~ Aug 2013~ Sew what... We've gotta find a way back! Part I!!

[Chicago Mo]

Have a better day today D~!!!

 

[babynala]

Somehow I got way behind on your PTR but I'm all caught up now. Curtis was sick on Friday so, after a trip to the doctor's office, we spent the day on the couch watching Wipeout and drinking Gatorade. The weekend was full with activities for Casey's Girl Scouts and I don't even think I got on the computer on Saturday or Sunday. Not sure what happened Mon, Tue or Wed but I scheduled to be home today and I'm going to try and sew some stuff today. Tomorrow I might venture to the mall and JoAnn's and probably Costco. Yes, my life is soooo exciting.

I know I commented somewhere but I'm glad I was able to see some bigger pictures of you bag and all the details. It looks great and I think the owner of this bag will want to hang it on their chair backwards so everyone can check out the Monorail applique.

Glad A is feeling better but I hope V is OK. Have either of you had any more "breathing issues"? How exciting that you will have a new baby in the family. The stockings will be a great gift, good luck finding the perfect fabric.

Sounds like you will be a busy girl with all your sewing. You might want to draft a pattern when you make that tire cover; I predict a new item in your shop - the Ultimate Tire Cover. That sounds like an overwhelming project but I'm sure you will be successful. I'm sure Josh will be pleased and surprised.

I would never put our presents under the tree early...Our Mr Max would open every single one .... especially since we caught Mr D teaching him how to open presents last year...of course only HIS presents got opened... and Max was still a puppy...
Nini

Wow about your thoughts on moving. I really love our house and can't imagine living anywhere else. We had it built in 2001 and we are always making changes. I SO need a new kitchen floor and we were going to go looking over the weekend...but then I decided I don't want to make ANY changes either right now. Why? Because there's a CHANCE we may rent it out for a while...and move to ENGLAND for a few years!

So can you say Disneyland Paris???

That would be so exciting.

 

[miprender]

Finally caught up. We also have had a sick household for the past few weeks.

hope Alli is feeling better....the flu shot won't make her have the stomach flu...totally different type of Flu...

MM is a naughty boy...bummer about the ear and the after effect


and finally photos of megan's room

Love Megan's Room

I love how both appliques turned out... The Castle on the front really does have a "dream like" quality to it.

I see a lot more Fairy Frost in my future... It is a beautiful fabric to work with.

D~

Love this bag And I love the MM black fairy frost. I only have a few yards of it but I hoard it like it was made of silver

 

[nowellsl]

I wanted to let you know I got my bag today, and I love it! It's just beautiful. Were do you get that black fabric? It's perfect for the monorail!

 

[DMGeurts]

Have a better day today D~!!!

Thanks Mo!

Somehow I got way behind on your PTR but I'm all caught up now. Curtis was sick on Friday so, after a trip to the doctor's office, we spent the day on the couch watching Wipeout and drinking Gatorade. The weekend was full with activities for Casey's Girl Scouts and I don't even think I got on the computer on Saturday or Sunday. Not sure what happened Mon, Tue or Wed but I scheduled to be home today and I'm going to try and sew some stuff today. Tomorrow I might venture to the mall and JoAnn's and probably Costco. Yes, my life is soooo exciting.

Oh no, I hope Curtis is feeling better. I also hope you were able to get some items sewn.

I know I commented somewhere but I'm glad I was able to see some bigger pictures of you bag and all the details. It looks great and I think the owner of this bag will want to hang it on their chair backwards so everyone can check out the Monorail applique.

LOL Thanks!

Glad A is feeling better but I hope V is OK. Have either of you had any more "breathing issues"? How exciting that you will have a new baby in the family. The stockings will be a great gift, good luck finding the perfect fabric.

V is doing better. She hasn't had any more breathing issues, neither have I.

