More Projects!

I don’t have Christmas pictures to put up yet, so instead I have some projects to show that I worked on before Christmas.

These first three bags I made to try and sell. My sister Jody goes to boutiques a few times a year and sells her beaded socks. She has always said that I’m welcome to send her anything to put in her boutique – so I finally did!

This bag is corduroy on the outside with a stripy cream/green upholstery fabric lining. I appliqued, then straight stitched the tree and leaves. This bag and the next one are about 12” wide and 11” tall.

This bag is a satiny celery green on the outside, and is lined with the same fabric that the bow is made of. I knew when I was making it that it wasn’t going to be everyone’s style – but I really love it! (Now I think I need to make myself a skirt out of the polka dots, trimmed with the green!)

This last one I crocheted out of a chunky cream yarn. Then I lined it with fabric – the same fabric I used for the flower (which fabric I bought at my cousin Leah's Etsy shop). This is the only one of the three which sold – which actually was not sold at her boutique, but at her work a few days later. So the other two are still available if anyone is interested. :)

It was really fun making some cute bags just for the fun of it. I was able to be creative without a specific use in mind.

Okay, on to Christmas presents! I started working on these probably 3 months in advance. All of these items are for Adam’s side of the family.

First is a lady bug super cape for Sarah.

A purple pillow case with ribbon trim for Rachel. I also made a blue one for Daniel, but forgot to take pictures.

An apron for Pa – for when he’s making divinity or fudge. Yum!

And an apron for Megan. The yellow fabric was also bought at Leah's shop.

I made Grandma stationary/notecards for Christmas.

And a coin purse for her birthday (which is Christmas day).

I had so much fun thinking of what to make, and then doing it! We’ll see how well I do this year making gifts. :)

A few projects

 

I’ve been doing a bit of sewing lately. A good part of it is Christmas gifts, so I can’t post about those yet. But I’ve taken pictures of a few projects (from a long while ago) that I can show you.

First is a super cape for Rachel! I made it for her birthday this year. I also made one for Daniel, but I don’t have pictures of his. Rachel’s is pink polyester on one side (remember I’m trying to use up what I have instead of buying all new fabric) :), and purple crepe-backed satin on the other – with the satin side showing. This is a leftover from my bridesmaid dresses! (Who wore the purple one? Megan maybe?) And it has a Velcro closure for easy on and off.

Next, I made wallets for the boys for Easter. This one is Spencer’s. I didn’t take pictures of Ben’s. Which reminds me – I am obviously not very good at setting up the scene for taking pictures. Maybe I’ll learn in time.

I followed this tutorial to make it (which was not the easiest tutorial ever). The boys really like them, but they don’t hold coins very well. :(

The last thing I have to show is a coin purse. This is the first one I made. Again, sorry for the poor pictures. But I am so pleased with it! I bought the clasp at Joann’s, and followed this tutorial to put it together (except that I didn’t stitch mine by hand – although I’ve considered trying it, since it might actually be easier).

I used upholstery fabric that I have on hand for the outside (thanks Mom for all those upholstery samples!), and a simple muslin for the inside. I’ve made a couple others since this one, and I have a couple more in the works. (But of course, no pictures yet). So many fun projects, so little time…

P.S. I have no idea if my links are going to work. I know I’ve put them in before, but they are acting funny today. So if they don’t work – I’m sorry. If they do work – then please disregard this note. :)

The Blog

 

I’ve been meaning to note that I (well, actually Adam) updated the blog a little while ago. I chose the background because it looks like a quilt, and I’ve been doing a lot of sewing lately. But once it was updated and I looked at it one my netbook, it just looked like a Fall scene – which wasn’t what I had in mind when it was the middle of summer. But now that Fall is here it can work for quilting and Fall!

Also I had Adam add some new links. At the top you’ll find LDS.org (generally a web site for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but anyone can check it out). Also you’ll find Mormon.org – geared towards those who are not LDS (Latter-day Saints) who would like to learn more about our church. Then there’s Dealnews – this was one of Adam’s contributions. :)

Below these are the blogs of our family and friends.

And at the bottom are some other blogs I like to follow. Vintage & Crochet by gilbug1 is my cousin Leah’s Etsy shop. I love, love it! I have already gotten several items from her. Someday I’ll post what I’ve made with the fabric from her shop (like maybe after Christmas). :) Please check it out!

The Butterfly Net on Etsy is the shop of our friend Nicole. She creates amazing car seat blankets and quilts (and many other quilted items). Her work is just beautiful! I have one of her car seat blankets (the one pictured on the pattern) and I can’t say enough about how wonderful it is! It looks so great and also is completely functional. It became absolutely indispensible to me when I was taking my infant into the hospital last year, during cold and flu season, to check her jaundice levels. Do you know how many sick people there are in hospitals! Go see all of her wonderful creations!

