It was a busy weekend, but without the rundown of everything we did (which included a quilt show) I just wish to share my biggest accomplishment of the weekend.

I love this dress, and can't wait to make another.  For now, I have to knock a few more things off the to-do list.

Progress

Pooh Bear and Grizzly Bear are out on a Boy Scout camp.  It took a lot of effort to get them ready, because they procrastinated getting packed.  There were a lot of last minute "I need" this or that. 

Pooh sewing patches on his uniform the day before leaving for camp.

 The house is a disaster after emptying half the family members out of here within a week.  I chose to ignore the mess for the first day and just sew.  It's hard to find the time, and for the last week I couldn't do anything.  I played taxi all week, so I took the opportunity to do something I wanted.  I let Sugar & Silly put on their suits and play with water in the backyard.  They had to have been out there for 2 hours.  It was SO QUIET!

 I just have to share, Bernina has such GREAT feet.  :)  I have never made piping or even used it for anything.  I once taught a lady how to put piping on pillows, and I was honest about never using it before, but it came out great.  This piping is for a dress.  After using the piping foot, I want to put piping on everything!  That was SO easy!  And a big thank you goes out to my co-worker Marsha B. for walking me through how to do it.  That's why I love where I work.  Even before I worked at Bernina Sewing & Design, the ladies there were so caring and helpful.  Before I became a regular at Bernina I was afraid I wouldn't fit in since I self taught myself and hadn't even been sewing for very long.  I took one class because the instructor was a close friend, and I was hooked.  Nobody treated me any different and the people that go there for classes, and even the employees themselves all have different ranges of talent.  Anyone with a desire and/or love for sewing, quilting, or anything crafty fits in there!

I finally started working on one of the dresses.  This one, the Vintage Georgia dress, is going to be amazing!  I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I LOVE Cottage Mama patterns.  I always learn something new.  The dresses are so incredibly beautiful and not the basic sewing pattern.  I'm excited to get back to this one.  Dishes can wait until after lunch.  :)

It Never Ends

"Busy Mom" by

Gertrudes Asplund

I woke up this morning with zero plans for today.  A perfect day to finally start making that dress.  I didn't even bother to change out of my comfy jammies, because this day was going to be for ME.  Then, it happened.  At 9:30 I remembered Pooh Bear had an appointment with the chiropractor for 10:15!  I scrambled to get Pooh, Sugar, and Silly dressed, with shoes on, and hair brushed.  NO TIME to get Pooh, who remember is a teenager, to jump in the shower beforehand.  The chiropractor is awesome.  Seriously, quit blowing so much money on co-pays with your regular doctor and the pharmacy and go see Ryan & Heather at Family First Chiropractic if you're in Las Cruces, NM.  That's not saying you will never have to see your regular doctor, but this could help to see them less!  I don't know how many times we've seen the doctor and just been sent somewhere else to pay that stupid co-pay AGAIN.  Dr. Ryan taped Pooh Bears shoulders to help with his posture.  Since Bernina is just down the road, we stopped by there to drop off a couple towels I made for the shop.  Then we got home and the tape on Pooh Bear's back fell off.  I called the chiropractor's office and Heather told us to come back and Ryan would re-tape him.  Very sweet, and I love how caring they are.  Since it was so close to lunchtime we decided to meet up with Grandma Bear for lunch at Sams Club.  I needed to pick up pizza for dinner anyway since Friday is always pizza night at the Bear household.  We had a nice lunch with Grandma Bear, and I really wish I had taken a picture.  We miss her when we go a long time without seeing her.  We have a set time to always have lunch together the first Monday of the month, but we've missed a few times so these unscheduled visits are very, very welcomed when they come!  After Sams I dropped three of the Bear kids off at the house and had Pooh take a shower, hoping that would help the tape stick to his back better.  We just got back from having him re-taped, and so far so good.  Now... if I can use the rest of this day to sew...  2 hours left until dinnertime and 4 hours until bedtime.  We'll see what I can get accomplished.

Here are the towels I DID complete.  It's not much, but at least it's something:

I have to add in the status update I put on Facebook.  Sometimes it's those little moments that happen while we're going through the big moments that get forgotten.  But those little moments are SO VERY IMPORTANT.  They're the things that kids' often remember when they look back on their childhood, and not the fact that we were late to the doctor or that it was 100 degrees and humid out.  Make those little moments count! 

"The kids and I were driving home this afternoon, and Sugar Bear was finding objects in the clouds. She said she saw a hippo. Ok, cute. Then Pooh Bear said he saw a baby pig being chased by a mouse with a sword. That kid......."

