It's A Girl!

 

Remember back in the dark ages when we old grandma's were having our babies,and we had to actually wait until we woke up after the delivery to find out if we had a boy or a girl? Sigh...

We found out yesterday that our newest FabGrandchild is going to be a girl. We are all so excited and can hardly wait until May for her to get here. The proud parents, my son and his wife, are still debating names for her.  I'm just calling her Baby Girl until she's named. 

I was so happy to know there is going to be another FabGranddaughter, that I drove 35 miles to Tuscaloosa yesterday to go shopping.  OK, we also had to go get FabGrandpa some new pants, but seriously, I couldn't wait another minute to look at girlie girl baby clothes.

 

Isn't that just the most adorable outfit?

 

And ooooooooo

 

ahhhhhhhhh! cutie cute cute! You know Fabgrandma is going to be sewing for this girlie soon!

FABrics I Love

As you may have noticed, I love to sew. I mostly make quilts and crafts, but have been known to sew a little bit of clothing every now and then. One of the reasons I haven't been sewing a lot since I started living the RV lifestyle, is that I am always in remote locations where there is not a decent fabric store within hundreds of miles.

The internet has come to my fabric rescue! Over the last year or so, I have found quite a few sewing, quilting, and fabric blogs, and I read them every day, and drool over all those fabulous fabrics the writers of them are using in their projects.  One of my favorite fabric blogs, True Up, is hosting a MEME where they want you to show your 10 favorite fabrics of 2009.

Since I didn't get into internet fabrics until last summer, I missed out on some that debuted earlier, so some of the ones I am listing here may be older than 2009, but I still love them.

My most favorite fabric I found this year (but probably came out earlier than that) is the Fairy Tip Toes collection by Tina Givens for Free Spirit Fabrics. When I saw it, I fell in love with it, and searched for three weeks before I found it online to buy. I haven't cut it yet, don't know that I ever will, but I HAVE it and that is what matters most to a fabric-aholic like me!

 

My next favorite is called Large Whimsy from Pillow and Maxfield for Michael Miller Fabrics. I am making myself a quilt using the brown/green/turquoise colorway. I already have the pieces cut and ready to sew.

There are just so many beautiful FABrics out there these days, it makes me wish I had more storage room for it. I have only a wicker trunk to keep it in, though, so I have to be very selective on what I buy. 

And I used two fabrics from the Meadowsweet Collection by Sandi Henderson for Michael Miller to make a dress for my FabGranddaughter, Sarah, for Christmas:

 

 

Here are some things that are in my list to get in the coming year, that is, if something new doesn't come along that I love more!

Echino Fall: for Kokka Fabrics

Far And Away by Heather Ross for Kokka Fabrics

Hushabye:  by Tula Pink for Moda Fabrics

Goodnight Monkey: by Erin Michael for Moda Fabrics

MoMo Odyssea: for Moda Fabrics

Full Bloom: by Bari J. for Windham Fabrics

Brandon Mably: for Westminster Fabrics

Girly Girl: by Patricia Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics

And for reasons I don't have to explain, I love these two cute fabrics:

Travel Trailer: Michael Miller Fabrics

Happy Campers: by American Jane for Moda Fabrics

I don't know how many of these gorgeous FABrics I will actually get this year, but oh, isn't it wonderful to dream about them?? Oh, and I see I have gone fabric crazy again, since they only asked for my favorite 10. Hello. My name is FabGrandma and I am a fabric-aholic.

So The New Year Is Upon Us

 

Now that 2010 is here, I am spending my day making a list of goals for myself.  I don't make resolutions. A "resoulution" is an "act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure..", and what I am doing is by no means a determined course of action. I find that in my life, setting out on a course of action usually leads to something other than what I started out to do. So, if I set goals instead, no matter what course of action leads me to the desired result is ok.

