A Sewing Project and a day of fun.

I made a wallet to go with my new "springy" purse.

I wish I could tell you the website I got the pattern from, but I forgot to book mark it. I did make some changes to it. I added a flap for a closure and a snap.

Sunday, after church we went to our friends for dinner. They have horses. Now, Mike (hubby) doesn't particularly like horses, but he was convinced to take a ride.
Here he is in his riding gear.



The horse is ready, but Mike is still a little hesitant!




All saddled up and ready to ride!



And off they go!


He actually had a good time. We were invited to come again, maybe next time I'll take a ride too!

Purses

One of the things I enjoy sewing is purses. It's fun to make one and have complete strangers comment on your purse. The look on their face when you say "Thanks, I made it".

I downloaded a free pattern for this purse at http://www.bhg.com It's called a "Signature Purse". I had some problems with the pattern and instructions, but a friend gave me some tips and I got it finished this afternoon. I rather like how it turned out.

TGIF

Yes, I'm so glad it's Friday! It's been a long week and I'm ready for some rest. I had planned to drive to Indianapolis to visit my daughter and son in law, but, it looks like that's going to have to wait for another weekend. I don't really like to make the trip alone, Mike thinks he's too busy to go. Blah.

Do any of you watch the tv show "Lost"? I'm a huge fan. I wait all week for a new episode. Last night was truly intriguing. I can't help wondering how Kate ended up with Claire's baby. I want them to start answering some of the many questions that are lingering. Someone, please tell me how you think Kate got Aaron.

Beanie Babies

One of my many obsessions over the years has been a collection of Beanie Babies.



I started collecting about 10 years ago. I loved the bears, and only wanted bears, but sometime over the years, the collection expanded. I'm not sure when it happened, other than to say that the bears all started to look the same. So, I branched out.



Then Ty.com created a "Beanie of the Month Club". Where they charged your credit card and sent you a beanie every month. This beanie you couldn't buy in the stores, so I signed up. They ended that program in December of 07.

About 2 years ago, I stopped buying them in the stores unless they were "patriotic" themed.




I also have a few Beanie Buddies (the next bigger size) and some jingle beanies (a smaller size). In all, I think I have about 200.
I have them displayed in my office.

The Eliptical

Ok, today I made my first goal! I was able to stay on the eliptical for 13 minutes. I think I could have gone longer, but I got bored. But, I'm working my way up!

I'm also doing well with my "no french fry" rule. I went out to eat with my mom and step dad on Tuesday for lunch. Now, I love french fries, and I know I shouldn't eat them. I did really well, I ordered my sandwich, and no fries. My mom did the same. My step dad on the other hand had fries. Do you know how hard it was to not reach over the table and steal his fries!?!?!? They looked so tempting. But, I did it!

I downloaded a new pattern for a purse today. I love making purses.

I also got a couple free patterns for passport holders and luggage ID tags.

I did work on the crock pot cover. I did get one made, but I'm not really sure I liked how it turned out.

Thanks for visiting my blog sight! I'd love a comment now and then!

Jamaica

Our nephew Justin has announced that he will be getting married April 24, 2008. He met Steph online, she's from Canada. I don't know much about her, except that she seems to make Justin happy, so, I like her already.

They are getting married in Jamaica, and Mike and I are going to attend! I've never been there! I've got my passport out and ready to use! I'm very excited about that.

How's that song go.. Aruba..Jamaica, ooo I wanna take ya..
Yes, it's been stuck in my head all day.

Tuesday Happenings

Tonight our church ladies group had a Tea Party. We made soup, little triangle sandwiches, scones, brownies and other pastries. Of course we had tea too. We played a couple of little games and gave out prizes. It was a really fun night. Some of the younger girls that came with their moms wore dress up clothes. They wore lavish hats with colorful plumes. Sure did make me want to be a little girl again! I only wish I'd taken the camera. What wonderful pictures I could have taken.

Some of the men came and served the food and tea. It was pretty awesome.

10 minutes

I decided that I wanted to start walking on my Eliptical again. I used to be able to walk on it about 20 minutes. 10 is all I could muster the last 2 nights. I knew I was out of shape, but, that certainly confirms it!

The problem is, I sit too much. I work at a desk all day, then come home and my relaxation is sewing or computer games. I know, that's not so good!

I guess 10 minutes on the eliptical is better than nothing.

