My wonderful husband surprised me (I may have left a brochure or two on his desk) with this new sewing machine for my birthday. It's the Janome Jem Platinum 760 which is a big upgrade from my Janome Jem Gold that I have been using for the past 7 or so years. It has 60 stitches! And I am determined to use every single one of them. This little baby weighs only 12 pounds but it has all the features and power of a full size machine. I also scored this new stash of fabric from Hancocks of Paducah and Fat Quarter Shop. I don't even know what to begin with I am so excited!
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t-shirt pants
Johnnie is learning to use the potty! When we started to get ready for this big endeavor I went to buy Johnnie some new elastic waist pants that would be easy to take on and off. Turns out the long pants with elastic waists are not easy to find now that all the summer gear is in.
I took a quick look online for an easy pants pattern and found this tutorial over at Rookie Moms (which, by the way, is a very cool Mom blog). I love the idea of making pants out of old t-shirts and I only wish I had known about this sooner. The great thing about using an old t-shirt is that the pants hem is already done for you and these pants took me only about 30 minutes to make! This pair was made with an x-large t-shirt I found on clearance at Target (ok, not recycled but it only cost me $2.48). It just hits Johnnie's ankle, but for summer these short pants will be great.
Rookie Moms also references this simple pants tutorial and this post at tiny happy with some before and after photos of t-shirts turned in to pants.
I must make a trip to Goodwill soon to look for more t-shirts, these little pants are addicting!
Happy Easter
I've been saving up egg cartons for weeks after seeing a basket similar to this in the Martha Stewart Living Easter issue. We are having brunch and an easter egg hunt at our place tomorrow and everyone will go home with one of these little baskets.
Happy Easter to you!
Finish Johnnie's Quilt--Check!
Finally! After three years, Johnnie's quilt is finished. I started this quilt and even finished the quilt top when I was pregnant with my son. I guess I just thought I'd have plenty of time to quilt through it and put on the binding while my baby was sleeping--ha! Well, it's finally done and I can move on with my life. There is a small game of "which of things just doesn't belong here" on this quilt. I'm sure you can find the wonky star if you look closely. I'll chalk up that mistake to my "pregnancy brain", I was upset about it at first, but now I think it adds some character to this sweet little quilt. Johnnie loves it and even told me "tank too momma" when I gave it to him.
Here is a photo of the back. I machine quilted in the ditch and my mom hand quilted around each star. I love this polka dot flannel.
Happy Clothespins
I found these adorable old clothespins while shopping at an antique store in Santa Rosa on Saturday! I love these little guys. I don't have a clothesline to put them on but I'm sure I'll find a spot for them.