A Lazy Saturday

I'm amazed at all of the people that took advantage of the gorgeous 60-degree weather and put up their Christmas decorations. It just seems too early for me. Instead I stayed inside this morning and did some sewing. I made another apron for a Christmas gift and I really liked the way it turned out. It was another new pattern. I'm not going to post photos since they are Christmas gifts -- I don't want to spoil the surprise.

I also finally sewed together the blocks on my log cabin quilt. I still need to add a border and decide how I want to quilt it. But at least the body of the quilt is together -- not an easy task when you have a Yorkie sitting in the middle of it posing for a picture. No matter where Bailey is in the house, as soon as he hears the camera, he comes running.

I stopped in Hancock Fabrics today and picked up some Kona cotton that was on sale for 50% off. Then, I needed to straighten up the sewing room.

I had high hopes to get another apron cut out, but it just didn't happen.

My First Meme

Since everyone is doing it, here's my latest meme....

1. FIRST NAME? Kathleen

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My mother and grandmother.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? About a year ago.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes – I went to Catholic school where penmanship was a subject.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Oscar MayerBologna

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS
WITH YOU? I think so, I'm a good and loyal friend

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? You're reading it but I also keep a written journal with notes, planned future projects and whining.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Nope, had em out when I was 7

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Not now, but I may have when I was younger.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey Nut Cheerios

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I don’t wear tie shoes – fear of commitment.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Headstrong.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Vanilla

14. SHOE SIZE? 9

15. RED OR PINK? Pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I procrastinate WAY too much and I’m always late..

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Brett

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? No, but I love reading these little insights about everyone else on their Blog.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans, off white T-shirt and no shoes.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Lasagna

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Sex in the City.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Turquoise.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Vanilla or freshly squeezed lime

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Mom

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes and personality type.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? I'm sure I do but I don't remember who it was :)

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Tea – both hot tea and iced sweet tea.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? I like watching baseball.

29. EYE COLOR? Bluish green

30. HAT SIZE? Don’t know – I seldom wear a hat.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, glasses

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Pizza

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Kisses!

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Peanut butter pie

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Nothing at the moment.

l41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? Nothing

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Grey’s Anatomy

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The extreme quiet when snow falls.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles

45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Florida

46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I'm very intuitive and a loyal friend.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Wilmington, Delaware

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I snagged it off someone else's blog, don't remember who.

The "Day After" -- aka Black Friday

Now that all of the cooking and baking are done - I'm dog-tired and so is my dog!!! All of this Holiday hub-bub has just worn us out -- and it's just starting!!

I thought about getting up early and joining the rank and file of people Christmas Shopping, but that's as far as I got -- I thought about it. Instead, I just surfed around on the internet and came up with this delightful quiz, which by the way is "dead-on". People always tell me that I have an accent, but can never quite place what type of accent it is....

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The South
The Northeast
The Inland North
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

I have more aprons to make, so maybe after one more cuppa something (coffee or tea), I'm gonna get started on them. However, the sun is shining today (after two miserable days of rain), so I may have to go out and just enjoy the sunshine for a while.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. The Holiday Season is finally here and we have so much to be thankful for. This year, I would like to take the time to enjoy the Season rather than be caught in a whirlwind and before I know it, it's over, and wonder where it went.

I certainly did enjoy spending time baking with Kylie yesterday . We took the time to have fun, break things down into manageable tasks and yet got so much done.

I guess that when you look at things through the eyes of a 10-year old, you gain a new persepective on how to do things and make new memories.

Bailey took on the job of supervising Bobby, as he carved the turkey and he was ever so thankful for any scrap that hit the floor.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and be thankful for all of the joys in your life. Also, remember to take the time to have fun in the process, they are the memories of tomorrow. .

T-minus 1 -- and counting

Thanksgiving is almost here -- ready or not. Today was baking day. What is it about the holidays that makes you want to bake?