Some of my goals are simple, direct things that accomplish a specific task:

I want to clean up my computer, and by that, I DO NOT mean dusting off the screen. I want to get rid of files no longer needed; bookmarks that lead to pages that make me wonder why I bookmarked them to start with; organize folders in some kind of order that make sense, and put the ones I use the most at the top of the list. If I accomplish that, it will make my days infinitely better and help me save time. 

I want to get organized in my life. I do so many different things that I sometimes just get overwhelmed with the list. I want to make myself a schedule, so that I have an hour a day to write; an hour a day to sew, an hour a day to play, and an hour a day to exercise. (Not that putting the hour a day on my calendar will actually make me do those things...)

 

I want to get a tripod and learn to take better photos. If I had done that last year, this photo of the gorgeous blue moon rising over Payne Lake on New Years Eve would have been better than this:

Other goals may prove to be a little harder for me to do, but not starting to work in that direction will assure me that they won't get done:

I want to move my blog to a hosted website with my own URL. I have some very specific and some other vague goals for myself for this blog, and have already started working towards them. I want it to be the most Fab blog, ever. (Now how is THAT for a goal???)

I want to get my Etsy store up to date, and get all the purty things I sew listed on there for sale. I want procrastination to be a thing of the past.

I have a goal to get all my gluten free recipes sorted out, typed up, and presented in some type of cookbook, whether it is an e-book or a printed one. There are other gluten free cookbooks out there, but I am a southern girl who cooks in a "southern" way. I want other gluten free cooks from the south to feel comfortable in the kitchen, making all those mahvelous southern comfort foods we grew  up on, minus the gluten.

I want to make myself a quilt with these fabrics. I have already started it, by cutting all the pieces. All I have to do now is the sewing (HA! that's easy to say!)  I have a baby quilt to make, and a couple of other big sewing projects that I want to finish by spring, but of all my goals, this one will probably be the easiest for me to accomplish.

So, there it is, out there for public consumption, and public scrutiny. Making these goals public will put me at greater risk of completing them. What are YOUR goals for the year 2010?

I've Been Sewing My Brains Out

Since I've been buying so much fabric lately, I figured I better get busy sewing some of it up.  After a trip to the Hobby Lobby in Tuscaloosa, the quilt shop that I found, some online fabric shopping, and then the trip to Joann last weekend I finally have enough fabric to complete several projects. (Did you think I was going to say I had enough fabric? A girl can NEVER have enough fabric.) 

 

A dress for my granddaughter

 

and a blue dotty skirt, too.

 

and another ruffled skirt with horses. (She loves horses.)

 

A zippered bag for my daughter, Becca

 

and a tote bag to match.

 

Pink and green tote for Emily

 

with a matching zippered bag.

 

Becky gets yellow and black

 

and here is her zippered one, I love this one. 

 

Patchwork in aqua, turquois, and purple for my friend Gaelyn.

 

and one for the little girl who lives down the lane. Ha ha ha, not really, but for Emily's niece.

 

And of course she gets a matching zippered bag, too.

  

Brown, pink, green, stripey dots for my daughter-in-law, Sarah.

 

A Christmas apron for my mother

 

Another tote bag for my sister. I have one more little bag to make, and I will be done with gifts. Then I can sew for fun. Yay!

I'm Turning Into A Bag Lady

My fabric shopping trip last week included some heavy-weight interacing so I could make some tote bags for my daughters.  That stuff is expensive! But, I got enough to make four bags. I have two of them finished already:

Greens, blues, and browns for Becca.

 

 Pinks, greens, and beige for Emily.

 

The pattern I used makes three sizes. These are the medium sized ones. That large bag would hold a Volkswagen, I think.

 

And I have yellow and black sitting there waiting to be sewn, for Becky. I don't have fabric yet for Sarah's, but will have it next week. OOooo, I get to go fabric shopping again!

Oh, Just ZIP It!

I really really hate it when I can't find something I want or need, and when it is something as simple as a zipper, then what in the heck is up with that?  

