Black Friday??

Not for me!!

I have never shopped on the day after Thanksgiving.

Even before they called it Black Friday and it was just the day after Thanksgiving.

That has always been a day of sewing for me.

Sewing for a boutique or sewing Christmas presents.

This year it was sewing for my favorite shop.

You know...Strawberry Patches

Of course you will find these fabrics and pattern on the website.

I showed you the pattern and the cute "Sweet Shop" fabrics earlier in the week.

They are actually called "Dessert Party"

Here's Rosie all dressed for the party in the  finished yummy little dress.

A sneak peek of the dress that the pinafore covers up.

Here's the back, with covered "candy" buttons

There was a lot of detail on this dress that makes it so cute. Those are the cutest little puffy sleeves with the contrasting binding that matches the neck binding as well as the trim at the yoke of the pinafore and the ruffle on the dress. (Whoa!! Long sentence, but you get the idea)

So...my Black Friday was very colorful.

Tell me about yours.  Did you fight the crowds on Black Thursday or Friday?

Or maybe you stayed home, watched football and ate leftovers.

Or maybe you were like me and sewed or crafted.

One of the "downs" of not having to cook Thanksgiving dinner...no leftovers.

Do you want to know a dirty little secret about me?

I looooove cold stuffing and pumpkin pie for breakfast the morning after.

Alas!! We had oatmeal with raisens instead. So much better for us.

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!



A Pardon...Just In The Nick Of Time

Meet Tom (alias Thanksgiving dinner)

and Henrietta (alias Christmas dinner)

I was able to snap a rare picture with them both in the same frame.

Because Henrietta hides as much as possible from Tom because...well you know.

They are both considerably bigger now. I took these the end of August.

They were raised from cute little chicks (not sure what you call Turkey babies). They weren't much bigger than the baby Chicken chicks.

My son wouldn't let the kids name them because they were destined for the dinner table and who wants to say "I'll have Henrietta's leg or I'll have some of Tom's breast".  So I named them. He's not my Dad.

He continued to threaten having them butchered, but said if they "produced" he might reconsider.

Well, see those large speckled eggs below?  They spell "Pardon"

If the White House can pardon a Turkey, I guess the Park's House can pardon two.

She doesn't nest on them, but those eggs darn well saved two lives...until next year anyway.

Mr. SS collected these this morning. My DIL has been  using the in scrambled eggs for the kids along with the hen eggs.  I guess they taste the same. Mr. SS likes his eggs over easy. Do you think he would notice if I cooked these for breakfast tomorrow morning?



We will be spending Thankgiving with our Tehachapi family for the first time in a long time. I only have to bring pies which are done, so this Thanksgiving is like a day of rest for me.

I'm looking forward to family time and time for Thanksgiving.

Wishing you all a blessed Thankgiving.

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

My Kind of Sunday

It's Sunday afternoon, it's raining and I have Split Pea Soup in the Crock Pot.

That's the setting for a perfect afternoon.

I'm sewing.

I put finishing touches on 3 of these:

A special friend of mine ordered one of these in purple at  one of my craft shows. I really make more of my time when I make multiples, so I also made one for a gift and an extra one. What is it with little girls and purple.

(this was another stash project...Yah!!)

I also got the little dress on the left started for a model for Strawberry Patches.

These are the cute candy fabrics they chose for me.

So fun!!

I had my granddaughter, Kobi with me for the afternoon on Saturday. After we got our nails all prettied up, we went to Strawberry Patches to pick out fabric for some purses from this new line they just got in. Kobi is the one who picked out her fabrics for her cowgirl skirt and wanted an animal print ruffle which I showed you here. 

I knew I wanted fabrics from a new line called Pam Kitty Morning by Pam McGinnis. Go here to see the whole line.  I think there was 50 or more bolts of cute, cute, cute, fabrics...all coordinating in all colors.

Kobi knows how I love Red and Blue, so we started with the Strawberry print and went from there.

I just love this little alphabet print and it comes in many colors too.

We had way too much fun. That was Saturday.

Back to my perfect Sunday afternoon...

I have Hallmark channel on and they are playing all Christmas movies. The music,  pictures of decorated trees, Santa Clauses and family get togethers, really put me in the Christmas mood.