I did find all the perfect fabric for the stockings... Unfortunately Fabric.com just emailed me yesterday, and some of the fabric I ordered was no longer available (I ordered it on Monday... so why I just got notice yesterday - I am not sure?)... So, I am going to have to head over to Etsy to see if I can find it. Grrr...

Sounds like you will be a busy girl with all your sewing. You might want to draft a pattern when you make that tire cover; I predict a new item in your shop - the Ultimate Tire Cover. That sounds like an overwhelming project but I'm sure you will be successful. I'm sure Josh will be pleased and surprised.

ROFL... Um... No. LOL That's all I would need to add to my catalog.

Finally caught up. We also have had a sick household for the past few weeks.
Love this bag And I love the MM black fairy frost. I only have a few yards of it but I hoard it like it was made of silver

Oh no... I Hope you are feeling better. I am loving all of the FF colors... I just ordered a ton of half yards for applique - I really like it for that.

I wanted to let you know I got my bag today, and I love it! It's just beautiful. Were do you get that black fabric? It's perfect for the monorail!

YAY!!! Glad you got it and you like it. I've only ordered Fairy Frost from Fabric.com - but they are super low on their supply right now, you might be better off waiting until after Christmas to order, they might have more colors available at that time.

**********************************************************

I had a boring day at Target yesterday... Well, not too boring - lots of holiday shopping, so that keeps me busy - and I like it when it's busy there. But no matter how busy you are - there is always that underlying boredom.

After work, I had to go to the girls' respective schools to pick them up, and one of Alli's friends that lives out by us.. She spent a few hours at our house last night to "work on their pinatas"... for some reason, the pinatas never got worked on. Naughty girls, because they know my rule about no friends on school nights.

I will be in my sewing room this morning. I plan to start my bag assembly. I have to go to town later this morning, as the girls only have a half day of school today. I promised I would give them a ride home, since I have to go get some groceries anyways. Once I come home, I will work on bag assembly again. I don't think I will finish it today, but it will be close - I am thinking it will be tomorrow though.

Josh and I are still lamenting over what we want to do... Whether we want to just give up on our house and sell, or if we want to continue fixing it up. With the way the market is, and the loss we would take on it, we are leaning towards "living here forever" and making the house a bit more user friendly. Our first course of action is to fix the portion of the kitchen floor that is "sinking"... So, right after Christmas, I plan to call our furnace guy to have him move some of our gas lines to the furnace, so that we can get the proper supports into the basement and start jacking the floor back up. This whole process could take us up to a year to complete, because it has to be done very slowly, or it will cause other/more significant problems. We can't do any other work to our house until this is done. Once this is finished, this is where we will have to be final in our decision of what to do. Whether we are selling or adding an addition on to the house. If we are selling, we will put in all new flooring on the main level of the house. If we are staying, we will start to look for a contractor for the addition.

Some of you may remember that last fall (2011), we took down our old garage. Since then we have not had a garage, so the proposed addition will include a new kitchen and garage on the main level, and a new master bedroom suite on the upper level - we have not decided if we want to add a full basement under the kitchen portion, or if we just want to put a crawl space there.

This has been such a frustrating thing to me, just because we really are "stuck"... The only way I could ever let us put an additon on our house, is if we truly are planning to stay here forever, because we would probably never see any of our $$ from this addition - or very little of it. As it is, we will take a total loss on the siding/windows/insulation project we did in 2008-2009.

I am not sure how well this will work, but Josh and I have been working on drawing up plans for the proposed additon to the house... The addition would be added off the south side of the current structure... So, I am going to attempt to add our current idea to photobucket... The drawings show the portion of our house that is existing (there's a whole 'nother wing that isn't shown) and then it also shows our potential addition.

OK - I better get up to my sewing room, I have lots to do today before I go to town.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. Thank you for letting me agonize over this house.

D~ <---- P.S. As of now, our Disney trip is still "on"... That could change, but for the time being - all of the funds for the house project will come out of our main budget and not my sewing funds.

