Notes from the Patch

Will somebody throw a net over me?

These lay on the cutting table for a day or so before we had a chance to get them priced and put away.

Boy did they cause a stir. Everyone wondered what they were and when I told them, they looked at me kind of funny and said, really...

...what in the world are you planning on doing with millinery netting in a quilt store?

One thing you may not know about me is that I'm crazy about embellishments. You know, those little details that take a project from ordinary to extraordinary.

I've been looking for the kind of netting they use on hats - not tulle, but that wonderful romantic netting with those fuzzy little chenille tufts - for years. I finally found a company out of New York City that carries a huge variety.

I'm sure most of my customers could care less about hat netting, but this is the kind of stuff that makes my heart race.

One of the good things about owning your own shop is you can buy what you want just because you want. Ooo, I want.

 

 Over the top. Crazy. I know.

 

 If any of you have been looking for millinery netting I'll be happy to share.

Am I the only crazy one out there?

 

 Encourage one another,

Makeover. Home edition.

Saturday morning I was to pick Sarah up from a sleep over.

She'd called and said, "Bring your camera. Sidney has birds that I want you to see and Grammie, her room is amazing"! I obliged. With camera and map in hand I headed out through unfamiliar streets to retrieve my girl.

Sidney's room was fabulous and her mom graciously shared the sources for many of her decorating accents. As we said our goodbyes and walked to the car Sarah asked if we could skip going back home to dress. She said she could change in the car.  We were both anxious to start shopping for her room. We were off to Hobby Lobby.

When I first got to Kansas I wasn't sure of Sarah's style. After all, she's eleven and at that age likes can change with the seasons. Last spring she was a tomboy. She wouldn't wear glitz or glam and wouldn't be caught dead in anything girly. So as we made our way down the aisles of Hobby Lobby I was a bit surprised at her sense of style. If it had bling it made its way into our cart.

I suggested that she could use another lamp and when I spotted this one I knew she would like it. I was right!

The walls had been painted over a year ago so we worked with that. The furniture was what I bought her when she was two and moved from her crib into her "big girls room".

We just added new knobs to all the drawers and accessorized the walls and furniture.

The "friends" and "Love" signs are from Hobby Lobby and the circle shelves and circle picture frames are from Bed Bath and Beyond.

New bedding is on back order until after Christmas so we made do with what she had for now.

Here's the book shelf during the process of getting new knobs. Pretty much everything in the book case is from Hobby Lobby and most of it was half price. Sarah placed everything as you see it here. She fussed with the placement, concentrating on color and height. Humm...wonder where she got that? I guess being particular IS hereditary! (Click on any photo to enlarge).

We covered the stack of books with coordinating wrapping paper to match the room.

 The peace sign below is Sarah's favorite.

The lamp and shade is from PB Teen.

 Picture frames, glass bottle and black covered box are from Hobby Lobby.

The letters are from Hobby Lobby and were gold leaf before I sprayed them black. I do love how the black accents make the paint color pop. The wall color is Sherman Williams "Marine". Desk lamp is from PB Teen. Clock, decorative bottles, cork board, and everything else in the photo below (except the trophy) is from Hobby Lobby.

Even Sarah's fish got a home makeover!

The bathroom was the biggest challenge since it is such a bright pink. My thought was to tame it as much as possible by adding black accents and then throw in just a hint of turquoise to tie it to the bedroom color. The rhinestone mirror was half price at Hobby Lobby as were all the new drawer pulls. Towels, rug and blinged out trash can, tissue box and tooth brush holder were from Bed Bath and Beyond.

 

The vanity bench was the deal of the day from Bed Bath and Beyond because of a damaged box. Thirty bucks!

A black polka dot shower curtain is from PB Teen. Cup, towel rack and hand towels are from Hobby Lobby.

Sarah literally picked out everything with very little help from me. It was her idea to add the zebra print to the black and white polka dots we had previously selected in the bedding. She selected the decorations for the walls and shelves and I was so impressed with her knowledge of color and balance. She liked the way the circles repeated the shapes of the polka dots and so do I!

Thank you Sarah for allowing me to help you with your room. I can't remember when I've had so much fun. I love you!

Grammy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking for ALS

Cherene sent this photo of grandson's Jake and Nathan just before they did the ALS walk in the bay area.

Papa Bill and I are so proud of them!

Encourage one another,

SARAH

 It was just me and Sarah on Saturday. 

We stayed home and decorated her room.

Papa Bill and Michael went on a Boy Scout camp out.

The girls had Chinese take out and watched a movie.

The boys roasted hot dogs over an open fire.

She slept under new sheets in a freshly decorated bedroom.

