Part 2 of the fall adventure...

 once we picked the apples it was time to turn them into fresh apple juice:

The juice is so yummy! Overall, it was a great way to spend the afternoon plus the apples that I picked made an amazing apple pie and hopefully some applesauce in the near future. (thanks to my best pal, kristen for taking the photos for the blog!) After a quick stop at home to drop of the apples, we headed over to a local corn maze:

A little a group shot of the three of us in the midst of the corn maze. (thanks lovely stranger lady for taking the photo!) Now for the fun part: 

X had a great time, so I think that this will become a yearly tradition at our house. The rest of the day was spent stopping by one my trunk or treating location in which my little man fell asleep on the way home. Then my best buddy, Kristen and I went to the local planetarium to catch the Halloween show that was playing. I literally tumbled into bed when I got home, it was one super filled, but insanely awesome day.

My little man turned 4 today...

and since he is super-insanely batman obsessed, I just had to throw him a batman party--- here are some of the highlights from his party last weekend:

(x and I before the party)

(the birthday table)

(the super awesome bat garland)

(the entrance to the bat cave)

(blowing out the candles on his cake)

Overall, I think he had the best 4th birthday he would ever have ;) It was a great time and he loved every minute of it! Already he seems to have grown into even more of a big guy! I can't wait to see what it is like as he gets older and see what he does with his life.

Updating my little man's room...

so I have been slowly working redoing x's room. I never really did a full on decorated nursery for him, so I felt it was time to give his room a big boy makeover (you, know since he is going to be 4 this fall and keeps telling me he is no longer a baby). Now it is nowhere close to being finished up, but I thought it would be fun to share it as I am working on it.

so far I added the giant X (my dad made it for me) and then I made a super simple bunting to hang over the window--- I want to put a little shelf above it. I just used two fat quarters, cut them into triangles, sewed them together (wrong sides, I left the raw edges exposed) and used some bias tape to create the bunting. Here is the bunting up close:

I am also going to design a quilt for his bed and I still have a few other things to find/make to finish it up! So far the little man really likes it, which is always a plus!

I am totally not sure...

where last week went. In fact, i can't believe June is almost over and all the summer activities are in full swing. One of the biggest projects on my to-do list this summer was to paint some of x's room, switch out the furniture, and decorate it. So far, I have managed to get it painted, shampoo the carpets, and switch out the furniture. Here is the one of the walls I painted (the color is seal by martha stewart from home depot):

and in between all the of this I have been enjoying these:

strawberries fresh from the garden. I also managed to squeeze in a little yard sale shopping 

 (actually two of my friends spotted these and let me know) so I headed over and scored both of them for $4! A super exciting find :) I also started to cut into some of my tula pink stash for another cosmo bag: 

So far this summer looks like it is going to be awesome!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the wonderful ladies out there who have one of the best and hardest jobs, may your day be filled with lots of love and laughter. 

 p.s. I really love being a mom to one of the greatest little guys ever!

The week in a recap...

Once again I was a bad blogger this week (extremely determined to do better this week), so I am working on several posts today so that even  if I get busy something will get up here on the blog. I seem to have so many things going on and the blog sometimes gets pushed to the back even though it is one of my favorite things to do! Anyways here was my week:

Monday- work from early morning (I am talking 5:30 am) until early afternoon (around 1:30) followed up by hand out writing and then an evening hanging out/playing with my little guy. I also managed to work on some knitting and a few other random things.

Tuesday- work same as Monday, finishing the final handout for my Quilt class that was supposed to be on Tuesday night but was canceled and rescheduled, a quick trip out the Quilt barn and then spent the evening hanging out and playing with the little guy.

Wednesday- work same as Monday and Tuesday, had a migraine napped for a few hours in the afternoon and then again in the evening. Woke up in time to run to Macy's and pick up a dutch oven (I got the red 5.5 quart from the Martha Stewart line, simply the best thing ever) and watched criminal minds and spent the evening playing hot wheels with X.

Thursday- work in the morning then, went to the post office and my business license arrived (totally awesome!!!!) and then went to a tea party at my friend Tara's amazing house (seriously, she has the best taste and decorating style ever! Her pineapple upside down cake was divine and the tea sandwiches were so yummy. We read magazines, chatted, watched a little martha, followed up with some Tori and Dean. Thanks again, Tara for the great afternoon! Then I spent the rest of the day with X and we had some french fries with a whole lot of fun!