 

[Chicago Mo]

It looks great! you have a lot to play with!!!
AWESOME your trip is ON! another trip i can stalk!!! YAY!

 

[WDWCP96]

The plans look good and if you need any advice my DH is an architect and would be happy to answer any questions if you need it. Although it looks like you are doing pretty well on your own.

 

[ladylyons]

The plans look great!! Hopefully your able to decide which way to go. It is a hard decision to make on if your going to stay and fix things up or if your going to sell and move else where. Glad your trip is still on.

 

[Luvchefmic]

aw so sorrry so many of the kids have been getting sick Been many many since I had children at home but remember how hard that was Sending good thoughts for fast recoverie s

plans look good for house tough decision though take your time

looking forward to this weekend THOUGHT I had a Christmas party tomorrow & then Sundaythe CP dinner pkg at the Rose & Crown but looked at the dates and realized I got it wrong plans are NEXT weekend just as well pretty exhausted after tonight have worked 11 days straight

think tomorrow will tske my neighbor to DTD and to GF he never saw the gingerbread housr there and then just come home and watch Christmas movies and stay in PJ's till Monday Have a great weekend all

 

[DMGeurts]

It looks great! you have a lot to play with!!!
AWESOME your trip is ON! another trip i can stalk!!! YAY!

Thank you. Our trip will always be "on" for one date or another... We will go back, for sure.

The plans look good and if you need any advice my DH is an architect and would be happy to answer any questions if you need it. Although it looks like you are doing pretty well on your own.

Thanks Holly... We have thought about getting an architect in here to see if we have any other options... I swear we have thought out ways to remodel our current kitchen inside out and upside down - and there is just no way to make it work. Really, our only solution would be an addition. Thanks for your input - and if your DH is super bored and wants to look at it - he is more than welcome... but I know how my DH is when he comes home from work - the last thing he wants to do is more work. LOL

The plans look great!! Hopefully your able to decide which way to go. It is a hard decision to make on if your going to stay and fix things up or if your going to sell and move else where. Glad your trip is still on.

Thanks! Fortunately, we have time to decide. The sad part, is by the time the addition would be finished - the girls would only be home for a few years... So, then we get to the "is it really necessary" part...

aw so sorrry so many of the kids have been getting sick Been many many since I had children at home but remember how hard that was Sending good thoughts for fast recoverie s

plans look good for house tough decision though take your time

looking forward to this weekend THOUGHT I had a Christmas party tomorrow & then Sundaythe CP dinner pkg at the Rose & Crown but looked at the dates and realized I got it wrong plans are NEXT weekend just as well pretty exhausted after tonight have worked 11 days straight

think tomorrow will tske my neighbor to DTD and to GF he never saw the gingerbread housr there and then just come home and watch Christmas movies and stay in PJ's till Monday Have a great weekend all

Thanks Ruthie. All your plans at WDW sound amazing... I wish I lived by you, and you could take me around to do all the fun stuff too. Someday I will make it to WDW at Christmas time.. I hope to do it with in the next few years.

**********************************************************

I didn't get as much done in my sewing room yesterday as I wanted to... It took me much longer in town than I thought it would. However, I did manage to get most of the bag assembled... I have about a half day of work left on this bag set. I have not decided if I am going to break it up over 2 days, or how I am going to work on it this weekend yet? My issue is, we are in a Winter Storm Warning, starting tonight... I do have a few errands I want to run, and there is the possibility that if I don't get them done today, I won't be able to tomorrow. So, I am thinking that I will actually put off finishing the bag until tomorrow, because it looks like we will be snowed in anyways.

