What Happened to Play Clothes?

 I don't want to take Bitty Baby out of her box sew, I have been trying out the clothes I have made them as best I can working around all the plastic straps and wraps. Here is her new sun dress with matching panties.

And a floppy hat. I didn't have enough of the fabric to make a hat so I pulled some white scraps out. By adding the decorative stitching in matching thread color I think it will do just fine. Can't see from this photo but I also added an elastic strap to the hat, maybe the grands won't lose it on the first day of play!

Short post as I have a million things I need to finish up today after spending the day with DD#1 yesterday cleaning out the grands closets and drawers, OH MY.  Note to self STOP buying so many things for the Grands.

 Each kiddo had 2 large boxes of outgrown practically new clothes to be passed on to other families. DD#1 has a friend with two boys who receive Tyler's things, a cousin will be getting Mason's, another friend who has FIVE little girls will score with big Karsyn's. Were the closets and drawers empty when we were finished? Heck no they still have more than any one kiddo needs and then some. Tyler will have to have new pants once again as he is still growing like a weed. The boy is going to be super tall like his 6'5" Daddy.

When we had Ty boy try on his jeans to see if they still fit they were an inch or two short. DD threw them in the give away pile. Hey wait a minute can't he use those as play jeans I ask? She gave me the funniest look. Seems DD doesn't have a play clothes drawer for any of her sweet kidletts. We got to talking about when our DD's were little the first thing they had to do after school was to change into play clothes while I put together their after school snack. I took it for granted that our DD's had a play clothes drawer, not so.

Has the idea of good clothes and play clothes gone out the window? Hubby and I could never have afforded to keep our girls in good clothes year round, day in and day out. Our girls knew school clothes were just that, for school. The older things, stained and such were for playing in. The two were never mixed. We expected our girls to be neat, tidy and modest when they went out the door in the mornings. After school it was a different story! Ha DD#1 was always and still is a girly girl, her play clothes were mostly older dresses that we didn't think were nice enough for school. DD#2 and #3 were a different breed, they were TOM BOYS all the way. The only time I could get them in a dress was for school. Same with shoes, they had school shoes and play shoes.

I do believe DD might have had a light bulb moment as we were packing up boxes yesterday. I see a play clothes drawer coming around in the very near future!! Is is old fashion to expect children to know they shouldn't play in their nice things? The babies are a bit of a different story as they get changed OFTEN but by school age seems to me they need to learn the difference.

Hubby and I still have our play clothes rule in place. NO WAY is he allowed to go in the garage with his work clothes on. I would never dream of mowing the lawn, working in the garden, cleaning house and such in my good stuff. Has anyone else noticed this new way of dressing the kids in that they don't look like ragga muffins when they are playing in the dirt!?

Iron On

 After Kara left Friday I was excited to get back on the sewing machine for some me time. That is until I plugged in the iron only to find out it had burned out :( If I remember right I got maybe 2 years out of this one. Decided to replace it with the same thing on sale at Target. Why pay more than I have too as irons these days all seem to be made disposable.

One July 4th outfit for Bitty Baby done three more to go.

I was sew aggravated Friday night to find that my iron had gone out on me :( I hate, hate, hate that manufactures make such junk these days. Way back when I bought one of the FANCY overpriced irons on the market thinking it would last a lifetime, NOT. From here on out I will be sticking with the cheap ones knowing they might last only a couple of years.

We have had and are still having so darn much rain the Grands can't play in the back yard. On days that it's not raining (rare) the mosquito's just swarm the poor babies running us back in the house. Our little guys are outdoorsy kiddo's, being locked up in the house is not good for any of us!! Knowing we were going to have some heavy storms come in Saturday I decided to get Kara out and about early to burn off some energy. We started with breakfast at one of my favorite local joints (can we say cheap), followed by a romp at the park. On to CVS to pick up prescription drugs then on to a trip to Target for a new iron. What the heck she was enjoying all the in and out, seeing people and all so I threw in a trip to Goodwill to donate a few bags of things, last stop was the grocery store for her weekly banana fix. I hate doing errands, but Saturday they were down right fun. I tell you cabin fever is alive and well in our part of NC!!!