Kylie came over today to help me do the baking for Thanksgiving. I finally finished another apron and it was just so cute that I gave it to Kylie and she looked adorable in it. Here we are all ready to start baking -- or should I say mugging for the camera just before we got started.

We started off making cranberry-orange bread then pumpkin bread. Did you know that ripe cranberries bounce? We had a lot of fun trying to bounce cranberries into the pie plate, but I digress. Then, we moved on to baking the pumpkin pies. The weather outside was dismal, but it was a good day to be stuck inside baking. This year, we moved the chairs away from the dining room table - so we didn't have a repeat performance from Bailey (eating half a pound cake like he did last year).

My goodness, baking sure does dirty a lot of dishes! We had to run the dishwasher after the breads were in the oven; and we still had a lot of baking left to do.

While waiting for the pies to finish, I hand-washed the rest of the dishes (yuck) and we we sat and played a few games of cards. Then, it was time to make the chocolate chip cookies. Kylie and I both agreed that eating the dough is better than the cookies. When I told Kylie that she could clean the bowl -- she was one happy camper.

I just about had to pry the bowl away from her to make the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

The Holidays are Approaching...ready or not?

Thanksgiving is almost here and my Christmas Cactus is in full bloom. So, is it a Christmas cactus or a Thanksiving cactus? Not only does it bloom at Thanksgiving, but it blooms again in January and if it stays cold, sometimes it also blooms in February, too. That cactus is as confused as I am at this time of year.

I just love gingerbread men. Here is a photo of my gingerbread apron. My first apron attempt. The one that I think is too long. It's to my knee and I'm tall -- so I guess I have to keep this one for myself. I also made some stuffed gingerbread men and found a cool technique to paint them with antiquing gel, burnt umber paint and water. I threw some greenery in a basket along with a few old spice tins, measuring spoons, and a cookie cutter. It looks pretty cute, as is, so I think I have a centerpiece for my kitchen table.

I was cleaning out my spice cabinet yesterday and I read in a magazine that any McCormick spices that are in a tin and made in Baltimore, MD are at least 10 years old -- too old to use for baking. It's a shame that they don't make tins any longer, but rather than throw them away, I thought they would look cute in my gingerbread basket. I don't know if you have looked at the prices of McCormick's spices lately, but the tin of ginger was priced at 79-cents!!

The basket is sitting on my Christmas tablerunner that I have been trying to finish. The top is pieced and the borders have been added -- now what am I waiting for??? Please don't say - Christmas!

Team Apron, Anyone?

My Indygo Junction Reversible apron pattern came today - so I'm anxious to get started on it. I bought an aqua kitchen-y print on the remnant (3 yards is a remnant?) table and a flowery print to coordinate with it. I'll post a photo of it, when it's done.

Still Tying One On

I made another hostess style apron for Mom. After I made the first Christmasy one, I thought it was a little too long, so I modified the pattern a little and came up with this one -- that may be a little too short. Bailey was not too thrilled about modeling this one, so I decided to try taking a photo of my self in the mirror. This is how the apron looks on me -- too short? I think it looks just right in the picture - now I don't know which one I will keep for me.

I'm definitely on an apron kick now -- Kylie will need one, too. I'm actually looking forward to doing some baking for the holidays in my smart-looking apron -- gotta have style.

I was up in Lancaster, PA on Thursday and trooped through the rain shopping for fabric. I didn't purposely go to buy fabric, really I didn't. I went with a friend to do some Christmas shopping and to a Holiday Open House at one of our favorite stores, In Grandma's Attic. The weather was horrible and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse -- it did, but we made a pact to have fun, even if it killed us. So, there we were trooping around Intercourse, PA in the pouring rain (luckily we didn't know we were under a tornado watch) trying to shop and spend money. Since a lot of the stores closed early because of the weather, where else was there to go and hide out to escape the rain, except fabric shops??? And, who can be in a fabric shop and now buy something? Zooks had all of their Christmas fabric 20% off -- and I bought some great prints that will make cute aprons. I really didn't need any Christmas fabric, but I just couldn't resist. I have aprons to make -- hello, Team Apron, here I come to join!

