Poppy Flower Tutorial

 This is my first tutorial and I was in a rush when I was doing it, so give me a little break if it is confusing or missing pieces. Here is the tutorial for a fabric poppy flower.

 Cut 3 roughly cut circles out of fabric in different sizes. I used jersey t-shirt material.

Cut out 3 circles of approximately the same size out of  featherweight fusible stabilizer or interfacing, and iron to the back of coordinating circle, following directions provided with your interfacing.

When cool, pull fabric away from interfacing just around the edges of each circle to create a semi-ruffled edge to the petals. Trim the excess interfacing.





Connect your 3 petals by sewing through all 3. I tried to make a tutorial of the bead work I did in the middle but it was very complicated, so I would suggest using a button or I have seen other interesting ideas using tulle and small puff balls.

Connect the flower to whatever you want. I made a swim cover-up for my niece and added one flower to the hood and a few to the waistband.

Here is the swim cover-up with the super cute bathing suit I found on sale at Janie and Jack. I hope she liked her gift!



























I hope you found this easy to follow. Please leave a comment with advice, or any questions.

Mens apron

I've been working hard in my sewing room lately.  While Jake and I were in Cape Cod he suggested we go to a fabric store (yes he actually suggested it) in West Barnstable called Tumbleweed Quilts.  They have a very large store with a great selection, especially the Alexander Henry collection. While there, Jake pointed out some fabric with Lobsters on it and hinted that fathers day was coming up.  I made him and his dad an apron, which again I made my own pattern for. I made my own bias binding using red, white and blue star material.

Courtesy of Tumbleweedquilts.com

Jake and I started taking a class at church called Love and Respect. We are only in 2 weeks and have already learned so much. The class helps people learn to talk and listen and realize what each other needs to keeps things going smooth.  I can't say we needed the help right now but I am always looking for ways to better our marriage especially since divorce rate is so high. You can find more info here: http://loveandrespect.com/conference-preview/

p.s Savannah is sick AGAIN!

Mashed squash

I gave in for a few weeks and gave Savannah store bought baby food because the doctor said to give her more meat to help her gain weight.  I tried a few times to make my own baby food with meat in it but the consistency was just gross, and Savannah agreed. Well, the meat did not help her gain weight, she is 15 lbs 10 oz. at 9 months, which puts her in the 5th percentile, she is 28 1/2" long which puts her in 75th for height (yay!), she is still wearing most of her 3-6 month clothes which is good because her cousin was in that size last summer. I love hand-me-downs. So I'm back to trying to make more fattening baby food again.  Jake and I have this new grocery store by our house called Bottom Dollar Foods and yes it is a little ghetto but has extremely good prices and they send lots of coupons in the mail.  He was able to find an acorn squash (which is a winter squash) and I finally found a great recipe to make with it.
Mashed Winter Squash: The Joy of Cooking
for every 1 c. mashed squash
1 winter squash
1 T. butter
1 t. brown sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. ground ginger
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
approx 1/2 c. orange juice

Preheat oven to 375
Pierce squash 4-5 times then place in baking dish and bake for 45-90 minutes (until skin is tender).
Cut in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Scrape out remaining squash and mash. Add all ingredients and blend, add orange juice until soft and creamy.

I made this as baby food and let me tell you, Savannah LOVED it. The next day we found out that she is allergic to orange juice so now I get to eat the leftovers.  I LOVE it, the mashed squash is so delicious, I just wish Savannah could have some because now I have to go and make her more food. Very time consuming, especially when my baby happens to be allergic to most of the stuff I give her.  The doctor said to start trying yogurt and cheese with her and so far yogurt seems to be ok but I'm starting very slow since she is allergic to whey protein ( it's a family trait).

