Finished projects

As you know I'm going through projects that I started over the last couple of years.  These were projects that I was almost done with and for some reason never finished.  In between finishing projects I've been organizing my sewing room and going through scraps and material to see what I have and thinking of future projects.

So a baby blanket and two Christmas Tree skirts have now been added to my store.  Take a look and tell your friends.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/507238835/pink-john-deer-baby-blanket

https://www.etsy.com/listing/493755082/western-snowman-christmas-tree-skirt

https://www.etsy.com/listing/507245041/christmas-light-christmas-tree-skirt

Have a great day and wonderful week.

Finished what I started

I am starting off the year finishing up projects that I have started over the last couple of years.  I started off finishing my daughters quilt.  It is now on her bed.
If you'd like to see it take a look at my IdahoAtHeart facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IdahoAtHeart/

Yesterday  started on a tote of unfished projects that I started for my store on etsy but hadn't finished.  I started on a purse:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/506135693/lime-green-and-brown-flowered-purse?ref=shop_home_active_1

It is lime green and brown and very pretty.  I free motion quilted it and they are very durable.  I love mine.

They make great gifts or are fun to keep for yourselves.

Next in my tote is a Christmas Tree skirt.  So if you are in need and don't want to forget for next Christmas stay tuned.  I'd like to get it posted in the next couple of days.

Store is up and running....

Hello everyone,

It has been a very long time since I have even visited this blog.  Things have changed a lot over the last few years in our house.  We moved from Oklahoma in 2014 to Illinois and now we are already looking ahead to our next move.  We move a lot which is why I have a store on Etsy.  It allows me to sell stuff from where ever we are living.  We moved here in Illinois with three beautiful girl and we have added one handsome son to the mix. 

Things are starting to settle down again and I'm having to find a new routine but I have managed to get some sewing down and have started posting to my store again.  I missed making things for others.  I love to sew but in my down time I spent time sewing for my kids.  I had forgotten how much I loved sewing things for them.  I have also been spending time teaching them to sew small projects.  They are all at different levels but things are going well.  That is another reason I use Etsy.  I can post things as I have time to sew them.

I used to think that I wanted to make a lot of different things to sell and over the last couple of years I have realized that trying to keep up with many sewing projects is more stressful than stress relieving.  So I have decided to sell only a few different things.  I will be selling flannel baby blankets.  I hemstitch around the edges so they can then be crocheted.  I will sell some of them ready to be crocheted and some already done.  I usually only buy enough fabric to do make one blanket and 2-3 burp clothes.  I have posted a few of the finished ones on my store already.  Here are a couple:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/489764365/blue-flower-flannel-crocheted-edge-baby?ref=shop_home_active_8

https://www.etsy.com/listing/479947652/kite-flannel-crocheted-edged-baby?ref=shop_home_active_3

Here is a car seat blanket:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/493445183/car-seat-flannetl-crocheted-blanket?ref=shop_home_active_2

I will add table runners as I get them done as well.  Right now I don't have any done and I'm sewing lots of gifts for Christmas so I probably wont add any til January.

Another item I would like to sell are full size blankets.  Those take longer to make so I'll add them as I get them done.

If you have seen something on my store that you like but I don't add anymore don't hesitate to ask if I can make you one.  If I have time I'd love to help you out.

I'll keep you posted as I add things to my store.

Snowman Christmas Tree Skirt

Here is a Christmas Tree skirt I made to sell on my store.  I grew up with Christmas Tree skirts but for the past few years we haven't had one.  So I decided to make one for us.  While doing that I decided to make one to sell.

It is made out of cotton material.  It has batting, and the binding is store bought bias binding.  I have also free motion stitched it.  It is machine washable and may need some ironing afterwards.

It is really cute.  If you want to see more information and more pictures click here.

Christmas tree skirt

Well here is our Christmas tree skirt.  I just finished it today.  I had one more picture but blogger wont let me add it for who knows what reason.  Anyways.  The first picture is actually the back in my mind.  It is reversible but I like the Santa side more.  Sarah was with me while picking out the material and these were the ones that she wanted.

