Beautiful Yosemite

Connecting Threads Among Friends Retreat Pictures!

Debbie made this quilt top thursday night for a special little boy.

Debbie is talking to Liz who is at the ironing board.

Here is the kitchen table with our machines.

Here is Amber at the Serger. She is going to use her large tote bag for a book bag at school next year so she serged all of her seams.

Here is Amber testing out the size of the Bandana Quilt top and back that she seamed together for a gift for Uncle Arlen.

Here is a close up of the quilt top & bottom. the purple is a pillow that she made to match.

This is Liz's Quilted Purse. I am loving the red/black/white. I really like how she quilted it.

Here is Liz's purse and matching glam bag. The purse on the right is Debbie's. I even ended up with a couple fat quarter's of this fabric. I cannot wait to use it. Thanks again Debbie.

This is a glam bag that I made for Amber from some fabric that Debbie gave Amber. It turned out so cute.

I wish you could see this large tote bag that Debbie did in person. It turned out great.

Amber's animal glam bag again. Amber's Large tote, glam bag, Kleenex holder and small purse. Debbie also made a glam bag out of some black screen that I had. How perfect for all of the machine accesories. I cannot wait to try and make me some of these.

Here is what I got done. (Of coarse it is blue and purple what else would it be.) I did the large tote bage, glam bag and small purse.

This is me putting in a zipper.

Here i am reading a pattern. I didn't even know anyone was taking pictures.

This is Amber's little tent/fort that she made for herself in the upstairs loft.

Looks kinda cozy to me.

Amber made a tie for her giraff. It turned out so cute so I told her to take a picture.

Yep, it is me again, reading the directions of the pattern AGAIN.

Here are most of our finished projects. I hope all enjoyed. I know that I did. I even talked my husband into taking this week off so we could go back to the cabin. I will be gone until July 6th.

July 4th is our 17th wedding anniversary so I will not be posting for the next week. Until then.

It's Time For Our Sewing Retreat!

Last minute things to do. I got off work at noon yesterday. I told the girls that I wanted to go to the grocery store to pick up two items and then go home and pack. They talked me into taking them to Athen's Burger for lunch. From here on it seemed like one thing after another went wrong. Our total was $17.32 I only have $15 so I had to use my ATM/MC. We enjoyed our lunch and then off to Safeway for a couple of items for the retreat to eat. It seemed like we ran into everyone we knew so it took 30 minutes longer than it should have. It was over 100 degrees out and I needed the kids to help me when we got home so I splergged and got them both Carmel Frapriccinos from Starbuck's. I went to pay cash since I knew i had $15 at the last stop.
Guess What, I found $27 in my pocket. ?? Go Figure ?? Then we stood in line to check out forever. Then an employee came over and asked us to use the self check out. Sure anything to make this go faster. I need to get home to get stuff done. We checked out and guess what happened. My card and drivers license is gone! So I use a different card, out to the car to check it. Can't find it. Went home to unload groceries. Emptied out the car. Still cannot find it. So I called and cancelled my card ordered a new one. I will have a new one in 10 days. I told them I was going on a retreat tomorrow and needed cash out of my account but I do not have the card I just cancelled and I have NO ID. They told me to go to me locate branch and see it there was a teller that knew me. On the way to the bank I stopped at Athen's burgers and had them check at the trash cans while we checked the entire parking lot. Thank goodness, there was a teller that knew me. So I emptied the account and made sure I had fraud protection. Then it was off to DMV for a new Drivers License since I am driving out of town tomorrow. I got there at 2:21pm. At 4:20 pm I paid $22 for a new paper drivers license with the promise of a new one in the mail in about 3 weeks. When I get home my husband had already started dinner and told me that when I brought the groceries home earlier in the day, I guess I left them on the counter and did not put them away. Guess what ladies, we do not have potatoe salad for this weekend. Half of my groceries ended up in the trash. We finished dinner about 6pm. Here is the best part of my day. I had someone at the front door returning my card and drivers license. She told me that they sat right next to us at Athens burger at lunch. Her husband found them in the parking lot and brought them straight over to the house but we were not home. So they came back after dinner. Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeewwww. Now I can finally breath. And now I have proof that there are still some good Samaritans in this world. I never got her name and she wouldn't take any reward money. So I would like to say publicly, THANK YOU! So now it is time to pack and go on the sewing retreat.

