annual t-shirt refashion

I finished re-making the t-shirts

but it took me about 3 times longer than I expected it to.

Surprising, I know. ;-)

Just as a refresher: 

For the past several years (except one) at annual meeting time, all members get a t-shirt from our church 

 to wear out and about, and also to wear to the meeting.

This all started because

I

do not wear boxy t-shirts. 

period. 

I just don't.

So when we received our first t-shirts, I 'fixed' mine, 

and turned Lily's, which was huge, since she was barely a toddler, into a dress.

Every year since, if we have been given the shirts before the annual meeting, 

I re-make them.

Here they are, in order from first to last:

(if you click on the pictures, it should take you to the original posts, should you wish to see it :-)

that year - the boy's shirts got a little attention, too

I love looking back and seeing how my skills have progressed :-)

(we didn't get shirts in 2012, and in 2013, we got them after the meeting.)

Here,

are this year's:

they were still looking like this until about 8:30 or so Thursday morning.
I added another fabric to the pile, too, a chevron knit I found at Hancock's.

and with that tongue - the photo shoot was over...

(best annual meeting yet, in my opinion. We never went to any of the boring ones - they weren't widely publicized, (plus - little kids...)  

And the fun ones were just a leettle over the top for me, but today's? Today's was just right.)

To borrow a phrase often used at the end of church service,

"It was good to be together today!"

And it was fun to make something that goes with everybody else's,

but is just a little bit different.

Kinda like us.

Happy 50th, Central!

what's in the works

When we last visited about my longterm EPP project

I was out of basted diamonds for my stars.

That has been rectified

and I've managed to get 8 more stars sewn up :-)

I have fewer than 100 diamonds to baste for the stars 

(all solids, left for last because they are no fun - but necessary, I think, for 'breathing space')

Of course, I still have over 500 diamonds to baste for the surrounds, though...

~

I am also working on a super secret commissioned project that is due in December.

I almost said no when I was asked about it.

Actually.

I did say,  "No."

But then I remembered my dream (which I haven't yet shared with you all yet. I need to remedy that)

and said I'd think about it.

I have never attempted this particular kind of sewing before, so I had to test my skills before I could say yes.

My test turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself,

so I said, "Yes."

I started Monday and I'm going to attempt to work on it 30-45 minutes every week day, which should get me finished with time to spare.

Provided, of course, that my guesstimate on how long it will take is correct.

(which would be a first ;-)

~

My priority sewing project this week is turning this:

into dresses for Lil' and Lex', and a top that will more flattering than to me than a regular t-shirt.

By Sunday.

Because it's Annual refashion t-shirt Meeting time again.

(I best get crackin'!!)

This year is our church's 50th anniversary!

The Sams will be in town, and Phip (much loved former pastor) is preaching, so I'm excited about that :-)

~

This may surprise you: I'm linking up with Lee's Work in Progress Wednesdays ;-)

happy anniversary to us :-)

Tyler took us all to the beach for a week to celebrate our 27th anniversary.

It was fabulous!

We traveled light (unbelievably light! the back of the van wasn't even full!)

and the kids were all terrific!

Favorite things, in no particular order:

the whole family going way out deep and riding the waves

the best baked potato. ever. period.

cool bridges

snorkeling at St Andrews

collecting sea shells

seeing a sea turtle

a whole week with my love (that one's from my list ;-)

coffee on the balcony (that's from my list, too :-)

beautiful sunsets

coming back refreshed
ahhh

works in progress

Let's see.

Last week, I was sewing like a woman obsessed.

I don't know why, but I just had to get my Any Which Way quilt top finished. 

And so I did.

(and it's just hung there on a hanger on my closet door for a week now!)

I'd done a little math a few weeks ago and decided that doing a 7x8 layout as I'd intended would make the quilt too big,

plus,

I was getting a little tired of making the blocks,

so I decided that a 5x6 layout would be much better :-)

I bordered each block in either Kona white or Kona snow

(it went so fast, compared to the block construction!)

and then I used RK Yarn Dyed Essex Linen Blend in Steel* for my sashing.

(That went a little more slowly.)

I really like how it turned out.

It's kinda funny;

it's exactly what I had in my head (minus the border - which I had all cut, but decided I liked it better without)

and yet, 

it looks so much 'airier' than I'd anticipated.

It almost seems to sparkle, I think.

I'd purchased several yards of red fabric with 3/4 inch white polka dots for the back,

but it seems totally wrong for it now.

I dug through my vintage sheets and found a white one with light red polka dots that is just perfect :-)

I've decided how I want to quilt it,

but I am sorta paralyzed now

with figuring out how, exactly, to get the design marked on the quilt....

I spent an entire evening trying to make a stencil and that didn't go well at all.

Once I figure out the how,

I need to figure out what to mark it with.

I'm leaning towards a frixion pen, because I'm fairly certain my hera marker isn't going to cut it. 

Even though I have successfully used it, it still makes me a little nervous.

~

I cut out about 570 diamonds from 50 different fabrics yesterday for my EPP project.

Pretty sure I'm all done with the fabric cutting now.

I actually probably over-cut a few blocks worth.

Shocking, I know ;-)

I currently have 10 completed hexagons

and another 54 stars sewn up.

I ran out of prepared diamonds for stars (although I've got about 30 sets of 'surround' diamonds prepped)

so I've spent my last few EPP sessions glue basting more.

I was originally using a sewline glue stick,

but I went through it way too fast.

I tried to use it sparingly, but I guess I am just heavy handed with the glue.

Karen used just 1 stick for an entire quilt;

I used up my first stick after basting 72 diamonds.

There will be 1,320 diamonds in this quilt.

That wasn't going to work!

So, now, I am just using an Elmer's glue stick.

