A coupla FOURTH gifts

When you're invited somewhere for a BBQ, it's only fitting you should help with food. (I brought 5 gallons of iced tea & some simple syrup.)

When you're invited somewhere for a BBQ & you captain a small army of large scavengers, it's fitting that you should also bring a flag cake.

When you're invited somewhere for a BBQ & you invite somebody from church with nowhere to go, you should probably throw in a little hostess gift, such as a tea towel.

When you're invited somewhere for a BBQ & you're sitting there eating & you call up your sister & ask her to the BBQ, it's probably a good thing that you tossed in some matching coasters for the hostess...

Love you, ♥Bob♥ & ♥Sara♥. Thanks for imparting your sweet gift of lavish hospitality!

baby BOY blankie!

Finally! A chance to use a couple of those so soft blue fabrics I've had for some time.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'm working on a couple "big" projects, but I can't show them off until after next weekend...

"WELCOME" pennant garlands

Sweet couple from church plan to leave Easter weekend to bring home their new son & two daughters. The bedrooms have been finished for a few months. I wanted to make a little something for each child.

Juan's new room has black furniture with cowboy accents. His quilt has a bit of bandana fabric in it. I cut me some rope & rustled up this critter:



(The pennants are backed with red flannel,)



The girls' room is pink, of course.

I threaded my big ol' doll needle with white ribbon for Angie's garland:

Tied me some pretty lil' white bows...

I made the letter appliqué and back of pennant from pink gingham:



(Ingrid's garland has pink ribbon)

Hardest part was deciding how "girlie" to make them...

Little Miss Muffet sat on a...

Ever since I saw it on sew4home I've been wanting to make an Asian Ottoman -- especially since I can't find the "perfect" footstool.I had a length of upholstery that I'd used for cushions, so I thought that would be wonderful for my ottoman.  I wanted it a little taller, so I lengthened the pattern piece.

It was quite easy to cut out and stitch the 7 wedges together. The seams were a bit of a challenge to press flat.

The weight of the fabric made it difficult to hoop, but I "got 'r done!"

Years ago I bought the "Farsi I" collection from Sadia, but have never used more than a couple of designs on a jacket.

After finishing the embroidery came the hardest of all: making the points meet exactly. I was for the most part unsuccessful. So I did what all sewists do -- I covered some large buttons to  hide the mess enhance the appearance of the cushion.

Here's a pic with my "inspiration" fabric. This is the valance (& still un-finished coverlet) in our bedroom:

Finished!

♫♪ Happy Birthday, Sara! ♪♫

My good friend turned 61 this week. It's so hard to know what to make for that someone who has everything!  So I bought her a candle & a kitchen towel.

I have this cute primitive design from HeartStrings Embroidery, but I was too cheap to buy a big enough candle the candle jar was too small for the complete candle wrap. I edited just the pumpkins for the wrap & embroidered the entire design to appliqué on the towel.

It seemed incomplete without the wording, so I stitched that to the back of the towel.  Now when the front gets dirty, she can flip it to the back!