While I found that lovely quilt shop in Tuscaloosa, they do not sell zippers because, well, quilts don't need zippers.  And I have a project in my little brain that requires a zipper to complete, and it was driving me crazy. So, I began looking for zippers. 

The Wal-Mart in town does not have a fabric section. There is not another store that has fabric unless I go to Tuscaloosa again, to Hobby Lobby, but I did not want to drive all the way up there just for a zipper. So, I thought to myself, that I would go online to Joann Fabrics website and order some. 

I typed in the url, and guess what? it wouldn't load on my screen. I thought it was my crappy internetz service, because it was raining, pouring, outside, and it is satellite internetz. I felt like banging my head on the table. 

    

The next morning, I got an email from Joann that said: "We apologize!-Thanksgiving Promotions Now Extended + Free Shipping.  We're aware it was a challenge to shop Joann.com this weekend...."  So it wasn't just me. That made me feel a little bit better. So, I went on over to the website to shop for zippers.  And guess what? it is STILL a challenge to shop for zippers on their website. Just go look!  I'll wait. When you get to the page, scroll down to choose a color. Can YOU tell what the colors are on those zippers? You can't actually see what the color is until you get to the cart to check out. THAT is where they have conveniently typed in the name of the colors. 

So, OK, I got my zippers ordered and on the way. And THEN FabGrandpa decided to drive over to Calera, Alabama to the Jayco dealer to get a new gasket for the toilet. And guess what was right next door to the dealership? A different Wal-Mart. One that sells zippers!

Finished Shopping

I started and finished my Christmas shopping today. All the gifts have been got, and wrapped, and put in shipping boxes, and addressed. They are going to Ft. Lewis, Washington; Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland; Denver, Colorado; Villa Rica, Georgia; and Douglasville, Georgia. The kids are scattered out all over the place.

I only made one gift this year, but it is something I have wanted to make for its recipient for some time. I call it a "Wait Book".




He is a rather rambunctious little guy, and needs something to hold his attention when he is waiting for something. Whether it is when he is sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office or waiting for dinner to arrive when he and his parents go out to eat, he really needs something TO DO.



He likes to draw, paint, and color. He likes to tell stories about the drawings he has made. So, I made him this little book:



It will fit in his Mommy's purse, or he can carry it himself with the handles. It holds a refillable pad of paper and 16 crayons. There is a place for every crayon, so they won't fall out and get lost. He likes orange. A lot. I made him a quilt for his room a couple of years ago that has a lot of orange in it. No wonder they call me the FabGrandma!

Project 365 Day 58 The Perfect Desk

OK, not exactly perfect but dang near close. We had to go over to Whole Foods today, and there is a Container Store next door to it. I have been wanting to go in there and look at some things since the first time I saw it but never had time until today.


That place is so neat! They have all kinds of containers and shelving and racks and stuff. You could organize anything with stuff from there. I want to get some square plastic containers so I can organize my pantry. Right now everything is in empty coffee cans that I have covered with white paper. I want the square plastic ones so they will fit in there better.

Anyway, while we were in the Container Store, we saw this desk:


It is 34" wide, and the space I have to put it in is 36" wide. A perfect fit! See how it has that section that pulls out? I would have plenty of space for sewing , and when the day is done, I can set the sewing machine up on the next level, and push that lower one back in, out of the way. It even has a drawer for my scissors and pins and stuff. I am in love with this desk!

The only problem is that it only comes in dark chocolate wood color at that store. I went online and found it in oak, same price, at a different place.

The other solution I thought of was to go to Home Depot and get a piece of counter top and a small base cabinet. I could attach the counter top to the side of the dresser on one side, and set the other side on top of the base cabinet. I saw some really cool basket type drawers at the container store that would work well with that sort of set-up.

But, now, I think I will just go for the desk. That way, if I traded campers I could move it with me. What to do? What to do?

Lynda Is So Smart

My friend, Lynda, is such a smart girl! She knows how to do everything (well, almost everything). I called her this morning and whined about my sewing machine, and she told me EXACTLY what to do. I was able to finish two aprons today. Yay! I am so impressed, and forever in her debt.