 I free put batting in them and then free motion stitched them.  Then I sewed bias binding on the all the edges.  I am very excited to use this this year.  We haven't had one since we've been married and we really like this one.

Tuesday

I feel pretty good about my shopping trip today.  I went to two stores.  Walgreen's and then Walmart.  I saved $29.41 at Walgreen's between their sales and my coupons.  Then at Walmart I saved another $22.08 making my savings today $51.49.  I felt pretty good about that.  My goal has been to save $10-$15 each week so today was definitely a success. 

I was also able to get Yana to take a short nap today so I was able to get some sewing done.  Hopefully I'll have pictures of the finished product for you tomorrow.

My girls have been good and although I am feeling really tired I think I'll take them for a walk.  I'm hoping that the nap today doesn't make Yana want to get up in the middle of the night.  She has slept all night the last 3 nights but has also not had a nap for almost a week.  So we will see.  She was obviously tired because she rolled right over and went to sleep.

I am loving the cooler weather.  I think I'm freezing my family out of the house though.  At night my husband is completely covered in the blankets and I'm sleeping on top of them. 


Sorry I know today is kind of random but that happens more and more when I'm tired.  Have a great Tuesday. 

Why would I do that again?

Thursday was the first day of fall break for us.  Our first.  I took my girls to the "big" park.  This is something I don't see myself doing again without another adult.  It was a lot harder to watch two kids who went in separate directions than I thought.  That might seem weird but I've had to protect my kids from other kids trying to push them off the top platforms.  I really don't my child to go missing or to have to go to the emergency room because of the park.  Yana was content to run back and forth from the top platform on one side to the top platform on the other side.  Sarah likes to climb and go down the slides.  Yana really liked to stop and look out the railing.

 I have multiple pictures of her looking through the railing.

 I finally got her to stop and look at me for a minute.

 I wanted to take them to the swings but couldn't get a hold of Yana so Sarah talked her into going down the slide with her.

 They love this swing and the other one was gone so they shared.

My kids are so easy to entertain sometimes.  They love boxes.  It's great.  It was a boat.

Friday my husband got back from a week in Michigan and my in-laws came to town. It was great.  We picked my husband up at the air port.  Then we did some things around the house.  My husband wasn't feeling very well.  I went and ran errands with my mother in law.  I needed some time away.

Saturday my husband bought me a chest freezer.  Not a huge one because right now I don't want one.  We don't need something that large.  After it ran for a few hours I moved the meat into the new freezer and loved the amount of space I now have.  I made a pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies from scratch...starting with a whole pumpkin.  We made Jalapeno poppers and pork ribs and had a great evening.

Sunday was sad because we always hate to see the grandparents go.  Today is still fall break and so I decided to go to Joann's to get material for a couple blankets but after I got all the way down to the store I realized I had forgotten my magazines with their patterns.  I was very frustrated with myself.  That isn't a drive I like to make everyday.  So instead we bought material to make a few Christmas tree skirts.  I'll get some pictures taken for you when I start working on them.

Well I still have a lot to do today and I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all done.  So I better continue.  Have a great Monday.

Projects and the weather...

I am loving the weather today.  I know many here do not like the colder weather but I am in heaven.  I would much rather be in colder weather where I can put more clothes on than in the heat where I have only so much that I can take off.

I've lit my candle in the kitchen and opened the blinds and have just loved it.

Anyway, on to other matters.  I have finished 5 of 6 seat cushions.  I just need one more zipper to finish the last one.  It is ok because the sixth chair is pre-occupied by Yana's booster seat.  So it will sit in the closet until the time when it is needed.

My other projects for today are to move my sewing machine back up to my sewing room, alter a pair of pants, fix a hole in my husband's slacks, and take pictures of the Halloween table runners so I can post them tonight.