I have a fun project on my mind, and I am not sure if I have mentioned it here yet? Since the announcement of the Little One's arrival, I've had a fun project in my head... I really want to make the new family a set of coordinating Christmas stockings and a tree skirt for next Christmas. I am hoping to work on it through out the year (I would also like to make a set for us, and another set for Josh's dad... but we will see...). For Brian and Myrthe's set, I had a huge idea last night, but I am not sure how it will look. You know how some people (Nini & Marianne) took quilt squares to WDW to have the characters sign, and then made them into autograph quilts? Well, I would like to take the quilt blocks to family gatherings, and have the family members write a little message to Brian, Myrthe & the Wee One that I can incorporate into the tree skirt. I think it would be a great "touch of home" for Brian, because I know he misses the family over the holidays. I told Josh about it, and he said it was a "great idea", but then he just went about what he was doing. So, I am not so sure about it.

This is very similar to the tree skirt I want to do - I am just afraid the signatures might take away from the "crispness" of it? Believe it or not, I have a lot of these fabrics on the way, and a few others that I'd like to incorporate - so the tree skirt I make will look quite similar to this. What do you think? Signatures or no signatures?

Then, I am debating between doing Elf stockings similar to this... Only using the coordinating fabrics from the tree skirt...

Or if I should do more traditional stockings? Similar in shape to this:

I am really leaning towards the Elf stockings, just because Christmas in The Netherlands just seems to be a bit more whimsical - and I think they would be fun.

What would you do?

Of course - like I said above, I would really like to make a tree skirt for us and for Josh's dad & step-mom... and I think it would be fun to tie them all together with the same fabric line, so in a way - it would tie Brian and his new family with us in the States. Is that dorky or kind of neat?

Can you all tell that I am in this enormous holiday spirit? LOL

Then... Ever since Oopsi posted her pictures of her GORGEOUS tree and amazing fireplace mantle/Christmas stocking display... I've really been missing our old house and the holiday decorating that I used to love to do... In our old house, we used to have an open stair case, and every Christmas, I would wrap it in pine garland and hang our stockings from it, but in this house - we have no where to hang stockings. And it's always driven me CRAZY! So, I've been on pinterest for the last day, trying to find some solution - and I have found lots of ideas... I hope to have something to hang our stockings from (short of making Josh build a fireplace - LOL) before Christmas.

You know... Sometimes I just wonder if I ramble too much, and I include too much from my personal life in this PTR? It seems that most people aren't interested my real life updates, vs. when I post pictures of my bags... So, if you all would rather - I can stop updating so much - and only update when I make something new?

Anyways... I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. And if you are getting snow like we are - I hope the snow brings your holiday spirit alive like it always seems to do to me.

D~

 

[tinkbell13]

I have to say that I love your latest bag! The creativity is amazing as always. I have to find some of that Fairy Frost fabric. It is just gorgeous!

Ugh for trying to decide to renovate/add on or move. Our last move was easy as we had no space to add on and we had everything renovated that we could. We needed more space so we had to move. We now have the perfect amount of house and a huge property for where we live, yet DH has been talking about putting an addition on the house! I remember you posting about your renovations and loved seeing the pictures of it. I like the plans you posted and the designer in me started coming up with questions I would ask if you were one of my clients. That is the story of our lives. We see plans and start coming up with questions and rearranging things in our head. That is why we will never add on to our house because DH and I would never be able to come to an agreement on what to do.

I love the idea for your fun project! I think it would be really cool if you made tree skirts for everyone using the same fabric. The idea that they are all tied together, just like your family is, is awesome. As for the stockings, the practical part of me says to go with the traditional stockings. The whimsical part of me says the elf stockings. I love the way those look and it is for Christmas after all, so why not go with the whimsy and fun!

I don't think you ramble at all. I love hearing about the girls, MM, Josh and yourself in between all the postings of your bags and your trip. I know I don't post all the time, but I promise I do follow along. I don't always have time to post or I am DISing on my phone and I sometimes have issues posting from it. But please continue to post as you have been. I enjoy following along.