We got home just in time for yet another WHOPPER of a storm, were talking an additional 3 inches of rain in less than 2 hours. We were the lucky ones, many of the surrounding areas had over 10 inches once again. Who knows how long it will take to get all the washed out roads repaired. The school bus routes will be a nightmare come mid August.

On today's list is to head over too DD#1 for a day of organizing the kiddo's clothes. As with all kidlets they grow like weeds, time to see what all needs to be moved on to a deserving family. After that I plan on having some me time with the sewing machine. I have cut out WAY to many things for the little girls Christmas dolls, too many piles are sitting around. I think I have an obsession! Ha The problem is every time I walk past the sewing room I find fabric I need to use up that would be perfect for their dolls. I am all about unloading my stash and it's been fun making clothes for babies who will NEVER outgrow them!! 

All this stash busting has come at a price, not a dollar amount mind you. The price is my sewing room is upside down from pulling fabric, bits of ribbon, lace buttons, and notions from all around the room. Sewing room clean up will need to go on my To Do's for the week. I also need to find a storage solution for all these baby doll clothes. Our gift drawers and closet are stuffed to the gills with upcoming shower, Birthdays, and Christmas gifts. Another biggy in the sewing department is a commission T-shirt quilt UGHHHHH, my most unfavorite thing in the world to do!!! However this one will cover the cost of the second Bitty Baby with $$ leftover for our Christmas/Vacation account, sew I need to stop complaining.

Pattern trick

 Don't you just HATE cutting out pattern pieces from traditional patterns? After you finally find the pieces wrestling the thin paper I don't think anyone other than maybe Martha Stewart could fold it all back up so it fits in the envelope. I gave that crap up years ago.

 Now I cut out every single piece then put them in number order. Ya, its a real pain but in the end it works for me. Once everything is cut and in number order I take the directions for each garment/item then pull the pieces needed to make whatever it is. That item/garment then goes into a zip baggy that I label with the pattern number and the name of the garment/item. The little zip baggies slide right back in the pattern envelope like soft butter. Clear as mud right?

 This pattern took forever as each little garment came in 3 sizes Sm, Med, and Lg. I may never use the med or large patterns but rather than wad that paper up then sit on it so its flat enough to go back in the package I took the time to sort each an every thing.

 Now here is where the pay off comes in. While digging around in the sewing room looking for a lost may never to be found pattern I ran into this white with red stars leftover fabric. Hummm, This might make a cute 4th of July outfit for "Bitty Baby" In a skinny minute I pulled the pattern pieces I needed for a slip/bloomers soon to be a summer patriotic outfit for "Bitty Baby".  Sew fast and easy

 This may or may not be new to you but for one of my friends it was a happy surprise. From 1 yard of fabric I was able to cut out 3 night gowns by opening up the fabric lengthwise. Fold over just enough fabric that you need to cut on the fold.

 After that keep folding the fabric as needed to get more bang for your buck. If I were to go by the pattern diagram for cutting out I could have only gotten 2 gowns instead of 3. See my little helper in the background? Kara played like and angel today with all the scrap fabric. A rare day indeed for this rug rat!

Very, very little waste. Nothing big enough to even move to the scrap pile, Yippee! I have way more than I can ever use in the scrap pile already

I need a focus intervention!!! After cutting out three nightgowns today I ran into the red/white fabric. Do I stay focused on the nighties? Heck NO....I just had to start yet another project while the wheels were turning in my head. Did I cut out one 4th of July set? NO...I didn't stop until I had cut out 4.

What I should have been doing is sweeping the fabric, threads, and fuzzy's from the day. Mopping whatever Kara and AJ the beagle slopped on the floor, and finish mowing the back yard.  Oh what the heck, it's Friday night. A girls gotta party every now and then don't you think?.

