BOO!

Besides sewing for my business, I have done a couple of other big projects during the month of October.

I really haven't done any Halloween decorating since my boys were growing up. I love Autumn, Fall and Thanksgiving decorations. and I usually just  do those. But, this year I saw a couple of patterns that inspired me to maybe do my entry bench and shelf with a touch of Halloween. This is one one of the patterns. It is a large bench pillow and since I have done the spring one, you can see here, I already had the gigantic pillow form made for it. 

I had all the fabrics I needed in my stash, except the background white with black polka dot.

I did it all hand applique with blanket stitch, then hand and machine quilting and binding like a quilt

so it took me a long time, but I finished it in time to take a picture for today. lol Well I'll have it next year so  I can do my little entry way corner in what I will call "soft" Halloween.

My new sidelights next to my door let in light and I love that, but it kinda spoiled my photo op this morning.

This is the end of the pillow you can't see in the other picture. It's also my granddaughter, Drew's birthday date, so that is one of the reasons I liked this pillow design. Another is the cute candy corn flowers with vintage black button centers.

I also found this cute pattern on Facebook and really wanted to make it this year for my corner. It is small and perfect for the wall behind my bench. You can find a link for this and the pillow pattern on my Facebook.

The fabrics used for that cute little quilt above are from Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill. I found some at my local fabric store, Cherry Berry Quilts, and some I got from Shabby Fabrics on line. It is a sweet little collection, not scary Halloween and the bottom orange is more a tangerine, I can use with other combinations.

I didn't get this one made, but am all set for next year. That's the way us quilters do things sometimes.

Since I mentioned my granddaughter Drew above, thought I would show you her picture from her very first formal a couple of weeks ago. Happy 17th Birthday Drew.

While I am on the subject of  birthdays, yesterday was my middle son's birthday. Happy Birthday Eric.

I won't say his age, because it would hint at how really old I am. This was taken a couple of years ago.

One more sewing project finished this month. Worked on yo-yos for this for longer than I want to admit, but this was for my cousin. I should do a tutorial on yo yo quilts. It really turned out a lot nicer than some I've seen. I learned a lot.

Last, but certainly not least. I posted this on facebook, but wanted to put it here too.

The view from my porch yesterday afternoon.

Until next time...

                                               

Lexi

I really have been trying to post more often, but it just seems there is something always going on and time gets away from me.

I had great inspiration today to do a post about my granddaughter Lexi and her 8th grade graduation.

Lexi (Alexa Marie) is the 2nd daughter of my son Brandon and his wife Olivia. They have 6 total - 5 girls and one boy.

Last summer the whole family decided they would home school. Olivia was a trooper and did the work to home school a Kindergardner, a 2nd grader, a 4th grader, a 6th grader and Lexi who was in 8th grade.

Drew was in HS and wanted to continue there.

Two weeks before Christmas they all voted to go back to school except Lexi. She wanted to continue being home schooled. They were connected to Valley Oaks Charter School and she loved her time there too.

A few weeks ago she told me about her graduation and that it would be held at the Fox Theater downtown. She wanted to make a dress for it. So off we went to my favorite quilt store Strawberry Patches(ok, another blog post coming up about my happy place) to find fabric. I have taken the girls there since they were little to pick out fabric for special dresses and that's where Lexi wanted to go.

She has made a few things and started on her own, but needed help last week. I went and picked her up and we sewed at my house. I don't have to do any of the sewing, I'm just there for support if she needs it.

She wouldn't look up because she didn't have her makeup on. At 14 that consists of Mascara.

She tried it on and it is perfect. Again, I couldn't get her head because she didn't do her hair. She is so beautiful without makeup and her hair done, but try to tell a 14 yr. old that.

So today we went to graduation. I wish I could have gotten a picture with her in it of the Marque. This theater has been  refurbished and is an historic part of downtown Bakersfield.

Right after the program in the lobby. She made the little jacket too because she couldn't wear sleeveless in the ceremony.

Our family always goes to Rosemary's Ice Cream Parlor after special events, so sister Drew got some pictures of her  for me. I love that the decor matches her outfit. She will too when she sees this.

Did I tell you she did a professional job on this dress with side zipper, pleats and insisted on hand stitching the hem. (yep, she's her Mamaw's girl)

This girl is amazing and she knows just what she wants when it comes to sewing and wants to design her own clothes. She can sketch a picture of what she has in mind. You can't see it here, but the waistband has writing on it. She knew she wanted fabric with writing and there was no changing her mind. it was the perfect combination.