 

[ConnieB]

Suggestions/ideas for your Christmas skirt:

How about putting the signatures on the UNDER side of the skirt. No, they won't be visible to everyone, but then again, the skirt would be covered with presents anway. That way the love and messages are known and treasured by the family, but don't affect the overall crisp feeling. Basically it's almost a double sided quilt....one with messages of warm wishes and one pretty.

Also...and this is from personal experience, lol......be sure to get some extra of the stocking fabric and save it. If they have more children over the coming years you'll want to make matching stockings for the other children. Personal experience was that when my brother and I were still toddlers, Mom made each of us beautiful stockings....Mom, Dad, brother and I. Then several years later "surprise" baby sister appears....fabric is of course no longer around.....sister grows up and by probably age 4 or 5 she wanted to know why she had a different stocking (store bought at that!). Such little things do bother children....same as the fact that by the time she came along mom was much more busy (and working!) and taking the kids to have annual photos done professionally fell by the way side....so we have 7 years of annual posed photos, and then none with sister. She has other issues, lol....but suffice it to say that by the time she was a preteen, Mom stopped hanging ANY stockings because she didn't want to hear it again, and she was too peeved to make another set, lol.

Congrats on becoming an aunt!

 

[cogero]

D i love the house ideas you have. G told me to make a list of things want to do in our house and we would start working on it. I am icky though since my dad is a general contractor though not for houses.

I love hearing your ideas and family stories.

 

[Restrasz]

I love hearing all about your life as well as seeing your new creations!,makes us feel like family! Have a great week end. I'm a little jealous of your snow,were getting lots of rain.

 

[Iamthequeen]

here for quite a while. I have to say that I am amazed by your creativity! I sew quite a bit and am currently focused on quiltmaking. Your ideas for the tree skirts are great. I love the idea of skirts and stockings made with the same fabrics for all family members. I second the thought to buy more fabric than you will need for future additions to the family - not just young ones, but as the girls get older they will add significant others to the family too.

One suggestion on your house addition. It really isn't ideal to enter a room through another room. Unless you plan to turn your current master bedroom into a craft room or office, I would suggest building a wall and adding a hall way through to your new master bedroom. Not sure that will work with the location of the current doorway, though.

 

[NiniMorris]

Quick drive by post....

LOVE the signature Idea. Have them sign in festive colors...and add room for more family to sign. It will become an heirloom. You could also make it double sided...one side for signatures and one side without. Make sure the signatures side is just as beautiful as the one without...she gets a choice each year which side to use!

I also have a cute pattern for a birthday quilt. The borders are designed to be signed by the guests...the smaller version is to age 4, and the larger version to age 8. Since it is for hand embroidery I really should find the link and send it to you.

Your reno plans.. personally I would hate the kitchen away from the rest of the house. Several of the houses we have had over the years had a design like that. I gladly gave up the larger kitchen to a smaller one to be nearer the family. Just a thought! We are actually planning on tearing out the divider between our kitchen and dining room. Just making it a ginormous kitchen/keeping room. We NEVER use our dining room (too small for when the family all comes over) And everyone seems to congregate in the kitchen!

We have been holding off on moving...because I hate the thought of having to pack up all the STUFF that we have! (I still have a complete storage room in the basement FULL of my mom's stuff!!!) In our area NOW is the perfect time to buy/sell.... inventory is starting to get low, builders are back to work, and the interest rate is way down. But probably not happening right now...I would love to move to a different school district so I could put Mr D back in public school....


Nini

 

[nowellsl]

You know... Sometimes I just wonder if I ramble too much, and I include too much from my personal life in this PTR? It seems that most people aren't interested my real life updates, vs. when I post pictures of my bags... So, if you all would rather - I can stop updating so much - and only update when I make something new?

NO, don't stop rambling! I love hearing about your family and MM! Don't change a thing! That's what makes people love your pre trip/trip reports so much.

 

[DMGeurts]

I have to say that I love your latest bag! The creativity is amazing as always. I have to find some of that Fairy Frost fabric. It is just gorgeous!