Tie One On

Since the weather is dismal today, it's a good day to stay inside and do some sewing. I knew the gorgeous weather from the previous few days couldn't last -- it's cold, rainy and just plain ugly. The picture that I took of the park yesterday with all those brilliant colors of leaves are now lying all over the park and the street -- the trees are now practically naked -- which means winter isn't that far off.

I have always had a "thing" for aprons -- Me -- who doesn't like to cook, but hey, you have to look good if you're going to attempt it, right.

There was an article in the newspaper last week about aprons and it even mentioned someone from the blogger community about being an apron afficianado. Bree, from Desperate Housewives has also made wearing an apron stylish again. But, did you ever see the price of aprons in those fancy kitchen stores???? What better way to start using up some of this fabric than to try my hand at making some. I think I'll make a few to give as Christmas gifts with the catch-phrase of "Tie One On" for the Holidays!

I have a few apron patterns, but I was having a hard time deciding which kind I wanted to make - heck, I want to make them all, but I need to pick one to start. I llike the kind that goes around your waist, but I'm not that adept in the kitchen, so I know something will go flying and hit my white T-shirt, so maybe I should start with a cover-up apron, but, I really want one of the other ones.

OK, decision has been made, start with the waist style first. I cut one out of a piece of fabric that I bought at Wal-Mart for stockings -- WOW, aprons take a lot of fabric -- who knew??? Of course the one I picked takes bias binding all around the edges (which I was trying to avoid), but, hey, I can do this.... The bias binding went on pretty smoothly -- what was I dreading?

After making the Christmas apron, I decided that I really needed to make ones for Thanksgiving -- it's less than two weeks away.!! I really liked this Thanksgiving fabric, but after I cut out the apron and pocket, I didn't have enough fabric for the bias ties, but I wasn't going to let that get me down, I used another piece of comparable fabric and it turned out looking good. I couldn't find anyone to model it for me, so Bailey agreed to it. I like the kind of apron that covers most of your body.

Happy Veteran's Day

Many thanks to all of those serving in the military, both past and present, for providing a blanket of security that we may live in freedom. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

This is November?????

So far the month of November has been warm. Today we have 70-degree temperatures, the windows are open with a gorgeous breeze waifting through the house.

It's also our Christmas Bazaar today -- who can think about Christmas when it's 70-degrees? Not me.

It's a wonderful day to do some yard work -- you know this weather can't last - so it's a fine time to take advantage of it and be outside. My geraniums are still blooming along with most of the stuff still planted in the front yard. I don't think we have had frost, but a few of those cold nights have caused a few things in the garden to bite the dust.

This is the view from my front porch. The colors are really spectacular this year - especially the yellows and oranges. I don't ever remember the park looking as beautiful as it has this Fall.

We have had more than our share of rain this year and more is on the way tonight along with another cold snap. This make today even more enjoyable.


After I put the Halloween decorations away, I decided to bring out my collection of turkeys and pilgrims to decorate the mantle.


Not only am I enjoying being outside working in the garden, but my little buddy, Bailey is keeping me company, and mugging for the camera. Look at that toothy grin - I think he is smiling!

The Halloween Parade

After all of my fretting about cold weather, the night of the Halloween Parade could not have been more picture perfect. Kylie looked beautiful as a pink fairy. Her Mom fixed her hair in the morning and the headpiece fit perfectly around her curls. I added just a touch of make-up and a few sparkles around her eyes.

She was one of the four winners in her age group, which was one of the largest groups in the parade. Not only did she prance around, sprinkling fairy dust, she also walked Bailey on the leash -- talk about multi-tasking. No wonder she won!

