Memorial Weekend Fun

I hope everyone had some time to make memories over this long Memorial Day weekend. We have many family members in our family who've served in various branches of the military, and so we always take time to be thankful for the sacrifice of others.

Yesterday, Kathryn & another friend, Suzanne, came over to sew. Suzanne makes the most darling purses WITH ZIPPERS!! I've wanted to learn how to put zippers in forever, so the goal of yesterday was for her to teach us how.... and she did a great job of making everything understandable. In fact, she even took the time to type up instructions for us! How sweet is that??? 

You can see the smaller change purses sitting in front, which are even easier to sew up in a flash! The possibilities of things to make are racing through my head!!

Here we are modeling our purses:
Suzanne, Kathryn, and me...  (and some of our sewing mess in the background) These are so much fun, I'm going to get to work on another one after this posting!

My BFF & I went exploring for a new fabric shop I'd heard about, and we weren't disappointed! WOW... have you ever headed out thinking, "We'll just see what this is all about", and then upon entering realize your wallet is in serious trouble?? haha... that was us today at Weaver's Dry Goods in Lititz, PA. There were thousands of bolts in the main store, and then about once a month they open their "warehouse" which actually appears to be an unused barn (it's Amish country, don't ya know?) & contains more fabric at discounted prices.

The first two pics show some fabric I picked up to see how they'd go with my embroidered angel.... I forgot to actually bring along the angel to match. I'm going to have to stare at them a bit -not sure if I love either one with it yet. Or maybe like my BFF suggested, I could put a plain border or incorporate some plain navy... still thinking. Any votes? Or you think I should cank them both??

These are just some fabrics that I liked for their color combos & have no plans for them -just something to add to my stash.... speaking of which, I should take a pic of my fabric closet someday. It's always fun to see how others store their stuff, eh?

I think if you click on this one, you can get a closer view of the women & their quotes. Again, I don't have a plan for this..... just liked it.

This last set of fabrics I picked up thinking I could use them to make a bag for when I go to Quilt Guild. I like having small-ish tote bags for different activities so that I can keep the stuff in the bag without having to pack it all up to go, unpack it all when I get home, pack it up, unpack it and on and on... tho I haven't actually found a smallish tote bag pattern I like yet.

I'm still having trouble posting pics where I want them.... for instance, even though my last paragraph goes with the pic down below, my text keeps advancing the picture.... huff!! Sorry! One of these days I'll figure it out.....

Hope you're all having a fabulous Memorial Day weekend. My BFF is coming back tomorrow with another friend & we're going to learn how to put zippers into a purse! Bought some pre-quilted fabric to try this & perhaps I'll finish it & can post pics tomorrow?!?

Don't these strawberries look delicious?? My husband is an avid gardner & over the last few years he's kept expanding the variety of fruits & veggies in our backyard. There's something so very satisfying in going out back & picking your own snack. So while I still hold that Autumn is my favorite season of the year, I do love the harvesting of Summer.

Today is the last day of the school year I'll be teaching! Wahooooo!!! I love homeschooling my almost 14 yr old daughter (my 18 yr old graduated this past Nov), but I'm ready for a break from the daily schedule that right now is giving me a bad case of the ho-hums.... By August I'll be looking forward to having that schedule back, but right now I'm about to bask in the freedom known as Summer Break! Will I actually take a break? Maybe a few... but I'm also looking forward to getting to those projects I keep putting off or just getting a bite here or there done. Now I envision long days that I'll be able to actually FINISH something!! Is this "pie in the sky"?? Perhaps, but right now I'm going to enjoy the thrill of opportunity, the notion of long days filled with accomplishment, actual exercise happening.....

Okay, gonna press on. Still haven't "figured out" the pic/post thing. Obviously, I got pics up, but they're not cooperating by moving as I'd like, but I'm going to try not to obsess...

Anyway, thought I'd touch base & show some of the projects I've been working on. The first one here shows a Tennessee Waltz quilt I've been longarming for a client. I just finished it tonight & am pretty pleased with it!

I've had a bit of adult ADD going on this month with regard to projects as I keep switching from one thing to another & haven't been getting much finished.

I've done a little work on these blocks for my parent's anniversary quilt. My goal is to have this quilt finished by October, so I feel ecstatic that I'm already working on it!! lol I have a tendency to procrastinate once in a while. The pattern is called Autumn Days, and I believe the batiks my mom picked will make for a stunning top (this pic doesn't really do the colors justice.)

I've also been doing a little embroidery. This is very simplistic & some would just call it "stitchery". Nonetheless, it's been a project I've looked forward to during this very busy month of May when I'm exhausted by the end of the day, and I can sit calmly & quietly stitching. It's a breeze to do as I'm using one stitch, the stem stitch, and all navy thread, making it my "blue work" piece, and it's an iron-on pattern. The iron-on patterns are by Patterncentral & were bought at some quilt show a couple years ago. No counting, no thread changes, just stitching.

This next project is another iron-on by Patterncentral...

This was to play with techniques Patterncentral had displayed, whereby you iron-on the pattern and can do a variety of embellishment with markers, crayons, thread, etc. I chose to outline using a marker & colored in the picture with Prang crayons, but I'm not thrilled with my results. I find it elementary & am trying to decide if I want to stitch to outline & then add some piecing around it, quilt it, etc.... a work in progress....

Along with the projects I've showed, I've also celebrated 4 family member's birthdays, Mother's Day, celebrated my daughter's engagement, made & quilted two Quilts For Kids donation blankets (should've taken their pictures!!), altered a prom gown, attended a huge curriculum fair to pick up the texts for next school year, and am beginning the arduous task of assembling the paperwork for my younger daughter's homeschool portfolio... whew... it really has been a busy month!

I'm soooo looking forward to the beginning of June & relaxing a little -though I do have a to-do list a mile long for those "free" summer days.....

Can anyone lend a helping hint on posting properly??

So I've been trying for the better part of the last hour to get my post to coordinate WITH my photos ... every time I upload a photo, it just gets thrown at the top of my writing. Then when I tried to upload several at a time, regardless of the format I chose, they all get clumped together.

What on earth am I doing wrong?? I tried to cut/paste to move pics around, but then the text went to some hyperlink font... ummmm ... is it just me?? I notice my fellow bloggers are able to insert/add pics within their text.... HOW pray tell??

I would be very grateful if someone would enlighten me....

Denise