My first (really good) big bag. And a clean house too.

Today was an amazing day for our family because it was the very first time we parents were able to clean without our little children wreaking havoc on the plan. This morning Tom worked on the sunroom dust in the rafters and grime on the windows, while the girls and I headed upstairs and full cleaned the play room and toy stash closet. Amazing progress!

Snack time!

During Julia's nap time, I taught Ellie how to do laundry. She learned how to sort colors from whites, towels from delicate tee-shirts. She was so helpful, out of the blue.
She even washed windows. I told her she did such an outstanding job that she has earned a reward, to choose something for herself next time we are out at shops.
Got to do some sewing later in the afternoon. I have been working so hard to get better at sewing larger bags. I am so proud of this one, totally my own design from scratch, no patterns whatsoever. I've got two nice big pockets inside, some nice batting inside for shaping and softness. It has a unique shape yet is still big. It's on the tall side, which I find makes most women look thinner when it hangs on their shoulders. I just love it and will be sewing more in other color patterns.
Hopefully I will still like it more tomorrow. Often I love something the day I finish it but feel less impressed the next day. I'll sell it on Etsy after I go over the details tomorrow. Best to come at these larger bags fresh each day. I think I can sew larger bags as long as I break up the project and don't rush any steps. I'll make a tutorial too, maybe on the next one.
Great day! And the first day of the US Open tennis tournament in New York City. I can't travel there this year but I remember the thrill from past trips. I love it on television too. Someday I will play more tennis and get to visit the US Open again. Everybody should go! It's so exciting.

On the Home Front, flowers, baking, sewing, crafts, kids!

Come on kids. Stop outlining your father on the pavement so we can get going to WalMart.

Only in America. The ready made pudding section at Super Wal-Mart is bewildering. I stood in amazement. There are some negative aspects, yes. But I admit, my amazement was mostly centered around: "Which yummy flavor will I get?"
Home again for the much anticipated craft session. You'd think this child would show a little more enthusiasm. Apparently Ellie, although thrilled that I finally give more effort to craft time, was frustrated that she couldn't "do it right." I was surprised at her lack of crafty awareness since I thought she had been doing this stuff at preschool for years. She seemed unsure of my "don't worry" attitude. I keep trying to explain to her you have to do something repetitively before you can expect any level of skill. Instead she wanted me to cut the circles. I wonder how much of the crafts are done by the kids, or by the teachers. How complicated is it to stick the eyes on? Both girls seemed a little put off by this freedom. They did like painting things. We painted acorns and leaves and paper plates.

We tried a few crafts from this great book.

Later I got to work on my own version of craft. I'm once again working on a larger bag. I've just got to accept that it isn't always possible to finish something in one sewing session. Patience.
I baked some ziti. That went well. Now we are all wrapping up the day. Last photos outside for the day include these lovely flowers. The garden weathered the rain well and is back to another day of summer.
This apricot colored yarrow is fantastic. And this white dahlia is small but pretty.

Nothing beats a big sunflower in bloom.

NH In a cozy, rainy day mood

Rainy, cool, cloudy day. Bring on the mums and firewood.

Dropped the husband and kids at the library and stepped over to the most wonderful quilt fabric shop, with 10,000 bolts of gorgeous fabrics.

Stopped at a farm stand on the way home.

During nap time, I got to sew. The sewing room seemed so different without bright sunlight outside. It felt sort of like winter. I can't believe that we went from high 80s to low 60s. I took out my fan and brought in the electric fire stove.
Uh oh, they are awake. Checking out the birds at the feeders outside. BlackJack is still recovering from his eye malady. The poor cat is on antibiotics and eye ointment for a week.
Luckily he gets to lay on his cushion and watch birds out the window.

Ubi snuggles up next to the heater.

The animals like it when I sew. They seem content to sleep until the dinner hour.

Still working on hats.

Still can't decide on a name for my model.

My favorite fabric of the day. Flannel cozy squirrels and fall colors.

Sewing Hats for hours and hours

Due to a parenting deal with the husband, I found myself with a full day to sew in exchange for him having two full days to chip wood (if it doesn't get rained out). I was into the hats. I tried a few different shapes. Ultimately I am learning that hat sewing is possibly not a simple formula. Even the most simplistic pattern seems to need quite a bit of shaping during the sewing process.

This one came out very nice because the vintage embroidered tea towel blends almost seamlessly with the ivory fleece. I think fleece is underrated. So many times we see fleece in its worst light, cheaply sewn, not well shaped, strange colors or the same old looks.
Hopefully I can take this all a step further this fall and winter to blend the finer things in sewing with fleece. I'm sure they would have used fleece in old times if they had it. We just need to bring a vintage sensibility to modern materials.