I'm hoping for 11 tomorrow! I'll take it up a minute or two each time. I'm also going to eliminate french fries from my diet. I hope that does it.

President's Day

I would say that the majority of people have to work on President's Day. So, tell me, why is it a holiday? I remember when we used to have Washington's and Lincoln's Birthday as holidays, and while I think the idea was to honor all presidents, and we couldn't just make every birthday of a president a holiday, I'm not convinced that every president deserves to be "honored" with a holiday. But, who would choose which one was worthy and which ones weren't. So, one day honoring the leader of the country, I suppose can deal with, but, shouldn't everyone get it off work?

Today's thoughts

I mentioned before how cold it has been here, lows below 0 degrees, lot's of cold wind.

I hadn't been to the store in awhile, so I decided to brave the cold weather and head out to Walmart this afternoon, and wouldn't you know it, they have the summer stuff out. Sandals, bikinis, shorts, etct. Not a glove, coat or sweater to be found. Sometimes I think the stores are all mixed up.

I'm making Creamy Broccoli soup to take to the next ladies meeting at church. We are having a Tea Party! I'm so excited, I think it will be really fun.

But, I have a small problem.

I'm taking the soup in my crock pot. And while the pot still works wonderfully, it's not the prettiest thing in the world. So, I was thinking I could dress it up with a little quilted cover. I figured I could just go to google and do a search and get a pattern, just that simple. Of course not. I guess people really don't care if their crock pots need a little dressing up for a Tea party. I think mine does, and I will not give up. Guess I'll just have to "wing it". Make my own pattern. Who knows, maybe it will make me famous! Not likely, but, if I do manage to make a pattern and the cover, I'll post a photo.

Wish me luck.

Sunday

It's been a sewing sort of day. It's very cold and windy here in NE Indiana. I think the wind chill is something so entirely horrid, like -20 degrees. So, it is definitely an indoor activity day.

I've been working on my Hawaii quilt, as the previous post stated. And I've been working on some blocks that I'm going to make two wall hangings from for my sewing room. The center squares of these blocks come from some wonderful new friends I've made on the Quilting in Indiana Yahoo Group. We all cut 3 1/2" inch squares and put our signature on them and swapped. I ended up with about 30 different signature blocks.

Also on the group we do a Birthday Fat Quarter swap. As January is my birthday month, I received several beautiful fat quarters from my friends. I'm using these to make the blocks surrounding the signature squares. All in all, I think it's going to be really special when I'm finished. Here's the first 3 blocks.

Hawaiian Quilt

The quilt is finished. I got it back from the quilter on Friday. Then I pieced together the binding, which consists of 2 1/2" x 6" strips of the same fabrics in the quilt sewn together length wise.

I still need to sew down the binding in the back, it's just pinned right now. I really love how this turned out!

Today

Nothing interesting going on today. I was playing fetch with Louis and snapped these pictures.

It's snowing again today. We had rain for the last 2 nights, complete with thunderstorms. Then today, it turned to snow, and I think we got a couple of inches. It's rather pretty outside.

Desi

Desi and Louis were outside playing in the snow today when they happened upon a shrew. They thought it was a great toy!

By the time I got outside to shoot a few photos, a dog was barking and Louis ran to the safety of the screened in porch.

Desi on the other hand, was happy to stay and "play" with the shrew so I could take my pictures. You can see the shrew if you click your mouse on the photo.

The shrew of course wasn't thrilled with the situation.

He eventually "quit" playing.

More about Louis

As you have probably figured out, I love talking about my cat. I've only had him about 8 months. Louis loves his toys. I've never really had a cat that liked playing with toys before. A few months ago, I got one that looks like a little bug. It has 4 little stringy legs and buggy eyes. I named it "Bug". Now, Bug has been in hiding for a few weeks, so (yes, I talk to my kitties) I asked Louis, "Where is Bug"? Of course he didn't answer me.

But, when I went to bed, up jumped Louis, and who did he bring to bed with him?? None other than Bug. Now, was it coincidence or did he understand what I had asked him? You decide!

Snow, day 2

Well, the weather man missed it again! Kind of. We did get about 6 inches of snow, so, he did get things partly right. We haven't gotten the wind, thankfully. I kind of like the snow. It keeps the ugly brown mud from showing! That's the one part about thawing out that I don't care for.