I will pay dearly tomorrow for my unfocused ways. Everything I didn't do tonight will have to be completed before the Tasmanian devil (Kara) arrives in the morning.

 One of the 4th outfits is complete. I must say, I love it to pieces.  The cost, a big fat ZERO and one more piece of fabric has been removed from my stash. Oh ya, and when I complete the gowns thats even more stash unloaded. Repeat after me, I WILL NOT start anything new until I get everything piled up finished!!

Keeping up

 In order to get lunch on the table I turned on the TV for the grands yesterday a rare treat at our house. Karsyn and AJ the beagle danced to every song that came on but at least they were all in one place

 Even Tyler sorta set for a show

 a new favorite thing to do is dog piling on each other. Karsyn is very into playing dress up these days, I can assure you her mommy would never put purple and orange toghther! Ha

 after the little girls left Ty and I got in the garden to see if we could find anything worth having. He and his family will be eating fresh corn, a family favorite

 We were able to find a few more things in all the weeds

DD#3 brought a bag of surprise Preemie clothes her GF passed on to us for our baby dolls. With very little or any work at all I think they will work just fine.

Every joint in my body is aching this morning after keeping up with 3 of the grands yesterday!! Tyler has been wanting a day to himself at our house all summer but between his schedule and mine it never seems to work out. He was fine with the fact it would be Kara and himself for the day, that is until little sister Karsyn refused to go home with Mommy. The little girls finally cleared out around 4:00 so Tyler and I could have some us time.

I was hoping he would want to cuddle on the couch for a good movie, no such luck :( But at least I don't have to watch his every move!! How about some dinner out, maybe a favorite restaurant of yours? Nope he wanted to stay at home. We dined on eggs, bacon, and biscuits it's to darn hot with the air conditioner unit out to do much more than a quick meal this week. For desert we made home made ice cream so he was able to do at least some cooking with me. I had a time of it getting him to finally agree to go home at 8:00 PM, ugh!!

I hope today will be a recovery day since Kara will be the only one around. Breakfast out followed by some time at the park then we will finish the morning with a trip to the grocery store to restock yogurt and milk. Man our grands can pack in the food when I have them all!!

After I got the house cleared of the sweet things it was time to mow until dark. Let me tell you mowing with a 1968 tractor was an adventure I would just as soon done without. The gas peddle is not on the floor like the models of modern time, instead its a handle on the left dash board. I just know the neighbors must have gotten a kick out of watching me trying to hold on when I hit the wrong gear. Why is it everything seem to break down the minute hubby leaves town?

I'm feeling like it's Hexie time again in the evenings as I am missing having any handwork to do after a long day of kiddo time. Do you enjoy having something quite to work on in the evenings? I love to read a book before bed but these days I can't seem to read more than 2 pages before my eyes start crossing

Do You Color Outside the Lines?

 Here is the first nightie I made for the little girls "Bitty Baby" Christmas gift. I HATE it!! First off I'm not crazy about the fabric choice but Karsyn was set on this leftover fabric from my stash. Second the pattern calls for the opening to be in the front. Not only does this seem dumb to me but its ugly! The more I tried to dress it up and cover up the ugliness with decorative stitching the worse it got :(

 The other ugly to me instruction was to use pre packaged double fold bias tape. Not here to knock ladies who like packaged bias tape as it does have it's place sometimes but .....I think it can make some things look hoky poky if you know what I mean. Sew that's another change I made to the pattern.  It doesn't take any time at all to make your own bias tape from fabric scraps. The pattern also wanted you to use ribbon ties for the closure :( Anybody who has had more than one DD at a time can tell you Mommy is the one who gets stuck helping dress baby dolls with tie closures. That defeats the goal of having the kiddo's play so mommy can get the real house work, cooking, laundry, and everything else done. I made Sew many changes to this pattern

 Once I figured what all needed to be improved I tried again. Now I am happy. The front looks pretty, nice, and neat.