He  slept in a tent under the stars.

If you were to ask anyone of us, I think we'd all agree it was the perfect weekend.

Eleven is a magical age. Serious and grown up one minute.

Silly the next.

 

 

 

Tomorrow there is a soccer game, shopping and putting the final touches on her room. Our little tomboy has developed quite a love for the bling and a delightful since of style.

She already understands color and balance. She also understands a room CAN have too many peace signs.

You can learn a lot from an eleven year old.

Encourage one another,

The Best Kids Fabric Ever!

My family has been fans of Richard Scarry for years

and I have a photo from 1974  to prove it.

Sorry for the poor quality of this scanned photograph. That's our youngest son Bryan reading Richard Scary,  up-side-down! (Sorry it's hard to make out the lime green and orange wall paper and linoleum. Yes, I did that on purpose - why didn't someone stop me)? Isn't he just the cutest little thing with his corduroy pants pulled down around his ankles? I actually remember that blustery winter day.

So anyway you can imagine my delight when VIP came out with fabric featuring the adorable drawings of Richard Scarry.

These were the first books my boys "read". They loved the animal citizens of Busy Town and never tired of hunting for Lowly Worm and the Pickle Car.

Such fond memories.

A quilt along with a Richard Scarry book would make a terrific gift for any little one.

Or maybe pajamas and a book.

How cute would that be?

I just think every family needs a Richard Scary memory!

Encourage one another,

 

 

 

 

Driven to drink

Bill and I are in Kansas for a few days while our DIL joins our son in Paris. Bryan's job takes him to Europe every few months and Jen tries to join him as often as she can. Hopefully this job won't last forever but while it does the kids are making the best of it by seeing parts of the world they might otherwise not get to visit. Bill and I are happy to help out with Sarah and Michael whenever we can.

We left for LAX early this morning, allowing what we thought to be plenty of time for the weather conditions. I'm convinced that you can never allow too much time for navigating Southern California freeways during rush hour - during the first rain storm of the season.

It was crazy! 

Freeways were closed.

Trees were down and cars were over turned.

Traffic was gridlocked and papa Bill had to pee.

It was ugly. 

The kids were in school and expected us to be there when they got home. Jen was on her way to Paris to meet Bryan.

We. could. not. miss. our. plane!

One thing my husband does that totally irritates me is he constantly monitors the freeway traffic conditions so he can plot alternate routes with his GPS. This morning I must admit if it hadn't been for Bill's creative driving (and running those red lights), we never would have made our flight.

There was a point during all the mayhem when we looked at one another and admitted we weren't going to make it. Miraculously we did. Just when all hope was lost the traffic parted and we sailed to the airport.

This morning I understood why there are bars in the airport serving alcohol at 9'oclock in the morning. I always thought it was probably to help give frightened flyers a little courage. This morning I realized it  was also for all those drivers who braved the 405 in the rain during rush hour and somehow made  their flight.

Cheers!

.

 

Tutorial Tuesday # 39 - 'HO HO HO' Holiday Bunting

 

I am so happy to introduce you all to Candice, of Made With Love. She has been following along here for quite sometime now and during a little chat on a recent trip to Bakersfield she graciously offered to help me out with my Tutorial Tuesday posts. So without further ado...please welcome Candice to the Patch!

Hello, I am Candice, of Made With Love, and I am so excited to be here today, sharing my 'HO HO HO' Holiday Bunting with you!!!  With Christmas just around the corner (eeks!), the 'HO HO HO' bunting will prove to be a great gift and/or addition to your hoilday decor.  Let's get started!

 Materials:

• Fabric for Pendants: 3/4 yard
• Fabric for Background Circles: Assortment of coordinating fabrics; 1/8 yard of each fabric.
• Fabric for Letters: 1/4 yard
• Fabric for Holly Berries: Assortment (3 prints) of red fabrics; 1/8 yard of each fabric.
• Fabric for Holly Leaves: Assortment (3 prints) of green fabrics for leaves;  1/8 yard of each fabric.
• 2.5 yards of Jumbo (1.5") Ric Rac
• Heat n' Bond Lite
• Fray Check
• Glue Gun

 Instructions:

1.  From the Pendant fabric, cut twelve Pendants, using this template (Download Triangle).  If using directional fabric, cut the width of the fabric in half (at 22") and cut the fabric into 8.5" wide x 22" long strips.  Stack two strips, with right sides facing up, align the print, and cut two Pendants at a time.

2.  Adhere Heat n' Bond Lite to the back of the Background Circle fabric, and cut six 3" diameter Background Circles (three red and three green circles), using this template (Download Circle).