Mr. SS is watching football and golf simultaneously. After making a Strawberry Banana Pudding Jello (a family favorite) and Corn Muffins with Honey Butter to go with the Split Pea Soup, we head up to the front house to share our meal and get a little grand kid fix.

Yep!! My kind of Sunday...rain, sewing, soup in the Crock Pot, Hallmark, and getting to see Mr. SS (who generally work 6 days a week) relax and do nothing. Add to that dinner with 6 of my grands and I'm sighing with satisfaction.

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

Best of Times

We are home for a few weeks (we think). I heard giggles Sunday afternoon and looked outside my sewing room window to see this.

I quickly grabbed my camera and called their names out the door.

I was going to just post the top one, but when I pulled the next one up, the smile on my son's face

 brought happy tears and I had to share it too.

I never get  tired of saying it...I am one blessed Mamaw and Mama.

Hope you don't get tired of hearing reading it.

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!



Sew Stressed

I am so thankful last week is over. It was another stressful week. I had a deadline of Friday morning at 11:00 for the what I called the Cottage quilt. I showed you the fabrics and sketch last week. It was 58"x58"  finished and a little big for the space constrictions in my RV small cottage.  Now don't get me wrong...I loved every minute of the design, cutting, piecing and pulling it all together process, because as you know... I love to sew.

Well, I made my deadline and the nice man who picked it up for his wife not only paid me, (I actually got paid for doing what I love to do) but he also loaded a big box of freshly packed oranges and red potatoes into my car.

I don't remember if I told you last week, but the quilt is for the doctor of a little girl who is sick and in the hospital at UCLA. Her Mom stays down there with her and her Dad and siblings were on their way to visit for the weekend on Friday.

The quilt colors are so soft, you can barely make out the pattern, and I can't get far enough away to photo the whole thing in my RV small cottage.

Here it is folded across the end of my bed.

Please remember to click on the pictures to enlarge. That may help.

Here you can see the chenille on the back. I lined it with flannel and chose not to bind it, but sewed it right sides together and after turning it right side out, top stitched around the edge. 

The client suggested tying it and not quilting it, so I  did this stitch where all the corners meet.

I am really happy with the way it turned out.

My machine has a stitch to do this. It locks the thread, then stitches back and forth and locks the thread on the other side.

Not that I will admit to the corners not all meeting perfectly...but if they didn't this kinda hides it.

The last picture I wanted to show you is the label I put on the back. My client had this scripture written on the sketch she gave me.

I haven't been using the embroidery module on my machine lately because I have had some problems with it, but decided it was worth a try. I was  so proud of my baby embroidery machine as it stitched away. The spacing of the first two rows is off but the rest was perfect.

As I am being thankful I got through last week, I am also thankful for having the right tools that enable me to accomplish these projects that provide me a little needed income. I love my Bernina. Hand tying this quilt would have taken me a lot longer.  My Bernina's embroidery module made it possible to personalize the quilt with the scripture.  One other tool, I haven't mentioned is my Bernina serger.  If I haven' t told you before, let me tell you now, how much I love her. I really love the way I can finish off the inside seams of the clothing I make, but this week, she saved me much anguish. have you ever thrown fabric in the washer to prewash and pull it out a tangled mess?  Well, I serged all the raw edges first and I hardly had to press the fabric when it came out of the dryer. It was especially helpful with the chenille for the backing.

This isn't a paid advertisement for Berninas.  I'm just telling you my story...and I'm sticking to it. LOL

I used to sell Berninas for Strawberry Patches and learned so much about sewing machines. I loved teaching ladies how to use their new machines and encouraging them to try new things.

Well, what started out to be a short post with few pictures turned into a book. What can I say...I love to talk write, so hope you at least looked at the pictures. I'll stop talking writing for now.

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

Random Ramblings

It was cold this morning in my metal box  small cottage. I sleep under an electric blanket, so when Mr. SS is out of town, I try to be conservative and not use the heater during the night. It's my normal custom to get up at 6:00, make a pot of coffee and do my Bible in a Year reading before starting my day.

