Sarah has 'goo' and Mama has a brand new bag...

Well - it took us a few days, but we finally got around to making the 'goo' or 'slime' today. Sarah had a blast. It actually worked out better that she and I make it today after school (before her baby sister got home), as it was quite a mess. I can imagine that it would have been an even bigger mess with a three year old's hands in it. We did, however, save it in a jar - so that we can let Hannah play with it at some point. I think that Sarah thought that it was the 'coolest' stuff she'd ever seen. She wasn't happy when I finally told her that we had to go inside and she couldn't play with it any longer. I mean, honestly, we had to eat... ;-)

Sarah had her fun - and I had mine. I decided, on a whim - as I'm prone to do, that I wanted to make myself a simple little bag. So, I had some batik fabric that I love (it has the cutest little butterflies all over it) - and I decided to use it to make the bag. I used some of the fabric that I dyed for the lining. Luckily, I had some cotton batting already cut nearly to size, so I didn't have to open a new bag of batting (which I found on sale for 50% off at Hobby Lobby last week - YAY. I like to use the Hobb's Heirloom Premium cotton batting - at 50% off, I stocked up for a bit!!). It's nothing fancy, but since it's all that I've made in the last week, I thought that I'd share it.

Actually, my bag isn't all that I made in the last week. I forgot. I made a pendant/pin (haven't quite decided which it will be). It was an experiment. I painted (two colors of Lumiere paint) Timetex, zapped it with my heat gun (not sure if that is a good idea or not - it makes a nice effect, but it is kind of stinky) and then beaded it - and lined the back with felt. It's cute. I think that I'm going to add both a bale on the back and a pin back, so I can use it as either a pin or pendant - I think that I have some of those combination backs somewhere.

I really need to spend some time doing some spring cleaning ... how am I going to motivate myself? Any ideas on how to do that would be GREATLY appreciated (both by me and my husband). Oh well, tomorrow is another day .... as they say ....

Dye-Na-Flow quilted project...

Okay - so I wanted the try the Dye-Na-Flow that I bought, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. I decided to wet a smallish piece of fabric and just 'drop' the paint/dye onto the fabric, creating a sort of tie-dyed effect. I was pleased with how it turned out.

Then I had to decide WHAT to do with that piece of fabric. I had been wanting, for some time now, to make a case for my Dell DJ (which they no longer make, by the way - but, I love mine!). I'm guessing that they quit making it because it couldn't really compete with the iPod - I do love my DJ though! Hope nothing happens to it, since I know can't replace it.

Now - back to the real sharing .... I thought that since I had a smaller piece of fabric, maybe this was my opportunity to make a carrying case for my DJ. I decided to keep it simple and just do a bit of quilting and close it off using a simple button and a string to wrap around the button. The case is a bit larger than the DJ itself, as I like to carry my ear buds with it, so I needed the extra room. This is what I came up with. I think that it came out pretty well - it is at least fun.

I'm thinking of attending an art show on Saturday. It is called Artisphere and is held in Greenville, SC. I spoke with one of the coordinators and she indicated that there would be some fiber artists displaying their work there, so I think that I'll try to make it.

Dye-Na-Flow, slime and UFOs

Today, while purchasing a gallon of glue (more on that later), I bought the Dye-Na-Flow Exciter set. I just knew that I had to have them .... and now that I do, I'm wondering how the heck I'm supposed to use them? It's times like this that I hate that I'm a 'lone' fabric 'artist' (not that I see myself as an artist, mind you -but, what else can I call myself? I don't really like fabric 'crafter' ... whatever - moving on....) - meaning that I have no one locally with whom to discuss fabric creations/techniques/ideas with. All that being said - and I know you know what is coming next - I need YOUR help! Tell me how YOU use Dye-Na-Flow!

Now - on to the glue. Sarah, my 5 1/2 year old, has this 'project' book that she's been reading and she has found several 'recipes' that she wants to make. Wait until you hear the yummy concoctions that we'll be preparing this weekend. We'll start with colored silly putty! And, for good measure, we'll make slime. Yes, slime! Doesn't it sound exciting? Actually, I think it will be lots of fun! I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would ever have occasion to purchase and entire gallon of glue. I guess we will be set for a while for glue! Luckily, with two girls that love making things - I'm sure we'll use it!

I also bought a few more dyes today. Hopefully, I'll find some time to dye some more fabrics this weekend, as well. I have 6 yards of fabric waiting to be dyed. I am not dyeing nearly the volume as some people, but I'm just starting. Tommy has given me some wonderful tips - I hope to use some of them this weekend.

