One Monthly Goal Finished

It's been a long time in the works, but I finally finished this wallet. It was inspired by Dave Ramsey and our desire to get our finances in better order. I know you can do that through apps and more techie methods, but as Dave says (and I agree) it's good to feel the money leaving your possession; it makes you think twice about a purchase.

I got the pattern here: 

The Colorful Chicken

 With some plastic that I had left from another project I was able to make little label pockets on each cash "envelope."

The pattern simply and clearly guides you to make six "envelopes" plus two more pockets which I'm using for my personal spending money and our family entertainment money.

A nice zippered pocket (don't worry it wasn't too hard to make, even if you've never done zippers) holds coins.

Of course I have a category for Books. Doesn't everyone?

I am especially eager to use this since my current wallet is ripped and the coins just go whereever their little hearts desire.

This pattern was quite well-written and easy to follow for an experienced sewist. I think a beginner could do pretty well, too, though the final few steps were challenging. Very worth it, though.

One Monthly Goal for September

Well, since I didn't make my monthly goal for August, I'm just going to keep that goal for September.

I want to finish up this cash wallet for my budgeting. I do have it started now.

Linking up to:

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2018/09/one-monthly-goal-september-goal-link-up.html

Flimsy Finish

Well, I didn't work at all on my August goal. Big sigh! It's been a very rough month here with some family difficulties and I've alson been trying to get everything ready to start up homeschooling again on the 4th.

So, this weekend was a treat in that I did get to sew some. I got a harebrained idea to suddenly make a baby quilt for a baby shower this coming Thursday evening. Silly me!

It's not so hard to piece a flimsy (quilt top) in that little time, but it's qoing to be interesting to see if I can get someone to machnie quilt it in two days. Where we used to live, my quilter would slide in a little baby quilt for me between her big quilting jobs. Not sure if that will work here. And since today is a holiday (Labor Day), I don't want to try calling the quilter till tomorrow morning.

So, what is the gem that needs quilting? Here it is, just finished:

This is where I found the tutorial: Cross My Heart Quilt

The keys for me to be able to finish it so quickly were that I already had the 2/3 yard of white fabric and that I have a good collection of 2.5 inch squares right beside my sewing machine with which I use Bonnie Hunter's Leaders/Enders technique.

And I also have a box of those squares already sewn together into what I call "two-bies" so they can be grabbed and put into whatever I'm working on.

Yes, this is a Sky Flakes Crackers box. I grew up in the Philippines where these are made and they are a treasure to me.

So, wish me luck on getting this quilted and bound before Thursday evening. 😊

And wish me luck on finally getting my August goal (the cash wallet) done.

Linking up at: 

http://www.create-with-joy.com/2018/09/inspire-me-monday-week-346.html

http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/2018/09/monday-making.html

http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com/2018/09/moving-it-forward.html

https://www.cookingupquilts.com/mcm-128-back-from-vacation-rested-and-rejuvenated/

Sewing Again

While I haven't had quilting time yet, I did get to sew something recently.

A summer dress. For me.

I hadn't made clothing in quite a long while because my kids don't like the homemade stuff anymore. So I  enjoyed making this for myself.

I got several compliments on it at church yesterday and my husband likes it, so I'm happy.

Here's the Simplicity pattern:

It's very simple. I did make French seams, though I want to learn how to make less ravelly edges around the zipper. So, I'm planning to make another one soon and will work on that.

The pattern envelope is cut open because I staple it to a regular file folder and use that for my pattern piece storage so I don't have to fold the pieces so precisely to make them fit back into the envelope. (That's my tip for the day. 😀)

Hope you've had some sewing fun.

Finally Back

I have definitely been missing in action on this blog, but that's because there has been so much action elsewhere.

We have lived in this house for over a year now and had planned to do a bunch of remodeling to make a larger living room and give the girls bigger bedrooms. Well, reality has set in - we just don't have the finances to do that and we're certainly not going into debt to do it.