This morning I could not face the cold even to get up and turn the heater on until 7:00.

Besides a propane run furnace, we have this electric fireplace.

You may have to click on it to see the effects. Since every home we have lived in has had a fireplace, I was really excited to find this one. It puts out lots of heat through the blower and gives us the ambiance of having a  rea lfireplace.  We searched a while for one that looks realistic and this one has a beautiful flame behind the wood that didn't show up in the picture.

I sit on the couch with my feet propped up on the footstool covered up with a cozy throw to do my reading every morning...well when I can get out of bed anyway. 

On another note, yesterday I worked on a quilt (throw) for a lady who wants it for her little girl's doctor.

The fabrics have very soft muted colors so it doesn't show well here, but as I piece it I see it coming together as she wanted...very cottage, shabby chic. She picked the fabrics and it will be backed with the chenille you see here, without batting...very soft and flowey. (I think I made that word up)

The client also drew a picture of what she wanted.  Here we go again. I was feeling so challenged and somewhat stressed again yesterday. I figured out it was mostly squares and 1/2 square triangles. I had forgotten the formula for those. There is a formula.

Wow!! Do I love Google. I immediately went to my computer and had the complete instructions in seconds. Before going to bed last night, the quilt top was cut out and

almost pieced.  I'm going to do a label for the back with the scripture she quoted one the drawing.

When I opened my e-mail this morning, I had a message from Midwest Living and this was staring at me.

With this Apple Cider Sauce

I don't get to make the turkey for Thanksgiving anymore.  For many years, we have rotated going to our Son's homes.  But I'm thinking I might do a Turkey Breast  for Mr. SS and me using these recipes.  The sauce would be good with chicken too or....yummy... Pork Roast.

Go here for the recipes.

I need to get busy finishing that quilt. I will take a picture, but the colors blend so well, don't know if you will see the pattern.

As cold as it was this morning it is already warming up to the 70's today.  I need to put aside the sweats I had on yesterday and don my capris again.  Crazy.

Warm or cold...have a wonderful day.

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

Meet Maggie...Or Is it Clara

This sweet girl Maggie, is performing as Clara in the Nutcracker  put on by the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra.  It is held every year. I have never been, but this year I will have a special reason to attend.

And that reason is Maggie.

Her Mom and I met a few weeks ago to pick out fabric and talk about design. She had purchased a vintage pattern online and told me Maggie requested white with poinsettias.

After looking at satins and taffetas I suggested Dupioni Silk.

I had made one of my granddaughter's
Dedication dresses out of Dupioni and I loved working with it. It has a shine, texture and a crispness that makes it a dream to work with. It ravels, but I have a serger, so no problem there.

Okay...back to the dress.

We also chose Red and Green Velveteen, which is a nightmare to work with, but with stabilizer, I coped.

Ignoring the background, (I need a studio just to take pictures for my blog. LOL) here is the dress before I took it for Maggie to try on. It ties in a large bow and has three more poinsettias in the back.

A closeup of the poinsettia.  I machine appliqued them to stabiliser and then hand sewed them to the dress. I was going to embroider the gold in the center , but decided it needed a little bling.

I found these tiny gold Swarovski crystals...just the right touch.


Well, that was what I did last week.  I was so blessed meeting this family. Maggie was so lovely and sweet. She gave me a big hug and her smiles just made the project such a pleasure.
Not to forget her Mom Katie, who was so easy to work with and so apprecitative

I put myself under a lot of pressure over this project.  It stretched my abilities and creativity. It was 4 yds of white...can't drink coffee or diet Pepsi while working...wash hands often.
The velveteen turned my nails pink, so I was so afraid it would turn the dress pink.
But all in all, it was one of my all time favorite projects.

Another Birthday, You Say??

My oldest granddaughter turned 15 today. I drove up to Tehachapi, (the small mountain town where we raised our boys. Our oldest son still lives there with his family) to spend some time with her and her Mom's side of the family as they had dinner and celebrated her birthday. She is my oldest son's daughter.

Yes, we sure have a lot of fall birthdays...and one to go!

Madi just got home from cheering for a volleyball game.

Her other grandma and I made her pose for a birthday picture.