Friday- was work in the morning, followed by a road trip to Boise to see my grandparents and cousin. It was a wonderful afternoon and I drove home in the first snow fall of the season. By the time I got home it was the kind of snow that is just big flakes and no wind and is simply falling. It was so beautiful.

Saturday- was sleeping in just a little, followed by morning activities (playing in the snow followed up with hot cocoa with whip cream and sprinkles), then grocery shopping, some knitting, a trip to Micheal's and then made to different kinds of cookies to go in the freezer overnight before baking. I ended the day by making broccoli cheddar soup in the dutch oven, catching up on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (I think Lisa and Kyle are my favorite from that group of ladies) and worked on more of my knitting.

Last week & happy halloween!

last week was insanely busy plus I am still dealing with my crazy allergies (I finally went to the doctor today). Anyways last week I was busy teaching two lovely classes and I attended a Mixology class that was a blast on Thursday night. Friday I went to a halloween party with X. Here he is in his costume:

*sorry its sideways- I have no idea why blogger keeps rotating them the wrong way...

This week is going to be another busy one: I have a class on Tuesday and on Saturday (which I still need to do the prep for both), my birthday is on Wednesday, and I am hoping to fit in some more sewing and do some more blogging (I will be finishing up my 26 things to do before I turn 27 on Tuesday). Plus I have my regular job as well. This holiday season is proving to be fairly fast paced and I am going to attempt to do my annual free holiday projects starting the second or third week of November. How is your holiday season shaping up?

Boston Lounge Pants

I finally managed to get a few more sizes of the Boston Lounge Pants finished up, along with a new instruction sheet. (these were formally known as Xavier's Holiday Pants and were only available in sizes 2T-6) I taught these fun pants at the Quilt Barn. Even though these are really basic pants, there are plenty of ways to dress them up by adding pockets, ribbon trim, or almost anything you could think of adding. My son loves these pants and I also make them into shorts for the summer, it has become one of his wardrobe staples. Enjoy!

Basic Size Chart

Boston Lounge Pants Instruction Sheet

Boston Lounge Pants Children's 7-14

Boston Lounge Pants Misses 0-14

Boston Lounge Pants Women's 16-26

Please keep in mind that these patterns are for your own personal use, thanks!

A lazy weekend...

just sort of happened  and it was great. I am glad I spent a little downtime before the busy fall and winter seasons. On Saturday, my mom and I took Xavier to the fair. It was pretty hot but he really enjoyed getting to the go on the rides for the first time really. Other things that were big pluses for him- cows and food. He was a really serious rider, only smiling after the ride was over and then wanted to go on another ride. It really cracked me up! Here he is on one of the rides...

 

Yesterday, I spent part of the day catching up on all my favorite reality shows on Bravo and I made/canned 5 jars of pickled beets for my mom. (I hate beets, really I do!) In between the canning and reality tv shows, I worked on finishing a sewing handout and attempting to plan out my week. My schedule is getting kind of crazy so I am trying to rework a few things. Anyways, that was pretty much my weekend and I will have a new tutorial up sometime later today. I just need to put the finishing touches on it and get some photos taken! Happy Labor Day!

This week is just flying by...

and I still feel like I haven't finished up much on my to-do list for the week. This is going to make for a busy weekend. On Tuesday, I spent time finish up a few samples for the classes I am teaching in the next couple of weeks. (next week I will share all the projects) This also called for another photo shoot, which is what I spent Tuesday afternoon working on. I have done a rough edit of the photos and now I need to pick the final ones. 

I did have time to make X his first superhero cape (sorry for the lame photo of it not in action, but getting a almost 3 year old superhero to get his picture taken is not an easy job and that it is sideways, blogger keeps rotating it... totally annoying):

So far he likes it only for a few minutes at a time and really enjoys it when I wear it and run around. It seems to really crack him up. This is part of a flat sheet that I picked up at the thrift store for $.50 or so, I added an applique X with orange stitching around the edge and the tie is a piece of blue twill.

In other random news, I got a sunburn yesterday from working outside all day. Today,  I am busy baking a birthday cake for mom (its a spice cake, first one of the season!!!). Along with trying to put the finishing touches on a handout for my beginning sewing class that starts on Tuesday night (mostly just proofing and writing up one more section). My other goal is to work on the project for the Sketchbook Projects for next week (it involves chiffon!). Alright, time to go frost the cake and grab a bite to eat before I head up to the sewing machine. Hope the rest of your Friday is really great!

Mondays...