So...the focus now is to beautify and make do with what we have. Home Depot loves how much paint I've been buying from them, even if we're not yet buying the big stuff like windows, dry wall, and flooring.

When we moved in, the whole house (and I mean everything!) was painted tan. Good rental property color, I suppose. But it seemed dull and depressing.

I lived with it till we signed on the mortgage and then out came the paintbrush and roller and my bedroom became a clean and cheery off-white.

Then I tackled another bedroom in the same color and then went on to the living/dining room. Here's how it turned out:

Much brighter and cheerier in my opinion, even with the everyday-life-clutter.

And Princess beautifully decorated the hall doors with Morning Glories.

I've also tackled the basement, which isn't done, but has progressed a lot. It is divided into two long sections with a little bitty room at the end of one section that was used as a firewood storage room and I converted into a storage room with my husband's desk and work related stuff.

The other part of that section was pretty cluttered with stuff that I hadn't yet unpacked or didn't have a place for yet. The first three pictures were taken after I had moved some stuff into the new storage room.

The yellow and blue wall became light yellow and a little accordianing divider made of ReStore closet doors covers the water and electricity clutter in the corner. 

Eventually I hope to put up drywall, but...

...when we put up more shelves, you almost can't tell there's a wall there anyhow. 😉

 So I have my sewing area at one end; the Princess has her painting area in the middle; and Poobah has her card-making and other crafting in the corner. It's not real fancy, but it serves us well and I was able to get the sewing stuff out of my bedroom - much more space for a reading nook.

Now I hope to have time to sew and to share what I'm sewing.

Northern Lights Quilt Block

This year I am participating in the It's a Wild Life block of the month. I've already shown you my maple leaf blocks which were the blocks for February. March's block was not so much to my liking (we don't have many meadows here in the northwoods for deer to graze, which is what the block is) so I meditated awhile and figured out what I wanted to do instead. The block size is about 12.4 x 24.5 so I made my block that size also so it will fit in the finished project.

I finally finished it this afternoon. Yup, it's the Northern Lights.

If you don't have a good block of the month going, consider joining this one. It's great way to use up scraps.

Now I'm off to choose a queen size scrap quilt pattern because my quilt is shredding. It spent too many years beside a sunny window.

Maple Leaves from "It's a Wild Life" Sewalong

Though it's finally a sunny day and I should be outside soaking it up, I want to share my first two blocks in the "It's a Wild Life" sewalong. I actually finished them awhile ago, but haven't made time to blog about them.

The batiks were in a bag of scraps given to me by a friend who owned a quilt shop. Was that sweet, or what?!

So, I'm ready for March's block(s) now.

In Jenny's sewalong, I haven't made so much progress. I haven't even finished tracing January's block onto the fabric, but have started embroidering February's. I think I need to actually order an audio book to listen to as I embroider and then I might actually sit down to do it.

We recently learned about Overdrive which is an app (somehow through the app Libby) which lets you order audio books from your library digitally. My dyslexic daughter makes good use of this app and I want to also. I just have to do it. 

I do like listening to podcasts or music as I sew, too. One of my favorite Youtube options is The Piano Guys. Love their stuff!

Well, I'm off to sew some little "extras" to insert into our Etsy packages. Will show you some when I finish.

Apron Fun

Boosted by the ladies of Jenny's Gentle Domesticity group, I made time this evening to make an apron which had been on my mental to-do list for a long time. I don't particularly need and apron because I often use the ones I made my daughters make for themselves so they could learn to sew.

But then...this fabric came across my path and I couldn't resist it.

So it became my new apron.

And I put it on and made Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake, a family favorite.

Here's the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream: 1 c. soft butter

             3 c. sugar

Add, and beat, one at a time: 6 eggs

Blend in: 1 c. sour cream

Mix in: 3 c. white flour

             1/4 tsp baking powder

             1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Blend well.

Add: 1 c. chocolate chips (I prefer semi-sweet.)

         3/4 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Bake in greased angel food or bundt pan for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool a little before removing from pan.

This is a heavy, filling cake that does not need frosting.

Enjoy!