Before and After

Before 

After

I've slowed down on sewing and knitting and had turned to home improvement for a bit. I have more to go and I'm excited about all the changes. I painted our back door the same as the front door. It's so bright and happy rather then that muddy light brown. 

I also took down the shower doors. They are from....the 80's? and were cloudy and had collected nasty stuff. I always felt claustrophobic in there and wanted to remove them but wasn't sure how to do it. I finally did it one day after taking a shower....starting with taking the doors off just to see if I could do it. This proceded to the full removal. AHHH! It felt so good to have them off. T.J. used his man power to remove the last screw on the siding. There was some discoloration on the tub from old screws from I'm guessing a previous door and the caulk and glue that kept them up there. I used a razor blade to get all the old caulk up and filled the screw holes in the tile with water resistant caulk. Next will to paint the walls with a semi-gloss bright white and re-caulk all around the tile.

Before

   

After

Engaged

Mo Gambill Design: Austin, TX (ring box by Cassie)

 

3 Uncut Black Diamonds

Sunday night T.J. proposed in a hilarious and funny way. He's had the ring since October but was waiting for my brother Charlie to get married and for me to graduate. We had been at Charlie's for dinner with my family and later that night we were sitting on the his back porch. The guys were enjoying a cigar and the girls were drinking wine when Charlie's wedding was brought up. Later on Charlie drove us home (cause we walked there and had a little too much to drink). We were crawling into bed when I started to get gooshy and sentimental saying "When are you going to marry me!?" (Meanwhile our really good friend blurted to me 2 nights earlier that T.J had lunch with my dad) It had been in my mind all weekend and I was too excited. After T.J. found out I knew it was going to happen he jumped out of bed in his boxers ran outside to his car while I followed him saying "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" (I ran into the stereo and banged up my knee in the process) I get outside and T.J. gets on one knee while I'm saying OWE!! and our dog is wandering down the street and ask "Katy will you marry me?" Of course I said yes and we laughed so hard. T.J. got ice for my knee and rounded up our dog, we cracked a beer, said cheers, and danced to our song in our underwear and p.j's. Classic us.

Sneak Peak: Becca's Nursery

Becca finished her bird mobile that she made with the inspiration the blog Spool. She picked her prints and hand sewed 11 birds. She found the sticks on her walked with her dog Eli. Saturday I helped her hang it because she is almost 9 months pregnant and doesn't move around quite well as all of you might know who have been there. It was definitely a challenge! I actually wanted to throw it across the room a couple of times. It was balancing act. It took much patience and many tries to get all the birds to sit up straight and the branches to be level. We finally got it with multiple strings instead of the one that goes through the example on Spool.....how they did that took some scientific thought!!???

The nursery is coming along and this was one big task that needed to be tackled. Next week the room will be completed and Everett will get to come enjoy his mobile in a little more than two weeks. I will share the whole room and all it's cuteness.

Snow Days and Sewing

The snow has allowed me to spend hours and hours in the studio. T.J's been working from home and we finally have a studio both of us can work in and not get in each others way. I have knocked three things off my project list since the snow started. Four things including last Sunday.

Baby Bedding

Fabric: Could 9 Organic Cotton

Sheets: pre-pattern cut. Double up.

 

Blanket Patch Layout

Natural Batting.  Pin Strip Shirt Fabric (Back)

Blanket Completed

Pre-Front Pillow

Completed Owl Pillow

Pillow, Blanket, and Crib Skirt

The first thing on my project list was baby bedding for Everett's nursery. My sister Becca asked me to sew her baby bedding months ago. We went to City Craft and she picked out great nursery prints by Cloud 9. Becca got enough fabric for two fitted crib sheets, a crib skirt to tie at the bottom of the crib, a blanket, and a pillow.

1. I started with the crib sheets by using a pattern. I doubled up the two prints and cut them at the same time. It called for one package of 1/4 woven elastic. It was daunting at first to make fitted sheets, but once I read the directions it was very simple and quick.   
2. Next I made a crib skirt. I went to Becca's house and measured then came home and made a three part skirt with one pleat in the middle on the long side and ribbon at the top of each corner/middle to tie onto the crib bottom.   
3. The blanket was a challenge, since it was my first time making a patch work. I carefully laid it out trying to balance of each print and color. I was inspired by Simple Sewing for Baby's play quilt with pocket, except I didn't make a pocket, made it bigger, and used a more complex pattern. Becca wanted some orange in the blanket to tie in some lamps that are in the room, so we picked out some tangerine giant cotton ric rac.  
4. The pillow was fun to make. A while back I made Becca some owl aplique napkins, so this and the baby shower invite inspired me when doing the design for the pillow case. I categorized the prints by color and designated them to certain parts of the pillow. I added a button for the eye with spokes by threading on top of the button, making it more secure for baby hands. The case is removable for wash when baby gets it dirty! 

