Post Op, List of Projects, and Hosting Japanese Teens

I had my surgery on Monday. I got through it ok. I am in more pain than I expected. I guess I really didn't know what to expect. I went back to the doctor today, and he thought it looked ok. I don't know when I'll try to get downstairs to sew or work on my computer (I'm on my husband's laptop, now). I will probably get down there the beginning of next week. I have some sewing projects that I really need to get to soon.
1. Emory's birthday is coming up toward the end of August. I'm going to make her the red "Little Orphan Annie" dress, a couple of gowns, some dress-up clothes, etc....
2. I have purse organizers to make for my blogger friends.
3. I have a suit and a pair of pants to alter for my friend's dad. He is handicapped and needs a suit to wear to a wedding. He doesn't want a new one, so I'm going to try to put a little ease in the jacket and make the pants easier to get on and off. I have a pair of his khakis to fix, as well.
4. One of the ladies who works at the nursing home has a daughter getting married in September. I get to make her grandson's outfit to wear while riding in a wagon down the isle. I think he'll have a little 3 piece suit. He'll be about 9 months old.
5. Another lady at the nursing home has two grand daughters (3 years and 7 years) who she wants me to sew for. Yes, I know I was not going to do simple little cute things like this anymore, but how do I say, "No"?
6. Halloween costumes for the grands are on my list, as well. I know that Kellen wants to be Pocahontas, and Jenna wants to be Sacajawea. I don't know what the others want yet. I will have to research the difference in the two Indian ladies.
7. I will need to think of making something for Jenna's birthday before too long.
8. Christmas dresses and an outfit for Little Man won't be too far behind.

This weekend, my husband and I are hosting some Japanese teenage girls who are coming here with a hand bell choir. They are going to play at lots of venues in our area over the weekend, our church being one of the places. I first said, "No," when I was called last night to see if some of the girls could stay with us, because of my foot, but my husband really wanted to let them stay here. I would, too, any other time. I really don't mind, though. My friend is hosting some of the boys who are coming, and she has invited us to join them at her house for a cookout tomorrow night. We will need to feed them on Saturday morning, and since my husband has to go to work early on Saturday, I will do a simple Continental type breakfast with pastries, fruit, etc.... My husband will cook for them on Sunday morning. I can't drive yet, so my husband and others will have to get them to the places they have to go to meet their group and bring them to our house. I don't know how many girls we'll have here yet, but either 3, 4, or 7! I have room for that many upstairs if they don't mind sleeping 2 to a bed and a couple of them will have to be on a sleeper sofa. I don't want to deal with getting my downstairs ready since I can't get down there. It should be fun to have them here, though.

New boot!

Yeah that's right, just one boot! I'm really going to be stylin' for the rest of the summer in my new boot. I think it weighs about 20 lbs. Argggg..... Tomorrow is the day for my surgery. I'm having a bunion and a hammer toe fixed. I also have a terrible neuroma in that foot, a bunion on the pinky toe, and misaligned bones that are protruding on the outside of my foot. He thinks that I have torn tendons where those protruding bones meet. Whatever, it hurts!!! He is only willing to do the bunion and hammer toe at one time, though. He thinks that will alleviate some of the other issues. I will probably have to go back to have the neuroma taken out later.
My computer and sewing rooms are in my basement so I don't know when I'll get to sew or blog. I'm sure it will be a few days, though. I don't know how easy the stairs will be to maneuver.
An up-date on my little great niece who I told you about in my last post. She is okay, but they did find a hairline fracture in her hip. It didn't show up at first, but when she wouldn't or couldn't stand and walk they took her back and found this. Poor little one!

Catching Up! Seven Posts in One!

My Heart is Racing Still!
My sister called this morning to tell me that her 2 1/2 year old grand daughter (my great niece) was hit by a car yesterday. She is okay!!!! Thank God!!! She and her 6 1/2 year old sister (both pictured below) were playing when she ran into the neighbors' driveway just as the neighbor backed out. She was apparently just knocked to the pavement, not run over. She has lots a scrapes and is sore. They ran all kinds of tests and found nothing else. But, can you imagine what it must have been like for her, her big sis, who is the only one who actually saw it happen, her mom and dad, the neighbor, and my sister? I don't want to imagine! Hold on, give hugs and kisses, and love those little ones in your life!!!



Happy Birthday to my daughter!
She's 27 today! Let's see, can that be true? Yep, I was 30 when she was born, and I'm 57 now! What a fast track we've been on since then!!