Ugh for trying to decide to renovate/add on or move. Our last move was easy as we had no space to add on and we had everything renovated that we could. We needed more space so we had to move. We now have the perfect amount of house and a huge property for where we live, yet DH has been talking about putting an addition on the house! I remember you posting about your renovations and loved seeing the pictures of it. I like the plans you posted and the designer in me started coming up with questions I would ask if you were one of my clients. That is the story of our lives. We see plans and start coming up with questions and rearranging things in our head. That is why we will never add on to our house because DH and I would never be able to come to an agreement on what to do.

Thanks Loree (did I spell that right? I've been having name issues lately)... Please ask away - I am so frustrated with all of this, and my mind just won't rest.

I love the idea for your fun project! I think it would be really cool if you made tree skirts for everyone using the same fabric. The idea that they are all tied together, just like your family is, is awesome. As for the stockings, the practical part of me says to go with the traditional stockings. The whimsical part of me says the elf stockings. I love the way those look and it is for Christmas after all, so why not go with the whimsy and fun!

Thanks! I am glad you like it, I am really excited about it. Although, it seems like such a small project - but I think it's a bigger project than I think it is.

I am leaning towards the elf stocking too.

I don't think you ramble at all. I love hearing about the girls, MM, Josh and yourself in between all the postings of your bags and your trip. I know I don't post all the time, but I promise I do follow along. I don't always have time to post or I am DISing on my phone and I sometimes have issues posting from it. But please continue to post as you have been. I enjoy following along.

Thank you... Sometimes I just feel like I share too much and people are sick of hearing about me and my life... Especially since I don't share everything (it may seem like I do) - so I think that people get the impression that we don't have any problems, or that I am bragging about my life - when really I am not, I just don't share the bad stuff - ya know?

Suggestions/ideas for your Christmas skirt:

Thanks!

How about putting the signatures on the UNDER side of the skirt. No, they won't be visible to everyone, but then again, the skirt would be covered with presents anway. That way the love and messages are known and treasured by the family, but don't affect the overall crisp feeling. Basically it's almost a double sided quilt....one with messages of warm wishes and one pretty.

I thought about doing that, but I wasn't sure if they would "get" it? What I am thinking is that I plan to do tree appliques (the puffy ones), and I will have each person put a message on a tree before I applique it to the skirt... That way, the shape they need to stay inside is still there, and I can add the trees on at any time.

Also...and this is from personal experience, lol......be sure to get some extra of the stocking fabric and save it. If they have more children over the coming years you'll want to make matching stockings for the other children. Personal experience was that when my brother and I were still toddlers, Mom made each of us beautiful stockings....Mom, Dad, brother and I. Then several years later "surprise" baby sister appears....fabric is of course no longer around.....sister grows up and by probably age 4 or 5 she wanted to know why she had a different stocking (store bought at that!). Such little things do bother children....same as the fact that by the time she came along mom was much more busy (and working!) and taking the kids to have annual photos done professionally fell by the way side....so we have 7 years of annual posed photos, and then none with sister. She has other issues, lol....but suffice it to say that by the time she was a preteen, Mom stopped hanging ANY stockings because she didn't want to hear it again, and she was too peeved to make another set, lol.

Congrats on becoming an aunt!

I did think of that... And I am hoping that I have enough... Total, with all of the fabrics I plan to use - I have about 12 yards, so I think I am OK? I do plan to expand on my idea a little bit, and I think I am doing one skirt for us, one for Josh's dad and step-mom and one for Brian... Stockings for everyone and they will all be done in coordinating fabric. I plan to have B&M sign their trees when they come with the Little One next fall - and I hope to trace the LO's foot on to a couple of trees for our skirt and Josh's dad's. Now, let's see if this all falls into place like my brain says it should/

D i love the house ideas you have. G told me to make a list of things want to do in our house and we would start working on it. I am icky though since my dad is a general contractor though not for houses.

