Saturday, August 30, 2008

Eyeing Gustav

I see that Gustav has just been upgraded to a cat 3 storm. I've gathered all supplies and if I have to I'll be ready to move out. Of course my 440 is going with me!



Hanna has started to move west now and looks to be getting stronger too. I also see that there is another TS brewing off the coast of Africa.


My house has this stinky smell going on that I can not figure out. I noticed it last night when I took Hunter out for his last potty break. I have sprayed Frebreeze and have lit candles. We changed the air filter (because it seems to smell worse when the A/C is running) and I've steam mopped the floors plus vacuumed and cleaned the toilets. I still smell it. We pulled the refrigerator out from the wall, nothing! It is a mystery.


I'm working on my PJ's and I have run into a problem. I didn't have enough fabric to make the facing out of the fabric that I wanted to use plus I didn't have enough fabric to make the bottoms out of the same fabric as the top. So I had to make the top out of the floral and the pants out of the pink and white dot fabric. I wanted to make the facing of the top out of the pink and white dot as well, but had to use plain white and I have cut a small piece of the pink and white to sew together so that it will show by the collar. Hopefully it will work out ok, afterall it is just pajamas.


Here is the fabric I'm using for the top.

Here is the fabric I'm using for the pants and trim.

This is what I have to do to make the facing show the way I wanted it to.

I should have them finished this evening. I have the shorts finished.


UPDATE!
Gustave is now a Cat 4 hurricane and we found the source of the stinky smell!!! DH was cleaning out the frezzers in the garage on Wednesday morning preping for Gustav and left a package of turkey necks out (thinking he would put them back in just in case we decided to go crabbing again) and forgot to put them back into the freezer, so they have been sitting out since Wednesday morning...yep, that is a horrible smell!!! So now the garage door is open as well as the utility room door and hopfully it will air out and go away!






Thursday, August 28, 2008

Preparing for storms

Last night we gathered all the battery type of lighting to see exactly what we have and if we needed any batteries. We have so many lights and extra batteries we will be very lit up! Hubby made sure the generator still runs and the portable AC, then filled up 4 gas cans and will get butane for the grill today as well as some canned goods, etc. We have plenty of water on hand from the scare of a storm last year. All in all we are as prepared as we can be. Now it looks like Gustav has moved to the west southwest, so who knows! There is another storm, Hannah out there on the eastern side of the Virgin Islands and the projected course takes it to the east of Florida by Monday or Tuesday. I'm leaving Thursday morning for Orlando.......uh supposed to.

I traced the pattern for the latest PJ project for me last night while I was watching Project Runway so I will try to get it started on Friday night, tonight we have a wake to go to for a friend's Father that passed on Tuesday.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

FINISHED project !! Nightshirt

Here is the nightshirt for my sister. She bought the fabric in San Diego at the quilting store.
Here is a closeup of the hem facing. I had never tried this before, a new technique for me.
The back of the nightshirt.
Here is a closeup of the back emelishment.

I think it came out very nice. I hope she likes it. I think it looks like one of those "dusters" that the stay at home mom's used to wear in the 60's!! Or it could be a cover up or robe?



Here is the pattern that I used from Cindy Taylor Oates called Pajama Party and I have made 3 pair of pajamas already, but this was the first nightshirt. I have another pair of PJ's for me in the next project that I will start this week. I'm going to make short pants and just use one print for both and add a smaller print for the trim. Pics to follow.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Watching the rain fall....and sewing







A great weekend for sewing. Fay finally made it out of Florida and decided to give us a visit. Saturday was beautiful but windy and Sunday was rain all day long.




I managed to do a great deal of sewing Friday night and all weekend. Friday night I finished the quillow and Saturday night I cut out the pattern for my sister's nightshirt. Sunday I sewed on it all day and decided to stop around 7:00pm to spend some time with the hubby. He was away in Bristol Tennessee at the Nascar races. I should finish the nightshirt tonight or tomorrow night and will post pictures when finished.




Here are the pics of the finished quillow.


I almost forgot....I finally lost a few pounds - 2!!!! Not losing by leaps and bounds but I'll take it.


