Whatcha Working on Wednesday

My daughter had posted on her blog about working on some sewing this week. I thought I better get my act in gear get back to my sewing too. So I finished one of those unfinished projects I had sitting around. Yay! That project was my bean bags from work. They originally had pinto beans in them. I wanted them to be washable so after some research online I found some washable polypellts to use to fill the bags. The first part of the project for this batch was done. That was to cut the bags open, empty them, wash them in a bleach load (which is usually my whites load), iron them and finally add iron-on letters. The letters are to help us keep track which batch we need to wash at work. The first batch was the "A" batch. These are the second batch with the letter "B". However I was disappointed at the quality of the iron-on letters. They will probably fall off eventually. Oh well. First I was trying to fill the bean bags directly from the bag the pellet came in. That was not working out very well. I kept dropping some. So I found an emtpy tupperware container and poured the pellets in there. That worked great. I had just enough to fill my set of 10 bean bags. Now I will need to order some more since I plan to do probably two more sets of 10 for work. We use these bags for various activities with our rehab patients at work.

Yay! I finished the bean bags. Now I can take them to work and bring home the ones that still have beans in them. And do the process all over again.

Blue Monday #11-B

I am doing Blue Monday on my craft blog again (obviously), because the first picture is something I made. The fabric is a Christmas print with snowmen on a blue background. It is a different print than what I used on my tablerunner in the last Blue Monday. I simple serged the edges in matching thread to make a simple table runner. I originally made it for the dining table to add color. But I decided to use it on top of the linen press this time. It totally fits with the theme I have going there this year. More pics of my decorating will be coming soon.

This next picture is a Scandavian plate with lots of blue in the costumes. I don't remember where I got this one. I have had it for a number of years now. Probably 15 years or more.
This next one is part of my collection of tins. These have blue(obviously). I don't know why I am stating the obvious. Anyway, the top one is a sewing tin. See that fits for this blog too. It advertises O. N. T. Thread. To tell you the truth, I am not familiar with that brand.
The bottom one had cookies in it. Shortbread I think, but I am not sure. Someone else gave it to me when they were trying to get rid of it. I said I would take it since I collect tins. The one on the right at Hersey's kisses in it when I bought it. They these different candy tins available for a few years. I managed to get a different one each year. I don't really find these kind of tins anymore. I keep looking whenever I see tin type stuff in stores. I look to see if any are the old timey looking ones that have candy in them.

I was able to get to my mother's house yesterday and I got a picture of her knitting bowl. It is a different design than the one I have. In the chair you can see the two blue pillows she wove on a weaving loom.

This next picture is of the loom in my old room. My old bedroom growing up has become my mother's sewing room. This loom is in the area where my bed used to be located. The loom used to belong to my Godmother who was also my grandmother's sister. Which made her my great-aunt as well. She did lots of weaving over the years and I have a few things she made. You will be seeing a couple of them when I get my Christmas decorations up and pictures posted.

The next picture is a close up of what is currently on the loom. It is a shade of blue. Sort of a aqua blue. I am not sure what this is going to be. Placemats maybe. Perhaps I should learn how to weave while my mother can still teach me how to do it. She learned from my Godmother. Time to pass on the skill and keep the loom in the family. Thank you to Smiling Sally for hosting Blue Monday for us. Be sure to visit her here and check out other Blue Monday posts. Happy Blue Monday!!

