in honor of the grinch, a birthday and my grandma - but not necessarily in that order

I'm sure you've seen this guy:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?
 -----Dr. Seuss




I love the book, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".  I guess I've always loved it.  When I was 'no more than two' we spent Christmas at my grandma's house.  I really was no more than, well, two!

and we celebrated my birthday while we were there. 

I don't really remember that Christmas, but I do remember the story that I loved to hear my grandmother tell. 

My grandma at my wedding - I love her smile! - images Justin Hackworth

She would always tell me that I would pester her to read me that story EVERY day.  And the good grandma that she was, obliged me.  And then she gave me a nickname.  Can you guess what it is? That's right! Amylouwho! 

The way she told it, our conversations would go something like this:
Gma: Hello, amylouwho!
Me: Grandma, it's plain Amy.
Gma: Okay, plain Amy.
Me: NO, grandma, just. plain. Amy!!!
Gma:  Okay, just plain Amy.
Me: Grandmaaaaaa.

and the circle would go on and on....  I'm sure my whiny 2 year old voice made my responses THAT much cuter (or not.) And my protestations made it that much easier for it to stick.  I guess it didn't help that my mom is 2nd oldest of 11 siblings and they thought it was so fun to call me that EVERY time we came to visit.  They still call me that.  But I don't mind so much anymore.

Yay for 4 generation shots! May 2006

I started using it for screen names, log-ins, emails, etc. when I started using a computer so much.  And when I switched the name of my blog a few months ago, it only seemed fitting.  And now that I think about it, a great tribute to my grandmother who was an avid quilter (she made a baby quilt for each of her 46!!! grandchildren) and one of my favorite people.  Today is my birthday and later this week it's been 3 years since she passed away after a very long, productive good life.  She sure touched many lives, mine included.  She is definitely missed.

I had hoped to put a little PDF tutorial together to give to you to celebrate my birthday - but you know how this month goes - so much to do and so little time!  So I thought I'd just share a little bit about me instead.  Is that lame?  I hope you enjoyed it!  In return, tell me a little bit about you - where you are from and maybe your very favorite thing you've ever created. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

no-sew felt christmas tree skirt - tutorial

If you are anything like me, there may be some things you put off at Christmas.  For me, I can't even begin to count.  But I decided this year I REALLY wanted a tree skirt.  But I didn't do anything about it (notice the date....)

(here's my moments shot for you - see how the bottom foot and a half isn't really decorated... I have two small kids, need I say more?)

I was unexpectedly at Joann's last week and saw the red felt and though - hmmm, how could I do this?  It was a 72" wide bolt, so I decided to buy 2 yards so I would have a square.  I figured the least I could do would be wrap it haphazardly around the tree.

I've been mulling it over in my head all week what to do.  And once I figured out what I wanted to do and maybe how to do it, I was excited to get it done.  And there was no sewing involved - it's so easy!  But, the best part?  The felt cost me $10 and it took about 10 minutes to cut it up!

I figured I'd better get busy, since today is the last day to link up with Natalia's Homespun Holidays!



So while my husband was watching a football game I went to work.


Supplies:
72" square piece of flannel
Dissapearing ink pen/chalk
String
Can, bowl, plate, or something else circular
Scissors
Embellishments

1. I took my felt and folded it in fourths.  I marked the center with a curve using my #10 can. This way I will have a bit of a hole for the skirt to wrap around the trunk - you can eyeball this to match you tree/stand.

2. Next, grab your disappearing ink pen or chalk (I used a sharpie so you can see it).  Tie your marker to a string.  Get the cute guy watching football on the couch to hold the string firmly in the corner (during a commercial) so you can trace an even curve from the bottom right corner to its kitty corner.

 

It should then look like this!

3. Next, take your circle template and trace a scallop design along the circle edge.  I probably could have made my scallops a little bigger, but I like it.

4. Then cut along your cutting lines: center circle (on left) and scalloped edge.

5. Finally, unfold your circle (isn't it cool?) and cut along one of the fold lines to the center.  I picked the least pretty edge, since this will be in the back.  I can put the sharpie side down and my prettiest scallops are in the front.

