This week is over!!!

No posts, no pictures. One word: flu.

No pictures again

Okay, I have much to be grateful for, and so do you. I've been watching the little girls while Mami and Papi are out of town. They are adorable. Yesterday I was feeling a bit bad about not having cleaned the house well while they have been here. Especially that the floor hadn't been mopped all week. I needed to cut out a wedding dress (that takes a BIG space) so I vacuumed and mopped really thoroughly. I cut the silk while the girls were playing house in the pantry. They went out to play and S walked in with muddy shoes. The silk was already cut, so mostly I was just a bit bugged because the floor had stayed relatively clean until I mopped, and within an hour it was dirtier than when I started. Then came lunch. Red Jell-o on the floor. Cleaning for the third time. They watched a movie after lunch . During the movie Q fell asleep. I was a bit surprised because she doesn't usually nap at my house. When she woke up, we went upstairs to get her a snack. Before the snack commenced, she got sick all over the floor. Red Jell-o again. Cleaning for the fourth time.Later, while I was cooking dinner, I  heard her start to cough, and grabbed her and ran to the bathroom. You guessed it- red Jello again. Now you ask what I am grateful for. Q was not sick in Grandpa's white recliner during the movie. She was not sick on the carpet. She actually made it to the toilet the 2nd time. The mud didn't happen until the silk was picked up. The floor was really clean when our company came for dinner. And what do you have to be grateful for? After all, this is a disgusting topic that I'm exposing you to. You are grateful that I have dead batteries in my camera!

There are no pictures today. I spent the day being busy with the grandkids. Tristan and I took them shopping for a bit, then T watched the girls while Mitch and I went to the temple. I went back to Boo's and we all ( Well, not Mitch. He had to go back to work.) went to Blickenstaff's. Q was asleep in my arms most of the time, but S had a ball. After I dropped Buddha and Budge back at their house, I took the girls to McDonald's to burn time before Sierra's Dance concert. S fell asleep on the way to Mickey D's, so both girls got a nap. They were dancing in the aisle at Sierra's performance, and slept all the way home. Sorry Juan, they went to bed in their clothes with (gasp) unbrushed teeth!

Ra'Shelle's quilt

I think this is the first quilt Shelle has ever made. She did a great job! I can't wait to see it in her brand new bedroom.

Spring wear

After my bridal fitting yesterday, a few hours were spent dabbling in spring colors and clothes. Here is the result:

pockets

I started a wedding dress today. Well, that's not quite true. I've been mulling over pocket trims for a couple of weeks. I sewed up a few samples to show the bride at her fitting. There are two colors of satin rattail trim, soutache, double needle pintucks, regular pintucks, and ribbon. I like the rattail best because it keeps the silk flatter. I enjoy working through the details of a dress. Doing little samples helps me to see exactly how the silk will behave.

Butterfly skirt

Today I made a skirt for a grown-up client. The past week's pictures might have tricked you into thinking that I mostly sew for children, but I actually sew mostly for adults. Picture an ad in a country living magazine. Picture a darling woman talking to her horses. She will be wearing this skirt.

Izzy and Ivy

I really love patterns by Izzy and Ivy. Don't you think they're cute? Last week I got to make a few pieces for their upcoming collection. (These dresses are from their designs, but not their newest collection. Those clothes are back east for the photo shoot.) My little girls are not little anymore, but I still get to make little girl clothing. What a great job to have!

While the quilting machine rested

I wasn't entirely idle yesterday while waiting for the tech guy to call. I got to make these darling capris for a client. She always has the cutest things to work on. And the little capris? Not for a doll, but for the little sister. How sweet is that?

One of those days

You know how sometimes, everything you touch just works really well? Today was not one of those days. My machines collaborated sometime during the night and decided to see how patient I am. I have a quilt on the frame ready to go, but the computer screen readout on the machine decided to slide off to the right. The tech guy at the factory was really helpful, but the keyboard on my desktop wouldn't plug in to the flash drive and Walmart didn't have an adapter, so I needed a new keyboard. Once I got that taken care of, the fix only took a few minutes and he walked me through it over the phone. It was so nice not to have to drive the machine up to the factory to get it fixed. Yay tech guys! Then my regular machine decided the backstitch function needed an Easter break. So obviously I have no pictures of what I've worked on today.
I guess I could take a picture of the $10 keyboard, but ... (I was about to slander the photogenic qualities of the keyboard, but thought better of it. I made need it to work for me again.)
In better news, we had our first spring barbeque for dinner.

Monday Pursuits

I love doing little projects here and there in between wedding dresses and formals and alterations and things. Here's the one I've been working on. This little quilt is for sale, of course, because my little projects are part of my business. I'll be finishing it today because I have a wedding gown to start this afternoon. Baby quilts are so much fun to design!

Happy Easter!

It turns out that you can make frosting with granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar. It's just a teeny bit gritty.
Don't you just love to color Easter eggs? The baby is too old to need them, but I still love to color them. (Perhaps 18 is technically not a baby anymore?)

introduction

Every good friendship starts with an introduction, so let me introduce myself and hopefully you will want to get acquainted. My age- since I plan on living to be 120 years old, I am not quite middle aged. My height- I am vertically challenged, which may account for my unreasonable fear of heights. My residence- I have some lovely neighbors, several of which are horses and cows. My occupation- construction, with a sewing machine and iron being my favorite tools. My interests- Don't you think most things are interesting? So do I! Things that irritate me- unkindness (but you and I both know that neither of us even think unkind things) and picky attitudes (don't you just see a lack of gratitude?) Things that I love- Sunday dinner with the family, and weather.
What do you think? Could we be friends? Or maybe (probably) we already are.
Because pictures are much more elegant than words, the pictures posted here will show you what I've been up to lately.