Scrap & Sew Weekend

First of all, THIS amazing house in Deep Creek, Maryland is where I spent the weekend with a fantastic bunch of ladies for our annual Scrap &Sew Weekend. 

Amazing, right? This is the second year we've rented the same house, which comfortably sleeps 12 (although there were only 9 of us this year) simply because it's gorgeous. And there's plenty of comfy couch room and table space to spread out.

It's a weekend away for us ladies to do whatever crafty thing we want. Some of us scrapbook, some quilt, some cross-stitch, some read, some sew, and some just sit around and enjoy the view, the hot tub and the conversation. 

Since I'm rather limited in what I can sew for myself, currently (although I'm working on a few things to remedy that!) I chose to spend my weekend sewing for my girls. And since Easter is quickly approaching, I seized the opportunity. I had this Simplicity pattern - 7113 - in my stash, thanks to a good friend's generosity. When I showed it to Lilly, she immediately gravitated to the pink and white polka dot line drawing. "I want that one!" she told me. I asked her what colors she would like, and she just looked at me like I was crazy and repeated that she wanted that dress. 

So, I headed to our local Joann Fabrics (my only real choice for fabrics on the fly) with my fingers crossed that I could come up with something close enough. To my astonishment, I found a white Swiss dot cotton with pink polka dots for the top and washed the crap out of some pink with white polka dot quilting cotton for the bottom. A little pink ribbon for the sash trim et viola!

I arrived at the cottage on Friday evening at about 8 PM and by Saturday around noon I'd finished the first dress (albeit unhemmed). I finished the second one by that night. It definitely helped that I had cut all my pattern pieces a few days before the trip, to speed up the process.

Pardon my less than perfect photography - I was using my phone's camera. I still have to hem both of them, but after I got home Sunday evening the littlest girl woke up sick, and her big sister followed suit this morning. Both are feeling much better now, and I'm just praying I don't get whatever it was.

No matter what chaos I returned home to, it was a lovely and productive weekend away. I'm already looking forward to next March when I get to do it again. :)

Giving Thanks and Holiday Preparations

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My babies, fresh out of bed and snuggling together - these are the moments that I'm most thankful for!

'Things I'm Thankful For' list toppers: Hearing Evie call me Mommy (pronounced more like 'Mah-MEE'), a husband who works hard for his family, Lilly's incredibly quick wit, an awesome new job and equally great boss, finding an amazingly therapeutic new hobby, parents who go WAY out of their way for us, and the love and support of a handful of truly great friends. I'm a very blessed girl!

And on another note :) .....

In exchange for a few weeks of free babysitting, I've been helping one of my best friends create some handmade gifts for her 4 (that's right, I said FOUR!) boys for Christmas.  She's not a sewist... well, at least she wasn't when she asked me to make these. An early Christmas gift to me - I think I've converted her! So, TOGETHER we created these 4 amazing works of fiber-filled art!

 She calls them "bed partners" - I call them creative body pillows. Whatever you call them, they're a great gift for kids. We used some out of print Simplicity pattern (whose number I cannot currently remember) that had 2 other patterns - a cat and an elephant - that we didn't use. She chose a fleece fabric that she thought suited each boy's personality and that's what we used for the bodies. A nice touch, don't you think?  We started off with the panda. I cut this one and did 95% of the sewing - leaving just the long, straight seams for her since she's a complete newbie.

 

Boy #1's Panda

She cut this one out completely and sewed everything after the head was completed. That muzzle was a bear! (no pun intended... okay, a little pun intended. *grin*)

 

Boy #4's Bear

Feeling much more confident, aside from the nose seam, this puppy was 100% her! *sniff* I was so proud! :)

 

Boy #2's Puppy

 Now, this one I completed after she cut. (God bless her... I've offered her a job being my permanent 'Cutting Assistant' - sadly, she's not interested.) We kept it for last since it was so involved. Not quite sure what it is, exactly. I've been calling it a dragon, she calls it a dinosaur. We have no idea, but it suits Boy #3 perfectly. It took me over 2 hours to do the face, alone. Not even the back of head... just the FACE! It didn't help that my machine kept jamming every 2 or 3 minutes from the ridiculously thick thread. Got it done in one evening, though, so I can't complain too much. By far the most tedious, but also the cutest, don't you think?

 

Boy #3's Dragon-saur

  

A close up of the face

  

And just so you can get an idea of the gigantic scale of these bad boys, Mr. Bear decided to do a little sewing of his own. 

All in all, it was a fun adventure. And the best part of it? I get a new sewing buddy out of the deal! Hooray! Any of you ever 'convert' one of your friends to sewing? I have to say, it's a ton more fun sewing with a friend (especially one who will do the cutting!) even if she doesn't want to sew any garments. Yeah, it's true - she's strictly a craft sewist. Well, until I convert her on that, too. ;)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!