6. Lay it under your tree and see how it looks!

I think this would be cute with ric rac, pom poms, sequins, little trees and birds. . . oh, the possibilities!  I have plans to embellish mine with snowflakes.  I'm hoping it will look something like this (these are foam snowflakes from the dollar store):

Maybe next year.

If you make one - I'd love to see it!  You can add it to my Flickr tutorial group!

serendipity + amy butler

I just mentioned yesterday that I was thinking about a baby quilt with the luscious LOVE line that I won.

Then I got this in my email today.  If I wasn't sure about this fabric line before, well, I certainly am in LOVE with it now!

Seriously, GO watch THIS VIDEO, right now.  Not that I'm ordering you around or anything.

I want to live in that room and wear that pink and white duster.

snowed in!

Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes for my little one last week - and your kind comments.  I worry about what to share sometimes, but I like to share what's on my mind - and well, my experience with that first pregnancy is always on my mind this time of year - especially this year as I'm pregnant again.  So thanks - I love this wonderfully supportive blogging community and the friends I've made here!

While we're on the subject of babies, look at what I found at Costco, in a newborn size!

Yep, that's right!  Another girl!  I can't wait to start making baby quilts!  I already have 3 in mind!!

Maybe a sawtooth star with Tula Pink's Hushabye?  Or a coin quilt with Chez Moi's Swanky?  or a Pinwheel with something else as equally adorable - like that Amy Butler Love I won!?  Oh the possibilities...
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You may have heard about a little storm we had here on the east coast.  We got 18" of snow in 24 hours at my house.  Not that unusual if I were still living in Utah, but I'm in Virginia!!  They are reporting this as the biggest storm in the DC area since 1922!  Crazy!

My kids loved it! Especially eating it.

 *****

It's kind of nice getting snowed in!  I had a lot of time to get some baking, cleaning and sewing done!  I got the Paisley Garden Mini Sig. finished!

 

I tweaked it a little from the last time, and I really like it!  It's a bit bigger and taller with a wider base. 

 

I put in a light green zipper and lined it with a bubble gum pink linen.  I really like the solid interior and printed pocket.

  

I finally got some new labels made with my awesome new printer (that actually will print on things other than regular copy paper!  Cardstock and Lollychops here I come!)  I used dear Penny's tutorial for making these. 

Here she is with her big sister - the Paisley Garden Signature bag.  And I think I like this print in a smaller dose....

I think I need to go make myself one of these little beauties right now!
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The mini-me dress is almost finished.  Church was cancelled Sunday, so I didn't rush to finish it.  She loves it - I just hope I will still be able to fit into mine by the end of the week!

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Don't forget Natalia's Homespun Holidays show and tell!  I need to go link up! 

sew & tell - what a week!

Welcome to our last Sew & Tell of the year!  Never fear though, we will be back on January 8th to share those gifts you've all been working on that you can't show us yet!

I know we have a lot of new people joining us each week and I love it!  I just thought it might be good to restate the goals, rules and guidelines, so that we can have the best experience possible each week!  (Irrelevant or non-following posts will be deleted.)
*Our goal here is to have a place to share projects that have been completed in the past week.
1. Link to your specific post (email me if you have questions about that.)
2. Please mention us here and link back to this post so everyone can join in.
3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

I just love the comraderie and great inspiration we are getting each week!  Thank you all so much!  (and yes, I am still behind from commenting on last weeks,  but this week has been INSANE...)

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Speaking of insane weeks, I have hardly had a chance to sew this week.  I am working on a smaller version of this bag:

And I'm working on a mini-me version of this dress:

 

It's a little jumper!  Both of these have to be finished by tomorrow - so I'll post the finishes and link up myself!

P.S. - that bag from a couple weeks ago is for sale!  See the link on the upper left to go to my etsy shop! I hope to find it a good home!

Your turn - see above guidelines and then link away!!

4? really?

It was four years ago yesterday that our first baby joined us!  It was somewhat stressful time as I was really sick but didn't know just HOW sick.  I was grateful for an induction and epidural!

Because I had never been pregnant before, I didn't know that how I felt the last month was anything other than normal pregnancy sickness.  Little did I know I was on track for a 2 week stay at the hospital after she was born.

