Been awhile...

I realize it has been a long time since I have posted anything. We have been keeping busy here! Our co-op has started up again and I am teaching hand sewing this year! Fun! So, it has inspired me to get back to it with Madelynn. Last weekend, we made the cutest little cupcake purses. I found them on Pinterest (Paper-and-String) awhile back and thought for sure Madelynn would be able to do it. Oh my goodness, I was so impressed with my little girl! It was such a nice time! We sat at the kitchen table and worked on these little things from start to finish! Madelynn did the purple one.

Didn't she do a wonderful job? She is so proud of herself and it prompted more sewing from Mommy. She just got her library card since she is in kindergarten now, so she put it in her new wallet and then put that in her purse. Then, she just had to have a key, so daddy found her an old key with a keychain. THEN, she just had to have a cellphone, so I turned over my old phone. Then, I sewed her a little sling to carry Lucy in. She was so excited, flipping open her phone and chatting away and declaring she felt like a mom. I love it. We are trying to decide what our next sewing project should be. I'm thinking some kind of key chain for her grown up key. I also felt up to trying to make a quilt. I have wanted to for a long time but it just seems so scary! So, I decided Lucy needed a quilt. A doll quilt can't be too hard, right? I absolutely love NanaCompany's blog and she has the cutest little doll quilts. I love her style so much and wish I could completely copy it. Haha! But, I wanted to use what I had already, so this is what I have come up with so far... my first ever quilt top! :)

I'm pretty excited. I had thought originally that I would get some jumbo rickrack and try to figure out how to stitch that in around the edge like she did with the lace in hers, but I just don't think I am anywhere near being able to make that look presentable. I am also going to do a little more embroidery up by Lucy's name. I just haven't figured that out yet.

This is a picture of Madelynn and Lucy.

And, a couple other pictures with my boys just for fun because I often neglect them on here. :)

 Here is Tim testing out his new Frost River pack. :)

 I really tried to get all three of them in the picture with their Stormy Kromers on, but the little guy just wasn't going for it. Haha! We were pretty excited that Madelynn's old Kromer fits Logan now.

Christmas and Crafting

So, my parents got me a kindle for Christmas. I really thought I never would go to a kindle because I am such a book person...love the feel of books in my hands, the smell of books, finding old books at resale stores, I just really love books. BUT, books take up space and can be pricey and in being consistent in wanting to de-clutter our home a bit, more books isn't really keeping along with that theme. Quite honestly, we have enough books since we homeschool. So, I started thinking a kindle would be a neat idea and I am so excited to have one. I have already downloaded lots of free books. I searched pinterest for the perfect kindle sleeve and found this tutorial. I liked it because it used a few different fabrics and I had a fat quarter stack I picked up on clearance at Joann's that I have been wanting to make something for myself with because I so loved it. :) Elizabeth was kind enough to give me some hints on adjusting the size for my smaller kindle and it worked out perfectly! So, here are a few pictures!
This is the front.

 And here is the back! :)

 Another present I received from my sweet daughter, were these Doodle Stitching books! I am so super excited about these and am looking forward to learning embroidery!

 Here is a sample of the outline stitches that I learned last night (using up random bits of embroidery floss, hence all the colors), it was so fun! :)

So, that is what I have been working on. The next thing on my to-do list is to make a bag for Madelynn's leapster that she got for Christmas.

Needlebooks With the Bitty

Madelynn has lost SO many needles. She has one left out of all the needles I have bought her. I decided to do a search on pinterest for needlebooks to solve her problem and found one that I thought she could do with just a little help from me. I also found one that I would like to make. Since I am new to sewing myself, I thought it would be fun to do this needlebook that was like a teeny tiny quilt. Today, while the boys (except Logan) were out shooting Carson's birthday present, the Bitty and I made our needlebooks! So, we are both so proud of ourselves and I wanted to post the pictures of them. :)

 Madelynn did a great job! I cut out the felt for her, she sewed the petals on, sewed on the button, backstitched the stem and leaves, sewed the felt button flap and pocket on the inside and then blanket stitched the entire thing! Wow! Not bad for a four year old, huh? :)

 Here is mine! This is the embellished inside which looks so cute thanks to kind of copying how she did it on the tutorial. I'm so glad that other people share their creativity! :) My needles are on the pages behind these.

 Tim's Nana gave me 2 yards of old Holly Hobbie fabric with different pictures on it. I thought this was perfect for a little needlebook! My edges are a bit sloppy, I think if I make another one, I will cut the cover bigger to make sure it gets stitched down.

 The pieced and quilted back. My first time doing that, it was super fun! I got a fat quarter bundle on clearance at Joann's for five bucks and it matched the Holly Hobbie fabric nicely. :) I even used the ribbon that the fat quarters were tied together with for the ribbon ties. Ha!

A New Year of School!

We started school today! I must say, I was rather excited about this year. I set out all the school stuff last night so they would be excited to see their school 'room' this morning when they woke up to eat their back to school breakfast! :)

We tried something new this year. We don't have a lot of room to put workboxes or anything like that. This is what I did....

I put colorful envelopes on the back of our new cabinet doors on the peninsula (that my awesome hubby built :) ) and put an assignment or an activity in each envelope. This worked great! It has forced me to be more prepared and has enabled the kids to work more independently! They also enjoy finding out what their next 'assignment' is going to be and the visual reminder of what they have left has helped them to stay on task. :) I think this is going to be a winner and a great year. So excited!

Carson working on his copywork and Madelynn working on her cross stitch! :)

AND since I have the cutest little guy ever, I HAD to post a picture. :) He'll be six months old in two days.

Sewing with the Bitty

I got this book for the Itty Bitty awhile back at a library book sale and have been anxious to teach her to sew.

Of course, she was only two at the time. Now she is four. Still probably too early to use the book as intended, but I decided what they heck, we are going to tackle it! She is very excited, her sewing box is stocked and ready to go! She started off tracing her sewing card, working very hard. I tried really hard to keep my hands off and let it reflect her 4 year old abilities, but helped a little so that it would be functional to stitch on when it was finished.

So, here she is, displaying her running stitch! She does it most excellently too! Her first project is to start a bookmark which will display all the stitches that she learns. We have it cut out and ready to go, she can't wait! :)

A couple books I have my eye on for her are Made by Me and Sewing School.