A New Bag and a Meme

I sewed a new bag last night. It's something I've been wanting to try for a bit. I didn't have a pattern but I winged it and it turned out ok. This was made from a curtain I bought at my favorite thrift store. I have a few other drapes I bought that are calling my name. I want to turn them into this but in a larger size to be reusable grocery bags. I think that's a project for June when I have a little more time. I had already decided that's one of the things I'm making for my family for Christmas this year so I plan to get started this summer. My youngest sister called me last night and requested hers early since like me she feels terrible guilt over using plastic. I promised to work on them in June. I'm going to finally get mine done too! Sorry for the dark photo the lighting wasn't that great at one am.
Here's the inside of the bag with my library book discussion book for this month. I have two and a half weeks to finish it so I better get reading. I included one divided pocket perfect for a cell phone.

Finally I was tagged for a meme.
Cindy tagged me with this one. The rules are thus:

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

Okay, here goes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was a preschool teacher dating a wonderful man who became my husband. I must of had a lot of free time back then, since that was before having a child. I really don't know what I did with all that free time, I certainly must have wasted it!
2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
clean my house, laundry, sew, return overdue library books, get to the post office.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Chips, sweets, Coke (yes, I know they are bad for me, I can't help myself!)

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
My husband and I joke that if I won a lot of money I wouldn't have anything left because I'd give it all away. So if I was a billionaire I'd invest some(I've learned this concecpt from my husband,) Save a big chunk for Nature Girl to go to college, then I'd buy things for our family members, I'd spend time & money traveling with my husband and daughter, I'd donate money to our local library and to other charities(especially charities that help kids.) I would continue to stay home with my family and enjoy my life like I do now! I don't need a lot of money to be happy.

5. Places I have lived:
Vermont, New York State, Washington State and New Hampshire


6. Peeps I want to know more about:
Cheri, Kerri, Susan, Barb, Tracey

Please do not feel that you have to play, it is just for fun.

Field Trip Day

Today was field trip day for Nature Girl's preschool class. Nature Girl woke up excited & ready to get going. She was very excited that her dad took the morning off to go with us. It turned out to be a fun morning. The field trip was a visit to a farm/zoo. The farm had your typical farm animals and then some more exotic animals like bears, wolves, camels, owls and a monkey. We also went on a wagon ride and had a picnic lunch.
I took lots of pictures but didn't get a single shot of Nature Girl with any of the animals. I think it was because as soon as she could smell them she was out of there!!! Nature Girl has a very sensitive nose and doesn't like animal smells. She liked the owls the best and she thought the reindeer were the stinkiest. Surprisingly they were very stinky!
I got some great pictures of Nature Girl with her dad but he's a little blog shy so instead you get a picture of Nature Girl and I taken on the field trip.

Lunch today

Today was another busy day with eye exams and Nature Girl's last dance class. We rushed off to eye exams early this afternoon then popped by our favorite roadside food stand. It's almost an hour from our house so we don't go there very often. Today it worked out perfectly that our eye exams were located near it. So this was our lunch. I got the two hot dog special with onion rings. It was greasy and sooooo delicious! A yummy treat. Nature Girl was disappointed that we didn't have time to order ice cream after our lunch. Maybe next time.
FYI: The eye exams went well and our eyes haven't changed at all. That's four years running that my husband and I have had the same exact eye prescription. Weird huh?! See, we're perfect for each other!

Mini Quilt Progress & a Swap

I dropped Nature Girl off at preschool this morning then I headed home to reintroduce myself to my sewing machine. We haven't spent anytime together for the last week and a half. With Nature Girl at school, I had two and a half hours of uninterrupted sewing time. It was wonderful! I spent the time working on my quilt for the Miniature Booty Quilt Swap. What's the one problem with having uninterrupted sewing time? No one to show your project too! I was excited about the progress but couldn't show my quilt to anyone. Usually my husband & Nature Girl are my audience and cheer my little craft endeavors. Which reminds me, tonight Nature Girl told me I was the best mom in the world. When I asked why she said"Because you do projects with me. No one likes to do projects alone. I like to help you." Awwwh melt my heart! How sweet is that?
I discovered something cool today. While I was trying to make the quilt tag, I discovered I can print on fabric using my printer. I was able to print a great tag with one problem. I can't get the ink to set, one washing and the tag is toast! I did find some info at Quiltpox.com concerning making quilt tags. If you're interested you can check it out here. I have a new HP printer and I'm not sure I can set the ink after reading the info at quiltpox. So now I have to experiment with making a new tag for Kristie's quilt. I have to finish binding the quilt and remake the tag then it will be finished. I really wanted to share photos but I don't want to ruin the surprise for Kristie so instead I'm posting a pile of fabric. I used a few of these fabrics in the quilt.

Speaking of fabric, Tracey at Itching 2 B Stitching is hosting a fabric swap. For details and to sign up, check here. I'm very excited to get new fabric. I've never done a fabric swap but it sounds fun! What crafter doesn't love surprise fabric?!!!