Once all this is done I will sandwich the two Fall/Thanksgiving table runners so I can bind and post them.  I have two tops that I finished last year that I want to post this year.  At that point I need to get material for a quilt for Yana.  I will be giving her a quilt for her twin bed for her birthday in December.  I also have a couple birthday presents to get sewn.

Lots to do and I'm slowly running out of time to get it all done.

Runners and new projects

 This is one of the Halloween Table runner that I finished yesterday.  This one will not be posted on my store.  It already has a home.  I was playing with the material.  What do you think?

 I loved the witch material.

 Now that the Halloween table runners are finished I needed to start on a new project.  It has been sitting in my sewing room for a few months now but I honestly just haven't wanted to work on them.  In my mind I had this thought that they would be hard and way too time consuming.  I had to remind myself that it wouldn't be that hard or time consuming.  Not much different than the sleeping cushions I covered a while back.  I figured now was a good time to get working on them.  The two above are the first two that I had covered in muslin.

 Here are the rest still in their plastic.  We have six chairs and six cushions.  My original goal was to have them done before Christmas.  The longer I am pregnant the more I want them done.  I love our chairs but they aren't very cushy.

 Here are all six.  Now they aren't finished yet.  I still need to hand sew the opening shut.  I'll work on that tonight.  Then I will buy zippers and pretty material and cover them again.  When I was in my sewing class it was recommended that when covering a pill to cover them first with muslin or cheaper material and then put a zipper in the outer material.  That way if they get dirty you can unzip it and wash it.  The muslin helps protect the cushion.  As you sit on them and use them and time goes buy they might break down.  I really don't want a mess every time I wash the cover.

Do you remember what my table looked like a few days ago?  I could barely see the table under all the material and tools.  Now look at it.  I'm sure I could cover it again.  It isn't like I don't have the projects or the material but I need to be able to use the table.  My husband is yet again on his way home from Texas today.  I also would like to take pictures of my other two Halloween table runners so I can post them.  I have pictures I could use but they aren't much better (as far as setting) than the one at the top of this post.

So now I need to alter a pair of pants for a friend's son and then I need to clean off my table and find my Halloween decorations.  Have a great afternoon and a wonderful weekend.  I'll share my new posts as soon as I can get them up.

Frog Quilt

Here is the fabric that I have for my froggy quilt.  Just to show you how cute they are.  I have everything cut, squares pieced together and the squares sewn together into strips.  I have some ironing and then two more strips to sew and then it will be all sewn together.  Then I have to add the borders, sandwich and free motion sew it.  I'm really excited.

I will be sandwiching the purse material tonight I hope.  I'll try to remember to take pictures for you.

My new toy

As I said in the last post, my birthday was last week and my husband bought me a new camera.  A much nicer camera than the one I had bought myself after my mission.  He ordered it only after we did the research and it finally got here yesterday.  I was so excited.  So after the battery charged and nap time was over I started playing.  I just love this camera.

 Sarah was watching tv and I wanted to take a picture when she wasn't looking at me so this worked out well.

 I talked her into smelling a flower.  Although if you look at it she didn't get close enough to actually smell it.

 Here are a couple of my flowers.

 I was playing with the different settings.  I haven't ventured into playing with the light settings or anything.  Just the preset ones on the knob.

 Yana was much easier to get face shots of.  She was lots of fun.

 The look on her face is like "what are you looking at I'm busy".

 This is one of the things that we built Saturday.  My husband needed a rack to put his clamps on to get them out of the way.

 This is 1 1/2 of the shelves we built Saturday.  I didn't want to back up  in order to get the whole thing.  our garage is looking better and better all the time.

Grandpa came yesterday.  He will be staying the week with us.  He is actually here for work.  He is getting Training in Tulsa so he gets to stay with us.  The girls have been all over him since he got out of the truck last night.  It was a lot of fun.

It was a good day yesterday.  Today we are waiting to hear on my car.  It should be done today...or at least that is what they said.