So, I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner for her and her husband, Charlie. Well, for me and FabGrandpa, too, you know. We're having chicken (no dressing or gravy as they all said they didn't want any), green beans, squash casserole, sweet potato souffle, and cranberry jello salad. That's it, all of it, but it will be enough.

Project 365 Day 49 Sewing Machine

Right in the middle of this project, my sewing machine started skipping stitches. It is not picking up the bobbin thread every time. I have changed the needle, disassembled the bobbin shuttle to clean it out and oil it, tightened the upped thread tension, loosened the upper thread tension, and every damn thing else I can think of to do, but the machine is still skipping stitches. Does anyone have any ideas here?

Online Sewing Lesson #2 Bias Tape

This is the second online sewing lesson for my daughters:


Bias tape is just strips of fabric cut on the bias and folded. You can buy single fold bias tape and double fold bias tape. I like the double fold for most of my projects. It also comes in different widths. The size you buy will depend on the project you are making. For the aprons I have been working on, I bought extra wide.

You can also make your own bias tape. Basically, you just cut strips of fabric the width you need on the bias, or diagonally, of your fabric. Then, you fold it in half, then fold each side in half again towards the middle of the strip. You are then ready to attach it to the project. It is normally used to make a finished edge on the project. It works well for this because it has a lot of "give" and helps you go around corners and curves easily.

To attach the bias tape, open it out like this:



Sandwich the fabric of the project you are working on in the middle, like this:



You may have a project that has several layers of fabric, such as a quilt. I used bias tape that I made myself on this one, and sewed it on with a needle and thread:


Or, you may have only one layer, as in an apron, a skirt, or a blouse. I used purchased bias tape on this one, and sewed it on using the sewing machine:



Sometimes you might want to sew one edge on using the sewing machine, and then sew the second edge on using a needle and thread to make a "blind stitch", or one that does not show on the outside of the garment or project. It just depends on the project.

Project 365 Day 45 Bias Tape

Bias tape comes in lots of colors. I have this crap coming out my ears this week.

Apron Strings

Have you ever read my "about me" thingy over in the right hand bar on my blog? Where it says I like to sew and quilt? Well, I do, and I love to make aprons. Mostly because I love to wear aprons.


When I used to work at a "real" job (you know, in an office, for a corporation) I used to wear really nice clothes to work. I loved nice blouses, and dresses. After work every day, I had to come home and make dinner. In order to keep those nice blouses and dresses looking nice, I started wearing aprons over them.

The problem with that, back in the late 70's and thru the late 80's, was that you could not find a decent apron. They all looked like Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith Show. The ones I could find to buy were either hideously tacky, or really flimsy material, so I decided to make my own.

I have made and worn, and made and sold, hundreds of aprons over the years. When I make them, I don't skimp on fabric, because if an apron doesn't have enough fabric to cover your clothing, what is the point of wearing it?

This week I am making aprons. My friend Lynda told me that if I had any Christmas-y crafts to sell at the Christmas tree lot that I could, so I am making some Christmas aprons. But, the ones I made today are everyday aprons.

This one is cotton, green and white checks with a pink flower print. I used a light pink bias tape for the edge of the skirt. It is really cute:




It has a bib that fits over your head, and a long sash that ties in a bow:



It is big enough to cover a big grandma sized girl, and has two great big pockets on the front:



This one is black and white checks with sunflowers, and has yellow bias tape for the edging:





I couldn't get FabGrandpa away from his computer game long enough to take a pic of me wearing it, but trust me, it is BIG too. It has three pockets across the front, and goes down to my knees.

I am selling these at the tree lot, but if they don't sell, I am going to put them on Etsy. If you're interested in maybe purchasing one, let me know. If you want one, I have the two pictured for sale right now. They are $30 each and that includes shipping to you ( I can take paypal payments. I'll be putting more on here as they are made. Thanks for your interest.