One more picture of a dress she made for the Nutcracker performance she was in last Christmas.

Again, she had something in mind and I helped her change the pattern to fit her design. I didn't sew a stitch on this. I supervised only.

She is a ballerina and loves dance. She just found out last week she would be "on point" now which I'm told is a big step up for a ballerina.

As I come to the end of this story of Lexi, I think I should feature each of my grands, one at a time as they all are so special in their own way.

Don't I just sound like a Grandma.

A Good Week After All

Just got home from our five day trip to the coast. All unpacked and ready for bed. But first a quick post to document a really good trip.

We left Monday morning pulling our little blue and white trailer headed for the coast. Golfing for Mr. SS, sewing for me, and whatever we wanted to do in between.

We had just passed a big truck (I have to close my eyes  when we do this...no I literally duck my head)

I heard a loud bang and then flap, flap flap. Then Mr. SS caught on to my panic as he looked in the rear view mirror...yep a flat tire.

He pulled over and worked for over an hour trying to loosen the lug bolts. No luck, bless his heart. It was 90 degrees out and both our freshly showered bodies were dripping in sweat. 

He said, we just had to drive slow as we still had 3 good tires. Yeah, that made me feel better.

God was with us, we put on our flashers and drove slowly to New Cuyama. We always stop there for lunch on our way to the coast.

We pulled up in front and went in, asking the waitress if there was any place in town we could get a tire changed. No, there wasn't. Everyone in the place was just kinda staring at us. I was about to cry, when a young man who was sitting with a group of 4 men stepped up and said. We can take care of it for you. Follow us to our farm about a mile from here.

Whew, I said to Dennis, can I stay here where it's cool and get a diet coke. Sure, he said and off they went.

Then I kinda panicked and thought, what if they kidnapped him or something. He didn't have much cash on him as I carry that, but we have that big red truck and our pretty little blue and white trailer. 

My mind was running wild. So I called one of my sons and expressed my concern. He said just call him...oh why didn't I think of that. He was on his way back and tire was changed. Those nice men would not even take a penny for their help. God was with us.

This is what our tire looked like in the back of our truck. The wheel wasn't even damaged. God was with us!

We are responsible RV'rs. We have roadside assistance, but it would have taken hours for them to get to us. I could just hear the phone call, "You are in New What?" 

Now another hour and we were ready to head for the coast once again.

WAIT! We weren't upset enough to have lost our appetite. You have to know Mr. SS to know, he does not miss many meals. So we ordered. When his came...no fries? Forgotten the tire already. "Where are my fries?"

My salad was perfect as is.

Tuesday, Mr. SS golfed and I made more curtains for the trailer. Not a good picture, and they didn't turn out like I planned, but I like them. They were supposed to be pinch pleated with covered buttons on the pleats, but the pattern I used was way too full even though I had made adjustments, to do the pleats and buttons.

I used the same Pam Kitty fabric i used on all the smaller windows. I just wanted the ones for over the dining table and sitting area to be different. This picture shows the ones I had already made.

We BBQ'd the second night. Our first BBQ of the season. Guess what we had. Yep...hamburger with all the fixin's. They tasted sooo good.

Wednesday we went to Grover Beach to see our friends that live there. Carol took me to a Farmers Market close by. This is just some of the goodies I got. Those shelled sugar snap peas are the best. They are good just as a snack or in a salad, but Mr.SS won't eat them that way. So the next night we BBQ'd chicken and I made brown rice and a salad. I threw some of the peas in the rice. So, so good.

After we left our friends house, we drove to San Luis Obispo and had lunch at the Apple Farm. Then we drove to Morro Bay and on  a little north to Cuyucas. It is the cutest little town right on the beach. I called it a sleepy little town and Mr. SS asked what that meant. I said no one is in a hurry...NOT. We were slowly driving by a place called Brown Sugar Cookie when a truck honked and raced around us. Guess you have those people everywhere. 

We had read about an RV park there on the side of the hill overlooking the ocean. We loved the place and are already planning our next trip to the coast and staying at Bella Vista.

Tomorrow it's back to normal. We are off to Irvine to watch our Kobi play Volleyball and Sunday to Taft for baseball. I also have to squeeze in making a sweet 8 yr. old a birthday dress in the next two days.

                                                    

Our "Retired" Life

Almost two years ago we bought our tiny cottage, thinking we would slow down and ease into being semi-retired. NOT! Life has been busier than ever. Now, mind you, I'm not complaining. I love our life. 

Besides both of us working, we try to keep up with all the grands and their activities.