Here she is visiting me - if you look closely you can see my lovely bruised up arms (from so many blood draws) and skeletal wrists.  In addition to the weight you lose inherent to having a baby I lost another 20+ pounds in a couple weeks.  Not really my recommended post-partum weight loss program.


I'll spare you most of the details (mostly because I can't think too much about it without getting teary) but in short, 10 days after she was born I was taken to the ER with a blood pressure of 180/130, had two post-partum eclamptic seizures, a blood clot in one of my ovarian veins and a small stroke in my left ear.

1 year

The good news is that my baby was fine.  She has been so healthy!  I have mostly recovered, I mean, I'm fully functional and have gone on to have one more healthy pregnancy and delivery (and hoping for the same this time around).  It was a totally crazy experience, and every time I tell a doctor about my  history they give me a look like, "and you're still here?"  and I reply, "I'm not making this up!"

2 years

She is such a fun, spunky little girl.   And is constantly saying and doing funny things.

The big 3!

She is a great big sister and loves being with her friends.  Right now she's definitely into dress up and other girly things.  And she's convinced she's getting a baby sister this spring. We'll find out tomorrow!

I love my pretty in pink girl!  I'm so honored to be her mother.

gingerbread house overload

Last week was a little crazy!  We had so much going on.  But one thing we finally did was get the decorations on the tree!  I had the help of several little elves, not over 3 ft. tall.  This is what happens when they help:

I call it the ornament belt.  If it wasn't weighting the branches down so much, I might have left it!  Oh and those cute little present ornaments?  They just couldn't stand not knowing what was inside.... oh well.  Presents were meant to be opened, right?

And what tree is complete without a S'more Man?

 

This ornament is an antique, I'm sure.  I remember putting it on our tree as a kid.  She reminds me of the claymation Christmas movies!

*****

If it weren't for good friends who help me out so much my daughter never would have had the chance to make her first "gingerbread" house!

I was out getting the last few things for another gingerbread activity I was in charge of that night, while they did this!

I was completely stressed out prepping for about 20 teenagers to make houses too - but I was totally happy with how everything ended up working out.  They had a lot of fun and were so creative!  I mean really, check it out!

Two castles and a mansion complete with Hershey's kiss bell tower!

*****
We had a great showing for Sew & Tell on Friday!  I'm still working on last weeks posts - I promise I'll get to them!  I have a 4 year old's birthday party to plan for tomorrow and a few more other things to get done this week.  I really need to get some sewing done!  Would you be shocked to know I have another bag to make?  Are you sick of seeing my bags yet?  I also have a dress to make for my daughter....

What are you planning on sharing this Friday?  Remember this is our last one until after the first of the year!  And then we'll have a gift reveal extravaganza!!

sew & tell - another bag!

Do you ever have those weeks where you feel like your schedule is barreling down on you like a tailgating semi?  Well, that's what I've felt like recently!  I actually finished this bag Monday morning - I was on a roll after my bag finish from last week.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten anything sewn that I meant to the rest of this week.  And I have several blog posts I wanted to share, but are still in my head....

I spent most of my week planning a big activity for the teenagers at church to have a gingerbread house building contest.  I spent most of my time tracking down candy and making royal icing.  It turned out to be really fun, for which I am glad, but I spent all day Thursday recuperating.  And I haven't been through my blog reader practically all week!

This bag is for my SIL who just had her third baby and 1st girl.  She picked this fabric out when she was here last spring, and I finally got it finished!  Now, to get it in the mail.  Always a challenge!

dang it! something just happened and this got published before I finished writing it! Anyway.....

This is the dahlia print from Sandi Henderson's Farmer's Market line.  I just love it!

Medallion bloom on the inside - One of my all-time favorite prints.  It's so cute in orange.  I've started using grosgrain ribbon for the key hooks.  Not only is it faster, it feels a little sturdier and is fun to find matching colors or polka dots!

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For the time being, I think we will keep Sew & Tell on Fridays.  It was kind of split, and the button says Friday right on it, so we'll just leave it alone for now.  Thanks for your enthusiasm for this weekly get together!  I really enjoy it as well.

