repurposed boy shirt

Lou had this adorable light blue 'chick magnet' shirt from like two years ago that he had more than outgrown. I would have just thrown it in the 'save for future cousins' box (no pressure to my siblings!), but it was stained a bit too.

I picked up a long sleeve t-shirt on clearance for $1.00. There was a tiny little pocket on the front which I carefully removed. He doesn't look like a guy who would stain up shirts, now does he?

I relocated the pocket to the side, cause you never know when you need to carry around something small.

To the light blue shirt, I ironed on some wonder under behind the part of the shirt I wanted to save. Then I just cut out the picture. I had to cut closely to avoid before mentioned stains.

I peeled off the paper from the wonder under and ironed it to the new shirt. One simple stitch around the edge on the sewing machine and done. The chick magnet is back in business.

quilt along- week three

With all the fun and excitement of this past week, I got a little behind.


Here's last weeks assignment: sewing the quilt top together (for full details, look here at I have to say)

5 rectangles and 5 squares are sewn in each row. There were to be 20 rows. She said we were to put the rectangles in a bag and draw them randomly, but I couldn't do that. I hung my strips on the wall and planned them out about one or two at a time. The strips are sewn, but not sewn together yet. I'm on it though. I really thought the quilt was going to be darker, but adding the natural colored squares really made it light and springy. It's also going to be larger than I thought. I think all three of my loves will be able to snuggle with me under this one!


Leftovers: I have some other fun ideas for these guys.

Here are my previous weeks:

Week 1: choosing and preparing your fabric

Week 2: cutting the fabric

carol's meal

A couple weekends in a row, we did some football related watching and eating with our neighbors. Carole, my crafty blogging friend, apparently cooks too. Hubby went on and on about how good everything he had eaten there was. On and on, really. I had to remind him that while it's ok to compliment another woman's cooking, it's not ok to go on and on about it. Thankfully I spied as Carole made this now requested dish. I'm sharing all her secrets on these yummy ranch potatoes and baked chicken 'wings'. Sorry Carole, you messed with my mans stomach. (Totally kidding, I love Carole- even when she wakes me up to go to the gym at 4:45!)

Ranch potatoes:
Start with a nice bowl of diced potatoes. Toss in some olive oil.

Sprinkle on a packet of ranch dip, the dry powdered kind.

Bake until they are nice and tender. I think I baked 45 minutes or so. The kids and hubby went crazy and ate them all. (this picture is from Carole's kitchen, but mine looked just as good, almost)

Baked chicken wings/pieces:

Cut up chicken breast (or whatever cut of chicken you have handy) in pieces. Dip pieces in milk, then in a breading mix. I keep a container in the freezer of cornmeal, wheat flour, corn meal, seasoned bread crumbs and some seasoned salt.


Here's the assembly line: milk. breading. sauce (we used Ken's steak house honey mustard- Carole also did BBQ sauce some in hot sauce), then pan. (I set this up backwards, it makes more sense to work left to right...)

Bake the chicken until it's thoroughly cooked. I think I baked for 40 ish minutes. The sauce got yummier the longer it cooked. This picture again is from our neighbors house, but mine were pretty too.

While I'm talking about Carole, I might as well mention that she has some fun new bags listed in her her shop. Go take a peak, they are so cute and well priced.

Happy birthday to me

Saturday was my birthday. I went out and spent my birthday money on a new pair of running shoes. I spent more on these shoes than I've ever spent on a pair of shoes before. I never even try on shoes this nice. In these shoes, it's like I'm running on clouds. OK, it's not really that great- but I do like them. I don't really have big feet, although this picture makes them seem huge. I have scrawny ankles. Pasty white scrawny ankles.

