Banners

My little talk with Peggy ended up with me deciding to make some banners for Pentecost. I had made some very plain red banners for Palm Sunday after I discovered there weren't any. What did they do before?  I wanted Pentecost to be special so I started thinking about what I wanted to do. Finding the right fabrics and of course the templates for the letters and the dove.  Once that was done I started the process.

Off to Kinkos to make my 12" letters. Do you know how long it takes to applique a 12" letter? It takes a fair bit of time. My stitching time was in the evening, sitting in the TV room listening to whatever program was on. I started working on them the week after Easter and I finished the Thursday before Pentecost. I was starting to panic that it would not be finished on time. Check it out, what do you think?

Now it is time to figure out what to do for Advent?

In the meantime I've sold two dresses and donated three to our local food bank for their annual fundraiser. I was very happy that all the dresses had good bids on them. There is one more dress to finish and deliver then I can start on another very special one. My granddaughter, Sherri, has a little girl. Lydia Jo was born on June 3rd. It is time to make her a very pretty dress.

We are blessed in so many ways. May you have a great day today, tomorrow and the days that follow.

Hugs,
Nancy

Busy Day

Hmmmm, it was the sunday before Easter.  Matt and I had  just started attending mass at St. Michael's. This church is much closer than St. Pius and we wanted to support the local church. I was sitting in the pew thinking of the things I used to do in my home town parish, Holy Angels. Suddenly Fr Gregg was standing next to me talking to the lady in front. They were discussing the decor he wanted for Easter. Once he left I took the chance of asking if she would like some help. She was not sure how to do what he wanted.

I made a phone call and got some old barn wood and had Matt make a big cross, from that we hung the white stole for Easter. It was just what he wanted. The rest was left to the women of the parish. It was a free for all when it came to setting up for Easter. I just stood back and let it all happen. Being the new kid on the block I did not want to upset anyone by telling them what to do. There were just too many women making decisions and you could tell. Nothing was co ordinated.

Should I try again? Yes, I called Peggy to ask about Pentacost. She had not even thought about it. One thing I know is that you work ahead by one feast day or season. So immediately I started to make the Pentacost Banners. Finding the right font and making the letters was the first step. Finding the fabric was the next step. Sewing the letters on the final step of banner one. I've been working slowly on banner 2 this one has the dove, fire and 12 long flames representing the 12 apostles. This has been a challenge to do alone.

While doing these two banners I've been wondering what to do about Advent. Nothing like thinking ahead.  I'm thinking of " Prepare Ye The Way" with angels playing horns or harps. Seems pretty ambitious. Looking for angels should start now.

Needless to say, I've been very busy with church projects. Not that it interferes with my dress making. I've made 2 sets and have one more to complete. this one little dress has been a good sell.

Amazing

What happened to my goal? Truly, there was a desire to write on a daily basis or at least a couple times a week. Sadly that has not happened. Why? Well because I have been so busy filling orders for little dresses.

One order was sent to my girl friend in Springfield, NV. Amazing was my only reaction when she called to thank me. She was crying, trying to talk and I listened in amazement. She just kept talking about how cute it was, the details and so much more. There have been many dresses in the past that I've enjoyed making and praising myself for the good job. This set was a step above what I've done in the past. My husband just kept looking at it, touching it and checking out the lace, ruffles and the dainty little flowers that were here and there making everything come together. The bonnet was especially cute, the baby's name was embroidered on the bib and the tiny little diaper cover was sooooo cute. I chose to use the softest fabric I could find with a dainty pink pattern. The background was white and the pink print has tiny hearts on little vines. In my area there are only two stores to buy pretty trims, Jo Ann Fabrics  & Hancock Fabrics. Would you believe me, when I say I could not find any pink trim to match the fabric? So I just had to design my own and it came out much cuter than anything out there.  The pattern I used is a 1950 Butterrick design. Now why don't I post a picture? Well dummy me wanted to send this right out to her and I did. The next day I realized no picture had been taken.

Before mailing this beautiful set I just had to show it to my friend Joyce. Much to my amazement she ordered two sets.  One set is almost finished, just need to do the buttons. Tomorrow I'll start the second set.

The one thing I've learned is that the patterns from decades before now, have many steps. Today's patterns have been streamlined and that is nice. Now, that I've sewn with both I must admit the old way is better. Ruffles are tedious and time consuming. So I bought a ruffler to speed up the process. Guess what? I don't like it. For one thing you can't adjust it once it is sewn. Well I couldn't. The other thing is that I believe that too much fabric is wasted. So the old way is the better way.

Anyone out there having problems with Continuous Laps? Well find an old pattern and read the detailed instructions and you'll be a pro from the get go. I can't tell you how frustrating that little process was to complete. For some reason I just could not get it. Now I put them in without even thinking about it. Simple, like zippers.

So have a wonderful day.

An Error, Ughh!!!

Why is it that an error is always found at the end of a project? Why can't it present itself earlier? I'd really like to know the answe to these questions.

