessed 2 weeks after her birthday we would have put dogs on it. M really loves her quilt and she loves that Grandma made jammies that match the back flannel. She giggles whenever she gets in bed and sees that she matches. And the bed being close to the ground has been great. She sometimes doesn't even notice she fell out of bed. Once I found her sleeping with her feet on the floor and her body in bed. Funny girl.

Circus Fun

I love the circus. It is so much fun. As an adult you can be in just as much awe as a child. I have taken my daughter twice and she loves it. The first time she was just a year and a half and I wasn't sure if she would enjoy it, get it, hate it or whatever goes through a one year olds mind. My mom and I knew we may have to leave early. She stared at the stage nonstop the entire time. She loved it. When she was two I was mad because my hubby's friend had to get married the one day the circus was in town. How dare he! Then we went when she was three. Her dad was able to go too. He had never been to the circus either. They both had so much fun. We went and looked at the elephants before the show and the clowns. It was great. I decided to make her a little clown shirt for the special day. I think it turned out cute. M still is talking about the circus and that was 7 months ago. I think I got her hooked. That's okay because I love it too. :)

Boredom in the Snow

So earlier this winter we were totally snowed in. (I just don't feel the need to drive in snow if I don't have to.) I was really bored so I started working on gifts for people instead of buying them things. Since I wasn't driving to go buy gifts I kind of had to. Well, I have this girl friend, Eli, she is an odd duck. She is very girly but the guys love her because she can be a guy with the best of them. "Being a guy" is more her nature anyway. She travels a lot so I decided to make her a travel bag and I used this satiny skull fabric I got in the remnants at Joann's. I also made a scarf for her. I thought it would be fun. She isn't a flowery kind of girl so this fit her well. I didn't use a pattern and I think this is the second zipper I have ever put in. I thought I did pretty well. The satin fabric was a huge pain though. I ironed it onto some medium weight fusible interfacing but for me to get it to stick enough, I melted a few pieces of the fabric. It was definitely a learning experience. Since I didn't use a pattern it did get a bit bigger than expected so it actually started off as a little purse organizer and it ended up being a toiletries bag. Oh well. I was entertained and she liked it. :)

Cape

I made this cape for my daughter like a year ago. She loves it. I didn't get all fancy and put a letter on it or anything but I did put some pom pom fringe on the bottom. I had to make it girly right. The fabric was for a shower curtain but I decided it was to hideous. Okay, not hideous as I have used it for 10 other projects (I bought a lot) but it just didn't match my bathroom very well. I ended up using a sheet I bought at Target. I'll show it another day. Instead of a rolled hem I used binding tape and used that as the tie for the neck as well. Super simple to make. Anyway, thought I would share my cape as I have been seeing a lot of capes on other blogs lately. Hope you enjoy. (I can't believe how much M has grown!)

Pieced Together Quilting Bee - March

I finished Stephanie K's blocks last night. I was given X and B and I wanted to do something special. X, I decide to make it look like it was weaved like the criss cross of the X. B, I had no idea what to do but I knew I wanted to add a little bit of the butterfly fabric I had that fit her request of sticking to pink and green. It just such pretty fabric and all I had left of it was a little strip so I was able to use it. B for Butterfly. I thought I was clever. I hope she likes them or rather, I hope her daughter likes them. I still have one more block to do for March. Sara requested a spider block made with paper piecing. I am a little intimidated by it so I am holding off a bit till I get some courage. She picked awesome 1930's reproduction fabric which will look awesome when all put together. Wish me luck on making it!

I wanted to give you this...

The other day my three year old and I were going out to the car to run and errand to Joann's, of course, and the sky was so beautiful. It was a dark blue and the stars were gleaming from end to end. I always try to take a moment and enjoy the sky, clouds and all which we have plenty of here in Washington. M looked up at the sky and said, "This is what I wanted to give you for your birthday." She is so sweet. I could feel my heart swell. In this picture she is wearing her rock star track suit and she is holding a flower that her great grandma, Nana, bought her. Nana felt bad that the previous time we were there M wanted to pick flowers in her yard but there weren't any so she got her primroses.