We were all laughing so hard when he said that.

Adorable Dress

Today I'm taking a break from the quilt piecing I've been doing.  Even though I'd like to keep plugging along with the BOM (block of the month) that I've been working on, I'm finally at a point that I can take a break and do something else.  This dress has been impatiently calling to me from the shelf in my sewing room.  It's the Georgia Dress by Cottage Mama. 

I should have been working on it yesterday, but I did this instead:

Of course this is the entry hall in my house before the baskets of shoes, helmets, work bags, and church bag are shoved under and around the bench.  I LOVE it!  I bought the bench off Craigslist around a year ago, and FINALLY repainted it!  Can you guess what my favorite color is?



I woke up this morning to the sweetest email from Papa Bear.  17 years ago we went on our first date, which came so close to NOT happening.  First, the movie was miraculously still playing after being in the theater forever (The Saint.)  Then, he was late showing up due to road work and I had just restarted the car and was leaving the parking lot.  I wouldn't have given him another chance.  Ok, well... he was hot... I probably would have.  So in his email this morning he sent a picture of a gift that I will have to wait for until he comes back from a work trip.  He took a picture of it with the hotel stationary behind it so I'd know it was real.

Isn't it pretty!  To explain the charms, I love butterflies, we were married on St. Patricks day, and the heart is for today (and maybe because of my favorite color?) 

Ok, time for me to get the kids to the Free Summer Movie, and then back to my little dress!  Have a marvelous day!

It's been quite awhile since I've written, I'm very sorry... if this is actually being read, lol.  Now that my older two sons', Grizzly Bear and Pooh Bear, are finished with 8th and 10th grade I can do a little more (until they start school on July 1.)  I have been teaching my daughter, Sugar Bear, how to piece a practice quilt and she's working on completing her first skirt!  Silly Bear officially starts Kindergarten this coming year, and I'm sure once August comes I will be very limited on time again.  But, here I am for now.  The end of the school year brought a lot of stress and scrambling to complete assignments and pass final exams for Grizzly & Pooh.  I also took on teaching Pre-K to 5th grade kids at my church, which takes a lot of time planning every week.  Papa Bear started traveling for work in November, which means I have to do a lot more on the home front than ever before.  Papa Bear spoils me and I'm not use to having so much fall on me.  Now that it's Summer though, I can try to get on top of those things I have neglected such as this blog, the store's Facebook & Pinterest pages.  My project list has grown and grown, I can't even see the end of it right now.  But, at least I have a few things that I can share.  I'll have to save a few for later, since it is already past bedtime and the kids are still up.  Papa Bear left for Phoenix this morning for work, and we become very lazy when he's not home. 

For starters, here is a dress I made for Sugar-bear!  It's a pattern by Cottage Mama.  I LOVED making this dress!  It was very different than the usual.  Best of all, she loves it and says she feels like a princess with it on.  It's hanging at Bernina Sewing & Design right now, and if interested you can find the pattern there!  ;)  I have 2-3 patterns by Cottage Mama in the queue that I am dying to get to!
 Grizzly & Pooh will be with the scouts for a week that Papa will also be out of town.  Sugar & Silly don't eat much or get into very much trouble.  Maybe I will be able to get more done?
 

 

I don't have much time to write today.  Just slipping in while the kids take a small break from school.  Here's the dress I made for Sugar Bear.  She loves it!  You can see it on display, or buy the pattern at Bernina Sewing & Design.  It came together like a dream!  So fast and EASY!

Mini Quilt

I've tossed my 301 quilt in the corner of my sewing room for now.  I felt overwhelmed with it and needed a break. 
I made a cute mini quilt for my neighbor.  She's an elderly women that barely leaves the house.  She's always happy to have guests, and gets so excited when my younger two kids and I go to visit.  I was so busy this Summer that I haven't had a chance to visit with her since June.  I gave her the mini quilt and told her it's to remind her that I'm thinking of her even when we haven't talked in awhile.  She put it on top of her living room TV.  It gave her something new to look at, as well as letting her know I care about her.  She asked all kinds of questions about it, and was surprised when I told her they only take a day or two to make.
I also finished a dress for my daughter with a pattern by Indygo Junction.  It's GORGEOUS!  And it was insanely easy to put together!  The dress will be on display at the Bernina shop for awhile (I'll be taking it in tomorrow,) go by and see it! I don't have a picture at the moment, but once I do I'll post it here.