I think are my busiest/most productive day of the week. Today has been filled with laundry, cleaning, pattern writing, working on a tutorial for Friday's new weekly feature, and planning some new classes (a few fall/winter and then some for spring), so far and the day still isn't over yet. Yesterday, I did manage to get all of X's underwear finished up, washed it today, and now its put away in it's new home in his drawer...

I ended up making about 15 pairs for now (hopefully enough to make potty training go somewhat smoothly), next month I plan on making a few adjustments to the pattern, grade it and make the next size up. (They are made out of t-shirts and 1 1/2" knit elastic.) That was the only sewing that I squeezed in over the weekend plus a little trip to Joann's for the latest issue of Threads magazine. Now its time to relax a little, watch some reality tv and work on a few more projects. Have a good rest of the night!

A few completed projects...

in total only about three things actually made it off my project list yesterday (a few had multiples to be completed before I could cross them off).  First up is another Kai's Shirt from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross:

 *the front

*the back

It should work well for fall and hopefully make it through the winter. (size is 3T the largest size of the pattern)

3 pairs of lounge pants- I tried out a new waistband technique, (that I really like since you save time not having to make a casing for the elastic), but I am waiting for them to go through a little real life testing before add the variation to the lounge pant tutorial. 

This wall hanging was a single wonky star block that was used for a demo at one of the Magic Valley Modern Quilt Guild meetings. The back is a Kona solid (Tarragon, I think) and it uses two layers of natural batting. It was a simple project and now the block isn't just sitting around on my design wall taking up space. As an added bonus my mom likes it. ;)

I also finished up another variation of the Summer Blouse from the Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross book. This time I made a yoke (mainly because I was short on the floral fabric) and I did a different finish on the neckline. Overall, this one fits better than the first and I really like the dots/floral combo. I think if I was going to make it again and with sleeves I would choose a shirting or fabric with slightly more drape than quilting cotton. 

I also managed to finish up all the topstitching on 15 pairs of underwear for the little guy; 14 pairs need elastic waistbands added and the 15th was worn for about 1 1/2, in which X decided he loved them! My goal for tomorrow is to finish up all the waistbands and sketch out the blazer I am planning on making for X. Meanwhile, I am busy working on illustrations and instructions for my upcoming patterns and classes. Here's to the beginning of a busy but hopefully productive weekend.

Updates

I think I finally got my little blog redo to a great spot and I added a tutorials page. Here you can find all the free tutorials (sorted by categories), I am hoping that this makes it easier to find them and I also updated all the links to a new site for downloading the pdf files. By the way a huge thanks to Craft Gossip for featuring my bookmark tutorial on Tuesday.

In other news, I have been busy sewing a ton of new things. Here is my giant to sew list:

One of the my many sewing to-do lists is filled with nothing but personal projects a.k.a the list of projects that I really wish would get done but always get pushed to the back burner. As a goal, I try to spend at least 2 or 3 days a month working on projects of that list. Mainly, so I can add more to it. They are not in any particular order (I tend to start/stop and jump around the whole list) but these are the things that are currently in progress (*note the x's are for my son's name Xavier, its just easier to write x):

X Blazer- I have an idea for this (its based on a vintage blazer that x loves but he already outgrew it) and already picked up the materials

Rocket Quilt- The top is pretty much finished (its a wall hanging, but I can't decide what I am doing for the backing)

X Underwear- since he is in the potty training phase and I really dislike the boys underwear choices (plus the cost) that are out there on the market- I made my own pattern. I have 15 pairs in progress they just need some topstitching and elastic on the waist. They are made out of old t-shirts so the only cost I have in them is the elastic. *sorry that the picture is sideways blogger is doing something weird to it

Study Hall Skirt- the Anna Maria Horner pattern, it is cut out and ready to sew and I finally picked up some ivory thread for it, but now it just sits in the to be done pile.

Summer Blouse- again its all cut out (the pattern is from the Weekend Sewing book by Heather Ross) and is sitting on my table

X Shorts and Pants- I have 3 pairs of pants that just need to be hemmed and elastic added to the waist, 1 pair that just needs the elastic finished up. (the pattern is the lounge pant from my tutorials)

Slippers- from the Handmade Beginnings book by Anna Maria Horner my goal is to get these made before fall really sets in since my other slippers fell apart in the spring- I have all the materials just need to make them.

Skirt Redo- I finished this skirt by doing an online sew along (that part was the fun part) but I don't like the way the skirt looks on me so I want to make it in to a dress by sewing it to a tank top

*The giant pile of in progress projects and this photo is uploading sideways the wrong way too...

