Why I don't call her cute

This week we are dog-sitting my brother's dog. My husband told me that I am more affectionate to my brother's dog than ours. He thought that it hurt Lilly's feelings to hear me call my brother's dog "cute and cuddly". I immediately told him that my brother's dog is needy and requires the extra attention. Lilly is independent and doesn't need the extra attention. He left, shaking his head.
Shortly there after, I looked over and there was Lilly, playing with her ducky. And that's why I don't call her "cute".

...As You Would Do Unto Others

And the day I gave my aunt the gift, she brought this down for me. Isn't it great!?!?! They were cleaning out their garage and came across this. My Aunt had gotten it from a widower whose wife sewed. She was very good and even wrote articles in the local paper. My Aunt had gotten it to give to her mother-in-law, but she passed away and so it sat in their garage. She called me earlier in the week to ask me if I might be interested...heck yeah! She knew I was enjoying sewing, but had no idea I was working on something for her. My current sewing machine - a bottom of the line White. I love her, but she was as nice as I could afford. I am/was still learning things on this one, so the Singer will be a whole new world for me.

Look at all of these great things!



The desk is full of all kinds of goodies, from more feet, to piping to needles!


Look at all the options for stitches. How will I choose? ...And all those feet.


The manuals A fancy button holer...

I am super excited about the monogrammer...we are going to have EVERYTHING monogrammed, down to our undies! Plus there was this extra sewing bin. Look inside...


Threads galore! Many of them are brand new. And lots more feet and needles and bias tape. Soo much stuff! I will have a lot of fun.

Now the sad news....We are having huge amounts of company this weekend (I am supposed to be cooking now), and the machine is relegated to the garage until after everyone leaves. I hear it calling me, cruel fate. Watch out Monday!

My 4th of July

BEFORE

AFTER

So we did have a picnic and do all the regular 4th of July stuff....fireworks and all.
But, we did use the three day weekend to get our garage cleaned also. Sadly, now that I look at the pictures, they don't do it justice. It really is much cleaner...promise.
We moved everything out and put our stuff away where it goes. Then in the middle of the floor is some of my parents stuff and a big pile for the yard sale. We will do a yard sale this year, we will do a yard sale this year - if I say it enough it will happen right? Our prime yard sale weekend isn't until the end of September, so it will be difficult to keep everything organized until then, but I am determined.
I bought shelving yesterday to help, so I am headed out there now, while it is still cool out.
Wish me luck!
Ohh, and as for the fun stuff we did - here is an example! Lilly has learned that it is fun to jump into the water.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I woke up to the weather person promising us that we would see sun at some point today. I think people will be running around screaming that the world is ending. It seems like we have had rain for soo long.
The rain has diverted me from my crafty endeavors and I have spent a bit of time working, cleaning, and baking instead. I am thinking that I will reward myself with some time in the sewing machine today, but also have to bake Dad his father's day cupcakes. I found a recipe for Dark and Stormy cupcakes, since it is Dad's favorite drink, I thought he would enjoy it in cupcake form.
This weekend the hubby got a new grill. He grills almost every night during the spring/summer months, and the old grill just died away. Sooo, as a grill warming present I made a reversible apron and oven mitt. He looked very snazzy when he grilled for the first time on Sunday!

A weekend of work

So I had pulled out the sewing machine and had hoped to get a chance to work on some sewing this weekend, but I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. Saturday (while the husband worked!), I finished sewing the capri pants that have been on top of my WIP pile. I just need to hem them.
Sunday turned out to be a work around the house day. Didn't get any sewing done, but the other work I got done was fantastic. I woke up early made homemade hamburger rolls for dinner - husband got a new grill on Saturday, so I knew we were going to be grilling. I then cleaned the kitchen- boy flour can make a mess!- the bathrooms, and even mopped the floors. Then while the husband put together his grill, a three hour process, that involved much cussing and murmming, I power-washed the house! Our house had turned green over the past few years and it was time to take it back. To give you an idea:

Before...look at all that green!


During...see me hard at work!


After...doesn't it look years younger?

Then we had my parents over and had burgers, and all the traditional picnic sides. It was a great end to a productive day. And now husband thinks we are done work for a while....guess that means I can pull the sewing machine back out today! Tee, hee, hee.

Crayon Roll

This is a crayon Roll that I made for my nephew. It was really quick and easy to make and he just loves that his crayons are in "pen-pens". I followed this tutorial, as I am not clever enough to have created it myself.

Also wanted to share a giveaway that I just joined. The Fabric Shopper is hosting a giveaway with the WhipStitch blog. You get t have the fun of designing your own fat quarter bundle, harder than it sounds, and then name it and enter away. Too fun!

Good Monday Morning

I'm getting ready to head out of town for a workshop this week. I'm very excited to be making my second trip across the US to California, San Fransisco and Berkeley this time. I did LA tow years ago for a conference.
Today will be spent packing and getting ready, but thought I would share a couple more pictures. This time, we move to my other favorite arena: Cooking. I made these great cupcakes from the Hello, Cupcake! book by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. This book is so cool because people like me that aren't artistic, but are creative, can make some really cute things. I made the cupcakes for my nephew, whose favorite things are sharks and Pen-Pens, so I mixed and matched. I can't wait to try butterflies next.

A Sunny Saturday of Work

Off to help a friend with moving into their new house.
I thought I would give a smile today. Several people have said how cute the Puppy and Kitten are. I don't won't you all fooled. As we speak, Ranger is in Kitty time out for knocking my sewing scissors off the table (for the tenth time) and into Lilly's waiting mouth. They are 8 months (Ranger) and 6.5 months (Lilly) and love to get into trouble together.
Here is the cute picture from below, and a second picture taken just moments later...