I love hearing your ideas and family stories.

Thanks Chiara. I am super picky too... I know exactly what I want, and no matter what I do - I can't make it all work - for that matter - I can't make any of it work.

I love hearing all about your life as well as seeing your new creations!,makes us feel like family! Have a great week end. I'm a little jealous of your snow,were getting lots of rain.

Thank you Ruth. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Alli and MM are out playing in the snow right now. MM reminds me of the girls when they were little - the first snow fall, they were in, out, in, out, in, out... Melted puddles of snow all over my floor and piles of wet snow pants/hats/gloves/boots/coats all over the place. MM, minus the snow gear, is in, out, in, out, in, out... And it's only 8:30 am. He is loving the new "toy" outside.

here for quite a while. I have to say that I am amazed by your creativity! I sew quite a bit and am currently focused on quiltmaking. Your ideas for the tree skirts are great. I love the idea of skirts and stockings made with the same fabrics for all family members. I second the thought to buy more fabric than you will need for future additions to the family - not just young ones, but as the girls get older they will add significant others to the family too.

Welcome - and thank you. Thanks for the reminder... I did think of B&M's future Littles, but I didn't not think of my own girls adding into the family... Thinking I may need to go hunt down a few more yards.

One suggestion on your house addition. It really isn't ideal to enter a room through another room. Unless you plan to turn your current master bedroom into a craft room or office, I would suggest building a wall and adding a hall way through to your new master bedroom. Not sure that will work with the location of the current doorway, though.

I totally agree... We are not sure what our current Master bedroom would turn in to - as of now, it would be nothing... Possibly a reading room/extra TV room/storage. And since we really don't have the "need" for another bedroom, Josh and I were actually talking about just doing a lower level addition for the kitchen, and not adding the upper level at all? It doesn't make sense to add something that we don't need. He said we could turn our current bedroom into a new sewing room for me - but to be honest, I like my sewing room, and even though it's small - it is the perfect size for me and what I do. I like that if I leave my scissors on my cutting mat, I just have to turn my chair around from my sewing machine and I can reach it.

Quick drive by post....

LOVE the signature Idea. Have them sign in festive colors...and add room for more family to sign. It will become an heirloom. You could also make it double sided...one side for signatures and one side without. Make sure the signatures side is just as beautiful as the one without...she gets a choice each year which side to use!

I just ordered REAL fabric markers yesterday. I knew you would approve. I ordered 2 sets, so that I can send a few to Brian and Myrthe, and not be missing any colors at home, just in case they don't make it home next fall like they plan to right now.

I did post my current tree skirt plans above - I'd love your feedback on my newest idea.

I also have a cute pattern for a birthday quilt. The borders are designed to be signed by the guests...the smaller version is to age 4, and the larger version to age 8. Since it is for hand embroidery I really should find the link and send it to you.

What a cute idea! I really want to make a baby quilt for the new expected Little One, but I am not sure what to do right now, since we don't know if it's a boy or girl. All I know is that I will be sewing like crazy between orders for the next year!

Your reno plans.. personally I would hate the kitchen away from the rest of the house. Several of the houses we have had over the years had a design like that. I gladly gave up the larger kitchen to a smaller one to be nearer the family. Just a thought! We are actually planning on tearing out the divider between our kitchen and dining room. Just making it a ginormous kitchen/keeping room. We NEVER use our dining room (too small for when the family all comes over) And everyone seems to congregate in the kitchen!

I totally get that. As of now, I just have no idea what we are going to do???

We have been holding off on moving...because I hate the thought of having to pack up all the STUFF that we have! (I still have a complete storage room in the basement FULL of my mom's stuff!!!) In our area NOW is the perfect time to buy/sell.... inventory is starting to get low, builders are back to work, and the interest rate is way down. But probably not happening right now...I would love to move to a different school district so I could put Mr D back in public school....


Nini

I know - I have no desire to pack or move any of this STUFF - I have the same problem. But I agree, now is the time.

