Little Jacket

I needed a work sample for a new embroidery design pack, Husqvarna Yarn Fiesta. I decided to use a pattern I already had and make a jacket for Aaron's September birthday - that would give the sample plenty of store time.

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.

The jacket has a tuck-in scarf to show off a few more designs.

Lovely

After church, Welda, Patti, Carol, and I went to Essencha Tea Shop in Hyde Park. They'd all been there before, but it was my first time.

There were flowers on the tables,

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.

Nora 'n Aaron

Here's Nora - just back from getting her hair cut in long layers. The purple balloon was a part of the experience. Sometimes she takes my breath away - she looks so much like her mom.

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.

Friday Fill-In # 132

My Friday Fill-In answers are in bold.

1. The last thing I ate was a Chipotle veggie burrito and a strawberry. It wasn't in the plan, but it was late and I was driving by. The nice thing about Chipotle at 8:30 is that there was no wait. And now I have half the burrito for lunch.

2. A serger is something I recently bought. And used, and threaded several times. I also bought a good serger book at Barnes and Noble.

3. When it rains, it makes me happy. And, since Mike's fixed my gutters, there's no water in the basement even when it pours. Thanks, Mike.

4. No one was the last person I talked to today. Because it's early and I live by myself. I'm sure there will be much conversation before the day is over and I will be looking forward to some quiet.

5. Hugs are ever so nice. I got a lovely one from Aaron last night, along with his comment about my shirt - "that's Gran B's shirt" and his doctor visit - "I don't like the shots." I just knew he'd have something to say about that.

6. I could use some extra comfort. I think everyone can.

7. And as for the weekent, tonight I'm looking forward to embroidering another pair of animals for Aaron's quilt (I have alligators, armadillos, badgers, monkeys, and beavers,) tomorrow my plans include a visit with Sandra after work, and Sunday I want to have a nice lunch after church.

Happy Friday, everyone.

Alligators and Armadillos

Nora's asking for a Wizard of Oz quilt got me to thinking that I wanted to make a Noah's Ark quilt for Aaron. His birthday's in September, so it's time to get going on that.

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.

Embossed Towel

I really love this - an angel fish design from Embroidery Library embossed on a thick towel. Lots of texture., very elegant.

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.

Snowflakes and Blue

I'm glad I decided to change the flowers from Dots and Daisies to snowflakes. The design on the right, three blocks down, was supposed to be a sun.

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.

And I want to do more lettering. I was thinking about that today, how to make that work, other than with software.