Is it really a weed?

I have this little flower garden.  It has some Flox and some Dianthis and some Allysum.  

In previous years, its had Petunias or Vinca flowers. 

Randomly, this year a few purple-violet Pansies appeared.  There has never been Pansies in that bed before. Head-scratcher.

Now, I know these are cold weather flowers.  I thought that I would put my new Dianthis in and once the weather was consistently over 80 degrees, they would die and  would pluck them out.  And given they are the color that I really wanted to do in that bed, it couldn't do any harm, right?

Well, a few months of consistently nearly 90 degrees and guess what?

 It's not 3 little buds. 

It's this explosion!

So, I've left them.  Even though, technically, they are a weed. 

Jennifer

Last week I posted this little summer dress I whipped up for the little Princess. 

You remember it, right?

Well, my lovely bbf blog-buddy-forever (is there such a thing? ) Jennifer has the jump on me and says she would like to see a mommie version... Ah, she knows me too well. 

I had already put it together.  Good call Jenn!

I have been a bit overwhelmed by projects and have not had a second to blog it.

But here she is.

And her name is Jennifer! 

And we will call the one for Little, Jenn!

See that surprised look on my face? Well, you see, when I walked out and saw the Hibiscus -yes you can grow certain varieties of hibiscus up here... Anyways, I saw that the Hibiscus had finally bloomed!  I was sure it did not make it this year.  Last year, someone -lets call her L-J cut it back HARD.  I was heart broken.  I just knew the hibiscus would not make it.  But, she's just a late bloomer!

She did and it made my day!

Anyways, back to the dress...

Play Earrings

AuBrynne has been asking for earrings for days. 

Now, every time I have thought about it, I cringe. 

Poking holes in my baby's ears?! Come on, really? Who put this idea into your head, little one?

Now, I have had my ears pierced since I was a toddler in preschool, and I can't see how my parents dealt with it.  I can remember being on the playground and losing an earring and have the teachers help me find the tiny gold teddy bear earring. Back in the dark ages, they didn't have the "safety-back" earrings. 

Well, I just can't do the whole permanent holes thing.

So, I went to Hobby Lobby and got these little clip on earrings:

They had these little sticky pads already on them, so I stuck some flat back plastic rhinestones on:

She likes them!  And I am telling you, they are magical!  When she has them on she acts like a little lady!  She will ride in the cart at the grocery store without hassle.  She doesn't even whine with these little gems on!  So, I think I will be letting her wear these whenever we go out!

Pillow Shams

Remember how I last told you I was not a quilter?

Yeah.

I tinkered all day with the free-motion foot on my machine.

But after doing some trials and playing a bit,

I was able to quilt up some pillow shams to match the quilt I have been working on.

This one:

I think they turned out pretty cute!

They kind of look like I took different sections of the quilt and made pillow shams, but they aren't

"matchy-matchy".

They really more or less: Coordinate.

That is really my decorating philosophy. But that is also discussion for later I think.

Anyway, here are some close ups. 

I still am sorting out the speed of the needle with the speed of the movement of the fabric.

And getting the tension both upper threads and lower threads. As you can see, I was a naughty sewer and used different bobbin thread color to match the back (yes, I know nobody sees it...) But if the tension is off, you can see the little bobbin threads poke their heads up. Luckily, I figured this out VERY quickly!

Use the same color on both threads, ladies.  But you all know this....

So,  OK, I'm not a master at the free-motion quilting, by ANY means.

But I am learning and gaining appreciation for it and having a bit of fun at it too.

And I can see how it would really be fun on one of those Long-Arm machines! 

Wouldn't it be nice to have one of those?

Guest Blogging for Mommas Kinda Crafty - A Dress-Maker's Quilt

Joy over at Mommas Kinda Crafty is featuring me today with this post!
Take a little hop over there and check her adorable blog out!

I am a dress maker. 

I am absolutely NOT at quilter. 

I am in NO way saying quilters are boring or quilting is boring.  I know there are millions of quilters out there that take great joy and pride in their amazing quilts.  They put a lot of attention and detail into their quilts. 

I, however, simply do not like to quilt.  I can remember going to help someone tie a quilt and thinking, really?  This is not the sewing I am interested with. 

Over the years, I have made a few simple-ish quilts.  But I never got the bug to do the intricate quilting you would see at a quilt show. 

There is this lady I know named Diana.  Her quilts are crazy amazing!  And she has a sewing room that most of us would trade our children for -it has a door with a LOCK! It's quiet and organized and there are no sippy cups or random doll parts mixed among the sewing notions.  No wonder her quilts are amazing... Anyway.  While we were in Logan visiting , Hollie's daughter's room, for the perfect storm of reasons, had to get remodeled.  The pallet ended up being Brown and Lime Green and White.

We searched for a covering for the bed, but everything right now is either and Avocado green or not enough green and too much other colors or just poor quality.  So, we went to the fabric store and picked out a bunch of coordinating fabrics.  With those, I toiled (ha ha) and toiled (more laughter, please) and came up with this:

Being a dress maker, I included lots of details that one might find in clothing: Ruffles, Rouching, Pin tucks, Lace...

And a few quilt techniques like cut-away and eyelet. 

Here are a few close-up photos:

So, the quilt is very pretty and will make a very nice dress for Sammy's bed.

Now I will start on the Pillow Shams and throw pillows and Coordinating curtains.

FUN, Fun, fun!

Check back soon to see the finished room with all the trimmings!

A Play Dress for the Hot Weather

Hello friends! 

AuBrynne finished her second week of "Summer School".  Last week was all about camping and this week was all about cooking.  At the beginning of last week, I didn't know if she was going to make it.  And then I would have to take up home schooling. But miracles happen and guess what?!  By this week, she was super excited!  She likes playing with the other kids and doing all the activities.

And apparently, she likes pulling the fire alarm! 

Yesterday, they brought her out, and with a big grin explained that the fire-trucks came and they talked about not touching the big shiny red pull unless there was a problem.  I think I might have been as red as that alarm when they told me she had pulled it. For the rest of the day, she talked about Fireman-Steve. 

He made a pretty big impression on her!

I might have to check out this Fireman-Steve!

So, last night, I decided I would pull out this fun fabric I found.  It is SO cute! And its really soft and light-weight.  Perfect for a little summer dress for a little fire-alarm-pulling-school-girl!

And it only took half an hour to throw together!

I might have to make one for me...

And yes, she has her two favorite shoes on.  Too bad they don't match each other!

She insisted on them today.  Along with a pair of stiletto sandals for me to wear. Lovely.

At least she knows they both match the dress...

Vacation's Over

Hello Friends!

We have returned from our trip out west to Logan, Utah! 

We had way too much fun visiting our very best friends! 

We miss them already! 

So, today AuBrynne had her first day of orientation weeks at her school today.  She initially walked away like she didn't need any mom... I had a hard swallow in those moments until she realized what was going on. Then she turned into Super Three Year old!  The ladies were taken off-guard by how fast and how strong she was! She was able to get the locks right open.  So, we will have to work on only going with an adults hand...

Maybe she can stay home with me forever??

Also, here is a peak at what I will be working on in the next few days.  Let's see if you can guess what I am working on!

Anyways, I hope to get back to regular posting, just as soon as things get back to regular around here.

HA!

Yes, I know how funny that sounds coming from this Ring-Master!

But, as soon as the Circus gets back into action, I will be sharing it all with you!

See you soon!