The Engagement….

My son has been dating a wonderful gal for 9 months and last night he asked her the big question.  They happen to be visiting us right now so it was very special to be involved .  His idea was to create a place outside with lots of candles sitting around.  We took it a step further (big surprise…).  We had 80+ candles lit with some of them in frozen candles holders kind of like this.  We also had some lights flip on about the time they arrived at the little sweet spot that we created.  We love this girl so much and from the first time we met her we were hoping that we could keep her FOREVER.

Welcome to our family Jackie ~ We love you!!!!

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This is post #198 for me – stay tuned because I may need to do a give-a-way for #200.

Snow, Snow & more Snow

I really don’t want to bore you with lots of SNOW pics but here goes…It’s just that it is all-consuming these day.  We have so much and the temps have stayed so cold that now we have to start shoveling all the roofs.  We have a huge shop and house.  We did the shop yesterday (22′ off the ground) and I did the deck today while the guys started the house….

shoveling the shop roof

the deck...

Mr. Cash is watching me shovel the deck

Our electricity went out for almost 7 hours last night.  I had a turkey already started so we plugged it into a generator and finished it off ~ then we finished it off… 🙂

We had a momentous event take place tonight – I’ll share that tomorrow…..  🙂

Pre-Christmas Sewing

Now that all of the gifts have been unwrapped, I can show some pics of the fun things I made.

I made these (from this) for my neices and had so much fun with it.  I wasn’t sure how they would like them because I know that clothing isn’t a favorite gift for kids to receive at Christmas.  Abbie (4) said, “I didn’t want a skot”.  It was really pretty cute.  Skirts are actually their favorite thing to wear, everyday…all year long, so I think they’ll like them.  Because of the crazy colors I used though, I probably should go out and buy them some tops to match.

I showed you this afgan that I bought…

Here’s the bag I made from it, for my wanna-be hippie girl.  She loved it.  It may have been her favorite gift.   The center block below the button is a pocket that I made a sewed over the center block.

I made these funny little zippered bags for my kids.  They are small but fun and cute.

As of last night I have all of my kids home for a few days.  Things liven up a bit when my #1 child arrives. I’m excited for these days.  It will be a while before we are all together again.  I’m hoping to have some (non-professional) family pics taken today.

The sewing room is humming…

Christmas night, after our celebration, I was anxious to create a fun little case for my new camera.

I made this with Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern 2 – and then added an embroidered doily & a homemade button.

I’ve also been wanting to try this tutorial…so I did!  (& it actually took 45 minutes)

…then I made 4 flannel pillowcases and went to bed about  midnight.

Lauren was sewing right along with me. I LOVE it when we sew together.  She sets up her machine & I’m on mine…we just talk, sew, sing and….well, whatever we want.  I’ll have to post pics of her project(s) tomorrow.

A cuff and its box…

Here are some pictures of a cuff I made for my daughter and the box I gave it to her in.

I collaged this box with an Alice in  Wonderland~Little Golden Book and I also made a charm for her and hung it from the box.

{Merry Wishes to YOU this Christmas Day}

The true joy of the world began at the manger and He came that we all might find Him.

from about 1965 - I'm the blondie on the left

Christmas Eve 2008

It has been snowing steady here for more than a week with very brief breaks.  It’s truly a winter wonderland and it certainly makes everything so festive for Christmas.

the garden is peacefully at rest~

another peak @ something I've been working on

glorious fabric

As part (most) of Lauren’s Christmas gifts I let her go to QuiltHome.com to pick out a couple of projects.  We got the glorious fabric package yesterday and she has already cut into it all and is working away on her fabulous creations.  I love to encourage her to sew, and she finds it very rewarding.

To do…

I’ve got this crazy shelf that is mounted above my watch maker’s desk/work station. I drug it out of the nastiness dwelling (it’s too yucky to call a home), slapped some paint on it and now I have so much fun with it.  Last night I drilled a hole in the end of a fork so that it can hold my to do lists and nailed it to the front of the shelf.

More Daisy Chain Fun~

Continuations of Sneak-Peak ’08

If you have Anna Maria’s book Seams to Me – you’ll know exactly what I’m making.

this touch of embellishment includes a snippet from an old worn-out chenille bedspread

It is so fun and rewarding to sew with beautiful, high quality fabrics (quilthome.com).  I know that there are dear ones in my life who think I go a little crazy with my fabric combos but…I just can’t help myself – sometimes I try – you just have no idea how hard it is for me.

This is a fun way to use scraps (these are all from a Joel Dewberry collection).  This pattern is from the book Pretty Little Patchwork.

Libbz & her friend were out on trampoline duty this morning...trying to get the snow off

Sunday Inspirations!

**I need to post a correction for yesterday’s post.  I found out that our outdoor thermometer doesn’t work well when it is below 0 – yesterday our early morning temperature was around -25.