A New Friend

While we were in Colorado my RoRo was also in Pagosa. RoRo was there with her friend Sue. Sue has the best condo I have ever seen. She has every sewing machine needed to make anything you could ever think of making.

Someone forgot to tell me about RoRo being there so I was not prepared to sew. However there is the cutest quilt shop I have ever seen (ok so I will admit I have never been to any other quilt shop in my life but still). This quilt shop was in the back of the hunting, fishing, and pet store!!! RoRo got me a pattern and the fabric to make a bag. It is called a "quilted jelly roll purse". RoRo also wants me to learn how to quilt, hence the quilted part of the bag!!! The bag was a little intimidating at first but with the two best sewing teachers in the world I managed to learn how to "stitch in the ditch", quilt, and put grommets in a bag. I think the bag is super cute and I love it. It is huge and I can use for almost anything.

This bag is not only adorable, the handles are adjustable. In the picture they are in the normal bag over the shoulder position, but they can also cross over one shoulder (like you would carry a messenger bag).

RoRo did very good picking out a bag that I would love!!!

I am so glad I got to meet Sue and hang with her for a couple of days. She is awesome lady who has many, many talents.

I love you RoRo you are the best stand in grandma (even though you are way to young to actually be my grandma) a girl could ask for. Thanks for always coming to my programs at school when I was little and for not being scary when I was 2!!!

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Ok so when I got home I had to make another one but this time I made the small version here is the finished product.
Here it is in the normal way to carry a bag.



Here it is over the shoulder messenger bagesk.

The Beautiful Martinez Canyon

This is Chimney Rock, it's between Pagosa Springs and Durango, Colorado.

We went to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I have officially decided, next to Texas, Colorado is the best state. The reason for the trip was for "the boys" to ride their motorcycles in the mountains. We had a very eventful first day... First we had a motorcycle incident (you will have to ask my dad for this story, I don't think I am allowed to give details... Just know that I am freakishly strong and can lift 1200 lbs!!!). Then my cousin Matt was rushed to the emergency room. Long story short after two trips to the emergency room, a trip to another hospital in a larger town, and a billion different diagnosis the doctors finally decided to send him off of the mountain and declared it altitude sickness.

The fun times on the trip were plentiful, I promise!!! I have no idea where the boys went most of the time. I believe, Chama, Taos, and Telluride were some of the stops along the way. I weaseled my way in to one of the rides. YAY!!! We went to Creede, Colorado. A very cute little town with alot of history, best known for being the largest silver mine in Colorado. The ride was beautiful. When we arrived in Creede, we found the Mining Museum. This was a cool (and by that I mean COLD) place, my uncle worked in a mine years ago and added to the musuem. We had a great ride. We got rained on the way back which was my first experience with pelting rain drops to the face at 50 MPH, I don't know how Seth survived because he was about 100, I am just kidding DoDo. But we made made it back to the cabin safe and sound and oddly enough dry.

Here are some pictures from our trip....


This was the Creede Underground Mining Museum and Community Center!!!


If you have ever been to South Fork, Colorado, you have seen this large and I think very random lumberjack named Biggin.


We also went to Mesa Verde on our trip. I have been to Colorado, a billion times and Pagosa Springs, a million times. (I was told, on this trip, I exaggerate!!!) But I have never been to Mesa Verde. If you have never been I would suggest you go, however if you get car sick, are afraid of heights, don't like the way someone drives up a mountain, you have been warned. I, myself, who has never been car sick a day in my life can now safely say that it is no bueno. After I got over that my mom and I joined the rest of the family and went exploring. Mesa Verde is amazing, the cliff dwellings are crazy nuts!!! We were able to go into one and I do not even have words to describe how cool they were. We saw many different types of cliff dwellings from afar, as well.

I have to say thank you to Seth, my cousin (who might be a mountain goat, he was so fast) for giving us the idea to go to Mesa Verde.

More pictures....

This is the one we explored.

Here I am in front of the cliff dwelling...it was four stories tall... one is below ground.


Another cliff dwelling...
If you look closely in the middle of the picture there is a cliff dwelling...

Here's my question how did they get in there?????


We had a great time... We missed the part of our family who had to leave early, it would have been a lot more fun with y'all there, but somehow we managed!!! I don't think there was one night we didn't play games (Speed Scrabble was the favorite, no matter what Seth and Uncle Dummie say). We laughed till our stomachs hurt and ate more then anyone should, but hey that made it a great vacation....

And for Seth I leave you with....

Whaaaaattt?!?!?!

I had the day off and my goal was to make pajama pants. That didn't happen but I did end up making pillows for my parents and I. Just had an idea for pillows so I followed my whim and here they are.

