Covers & Company

Wednesday I made a Bible cover and a matching notebook cover. I had many compliments Wednesday night at church. The words on the fabric is the song,"Amazing Grace". Yes, I know I just have so much extra time to do unnecessary projects with a quilt that needs the binding hand sewn to the back, my mother and sister and her three girls arriving soon, a striped knitted tote back still in process (I will never again make anything that changes color every two rows ever again. It's not portable because of the five different colors. Even though its plane ole knit stitch you have to pay attention due to color changes and it's really rather boring. It had better felt up beautifully or I'll punish it.) Anyway, back to the main story... the Bible cover came into existence because I saw the fabric and the urge for a quick instant gratification project overwhelmed me.

My sewing space has been relocated to my bedroom because my sewing room err... um... I mean Bob's office has been changed over to a guest room/baby nursery for next couple weeks.


















My next project is to sand down and refinish my $10 flea market find a child size bench where the seat lifts for storage. I've decided to refinish it to match Finn's big boy bed add a fabric covered pad and use it to store his extra blankets as when your child breaks 30 pounds it really is time to give in and get rid of the changing table. I have fought this so far as it seems the end of babyhood and full on childhood for him. I'm planning to put the bench in front of the double windows in his room as sort of a child sized window seat.

In other news... the hen has still laid no eggs but the chicks are growing fast. I'm wondering if one of the Australorp chicks is being picked on as he appears to have some sort of mange going on with his feathers and just doesn't look well. I'm thinking to separate him out of the coop and back to the recycle bin as if it's not pecking order it may be disease and I don't want it to spread. He is also the smallest chick so it would perhaps help him catch up. The cat decided to sit in the bathroom to watch Finn take a bath and Finn extended a very physical invitation to join him. Get this... the cat liked the bath. I have tried to explain to Finn that people and animals don't generally bathe together. I wish I had a picture but Bob was the one home on child care duty. Gizmo once jumped in the bath with Rylin so this is not a new thing in our house. Lets hope the chickens aren't next.

Mother and Carrie should be here by dinner time tonight; I'm thankful they've had no serious traveling trouble so far. Bob and Rylin left for Tennessee this morning around 5:30, they were supposed to leave at 7 but Rylin was up and excited at 5. Bob decided to just get up and go as,"When are we gonna go?!?" is right up there with, "Are we there yet?" They are going up there for Bob's nephew Nick's wedding and were supposed to leave for home Sunday morning but the plan changed when Bob's boss suggested since he was going to be there he go over to Clarksville and do some work on the job site there. He'll have Rylin's help but it's good news as his company is willing to cover the travel expenses other than the Hotel Fri & Sat night. An almost free vacation sounds good and sometimes even work can be a blessing. I talked to them on the phone about 8:30 this morning and Rylin was already asking when they were going to stop for lunch. Have a nice trip Bob!

Big Boys and Other Species

Finn got a 'big boy bed'. We found it for $10 at a garage sale Bob sanded it down, 'antiqued' and varnished it. As you can see Finn was very excited about it and wanted it kept in the living room.



Here is a Rhode Island Red Hen I picked up at the flea market Saturday for $2. We call her Peeker because she stands behind things and peeks around at us. She doesn't appreciate people coming into 'her' garden and will yell at you for it. She has yet to lay an egg even though I have been giving laying feed and plenty of clean water since Sat. She is the only chicken in the coop and as far as chickens go that is the lap of luxury; she needs to earn her keep or she will take up residence in my big roaster pan. In her defense I have yet to see any grasshoppers in the back garden even though I'm stomping them out of the front garden every day. So she is at least organic pest control. The people I bought her from had no idea how old she is so I don't know if she still makes eggs or not.

Here are some chicks from the same flea market, the yellow ones are Buff Oringtons and the black and whites are Australorps. Pretty feathers. Yes, they are living in the recycle bin right now. Between dogs and hawks destroying my poultry population I'm not taking any chances.

























Here is Callie the cat. She is Finn's new toy that he carries around all day. Bob doesn't like her but she likes him. Last night she climbed up on his computer to have a nap on his laptop keyboard while he was working(he wouldn't wait while I got the camera). She is 8 weeks old and very precious. Since I knit it and have a blog it seemed only right to have a cat. So now there is either a dog or a cat on my lap while I'm sewing, on the computer or knitting. I'm very loved... Callie and Gizmo have been getting along good; I'll need to get a picture of them sleeping Gizmo was on the couch in the sewing room last night and Callie was in the rocking chair.


Someone was feeling left out of the photo shoot, can you tell?

Three posts in one day, that should catch me up.

Quilting, embroidery and gardening

An embroidered shirt for Gage-Michael. It has his name and the Harley Davidson logo. Not bad since the t-shirt was $1.50 on the clearance rack I had the Harley designs and thread already. An embroidered patch Harley shirt at the Harley store costs between $40 - $90, seriously. So this is like a 99% discount. I'm going to make some for Bob for Father's day. He likes the shirts for when he goes riding and only has a couple we bought and a couple you get free when you go on the charity rides.


Finished quilt blocks for Elizabeth Margarets baby quilt. The border has been added and it is now being quilted. No point in a picture because it's covered in freezer paper. Last Friday evening I was moving right along with it and Bob was working late so I thought I would finish it while the kids watched a movie I had rented for them. But of course nothing can ever go that smoothly for me. I don't have the proper presser foot for free motion quilting so am using no presser foot, this is something I do not recommend as I broke the sewing machine needle off IN MY FINGER right through the finger nail!! I very calmly looked down and said," Wow, it's in my finger guess I should pull it out." I did so, feeling nothing at all (shock is quite lovely, actually; excellent pain preventer) wrapped a bandage around it and went back to the sewing room to change the needle and examine the quilt for blood. And guess what? That was my very LAST needle. When I called Bob he said,"You're more upset that you haven't got another needle aren't you?" He also recommended I wash it with some sort of disinfectant but I refused as I didn't think it prudent to faint with him in Crescent City and all four boys here.


Here is the garden, to the left is the chicken coop.












And the daily squash take. I made some zucchini bread and froze it, it was delicious as I changed the recipe by adding 2 additional cups of zucchini so it isn't so over powered by cinnamon. The kids and Bob enjoy it especially since I let them have it for breakfast w/ butter or cream cheese on it since it is technically made of vegetables.

Mother's Day Pics

Here are some pictures from Mother's Day.

Me and the boys before church.











Rylin's class singing. Gage and Frankie in the Children's Choir

Treachery

Remember this kid?

















Well, when I came home from church yesterday this is what he looked like.

Bob pulled a Delilah while I was gone and I had to put my 'angry eyes' in. He said I need to face it that Finn is not a girl. He didn't look like a girl, he looked like a beautiful curly haired blonde boy...

I'm going to go. Have to drop Finn off at the enlistment office.