Tropical Storm Gustav just formed and he better not mess with my trip to Orlando next week!!


Monday, August 18, 2008

A Sewing Sunday






I finally finished my grandson's 2nd birthday outfit.



I also quilted for the first time using my BSR!! It is the pocket for a quillow for my mother's birthday present next month. Here is the picture of that. After reading the post on pattern review about someones experience using the BSR for the first time...I thought it was about time I gave it a try. The results (IMHO) are very good. This was my first try at using free motion quiting at all.


If you don't know what a Quillow is, it is a lap sized quilt that can be folded into itself to form a pillow. I posted pictures from a Fons and Porter magazine from Jan/Feb 2007 that had the instructions. I wasn't able to get far on the project because I didn't have the right sized batting. So I'm off to Hobby Lobby today at lunch to purchase the correct size batting.

Monday, August 11, 2008

No result!

Well....after one whole week of doing the healthy eating program and walking on that treadmill, nothing, nada, zilch! Not one ounce lost. I remember when I could lose 7 pounds in a week by just watching what I ate. I guess those days are gone since I hit the big 50! I'm not giving up! My new receipe book by Ellie Kreiger came in today, so I'll be able to find new healthy receipes to try.

On to more happy things! I finally stitched out the embroidery basket with daisies to go on my mothers quillow pocket. I also, cut out my precious grandson's red gingham JonJon that I am making him for his 2nd birthday party. I will stitch out the "practice" balloons and #2 tonight to make sure it stitches ok before putting it on the suit. Hopefully picture will be added tomorrow.

I purchased a new foot for my machine today. It is #18 the button sew on foot. It is a new version to the old #18. This one is rubber coated so that the button will not move when you are trying to sew it on to the item. Very nice, plus I received 20% off because of a store sale!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Made it through 2 days.....

I made it through 2 days!!! Not so bad to eat healthy and walk on that dreaded treadmill. It actually went really fast last night. I was walking and watching Closer, so it went real fast. Last night I fixed the grilled chicken that had been marinated in fresh lemon juice. When you take a bite of that, it is just so wonderful! Tonight it is Grilled Salmon and asparagas with a brown rice pilaf.

Received several e-mails from online fabric stores that had great sales, but no paisley that I am looking for, so I'll have to keep looking. My next item to start and finish is my mother's birthday quillow! I'll start that this week.

I need to fix those 5 little pillowcase dresses for my friends' granddaughter. She's a little smaller than I thought she was. No problem though, I'll just have to unsew the ends where the elastic is and pull about an inch off of the front and back and restitch. She is just so cute. Yesterday she came walking out of the garage all excited. She just learned to walk. It is so fun to see little ones learn new things!

My grandson is having problems with some of his family members names! I don't blame the poor baby. He has a Granny (ME!) a Grammy (Father's Step Mother) and a Grampy (Fathers' Father). Oh well, he will figure it out.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Time to loose some of this weight.....AGAIN!

Ok, so maybe I'll change this blog to a sewing and trying to loose weight site!! After my trip to San Diego, I have to loose some weight. I have always had a weight problem, all my life and now that I am older I just couldn't seem to get to that point where I was ready to loose some of the gained weight again. But after that trip.....it has finally happened.

I started my plan this morning, first weighing in, and I was surprised that it wasn't as much as I thought it was. Still up there but about 20 lbs lighter than I thought I was. It is all just repositioned around my body, instead of around my hips it is all around my stomach and waist and my big ole neck! That after hysterectomy spread and of course being over 50 doesn't help much either.

The treadmill is sitting right behind me as I type this, just sitting back there. I HATE that thing, but I will put my walking shoes on in a little while and get on the darn thing. I plan on getting on it each evening after I get home from work. I would love to be able to walk outside but with the heat index hovering around 102 degrees, I don't think so. At least inside I can watch TV and have the air conditioning and ceiling fan running.

I finished 2 projects on my list today! I finished the baby blanket and a burp cloth (not on list but an after thought) for my Son's friends' baby girl and I finished the window treatment for the sewing room!!! It has been a good day, except for that darn treadmill looking over my shoulder!!! I guess it is time.