I also finished a wallet for my mom. I found this fabric at my favorite fabric store City Craft!!!! I saw the teapot fabric and immediately thought of my mom and this is what came of it. This is one of the types of wallets that I am selling the "Quilted Wallet".Here it is folded!

Here is the inside!

That is all that was accomplished today!

DoDo and an Update

Well hello, it has been forever. I have been crazy busy the past month I have started a little, and I do mean little, business. I am selling some of the things that I am making. But more on that later. We had Vacation Bible School at my church, I had an amazing time with a great group of kids. There were over 2000 kids and they gave almost $14000 for drinking wells in Ghana. My family and I went on a vacation to Riviera Maya, more on that later (with pictures I promise). We also went to my grandma's in Millican for the 4th of July weekend. We had a great time down there with the family, Piper is getting so big we all celebrated her 10 month birthday with a monkey cupcake. The boys went fishing and Hannah, Emily (Hannah's friend) and I joined to shoot the guns. Thanks to Cody (Jake's friend) we were able to shoot an AR15 along with the shotguns.

But now I am back at sewing and crafting.

I got a Cricut!!!!!!
I have had so much fun making random things learning how to use it.

I made a bag for my grandma, we call her DoDo, and no I have absolutely no idea why we call her that but everyone does! We are going to Colorado next week and so I decided to make her a bag. My mom's customer and now my friend Alice gave me this pattern. It is made with an old pair of blue jeans. I liked the pattern but I don't think that I would use blue jeans next time they were stretchy and very difficult to cut to the right size. But they do add alot of detail to the bag. The edges are sewn on the outside which allows for the edges to fray. I also added the prairie points to the top, super cute. The pocket on the outside is made from the back pocket of the blue jeans with the state of Texas appliqued to the pocket. I think it turned out very nicely.

I hope she likes it!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

I am a little late on posting her birthday but better late then never.

For her birthday I made her a bag. I assembled the bag like I did the laminated cotton bag in the previous post. However I added batting to the inside to make it a little more stable. I used the scissor fabric that I posted about from City Craft. I added a pocket to the outside with the scissor fabric and a pocket to the inside with the black broadcloth fabric I used for the outside lining. I ended up breaking 3 needles while making this bag. OOPS! It is not perfect but it still functions as a bag.

For dinner I made Mom's Meatloaf and Green Beans. For her birthday cake I made an Italian Cream Cake.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!!

Sewing Day

My friend Carrie and I had a Sewing Day a couple of weeks ago. She came over to learn how to sew, not sure I am the best teacher since I just make it up as I go. We started our weekend by going to City Craft, an amazing fabric store in Dallas. I bought some laminated cotton and oilcloth along with some really cool scissor fabric, to be seen in a later blog. The next day we began our adventure. Carrie made some amazing pillow cases. (Which I will copy the idea and make for myself one day)

She did an amazing job!!!!

Our next project of the day was to make bags!
We had no pattern to go by really, so I was making it up as we went.
We started by making the bag as usual. We used laminated cotton for the outside. I used a bright pink cotton for the inside lining. I then made my own bias tape out of black and white striped oilcloth for the top piece. The handles are the laminated cotton and bright pink cotton. I think it turned out very well.


Carrie did the same type of thing with her bag as well. Instead of tieing her bias tape together she sewed the sides completely. I think that she did a great job on her second project ever!



We finished the day with a fish fry with my parents Life Group.
A yummy ending to a fun day!

Avery

One of my best friends graduated from college. I have known her since Kindergarten, so if I have done the math right, it has been a great 18 years. So for her graduation present I thought I would make her a little something.

So here it is....

The apron is called "dig it". I think it turned out really well. The big pocket is 1 large pocket with pleated flaps to make 3 pockets. I learned how to make my own bias tape (not as hard as I thought it would be but I'm still very happy to go to Hancock's and buy it). The pattern I used had the extra pocket so I added it too, however I don't know if I like it or not. But nevertheless I added it. I "hemmed" the edges of the apron. Well I think I hemmed the edges I have no clue how to hem but they look good and their are no rough edges!!!! So there it is.... the picture is not that great I tried to take 1 while I tried it on but that didn't work so well, the apron is just laying flat. Maybe I will get a picture of her wearing it one of these days!

I hope she likes it!!!!

Inside Out

I chose the title of my blog because of the song From the Inside Out by Hillsong United.

My prayer is that I am consumed from the inside out so that the people in my life will see HIM not me.

The cry of my heart is to bring YOU praise.

I pray that this blog will bring HIM praise through all of the randomness that I post!

A thousand times I've failed

Still you mercy remains

And should I stumble again

Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart and my soul, I give You control

Consume me for the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise, become by embrace

To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains

The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out