Her Dad fixed a big Taco Salad which was her birthday dinner request.

Madi blew out her candles.

It is tradition on her Mom's side of the family to take a bite out of your cake. Then someone comes up from behind and pushes your face in it. Madi has learned from past years and positioned herself where no one could come from behind. She still didn't take her eyes off the culprits though (mainly her Dad and her Papa)

(Sorry for the red eyes, Madi)

She got lots of girlie presents, but in my book, this zebra striped and hot pink luggage from her other granparents,  takes the prize for the perfect 15 yr old girl present.

Happy Birhday Madi.

You are  such a sweet, loving  girl. Your Mamaw is proud to call you my granddaughter. I'm so blessed to have you in my life.



Baby News

No...not in our family, but  little miracle grandson for my friend Sandi was born a few weeks ago.

Sandi has 4 beautiful granddaughters and Braden is her first grandson.

She had told me his nursery theme is Safari, so at the last minute, I grabbed a few flannel and terry scraps from my handy dandy plastic drawers and a couple of patterns to take along as we left for Long Beach week before last. I had everything I needed except for an animal print.

Since we were in Long Beach, and I couldn't go to my go to store...you know...Strawberry Patches, I had to resort to a trip to Joanns. I found the perfect piece to go with what I brought. I also had with me a Debbie Mumm Nursery book that had Safari animal appliques.

This is what I came up with to take to Braden's shower the following Sunday. I wish I had taken my camera to the shower. He is the sweetest best baby boy. I fell in love.

                                                                                 

On one of the bibs, I accidently put the letters on the fabric side, so the terry is on the back.

I didn't have any letter patterns with me, so I bought a package of balsa wood letters for 1.99 at JoAnns and traced them for appliques. Love the shape. They looked so good made from the giraffe flannel.

This bib got a giraffe applique from the book I told you I brought along.

A burp cloth...terry on one side...flannel on the other.

This is one of the diaper/wipey carriers I've shown you before.

It holds a small container of wipeys and a couple of diapers.

The only things I purchased for this project was 1/2 yd of giraffe flannel and the balsa wood letters.

So I kept my commitment to stash busting.  It really is fun and a challenge.

When I got home, I dug into one of my button jars and found these cute wooden buttons for the bibs.

The diaper/wipey holder is a Strawberry Patches pattern. It's called Luvs and Huggs.You can find it here.

The bibs and burp cloth are my own patterns. I have used these for gifts and for my own grandkids for years.

Lots of fun making a matchig set and having the Luvs and Huggs to add to it.



This week, I have been working on a dress that is a costume for Clara in the "Nutcracker" which is a production done every year here at Christmas time. This year it is  held onDecember 11th and I will be going.

The girl I am doing  the costume for is a sweetheart  and loved what I had done when we had the first fitting. Wait till she sees it finished on Saturday.

I will get a picture to share here if it is okay with her Mom.

Well, I'd better get off to bed so I can get up early and finish this project so I am ready for the next.

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

Better-Than-Almost-Anything Cake

Drew requested this cake for her birthday and I was only too happy to comply.

It is a favorite of ours and you may have already seen it on another blog or have it in your recipe files.

It's been around for a long time, but is worth repeating.

This is what you will need:

Bake the cake according to directions on the box.

While it is warm, poke holes with the end of a wooden spoon.

Drizzle the can of Eagle Brand Milk over cake.

Then drizzle the jar of carmel over the cake reserving some for later.

Slather on the whole tub of Cool Whip.

The recipe calls for a bag of Toffee Bits, but I always use Heath Bars (4). Crush the in a plastic bag with a wooden mallet or whatever you have and sprinkle on top of Cool Whip.

Then drizzle chocolate syrup and carmel on last.

It's a really moist rich cake. You reeeeeallly want to try this.

And...hope you have a crowd to share it, because you will want to eat it til it's gone or you have a tummy ache...whichever comes first.

Here is a link with the recipe.  I started making it when I worked at a Cottage Tea Room room many years ago, so my version is a little different.

Better-Than-Almost-Anything Cake

                  This is the "clean" version of the name of the cake. Some of you may know it by another name. LOL!! But no matter what you call it...try it!!

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!