Blue Monday #10-B

More blue things I have made in the past. I tend to use a lot of blue in the things I make. Sometimes I have to actually force myself to use other colors.
This mini quilt pattern is called Courthouse Steps. I think I made it a couple of years ago. I am not real pleased with how the machine quilting part went. Kind of crooked. So using this tatted doily on top works well for me. The tatted doily was given to us my one of my hubby's grandmothers. At first I could not remember where this one came from, but when we visited hubby's brother recently, I noticed they have the same doily. So that reminded me that we had gotten it from his grandmother. She used to do tatting.
I normally keep it on my coffee table, but I moved it to the back of the couch on top of the afghan knitted by my mother. The coffee table is being used for seasonal displays right now. I have put away the Thanksgiving stuff and now have Christmas there. My header picture shows how I have my coffee table right now. Using that goose again like I did for Thanksgiving.
This table runner is currently on my coffee table. The coffee table used to be my grandmother's. The same one who had the knitting bowl. I am realizing just how many things I have that were handed down to me or made for me or made by me. Anyway, I have this table runner that I made one year posted twice. I wanted to show the difference of using the flash on the camera or not using the flash. The one above I used the flash. You can see the blue Christmas fabric I used better.
But in this picture without the flash, it has a softer look which sometime I like better. It was already dark out when I took this picture, but there was enough light in the room to still have the picture come out decent. I enjoy putting this table runner out every year. I have always wanted to make more to go with other seasons. Maybe this will be the year I get to doing that.

Thank you to Smiling Sally for hosting Blue Monday! To see more, just click on the Blue Jay in my side bar. Happy Blue Monday!

Blue Monday #9

The first picture is done in cross stitch. The scarf part of her outfit is in blue so I decided to save it for a Blue Monday post. This was made by my mother-in-law and it hangs in my sister-in-law's house. The one we stayed a on our recent trip down there. And yes the ones who had to evacuate during the Sylmar fires. Their house was spared fortunately. So I am sure this beautiful cross stitch is still hanging in its place of honor.
I made this cat more than 6 years ago. It was before we moved to this house and we have been here nearly 6 years. The squares were pieced together and then the cat pattern was cut out. I had more than I needed and used the rest for a mini quilt for my daughter. Maybe she will post a picture of that quilt on her blog. I will have to ask her to do that. The cat is sitting guard over my couch in the living room. My mother made that blue afghan for me. It is a knitted one. I don't do knitting.
At the other end of the couch sits this pillow from Susan Winget fabric. I made this pillow. I lined the top part with batting and did quilting along some of the lines in the design. Like around the house, the door, the windows and so on. The phrase on there is "Be Kind of Heart". It says that all the way around the edge.
I have had some one ask me what a knitting bowl is. Picture above is the knitting bowl that used to be my grandmothers. It is designed to hold your yarn and you current project so you can easily pick it up to work on when you are in your favorite chair, or where ever. I have the yarn for current crochet project in there right now. In the background you can see the linen press my father made. The fall decor on there is the one in my header in my other blog.

Happy Blue Monday!! Thank you to Smiling Sally for hosting Blue Monday for us! Go to the Blue Jay link on my side bar to see others participating in Blue Monday.

Three or More Thursdays #4

I'm using my sewing blog for the Three or More Thursday this week, because I am posting about something I made for my Three or More post. I made these pumpkins several years ago. Because of where we lived when I made them, it had to be between 1991 and 1994. So I have had these pumpkins quite awhile. I still have the pattern that I made them from that year. It was McCall's 2628. The pattern envelope says it was copyright in 1986. I am thinking of adding to what I have and make some more for next year. But I am not going to tackle that project right away. I have plenty of other things to do first.



Thank you to Tam at The Gypsy's Corner for hosting Three or More Thursdays. Go check it out to see who else is participating or to participate yourself!

My Turkey Wall Hanging

I now have my Turkey wall hanging up for Thanksgiving. You can see it in my header picture. I made this a few years ago. I think it was in 2003 that I made this one. I had found the pattern on the internet somewhere. I think it was from the Better Homes and Gardens website. I have always wanted to make a wall hanging for each season. Thanksgiving was as far as I got. I have a book to make a hanging for each month using the rag edge style. I just need to get busy on that have one made for each month. Hmmm...maybe I should try to make that a goal for 2009.

My Finished Outfit

Some of you wanted to see how the outfit I made turned out for the wedding I went to last weekend. Here it is. My daughter took the picture of me at the reception. I was surprised at how comfortable it was to wear it nearly all day. I am inspired to make myself another one in a different color scheme. I will probably first find a print I really like for the jacket, then choose the fabric for the skirt and top.

Have a good week!