3.  Adhere Heat n' Bond Lite to the back of the Letter fabric, and cut three H's and three O's.  I printed out an H and O in AR Christy font, with an outline effect, at 250 font size.  I cut the Letters out of the paper, and traced the letters, backwards, onto the Heat n' Bond.

4.  Place the Background Circles in the middle of the pendants, 2.25" from the top of the Pendant.  Peel off the Heat n' Bond and iron in place.

5.  Using an appliqué method of choice, stitch around the Background Circles.  (I used a zig zag stitch around each circle).

6.  With right sides together (one plain flag, and one flag with appliquéd circle) stitch together, using a 1/4" seam allowance, along the two long (10.75") sides of the Pendant.  Trim the point (left point in photo below is trimmed, right is not), turn right side out, and press.

7.  Place the Letter in the middle of the Background Circle.  Peel off the Heat n' Bond and iron in place.  Appliqué the Letters if desired.

8.  Zig zag along the top of the Pendant, preventing the pendant from fraying.

9.  Using an 1/8" seam allowance, top stitch along the two long (10.75") sides of the Pendant.

10.  Prepare the Ric Rac by neatly cutting both ends, and applying Fray Check.  When dry, fold over the end 1/2" and sew vertically.

11.  Fold the Ric Rac in half and mark the middle point with a straight pin.  With the Fray Checked ends facing up, lay out the Pendants (right side facing down), spacing the Pendants 1.5" a part.  Pin the pendants at the Ric Rac dips (see photo below). 

Sew down the middle of the Ric Rac, the length of the Pendants.

Once attached to the Ric Rac, the back side of the Pendant should look similar to this.

12.  For the Holly Berries, rip one 3/4" wide by width of fabric piece from each of the Holly Berry red fabrics.  Once ripped, cut each strip into three 11" pieces.  Fold the piece in half.

With the ripped edge down, begin to roll, making sure to keep it nice and tight.

Once the center is nice and tight, begin to twist and fold the fabric away from the center.  The more twists and folds, the more intricate your Holly Berry will be!

When approaching the end of the fabric strip, fold over the end and secure with a straight pin.

13.  Once all of the Holly Berries are rolled, one by one remove the straight pin and replace with a small dot of hot glue under the folded flap.  Gather three Holly Berries and glue together.  Make sure that the folded flap of each Holly Berry is centered towards the middle, resulting in a nice and neat Berry cluster.

14.  Using three coordinating green fabrics, with wrong sides together, stitch Holly Leaves onto the fabric.  Not sure what Holly Leaves look like, take a look at these (http://tinyurl.com/5tbtn46) for inspiration.  I sketched the first couple of Leaves onto the fabric with a water soluble marker, and then proceeded to sew the Leaves without sketching.  Leaves come in all shapes and sizes, so have fun!

15. Once the Leaves are stitched, cut around the Leaves, leaving a 1/16" of an inch or so outline.

16.  Once all of the Holly Leaves are cut, arrange as desired on the O's, and with a hot glue gun, glue the bottom leaf to the Pendant and the top leaf to the bottom leaf.

17.  Proceed to glue the Berry clusters (step #13) on top of the leaves.

18. That's it. You're done. Hang and enjoy!

Thank you Candice for your clear instructions and great photos of this fun project. These basic instructions could be used for birthday banners, Halloween or any special occasion. Just switch up the letters and fabric to customize your banner.

Candice selected Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater  from our website for the banner here.

Encourage one another,

Getting in the mood

Nothing gets me in the mood for a holiday like doing a tablescape. For me it's a quick, inexpensive way to decorate.

So Sunday I pulled out some old decorations and dishes and set the table for fall.

It was also a good excuse to pull out my camera lenses and play with my new camera.

I have so much to learn but feel like I'm beginning to get it.

 

You have seen these decorations before. I do love pulling them out year after year.

 

Occasionally I'll add a new piece or two, but mostly I just rearrange and recycle the old stuff.

 

What do you do to get ready for fall?

Pumpkin Spice Latte anyone?

Encourage one another,

Remnants of the Past is not in my future

Remnants of the Past show is coming up next weekend and I'm not going! Bill and I are flying to Kansas for a baby sitting gig. Trust me, only grandchildren can trump this show.

 

So. If I can't go I guess the next best thing would be to have all my friends there to tell me what I missed. Waaaaaa....

As I upload these photos from producer, Judy Watkin's site I could literally feel my heart race.

 If you can attend just one antique show a year, This. Is. The. One!

 OhMyGosh!

 Remnants of the Past was voted  the #1 antique show in the nation and rightfully so.

Let me know if you go and share with us what you bought. Hearing about your experience will have to do for me this year.

Encourage one another,