X Tops- I have 4 of the kai's shirt cut out from the Weekend Sewing By Heather Ross book, 1 is actually almost finished up

Wonky Star Quilt- I recieved all of my blocks from the  Magic Valley Modern Quilt Guild Wonky Star Swap and now I need to make the quilt top. 

Houndstooth Cape- I have the fabric and the pattern cut out to make a cape for fall- yeah that was last fall so hopefully this year I will get it finished up.

X chair- I found a pattern for one of those small plush chairs for toddlers and have most of the pieces cut out   

Do you have a crazy list of projects that you want to make? And if you made it through reading that giant list of projects- here is a little photo of a flower on my computer:

X has really been into picking and surprising me with flowers, that was the latest one! 

Um... weekend, where did you go?

Last weekend went way to quickly, which leads me to think that August will be over before you know it. The weekend was filled with pattern writing (4 are ready for illustrations, which I am hoping to get started on today), 

sewing more wonky star blocks (only 12 more to go), 

making another pair of lounge pants for little guy, 

reading (just picked up a copy of The Handmade Marketplace), 

plus sorting out a few other projects that are upcoming.

So now that it is Monday (probably my craziest/one-of-my favorite days of the week), I am back to my regular Monday routine.  Mondays are filled with the morning/everyday workout, laundry (I almost always do all the laundry on Monday, so it is a most of the day task), run any important errands, blog, make my plan for the week, paint my nails, clean X's toys, playing a million+ games/reading books/cars with X, and so on. It is probably my busiest day of the week, but I usually accomplish enough tasks that which the rest of the week be a little more flexible.

Next week, I am going to be sewing X a new fall wardrobe (he went from a 4T to 5T with his latest growth spurt *he doesn't even turn 3 until October... ). Since he is tall and thin, it is easier to make his clothes most of the time, plus I enjoy doing it. If they turn out well, I am planning on doing a boy's week showing you all the clothing I made along with different ways to style the outfits. Along with what I think is essential for a boy's wardrobe. 

Here's whats on the list:

•Underwear (he just started his potty training adventure, here's the pile...) 

•T-Shirts & some button downs (all the button downs are already cut out)

•Shorts/Pants (mostly more lounge pants and if I can find some denim maybe some jeans)

•A blazer  (if I have time I am going to try and make a zip-up hoodie, too)

•At least one hat (maybe two since he always seems to misplace them....)

Alright, I better get some sewing done... 

I have been a little busy...

I have spent has much time as possible sewing away parts of the day. First, I am in the process of making underwear for the little guy since potty training is underway. Today, I am going to be cutting out as many pairs as possible. (I have made two test pairs to get the fit right and am working on a pattern for them in the near future.) It seems that the little guy has been growing/wearing out much of his wardrobe so shirts are in progress:

* the sleeves, collar, and pocket are finished, buttons have been chosen and interfacing has been cut for the placket, so I am about half-way on this one. 

My wonky star blocks are due at the next Magic Valley Modern Quilt Guild meeting, so I have been busy working on them (my nephew helped me put these together and I must say it really helped speed up the process):

*I chose to make mine really scrappy, but I ran out of white fabric when I started cutting all the squares so only 5 have been finished up. All the centers are cut and I have a large stack of scraps for the points, I am hoping to get some time today to work on a couple more since I finally picked up some more white fabric the other day. 

Still a few undercover projects that will be revealed in awhile (I still have a ton of sewing to do for them), but here is a sneak of one:

Yesterday was a fun outing (a little fabric shop hop), I had a ton of fun (thanks to all the fun ladies who came) and the little guy came on the adventure, too. He really enjoys going to fabric stores especially if after there is a park across the street. Our first stop was The Gathering Place: 

I ended up with just 2 fat quarters and 1 yard of some Patty Young's Bees in the black colorway (its going to be a shirt for x, big surprise there!)

Then we went to lunch just a couple of stores down from The Gathering Place:

It was a pretty yummy lunch and the ice tea was good. From there we went to Mill End Fabrics in Burley. That place was awesome. I would really make a trip out there again because they have a huge variety of fabrics (especially for garments) for great prices. It reminded me of shopping for fabric when I was in fashion school and that might have made me like the place even more. This is what I ended up with:

*5 yards of lingerie elastic (I'm working on some intimate apparel patterns), three zippers, some waistband elastic, 1 yard of suiting (this is going to become a blazer for x, and a navy/white striped knit which is going to become a shirt for x. 

For the rest of the weekend, I will be working on some of my "work in progress"  sewing projects and doing some computer work. I better make some more ice tea to keep me going! Have a fun rest of the day!