A Beautiful Weekend With Family

On Saturday morn, we set out to have a picnic and enjoy a day at the lakefront.  We even brought out my oldest daughter (she looks so cute and will be a wonderful mom)!  My 16 year-old daughter was hanging out at Universal Studios with her friends (which beats the lakefront)!

Sandwiches and fruit; sprinklers, playground and watching the boats!

Simple and fun!

Thrifting and Such

Hi all!  It's been a while since I last posted.  Busy helping my daughter prepare for my first grandchild!  I am so excited!  Her baby shower is within a couple of weeks and I'm sewing a special dress for her to wear!

I've also been practicing sewing on my treadle.  There is a sort of coordination and foot rhythm to sewing on a treadle.  Great exercise!  It's so much fun and I think I'm ready to sew a quilt on it soon!

I've also been thrift and antique shopping, and visiting estate sales.  Resistance is futile.

My husband and I had a wonderful day, today in Historic Sanford, Florida!  We ate brunch at a quaint restaurant.  This place is so 'old skool', that plastic (credit/debit cards) is NOT accepted.  Cash or check, or the owner will let you sign an IOU with trust that you come back and pay him.  And, the food was awesome!  We then walked down this cute cobblestone street and visited the antique shops and thrift stores.  We had a blast!

I could not resist this vintage sewing machine in one of the thrift stores.  I took it home, cleaned and oiled it; tested it and it works like a horse!  Someone took very good care!

Last week, we visited another thrift store and I found all kinds of goodies:
I have 3 of the Knifty Knitter (top pic) at $1.99 each!  I need to find one more...one for my middle daughter, the baby daughter, my niece and one for me!

...small container of stones for .69 cents.  Don't know what I'll make, but they will not go to waste.  Large container has zipper pulls of all colors for $1.99.  I can definitely use these!

...pajama patterns for little ones and big girls; and zippers.  The whole lot for .69 cents!

...some wood pieces; balls, napkin rings, thread spools, etc.  This whole lot for .69 cents, also!

...lastly, yarn; both for .25 cents!

I am currently knitting a pair of fingerless mittens in a pretty chocolate, minty blue and brown multi-tonal yarn for a customer.

Thank you for visiting!  HAPPY THRIFTING!

Labor Day Weekend Chill

...and, we did just that, chill!

We took the two youngest fishing. It was so quiet and peaceful at the lake. Maybe, four other people were around.

And on Labor Day, my sewing friend Peggy blessed me with a treadle machine! She and her husband were at my door this morn with two machines. It was perfect! I am teaching my 6-year old how to sew and the Morse (sewing machine) will be great for her and my 16-year old. I spent most of the day, cleaning, oiling and practicing on the treadle. I had fun playing! I realized that sewing on a treadle is going to be a mini-workout!

It was a great ending to a Labor Day Weekend Chill!

Okay, back to reality! Preparation for school tomorrow.

Hope your Labor Day Weekend was relaxing!

A Quilt Story

I am a virgin quilter! I've always wanted to learn to quilt and about a year ago, I borrowed "Kids Start Quilting" from the library to learn the basics. I was able to complete a piece quilt and it came out great!

Last week at my sewing group meet-up, my friend Peggy taught me to free-motion quilt! I was so excited and I worked on my practice piece the rest of that weekend! Now, quilting is becoming one of my sewing addictions!

I worked for Goodwill about 2 years ago, and in that time I met some interesting and crafty people (customers). On their regular visits, we would share all sorts of craft and sewing ideas and projects. An elderly lady who regularly visited wanted to give me her hand-sewn blocks for a quilt. We met each other for lunch and I accepted her offer.

I'm sure the fabrics used were 1960s and 70s. Colorful and bright, and a lot of polyester!

I sewed the blocks together, in the order she had them laid in the basket and then sewed the rows together. 9 blocks per row, 8 rows. Now, all there's left for me to do is batting, backing and knotting.

I am happy I learned the basics of quilting in order to finish this quilt in her honor!

HAPPY SEWING!