Hat Hat Hooray!

Started the chilly morning off with snuggle blankets, slippers, a fire in the fireplace and pumpkin bread. Anybody excited for fall here?

After getting the cat vet appointment out of the way (and the cat home resting), we headed out to lunch and the park. What perfect weather. Haze and humidity have left the building. Nothing but gorgeous clear skies and fresh, cool air now. It's like being in NH again. They said the haze we experienced in recent weeks included air pollution blown up the coast from major cities to the south. So glad that's gone now. You can certainly see and feel the difference.
During nap time I worked on hats. Picking up where I left off last winter, I continued my study of fleece hats. Turns out that you must understand three parts of hats. The tip top, the mid crown, and the brim that frames the face.
Funny enough, fleece hats do not appear to have a top, a crown or a brim, in the traditional sense. However, if you don't think of them in your measurements, you end up with a cone. Nobody looks good in a cone hat.
Most fleece hats at the stores have standard measurements for the top, the crown and the brim. I think they leave them on the big side so they fit as many heads as possible. But perhaps, a bit more fitted, precise shape would be more flattering to the female head. None of my hats today achieve this goal. Takes practice and more measuring. It's not just sewing a smaller hat. It's tinkering with the scale of the three measurements so that together, they form a cohesive shape. But at least for today, I was very happy to see how much I have learned since sewing fleece hats last winter.
After nap it was swings and joking around with the girls. They like to make things funny.

Julia insisted on her squirrel beenie baby swinging too.

I wonder how long it took somebody to sew this squirrel.

At least he is loved.

August Flowers

So good to come home after the dentist. Two old silver fillings are now two new whatever-you-call-it fillings. Hopefully good for 20 years. By then they will have even better ways of maintaining and restoring teeth.

Stayed home the rest of the day with kids, sewing and pets. The vet cannot see the cat until tomorrow for his eye trouble. He is taking it easy today, not suitable for photography.

So - flowers it is. The gardens have much to offer this week.

Some mums coming back again from last Fall.

A little sunflower, about 4 inches across.

That's all for today. Just getting through this week, wrapping up the summer. Tick tock: I can almost hear each minute drag by on the clock.

Un-Day

Got up, got dressed, went to teach tennis. But it was the extra week of tennis camp, and as we expected, there were not many kids. It was somewhat predicted and not a big deal that I went there unnecessarily. However, somehow this official end of summer felt abrupt. And I was left with a free day that felt like a non day, an un-day. An un-day is a day that should be fun but feels empty.

The tennis industry is not to NH what it is to other states. To live here and bring income to my family, I will need to face the fact that I cannot find employment, compensation and basic benefits in my desired field.

Ubi watches over me in the backyard.

BlackJack feels at ease on top of the swing set.

Ellie feels no compassion towards my dilemma. She would prefer I do not work at all. She says it will be OK and that if I really feel I need to teach tennis, I can teach her at the park sometimes.

Sew, Bake, Garden - Go Mama Go!

First stop: Garden Center. Definitely worth the extra dollar it costs for certain plants. In fact, it turned out to be cheaper than Home Depot this time because they had a special on small, potted perennials. The lady who helped me was so, so helpful! She explained a lot of things. For one thing, did you know the difference between black eyed susans and brown eyed susans is that black eyed susans are clump plants that look like nursery plants and grow up bunches of reliable blooms. Brown eyed susans are the more wild variety, you might say, that grow up one stalk here and there and tend to have smaller blooms. Also she sold me some 5-10-10. Of course I've read about it before but every time I've read about fertilizers, I end up thinking they are all pretty much the same. She explained that perennials use up the nutrients in the soil and need to be fed each fall (and optional but recommended in the spring). This bag of 5-10-10 looks like little gray pebbles. She said the "miracle grow" I use is mostly just for annuals. Good enough! I'll try this stuff in November and hope for a better crop of perennials next year.

Next we intended to go to the library but on the way there, we passed another one that was closed. For fear our intended library might be closed, we decided to save it for another day. Instead we stopped at the market that has small carriages.

So cute.

While Julia napped, I sewed. Ellie is supposed to try to play on her own during this time. She would prefer not to have any solo time so she often visits me. It has become necessary to put up a bit of a blockade! Ellie noticed the dog and cat slip under the gate. So she tried it too. Quite limber, this child.
The cat likes to lay in the window and watch birds visit the feeder outside.

Baked banana bread. Coffee. Yummy snack.

Pretty high quality day. Kid time. Sewing time. Baking. Gardening time. Lots got done.