Distraction!
I have been distracted for the past week, and here's why!
This is Little Man. His mom said that as long as I blurred his face I could post a photo. He had a ball playing in my cabinets, especially this one because he was a perfect fit!! He is the son of our daughter who is having a birthday today! He likes to give high fives, wave hi and bye, look out of the side of his eyes with the flirtiest smile you ever saw, walk around dragging his dad's shoe by the shoe string, and throw up his hands for a "touchdown," along with lots of other really cute and charming things. He LOVES his mommy!!!

Here's Emory! She's almost 2, and is a hoot! When asked what a surfer says, she says, "Hey, dude!" .....a golfer....."Fore!" or sometimes she says, "six." At least she knows it's a number! She can tell you what all the animals say, and her mom taught her to say,"Huh?" when asked what Grandaddy says, and "What?" when asked what Granmomma says. Her mom posted a video of her performance this morning. Our daughters are trying to tell us we are getting old and hard of hearing. Hum.... I guess I can't argue with that! She loves the movie "Annie" and says, "Annie, dress" and "Annie, dancing" and "Annie, this" and "Annie, that" throughout the movie. She gives a play by play! This photo was made at an outdoor concert in which my cousin's son's band performed. He is a very talented musician.



Next is Riley. She's 3 1/2 now. She was sick with a stomach virus most of the time they were here. Poor thing, she sat in her mommy and daddy's laps almost the whole time. She was running a fever and vomiting. She is such a little sweetheart. She cried when they left because Granmomma and Grandaddy weren't going back home with her. I hope she remembers some of the fun times she had while they were here. She did roast a few marshmallows. She actually made her Papaw (my FIL) his first ever s'more! My husband made a fire pit in our backyard. We have plans for a lot more fun stuff out back.

Then, there's Jenna. She's 6 1/2. She is such a sweetheart. She lost a tooth while she was here. It was her third. The tooth fairy found her, thank goodness! She is a little actress, singer, swimmer, and knee boarder. She learned to knee board last summer when they were here. Her great uncle has a boat and has taught all of the generation that my girls are in to ski, etc.... Now, he's teaching Jenna and Kellen. Jenna is a loving little one. She loves to give hugs, and what wonderful hugs they are! She loves to sit next to me and rub the "fluffy" skin on my arms! She likes to be a big help. She helped clear the table and anything else that she could to help her granmomma.

Our oldest grandchild is Kellen. She is 9! How in the world did that happen?!? She is also an actress, singer, swimmer, skiier, etc....... She loves animals and anything about nature and science. She and Jenna put on a puppet show for us while they were here. She is the writer, stage manager, production chief, puppet master, etc..... The girls all liked to dress up in the dress up clothes in the play area I fixed for them. They really liked it when I pulled out some of her mom's and aunts' old prom dresses, etc... for them to dress up in one night. Kellen is also a great helper. She really had fun with the "little" cousins.

Am I blessed, or what!?! The only bad part is that they all had to go back home after such a short and busy visit! We fit in a weekend trip to the lake to visit with all of my husband's family. There were over 30 of us in all. The grands got to go to our local park and play in the sprinklers. We went to a local ice cream/milk plant, and, of course, ate yummy ice cream. We built a fire and roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. We even had a watermelon seed spitting contest at Mamaw and Papaw's house one evening! We visited Great Grandmother (my mom, who is much better, by the way!) We stayed up late, watched kid friendly movies, read books, played with all kinds of toys, and ATE WAY TOO MUCH YUMMY FOOD!


Orange Sweaters!
My husband's cousin's wife, pictured here with my husband, and 2 brothers-in-law, knitted the orange sweaters that the guys are wearing. She also knitted the sweater she's wearing. She taught our two older grand daughters a little about knitting. She's good, isn't she? She made the sweaters orange because she knows that we are all BIG University of Tennessee fans, and that orange and white are our colors. These will be perfect for the cool fall Saturday afternoon football games.


Purse Organizers Not Forgotten!
I have not forgotten that I have some purse organizers to make for some of my blogger friends. Pictured here is a purse that I made for Emily who commented on my post about a give away. I decided to make her a purse that has pockets on the insides rather than just an organizer. I hope she likes it. She asked for light blue and lime green. I already had these place mats (yes, place mats) to make hers with before she made her request. Luckily, there was light blue and lime green in the design. I hope she doesn't mind the other colors! I will be getting the adults' purse organizers made very soon and all of them in the mail. Thanks for your patience!


