Just a little progress...

I have another outfit for Angielee knocked out. I sewed the shirred dress over the weekend. It wasn't terribly difficult, but it is something. The hardest part was turning the straps!

I still have not started the quilt. I had them sorted by how big I wanted the squares and Angielee came along and totally mixed up my piles. I hope that I have enough interfacing. I am thinking that one side will have 12" x 12" squares and the other side may be 18" x 18". I still have to figure out what the sashing and outer borders will be. Lisa wants to have a really puffy quilt so I will have to make sure to get the batting while it is on sale at JoAnn. I plan on starting tonight since the Flyers are in the playoffs, I have some time to get started.

I pulled out my project from my sewing class and tried it on Rylie and it does not fit too well. I think I may have to seriously retape myself and then make the arms detachable. It is hard to put things over the shoulders. I can't slip things on from the bottom because of how the stand is.

I got another person out to give us an estimate on windows. The last guy gave us a $6500 estimate. I was a bit shocked and Wayne thinks it is outrageous. He is seriously considering doing it himself. Saving $3500 on labor sounds pretty good to us. I was a bit surprised at the labor considering how simple windows are to install based on the literature that I have seen. Also, my friend who is a builder says that it is really easy.

No Progress...

I was planning on getting the T-shirt quilt started this week. However, when I returned from my trip, I was exhausted. I ended up going to bed early for the rest of the week. Also, work has been busy so I was catching up on that stuff.

Tonight, Wayne has poker night so the girls and I will be home. I am planning on getting something started tonight. I am as well-rested as I will ever be so here's hoping I get something done.

Wayne is going to change my tires over to summer ones and do an oil change. We will drop him off with the car and the girls and I will check out the Kohl's sale. We most likely won't make it for the early bird stuff, but we are just looking for sneakers and a spring jacket.

I had someone come out to the house yesterday to give us an estimate on new windows. We were wavering between replacement and new construction since we are planning on residing the house. However, based on my discussion with the guy, we may be going with new construction. I did not realize that all they will do is take the sashes out of the frames and put the new window unit in the cavity that remains. So any air infiltration that we have currently due to the window frames no longer being square won't be fixed. That is not an option since I know we have a lot of problems with the frames now. I am just hoping that it won't be overly expensive... We may end up having to do that ourselves as well. We are going to do the siding as it is. We figured that based on the two estimates that we got, it would be cheaper for Wayne to take 1 week off wihtout pay and do the work himself. We would end up saving a lot on labor. My friend, who is a builder, thinks we could save up to $3500 on labor. Not bad. He also told us that windows were very easy as well so that could also be something that we could do if the labor is astronomical. The only good point to the professionals doing it, is that if the windows fail, we call them and they take care of it and any other damage that occurs.

Onto more positive news, I have been trying to lose weight since I weaned Arianna. I am down 12 lbs. I was hoping to be down 20 lbs by May 1st, but I had trouble with milk production when I started dieting that I had to shelve it. Anyway, I think 15 lbs. would be reasonable by May 1st. Here's hoping that I can keep it up. I need to add exercise to the mix, but if I can sleep an extra 15-20 mins, I usually take that route. I am hoping to do more walking at lunch with my co-workers. I am not sure when I will fit in the strngth training part though...

Another one down...

So here is the Cinderella dress up outfit that I have been working on. I probably could have made the top another inch or two longer, but it works for now.

I am hoping to start the quilt this week. I have a business trip today, but will return tomorrow night. I am thinking that I may not have the energy to cut 20+ shirts, but I will try. I have to get that quilt and Uncle Sonny's memory quilt done before May 30th. I work much better with a deadline so I am sure I will get it done.

I have been looking at Rylie and I think I may need to remake her. The measurements are way off. I can't believe that 5 lbs. would make such a difference in all the measurements. When I measured last night, she was 3-4 inches bigger than I am at all points! I was thinking of just making slits and taking her in here and there, but Wayne says that she looks so much different that it may be worth retaping.

Angielee was sick over the weekend and had to stay home for the 24-hr fever free period. We went to the doc and she does not have strep. At least the quick test says so. I will find out the real test results tomorrow. We went to JoAnn's for the Daffodil Dash and I picked up a tailor's ham and a bunch of the Tutti Fruitti fabric for $1.99/yd. Angielee picked 2 more sundress patterns for 99 cents each, 5 yards of burgundy fleece for the blanket Wayne has been asking for and 5 yards of muslin for various purposes such as making muslins for myself. I am hoping to make a blouse for Arianna's party on May 31st.

I have also looked that the links from StacySews and there are a couple of things I would LOVE to make for the girls or my friends' kids. We'll see how much time I have...

Finally done!!!

I finished the Ariel costume on Saturday night. I had to pin it and hem it by hand. I was going to do a narrow hem, but figured that it is big on her now so I can let the hem down as she grows into it. The bodice is a bit big, but I couldn't think what to do before we went to the party. She told me that her chest was hanging out, but with 15 mins left before we had to leave, there wasn't much that I could do.

Unfortunately, there are 2 tears in the skirt. One from her stepping on it while it was pinned and the other from her tripping in the parking lot on the way to the rest room. She enjoyed the party and stayed in her gown until dinner time. I will have to serge the edges of the costume before I attempt to get the chocolate out of it.

I had a great time making it. At least I know that I can finish a project if I put my mind to it. Now I have to catch up on my tv shows and then get started on more sewing. I am definitely motivated to do more stuff.

Wayne and I worked on the basement some more on Saturday night. I had to move Rylie from the pot rack in the kitchen to the basement. Thankfully, we didn't get rid of the floor lamp from his grandmother. It makes the perfect stand. I want to make more adjustments to Rylie and the dress stand. With a little more tweaking, it will be my exact height. Wayne says that the back waist is not deep enough and the line under the bust is not right. I'll have to see what we can do. I got my stash put together and can't believe how much fabric I have collected. Also, I managed to organize my WIPs. I still have more work to do to get the rest of the space organized. I can't believe how much stuff I amassed in the short time I have been sewing.

I had to make the nap mat cover for Angielee. She seems happy with it which makes it worth doing for her. I was hoping to get her Dora blanket edged, but I just didn't have time last night. But now I just have to get going on the Cinderella skirt. It is almost done!

I picked up a bunch of interfacing so I can really get started on Lisa's quilt. I am just a little sad that I may end up wasting a lot of interfacing since I can't piece them together on the blocks. I am thinking of using the t-shirt scraps as some sashing to get all the blocks the same size. I was hoping to figure out what to use for sashing and the borders so that I can take advantage of the cotton sale at JoAnn's over the weekend. Then again, the Daffodil dash is this weekend so maybe I can snag something then.

So much to do...

This post was not posted on Friday as I meant it to be...


I did not make any progress on the Ariel costume last night. The girls and I went to JoAnn's and WalMart to get some fabric for Angielee's new rest mat at school. She initially picked a purple princess flannel and I convinced her that I could make her pajama pants out of that. She settled on a white princess fabric that was cotton. I also picked up gripper fabric so that I can make slippers for Arianna. There are so many projects that I want to work on and not enough time...

I am going back to JoAnn's before I pick up the girls so that I can get some interfacing for the t-shirt quilt (It's 2 for 1), some patterns (McCall's are $1.50), and whatever else I can find that is on sale (notions are 50% off).

I also decided that I need to make a box to hold my meager pattern stash. The best thing that I have come up with is to use a wipes box from Costco. It looks like it will hold a bunch of patterns. Not sure hpow many since I don't have that much. Now I regret getting rid of so many of these boxes. I will have to make sure to save them from now on.