Baby Quilt

My cousin, Heather, is due for her first child, well, anytime. They live in Texas so I wasn't able to attend the baby shower for her but I decided to make her a quilt.
Really, I wanted an excuse to use this awesome kite material. The quilt got a little big while I was making it. I wanted it smaller but it kept growing and growing. So, it is a great size for a lap quilt or for a toddler bed. The baby will definitely be able to use it for years. The red is more of the corduroy that was for my daughter's dress. See -no dress. It's just so soft, I thought it would be nice for some texture. I love it. I backed it with a blue flannel. Flannel stickes a little better so it won't fall off a wiggling child as quickly. I thought seriously about keeping it for myself but I thought better. I do have some more of the kite fabric left so I might have to make myself one. Sorry the pictures aren't that great. I am hoping that she will send me more pictures. My aunt told me it was well received though.

More Bags

My friend asked me to make her a bag for her preschool's auction so of course I obliged. I love an excuse to make more bags. I was too lazy to make my own pattern so I made her this yellow bag with brown lining called the Ava Rose from Artsy-crafty Babe. You can buy the pattern here. It calls for two pockets but I used one and used the yellow fabric to make it stand out. I usually don't put pockets in my bags. I never use them. I also used fusible fleece instead of the two interfacings that it calls for. I hope my friend likes it. I, of course, had to make myself one as well.
I love this purple fabric. I bought it clearance at Two Thimbles. I didn't know what I was going to do with it but when I saw the fabric sitting on my shelves at home calling to me - I knew it would be perfect for this bag. I have gotten all sorts of compliments on the fabric. The buttons I stole from my mom. She has this box that is the size of four shoeboxes combined filled with buttons that she has been buying for years and a lot of them from a store going out of business. She let me search through and take what I wanted. She has a more modern box of buttons too that she uses more often that she won't let me steal from. So mean, I tell ya. I was impressed by how well these buttons matched though. My husband likes to brag that he picked out the buttons. I let him choose the best out of two.

Fat Quarters

I love fabric. Really it is the only reason I sew. Its the perfect excuse to buy more fabric. Well, one of our lovely local fabric stores, Fabric, etc., was celebrating Mardi Gras by having a Fat Tuesday sale. Buy 20 fat quarters for a dollar a piece. I am never really happy with the selection Joann's has so I went crazy. I bought 32 with no real plans in mind. I wanted to share my selection with you.

I did let my 3 year old pick out some.

She thinks we are making stuffed dogs with them. With a fat quarter? I am not sure that is happening. (if you know of a dog pattern for that much fabric let me know!) She is as bad as me. We were at Walmart and she found a remnant piece of flannel with dog prints on it and insisted on it. For 87 cents I let her get it. My Daugher is OBSESSED with dogs and occasionally she is a dog named Brenda. We then went to Grandma's and she nagged her Grandma until she made something. Here it is. The Dalamtion is Jasmine and the bulldog is Cinderella. My mom made her Jasmine since she had the fabric and the pattern for it. She was hoping that would distract her from the paw print fabric but it didn't. My poor grandchild spoiling mother was making dogs all weekend. Both are quite happy though and Jasmine and Cinderella go to Preschool with M.


Now I have to figure out what to do with all that fabric!

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

I'm sure all of you have been to this site at least once and if you haven't - you have to go. This amazing woman makes all of her own designs based on things she has seen and then she gives it away! This time she has a Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress similar to the Forever 21's. This dress is so cute! And I love the boots. Check her out!


Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

My First Post

Well, this is my first post on my new blog. I have been reading a lot of blogs for a while and participating in Fat Quarter Swaps and Sewing Bees but felt so left out that I didn't have a blog to show my work on so I started this blog. I hope you all enjoy it and I am not too boring.

I thought I would start with a bag I just made recently. I didn't have a pattern. I just made the simple tote and them changed it a bit by pleating the fabric. I wish I had a pleater. By hand is torture! It involves a lot of pins and tape. I melted some of my tape forgetting it was there when I ironed it. Oops. I also made the straps a little wider at the bottom and thinner on the top for some excitement. I got the flower fabric at Joann's and the red is a fine corderoy that I fell in love with. It was supposed to be a dress for my daughter but you know how that goes. It was also used in a baby quilt I made. It is so soft. I love it. So much for the dress!