Quilt Swap

Today I worked a little more on my quilt for the Miniature Booty Quilt Swap before heading off to Nature Girl's dance dress rehearsal. When we got home tonight I opened the mailbox to find a package. Cindy had sent me a miniature quilt. My first thought was, I can't open it because I haven't finished my quilt to send to Kristie. Then I decided it would be rude not to open it so I tore into it and look what Cindy made for me! Thank you Cindy! I'm planning to use it as a wall hanging in my front foyer. This is the first swap for me all of the other's have been for Nature Girl. When I opened the package she asked what it was. I explained it was from a swap Mommy signed up for. She said "Mommy did you sign me up for a swap too?" I told her no. She said "Well you can sign me up for another swap!" She's too funny! I think she's addicted to swap mail!! I'll have to watch for another kid swap.

Here's Nature Girl hamming it up in her dance costume. She's not usually one to ham it up for the camera so we had fun with these pictures today! Her dress rehearsal was this afternoon so I made a few minor adjustments to her costume. She doesn't like the hat because the elastic is too tight. Even the new elastic I put in isn't to her liking. Thankfully she just has to wear it for her first number. She has a tap number and a ballet number in the recital. The recital is Sunday afternoon then we're off for the summer. Yippee!

I'm obviously biased but she's pretty cute! You should see her dancing! By the way thanks to all of you who have commented about her cuteness in past posts. I can't take any credit for this, she doesn't look a thing like me. She looks just like her dad! We tease him saying he looks really cute as a girl !!!

Our Girl's Day

Nature Girl is accustomed to having the attention of her mother and father to herself. Last week we had two extra kids for the week so she was in need of a special day by the end of the week. Friday she and I headed out for a girls day. We packed a picnic lunch and went to her favorite petting farm & ice cream stand. We've been visiting this farm every summer since she was a year old and she has become attached to several animals at the farm. Her favorite is Sunny the horse. Quickly followed by a pair of peacocks named Prince & Poppy.

Here's Prince in all his glory. Isn't he beautiful! Nature Girl was thrilled to be able to purchase one of his feathers for 50 cents. She also picked one out as a birthday gift for her grandmother. Every year Prince and Poppy have little peacock babies that we watch grow through the summer and fall. Nature girl loves them, although she does wonder why Prince calls so loudly.

Nature Girl took this photo of the two piglets. Aren't they sweet! We both agree that the black & white is the cutest. Usually the farm hangs signs with all of the animal's names. The signs weren't up on Friday so I don't think these little piggies have their names yet.

This is Nature Girl sitting on the fence rail with Sunny in the background. Sunny is a 41 year old pony that Nature Girl has adopted as her special friend. He has been a favorite of hers since she met him three years ago. We have the cutest photo of one of those first meetings. Sunny is sticking his head out of the barn window and a little Nature Girl right up close to his face talking to him. I'll have to find it again because it's so sweet.

The farm also has a huge sand pile with toys & shovels for the kids. The two big wood chairs for the grownups are very inviting. I relaxed while she played in the sand. Nature Girl had the farm and the sand pile to herself for most of our visit. She was very happy!
After visiting all of the animals and playing in the sand pile we were off to the hand washing station so we could get cleaned up and get our ice cream. Nature Girl enjoyed a chocolate ice cream cone while I savored a dish of pineapple orange ice cream. Yummy!
We packed up and headed off to our favorite thrift store to end our girl's day. Nature Girl loves thrifting but she has a lot of toys already so we're instituting a new rule for thrifting. One in and two out. I had Nature Girl choose two toys she no longer plays with and we donated them to the thrift store. In return she got to choose one toy to bring home. If we can keep this up we might clean out the extra toys in the playroom over time. Of course I felt a bit of guilt instituting this rule for her when I haven't followed it myself. I guess I should work on following this new rule too. Instead I purchased more fabric that I hope to turn into an apron. I'm thinking I'd like to try making the Gathering Apron from the Sew Mama Sew tutorial contest. Of course I think I'll finish my aprons for the apron swaps first, then I can try the gathering apron for Nature Girl.

The View From Where I Knit

It was a sunny day in Northern New York State. The breeze made it feel a bit cool but overall it was a lovely spring day. We spent the afternoon outside sitting on the deck while Nature Girl and her cousins played in the yard. This was my view from where I sat knitting a dish cloth.

I like to have a project to do while I'm sitting down chatting with family and friends. I enjoy visiting but why not chat and craft at the same time? I get to visit and at the end of the visit I feel like I accomplished something. Today I made this dishcloth from a pattern my mother-in-law gave me several years ago. These make great gifts for family at Christmas time, although I made this for me to replace my old shabby ones.

I started to work on the hexagonal net crochet bag from Orange Flower. It's riddled with errors but I'm very impressed with myself that it has a bit of a hexagonal shape to it. Really I need to pull it apart and try again because all the errors will drive me crazy. For just my second crochet project I think I'm doing ok. I obviously need a lot more practice but I'm enjoying trying to learn. Of course I'm more of a visual learner so I need to schedule another coffee & crochet lesson with my friend Cindy.
We're planning to head home tomorrow afternoon so I'll have lots of time to practice crocheting on the ride home. We'll also finish listening to Harry Potter. Once we get home it's back to business for me. I have lots of projects I need to get working on. I want to have my miniature quilt and my 6" quilt square for my swaps done by the end of next weekend. Hopefully I can accomplish that. We also have Nature Girl's dance recital next weekend so I need to make some minor alterations to her costume. Wait till you see how cute she is in her dance costume!