Bailey just loved all of the attention flung his way as a butterfly. He even kept on his antennae. As a matter of fact, he loved wearing the costume so much, that he put it on Halloween night for the Tricker or Treater's and then did a little Trick or Treating himself with some of my neighbors. See what happens when you don't have any small children on Halloween -- you start dressing up your dog.

A House Full of Trick or Treaters

Last night Bob and Lesley went to a Halloween party as pirates. They stopped at the house on their way home and agreed to pose for a few pictures.

Kylie and I were busy working on Bailey's costume - nothing like waiting for the last minute - and things were not going smoothly. I either couldn't find what I was looking for (which was sitting right in front of me) or I put something together wrong. Once again, the seam ripper was my friend.

After numerous "try ons" we got Bailey to reluctantly wear his costume. Unfortunately, you can't use pins when trying something on a dog (don't ask me how I know this). His wings kept getting caught on his antennae, so I had to take the wings off and sew them on in the opposite direction. In this picture, we were trying to teach him to flit around like a butterfly. Bailey decided that he liked jumping off the landing and that made his wings flap, but he is so quick, that I couldn't capture it on film. Ky was such a big help with getting him to wear the costume - Bailey will do anything for Kylie.

Kylie didn't want to be left out, so she donned her costume, too. Bailey and Kylie will look so cute walking together in the Halloween parade. So, now we have two pirates, a fairy princess and a butterfly. As windy as it has been today, if the fairy princess and butterfly went outside, they would probably fly away!!!

After a little bit of staging, we have the makings of a family portrait. However, I don't think Captain Jack would be dreaming of a pink fairy -- unless he had a lot of rum.

I'm thankful that all of the Halloween costumes are now done, and I'm anxious for the parade. It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner.

The Costume Fits!!

Kylie and her Dad came over tonight for dinner and so she could try on her Halloween costume. I was so nervous that it wouldn't fit but after all of the obsessing I did about the costume, it fits her perfectly.

I thought the costume looked pretty on the hanger, but when she put it on, she was transformed into a fairy princess.

Neither her Dad nor I could convince her to put on the tights, however, she loved the ballerina slippers. But if the weather stays as cold as it has been, she'll wear them for the parade and on Halloween night.

We will probably have to cover her in a quilt until it's time to jump into the parade, so she doesn't freeze.

Moonlight Madness

Just what is it about Moonlight Madness and 50% off that feeds my addiction to fabric?

I admit it, I'm addicted to Christmas fabric. Maybe it comes from being born in December. As I walk down the aisles of Christmas fabric, my eyes start to glaze over, I feel the Adrenalin rush to my head and before I know it, I have an armload of Christmas fabric just waiting to be cut. My only saving grace is that I refuse to use a cart. I only take what I can carry, unfortunately, I have long arms..... Now, I need to start cutting into it and using it.

The Stockings Were Hung

I must say that I'm glad this week is over.

Monday night was our Sewing Guild Meeting and only four people showed up to work on the Christmas stocking project. I guess it was a good thing because we had to set up in the pattern section of Joann's -- another scheduling error on their part. Thankfully, I had stockings, linings, cuffs and hangers pre-sewn, so all I had to do was put them together. I was pretty proud of how they turned out.

The rest of the week, I dedicated to working on Kylie's Halloween costume. My goal was to have it finished by Wednesday - but, that didn't happen. I came close, but just when I thought I was done, I had overlooked a step and needed to add a casing and elastic to the waist. ARGH!!!! I discovered the mistake as I was looking at the instructions for how to criss-cross the tie belt. So, I had to take it off the hanger and try to figure out how I was going to correct my mistake. Believe me, the seam ripper was my "Best Friend!" At 2AM, I called it quits and decided to just get a fresh start the next evening when I got home from work.

I threaded my serger with pink thread in record time, for me, and it was a god-send for finishing off all of the seams.

By Thursday night, all I had left was to thread the elastic through the casing I forgot about and make the headpiece. This photo shows the finished costume with the wings on Thursday evening.