Your turn to share your finishes from this week!!
Please follow these guidelines (links will be deleted otherwise)
1. Link to your specific post (email me if you have questions about that.)
2. Please mention us here and link back to this post so everyone can join in.
3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

shock and awe

I wrote about a "shock and awe" makeover I was planning to this patio set last October.  I actually did the makeover shortly after that post, but never got around to photographing it properly (still don't know if I photographed it well) and blogging about it.

Since one of the chairs is featured on my new header I thought I'd show you the whole thing!

So here is the before.
Not bad - It's actually cute yellow.  But the vinyl on the seats was old and the paint was beyond cleaning in some spots.   I bought this the first year we were married in a charity shop in Palm Springs.  I was so excited to have a table and chairs for our little patio at the time.   But after several years of intermittent use,  I was contemplating passing it on to someone else.

And then, the light bulb moment.

I had seen all sorts of things people were painting with spray paint and I thought, "Huh, I could do that.  It could only look better and if I don't like it, I'll paint it again!"

So here you go! 

Are you shocked it's aqua blue?  And I just love the curly Q design on the table and seat backs. Oh la la! C'est tres French!

The seats needed some pizazz too.  I loved this Pineapple Brocade from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden line.  SO cute.  I took off the ugly yellow vinyl the existing seat covers and got out the staple gun, the fabric and some clear vinyl.

I love these chairs so much they are often inside as extra seating in the kitchen, at the computer desk, or my sewing table.  If we didn't have so many darn mosquitos we might actually sit outside and use the table more often in the summer!  I don't think I could part with it now.

A note about recovering the chair seats.  I bought the vinyl off the big roll at Joann's.  I think it's typically used for table coverings.  I didn't buy heavy enough vinyl the first time and it got easily ripped.  So I ended up going back and buying a much heavier gauge vinyl and haven't had any problems since.

I guess if you used outdoor fabric to begin with you wouldn't have to use the vinyl.  But how could I have found anything this adorable in the waterproof section??

*****
Thanks everyone for your enthusiastic participation in Sew & Tell!  I'm really happy that so many of you find it motivating and fun to share and see what everyone is working on!  It's totally helping me stay on the ball too.

I had an idea about Sew & Tell.  How would everyone feel about moving it to Mondays after the first of the year?  I was thinking it might make more sense so that you all can have the weekend to work on your projects that you might want to share.  I'm happy to keep it on Friday if that's the majority - just wondered if anyone had an strong opinions either way.

Hope you had a great weekend and are enjoying this holiday season!

sew & tell - the bag is complete!

I finally finished it!  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I was really fretting over this bag - my client wanted a few modifications to my original pattern and I was nervous about making it work for her.  I hope she likes it!

One of the fabrics she liked was from the Snippets line by American Jane.  I liked it too so I got the coordinating stripe for the lining.

Instead of the two larger (diaper and wipe) sized pockets she asked for a cell phone pocket.  Luckily my husband has the same one, so I know it will fit!

She also opted for a zipper pocket.  I used this tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew.  It's pretty good, but it always takes me a few times doing it to really get it right.

It has the cute floral on the inside of the pocket....oh! I forgot to get a picture of that, just a sec.....

there we go! cute, right?  And did you notice the polka-dot key holder?

She also wanted the bag to be able to stand up on it's own.  I think I achieved that!

I was a little worried until I figured out how to line it.  I use Pellon's fusible Thermolam (thicker than their fusible fleece, and doesn't pucker if ironed with steam).  I typically only put the interfacing on the lining of the bag.  But I decided for more stability to line the outer fabric AND the lining.  I'd say it stands up on it's own pretty well!

Two straps were requested instead of the one messenger style.  I actually like this length. It hits right about the hip so you can tuck it under your arm while the straps hold it on your shoulder.

It's off to the post office my mailbox with a million stamps (that I got from the machine so I don't have to go back). Cross your fingers that it will be well-received!


P.S. There was a glitch with our Sew & Tell button over the long weekend.  I have new code over there on my sidebar.  If you are new - grab it if you'd like!  If you've had our button up - you'll need to switch to this new code.  Sorry for the trouble!

Time to share!
1. Link to your specific post (email me if you have questions about that.)
2. Please mention us here and link back to this post so everyone can join in.
3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

Can't wait to see what you've done!