She is crawling very fast and getting into everything, trying to pull herself up with no success still, and holding her own bottle! I love the age that she is at now, some things are harder but for the most part we have the acid reflux under control and she is finding everything entertaining. I also have her sitting up in shopping carts now which works as long as nothing is within reach and I don't take too long. My grandma helped us grocery shop today, she really enjoyed pushing Savannah around in the cart, and I really enjoyed having a helper./

Cape Cod

We went to Cape Cod last Sunday to Tuesday. It was a short vacation so I apologize for not visiting the family Jake and I have in Massachusetts. We stayed in Jake's aunt and uncle's house on Buzzards Bay in Pocasset. It is a beautiful house right on the bay.

 We visited a few lighthouses and beaches. It was really cold and rainy on Monday, so we spent most of the day in the car.

 Savannah had a great time. She learned to hold her own bottle and she finally figured out how to get out of a sit position onto her tummy so she can roll around. Once we got home Tuesday night she started scooting on her tummy. It's tough to come home from vacation and immediately have to start baby proofing the house.

While there she got to, go in a wagon for the first time, wear a bike helmet, drive the car (not really), and go in a kayak. We should have done more if the weather had cooperated and we didn't have a bike helmet or life-jacket that fit her.

Swim Cover-up

Savannah got a new present. Handmade by mommy (me) is a new swimsuit cover-up.  

I recently bought her one from Kohls and was thinking that I could probably figure out how to make one. I had leftover jersey fabric from her quilt. I measured a shirt and drew my own pattern! It took about 1 day to make, but I just started a second one and it's only taken about 2-3 hours. I went to Janie and Jack yesterday while waiting for my mom and grandma, and got some really cute ideas for making this pattern even cuter.

Here is the front. It has a hood and a zipper. Now you've seen 3 of 4 of Savannah's bathing suits, they are so cute it's hard to resist. She has at least one more that is a hand me down from her cousin. It's a good thing we have a beach house, and just bought a blow up pool for our backyard.

Tree Decoration

I've discovered Walgreen's photo department.  I thought the only way to print pictures was to load them onto my flash drive, go to the store, wait for a computer to open up, and come back in an hour to pick them up. That was so inconvenient especially since the first time I did that, I had to wait 20 minutes for a woman to finish with the computer while Savannah didn't want to wait to patiently.  Then I figured out that I could order the pictures online, get them printed in the store and pick them up when I was already out, while also getting the coupon deals.  This new discovery has prompted me to finally hang up pictures and decorations on my wall.  I've been wanting to hang pictures from Savannah's tree for a while and I finally got around to it last week.  I used ribbon and tacked it to the back of the frame, then tied a bow around a nail in the wall.

As I mentioned in the last post we are a beach family.  So Savannah and I went to the beach last Friday and Jake and I took her on Monday. One of the reasons she didn't enjoy it was because Saturday morning we discovered she had a 101 fever, which later reached 103.  The fever finally went back to normal on Monday but then she started getting cold symptoms which she shared with me.  I had to take off of work Tuesday because we were both so sick.  I don't get paid for day's off since I am part time.  She has been on Pedialyte since Monday morning and hasn't been getting any food since Friday with the exception of what you see in the picture below.

Her daddy decided to let her try ribs.  Needless to say she was in Heaven.  Closing her eyes, savoring the moment.  The poor girl getting slobbered all over is Emily, my brother in law's girlfriend.

Curtains

 I finished some things I've been working on this week, but the pictures I took turned out bad so I will have to try again,

These are the curtains I made Savannah for her room, they have been done for a while.  I got the fabric at JoAnn's and there almost wasn't enough. Try to ignore the ugly radiator, They are all over my house and the previous owners decided to paint them silver. I can't tell you how many times I've asked my husband (who works in heating and air) to switch them out for baseboard or cover them.  We are going to have to cover it before winter because they get so hot Savannah will burn her hand if she grabs it.

Close up of the ties that hang the curtain from the rod.

Savannah and I went to the beach for the first time since she was 3 weeks old.  She had a pretty rough time at first. Definitely doesn't like sand on her skin, and she didn't like the ocean either.  I hope this changes because we are a beach family.