 I made my own bias tape to match the gowns, the closure is now in the back using Velcro, much easier for little hands to do their own changing of clothes. I did buy some pre-gathered lace as I had none in my stash

I found a pattern for a bib and a few other baby doll items but the cost was a crazy $18.00!! Besides the fact the other items were ugly.  Sew.. I made a pattern on my own. Hard to see from this photo but I dug into my scrapbooking stash to come up with a cute lace flower then added a pink button on top.

I have been sewing like a mad lady for the past two days making doll clothes for the grands. That is after I figured out how to make all the changes to the pattern. This seems to be what I do to sew many patterns. I think I can't color between the LINES!

Why is it that some companies make patterns so darn hard to follow and the results are so darn crappy? I have found the newer designers are much better with pattern design and instructions but I really wanted the more old fashion traditionalclothes for our new Christmas doll babies.

I Hate, Hate, Hate that companies, people, mommies think it's OK to dress their DD and baby dolls in all this hip, stylish, trashy stuff. Little girls and babies should look like little girls and babies. Take it from a Mother of three DD's the time will come soon enough that you will be fighting your DD's to not wear that trashy stuff on the racks!!!!

The first of our "Bitty Baby" dolls arrived yesterday along with her accessory kit and a crib for Nanny's house. I had forgotten I bought the crib, oops. I have to say the American doll companies quality is still TOP notch after all these years! Of course they have a price tag that matches that quality, ouch. I was telling a friend (love you Jackie) that even the boxes everything came in was over the top nice. I felt like a kid at Christmas who only want to play with the box the gift came in, it was so nice Ha

I can't say we won't ever purchase any outfits for the baby dolls but the majority will have to be hand made by this Nanny! Off now to shower and give the kitchen (factory) another once over to make sure I have all the scissors, needles, and pins safely put away as I have Kara for the next 4 days, she is a rascal for sure, into everything.

Do any of you get aggravated with patterns? Do you end up remaking just about everything you do with them or just give up and think you can't sew?

Just Karsyn

 My plan for yesterday's UFO was to work on a Teen quilt I had cut out way back when. Last September I think it was when we were on our yearly Harley trip. Figured if I started on Monday I could complete it by the end of the week.

 After giving the house a lick and a promise I was set up and ready to rock. Then the phone rang.
Karsyn "Nanny I need you"
Me "Aw karsi what's wrong"
Karsyn "Nanny I need you get me"
Me "OK, get Mommy on the phone"
Karsyn "Not Mommy!!! Just you"

I finally convinced her I had to talk to Mommy if she wanted me to come get her, so a play date for Karsyn was quickly arranged. Karsyn told me she needed to sew. OK, I got this a new quilt setting at the table. Nope that's not what she wanted. She needed a blanket for her doll house. NEVER let a two year old lose in the sewing room to pick out fabric! Ha She had a dozen different fabrics in her sweet arms before I could catch my breath.

 This tiny little blanket took over an hour!! Ha  My assistant slows me down a WHOLE lot.

 She played and played with that tiny little blanket.
Me "Karsyn what blanket do you want me to make next?"
Karsyn "Nanny you too slow, this is fine"
Works for me, I went ahead and made a doll night gown for the new to arrive Christmas gift. Mind you I had let Karsyn pick out the fabric
Me "Karsyn do you like this nite nite PJ's?"
Karsyn "They no fit me"
Me "I know, I made it for your babies"
Karsyn "Babies no like it, they like pink"
Me "Nice"

While playing at the kitchen counter Karsyn got into the drawer I keep straws and lids for our summer drink cups. "Look Nanny, I made a flower" Of course we had to pull out the "Just right" vase to put all the DYI flowers in then send a photo to Mommy and Daddy on "FACEBOOK" These kids know too much!

Nothing better than having a sweet toddler voice on the other end of the phone wanting to "Play with me" What's a Nanny to do but drop all plans and jump on the chance of some one on one time. The grands seem to come in a pack most days, which is fun but it's hard to get all the LOVIN passed around fast enough.