The headpiece was a lot easier than I anticipated, with the aid of my glue gun. I started with a white "flowergirl" headpiece that we picked out in the bridal section of Joann's, then, I just added pink fabric flowers and ribbon roses, redid the ribbon with pink and silver and glued the leftover trim to the ribbon streamers.

IT"S NOW DONE!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see it on Kylie and I'm hoping that everything fits.

The only thing left to do is make Bailey's Halloween costume. I have purchased a set of green wings from DollarTree and they just need to be sewn to a black dog coat and make a head piece with antennas.

Sew It's Sunday

Yes, I'm thinking about Halloween today. I knew I would wake up obsessing over not having Ky's Halloween costume started yet. So, this morning, I started cutting out the costume and overlay before going to Mass.

Horrors, I don't have enough of the overlay for the sleeves. I bought the required yardage, but, what I bought was only 45" wide rather than 60" wide.

I guess a trip to Joann's is in order -- I need one more yard for the sleeves. All of the Halloween fabric was right in the front of the store and 50% off, but they didn't have what I went for. Hmmm.. Do I make a trip up I-95 to another Joann's? As I strolled around the store looking for some bias tape, I found what I was looking for in the Bridal Section AND there was only one-yard left. Talk about luck. However, they didn't have the light pink bias tape. So, that means a trip to Hancock's. Ohhh, Hancock's had some beautiful Christmas fabric [on sale, too], much nicer than what Joann's or Wal-Mart has. I feel another trip to Hancock's later in the week -- maybe as my reward for finishing the Halloween costume.

Now, I still need to finish cutting out the costume and, hopefully, serge the overlay onto the fabric tonight. I'd like to say that I would like to finish the costume tonight, but that's just not realistic. Hopefully, I can have it finished by Wednesday -- Wish me luck!

Hello Weekend!!

I had good intentions of getting up early and jumping right into all the stuff that I had planned to do. So much for my good intentions. I slept in. It was chilly in the house, but so nice and cozy snuggled up with Bailey under the covers. Unfortunately, Bailey insisted that we had to get up, because he couldn't wait any longer to go out.

I had such a productive day. I have a lot of stuff crossed off my To-Do list which make me feel really good. The house is relatively clean, I made a quick trip to the grocery store, dinner has been started, I have all of the stuff moved out of the way so Bob can take out the A/C's, laundry is almost finished and I even had some time to do some sewing.

Bob happened to mention in passing while we were having dinner that Kylie has a Halloween party on October 20!! 11 days before Halloween??? I haven't started the costume YET.

So, guess what I'll be working on tomorrow.......I know I'll obsess over it until it's done.

It was an uneventful Friday the 13th. I'm usually so superstitious, but I just tried to not think about what day it was.

I talked to my son today who was born on the 13th -- how could such a superstitious person have a child on the 13th?

I actually cleaned up my sewing room tonight. I don't know what possessed me to do this -- maybe because dear son is coming over tomorrow night to take the A/C out of the window and I didn't want him to see how messy the room was. Maybe because it is so much more pleasant to work in said room when it is clean.

I have a few more stockings, linings and cuffs cut out for our guild stocking project -- so maybe I can get these sewn up before our meeting on Monday night. I also have room to spread out and get Kylie's Halloween costume cut out.

Gratitudes:

• A clean sewing room
• Leaves all swept up
• Cool crisp air to make me feel more creative
• Snuggling under a quilt
• Not having to turn on the A/C nor the Heater

Another Rainy Night

After those beautiful 70-degree days in October, I knew it couldn't last. Yes, it's raining yet again. The rain didn't start until later in the day, but just in time to snarl rush-hour traffic. It's one of those nights, that I'm glad I don't have to go back out.

So, will I take this opportunity to do some sewing? I hope so - the weather is perfect for it. But, what project will I pick to work on? Hmmm... the choices are endless.