Crochet project

I found this free pattern at Hobby Lobby and thought I would make it my long term crochet project. You know, the one you take in the car, in the waiting room, while the child is playing. Mine won't look as cool because I'm not using variegated yarn, but I think it will be pretty. I've only done 3 of the swirls so far, and I'm not sure about those. I'm just not a good counter. I think that will get better with practice. I found a wine glass charm to use as a place holder, but I think that's going to get stuck too much to be easy to use. I may have to use a mateless earring. I'll make as many red swirls as I have yarn for, then use either black or white for the other ones, then one color for the edges. We'll see. It's a work in progress.  

Dress

I made this dress. I used 2 yards of red and white fabric. It is made of 2 rectangles. The instructions say to use your hip measurement x 1.5. Mine was 42, which made 63. Which was too big. So if I do it again, I'll use 55 or so. The length was 35, which was fine - hits just below the knee. It's not tailored at all, which is fine. It looks great with a belt. The elastic was supposed to be the high bust, but mine was too big, so I had to cut some off. I like it. I'll probably wear it @ Gracie's bday party and maybe the 1st day of school with a cardigan.   Ignore the fact that I can't find my strapless bra. And the mess behind me.

Date night

Thanks to my mother volunteering to keep Gracie Monday night, Scott and I got to go on a date. We had a gift card and coupon for Outback and it was delicious. We had steak and snow crabs and shrimp fettuccine.  We went to B&N afterwards, our usual date place. I did something stupid and ate a sugary dessert and we left early. Of course, Scott's stomach wasn't behaving either, so  - we're just getting old, I guess. I don't know what I was thinking. I can't eat like I used to. This is the 3rd time this summer I've done this. Sugar = nausea; or worse. I've thrown up key lime tart and an ice cream cone. I will learn eventually.
Really, I dropped Scott off @ B&N and I went to Michael's and Jo-ann's, where I had coupons and shopping lists. Scott really shouldn't let me do that.  

  I found these for $1 (or less) each for Gracie's bday. She'll love them - with her initials - a little box with little sheets of stationary and a little booklet with post-its and her initials.

I also found these cupcake holders (we are always in need - or so I usually think) and $1 isn't bad for 50. I had a 40% off coupon and used it for pinking shears - something I think I need to sew. And these little candy molds. I keep thinking that I'm going to melt down crayons to make home made crayons (and I will when we gather up enough crayon pieces). These were $0.50 each. (CHEEP!)

At the lunch I went to with my friends last week I brought up some sewing, crafty-thing and the lone man there made some mockery, saying that we're all going to make a new outfit and wear it the first day of school. Well, I'm going to do just that. AHHHH!. I found this pretty red fabric and I love red. With a 50% off coupon, I got 2 yards for $6. Well, less than that because I get another some off with my teacher discount. I thought I had bookmarked some dress patterns, but not really. So I'm still thinking. I like this one from icandy handmade series "fun in the sun[dress]. This one too, but upsized for me. If it's bad, it will be a learning experience and just $6 gone. If it's good, then I can make more and more. Even as a sleeveless dress, I can wear a black cardigan over it. If it's bad, I can cut it all up to make coasters or some such thing. The fabric is going in the wash. Then we will begin!

 Then I picked up these remnants. Texas A&M flannel - almost a whole yard for 50% off. I think I'm going to make my precious nephew some flannel pants for Christmas. Maybe even Gracie too, or myself some shorts. Possibilities. And watermelon fabric!! So cute. Coasters? Add some bright green and make placemats? Or use this tutorial to make a pretty tank. And the red will be good for Christmas stuff.

Beginnings

I finished the Wisteria Fairy, so I've given myself permission to begin other things. I started 3 cross stitch projects that I'm going to rotate around.

I'm starting this poinsetta - very pretty and pretty complex, so it might take awhile to finish. But nice!

There's a set of 3 flowers I'm going to do for my kitchen (I think). They're beautiful and not that

complex, so I'm hoping to finish at least 2 of them before the end of the year.

I'm also doing smaller Christmas ornaments to finish up as gifts for people. I found a deal site called Heartsy. I got $5 for signing up, then used that $5 plus $5 to buy a $28 gift card for an etsy store, then bought a set of cards for a gift for someone either for birthday or Christmas. Not bad. I generally find etsy expensive - more than I would generally pay for gifts, especially with shipping, but I'm becoming more open to the concept. Handmade things are so unique to give as gifts!

Sewing failures

I took these pictures with my phone, so they didn't turn out well anyway, but here are my failures of late. I tried to make a potholder to go with the apron. I just tried to put fabric together to make a square. That could have gone better, but it was ok. Then I quilted it a very little on the sides to make a square. Again, could have been better, but not bad. Then I tried to bind it. I followed a tutorial I had found and it was ok. What I did wasn't ok. I'm not sure what I did wrong. I'm going to have to try again. It's just normal quilt binding. I know it takes practice. I need to practice before I actually do a quilt. So fail. Learning curve.

The second failure was a little pouch. It was the zipper that got me. I hand quilted some of the flight pattern of the bees and it was cute. Trying to sew on the zipper was the sticking point for me. I have a zipper foot in with my machine. I couldn't figure out how to at

tach it. Either I'm missing a part or it's a foot for another machine. Could be either one. I have the directions for my machine, but I think I need someone to sit and go through the machine and its parts with me. I never took home ec or anything, so I feel a little clueless sometimes. My mom said she would sometime. I have other feet too, but I'm not sure what to do with them. I was looking forward to making a lot of those little zippered pouches for gifts, since I won those zippers.

Sunday

The sermon today in church was about the parable of the seeds, how we can be different types of soil based on what's going on in our lives, etc. Pastor was out of town, so it was read by an elder. It was ok. A new look for me at a familiar parable. SS was horrible. I need Bible study, not whatever they were doing. I finally finished reading in Joshua, which is where I am in my (not-so) daily Bible readings, but I read ahead and will be able to get through that quickly. I skipped over Judges because we've done that in young adult Bible class, but I'll go through the devotions with it. I received the daily reading Bible as a gift in Sioux Falls 4 years ago and it was supposed to take 2 years to do and I didn't do it. I have been making more progress, but I need to get into the habit and keep it. It's a great little devotion time, I am just lazy.
Anyway, also during SS today I read through Ruth and the commentary with my Bible and saw it in a new way. I never noticed Boaz' care and actions. Though I do wonder why he wasn't already married. Or was he and Ruth became his newest wife? That's not clear to me. But I do see how God took care of Ruth and Naomi through the people around them.  

Birthday party

We went to my cousin's little boy's 4th birthday party today. The kids had a lot of fun and it was nice to see everyone.