After Mommy dropped karsi off she ran back to the door and "Rocked it" (locked) so Mommy can't come back then marched into the playroom. What the heck, she was digging in the changing table drawer looking for "sumping" "Ta Da I find it" She told me she was staying with me forever and needed her nite, nite PJ's. Aww. We had a full day of girl time, mani/pedi's, playing house, sewing, dancing, all the normal stuff.

Mommy, Daddy, and the boys picked her up at 7:00 to return home. We sorta expected a hissy fit but since she hadn't had a nap all day I think the poor thing didn't have any fight left in her. She told me as she left "You just my Nanny, right not nobody else, right" Yep I'm all yours Karsi.

Oh the blessings hubby and I have had, there are so many but these little guys and gals.......Truly they are more than we deserve.

On to working on the teen quilt today and waiting for an air conditioner repair man :( Our downstairs unit has gone out. Please, oh please don't be broken too bad. I just bought an overpriced doll set!!

UFO and Diapers

 One more project completed!!

 With pockets on each side of the lining.

 What a pain in the rump making a diaper pattern for the soon to arrive Bitty Baby

 Played around with some decorative stitches. This one is OK

 But I like this one better

 Can't forget baby boys

 Not sure I am crazy about this one

Nice stack of diapers all for FREE!!

WooHoo a day off!! DD#1 and #2 are both out of town this weekend as well as hubby so I skipped Sunday dinner today. The bad part of skipping our family dinner is I will have no leftovers for this week, I hate cooking for myself :(

Sew what to do with a full day to myself? A little of should do's, a want to do, along with a field trip to the big box fabric store. How could I pass up a trip to the fabric store since patterns were on sale for $1.99 regular price $14.95. I found two super sweet patterns for the little girls Bitty Babies both are archive patterns LOVE that.

The must do's was of course a bit of housework then on to another UFO to knock out. I had made one of these purses..... who knows when and cut out a second bag with the leftovers but never got around to making the second bag that is until TODAY!!! Nice to get a little more out of this weeks UFO basket.

Then it was on to some playtime. The little girls like to put diapers on their dolls, Elmo, stuffed animals and such. You can bet I collect all those diapers to use on the real bottoms around this place. Who cares if I have to use duct tape to keep them on, that's what cute panties are for right? I checked the AM girl shop for the price on diapers but could only find them in a gift set. Knowing I could surely make some on my own I got busy playing around making a pattern and using scraps. I think I finally have it right with the ones I made up. I will wait until the new doll arrives before adding the Velcro on the sides to make sure I get a good fit. Nothing makes a new mommy madder than for babies diaper to fall off.

If and when I ever get the desktop PC running again I will scan the pattern in to share with whoever would like it. I might have done a little overkill on construting the diapers as I didn't think the white flannel I had in my stash was heavy enough. SEW I lined them all, top stitched after turning, then finished the edge off with some decorative stitching. These should hold up for years of play. I got 8 diapers out of what I think was 1 yard of flannel I had in my stash. Could have doubled the amount if I had not lined them but still a pretty good amount with not a whole lot of work. Best of all NO SPENDING!!

Let me tell you I had a hard time walking out of the fabric store with just the two patterns today. The wheels were turning on what I could buy to make some of the clothes from the patterns but I sucked it up and left spending less than $5.00. I know I have lots of stuff in my stash that needs to be used up that will work just fine. I will admit right here right now I am a fabricoholic.

Anyone else working on UFO's or Christmas gifts? Let the rest of us know so we can check out your creations. Off to tweek a pattern I am trying to make up for bitty bibs.