I didn't get the binding done yesterday.  I had to clean my iron and then I got it ironed and pinned and ready and then Yana woke up....1.5 hours early.  She wasn't in a good mood so sewing was out of the question.

I'm hoping that she sleeps well today so I can finish it.

Well have a good day.

Weekend living

Saturday as a good day.  I woke up early and went for a bike ride.  It was wonderful.  The weather was perfect.  Then after breakfast we took Sarah for her bike ride.  My husband rode bikes with her while Yana and I jogged along behind.  Then after that it was time to change the fluid in my transmission. 

 Yana just couldn't stay away.  She just loved playing under the Yukon helping dad.

 What one does the other generally does too.  Sarah followed Yana under too.

 I think I mentioned back in May that my husband had made me a jewelry holder for Mother's day.  Well here is the finished product.  I have been using but he hadn't had time to put the padded material into it until this weekend.  I love it and it works great.

 This is the finished product of the dresses I made last week.  My girls love them and have so much fun wearing them.

They wore them to church yesterday and twirled a lot.  They just love them.  They were so much fun to make and I'm thinking that I'll start making them for all the holidays.

Well I have sat down and have written out a list of projects that I need to get done before our vacation and it is manageable.  I'll be fine there so long as I don't get distracted.  Then I started writing down a list of projects for when we get back from vacation. 

I have had 4 requests for a purse I have been making so that will be first on my list and then I need to get the chair cushions covered.  I have a quilt that I want to make and sell so that is on my list too.  I would also like to get a few table runners made for upcoming holidays.  It looks like I'm going to be busy. 

If there is something you want let me know and I'll get it on my list to get done for you.

We had a good weekend and hope you did too.  Have a great week.

Thursday's projects

Yesterday was a very busy day.  I'm sorry I didn't make it on to blog with you.  I had planned on it but spent the entired day sewing.  I started off by bringing my sewing machine down to the kitchen table, a cutting mat, rotary cuter, scissors, pins, thread, rulers, measuring tapes and who knows what else down to the kitchen.  I did this for a few of reasons.  I need to free motion stitch my quilt and the only table large enough is the kitchen table.  I also wanted to work on some dresses for my girls for the 4th of July and most of their toys are downstairs.  The last reason is that I had a couple girls coming over to learn to sew and my sewing room doesn't have enough room for 2 sewers.

 What I did was buy some white shirst for my girls.  You see three because their is also one for a friend of Sarah's who had a birthday and wanted a dress.  I cut off the shirts first.

 This was when it was looking somewhat clean and organized.  I spent a lot of time with my measuring tape and calculator trying to figure out the measurements I wanted.  I wanted to gather each layer to the one above it.  So I measured the lower edge of the shirt and doubled it.  Then I added half the measurement to the red layer.  Then for the middle layer to took the measurement from the red material and added half of it to itself.  I did the same for the blue (lowest layer)  So the measurements just kept getting bigger and bigger.  Then I started cutting.  I got all of it cut and realized that I needed about 3 more inches of blue to finish the last skirt so we took a quick trip to Hobby Lobby.

 Here it is all cut.

 This is Yana's dress.  I started with hers since it was the smallest of the three.  I used my serger on the edges.  I gathered all layers and this is what I got:

 I think they turned out pretty cute.  I haven't hemmed them yet.  I want to finish them so I can change the settings on my serger only once.

 I was a little worried about the middle layer not being white but I really like how it turned out.  My girls are starting to make weird faces for their pictures.  Bare with us please.

 I decided to let her make a fun pose.  Look at those muscles.

As I'm sure you've noticed Yana is still wearing pants.  I just traded shirt for dress.  They didn't wear them very long because I need to hem them and I didn't want them ripped and or stained.

I got the idea for this dress at church one Sunday.  I saw a little girl walking around in a dress that was layered like this.  Her top was the top of a pair of overalls and the material was obviously different.  I don't know if they bought it or made it but it was so cute.  I decided that I would use a shirt instead so I didn't have to put another one under it.  I like the idea and I think I'll use it for other holiday's as well.  Sarah loves twirling in her dress.