I still have two quilts to do the quilting on. I need to work on that this weekend as well. Actually, I have 3 - I have a crazy quilt that I did some time ago, featuring a picture of my daughter. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it sometime.

It's sad, really, that I have so many unfinished projects. Certainly, I am not the only one, right? Please tell me that you, too, have MANY unfinished projects!! It might be easier to complete projects if I didn't stay on here reading so many blogs! I have a few that I simply MUST read each day, lest my day feel incomplete! Speaking of ... I have a couple more to go before bedtime!

School lunches and a tribute to my 10 year anniversary

Today was a good day. :-)

The best part of the day was that I took off at lunchtime to go to the primary school to have lunch with my daughter, Sarah. It always takes me back to my childhood when I have lunch with her. I mean, how often do you - as an adult - eat off of 'trays', sit at long tables on tiny seats and drink chocolate milk from a carton? Well, for me, it is now several times a month. I like to go and have lunch with her when I can (which, is only on Mondays - as the rest of the week I work an hour away - luckily, I work from home on Mondays). Sometimes, I even eat breakfast at her school with her - in fact, I will be doing that on Thursday. We'll be having pancake pups. I'm sure you're wondering to yourself what a pancake pup is ... well, it is a sausage wrapped with a pancake on a stick (think corndog - only with sausage and pancakes). You don't see stuff like that on Food Network ..... ;-) It should be fun, though! I know it means a lot to her when I'm able to go - so I want to go as often as I can!

And, the tribute to my 10 year anniversary part ... My 10 year anniversary was last November. To celebrate, Michael - my husband, took me back to the same bed and breakfast where we honeymooned. We've been there several times since we married - it is our intent to stay in every room they have before it is all said and done. But, I digress.... back to the tribute. While we were there, we went to a quilt shop and I bought some wonderful black and white fabric, as well as some funky red fabric. I decided yesterday to combine that with some of the black hand-dyed fabric that I did, to create a small wall sized quilt. The quilt, because I used fabrics from that trip (mostly), is meant to commemorate our 10 year anniversary. All I have left to do is to decide if I'm going to block the quilt and attach a sleeve. I may not block it and just be 'okay' with the slight non-squareness. That is a discussion that I'll save to have with myself on another day ;-)

Tomorrow should make for an interesting day at work. I get to take a CPR class all morning. I'm happy to be taking the class (and on my company's dime), but I know that I'll be swamped in the afternoon - having been away all morning. Guess I better get the Venti Mocha from Starbuck's tomorrow - I'm going to need the extra energy! I really need to learn to go to bed prior to 12:30 am!

Face The Music and Easter egg hunt

I have finished my first all fused piece! It's small - only 13X13, but it's nice. I like it. It is supposed to be a face (not a 'perfect' face, but a somewhat 'fluid' face). The fluidity of the face reminded me of music - hence the title Face The Music. It's all fused and I used Melody's 'escape hatch' method for the center piece. Then there is some beading to accentuate certain parts of the piece. With the exception of the background (which is a plum velvet commercial fabric), the other fabrics are fabrics that I dyed myself.

I think that it turned out pretty well. I think that I'll hang it up in my sewing room. I love the colors, so I hope to be inspired by it as I am in there!

Here is the detail of the center (main) piece.


On another note, today we had an Easter egg hunt at church. My girls had a great time! This is a picture of them from the egg hunt today. As you can see, even before we found any eggs, Sarah (my oldest) had already stained her t-shirt. Luckily, it all came out.

Speaking of stains, I have one that I can't get rid of on one of Hannah's (my baby) shirts. Since it was stained at school, I have no idea what the stain is - but, so far, I haven't had any luck. I think that I've treated it no fewer than 12 times - still no luck. I bought some stuff today that I hope will work.

I guess I better go 'confer' with the Easter bunny to see what might be left for my kiddos tonight ;-)

A quilt from days gone by....

I was cleaning up my daughter's room and I found this quilt. It is a quilt that I made some time ago for her. I thought that I'd share it here. I still love the colors and the simplicity of this quilt. My applique work left something to be desired, but I remember being very excited when I finished this quilt... and finding it today, I have to say that - while I *hope* that I've gotten better (who knows, I sure don't) - I'm still quite proud! ;-)

What Flower Am I ..... hmmmmm........ well......

You Are A Lily

You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist. People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you. You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words. Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.

What Flower Are You?