MY pleated beauty

Even though I haven't finished sewing up the remaining items on my gift list (I've completed only one out of three), I took a break to make something for myself. Inspired by this Pleated Beauty (from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing), I made one of my own using fat quarters from a stack of My Folklore fabric I purchased a while back.
I've made only one Pleated Beauty previous to this one. It was really big (like tote bag big), but that was fine because dear daughter used it for a dance bag. I made this one smaller so it would be more of a handbag. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's interesting how the design details evolve as you go along. I added an extra pocket to the interior, as well as a little ribbon and clip to secure my change purse inside. It was so much fun and now I'm looking forward to making more handbags.

This is Spring Break week for my two Juniors, and it's good to have our girlie home for a week. Before we know it, the spring semester will end and she'll be home for the summer (yea!) -- and then there will be non-stop Astros coverage at our house. Looking forward to baseball season. Yes.

hullabaloo

We had a great weekend. On Saturday, son, hubby and I had lunch with Deb and Judy at Chuy's. Great Mexican food! They were treating the three of us to lunch for our recent birthdays. Then we all went to a piano performance my son participated in, where the students perform and get a critique from a judge. He was great, of course!

On Sunday, hubby and I went to visit our beautiful daughter. We had lunch at the Hullabaloo Diner, which has been featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The outside was as entertaining as the inside. We saw roosters, hens, peacocks, a "fish" in an interesting spot, and a smiling tree.
After waiting outside for awhile - since they were really busy at lunch time - we got to sit at the counter, which was fun in itself. Once we smelled the coffee inside, we were all in the mood for breakfast even though it was lunch time. So we had eggs, biscuits with sausage gravy, omelets and home fries. Yumm!

Then we strolled through downwtown Bryan and topped off the day with scoops of Blue Bell ice cream at a cute little soda shop.

friday : : what's that?

Can you guess what this is? I know someone out there can (you know who you are). Leave a comment. C'mon!

And lookie there! My first day out with my new camera I found an Art Car in the parking lot while dropping son off at HCYA Sports Day this morning. What luck!

a birthday cake

After two chocolate cakes in two weeks (and three of us to consume it all instead of the usual four), it was time for a change. So I asked for my favorite Orange Cornmeal Cake for my birthday today, and hubby obliged (topped with cream cheese frosting). Delish!

I got The Sixth Sense DVD from my son (we love M. Knight) and my faaaaavorite Easter candy, Robin's Eggs, and . . .
a new camera! Yea! Son is especially happy since this means he regains ownership of his camera. Bless him for sharing it with me for so long and putting up with my blunders (don't ask). And I get to take my camera on the road now, which should be fun. Yesterday I saw a pretty good Dead Cart (see "amusing blogs" on right sidebar). Next time I'll be ready with a camera! And I'll take it with me this weekend because I get to celebrate with my sweet daughter when I go visit her.

So I was trying out some of the features and took this shot of piano practice.

(Feature: panning shot used to express speed of subject in motion.)

It was a Happy Day!

a blanket and burp cloths

I finished a baby shower gift this weekend! A scalloped edge baby blanket (from Bend the Rules Sewing) and a stack of burp cloths (from this tutorial). The blanket was so much fun to make. I wasn't so sure the scallops would be easy, but they were. Now I'm searching for just the right fabric for the next gift project on my list.
Happy Monday!

red week : day 5

Just under the wire, I've completed my first blog color week. It was fun! Looking forward to another one. Have a great weekend.

red week : day 4

My dad had a sewing machine that he used to mend or alter his clothes (like hem his pants because he was a cute, short dad). He also used it to make those pillow type characters that were so popular in the 80s, the kind that were printed on a fabric panel and you just cut the shape out, sewed around the edges, stuffed it and there you go. I've got a family of cats and a Santa Claus that he made.

When he passed away in 1991, I was given his sewing machine and all his sewing notions. These items came out of his notions box. (Don't we all have an Oscar Meyer Weiner whistle in our notions box? Well, my dad did. He was just that kind of guy.) It might sound kind of silly, but when I'm sewing and don't have just the right color thread, I say, "Hey, Dad, do you have any [insert color here] thread?" and then I check his box. Nine times out of ten, he's got a color there for me that works.

His sewing machine and I didn't get along too well. It always seemed to be out of adjustment. Only once did I manage to get it adjusted so that the threads didn't bunch up on the back side of the fabric. My precious little toddler son immediately grabbed every knob on the machine and gave them a good turn. I put the machine away and only used it if I absolutely had to. That's why I really haven't sewn much until I got my new sewing machine a couple of years ago. I guess that coincided with my discovery of craft/sewing blogs. They're so inspirational and I don't think I'd be as interested as I am in sewing if it weren't for all those talented bloggers out there.And these two books - I absolutely love them! Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing is a great resource for beginning sewers with easy, fun projects. It's written in such an friendly manner and makes you feel like, "Yeah, I can do that!" Alicia Paulson's Stitched in Time is beautifully written and full of sweet memory making projects. These are my sewing bibles. If you think you want to sew, check out these books!