Under the weather

If one must stay home with an icky stomach bug, one should at least have a cute pair of slippers.

Made from Ayumi's pattern in Stitch magazine.

At least my feet are happy.

A Pattern for YOU!

Remember this little goodie?

Well, from the beginning there was interest in a pattern but I just didn't have the time to get it together. Is this a good time to mention that when I make an original pattern, I generally don't make a copy of it? Since most of my patterns are hand-drawn rather than generated on a computer, once I make the pattern, it's gone. I'm thinking that might need to change......

Anyway, apparently this has been making the rounds on Pinterest and there have been a number of new requests. As a thank you to everyone who comes by my little blog for a visit, I finally wrote up a pattern!

Paper-pieced Sewing Machine Pattern

It's not slick or fancy and it does assume that you know the basics of paper-piecing. But I hope a few of you find it a fun little project. 

***Edit: For those of you who have commented or emailed that you're able to access the instructions but not the pattern - the pattern is on the instruction sheet. There is only one page and it's all there. Really! :-)

Now that the kids are back in school, I'm finding a little bit of extra time to be creative. What are you working on right now?

Not sewing

There's been a lot of not-sewing going on around these parts. But I'm slowly getting my mojo back now that the kids are back in school and I can eek out a little bit of time during the week.

Meanwhile, we whipped up a batch of homemade cheese crackers that won little Miss B a blue ribbon at the county fair. Not bad for a four year old!

She loved kneading the dough - "just like play dough!"

And she got to use a fluted pastry wheel to do "real cutting!"

And the all important job of using a toothpick to poke a hole in each cracker.

Where is the finished product you are asking?

Um, we'll have to make another batch. These disappear pretty quickly around here!

* Blink *

Where, exactly, did the summer go? 

Looking back, of course, it went to swimming lessons, ballet and Tae Kwan Do classes, trips around our beautiful state of Oregon, play time with friends, reading late into the night, eating outside, playing in sprinklers, hiking in the woods, going to the county fair, and backyard campouts. Little sewing and even less sharing about it here.

And then this morning I sent this little fella on to first grade!

Hard to believe the little mister is going to be in school all day. He did half-day kindergarten last year and I really enjoyed getting to spend our afternoons together. But he looks pretty ready to start the day in his new classroom, with his new teacher, and a fresh box of crayons on his desk.

His sister starts preschool next week. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get back to posting with some regularity!