UFO and Christmas Shopping

 Quick easy finish. Potholders from leftovers of a casserole cozy I made back in the spring. Mark one off the UFO basket for the week

 Ouch!!! Not a cheap gift but we wanted to buy the little girls their first American girl doll this year. The set was $20.00 off, not that big of a deal considering what they cost but something off is better than nothing. This is our first purchase from the Christmas fund for the year, it was a whopper. The big girls and I are kicking around the idea of Santa bringing the gift set, Nanny and Papaw gifting the doll. The doll alone cost $55.00. The gift set alone cost $90.00. Purchasing the bundle saved us $20.00 plus the extra shipping Once the box arrives we will decide if we want to break it all up and split the cost, saving all of us a little cash.

WooHoo, there is something to be said for hanging on to some things for 30 years! Ha I only have two sets of patterns but I made lots of different things from these for our big girls WAY back when. No way, No how could we afford the clothes for the American Girl dolls my Dad gave our big girls one Christmas. I had no idea the doll clothes patterns had been retired :(  But don't you know after spending (wasting) time surfing the net I found this site http://www.agplaythings.com/AG%20Patterns/DollDressPatterns.html that you can download all the retired patterns for FREE!! Gotta love that!!



There is nothing to say other than hubby and I are overindulgent when it comes to the grands. I have had a wild hair to buy the little girls a "Bitty Baby" for awhile now. After looking over the latest catalog all week I decided to bite the bullet and hit the purchase button. In 5-8 days the first of two bitty babies should be on the doorstep. Next month we will purchase the other one. I have seen the babies on other shopping sites but I have had too many friends who have been ripped off over the years from less than honest sellers :(

I haven't paid attention to whats been going on with American Girl dolls in???? maybe 15 years. Our youngest DD is now 30 years old. If I remember right we have Molly, Kristen, Addy, Samantha, and one Bitty Baby all tucked away in the attic along with their clothes. Who knew the company has put out SO MANY new dolls. The little girls will inherit their mommies regular size dolls and accessories when they are older. If the mommies want the new models they are on their own HOWEVER.... This Nanny plans on making a few new outfits with the excess fabric I have on hand in the near future.

A trip to the attic is in order so I can dig around and find our old "Bitty Baby" along with all her gear for the grands to play with at our hose. Also need to hunt down the clothes for the regular size dolls so I will know what I should make too add to their wardrobe.

Check out this new blog http://www.janicefergusonsews.com/blog/ I have added to my blog list, sew many sweet things to drool over!!! Her smocking is oh sooo sweet. Someday.........I am going to try this.

Anybody else have your DD's old dolls you have held on too over the years for your Grands?

Grand Kinda Day

 WooHoo the sun is out. Had to get this quilt on the clothes line before the daily storm. Ha

 I'm looking forward to giving this hand quilting another try.

 UFO's I pulled to work on next week. Wish I could say this is all I have tucked away! Ha

 The grands enjoying a Popsicle before the fun begins

 The toddlers seem to eat as much as they play when they are at our house. They do love watermelon

Mason man is becoming a real boy. He loves to climb on the doll houses to bug the little girls.

After breakfast yesterday morning I had all 3 toddlers for a few hours, oh my! Ha Between the mosquito's and heat we spent most of the time in the house, double, oh my! Ha They really are good little kiddo's but man are they a handful. One of the biggest problems is keeping them feed. Morning snack was watermelon, cheese, banana's, ravioli, Popsicles, and vanilla wafers. Where do they put it all?

After DD#1 picked her two up I was looking forward to joining Kara for a little nap. Well that didn't happen :( What the heck, we loaded up for a trip to Target. We were in need of another baby for the doll houses before the little girls revert to bloodshed over the one we have.

As with each time I take one of the grands out for a special surprise they always want to get the others something. Kara picked out a mini Dora for the playhouse, just as I was pushing the cart away she says "stop Nanny, one for sissy too" aww, of course we got sissy one as well. Off to the checkout counter. "No Nanny, baby Mason too", how could I forget. Then it was on to the Lego's for a mini set for Tyler.

I am wondering if hubby and I are teaching these little guys to have the heart of a giver or the heart of a spender. What do you think? We don't really take then to stores much as we both HATE shopping but sometimes we want to take them out for a special treat, it always turns out the same way. We buy a little something for the one we have with us but always get suckered (not hard to do) in for buying for all.

