Wave Your Flag! {Blog Hop}

Welcome to my day on the Flags on a Stick blog hop! 

For this hop (that the amazing Mdm Samm thought up and instigated with the wonderful Thearica as organizer and cheerleader), we were supposed to create a flag... Thank you to both of you for all you have done, and of course, lots of love to our hop sponsors (See Mdm Samm's post for their information)!

I made a Birthday Flag!

You see, little Evelyn will soon be turning ONE! And, I wanted a little something to spruce up the dining area for her special day (this is definitely an inside flag). I also want to be able to use it through the years and use it for all the birthdays in the family... therefore I made it reversible!

See, here's the boys side! 

No, this is definitely not a crazy way to say that I'm expecting a little boy to be joining the family anytime soon (uffda!). I just figured if Evelyn and I get to enjoy the girly side on our birthdays, then Dan needs a boyish side for his birthday :) 

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... and if it would so happen that we are blessed with a baby boy someday, then so be it, I already have a birthday flag ready ;)

I've been wanting to practice my lettering appliqué, since I plan on helping Mom make more of these Monikered Baby Bags in the near future (her usual new-baby-gift). I think I got plenty of practice in with this project! My flag turned out to be about 16" x 30" with the hanging sleeve.

While planning this project, I also wanted to use up my scraps - each of the letters were cut from my scrap bin of 5" charms. The balloons are made with 3" scraps, and the prairie points (a first for me! such fun!!!) were made with triangles cut from more 5" charms.

The ric-rac is from my stash (the blue package actually had a copyright of 1931 and told me to wash it by boiling it with pure soap or soap flakes. Hmm... not exactly my usual washing routine...)

The white fabric, binding and sleeve material are also from my stash.

I chose a windy day to take pictures... 

But then again, it's usually windy here... that's just the way of life out here on the prairie! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now, go see what kind of flag everyone else is waving today...  And be sure to share some love with them!
March 27th

Bumbleberry Stitches

Quilted Delights

Red Quilts

On the Banks of Frog Creek (I'm waving from here!)

Words & Stitches

K and S Sweets and Stitching
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PS: The entire time I wrote this post, I was singing my alma mater's fight song. The first lines go like this...
Ring the Bells for South Dakota...  the yellow and the blue...  daaa, da, da, da, da, da, daaaa, da...  da, da, da, da, da, da...  (Can't you tell I know it real well?! Ha). However, for this hop, you know that I couldn't sing it correctly.  I had to sing it like this... WAVE THE FLAG FOR SOUTH DAKOTA! :) That is all.  Happy Hopping!

ALYOF ~ March Goal Finished!

My March goal was to finish a quilt made with a quilt top that my Grandma made. 

Goal Post Here. 

(Number 85 on the Goal Setting Linky Post)

In that post, I wasn't yet sure if I wanted to quilt and bind it or if I was going to burp and tie it (also known as the pillowcase method).

I decided to quilt it with my walking foot with wavy lines from side to side. 

Many of the fabrics are from clothes that my mom and aunt wore (homemade) "way back when." :)

I made a scrappy binding out of 2.5" strips in my scrap collection. 

I used a white sheet from a thrift store for the backing.

 I look forward to working with another quilt top of my Grandma's soon!

What's a goal post without showing you my trusty cheerleader helping me take pictures.. and of course, there's Mute the Cat, too!

Linking up to several parties; please see my favorites' buttons in my sidebar.

Farm Baby Bib {Take 1}

I hinted to this project in this post, and I finished them soon after... but taking pictures took me awhile! Especially since 3 out of the 4 I made were sent to friends' new babies soon after they were finished - no time to take pictures with those! This last one has since been gifted out as well (to my brother's wife... baby shower was a few weeks ago! Baby Boy Q should be arriving in April sometime!!).

These bibs are one of the easiest I have ever made... and I've tried lots of different types of bibs. Plus, it was fun to tell my sister-in-law that these were from the "country cousin" of Evelyn :)

I hope to work up a semi-tutorial for these the next time I can fit these in my to-sew line-up... someday!

Casual Update ~ Evelyn is 11 months old...

Not as many "casual" pictures this month... guess we didn't do anything too exciting!

