So far--

I have gotten so many ideas on how to use the problem fabric, I now wish I could use them all.  Thank you all so much for helping me.  Thought I would let you know that right now this little skirt sewn by Linda is at the head of the list. I don't have enough fabric, so will have to come up with something for the runching.

Linda made this skirt using a pattern from YCMT.http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/bundle-pack-savings/Tess-Ruched-Ruffled-Twirl-Skirt.htm.   

Now, I do have a couple more ideas that might also work all thanks to you.   Do you think I might need to find more of the problem fabric?  

OH HELP!!

I need some serious help!!  See this fabric?  It was given to me some time ago and for some reason I can not turn down free fabric.  It has been in my stash always getting pushed aside as I pick fabric for a project.  Well!!  Miss Zoe just happened to go through the stash and pulled out, yes, you guessed it THE FABRIC!!  "Oh ganma, I just love this will you make me something?"   She left, I put the fabric back.  Well, that continues until now, the first thing she heads for and pulls out is the dreaded fabric. 

So, here I am asking for help.  I just can't seem to come up with anything for a seven year old that has that much black in it.  So today, I pulled out the fabric, some patterns and still hit a wall.  Please help me come up with something (there is a yard) .  Is there another fabric I could add to it?  maybe in a ruffled skirt?  Something with some smocking?  I just don't know.

          

Lets put the kit together

After you have cut out your kit so you have all the pieces its time to assemble them into a pillowcase.

Pin your body piece,trim and header together along the 45" side of your pieces.











Once your piece is all pinned together, lay it wrong side up and start rolling the body toward the header.

Keep rolling until the edge of the header and the section you pinned together meet.  Now, pin those edges together.  Take to the sewing machine and stitch together.  The body of the pillowcase will be inside and it will look as though you have made a terrible mess.  You haven't!!

You will reach inside the tube and pull the body out.   Now you press the the section flat.  You are almost done, you will just need to sew across the end and down the side seam.

There you go, you have created a pillowcase just that easy.  They make wonderful gifts and children love to own something that has their name on it.

First day-Pillowcases

Making pillowcases is a quick and easy project. A great project for beginners or getting back to sewing after a long break.  They also make fun and useful gifts.
Gather your fabric: You will need fabric for the body(main part) Header and contrasting trim piece.

• Body piece-23"x45"
• Header-13"x45"
• trim-2"x45"

A word about the trim piece. You can not use a trim piece and add rick rack to the seam as a top stich finish.  You can add wide rick rack in the seam and let the little points stick out.  Also you could add lace or eyelet.  so there are lots of different looks you can get.  I will use a trim piece in mine.

Not all 45" fabric is 45" wide some can be as short as 42" so be sure to measure and trim any long pieces.

I also trim off my selvage edges, this makes it easier to have a neat finished seam.  This piece is for the trim piece and I know it looks wider then 2", but I am making two pillow cases the same so I cut my trim 4" then will trim to 2".

You know have your kits made up and are ready to sew them together. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas.  Zoe had a wonderful Christmas program at school and wore a dress I made her last year for valentines day.  I felt sad I could not have made her something new for this year but it was just one of those years.
As I have posted in the past, my sister was battling brain cancer after a successful fight with breast cancer. The brain cancer took her long before her actual death, as her mind was not clear.  Somedays we had good times and she could comunicate, other days were not so good.

So, now I find myself faced with a challenge and that is getting back to doing the things I love.  Which is sewing and sharing sewing. 
One of the steps is to get back to blogging, so I can share my love of sewing.  I had no idea getting back to the sewing machine was going to be so hard.  I think part of it is, I have just lost interest in so many things.
I will not let sadness control my life!!  Monday is the day I have set aside to get back to the sewing room and hopefully share the time with all of you.  Learn to do more with the blog so I can also share what some of my dear friends are sewing.
Maybe this step, will help others like myself.  Maybe you have gotten away from what you love to do and need a path back and together we can make that journey.

Memories

Sometimes when things are not going very good, I search my mind for good and happy memories. Those times seem to happen in the summer time for me. I do love Thanksgiving and Christmas but they just do not compare to summer.

A picnic sometimes just happens, no planning, no panic, just a phone call to a friend or family member asking "what are you doing today?" The answer usually is, "Why don't we all meet at the river and have a picnic."

The little town gathering where you eat ice cream and get your face painted and, meet up with family and friends one more time.

The hot summer nights when you go out at midnight and rock on the swing, everything is quiet except for the crickets. Those are the memories, I like to bring back to mind now as the weather cools and frost is on everything in the morning. The memories of the kids laughter and squeals of delight as we zip across the river. So, I won't say goodbye to summer, I will keep her close as a very special memory until the next summer comes along.

Festive pumpkin

I did post this on everythingsewing forum but some say they can not see the picture there so I will share it again here. A friend brought this over and I thought it was so clever. Her husband grew the pumpkin in his garden and she 'decorated' it. She found the fabric at Jo-Ann's fabric, wrapped the pumpkin and added a bow. It's one of those why didn't I think of that projects.