This bag is handmade, with pockets inside and a large zippered pocket on the back. The bag's made from upholstery fabric. It's much easier to embroider on a flat surface, then make the bag.
I think there are more handmade bags in my future. Not tonight, though. I'm really, really tired and plan to go to bed with my book. Hidden Riches by Nora Roberts. Perfect easy summer reading.
Nora and I found the only quiet place, the sand excavation in the otter area. It's just before the entrance to the birds, which Nora wants nothing to do with.
She must not be the only one - there's an exit to by-pass the flying and screeching birds. We took that door and met up with the others outside. 
Vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate chip? Chocolate chip! (Actually, they have other flavors too, but why complicate things?
Good choice - Graeter's chocolate chip has some really big chocolate chunks.
True - Graeter's is irresistible - but so's the girl.
The pink on the cone is my raspberry sorbet - Nora wanted a bit on her cone.It's been a cool, rainy day, but the place was packed. Cones were definitely the favorite.
drives across the Taylor Southgate bridge into Cincinnati and enters the river there,
goes on the southern side of the river past Covington's Millionnaire's Row, where Steph and Mike had their wedding pictures taken,
goes under the Roebling bridge, down the river a little longer, turns around, and comes back on the Cincinnati side of the river, past these tents,
and back across the bridge again into Newport. This was fun, totally relaxing. If you get a chance, do it. Tickets are $15, which is cheaper than at Duck rides in other cities.
A trip to the aquarium is so different without kids in tow - ironically, it seems much more chaotic without them. I guess with them I'm just part of the chaos and don't notice it.
The jellyfish were floating peacefully by, seemingly oblivious of everything around them.
Their new digs are ever so nice, including towers of jellyfish that make it easier for more people to enjoy them.
Closed this time was the shark cage, which is a combination close-up movie and a floor that shakes. The sign said it was being repaired because the sharks got too rowdy. Hmmmm.
After that, there was some down-to-earth merry-go-round riding.
I did this on a really thick bath towel. Don't try it without your Q foot or equivalent. I actually did try once, around Christmas, and had to give up. This design has 50,000 stitches and the whole design stitched without incident with the Q foot.
I enlarged the pattern a little to accomodate his weight, but I forgot the height factor, and now I'm wondering whether it will be long enough. There was a quick try-on Sunday and it was quickly clear that the sleeves, which are supposed to be rolled up to reveal the lining, are just about right with no roll-up. In July.
Maybe, just maybe, it can be a waist-length jacket to be worn when he sails down the street on the back of his dad's bike. Or maybe, sigh, it will belong to some other little boy.
sample sips of today's tea,
a gorgeous salad for me,
and half a sandwich with more salad.
And one more thing - a waiter with an Obama t-shirt.
Lovely.
And here's Aaron - when you have a big sister, you learn the right style for doing somersaults. Tuck and roll.
But playing with blocks - he picked up that on his own. This kid looks so much like his dad.
I figured I could make one little creature every day, then realized that a pair a day would be better since I'd have design and threads out. These are applique and they go pretty fast. I haven't counted to see how many pairs there are, I just know there are lots.
It gives me so much joy to dig around in my fabrics to find just the right piece for these creatures. And I can just imagine Aaron touching each one and calling it by name. The green pique background fabric has just a little raised design to it, making it fun to touch.
And by the way, not my news, but the little guy is 36" tall and weighs 29 1/2 pounds. Ninty-seventh percentile for height and 54th for weight, much like his sister's always been.
Only thing is, when I was embroidering, a corner of the towel got caught under the hoop, about a three-inch triangle. The stitching on this design is very intense and there was NO WAY I could pick out those stitches. I cut off the bottom of the towel along the trim, losing about five inches of towel, and used my serger and sewing machine to finish the edge. Doesn't look all that bad, but there is still the matter of the corner of the towel under part of the design.
I had meant this as a gift, but it looks like I have a pretty new towel for myself. On the plus side, the Q foot worked wonderfully even on a thick towel, even with two thicknesses of the towel where it was caught on the bottom. Looks like I can go back and revisit a design I got for a towel that I just couldn't stitch out because the towel was too thick for the R foot.
I think that these misadventures are just part of the curve of learning, not happy but not terrible either. Next time, I'll hoop differently.
The snowman is from a design build into my sewing machine, with Warm 'n Natural batting for the applique'd body.
Lettering is from my software.
I used stitch in the ditch around the squares and sashing, then tied white knots on the sashing. It had been forever since I'd knotted a quilt, and I didn't have doll needles then to make it much easier. My mother and grandmother almost always knotted instead of quilting - I want to do more of it.
I showed the family when they were over for dinner yesterday and Nora right away asked if the quilt was for her. I told her no, it belonged to someone else, I was just working on it.
She reached up and hugged me and said, "Will you make one for me?"
I can see that there will be a Wizard of Oz quilt for Nora's birthday. I've never purchased a design collection before, should be fun. Besides the characters on this quilt, there is a lovely Glenda and numerous others.
