I’m Back! Did you miss me?

It’s been a while. I think I’ve just had the craziest 6 months of my life beginning when my father passed away in April. Since then, life has been coming at me nonstop. Here are some highlights:

• My son, Michael, finished up his Eagle Scout application, had his board of review and his eagle court of honor 
• Michael graduated from high school
• We had 4 birthdays and my 25th wedding anniversary. 
• My husband and I volunteered as youth leaders on a church pioneer handcart trek reenactment. 
• Michael submitted his paperwork to serve a mission for our church and received a call to Russia with 8 1/2 weeks to prepare before reporting to the MTC.

Last Saturday, I helped give a baby shower for a friend having her first child. I decided to make a rag quilt out of some cute flannel I’ve been collecting for the past 13 years or so. 
Here’s the final product:
  

Cute, huh?  
One thing I love about these quilts is that they’re super easy to make, and they’re very forgiving. If the seams don’t line up, that’s okay. You’ll never notice. 
To make it you need to be able to do a few simple things: cut fabric in relatively straight lines, sew a relatively straight line, and be able to make many small snips with your scissors. That’s it. 
Here are the basic instructions:

• Start with 5-6 yards of your favorite flannel.
• Cut 70 9-inch squares.

  

• Sew two squares together, right sides out, forming an X. 

   
   

• Lay out pattern. 

  

• Sew squares together in rows with a 1/2-inch seam allowance with all the seams facing the same way. 

  

• Sew rows together with a 1/2-inch seam allowance with all the seams facing the same way. 

  

• Sew around the outside of the blanket with a 1/2-inch seam allowance. 
• Snip all the fabric between the seam allowance and edge of the fabric. 

   
 

• Wash in your washing machine and dry in the dryer. 
• Trim any loose threads and enjoy!

   
   
Try it out and let me know how it turns out!

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Where Have I Been? Crazy-Busy Is Where I’ve Been!

Sorry I’ve been conspicuously absent the past few months. It’s been insanely busy in my house. The latest crazy event to take over my life is my oldest son’s wedding. It’s this Saturday, and most of my free time, when I’d normally blog, has been enveloped with making my future daughter-in-law’s wedding dress.  Lest you think I am an incredible seamstress, know that this is a knee-length dress (no train), and it is a simple design.  I’m not allowed to show you the dress itself, but here’s a glimpse of what I’m working on.

I promise to show pictures when I’m done (and after the wedding).  My mother tried to teach me to sew as a teenager, but I wasn’t particularly interested.  I regretted that when my first son (coincidentally the one who is getting married) was born.  I taught myself to sew so I could make him cute clothes, since the ones I really liked were expensive.  It’s much easier to find cute and inexpensive boy clothes now, but 23 years ago, it was not.  While I’m not an avid sewer, I am quite grateful to have developed this skill.  In addition to making my own clothes and decorator items (curtains, blankets, etc.), I can sew on buttons, fix small holes in clothes, and make basic alterations.  It is a big money saver and a worthwhile skill to develop.

While my mind has been filled with thoughts of a perfect wedding dress and stressing over the details of it, I am looking forward to the wedding and am quite busy with preparations, including preparing my home, because the happy couple are taking up residence in my husband’s former office.  That’s the way of the world now, isn’t it?  We moved away from extended family groups to nuclear families to families of all shapes, sizes, and configurations, but now many are heading back to the extended family model.  Not a bad thing in my opinion.  It’s nice to have family around to love and support each other.

Give a hug to those you love and send a note or call those you love who live far away.  They’ll sure appreciate it!

Take care, everyone!

A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned… Or, In My Case, $270 Saved Is $270 Earned

I just saved $270 in about one hour. Not too shabby, huh?

 

How did I accomplish this amazing feat? I fixed some holes in 3 pairs of my hubby’s jeans.

 

Basic sewing is an incredibly valuable skill. Being able to sew on a button or to fix a broken seam can save quite a bit of money over the years. Not to mention that replacing simple buttons in a basic blouse with unique ones will give you a one of a kind, expensive looking piece to wear.

 

Yes, there are less expensive jeans out there, but my husband has a 28 inch inseam. Did you know that almost no retailers carry jeans for adult men with a 28 inch inseam? It’s true! The Gap sells them online, and occasionally in their stores, but that’s it. And Gap charges $90/pair. (Yes, I know you can hem jeans, but that’s another issue in and of itself, so I’m not going into it here.)

 

Back to my saving money coup, after letting the jeans sit in my closet for a couple of years, I finally bought the thread I needed to fix them. It was quite simple, and I think they turned out well. See?

 

 

Have you ever tried your hand at sewing?

If so, what was your most successful project?

If not, what would you like to learn to sew?