Puppy Love

Here is my son's new German Shepperd puppy.  I couldn't resist sharing her.  Her name is Miah. She is 9 weeks in this picture.

Weekend projects for the deck.

I built this planter box bench this weekend.  I've been wanting one for a while and looked up a few different ideas online.  Ultimately this is what I ended up designing and building.  I also found this old ladder and decided to cut it up and make a couple of plant stands.  I think they turned out pretty good.

Keep in mind that I used scrap wood for the shelves, but since it is an old wood ladder, the mismatched wood makes it rustic looking which I like.

Dressing up Cut-Offs

It's summer again.  I have three little girls and I am very conservative when dressing them.  I have found it very difficult to find longer shorts for them, since the style right now is short shorts.  I have done classic cut-off shorts in the past, but decided to finish them off a little different this time.  I am a quilter and have lots of binding scraps from my quilts, so I used some left over binding.  You can buy binding tape or just make your own.  It's super easy.

First you cut the shorts to the desired length. Measure the distance around one leg, and + 2"= the length of one binding strip.  Make two.

  To make the binding:  Cut 2" strips of your fabric. 

 Then fold in half, ironing along the whole strip.

Now fold both sides to the center fold mark and iron.

Fold that in half and iron one more time..

Starting on the outside of the pant leg, sandwich the denim between the binding like shown.  Use the same color thread as the binding. Stitch about 1/8th of an inch from the open end.  You will be stitching both sides at the same time.  I didn't pin this first, but you could do that if you wish.

 Continue stitching all the way around, until you get about 3" from the end that you started at.

 Stop here and open the binding end, like this.

 Now fold the end of the binding inward about 1/4"-1/2".

Sandwich the rest of the pant leg into the binding.

 Now continue to sew all the way to the end of the binding piece. (Note that during the step you are leaving your footplate down and the needle in the down position also).

Sew right to the edge, without going off the end of your binding piece. See where my finger nail is, stop there, and rotate your whole piece clockwise.

Now you are going to stitch down that edge and back stitch. Cut, and your done. Here is the finished look.

Free to Fly Quilt

This is my newly completed quilt I've named "Free to Fly".  The inspiration comes from the birds in the Valori Wells fabrics used in the quilt.  I decided to take these fabrics along with several scrap fabrics and start sewing them in strips.  There was no pattern, no rules, no perfection allowed for this quilt.  It was meant to be a time to try new techniques and just enjoy the fabrics and the time quilting.  I too often get stuck on the metho
ds and imperfections in my work.  Maybe it's a part of my upbringing, or maybe it stems from my own feelings of inadequacies.  At any rate I found that I had to remind myself through out the project that "it didn't have to be perfect".  Although I do confess that I did use the seam ripper on one corner of the quilt.
I enjoyed practicing free motion machine quilting which I have been learning to do in more detail through Leah Day's tutorials.

      The name of the quilt, "Free to Fly" came to me as I thought about my aunt Cindy and uncle Roger who both passed away from cancer in recent years.  Just like the birds in my quilt they are free to fly in heaven without the burdens of their sick bodies they left on earth.  I felt even more freedom to let go of my imperfections and just create this quilt. I hope you enjoy creating something of your own today.