For a few days I have been working with very tiny cotton lace and working with a pattern that is new to me. For one thing patterns from the 1950's and 1960's have more procedures than the patterns of today. This makes for very interesting sewing. What I have discovered is that dresses of today are much simpler to construct but no longer have the pretty little details. For instance the lace that is between the yoke and sleeve. What an adorable addition. I have to admit that sewing this tiny bit of lace was challenging yet ti just makes this little dress pop! We don't see that in today's dresses. Ruffles are another thing. There is so much ruffle to make and adding the lace at the hem line is crucial.  Over three yards of lace on an infant dress. Too much you ask? No not all. All this time I've been so very careful to make sure that everything is just right, pressing and serging as I progress. Now one last trip to the ironing board and I'm finished working on this dress.

Now the horror story begins. Pushing back the chair from my sewing machine I lift the dress up to look at it. The hem is perfect, same length all the way around, lace is good the skirt attached at the yoke is good, the lace there is perfect. What the heck! What is going on here? Why is this side of the yoke shorter than that side?? This can't be, it just can't be..... I practically break out in a run to the ironing board, perhaps it is just wrinkled and a little pressing will fix that. In my heart I know this is not the case, but try anyway. No luck, somehow, in the first part of constructing this dress I managed to get off my straight line, worse yet I serged it that way. There is no way to correct this error. The disappointment is palpable, you that sew can feel my pain. What will happen to this little dress you ask. It will hang on a hanger in my sewing room to remind me that I need to check and double check my work. But that seems to be a waste. The error is not that bad, just bad enough not to sell, so most likely I'll add it to the bag that makes it way to Project Hope. Some little baby girl will have a pretty little dress to wear for Easter.  This dress is a special request that means I'd better start sewing!

Remember the cobbler that had shoe fairies? Well where was my sewing fairy?

Lucy

One day I went to the grocery store in Ely, Nevada. It was an ordinary day, that is until I parked. There in the parking lot was a man with puppies in a box. There was only one puppy that had not been claimed and she was shivering from fear as much as from the cold. I think she knew her fate would not be good if someone did not take her from this man. I looked at her and just kept on going, determined not to take her home. For some reason I hurried through the store, picking out my groceries and checked out. The man in the blue truck was getting ready to leave, as he got in his truck I waved at him and he stopped. "Did you find homes for all the puppies"? I asked. "No, this one is headed to the lake". That was just not going to happen. "I'll take her". My thought was to find her a good home. But, Lucy knew different. She worked her magical charm and wormed her way deep into my heart.

At the time I had just started a small daycare business. How was I going to house train a puppy and take care of the kids at the same time. That was the least of my worries. There was one little girl that seemed to take care of Lucy. Tanya would help take Lucy outside for her daily duty, she was only allowed to do her business on one side of the yard. Tanya was very good at seeing to this. Feeding Lucy and making sure there was water in her bowl became the responsibility of the children I cared for. All the little ones could not wait for their turn to take care of Lucy. Nap time would come and Lucy would curl up to someone and sleep next to them.  Lunch time was especially fun to watch. Lucy always found little bits and pieces on the floor to nibble except on macaroni and cheese days.

As Lucy grew she became the protector of the kids. She would walk around the yard while they played and just made sure everyone was okay. So many times throughout the day I would catch the little ones tugging on her or giving her the biggest hug. She was so gentle with the kids.

We left Ely and moved to Montana. It was very cold here and she loved the snow and the wide open spaces. She would run up the mountain and survey her kingdom. Where she went I'll never know but she seemed to come back and check to make sure that the house had not moved. She'd come back and sleep by the wood stove for a very long time. Lucy did everything with us, she went everywhere we went and was such a great traveler.

In my sewing room she always chose the middle of the floor to stretch out and sleep. Stepping over her to get the the cutting table or the iron was always a challenge. Sometimes she would let out a moan, as if to say,"can't you just sit still and do your thing"? Sometimes I felt like I was invading her space.

St. Patrick's was the most horrible day of my life. The day started out normal like any other day. Except for one little thing. Lucy would not leave the office and come downstairs. I had an errand to do and left for a couple of hours. Upon returning I was met by my other little dog, Cooper. Lucy was not to be seen. I called for her but she did not come.  I flew up the stairs to find my Lucy in great distress. Her breathing was awful. I called our Vet and loaded Lucy in the car and drove like a mad woman to Billings, 45 miles away. I kept talking to Lucy trying to reassure her, begging her to hang on, glancing in the rear view mirror I could she was trying to get to the front of the car. I drove faster, glanced back again and witnessed her take her last breath, lay her head down and she was gone. Just a few more minutes and I be at Caring Hands Hospital. The traffic seemed to crawl, every light turned red just as it was my turn to go, time was passing to fast and I was going to slow. Once there, I jumped from my car, Trish was coming out the back door and she helped me get Lucy into the hospital. I knew she was gone and yet I hoped there was some chance she was still alive.