I LOVE that they always think of each other. When I do any baking with them they have a great time putting together a container to take home and a second container for their cousins, same thing with crafts. They aren't old enough yet to know or understand that we donate their no longer used toys and clothes to others but that day will come in time. I know kiddo's learn by example, they get LOTS of examples of giving in our home and their own but I sometimes wonder if I should say no to buying toys for the ones that are not with us on the special outing.

What do you think?

Ta Da

 The Boo Boo quilt is complete!!  I will get some better photo's of it on the clothes line tomorrow but I couldn't resist taking a few last night after I finished it.

 I am lovin this sweet scallop edge. It wasn't as hard as I feared it would be, but cutting the binding on the bias sure uses up more fabric than normal.

 4 and 3/4 more inches of rain this week with more to come over the weekend. Needless to say the garden still can't be weeded :(

I did however bring in some peaches before the durn squirrels got them all. These are too small to can but the perfect size for snacking.

How can it be Friday already??  This week has flown by. Yesterday was a day of finishing up projects, and using up as much as I could, along with some badly needed house work. It feels sew good to have a few UFO's knocked out from the sewing room and a little less fabric in my stash!!

I will have Kara until Monday. I am thinking maybe she and I can get some baking done, in addition to a few "To Go" meals made up for the freezer. With hubby out of town once again I hate taking the time to cook for one. Freezer meals are the only way to go, fast, easy, and cheap.

Before I meet up with all the DD's and grands for breakfast out this morning I want to dig around in the sewing/scrap room for next weeks projects. I have to start Tyler's BD quilt next week, hope to finish it as well. Maybe pull out an additional UFO or two. I would be sew nice to clean out a few more of those.

It feels odd to have extra time on my hands this summer, I forgot how much time a large garden sucks out of my day. The garden is in such BAD shape I don't expect to have much canning to do this year other than tomato's and hopefully pickles. I need to check on our canned peaches to see if I should can a few more of those. Not being able to weed in the mornings and evenings due to all this rain was making me crazy for awhile but I am at the point where I just gave up. I have been kicking around the idea of starting over with a fall garden. Now I understand why my Grandmother use to "put up" more than we could use each year. You never know if the next years garden will be a BUST!!

Using it Up

 I planned on making 4 travel first aid kits for the DD's and I with an extra 2 for the gift drawer/closet. Once those were finished I didn't want to return the scraps to my stash. Really when would I ever really use fabric with nurse hats on it.

 Sew I used it ALL up. Grand total was 8 travel bags along with 3 smaller purse kits. I am really excited about the purse kits, what Mommy or Nanny couldn't use a band aid, bite stick, aspirin or such tucked in their purse?

 Remember the leftover's from the table runner tutorial a few weeks back? Used that up too on a zippy pouch, it too has been added to the gift giving drawer. Nothing wasted

Finally the boo boo quilt hand quilting is complete. I did a combo of hand quilting and straight line quilting. Wonder if that is against the quilting rules to do both on one quilt? Another first is using my scallop edge ruler. What the heck, figured I would throw another learning experience in on this unplanned quilt. Now on to the binding.

Can I just tell you how good it feels to use up all the scraps from these first aid travel kits!! My scraps and stash have gotten out of control, the last thing I need is to keep adding more. Same goes with the boo boo quilt. Had I not gone ahead and put the boo boo pieces together they would now be tucked in my sewing room just taking up space. I need to do this sort of thing more often or else hook some of my friends onto sewing/quilting so I can share my leftovers.

I have really enjoyed sitting in the evening doing hand quilting. It was a nice change of pace from working on hexie blocks that can get a little boring after a few days.

BTW I did pull a winner for the table runner tutorial awhile back but until I can get our e-mail back up and running I will have to hold off on announcing the winner. Can't mail out her package without an address :( Maybe I should spend this evening working on that problem...Yuck I HATE all this electronic stuff.