Anyone Can Quilt

It's a tea cozy!

So sorry this post took so long by the way....  But here it is!  I kept changing my mind about what to do with my little yo-yos.  I really thought a little cushion would be sweet, and I started sketching.  My yo-yos became little teapots, so I decided a tea cozy was in order!  Now I realize my handle and spout stitching is a bit funky.  That's what I get when I freehand the whole thing.  But I can be impatient... If I do this again, I'll be sure to plan it out better.  I made it small to fit my little 'brown betty', she's just a two cupper. 

And here's little betty, she's quite the reflective little thing... look carefully and you can see me in my pajamas hiding my noggin... you should thank me, I have crazy morning hair at the moment... and sorry about the dust.

I think my cozy is happy with her new friends, my thrifted sugar bowl and creamer.  They're not a matching set, but both have that beautiful robin's egg blue that I looooove.

I thought I'd share with you this picture.  I drew this from a photo of my Grandma Marlys  when I was 15.  It was a birthday gift for my Mother.  My Mom has always had this old photo of her Mother hanging in her home, and I knew how much she loved it.  It was also one of my favorites because I always thought it still looked just like her!  She always had those same kind blue eyes and sweet expression.  So I decided to surprise her and draw it for her birthday.  She was so exited as any Mother would be.  Four years later my Grandma passed away after a short and painful battle with ovarian cancer.  She was the most amazing Grandmother.  Now the original picture and this  sketch from it are even more meaningful, as a reminder of how my Grandma blessed our lives, and how much we desperately miss her.

I wish we could all share a pot of tea today and tell the wonderful stories of our Mothers and Grandmothers who taught us so many things.  How to sew, knit, bake cookies, make play-dough, and on and on..... I know I am a better person for just knowing my Grandma.  I sometimes wonder what she would think of all of this craftiness that goes on around here.  My Grandpa often tells me in his old timer Texan accent, "Sug, (short for Sugar, his nickname for me since I was a baby) your Grandma sure would be proud of all of that quilting that you do."  I think we would have had so much fun sewing together!  Will there be quilting in heaven?  I hope so! x

Camping!

We went camping this weekend!  It was not planned and I almost pulled all of my hair out trying to get us all ready on Friday.  It was my brothers birthday and since the weather forcast was good, we decided to go.... at about 5:00 Friday evening.  So I hurried to get the trailer (or as my friends from the U.K. say "caravan") ready.  Blankets, pillows, jammies, sweatshirts, toothbrushes, doggie things, go food shopping, blah blah blah.....  So we were a wee tad stressed by the time we got out there as you can imagine.  But boy was it fun.  The weather was amazing, the air smelled so fresh and wonderful.  The kids got dirty and played and played.  We all visited and laughed till our sides hurt.  We ate too much, and had a tad too much vino..... it was wonderful!  Since the river isn't quite ready for swimming, we decided not to camp at the family property and to go camp at the "Elks" campground.  It's not far from here and is really wooded and beautiful. 

I learned something new about my 4 year old little nephew on this camping trip.  He's a little germ-a-phobe.

He really had at it with the hand sanitizer.  Squirt squirt squirt, rub hands together, rub up the arms, and repeat....

We had to cut him off....it makes him all crazy.

All of my sweeties looooooove camping!

What could it be?

Last night while the girls played, my husband played his guitar, and the Mr. Precious and Rosie reenacted a WWF wrestling match in my living room, I got a little stitching done.  It's not perfect as I decided to just wing it.  I should have drawn it out on my fabric so I'd have a bit of a guideline, but of course, I did not.  I have to admit it's still looking pretty cute, wonky bits and all.  What is it you ask?  I'll reveal the finished project later in the day.  Hopefully....

I'm so happy that my tulips finally bloomed!  They showed their lovely faces last week on a sunny day.  Then I heard we were to have a bit of snow....hugh??  I don't know what's going on with the weather this year.  But, I decided to clip some of the lovelies to enjoy indoors.  I got the best pictures I could on my kitchen table on the dark no sunshine day.

It was a cold and rainy/snowy day, but the tulips inside made it a bit more cheerful.  It was a perfect day to catch up on some of my favorite blogs and do a bit of yummy desert baking.  See my laptop next to the stove?  That's mostly where I keep it.  I'm standing there at this very second.  I really like to look up wonderful recipes and have them right next to me on my laptop while I cook.  And of course the wine fridge is strategically right below......  Sorry about the ironing board, I had to iron my pretty vintage sheet table cloth!

This next picture is of the bridge that goes over the bay in Newport.  I love this bridge.  It's a great part of my little community.  I took these pictures the other day when I was driving home from the girls dance classes.  It is such a routine thing for me to drive over and under the bridge.  I don't always stop to think of how beautiful it is.  This post is turning into quite the hodge-podge!

And now, last but not least....I mentioned above about the chubby cat and the baby dog wrestling.  They are getting along now!  Almost too well at times.  They constantly wrestle.  I'm glad they're having fun but sometimes I have to separate the two so they don't get too carried away!

New friends...

And it starts...

Soon it will be a flurry of brown and black on the floor, giving me heart palpitations......Lord help me....