That was yesterday's project.  After the girls went to bed I started free motion quiltingin on my quilt and forgot how much of a workout it is for my shoulders.  I use my sewing machine.  I don't have a long arm so I have to strategically roll and maneauver the quilts under the arm of my machine.  I explained my process to my husband last night and he just said "was this your idea or someone elses?"  It was all mine.  My first 3 quilts look relaly nice on top but there are a few bunches on the backs of them.  They each were better than the one before and then I found the perfect way to do this no matter the size of the quilt to get the best results (so long as I don't rush through it).

My secret trick is that I sew straight down the center of the quilt.  It isn't very wide.  Just enough to split the quilt in half.  Then I turn it and start in the middle on one side of that line and work in quarters.  It seems to really work for me.

Well I'm getting really excited to see this quilt finished.  I promise to show pictures once I've given the quilt to who it belongs to.  Like I said before it is a gift.

Such a big girl

My children are continually amazing me.  My husband and I just finished making another bed so Yana who is now 15 months old would have a bed to move into.  We turned them into bunk beds.  Sarah loves her bed.  She loves the ladder she gets to climb every day and the fact that she is just on the top bunk is just too cool.

Yana even loves being on the top bunk.  Scary enough she can actually climb the ladder.  She doesn't, however, know how to get back down.  She runs back and forth trying to give us a heart attack.

Well, we decided two nights ago to see if we could get her to sleep in her new bed on the bottom bunk.  Sarah was 18 months old when we trained her in one weekend in a hotel because we got tired of not sleeping because she was sharing a bed with us.  My husband lay down with her until she feel asleep and then left the room.  It took about a half an hour.   She was still in her bed at 8 in the morning when I went in to get them up.  It was awesome.

So yesterday I tried to get her to take her nap in the bed.  Ya, not so good.  She kept climbing off the bed and crying so I just put her in her crib.  She slept good.  Last night was a different story.  I lay down with her and an hour later she is still wide awake and has started trying to play.  I lost my patience and left the room.  She started crying and my husband came in to see what was going on.  He told me to go ahead and go for my run and he would lay down with her.  So I did exactly that.  When I got back he was downstairs but he didn't stay til she fell asleep either.  When we checked on them later she was asleep at the foot of the bed but still on the bed.

Now, for the amazing and hopefully not a fluke announcement.....I put her on her bed today for her nap and left the room and she cried a little, crawled around a little, but fell asleep on her bed.  Not at the foot but in the middle, with her bum in the air.  So cute and so awesome.  She is still asleep and I'm loving it.  I hope she is in that bed for good.  Right before we go on vacation.  This will either help us or vacation will hurt her big girl bed training.  We shall see.

Have a great day.

Super cute pants

 Well I told you guys a while ago that I had seen some really cute material and was going to surprise you with what I did with it.  Well here it is.  I made matching pants for my girls.  They both turned out to be a bit big but they will still fit in a couple months.  Sarah really likes hers.

 Yana is still at that stage where she doesn't care what she wears.  I had to safety pin the back because they kept falling down and they are too long.  I'm thinking about putting them in the 72 hr kit for a few months until they will fit her.

Sarah loves posing for the picture.  It is so cute.  I just love my girls.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday.  It is FLEX Friday for us.  We are trying to get tickets to go home for vacation this month and we are building a bed for Yana.  So I hope you all have a great day and a wonderful weekend.  See ya on the flip side.

Wednesday!!!

Well it has been an interesting week.  It is the 7th week of our family Biggest Loser competition.  I've ran once so far and hopefully I'll get in another couple runs this week around the weather.  I was able to go pick up my sewing machine yesterday and that was exciting.  I have missed it a lot actually.  I used my serger a lot but it just wasn't the same.  There are still things I just can't do without my sewing machine.

