You’re going to want some tart and tangy lemonade when you are done reading this. I’ve been busy sewing for my daughter this week, I’m still working on the twirly skirt to go with the shirt.

Simplicity 3511

 Taken this morning in the back door of our room.  I love our french doors (they helped sell me on the house, them and the hardwood floors), but thanks to them we sleep with the loudest cricket on the planet.  He has some how managed to sneak into the door frame of the doors and rubs his little legs all night long.  All we can do it wack the door frame to get him to stop for a few seconds.  Anyhoo, just wanted to share that little whine with the internet.

What have you been sewing lately?

Well, the Tea Party seemed to be a hit. My daughter was a typical 3yo and had a bit of trouble sharing, but all in all I think the girls really enjoyed themselves. I had more activities planned than we needed- dress up, hat decorating, cookie frosting (this was a big hit) and “home made salt molding dough”!

Next on the agenda is to design and print new business cards…just in case…  I am planning on attending the open house for Blissful Living, this Saturday.  Really excited to meet so many talented local people.  If you are in the neighborhood you should come!

Will be holding May’s give-away sometime next week.  Don’t know what it will be yet, but I promise it will be good! Make sure to swing by so you don’t miss it.

Found at a nearby Goodwill with a green tag, and low and behold, green tags were 50% off today!

I don’t typically buy pottery as I am not much of an enthusiast, but I really liked this piece. The aqua color and the scalloped top. I thought it would look great in the new office/sewing room. After I bought it I realized it was MARKED!

From what I could gather from limited googleing- this is real pottery and could be old (although I don’t think it is too old).  It does show some wear on the tops of the scallops.  Are their any pottery people out there that can tell me more?

March has been one awful crazy month at our house, I hope I never meet a month this crazy again! I’ve spent most of the morning typing up a church cookbook (this is what happens when the ladies at church get wind that you have computer skills). Here is one of my favorite cake recipes that I included in the cookbook, we shall not discuss the caloric content or cholesterol levels.

But! Look at the fun flannel that I found at Wal Mart of all places (I know, evil evil wal mart and what was I doing there anyway- shopping for shin guards!). A girl friend had a baby last week and although I already gave her a gift at her shower I thought she might need more receiving blankets so I grabbed a yard and a quarter.

I was skimming the archives over at Meet Me at Mikes and there was something there about a “show me your desk” tag/meme thing-y. Hmm, I thought, this could be fun. So, I want to see your desk/table where you sew/create. But…I want to see it right now- not after you clear off all the loose threads and scraps. I love seeing where other people create and I get great ideas from your set-ups!

Here is my totally un-cleaned desk as it sits right now. I finally moved it into the new room but have done no decorating. Click through to flickr to read all the notes.

Now, should I do the dishes, fold the laundry, work on the custom order, put sheets on my sons bed, or watch movies?

I nearly forgot-Gina is giving away something everyday this week- make sure you read her rules first.

This weekend was a full one. We finally got all the furniture out of my son’s old room and painted! We ended up using Dew Drop (700E) by Behr. As we painted it I was worried that it was going to be too white looking, but this morning after it had dried with natural light pouring in, I was so pleased! The room feels cool (vital during AZ summers) and calming. I have always loved cool pastel colors, I just know this space is going to be perfect for my sewing room!

We have simple white canvas curtains in the room and I want to keep them, however I want to trim the bottom 6″ of the curtains in a print fabric. I want a print that will bring a bit of a modern feel with some color…please feel free to send me fabric links, as I’m really not set on any print. Although I do know I want this somewhere in my dining room/kitchen.

Also of note, I sewed for my own children this weekend! A while back my SIL gave me a bunch of play food for the kids, they love it but it was always getting scattered and I didn’t have a container for it. Sewing Skills To The Rescue! I made a simple fabric box to store the play food in, and it fits nicely in their shelves!

This is left over fabric from Moda’s Peas & Carrots line, the box is lined in white canvas.  I had just enough super stiff (not it’s technical name) iron-on interfacing to line 2 of the 4 squares so it isn’t totally firm but it works.  It was so easy to make I plan to get more interfacing and make some different sized boxes for storing things in the new studio.  For those of you that want to know, I cut 5 squares at 10.5″x10.5″ of each fabric.  I ironed the interfacing on to as many squares as I could (you want to do it for all 4 sides).  I sewed each box separately and then laid the canvas box into the striped box with right sides facing, stitched up the top- leaving an opening.  I flipped it right side out, ironed and top stitched the whole top.

What did you create this weekend?

I had high hopes of finishing the embroidery tutorial today but the daylight (and good photographing light) just got away from me. However, here is a teaser for the project. You can download the pattern today and grab a flour sack towel so you are ready tomorrow.

We have 2 dwarf peach trees in our backyard, each year I learn a little more about how to properly prune them and each year they produce enough peaches for me to make a few pies or some salsa (peach salsa is SO good!!). When they bloom each spring it only lasts for about a week and then poof the flowers are gone. Today I managed to photograph them before they disappear!

And, because I just can’t help myself, I “invented” a new chicken enchilada recipe that was so easy and SO good I just have to share.