Valentine's Day was spent at home, but I still dressed her up in a little pink, ruffly dress with custom leggings (from JoAnn's knee-high socks). She even wore the bow for most of the day!
The pink boots were a gift from my aunt and uncle (Evelyn actually shares a birthday with that uncle). We took her to Menards with the booties on, and she received plenty of compliments :)
The bonnet was in a box of things from Dan's Grandma. They are still clearing out a family basement, meaning that there are lots of boxes to look through. Many items end up at Goodwill, but I'm definitely doing my share of saving items! This bonnet is one of them. It's a replica; I think it is from when South Dakota celebrated its centennial in 1989.
She is almost walking by herself, but she still prefers/requires objects that wheel or slide across the floor or someone's finger. We'll have a walking little girl here soon though (hmm... I guess that means we need some shoes for the outdoors!).

She likes TV (don't worry, it's not on constantly).
And she loves snacks. Seriously, she may be a slow eater most of the time, but she does love to stuff her face with the good stuff! She will gladly pick up a handful of these little snack-things and then stick them all in her mouth. She once took a prune, stuck the entire thing in her mouth, and then proceeded to try to fit a few peas in her mouth along with it. It's a good thing she's a good chewer, or I'm sure she'd gag more often (she rarely gags anymore... maybe once or twice a week).

So, a short but sweet post... these posts are still helpful in keeping the memories alive of our little girl growing up. Thanks for putting up with these updates! Once she turns one next month, these updates will be less frequent :)

One Month to Go! {11 Months Post}

 

This little wiggle worm is getting harder and harder to photograph! I'm glad I only have one more month to photograph in this position! Evelyn will be ONE in under a month! Yay!

Little busy body is becoming a bit of a cuddle bug... well, not all the time. She still likes to push herself away from you and look out, but when she's happy or tired she will put her head on your shoulder for a split second :) She also likes to put her head on pillows (don't worry, not in her crib). But she will put her head down on a throw pillow, smile and then lift her head up and giggle. So cute.

Naps are difficult. Especially since I held her for several naps during her two day stint of fever earlier this week. We assume the fever was from teething (probably a molar), since she still had a good appetite and we could distract her sometimes with toys.

She is getting better at eating. She still feeds herself, but she will happily open her mouth if you put her something near it - she will even taste something on a fork or spoon! She isn't a huge fan of marinara, but she loves alfredo. She will also eat chucks of meat - she especially likes ham and chicken. Strawberries are also a favorite!

She has taken a few steps (up to 3) by herself between furniture and my arms. Her few days of fever stopped these steps, but since then she has started to try again. She still gets nervous and then drops to the floor after trying to reach for my hands. Her smile after taking those few steps is priceless.

We're still doing cloth diapers during the day and disposables at night and during days out.

She still loves music and snacks and silly faces. Sometimes she gets in moods where she won't smile/laugh when you're trying to get one out, but she'll have little burst of giggles at random other things. She definitely has her poker face down during those moods, haha!

She's wearing 12 month clothes, with a few 18 month clothes mixed in.

We are not planning a big birthday party. We'll probably have two small celebrations - one with Dan's family, and one with mine. If we had our own house, we'd have everybody at once, and I know my mother-in-law would love to have everyone down here... but my brother's wife will be very close to her due date and I think it will just be easier to go out to eat somewhere in the "city" with them. My family never got together with the entire family for birthdays - you know with grandparents and aunts and uncles, so Dan and I will have some decisions to make as to how we will celebrate birthdays once we have our own house :)

My New Jewel

 

I am the proud new owner of a vintage sewing machine and table! It belonged to Dan's grandma, who passed away before I had ever met Dan. Most of her things have been in the basement of one of the family farms, which is currently lived in by Dan's cousin's family. Well, they are finally cleaning out and redoing part of that basement, so I have had the opportunity to acquire some fun goodies!

The prize jewel has been this Montgomery Ward's 23 Jewel Automatic ZigZag sewing machine, probably manufactured in Japan in the 50s(?). There is a lot of information out there on the internet on the older sewing machines made prior to WW2, but there is not a lot out there about this era of machines.

Since it's a "23 Jewel" there are 23 cams, meaning that there are 23 different types of possible stitches. I haven't even tried to plug it in yet, but for the most part, it does seem to be in good shape. It's sitting at my parents' house right now. I look forward to having it in my future sewing room (and if I don't get a sewing room, it will make a beautiful side table in a living room!!). I hope to learn more about it someday, but until then I will continue to love it... isn't the blue color just amazing?

Grady's One Year Bag

You had a glimpse in this post of one of my mom's common baby gifts... the Monikered Baby Bag. Evelyn attended her first birthday party of a friend last month, and I decided to make him a bag! His mother is expecting another little one this summer and I look forward to making that baby one as well!

