Tulsa State Fair Winner

This year for the Tulsa State Fair, Emma Jane wanted to enter her sewing in the competitive portion of the fair.  They have an age category for 10 to 13 year olds to enter.  The fair had been going on for about a week before we finally made it.  You aren't told how you placed so you have to go and look for yourself.  When we walked into the arena it took some time to locate her age group and when we found her projects they both were adorned with ribbons. 

She won a first place and a third place!  She was so excited!

This is a quilted pillow she made which earned first place in the pillowcase division.

 

Her lunch pail and place mat earned a third place ribbon behind two very sophisticated quilts.

She just started sewing in March and already has surpassed me.  This has really fueled her energy towards the craft.

When we first arrived at the fair, I heard Lucy say "that girl in red looks like 'sissy'".  I was focused on getting to the exhibit area so I didn't stop to look at what she was talking about.  In typical mom fashion I dragged my five year old by the hand through crowds of people ignoring what she was saying to me.  Then she said it again.  I was once again too distracted to pay her mind.

Finally, upon entering the building to buy the mega ride pass Emma Jane and I saw these banners everywhere with her picture on it.  I said "Emma!  Look!"  

Lucy looked up at me and said, "I told you about five times that I saw sissy but you were so extracted!"  (I am pretty sure she meant distracted, but I didn't correct her because she was feeling pretty superior to me, so I just let it go and told her that I was very sorry for being too extracted.)  She smiled and told me that it was okay but that I should put my listening ears on next time.

The back story:  About two years ago someone came to Emma's school and recruited children to be in print ads for the fair.  We had to sign a release and got into the fair for free.  We were followed around by a photographer and they were photographed for a couple of hours and then set free to have fun.  Then we never saw anything else about it.  Until this year when we walked around and saw these banners.  The person who saw us taking this picture said they had these banners out last year, but I certainly didn't see them.  (And neither did Lucy!)

All in all, it was a very big day for Emma Jane.  She won two ribbon and got to see herself all over the Tulsa State Fair. 

Sewing with Zippers

This weekend Emma Jane and I conquered my fear of zippers. I have never sewn zippers before and am intimidated by them.

No more! Zippers in hand we went to the scrap fabric tub...err...um...closet and picked out fabric for make-up bags. (Never mind that neither of us wear make-up. That's not the point.)

We sewed these little bags and the zippers work perfectly!

Emma's is the shoe fabric with the adorable blue lining!

The Einstein Quilt

Because many of you have asked how it turned out, I thought I would post pictures of the Einstein quilt I made for the auction.  I still really wish I had it as a keepsake.  But I am getting over it.  I realize that I can teach my girls a great lesson by getting past this.  I also realize that Emma Jane already learned a valuable lesson.

One night when I was cutting and piecing the quilt together she said, "Mom, I love watching you accomplish something you have never done before.  It makes me think I can do anything.  It makes me think that nothing is beyond my abilities."

That is all I needed.  At the beginning of April I had never made a quilt before and by the third week I had one.  And I had a little girl who was inspired to be creative and never stop learning.

Fabric Flower Tutorial

I have noticed that there are all kinds of fabric flowers on Pinterest.  So Emma Jane and I decided to make some.  We used scraps from a fat quarters to make the flowers.  I cut the fabric in 2 inch by however long a fat quarter is.

I ironed the 2 inch strip in half to make it 1 inch wide.  Then we used chip board to hot glue the end of a piece.  Emma Jane started to roll the fabric and then pressed it into the chipboard.

Then she began to twist the fabric and glue it down as she went around.

Once we ran out of fabric we trimmed the chip board with scissors so that it didn't show behind the flower.

  

Then we hot glued the chipboard to a wreath we wrapped with burlap.  I attached some paper flowers we made a long time ago using a Martha Stewart paper flower kit.  I added some ribbon and tulle and hung my wreath.

Crafting resolutions

In addition to writing/blogging more, I am resolving to spend more time in the craft room.  I have a very nice space to craft in but never seem to have the time to craft anymore.

I specifically want to do more sewing.  And I would really like to sew with Emma.  She has shown an  interest in sewing and I want to nurture that interest.  She is old enough now to learn a few skills and take off on her own.  She recently sewed a pouch filled with rice which she calls an "ouchy pouchy".  You can put it in the freezer or the microwave and put it on what aches.  Lucy asks for one every time she gets hurt.  They are really useful and she used scrap fabric to sew them so the cost was negligible.

My hope is that if I write this resolution down for all to see, I will keep it.  And thereby have something crafty to blog about.  I think our first project should be aprons because I think learning to ruffle fabric is a very important lesson.

Will someone out there in blog land pester me until I do this???

Baby Jack

A friend at work is having a baby.  He is going to be named Jack.  Now, while I was limited at first by the fact that you can't spell his name using the periodic table of elements, I came up with a creative gift nonetheless.

I found this cooler first, which has a dog on it just like Lindsey's dog.  So I had to have the cooler and it was in the correct colors of her decor.  (As if she will store the cooler in the nursery, whatever!)
Then I started thinking of a beach day (or in Oklahoma, a lake day, aboard our sailboat) theme for the entire gift.

So baby Jack got beach towels, a sun hat and a cold pop to go inside his cooler.

But I could not stop there, so I added a bag tag

And burp cloths

I bought this chevron fabric here.  The color in my photos are not as vibrant as they are in real life.

Then I cut strips to fit the center of diapers and sewed the fabric to the diaper. Then I machine embroidered them.