Two ways to make a yo-yo

Let's make yo-yos!  They are quick and fun and too cute.  I recently found a neato new tool to make y-yos.  I am going to show you the new way first, then we'll make them how grandma did. 

This is the new yo-yo maker, by Clover.  They cost $5-$6,  and come in a variety of sizes and shapes.  They have the classic circle, flowers, and hearts!

Here's what you'll need.  Fabric, yo-yo maker in the size of your choice,  (I think this one is medium.....or was it large...?  I don't remember and I threw out the packaging....it says 45mm on the back and it's the orangey-yellow one), needle & thread, and scissors. 

This yo-yo business is pretty fun.  With the new yo-yo maker, you just insert your fabric, trim around the fabric, and stitch in and out of the little slots in the back.  The directions show you how to do it step by step.  Once you get the hang of it, it's very easy and fun. 

The yo-yo maker comes in two pieces, the 'disk' part, and the 'cup' part.  At least that's what I call them.

First you make sure you put your fabric in correctly, and line up one of the lines on the disk, with one of the little bumps along the edge of the 'cup' part.  The wrong side of the fabric faces the 'disk' part.

Then you trim around the little fella.  Leaving approx. about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of fabric all around.

Then you make a knot in the little flap of fabric you see here.  The best way to make a knot on these is to knot your thread and take a stitch.  Then take another stitch, but don't pull your thread all the way through.  Leave a little loop, and pull your needle through that loop.  Do this a couple of times in the same spot and you'll have a nice sturdy knot.

Now you stitch down through the holes in the 'disk', and up through the slots in the 'cup'.  Down and up and down and up, all the way around.  When you get to the end, you stitch once through the first stitch you did.

Once you're done stitching, you remove your fabric from the yo-yo maker.  And puuuulll the thread.  It will gather up and look funky.  So you have to shape it with your fingers a bit.  Then it will be beautiful.  Once it's beautiful, you make a knot on one of the middle folds somewhere.  Try to make it down in there a bit so you can't see it easily.  Use the same knot we used in the beginning.  If you know you'll be sewing it onto something where you won't see the back, you can poke your needle through the middle and make the knot in the back.  I won't judge you. 

Voila!  A perfect yo-yo.  Now if you want to make one right this very minute and you don't have a yo-yo maker, don't get all panicky.  Take a deep breath and grab some fabric, a needle & thread, scissors, a pen, and a round object like a small bowl, or saucer, or as I did, the lid to your new sugar bowl you bought at the thrift store yesterday.

Now, trace around your lid on the wrong side of the fabric.  Hey look!  A yo-yo turtle!

Now cut it out on the line you just drew.

Now you simply fold over the edge you'll be working on, just a little at a time as you stitch.  Make a knot as we did above, and stitch 1/4 inch long stitches all the way around.

Then pull to gather, reshape, and knot!  I took the easy route and made a knot in the back of this one. 

There!  An 'old fashioned' yo-yo.  Both are easy and fun.  I do like using the yo-yo maker though.  It makes them the same each and every time.  And there is no accuracy or tracing round things involved.  But if you're a purist, the old fashioned way is wonderful too!  I love making these out of 30's reproductions.   You'll have to check back soon to see the project I have in mind for these......I'll try not to take too long, I promise!

Happy yo-yo making everyone!

Barbeque at my Bro's...

All summer long we enjoy camping with the family.  My brother and his family along with my dad and step-mom, and my grandparents all go on local camping trips together.  My grandparents have some beautiful property along one of our local rivers that my family has used for camping since before I was born.  It is beautiful, and a perfect place for the kiddos to swim.  We are all itching to get camping, but thought we'd settle for an evening barbeque at my brother's house.  There's nothing like sitting around the fire on a cool Oregon evening.  The same river also runs behind my brother's house.  It's a bit of a treck to get down to it.  It's not quite ready for swimming just yet.  The river is still too high and swift.  As we get closer to summer, the river recedes and becomes calm and crystal clear.  I can't wait.  I promise to post lots of photos of our first camping trip of the season!  Here's some b-b-q pictures.  I wish all of my new blogging friends could visit around the fire with us!

Getting the fire started!  And as always, punks running in the background.  Now for some back yard views...sorry there are so many, I have a compulsive picture posting problem.  Stick with me.... just imagine you are breathing in that fresh pacific northwest air, eating yummy food, and having a nice cocktail that my sis in law made.  I think it was a mojito???  Is that how you spell that?  I don't know but it was y-u-m-m-y.

This next picture is of my brother and his sweet dog Roz.  She has been such a great companion over these past 14 years.  Now she has painful joints and has trouble getting around.  I don't think she'll get to go camping with us this year.  When the kids were smaller she used to watch them very carefully when they'd swim at the river.  She follows them and makes sure they don't go out too far.  She's been known to drag a child by his or her life jacket back to the shoreline!  One time she swam past my youngest and swam back and forth to make sure she wouldn't go out too far.  We love her.

My brother doesn't know his picture is here for all to see.  He doesn't even know I have a blog.  He he.  Let's see if I can find his first grade picture where he sported his favorite necklace, a cowboy riding a bucking bronco.  Oh yeah.  I'll have to get on that.