Dr. Kuhen listened for a heart beat and found silence. The tears were coming fast and furious, questions of what did I miss, how did I not see this, why??? Try as they might consolation was very far away. Decisions could not be made, call Matt was the first thing I thought of, he will know exactly what to do.
Once I heard his voice I felt so much better. We made the decision to leave her there for the night and pick her up the next day. We need to make sure that the ground was not frozen, so that we could bury her at home. Thank goodness, Matt was able to dig her grave and we laid her to rest in a special part of our garden. We are still feeling the pangs of missing her. Our sweet Lucy, only she could love us in her special way. March 17, 2011 was a very sad day.

Adorable baby dress

My friend, Lisa, is about to become a grandmother. How exciting is that? The baby is a little girl, how sweet.
She has ordered a pink dress. This is going to be quite fun. Wouldn't you know that my overwhelming stash of fabric had nothing suitable for a precious pink dress. Off I go shopping for the perfect fabric, lace and ribbon. The pattern I chose to  use is from the 60's made by Butterick. In the end it will have over 3 yards of soft cotton lace, bright pink ribbon and it will be so soft. The fabric I found has a white background with the tiniest pink hearts and vines the contrasting yoke is from white eyelet fabric. The dress is a baby doll style, imagine Shirley Temple as an infant in one of her dresses. Got the picture? When I work on this type of dress I take my time. There is so much to gather not to mention that working with fine lace means having patience. So far it is coming out exactly as it should. The bonnet and little panties come later. For now it is fun to watch a little dress come together. You quilters probably get the same feeling when you complete your top. I can't wait to send it to Lisa.

If I'm lucky I'll get a picture of the baby wearing her new dress. In my studio there is a bulletin board with a picture of one little girl wearing a dress her aunt bought for her. It would be fun to collect pictures of little girls wearing the dresses I've made. I wonder how I'd go about collecting them?

As for me well this is what I'm up to. I've been busy working on my ETSY site.  A new background is being created, a mannequin has been purchased and I'm now looking for suitable props. I hope that this coming weekend will be the day I post new pictures. I'll let you know how it goes.

I have a lot of viewers but have not sold anything online yet. I'm thinking that perhaps I need to work with a little older girl. Don't babies wear dresses anymore? Perhaps the pre-schooler age will prove to be the age group I sew for.

Off to my sewing studio I go.

Ice

Do I dare set foot out the front door? All that is visible is a very slick, shiny layer of ice covering the ground. No doubt the stairs are equally adorned in ice as well. If only it would warm up and melt. The only safe area is the path from the cars to the front door. This year winter has been very hard and I wonder what the cause is?

Usually the snow falls and accumulates in big, soft, glittering mounds. Walking in the snow is so much fun especially when you know not the depth of the snow. There are times when you are just on a smooth even path and then Wham! you loose a leg in knee deep snow. Steady now, get your balance and take another step. Whoa, that was a big step. Now what?  Keep my balance or succomb to the snow? Watch it now, it is a struggle to pull your leg from the deep snow and take a step. Eventually there will be a nice area to walk in. The work is hard but ever so much fun.

Now that playtime is over it is time to see about breaking up some more of this ice. I don't like this part.

A New Year

My mind is wondering how the last 12 months passed by with so little accomplished. What did I do this year? There is a line in a song that says " December comes around faster and faster each year". It's so true!

Resolutions are so hard to keep so I did not go there. But, I am very good at setting goals and achieving them. Well this is the year to finish all those unfinished projects. With pen in hand I sat down and jotted down all the current ones. Current is a relevant term as some of the projects listed were at least five years in the making. Embarrasing, no that is not the word, it is more like amazement. Sitting on the floor I slowly start to rummage through the many labeled bags which I sadly dated. The next shelf actually contains baskets of kits that just had to be purchased at one quilt show or fair. Now in my heart I truly thought they would just magically get worked up. NOT! Holy Moley there are so many. Can this actually be done in the coming year??? I wonder...

Do I dare scoot over to the next shelf? This is the area that is full of patterns or pictures of ideas that I'd like to do. Should I consider this for another year, perhaps that would be a better option. Besides there are so many things that need to done that are not on the list. This list is now posted on my wall next to the calendar and with any luck at all Matt won't see just how long it is. So far only one item has been finished and one is almost finished.

For example my ETSY dress business. Attention needs to be given to this dream. I'd very much like for it to be a success. Work it, Work it that was is required on a daily basis. On top of that are the special things to be done. Quilts for the grand daughters and the one for our great grand daughter soon to be born. Genna will come and want to sew some more although I think she likes the cooking more.

On a different note: There is a little deer that has lost it's mama. They would both stop by and drink from the pond on thier way down the hill. Now the little one stays close to the house and tries to forage in the little meadow. Not much there right now so she has gone to stealing seed from the bird feeders. Today she found a nice surprise waiting near the edge of the hill  Someone had left a little pile of chicken feed lying on the ground. I wonder who?

When I set up this blog it was to be a daily blog of my thoughts and progress on my business. Somehow that is not working. Oh well, not many of you out there know this even exists. I'm good with that.

Off to sew.