After we picked up my sewing machine we decided to buy some roses and surprise Josh at work.  So we drove over and went inside.  The security man called his desk and left a message.  We weren't in a hurry so we waited.  We only brought in 3 roses.  One from each of us.  My husband called back in a few minutes and was asked to come up to the desk.  When he walked around the corner there we stood with 3 roses.  We visited for a few minutes and then we left.  We got in the car and drove to the parking lot next to where he parks.  We took out 3 more roses and all the petals that had fallen off.  We walked over to his truck and put the 3 roses on the seat and spread the petals around the dash and seat and then came home.  It was fun.  I put the rest of the roses in vase and put them on the table.

I started altering a dress today and it is turning out beautifully.  I started working on it while my kids were upstairs playing.  I finished organizing my sewing room and then started working on the dress.  It looks much better than I envisioned it would.  I didn't take before pictures because I forgot but I'll take some after photo's to share with you.

No I'm looking up bike safety and maintenance and information on how to enroll Sarah in school this year.  Have a good afternoon and be safe.

New surprise project

Yesterday afternoon I went with a friend to JoAnn's to buy some material to alter her "mother of the bride" dress.  While there I saw some very cute material and just had to buy it.  It is for my girls.  I even got everything cut out last night after the girls went to bed.  I'm very excited.

Lately I've been missing the home made clothes for my girls.  Yana is wearing Sarah's old home made clothes.  I haven't made anything for Sarah except for dresses for at least a year.  I miss it and so I'm gonna work on it.  I have my serger and I can definitely do children's clothing with my serger so here I go.  You will just love it.  The material is sooooo cute.

Sarah is really excited.  She also wants me to make her an outfit with valentine's day material.  I don't know that that will get done before valentine's day though so I'm not sure I'll even buy the material.

I hope your all having a great Wednesday.

I miss my sewing machine!

Well I took my sewing machine in yesterday in the afternoon.  I had to take it to town.  I didn't make it down there until after 4 which wasn't the brightest idea on my part.  It was in a part of town that had me wondering where I was at.  But the store was nice inside and the people as nice as ever.  They loved my girls.  They kept telling me I should buy an embroidery machine.  Like they really need to tell me that.  I already want one.  I would love to buy one.  That would be the last piece of the puzzle and someday I will have it.  Right now I'm content with what I have though.

Well today I pulled out all my patterns and adult and chlidren alike.  I wanted to find some things to make for my family in between other projects.  Yana is wearing some of the old clothes I made for Sarah when she was little and I just thought to myself that I haven't made anything for Sarah other than dresses for a while and I miss seeing them in cute little clothes that I made.

I also pulled out a dress pattern for myself as well as a shirt pattern.  I pulled out my husband's button down shirt pattern to make something for him.

I am very excited.  This aftenoon I will be going to to Joann's with a friend who needs her mother of the bride dress altered so it will be fun to look at the material and see what there is.  I will start cutting out material and getting things ready for when my sewing machine gets back.  I also have my serger so I can still sew quite a bit. 

I'll let you know what I decide to do first.  Have a good afternoon.

Yesterday's cake

Yesterday was a busy day.  I told you that I was working on a project and here it is.  This is the cake that I was making.  We had a young women finish her Personal Progress and we wanted to celebrate it.  So I made a yellow cake and used butter cream frosting.  It was vanilla flavored.  I used the basket weave around the edge and then used butter cream to make all the flowers.  At Young women's last night we planted flowers so I wanted it to look like a basket with flowers in it.

 It was fun making the cake but it took longer than I thought it would because my kids need attention too.  Go figure right. :)

 Here is another project that I finished at least a week ago.  I showed you pictures of Sarah's hat but I don't remember ever showing you pictures of Yana's hat.  I still haven't made the pom poms.  I'm still debating whether or not to put them on.  I'll let you know what I choose to do.  I also made Josh a hat in camouflage but without the ear flaps.  I'm working slowly on one for myself.  It just isn't cold enough right for them.

I am drained today.  I really didn't want to work out this morning but I did anyways.  I'm so tired.  I think I might lie down while Yana is sleeping.