Home Made Father's Day Gift by KD

This was a 12"x12" blank white oil painting canvas. KD (Age 5) painted this without any help from adults. She was just given the canvas and all the paints and supplies. She picked the colors, paints and brush/brush sizes. Everything was on her own, she created the design, colors and word all on her own. I just framed it for Dad's office. I believe it is a true master piece.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the fathers out there. On this day I truly miss my Dad. I know that DJ misses his also. And while we were reminiscing this is a saying that came up. I wanted to share this with you.
Yesterday is "History"
Tomorrow is a "Mystery"
Today is a Gift. That is why it is called the "Present"
Think about it.

Red/White/Blue Anyone?

Here is the Picinic Roll-Up / Can Wraps / Coasters that I made for my family.

Here is the outside of the Picnic Roll-Up.

Stitching Sisters

We had our dinner get together. We did a door prize and Dy won. It was a tote bag that you can put actual pictures in the side. I forgot to get a picture of it. It was from Beverly's Fabric in Modesto.

We did our Gift Exchange. This time our theme was RedWhite/Blue. So, Here you go.

Jenn got this cute little purse made by Sister Bonnie. It was perfect for a phone & cash. Well I guess it could have been for Id & credit cards. I am sure Jenn will find some uses for it come this July or maybe even on her bike rides.

I got the most wonderful fabric bowl and a bag of blue chips. I already have it sitting on my kitchen counter. It looks so pretty. Sister Liz is going to bring the book so I can try to make one of these while on my retreat next week. She made it sound so easy. I will have to try and find the supplies for it and remember to bring buttons and a machine that will sew the ZigZag stitch.

Dy won this amazing set from Sister Jenn. Tote bag/Purse/Diaper Bag, Wallet & Fem Supplies holder. Jenn was very creative with the red/white/blue theme.

Liz got a perfect flag wall hanging. This was special made by Sister Sandra. I love the blue fabric that was used in this. Instead of this being wrapped in wrapping paper it was wrapped with a piece of beige fabric. So it was like two gifts in one.

Bonnie got this beautiful table quilt (I think that is what they were calling it.) custom made by Sister Dy. I am hoping that Dy is willing to share this pattern with her sisters.

Yep this is Sandra with her winnings made by (Yep you got it) me. It was 4 can wraps, 4 coasters and a Picnic Roll-up {my design}. It hold a serving spoon, knif/forks/spoons, cutting knif & Cork screw ( what every you want). I made my family a set of these for our picnics for the 4th of July.

This was a Show & Tell that Bonnie did at a class she took recently. I am not sure but I think it must be a grandchild.

So I have until September to come up with something for our next theme "Recycle". Any suggestions?

Week-end Plans Nope just Changing a Light Bulb!

Can anyone explain to me? How you can go from changing a light bulb in the hallway to one trip to WalMart then three trips to OSH and three returns later. My final trip was to Home Depot. Where I eventually ended up spending another hundred dollars on new fixtures. This was to replace the fixtures that we put in last year from Walmart. This some what explains why the fixtures were on sale for $8 last year and now this year they do not carry that type of light fixture. I just wanted light in the hallway to see in my pantry. Is that too much to ask?

Connecting Threads Among Friends Retreat

I will be away at a sewing retreat June 25-28 in Twain Harte. Some of the ladies will be going up Friday after work. So I will be posting pictures after I get back. There are still a couple of spots open and available. If you are interested contact me or leave me a comment and I will get back to you.
If you are interested in making the large tote let me know and I will get you a supply list next week. I will finally be making me a tote just for me at the retreat.

Red/White/Blue

As many of you know; I will be celebrating my 17th Wedding Anniversary on July 4th. So I have collected some Red/White/Blue for a quilt that I did last year. I made it for our picnics and watching the fireworks.
I have been making some items for a sewing group, this month we are using red/white/blue. I have been very excited. Well I finished one last night. I fell in love. I used all the scraps that I got out so now I have to search for more scraps to see if I can make me one.
I will post pictures at the end of next week.

Happy Birthday Mowma!