More Inspiration From the Past!
Isn't this handkerchief about the most beautiful piece of art work you've ever see? I say "art work" because what else could one call this? Can you imagine how much time it took to make this? Look at the LOVE that went into this! My daughter bought this at her husband's aunt's store. She wanted me to use it in a Christening outfit for a baby boy if she ever had one. But, she has 3 daughters and couldn't be happier. Her girls actually wore the 3 Christening dresses that my girls wore as babies. I will find a use for this, no doubt.

Here are some of the different strands of tatting that my grandmother, Honey, made. The tiny row of lace is some she made for some little girls in my church. They are grown women now. Their mom found it recently and gave it to me. She never got around to using it. It was their dad who was my mom's dear friend who died recently.



Inspiration From My Cousin!
My grandmother who taught my cousin and me to sew, also taught my cousin. Below is an example of the work my cousin does now. This is a new quilt that she just finished. Isn't it gorgeous!?! This cousin just had surgery on her shoulder yesterday. She injured it at her school where she is a 4th grade teacher.

Malinda, my cuz, who made the quilt, gave me this frame a few years ago. I keep it with a photo of the two of us on my sewing table. She is a real treasure to me. We are only 4 months apart in age and grew up next door to each other. She is closer and dearer to me than most sisters are to each other. She's also the mom of the musician whose band we went to hear that I mentioned above.

Inspiration From the Past!

First of all, I want to say thank you to those of you who commented on my last post. I was in a very reflective mood when I wrote it. I thought of the irony of funerals and weddings and how they play such important parts of our lives. I think there are many events in our lives that are so contrasting yet they all meld together to make us who we are. Perhaps I am who I am because of the many people who have had such an important part of my life. Of course, family is important, but others in church, school, work, etc.... impact us as well. I have been impacted by folks who are much older, but those who are much younger than I am, as well. I am constantly impressed with the insight my DDs have, and I hope they know how much I appreciate and love them. I am very proud of their accomplishments and with the way they are approaching parenthood.

I find myself being drawn to the beautiful things from our past. these are a very few of the many beautiful vintage hand worked handkerchiefs, laces, etc... that I have accumulated. I have noticed many blogs that feature tea cups, or other things on a particular day of the week. I think I will start featuring some of the beautiful linens, etc... that I have on Tuesday, or whatever day of the week I happen to get it done. I call these Inspiration From the Past because this is from where I get much of my creativity. My grandmother, Honey, and my aunts, and others before them made such beautiful items. They taught me and left me with a love, respect, and need for hand made creations.


This is a handkerchief that has delicate embroidery and a scalloped edge. You can see where the edging is frayed. That just adds to the knowledge that this was a well loved hanky. This could be incorporated into a little girl's dress as a collar, as insets on sleeves, or set into a sash, etc...


My aunt made huck towel tea towels all the time and taught me how, as well. It really isn't difficult to do. The hard part now is finding the huck toweling fabric. You can see how the weave is conducive to weaving a design. I have used several towels such as this as collars, or as pillows for new born babies in our family. My grandmother's tatting is on most of my aunt's towels. This one wasn't finished, but when I use it I will add some of the tatting that I have left from my grandmother's box of yards of lace.

This crocheted tablecloth is gorgeous. I purchased this piece. I don't know what I'll do with it yet, but someday it will tell me what it wants to be. There isn't much of this piece that isn't damaged, but enough to make a pretty overlay skirt on a tiny dress or as a collar or something.


I love hand embroidery. I think this is so pretty. I'm not sure what the fabric is but it has a very interesting texture, as you can see. The blues, pinks, and yellows in this work of art are so pretty. I can see this as the border of a little girl's dress, or again, as a collar or sleeves. It would even make a pretty cardigan over a springtime dress. I think the crocheted lace is unbelievable. Scallops are one of my favorite details on any piece.


This is one gorgeous embroidered and drawn worked linen napkin. I have a set of these. I once made a dress for my grand daughter from 8 linen tea towels sewn strategically together. I think these may come together in a dress kind of like that one.

At the top of this view is some delicate tatting on the edge of a handkerchief. My grandmother did not make this particular lace, but isn't it pretty? What a pretty edging it would make on a little baby's dress! The linen napkin is one of a set that I have. I once sewed a whole set of napkins diagonally all the way around the skirt of one of my grand daughter's dresses. These might work well like that or I may even sew them all together and make a whole dress. Or I could use each one in a different dress, one for each grand daughter so they would have matching dresses. Hum.... that's an idea for Easter.


