Happenings around here

Hey there!

How are you doing? I sure hope you are doing well. I am. My family is...heck the dog and cats are great too. Life is good, and so very busy. Do you ever feel like you are juggling pies? I am sure that is not the saying...but that is all I can come up with now. I feel like I am juggling pies. They are each one wonderful and hot and the crust is perfect and they are filled with goodness, but when I drop them I am going to make one heck of a mess. I hope I am outside when it happens, or Stanley is nearby. My life is so easy and so good. And I guess because it is so easy I have taken on many challenges. They are all craft related, so nothing that my husband has brought home, and nothing that is health related....just a ton of stuff that I decided I can do. A ton of things I decided I wanted to do. I like being a craft juggler. I LOVE having a ton of little irons in the fire. I function best that way. One of the pies is my bags. I love making them and they fulfill a huge part of my being. The second pie is patterns. I have begun consolidating all my patterns. with the intention of either selling individual patterns or making them into a book. So many of you who read this crazy blog of mine have been so generous with your advice and support. I really hope one day to have something to give back to you.

 My family is a nice big juicy pie...my sister and mother (Hi Mom and Malia!) did this big second hand sale thing in Charlotte, NC. I hate to come across as sounding like white trash.....but I am all for hand me downs. I worked as a Nanny though college in Charlotte, NC and I know those folks have some extra money to splurge on their children's attire. I will happily dress my kiddos in their outgrown clothing. Do you all do that? Do you share clothing when your kids outgrow them? I do. Emma (my Emma) is the only little girl in our family, plenty of boys, but she is the only little girl so when she outgrows her clothes (which seems like every other week sometimes) I like to find a friend who has a little girl so I can give them to her. Emma wears great clothing...I won't lie. Well, Mom and Malia selected some great little outfits to send me out here in San Angelo, TX. There is no real shopping here. I guess I am happy about that, because no shopping means more time to sew, but when 3 of your children outgrow their bluejeans in one evening, the hunting ground is really reduced to Target and Walmart. I, as a small business owner, do not go to Walmart unless held at gunpoint. So Target it is. I like Target....OK, I am babbling. Forgive me. I just wanted to say thank you to my mom and Malia for sending the kiddos some great ropa. Sam was the happiest. He took all the tags off and laid all his size things out in people-like outfits and then put them in the washing machine himself (he is 5 and doing his own laundry....that is pretty cool, huh?). Each morning he has known exactly what he would wear as soon as he woke up. Also very cool. Emma sorta did the same and Ethan really was just happy to shove them all in his closet and whatever he finds first thing in the morning is what her wears.

 OK, let's talk about bags. I finished the Dumont order. I thought this would be quick, but Hero Bags really drain me. I smell the man as I press his uniform, I think of the woman I am making the bags for as I select the fabric and have to roll with the alterations in my design as I make the bags into what the widows and family want the bags to look like. In my own little way Hero bags are memorials to the Fallen soldiers. I want them to be special. I can't help it. I know that the news and our President have said the combat operations have ceased in Iraq, but our Men and Women are still being killed and injured everyday. Keep them and their families in your prayers.

 I like having a little design wall...well let's call is a design door, since that is what it is. So it is another pie. I think of little projects I would like to work on and I put them up on the design wall. You can see on up there now, the Flea Market Fancy quilt, the big block for MY block of the month and part of the one from the quilt below. As well as the rest of my busy sewing room.

 This bunch of quilt blocks is totally 100% inspired by http://daintytime.net/ she is having a quilt along and she is brilliant.

Last thing or Pie in the air is the craft fair that is coming up on the 20th of November. I have only participated in 2 in the past (but that was years and years ago) so this is kinda new. I have made a heap of little "testers" over the years that I have been too lazy to list on Etsy.com so I will peddle them there. I am also trying out some new ideas....one of which is on the table and is awesome. I love mine....well I kinda finished it today, but it still needs some tweaks to the design....in time I will offer them to all of you, or at least a digital download of how to do it yourself....until then, I have some really good books. The top two are cook books. I like to eat, so does the rest of my family and I finally noticed that my favorite magazine has a whole cook book out. I am also pretty excited about Mad Hungry, but my favorite of the pile is the bottom one Intuitive Color and Design by Jean Wells. Gwen Marston was so impressed with her that she recommended her to me. So I couldn't resist buying her book so I could peruse it at my leisure.

OK, Have a lovely evening everyone. Next blog will be about how to make the bias vines/stems.

xo,
Tia