These bags are perfect for carrying toys and books... they can even double as a diaper bag. Evelyn's cousins in California use them for church activity bags - each boy has his own bag, which makes for less fighting :) We use Evelyn's for her toy bag when we travel back and forth to the grandparents' house.

Mom used to make these in only one color of corduroy (I still have mine somewhere in my old bedroom). Now, the corduroy is only used as the lining, while we use interfaced cottons and old blue jeans on the outside. This was my first time making one myself (well, Mom helped with the letters and the denim pockets), and I have a few more in my to-sew pile. Maybe one of these days I'll write a "tutorial," although, these are very adaptable - they have to be with all the different lengths of names out there - so the tutorial would be more like guidelines than actual rules ;)


Linking up to Ellison Lane's Crafty Traveler Linky Party

Put a Ruffle On It! {Ruffles Blog Hop}

It's here! 

It's time for the Cha Cha Ruffle! 

Mdm Samm has done it again... this time it's the "Think Ruffles" Blog Hop with main cheerleader Amy from Sew Incredibly Crazy. Thank you to both of these amazing ladies for organizing such a fun hoppity-hop!

Anybody ready for some Cotton Eye Ruffles?

My first project is straight out of a country vision of sunshine and clotheslines! This clothespin bag is made out of some denim yardage (thrift store), an embroidered table runner (yard sale), and feedsack fabric (antique store). All items (including the buttons) were from my stash and I used this tutorial... if you decide to also make one, be sure to watch the video; the tutorial makes so much more sense after watching the video. I look forward to the warmer days ahead when I actually get to use my "Ruffly Pin Pouch!" Putting the laundry out on the line with this pouch by my side will sure make me sing the Party Ruffle Anthem :)

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You didn't expect me to join a ruffles blog hop without making something for my little Evelyn, did you? :) This "Ruffled Halter" is made from a fat quarter bundle of Pam Kitty Picnic fabrics I won from the sweet Amy of nanaCompany a few months ago. The pattern is one of Oliver + S's free patterns I found on their website. The smallest size was 18 months (Evelyn won't be that old until October), but I haven't added the elastic to the back yet, so I can make it fit her when the time is right... I'm thinking it will be a nice top for 4th of July :) She'll just be livin' on a ruffle!

My favorite part of this sewing project is that the ruffles are cut on the bias, so you don't need to hem them traditionally. Just an easy topstitch along the edge is all you need - yay for less ironing!! Reading that part of the directions made me want to twist and ruffle right there beside my ironing board...

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Last but not least, here is my "Tote of Ruffles!" I love using reusable grocery totes, even though I've gotten out of practice of remembering them since moving back to SD... I hope this ruffli-fied tote will get me back in the mood of remembering!

More stash busting... the same denim and purple feedsacks from the clothespin pouch, plus some added blue feedsack fabric, a doily and some white/purple striped fabric for the lining. I made this pattern up by myself. This doily lended itself well to being attached... I just zigzaged along the two concentric circles, which leaves a fun ruffly edging! Yup, I'll be that cool mom in the grocery store with this unique tote ;) maybe I'll just have to do the Cupid Ruffle while grocery shopping! Put I promise not to shout out "Who let the ruffles out?!" That is not what a cool mom would do, ha! (Maybe I should just be glad that I have several years before I have to worry about Evelyn thinking about having a cool mom...)

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Thanks for stopping by! 

Now, take a sip of Ruffle Potion No. 9 and go enjoy the rest of these ruffling ladies! 

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Malini's quilts

Missouri Mel

Just Quilt It

In the Boon Docks

On the Banks of Frog Creek (You are ruffling along here!)

Sparrow In Flight

March Goal - ALYOF

 My ALYOF goal for March is to take this quilt top that was pieced by my Grandma and to finish it... I hope to tie it, then bind it with the backing. Or I might burp it then tie it. Who knows, maybe I'll even do some random quilty lines on the machine before binding it. You'll just have to wait and see what happens! Grandma used to make quilt tops for the church donation quilts and Easter quilts for family members but has since had to give up the sewing machine. Since then, I have taken a few tops off her hands. I love looking at all the different fabrics. Most of the fabrics are scraps from making clothing for my mom and my aunt. Actually, Mom thinks she took apart some of those pieces of clothing to use the fabric. I'll get a picture of the entire quilt when it's finished!

Winter on the farm. 

Fencing.

Feeding Cows.

Hauling Grain.

That's all for now. Have a lovely day!