Here is a picture of some gorgeous flowers that we got Mowma today while we were in Pleasanton. Then it was a quick trip back to Stockton. Went the the grocery store for dinner fixings along with a little something something for dessert. We just got home from celebrating my mom's birthday. I fixed dinner while my kids went swimming in the pool. Then the girls came in while I was dishing up the peach pie dessert to tell me that they had locked the keys in the trunk of the car. "But we didn't meant to." So I had to wait for AAA to come to the rescue.

Kindergarten Celebration

This was shortly after the Kindergarten Celebration. Proud Daddy with his (now) First Grader. Karissa was the youngest Kindergarten student at the school this year.

This is part of Karissa's class with their teacher and the gift they made her.

Isn't this the cutest platter? All of the kids used their finger prints to create the Caterpillar,
Frogs, Butterfly, Bees and Flowers with a special ink (the class moms created the sun) before it was fired. What a special memory gift. I want to thank Lucy for doing all of the extra work to get this project done for our Wonderful Teacher. I will have to try and find this place in Modesto before Father's Day. Maybe I can find a special gift for the girls dad.

Teacher's Gifts

Here are the gifts that I made for the girls teachers.
This is the wristlet that I made both of the girls teachers. One with a green zipper and one with a white zipper.

This is a lunch bag that I made with a magnetic clasp too. It is even tall enough for a water bottle.

This is the strap if you have it hanging on your arm or wrist. How cute is this.

The strap can change so that it can go over your shoulder like a purse. I think I am going to make one of these out of my colors for me to take to work next year since I will actually have a lunch hour at work an not have to run an pick up kids at the school. This will be new to me. I have been using my lunch hour to run and pick up kids for the past three years for my youngest.

Nile Garden Elementary Graduation

None of my kids are graduating tonight but Amber is second chair flute so she will be playing Pomp and Circumstance & River City Parade. So I will be in the audience listening and finishing up some teachers end of the year gifts. There is is a little hand sewing to be done on all of them. I will post pictures later.

Karissa graduates from Kindergarten on Friday. Then she will officially be promoted to a first grader. This means the end of going out to the elementary school three times a day. I will be able to have the kids afternoon carpool next year all of them will be on the same schedule so I will only be picking them up once a day. YAAY!!

I will finally have my lunch time back. For the past three years I use my lunch hour picking Karissa up from school. I am not sure if I am going to remember what to do. Wish me luck.

Curtains & Sheers.

We made it through the last and final week-end of May. I finally finished all of the curtain panels for my cousin's new house. Then she let me know that she needed sheers too. I have you know that I finished all EIGHT (8) panels this weekend and yes the finished length of these EIGHT (8) panels was 4)60"w x 90"l and 4) 30"w x 90"l. I sure hope they all work. They were a gorgeous white fabric. But let me tell you they were not an easy fabrics to work with. It was like the more I touched it and handled it the more stretched and less shape that it had. I am awaiting photos from my cousin. So as soon as I get them I will post them for you to see.

I did let my cousin know that I get to pick the fabric for the rest of the windows in the house if I am doing the sewing so we will have to wait and see. Who knows maybe she won't want me to make them. Maybe she will go to Wal*Mart, Target or Kohls next time just to not hear me say This Fabric sucks.

Michelle this is for You!

Here it is. One more version of my table top ironing board cover. I would like to thank Dianah for the block pattern that I was able to make into a cover.

Michelle dropped off some scrap fabric and this is what it turned out like. I sure hope she likes it.

I made this cute little bag with some of her scraps. I hope she didn't mind that I used up some of her scraps.

Here is the other side.

Sewing while camping.

This is my fifth wheel while we were camping over the long holiday week-end. Most of the time we had three featherweights at the table. The week-end started with everyone oilling and greasing our machines. We even got one camper interested in getting her own featherweight. Sharon actually bought one on e-bay last week-end. I hope she enjoys hers as much as we do ours.

This is Renee. She created and designed this adorable purse. I love the bright colors. She seems to love sewing on her Grandma's featherweight.

This is Amber's purse that she made while we were camping. I put the zipper in and attached the strap for her before we turned it right side out. She truly loves all of these fabrics together. (She got all of the fabrics at the Antioch Joanns while we went on our little field trip there.) I have to say, I a jealous. I cannot wait until I make me one of these in blues and purples.