I don't think this tea towel is all that old, but isn't that applique beautiful?!? Sometimes I just get ideas for my own embroidery or appliques from pieces like this.

More lovely, delicate hand made lace on the edge of a hanky.


Look at this treasure! I have lots of ideas floating through my little brain for this one. I may cut apart the circles and use them separately some way, or I may turn the whole thing into a dress some way or other. I had some crocheted place mats once that this reminds me of that I turned into a dress.
I think all of the dresses I have mentioned are in the slide show on my sidebar.

The Alpha and Omega

I mentioned to one of my mother's life long friends that I was going to three funerals and two weddings all within a few days of each other this past week and a half. I said something about the beginnings and ends of happenings in our lives. He jokingly said that he wasn't sure which, (the weddings or the funerals) were which. We both laughed at his joke. I mean these 3 funerals were of his friends, as well, and he was able to see humor in my comment.
Later, I started thinking about what he had said, and I realized that he probably wasn't really, deep-down joking. He was probably being serious.
Yes, death is an end, but is it really? Death is the end to the life that we know on Earth, but I believe it is the beginning of an eternal life that is much better than the one here.
Death is a time when our loved ones come together to celebrate our life. To remember our contributions to our families, friends, communities, etc.... These funerals that I attended really made me think about what, if any, impact my life has had, is having, and will have on those around me. Will anyone remember me for being special to them in some way, or will I just be the person who was their 6th grade teacher, that lady who sang in the choir, that woman who sewed alot, etc.....? I think we all have a calling. I believe that God created each of us to do something with the talents and intelligence and personalities He has given us. I think most of us have trouble figuring out exactly what that calling is. I need to do some soul searching.
Please don't be offended if your beliefs are different from mine. Many people have different beliefs from mine, and that is ok, because I don't claim to know it all or have all the answers. Actually, I don't know much and have very few answers. I respect everyone's beliefs and differences. I don't tolerate them; that would mean that I didn't respect them, but that I just gritted my teeth and pretended that they didn't exist. I truly think that each person has a right to his or her own belief foundation.
And, weddings, well, yes, they are beginnings. They are beautiful beginnings. The most beautiful beginning in my opinion is the beginning of family. Whether or not a couple has children, they are joining another family and encircling themselves with new sisters, brothers, parents, aunts, uncles, and if they choose, children of their own. My DH and I started our life together 36 1/2 years ago. We were very fortunate to be surrounded by loving families. We were most fortunate and blessed to have three beautiful, smart, sweet daughters. They have further blessed us with three fantastic SILs. One of our DDs and her husband celebrated 11 years together back in May and have given us three precious grandchildren. Another DD and SIL celebrated their 4th a few days ago and have given us another adorable grandchild. Our youngest DD and her DH will celebrate their 4th in a few months, and they, too, have blessed us with a sweet grandchild. These have been glorious beginnings. Marriage is a beginning to many wonderful events in our lives.
However, a marriage is also an end to many things. It is an end to singleness. It is an end to being dependent on parents for some. It is an end to loneliness for some. It is an end to not having a shoulder to lean on when needed, or not having someone with whom to celebrate life's wonderful moments. Marriage can be seen as the end of independence. It could be the end of happiness for some. I know that many marriages aren't happy and should have never been, my parents' for example, but then I wouldn't be here, hum..? I pray that each person who enters marriage can have a happy and blissful life. This would be a little naive of me, however. Marriage isn't all easy, and if anyone ever tells you it is that person is not telling the truth or his/her head is in the clouds. I also pray that those who haven't found marriage to be what it is meant to be, will find the inner strength to go on to find happiness. Boy, I did not mean to get this deep into these subjects, but here it is.
Now, to go put some more thought into all of this rambling.
Thanks to those of you who give well wishes to my Mother. She seems a little better today. We seem to be on a roller coaster ride. I have never liked roller coasters!

Happy 4th, Where Did the Week Go(?), and Here We Go Again!

Happy 4th of July!