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I really appreciate everyone's opinons on our house remodeling dillema.

I posted a photo of our existing kitchen layout on Facebook, in the hopes that someone will respond with some great idea that we just can't see.

The dimensions of the ouside walls are 23' x 13' - so the area we are working with is very small. And due to the various walls/doors everywhere - all those things must stay. We cannot move our downstairs bathroom walls at all, because all of our upstairs plumbing is enclosed in them. So, unless we gut the upstairs too - we are stuck with this set up.

To give you an idea of just how small that space is by the fridge/stove - here's a photo taken a few years ago (it was right after we put in the new windows - so that back wall hadn't been finished yet). As you can see... When the dishwasher is open - you can't walk to the back portion of the kitchen or the bathroom at all. Same with the stove. The fridge does open all the way.

Then, last night, I was on Pinterest (um, for hours) and I found this - which with a little bit of modification, could work in our space:

But the more I work with it, I can't make anything work.

Grrr... I just wish my mind would rest about this - I am so frustrated and I want a solution.

Josh just came in (I've only been working on this post for 3 hours - gulp), and he offered another solution, which is viable... Instead of doing a kitchen addition - we could do a smaller main floor bathroom/laundry room additon... Reroute all of the upstairs plumbing, and turn the entire current kitchen/dining/bathroom space into a kitchen... It might actually work??? Similar to this:

So far, I am liking the 3rd idea the best - it seems to be the most viable and cost effective solution.


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Yesterday, Josh and I went "out n' about" - we went to a few stores, then we got a few groceries to get us through the Winter Storm Warning today.

Afterwards, I went up to my sewing room for a bit and worked on my current bag. I plan to go up there again today and finish it up.

Last night, we watched The Christmas Story while I sat on the laptop and surfed Pinterest for kitchen ideas.

OK - I need to stop obsessing over this and get to work in my sewing room...

Then snow is falling beautifully, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

D~

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I haven't read everything yet, but thought I'd pop in and say hi! I'm glad to see another late 2013 PTR. And your dog is soo cute I'm sorry to hear about the passing of Rufus. That must have been so hard.

 

[aboveH20]

Love, love, love this bag...

I used the Fairy Frost fabric again - and I know you can't see it in the pictures, but this bag SPARKLES! It's so cool and fitting!

I love how both appliques turned out... The Castle on the front really does have a "dream like" quality to it.

D~

I your new bag. I've said before that the castle is my favorite ride. You've captured it perfectly and I love the fabrics you've chosen.

I have a fun project on my mind, and I am not sure if I have mentioned it here yet? Since the announcement of the Little One's arrival, I've had a fun project in my head... I really want to make the new family a set of coordinating Christmas stockings and a tree skirt for next Christmas. I am hoping to work on it through out the year (I would also like to make a set for us, and another set for Josh's dad... but we will see...). For Brian and Myrthe's set, I had a huge idea last night, but I am not sure how it will look. You know how some people (Nini & Marianne) took quilt squares to WDW to have the characters sign, and then made them into autograph quilts? Well, I would like to take the quilt blocks to family gatherings, and have the family members write a little message to Brian, Myrthe & the Wee One that I can incorporate into the tree skirt. I think it would be a great "touch of home" for Brian, because I know he misses the family over the holidays. I told Josh about it, and he said it was a "great idea", but then he just went about what he was doing. So, I am not so sure about it.

Then, I am debating between doing Elf stockings similar to this... Only using the coordinating fabrics from the tree skirt...

I am really leaning towards the Elf stockings, just because Christmas in The Netherlands just seems to be a bit more whimsical - and I think they would be fun.

D~

It's a little creepy to realzie that you've been peering in my family room window. I made these stockings last year when senior son's girlfriend joined us for Christmas. I machine embroidered their names on, but "erased" them for this posting to protect the innocent.

It was a free pattern from somewhere on the web.