At the moment, that is two playing baseball, one swimmer, one playing volleyball and 4 dancers.
The highlight of my weeks right now is having our college grandson, Kyle come every Tuesday and Thursday between classes for dinner. He will probably go away to college next year, so we are enjoying this time with him.

I saw the perfect sign on Pinterest for us.

Besides the kids activities, we have been trying to fix up our tiny cottage a little at a time. I really wanted a Carriage House garage door, but after pricing them, decided a paint job on the one we had would have to do for a while.

Mr.SS finally painted our metal aluminum door white.

Before

After

You can also see our new white security gates. That area was open before...I feel much more secure now.

Plans are in the works for a whole face lift for the front of the house.  A new front door and sidelights have been ordered. I will follow along with that process soon.

We enjoy our roses and always have a bouquet for  the table. Mr. SS just brought these in yesterday.

We work in the yard quite a bit. Besides the roses, I have a couple of flower beds and some strawberries planted. I still can't get on my knees, but with help from the grands and Mr. SS, I am able to keep them up.

My favorites are these Sweet Peas that just come up by themselves. They smell sooo good.

One of two Azaleas. They bloomed at different times.

For my part of being semi-retired, I got one of the biggest orders ever ready to mail to Four Tiny Cousins who I still sew for.

This was done in a week. I had taken the week before Easter off, so I had put myself in a bind. I didn't even have it mailed yet and received my next order. I'm thankful for the work, though and will sew as long as they need me to. I still do sewing for others too, so I just keep trying to work it in. It's not uncommon to see me sewing on buttons or any other handwork I can do at ballgames.

I showed you the dress I made for Emmy Lou, but just now got pictures of her wearing it. Her big sister Drew took these for me. I found the perfect sandals on Amazon to match.

Sorry, I just realized these came from Drew's phone and I didn't edit them

Still our cute Emmy Lou in her birthday dress and shoes.

Tomorrow, I get to go pick up granddaughter Lexi and take her to Strawberry Patches to pick out fabric for her 8th grade graduation dress, which she is making herself.

I'm going to get fabric for a birthday dress for Brooke. Same pattern, just different fabric.

Then next Monday, Mr. SS and I are taking our little blue trailer to the coast for a few days, so we can pretend we are semi-retired. He'll golf and I'll be sewing on Brooke's birthday dress and maybe some curtains.

                                                 

Spring is in the Air

Last year it was fun seeing our yard start to bloom with color that we didn't know we had. I still loved seeing that this year, but I was most excited about a few things we planted, trees. A Silky Oak, and a Meyer Lemon that aren't really picture worthy, and 3 fruit trees.

This is a nectarine and even though it is usually me that gets excited over first blooms, the fruit trees are Mr. SS's babies. He was counting the first blossoms and now it is covered with them.

The peach tree, not as covered but pretty anyway. The plum didn't blossom, so guess we won't have plums this year.

Our first rose. There are buds all over the others, so I'll have lots of roses to come.

These are our prettiest Daffodils. I think the row of them we have need to be thinned as there are more plants and not so many blooms

Poppies come up everywhere. Last year I pulled most of them thinking they were weeds. I knew better this year.

My Sweet Peas are my favorite. Last year I pulled most of them before realizing what they were. This year they are abundant. We sit in the swing on the other side of the patio and swear we can see the sweet peas grow. They are vining up that lattice so fast. Can't wait til they bloom.

Mr. SS replaced the weathered lattice with new white. He knows how I love white. Don't tell him, but I think I liked the weathered ones better. I saved them and will use them in the garden somewhere else.

One of the best signs of spring is the weather being warm enough to eat outside. Our first dinner outside this week with our oldest Grandson, Kyle. He goes to college here in Bakersfield, but still lives in Tehachapi, so 2 days a week he comes over between classes and has dinner here.

We love every minute spent with this handsome 21 year old. He weeded my flower beds last week as my knees won't allow me to anymore.

Finally to my sewing project earlier this week. Our youngest grand turns 6 on Monday and she still loves for me to make her dresses. I showed you the fabric in the last post. Mr. SS asked me what I love most about sewing (since I seem to be doing that all the time). I said that I love fabric and turning a flat folded piece into something pretty is just so fun. It could be a pillow, a quilt, or any number of things I make for my home and others, but a dress that makes a little girl squeal has got to be the best.

I've got to hurry off and get ready for a swim meet for Drew, the high schooler and a basketball game for Jack the...athlete. He is so much like his Papaw...a story for another time.

Wishing you a great weekend, a happy Spring and as always,