I also picked up a new bird feeder. I hate birds, but we have really gotten into watching them feed in the back yard. The birds and I have a gentleman's agreement. I buy sunflower seeds and they agree not to die in my yard or land on my toes when I lay in the hammock. So far, so good. Not 15 minutes after I hung it up, we had several tufted titmouse (would the plural be titmice?) and chickadees visit to feed. I'll have to add the tufted titmouse to our bird book. We've never seen one at our house, just at the nature center.

Look what else arrived today. I won a giveaway at Max and Ellie last week. How fun is this book! I have a few projects I need to finish up this weekend, and then I have some new ones from this book to get started on. Thanks Melissa!

surgery update

Hubby's surgery went great. He is now home and resting. The surgeon said that his ruptured disk was one of the larger ones he has seen. He also said that it looked like it had been a chronic situation, like perhaps all of hubby's past back issues might be resolved now. What an answered prayer! (on a side note, his surgeon is a neurosurgeon, but before that, we was a rocket scientist... hmmm)

He only had to stay at the hospital 23 hours and I was able to bring him home Friday morning. He isn't allowed to leave the house for a week and a half. He is to lay, sit, and to do a little bit of walking. He is sore and stiff, but the pain in his leg is gone.

Thank you for all your kind words, prayers, and well wishes. There are several weeks of recovery ahead, but I think he is on the mend.

felted gardenia wool beach tote

My brother and sister in law picked out this super nice wool for me for Christmas. I told myself I wouldn't start until I finished this bag. The day after I did though, I got right on this one. I made a few changes (made it bigger), but mostly used the beach tote pattern from the book, Uncommon Crochet. There are three other projects in there I am excited to try. My librarians must be crochet and knitting fans because we have a large selection of these book in our town. Lucky me.

I really actually liked the pre felted size so I didn't let it wash in the hot water using the felting process too long. This pink is called gardenia (which is funny since gardenias are white... maybe there are a number of varieties?) and it says spring to me. I think we could use a little spring right now.

I love the finished bag. I added a super big flower just for more fun. As if the color wasn't enough.

I can't wait until spring. It's making it's maiden voyage to the hospital Thursday morning.

This bag went together so quickly. I'll never knit another one. Crochet is the way to go!

nurse

I joke that I should have had hubby get a physical before we married. Well, add this to the list. He is having surgery this week. He has a ruptured disk in his back. I guess it's caused some pain for him. A lot of pain. Can't sleep kind of pain. Can't sit, can't stand, can't walk kind of pain.

I will be playing nurse this week. I'm not sure I'll have time to blog, or maybe I'll have lots of time to blog. I don't know. If I'm out for a few days, that's what I'm doing. I have some crocheting to do and I'm thinking I'll have some time in waiting rooms!

sewing lessons, pattern testing, good readers

I've been doing two new and super fun things this month. I was asked to give some sewing lessons to a mom I know through Bee's preschool. I've helped friends complete projects before, but never sat down to teach someone the basics. She's been a great student, eager and excited to learn to sew. She inherited a super nice machine, so it's been fun to work with not only her, but her fancy machine! It was necessary to start at square one. We spent a good amount of time practicing sewing a strait line. Three hours later and she ended up with a really cute valance. She did 100% of the sewing. I don't know who was more proud. She just told me today that her daughter wants a heart shaped pillow. I see our next project!

Also, I asked Jessica at Happy Together if I could be a pattern tester for her. She sews the cutest things and loves to repurpose old clothing just like I do. Recently, she's gotten interested in selling her patterns. Before she can sell a pattern, she needs to work out all the kinks using pattern testers. That's where I come in. She sent me all the patterns and directions to make this super cute, mod tie shirt. I don't think I can share a picture of it yet, but it's a cute pattern and makes a fun shirt. I can't wait to show it off. Here's a sneak peak. It's waiting for a little body to try it on when she wakes up.

Look what a kind reader sent me (and this time it's not my grandma!) a sushi rolling mat and cook book. I guess she didn't approve of my dish towel rolling method. I think all the pieces are falling into place... I'm going to get this sushi thing! Thanks Amanda!