Rain Puddles Design

My oldest sister is having her 50th birthday next week and my mom and I were wondering what to send her since she lives in Oregon...far, far away from us. My mom was trying to find out the cost of calling up a local florist there in her town, if it would be cheaper and still unique in style, but it seemed to her it wasn't the right gift. That night I was looking up something and got sidetracked on paper roses from a previous blackhole I was in the night before and found a site for instructions on a dollar bill rose bouquet . I called my mom the next day to tell her about this simple crafty idea. She seemed very interested and even got out a dollar bill and started manipulating per my instructions over the phone. I mentioned that it would probably take 30 minutes to put together a rose of 10 dollar bills to make "50" for her birthday. The next minute my mom tells me she'll send me money to go in with me to make the bouquet. I thought I was giving her the idea to make i...

I completed a baby blanket by crocheting a trim around the edges last night. I made it for my 6 month old son. Well, when I bought all the materials seven months ago he was 6 months old. The main part of the blanket is blue and white striped flannel on one side and light blue fleece on the other side. I started out thinking I would hand quilt it using a cross stitch loop and randomly embroider circles. It sat for 3 months completely untouched and then I decided to make a quilt frame from scrap wood in the garage from a web instruction page. Got it all done in half a day and stretched the blanket on it and it sat for another 2 1/2 months. Off of the frame the blanket went. I finally decided to machine quilt it. By now I'm sure the thought has occurred to you that maybe it should just be hand tie quilted and be done with it. I am not a fan of the hand tie method for unknown reasons, so I try stippling the blanket on the machine and didn't like it at all. I seam ripped all the sti...

I just finished the last three classes of my Mastering Your Sewing Machine class at my local Bernina store. It was so much fun! I have many more projects I want to do now that I know how to use my machine. I highly recommend taking a machine class even if its a generic class. I jumped into a project before completing my classes which if I had waited would have made for an easier project, but that is how I learn. After seeing various children catalogs showcasing cute birthday banners I decided I would make one that was better for all family members young and old. I have a daughter and a son so I didn't want something too girlish or too boyish. Here is a close up view of the middle of the banner. The pendant is made to hang in any kind of arrangement. Just unbutton and move it to two banners or a different word(s) all together. The appliqued present on the middle pendant is from McCall's Quilting site . My neighbor liked this banner so much she asked me to help her make ...