Ready to Go

We are ready to go!

The felt book is finished.

Below is the cover.

Inside cover.

The bear has some glasses.

More accessories will come later.

The car race pages below.

The apartment building is my design.

The heart in hand is open at the bottom for little hands to reach in.

The flower is free hand, adapted from a picture.

The door opens and Elmo says, 'Hello'.

A rabbit looks out the bottom window.

A happy dog waits upstairs.

Two cool cats look out the upstairs window.

The last pages are for counting, colors, and shapes.

Big brother can help with these.

I made a simple bag to store the book.

There is a hook and loop closure.

What's blooming around here?

Chaste lilac.

Haven't seen any hummingbirds yet.

Hope they come soon.

Just a few things left to pack, then we are off.

Can't wait to see the grands.

Green for May

Here is one green block for May. 

The other block is cut out but I have been so busy working on

a birthday gift that I haven't finished the second block.

Until next month,

Janice

The Making of a Felt Book

I am making grandson David a felt book.

There is a pattern but I kind of did my own thing.

Here are the beginning pages.

The heart in hand was one of the patterns I used from the kit.

I added the free hand flower on the side.

There was a pocket pattern but I found these bits leftover from a baby quilt.

I added some lining and used a blanket stitch to secure it to the page.

There will be a snap closure.

Here is the cover. I cut out the letter free hand from scraps then used a tiny blanket stitch that is on my sewing machine. I sewed the front and back of each page together with a running stitch using 

DMC Pearl Cotton. The plan is to finish the book tonight. Fingers crossed.

I have finished one green block for the Color Challenge. The other block is cut out but may not be finished before we leave to visit the grands in NYC. 

Quick Cases for Gifts

Last week end I worked on these sunglasses cases.

I had some random 10" X 10" squares leftover from making

soup bowl cozies.

Sunglasses cases need 2 fabric rectangles 9" X 10" and

one piece of batting the same size.

They were super easy to sew. 

I watched several shows on Netflix and was done with 23 cases.

Gave them to students today. They had fun choosing their favorite fabric.

I bought the Goldilocks panel for Ava. I have a long list of waiting projects

but hope to make this before her birthday.

There won't be much sewing this week end but I hope to cut out

the quiet book for David.

Two weeks until we visit our NYC boys.

Rainy Saturday Sewing

This little cutie spent the night last night. Today she is on her way to the beach with her parents.

Last night I made this doll dress for her baby doll. 

The doll didn't make the trip so we will have to wait to see how if fits.

We woke up to rain and it seems like it has settled in for the day.

I plan to finish these small cases for my students. 

The next project is the quiet book for David. My daughter bought the kit and gifted it to me.

Liam will be six soon, so I think baby David will be the recipient.

We will see the boys at the end of May. 

I hope to have the quiet book ready to take to David by then.

What are you working on? How's the weather?

Memories of VBS

Last Sunday I was asked to make an announcement about VBS (Vacation Bible School). That brought up memories of summers when I was a child.

We went to church, as some people say, every time the doors were open.  VBS was held in the mornings for a week in the summer. Actually, I remember some two week sessions of VBS.

These are the things I associate with those days:

• Eating butter cookies - the ones with the hole in the middle stuck on my fingers like flowers
• Playing Red Rover and Freeze Tag in the church yard
• Hydrangeas - one of the teachers usually brought some to decorate the classroom
• Arts and Crafts - one year we made a key shaped key holder with hooks for hanging keys
• Seersucker summer dresses or skirts
• Lining up on the front steps of the church ready to march in
• Waiting for the 'Sit Down' cue from the organist
• Saying the pledges to the US flag, Christian flag, and Bible
• Getting to participate in the opening worship by passing the offering plate or holding a flag or Bible
• Friday lunch with fried chicken, pimento cheese sandwiches, olives, pickles, and chips

At least one summer we went to VBS twice, once at our church and again with our cousins in Georgia at their church.

I was the kid who loved school, looked forward to Mondays, and read all the time on the week ends.

So, VBS was a welcome part of summer for me. It was like school but with a different mix of classmates. We only went in the mornings. It was too hot in the afternoons in Mississippi to do anything but go to the pool or read a book in the hammock. 

My first teaching experience was in VBS. I was in high school and old enough to teach a small group under an adult's supervision. I had as much fun as a teacher as I had as a student. When I grew up and grew away from going to church, VBS was the thing that drew me back. I saw a notice asking for VBS helpers and I volunteered. 

Nowadays VBS at my church is in the evening. So many people work and children are enrolled in summer camps or daycare instead of staying home during the day. I still like helping with VBS. But the kids today don't know how much fun it was to line up on the front steps and march in to the sound of the organ blasting out a rousing hymn. 

Do you have good memories of childhood summers?