Embroidery Update etc.

January girl is almost finished. Just need to do her hat, ear muffs, and french knot accents. I watched a video on french knots and feel confident I can do them. I can work on this while watching TV.

The Christmas wall hanging will be finished this week. The backing fabric came and it is not quite big enough. So I will use some of the leftover fabric to make a pieced back. 

I have one more thing to finish before Christmas. I have a plan to make a bag for baby Ava.

On one side I plan to make a patchwork house with these animals at the door and windows.

I hope to fix it so the door opens and there is the fox.

The windows will reveal the owl and hedgehog.

The other side will have a zipper for her to zip. If there is time I want to make felt objects that would be in a pocketbook like cell phone, compact, and lipstick.

No school this week so let the sewing begin!

Getting ready for Christmas

Here is the box we sent to Liam & David and their parents for Christmas.

Mr. M. made cookies and peanut brittle - he's the baker & candy maker at our house.

The box was mailed Friday and should get to NYC before the big day. Wish we could be there, too.

Surprise snow! When I woke up Friday everything was covered in a beautiful blanket of snow. 

Middle Mississippi is never prepared for snow so most schools were closed.

I love this photo of our side yard wreath with a snow trim.

And you ask, "Did any sewing happen this week?"

I worked on a baby gift for a first time grandmother. Jolyn is a long-time friend and we now teach at the same school. Her first grandbaby is due in March. I had to make her a giant 9 patch floor quilt.

The love bird fabric has been waiting for the perfect person.

I found the cherry print last week on my way to the conference. Sorry for the blurry photo.

It will be a great backing for the love bird quilt.

How is everything in your part of the world?

A Little Christmas

Mr. M was busy this week putting up Christmas decorations.

Here and there...

And over here.

I finished 6 soup bowl cozies. Happies for the ladies in the office who help so much.

Two schools with different school colors.

And for a laugh - Mischief the cat likes to drink her water from the bird bath.

So silly.

How was your week?

My Busy Week

This week has been very productive. I finished Ava's jacket last Saturday.

On Monday I sewed the curtains and Mr. M. fixed the curtain rod and the curtains were hung.














Monday afternoon I cut out all the pieces of this Christmas wall hanging. Tuesday and Wednesday I sewed all the
pieces together. Every quilt is a learning experience
and this was no different. I'm pleased with the
final results. Now I'm waiting for the backing
fabric and batting to be delivered.











Wednesday afternoon we drove to our son's house. I gave Ava her new jacket. She may have to grow a little to be able to wear it. We had a great visit.
Now we are back home and I may be able to get some more sewing done. But if I don't at least I finished everything on my list!








Next week will be busy but I plan to work on my embroidery in between times. It's good to have a portable sewing project.

How was your week? Thanks for stopping in.

Sewing plan for the week

I have a plan for this coming week. Sewing, sewing, sewing - and no cooking.

But first some progress reports....

January Girl - I have done most of the writing.

Knitting - I made another square and bound it off. Haven't had the official lesson, so I'm going to put knitting aside for the week and concentrate on sewing.

Sorry for the blurry photo. This is the pocket for Ava's jacket. The plan is to finish the jacket this weekend.

After the jacket is finished I'm sewing up this fabric into simple curtains for one window.

We are going to Memphis for Thanksgiving with Joey, Jessie, and baby Ava.

When we get back home the plan is to spend the rest of the week sewing this fabric into a wall hanging for Christmas. We don't have room for a big tree, so this will give us a festive look.

Looking forward to a productive week. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Post Script:

I finished Ava's jacket Saturday night.

Can't wait to see if it fits.

And....the curtains are finished, too!

Very simple, unlined but still a finish!

The Christmas wall hanging is cut out and ready to stitch. Then I will have to wait for the backing and batting to get here - - probably after Thanksgiving.

Little Bits of This & That

This is the first week of earlier dark and I'm glad to have many projects to fill in the time.

First a sort of finish-

I watched some videos by Knit Purl Hunter and decided to try binding off on this practice piece.

Success! A little messy but I did it.

Next up a visit with mom yielded this variety of knitting needles and crochet hooks.

I don't even remember mom knitting. The five items on the left are crochet hooks. I've never needed anything that long before. 

This is my first attempt at following a knitting pattern.

Well, actually the second attempt because I pulled out the first try. I forgot to move the yarn from back to front when I changed stitches. I'm waiting for my teacher to officially teach me how to bind off. I think I may try the pattern again and see if I can be a little neater.

Last bit - I started the January Calendar Girl. I couldn't wait any longer.

I need very good light to work on this. The embroidery needles I bought are hard to thread so I may have to get a different brand.

In other news, I decided to embroider a cat on Ava's jacket. She dressed up in a cat costume for Halloween and the cat pattern is cute, so cat it is.

How was your week?

So Much to Sew

The lining of Ava's jacket is finished.

The shell is finished. It's a blush pink-very pale pink.

Waiting to finish. Embroidery for the pocket is the next step.

Below - Yahoo! January - the first of the Calendar Girls - came today. Can't wait to start.

It comes with pattern, directions, thread, fabric, and buttons.

From Stitches of Love.

This should be fun.

And after 12 months there will be a quilt made with all 12 girls.

A little progress on the knitting lessons.

Today I learned the purl stitch, so now I can knit & purl.

Just have to remember which is which.

And I have an assignment to begin.

Ready for those long winter evenings.

What are you sewing?