1.5lbs of chicken tenders
2 15oz. cans of Rotel
1c chicken stock
1c mild cheddar cheese (med. would be good too)
12 corn tortillas

Add chicken and Rotel to crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours (just throw it in around lunch time).  When chicken in done, spoon it out and place in a bowl use a fork to shred it.  Drain the Rotel/chicken juices into a blender and puree.  Add puree to pot and cook until thickened, add 1c chicken stock and simmer.  Meanwhile spray both sides of all 12 tortillas with cooking oil and place in stacks of 2 on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 3 min.  Add 1/2c sauce to bottom of a 13×9″ baking pan and 1/2c sauce to chicken mixture.  Fill tortillas with chicken and roll, lay seam side down in pan.  When finished rolling enchiladas pour remaining sauce over the top and then add the cheese.  Bake for 15min. at 350.

**a variation I might try next time would be to add lime juice to the chicken and then top everything with fresh cilantro!

I know I said there would be a weekend post, but our fridge broke Friday afternoon which kind of threw a wrench into the whole weekend. Thankfully we were able to get a repair man out today, he replaced the fan motor and was gone in less than 30min.

Seeing as I had to empty the freezer for him to work I decided to just clean everything out. I took all the shelves out and hand washed everything- wiping down the walls etc. I was so impressed with how clean it looked I took a picture. Now I just need to do some grocery shopping!

I also finished the LoveBirds pillow. I have to say it really turned out so sweet-if it matched the colors in my home I just might have kept it.  The pillow is in the etsy shop, along with some eyelet trim and knit trim that I came into.  I am promising an embroidery tutorial this week!

I remember my mother sewing us clothes when I was a little girl, she made us adorable Little House on the Prairie dresses, easter dresses, play clothes and so on. She is an amazing seamstress, really really amazing! She was doing things in 6th grade with a sewing machine that I still can’t do. She taught me how to use a needle and thread while I was young, I remember sewing little coin purses and clothes for my barbies. However, I didn’t learn to use a sewing machine until I took a sewing class in Jr. High (a shout out to Mrs. Flalyn- who was always telling me to slow down!). I loved it, I loved the idea of being able to follow a pattern and create practical and useful items!

When I turned 15 I got my very own sewing machine and it became my mission to see how many dresses I could make for myself (I wish I had pictures). About late high school I kind of abandon sewing and didn’t really pick it back up again until I was pregnant with my first child, and even then I was a little rusty. By the time my daughter came along I was sewing up a storm and loving it. I had always loved embroidery and had learned to cross stitch as a very young girl, but was never very good at embroidery. My girl scout leader tried to teach us to embroider and was simple shocked to learn I couldn’t do it- she after all had been an admirer of my mothers fantastic embroidery skills. It wasn’t until about 4 years ago that I really figured it out, it was like something just clicked and my stitches came out looking like they were supposed to!

I really just love creating, I like using my hands to make something beautiful. However I worry that this will not define me- that it may become a passing fancy. My mother does not sew anymore, in fact her beloved Elna sits in my living room waiting to be taken in for repairs, she would much prefer to just buy something than to make it. My mother-in-law has shared with me that when she was younger she too was a crafter and enjoyed making things for her home. She still creates today but not with fabric, with water color. As I age will this pass? Is this something I will mention as a hobby I had in my youth? This bothers me because I have such a passion for creating, to call it a passing fancy seems to not take it serious enough. These are just some thoughts I have been having lately in regards to my efforts.  I hope to pass the sewing skills on to my children.  I want my daughter to talk about me as a seamstress in present tense, not past.

On a lighter note, one of my favorite things about reading craft blogs is to see other designers work spaces. I just love Heather Bailey’s studio, it is so cute and so practical! We recently moved our kids into the same room so that we can convert the extra bedroom into an office/studio (we are thinking of painting it in a lighter version of Silver Sage). Until then, this is where I create- a little space at the end of our bedroom.

In my home we have a long dark hallway, really dark, so dark in fact that I had to turn on all the bedroom and bathroom lights just to take this blurry picture.

At the end of the hallway is a little square space about 6ft x5ft, we have the dresser back there to hold all our linens but other than that the area feels bare.  The walls are currently white but only because we haven’t gotten around to painting yet, we have the paint though.

The hallway comes off the living room which is painted in Ancient Scroll, which I swear is much more yellow than the color sample above. So eventually the hallway will be painted in the ancient scroll.

I’m thinking that a small area rug will add some warmth and color to the opening at the back of the hallway. I’ve been looking at FLOR tiles thinking about a square rug for the end of the hallway, but them maybe I should do a runner down the narrow part? If I do the FLOR tiles will it look dorky if I hook the runner to the area rug? My kids walk through there with their wet little feet after baths so I love the idea of being able to WASH the FLOR tiles as they get dirty, which they certainly will.

I’m asking for some design help, what can I do to cover the floors (which desperately need to be refinished when we find and extra $15 hundred) while lightening up the space? Have any of your used the FLOR tiles? Do you like them? Have you found something better?  If I do an area rug at the end of the hallway do I have to do a runner as well?  I think I really want to home-y up the space at the end of the hallway more than I want to add a runner…?

I finally found a dresser for my kids room!  I am so giddy, and the best part is that is was less than $100.  I was willing to pay MUCH more.