I'm almost embarrased to tell you I'm on my 3rd or 4th one already.

(maybe I need more glue because of the humidity? I don't know!)

patiently waiting their turn with the glue stick...

~

After I finished the quilt top,

but before I cut all those diamonds,

I made each of the girls a swimsuit.

I still need to tweak my pattern because I had to do a bit of altering to both suits after I'd completely sewn them up.

(truth be told - they ended up with 'design elements' they wouldn't have had if they fit properly at first, and are cuter because of them.)

While digging through the swimsuit fabric, Lexi found one of her favorite old t-shirts.

It was way too small for her last year, but she loved it so much I couldn't get rid of it.

When she saw it, she asked if I could please make a dress out of it,

so I cut off the bottom portion and found some fabric to match and made a maxi dress.

She thought that would be a good length for curtsy-ing.

She kept getting caught in it though, so we pinned it up at the sides.

She still got caught in it, so I told her we needed to shorten it.

Darn it - my hem was so pretty, too.

I cut off about 6 inches and re-hemmed it

and made the fabric that I cut off

into diamonds.

:-)

* I have to tell you about this fabric, or rather, the shop where I bought it.

I knew I wanted a textured gray of some sort for my sashing, and I'd ordered a few different fabrics, but none of them were just right. Ordering online is tricky sometimes (lots of times...). Somewhere online, I saw a picture of a gray yarn dyed essex linen and thought that might be what I was looking for. I was getting kinda tired of playing the guessing game ordering sashing fabric though. I'm pretty particular with color matching, and I was going broke trying to match my grays. I found an Etsy shop that carried the fabric and I sent a note to the shopkeeper asking about a couple of different essex colors and which Kona grays they matched. I figured I could then use my Kona color card to help me decide (Yes, I ordered one for myself as a 'congratulations you lost 10 lbs!' gift. If I'd have known how seldom that particular gift-giving occasion would occur, I might have bought myself something a little bigger ;-)  Ya'll, Alice was so fabulous! She wrote me back detailed descriptions of the colors of the fabrics I'd asked about. None of them exactly matched a Kona color (but then,
neither did the grays in my quilt) but I was able to choose, from her descriptions, the perfect fabric for my sashing.
That, my friends, is customer service! And I am one happy customer!!

~

linking up with Lee's Work in Progress Wednesdays :-)

who AM I?!

I turned in our intent-to-homeschool forms today.

It's only the 4th.

I have never, in the history of our homeschooling,

turned the forms in this early.

Early for me

is

one day before they are due.

(last year, I took them on the very day they were due. I wore my stretchy pants and wasn't exactly 'dressed for public'.

I wasn't worried about it, because I was just popping my head in the door and handing over the forms. End of story.

Except that they were resurfacing the road right in front of the office.

Since I'd waited until about 2 hours before it was due,

I couldn't exactly just leave and come back when the road work was done...

I had to park, way up the road on a side street and walk, right by all of the cars driving at a snail's pace,

  across the street 

and past a bunch of road workers.

In my stretchy pants.

with yucky hair.)

~

Lest you be all proud of me,

in dazed confusion, 

or you are wondering who on earth I have become,

I should probably tell you

that I also sent off our homeschool group membership renewal forms today.

They were due in May.

the new black, and then some

TKD testing was today.

I was so nervous!

The biggest news is:

Jeremiah is now a black belt!!

(He put us all through agony though, and didn't break all 3 boards 'til his final try. 

One of the moms told me she was as happy when Jeremiah earned his belt, as she was when her own daughter earned hers!

 I love the camaraderie of TKD.) 

The saddest news is:

Josiah didn't break all of his boards, so he didn't earn a new belt.

He was able to be happy for Jeremiah anyways,

but gosh it stung!

It was so sweet to see his friends (siblings included) loving on him and encouraging him for next time.

Little Zeke asked his momma if she had any toys in her purse,

'cause he was hoping to find something (anything) that would make Josiah feel better.

Sweet little love.

We were so pleased that even though Josiah was sad, and felt horrible about not getting his black belt,

he still encouraged and congratulated his friends.

He's maturing quite nicely, I think.

And that belt, whenever he does earn it, will be especially sweet.

This was just after not earning his black belt. I think it would have been pretty tough to get up and perform after that!

Brandon passed his 2nd midterm with flying colors,

(and no stress to the audience, since he broke all 3 of his boards on the first go-round. whew!)

and, as an instructor in training, was a testing judge for the first time today.

The girls both did awesome on their kicks and form;

Lily earned her orange belt,

and Lexi earned an orange-striped white belt,

although, Mr Townsed said if she'd have performed like that a week ago, he'd have let her test for a full orange belt.

She did her form for Tyler and I Thursday evening and we were shocked at how well she could do;

I've only seen her do it at class and she's always watching a higher rank and following them

I had a sneaking suspicion the 'watching' was a crutch,

and boy howdy, it was!

Brandon and I told her she wasn't allowed to copy anyone - 'cause she did waaayyy better doing her form from memory.

Mr Townsend started something new this cycle, and had all of the black belts up there when the certificates and belts were handed out.
He figured they all help with the students training, and he wanted them to get to congratulate them more formally,
and have the students thank the black belts.
After Jeremiah received his belt, they added him to the 'line-up'.
His smile was so huge at first!

Congrats, Jeremiah,

and all of my kiddos!

Momma is so proud of ALL of you!!

(I'll add more pictures once some get posted on FB and I can swipe them, Many thanks to the Taggs for the testing pics
'cause we totally bombed on picture-taking)

We went to Dairy Freeze after testing to celebrate. Here's everyone watching TJ play Hair Salon 2

eight

Eight.

That's how many pull-ups I did 

over the course of the day.

Eight!!