Also on the list is The Quilting Bug. This shop sells beautiful quilting fabric, patterns, quilt kits, fat quarter bundles, batting, embroidery floss and more! They also have long arm quilting services! And beyond all this, it is the shop of my next door neighbor. Yes, all this literally next door. How fun is that! Go check out what she has.

Kelly Handbags  is the Etsy shop of a girl I grew up with – she just lived the next street over. She sells cute coin purses, clutches, purses, bags and totes. She has such cute ideas!

The last link I have is called Made. This is just a web site I came across recently. She mostly sews clothing. But I love that she has many free patterns and tutorials, and they are so easy to follow! I have learned so much from her (like making sure to press your seams – this helps to give clothing a more professional look). I’ve made several skirts and shorts (for the kids) following her patterns. Anyway, it’s just a really fun web-site.

I’ve come across some other sewing blogs that’s I’m really enjoying, so I’ll have Adam add them to the list some time.

Anyway I’ve wanted to tell you for a while about some of the links I have.

And since I’m not quite comfortable (yet) doing an entire post without pictures, here are a couple random shots.

Our first tomato of the season – can you tell how big it is?! One slice fills up the whole BLT! (Thank you Tomato Maker fertilizer from Zamzows!)

And last but not least, the cutest 1 year old!

Some of the people I love

As I was going through our pictures from our trip to my parents, I noticed that we (Adam) took a lot of nice pictures of people. So I decided to post a whole bunch of them.

Sydney

Spencer

Ben

Emma

Wendy’s girls – Kelsey, Elise, Kayla

Some of the grandkids – Dominic, Kelsey, Elise, Mitchell, Kayla, Emma, Ben

Cute Dominic – Kelly’s son

Ben and Mitchell eating popsicles on the front porch.

Kayla with her brand new stitches.

The girls in the kitchen – Mom, Kelly, Wendy, Addison, me.

Dad, Mom and Kelly showing their potato harvest.

I absolutely love this picture of my mom! It is one of the ways that I think of her – walking around the yard, with her hands behind her back, checking out what is growing. I remember seeing my Grandpa Lowe do the exact same thing, and I find myself doing it too sometimes.

My dad – what a handsome man, working in the yard. I always think of my parents as hard workers.

What a bunch of beautiful girls! Kelly, Wendy, me and Mom.

Me and my parents. I love that I have this picture with them.

Well this is my last Ivins post. For me, there are so many memories attached to each picture. I enjoy looking back at them regularly throughout the year until we get to go back again!

Sewing and fun people

One of the days we were in Ivins, Mom, Wendy, Kelly and I went fabric shopping. Then we spent time in the sewing room. It was so fun! Just being together is so great. Then add sewing and it became one of the best days.

 

My mom has such a wonderful sewing area. She has a huge cutting table in the center, with plenty of room for all of us.

Sorry Kelly for posting a picture of a grumpy face. But this cracked me up because it’s the look she regularly gives Adam (he might tease her too much). Also, if you look closely at the table behind her you can see three sewing machines set up (one regular and two sergers). How awesome it that!

And look at that fabric! I always have a million ideas pop into my head when I go there.

Even Sydney and Jeff had to get in on the action.

Oh we had so much fun! I think in these pictures we were working on making father’s day ties. The only thing that would have been better is if Jody and Fenna had been there also! 

Summer Vacation

 

As always, I’m hopelessly behind in blogging. But I really wanted to post about our trip to my parents house at the beginning of summer. At this point in life, we only go visit them once a year, and I love to look at the pictures.

Hanging out at the hotel.

On our way to Ivins we stopped at the Kennecott Utah Copper Mine (aka Bingham Canyon Mine), I’m not sure which is the official name.

What strong kids!

It was really quite fascinating to me. That whole is enormous! I was glad we stopped to see it, but we were all ready to be on our way.

One of Ben’s favorite things to do at my parent’s house is pick apricots. It’s kind of hit or miss whether they will be ripe when we get there. But he doesn’t seem to mind eating slightly green apricots. This year they were pretty good.

While we were there the first bad heat wave of the season hit – maybe around 104 degrees? It totally sucked the life out of me for a couple of days. One of the days we got out the slip-n-slide for the kids. I’m not sure how much actual slipping and sliding went on, but they still enjoyed playing in the water.

And while the kids played, the adults sat around shootin’ the breeze. That’s one of my favorite things to do there.

Adam took the kids out to Dixie Rocks/Sugar Loaf/?Some Park. I really don’t know the actual name. But the kids sure enjoy going there. I’ve never been yet, because I have always either been pregnant or too nervous to take a baby/toddler to those rocks. But someday I’ll make it there.

And what a beautiful view of St. George from on the rocks. I love to see the St. George Temple right there in the middle.

Well I have a bunch more pictures to put up. Hopefully tomorrow? Or even later today? We’ll see.