I made these valences for my cousin's restaurant yesterday. Before mother went into the hospital he and I conferred about what colors to paint this room that he lets people reserve for birthday parties, club meetings, etc..., or for when the rest of the restaurant is full. He has had red and white striped wall paper, wallpaper with a fruit design, etc.... But, this time he decided to paint. He used yellow at the top and gray on the bottom. The rest of his restaurant has green, yellow, gray, and red. He has lots of pictures of local celebrities, UT football, UT basketball, etc... in the other rooms. Anyway, we had looked a little for fabric before Mother got sick and had trouble finding anything that would work. But, we went a couple of days ago to a fabric outlet store that is just off interstate 75 above Sweetwater, TN, and we found this. He wasn't wild about it, but it had all the colors he needed, so we got it. I was happy with it and knew that the squares would make it easy; there would be very little measuring, I could just follow the squares. I just had to make sure the colors lined up. Each row of squares is primarily a certain color. It was really simple. He has ten windows that are in pairs. I am very happy with the way they turned out. They really brighten up the room and coordinate everything together.


I found another use for the cardboard that piping and bias binding, etc... come on. I taped one to my machine to use as a guide for the stitching on the casing. Even with the straight lines of the squares I didn't want to sew crookedly. This really helped.

I made Little Man a shirt from an orange towel to wear when he hangs out at the pool. This really is orange even though in this photo it looks peachy. You might be able to see that I put his Little Man logo on the bottom left front. There was no hemming and no side seams to this shirt. I just taped the front and backs of a shirt pattern together and cut this as one whole piece. I was able to abut the fronts along the edge of the towel and the bottom along the bottom edge of the towel I simple sewed the shoulder seams together and stitched a strip of the side edge of the towel around the neckline.

I used the closed overlock stitch for seaming this shirt and the shorts below. I made the stitch narrower and shorter. I don't have a serger so this stitch did a serger like seam with the exception of trimming it as I sewed. This stitch prevented having such a mess when I trimmed the seam and it made a nice finish as well.

Here are more shorts for my grand daughters made from more towels. As you can see I used contrasting colors for each leg on each pair. I used the draw string on these rather than elastic like I did for my friend's daughter. My DD preferred the draw string. I didn't make the string long enough on those first ones I made, so I will need to fix those. I think I made them plenty long on this set. All four of the girls are getting a pair of these. I put their initials on one leg. I blurred out the last initial on the ones you could see, that's why they look a little weird.

As you can see below, I put the drawstring in before I sewed down the casing. How easy is that?!
I didn't do that on the first ones I made. It wasn't hard to put the drawstrings in after the casing was made, but this was even easier!!

When I sewed the front seam I left an opening for the strings. As you can see I just stitched the seam down on either side of the hole.

Now, for the "Here We Go Again" part of my post..... My mom is sick again. She has another UTI. We are trying to keep her out of the hospital, but I'm not sure we can. Why can't I get it through to the nurses that if she says anything confused sounding that it means she's sick? She called me at 7:00 am this morning, and I knew immediately that she was sick. I got to the nursing home to find that they had gotten a test back (that I had to insist that they do), and it showed infection, but they were going to WAIT and see how she did, until I broke into tears and insisted that they call the dr. THEN and get her started on an antibiotic THEN not LATER!!! I do not understand!! I came home to eat some lunch and decided to do this post. She just called me and hung up. First of all, why are they giving her the phone? Why don't they just call me themselves!!!???!!! I have asked and asked and asked that they understand that she has no dementia. She gets confused ONLY when she has an infection. I have also asked that THEY call me when she has a problem. I only live 5 minutes away. I know they have other residents to deal with, and that another lady and my mom kept them hopping all night. SO, CALL ME! Today they are having hotdogs and patriotic music, etc.... and my mother would have loved that, but she is sick and can't. I'm on my way back up there now. I will quit ranting!
There are probably all kinds of typos and grammatical errors in this post. I don't have time to proof it. I'll look at it again this evening.
By the way, if anyone is interested in a purse organizer just comment on this or my previous post and I'll make you one.

I Want to Play!

Tag: I've decided to make a purse organizer. I couldn't live without mine!!!


My friend at Back Porch Blessings has started a unique give away, and I want to play. I copied this from her last post.

Do I have five readers?

. Here's how it works.

The first five people to leave a comment on this post will get something from me.
But in return, you have to do the same thing on your blog and make something for five other people.
The details are as follows, and if you want to play, copy the following onto your blog and leave me a post:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It’ll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be.
It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber.
It may be weird or beautiful.
Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something strange.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.
7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you.

Okay get busy and leave me some comments so I can get busy making you something.