Becca and J.T. have been busy with the nursery. It is coming along so great! Becca has put her flair on it with Everett's name, each letter in a different typography, texture, and color. She also made a cute hand sewn mobile with stuffed fabric birds perched on wood branches. Her co-worders helped put up tree adhesive trees she found on etsy. J.T. has remodeled their crib from a oak to a dark grey. It has to be the cutest DIY baby room I've seen. 


SOON to come......the NURSERY completed, with all items placed. I can't wait to SHARE.  


Napkins

This is number 3 on my list of projects. I got this fabric in the summer of 09' to make napkins for T.J. and me with orange and yellow ric rac. I'm not crazy about the floral yellow-orange print, but I plan on adding to this set to make it bigger for when guests come over for dinner. Can't wait to wipe my dirty mouth on them :) I want to never use paper napkins again....even when taking my lunch in a box.

Snow Days and Sweets

Valentine Sugar Cookies 

 

 

 Chocolate Chip Pancakes

 

It's been a 4 day snow day and I haven't left the house. So to keep myself entertained I'm been baking cookies and cooking some chocolate chip pancakes. 

When I was little my mom and I would make sugar cookies. I loved cutting the dough with the huge selection of cookie cutters my mom had. We would make a huge batch, doubling it because of the six kids that inhabited the house and were always looking for something to eat. We would make different color icings with simply powdered sugar and milk. When I added the food coloring I loved watching the color swirl in as I mixed. When we would apply the icing my mom would get out the tooth picks to swirl the two colors with a marble effect. I still love making sugar cookies but haven't in a very LONG time. I saw a heart shaped cookie cutter at JoAnn's for 99 cents and put it in the basket. The hibernation in the house has made it the perfect time to bake these somewhat high maintenance cookies. I used a Martha Stewart recipe of the ideal sugar cookie and royal icing. I modified the icing, which called for egg whites by adding a tablespoon or two of milk and a bit of vanilla extract. This made it less thick and easier to mix and spread. 

The chocolate chip pancakes was lunch one afternoon. How delicious they were. T.J. picked up some buckwheat pancake mix at the store and Nestle chocolate chips. The mix happened to be glueten free too, which wasn't bad at all. 

Guest Bedroom: Before & After

BEFORE

Fabric

Pillow Case

Pillows Finished

Curtains Finished

Room Complete

1982: Mothers Day Gift From My Mom to My Grandmother

The new house is bigger then our old one, and one of the advantages to this is having a guest bedroom. It has been fun to decorate with a clean slate and the use of old things and new things. My sisters gave me some old things of theirs to make them new to me. Jennifer gave me a couple yards of a fun modern print and Becca gave me two antique chairs, a side table, and vintage sheets all belonging to my grandmother. T.J. insisted on hanging the longhorns that belonged to his grandfather. All of this came together in a vintage/antique/western/modern prints collaboration. I even had a place for my mothers owls that she made for her mom in 82' and a photo shoot I did in college of black and white prints of my two girlfriends with vintage clothing, hula hoops, and bubbles. The fabric was made into curtains, and pillow covers. It's ready to be slept in for any guest coming to visit. Hopefully it will be used soon by some Denton folk, but for right now Kiki thinks it's her own personal room.

The Purple Lady

 

Rachel's Birthday Party 2009

My friend Rachel is obsessed with the color purple. She claims it as her own. Her glasses are purple, her clothes are purple, her coat is purple, her shoes are purple.....even her pinata on her birthday was purple. So it is only right for me to knit her a purple circle scarf. I did the double drop stitch every four rows. It's ready to be delivered to Denton, to a lady I miss, a good excuse to leave town for a night to listen to blue grass, build fires, and let the dogs play in her backyard.

Future Projects

I have a list of projects that I slowly mark off a list that I keep in my studio. Since we moved, the list has gotten longer. Some things have been on the list for over a year. I hope to tackle them in the next two months. Here is my list thus far.

1. Sew Baby Bedding for my future nephew.
2. Sew Curtains for the guest bedroom.
3. Sew Napkins (I bought the fabric in the summer of 09')
4. Re-do 1920's/30's? Dresser: Fix drawer and refinish.
5. Knit Button Cowl for Becca. 
6. Bathroom: Remove awful sliding shower doors, re-paint with gloss paint, and caulk.
7. Paint Vent Hood in Kitchen
8. Sew Pillows for the Guest Bed
9. Re-do 1970's end table. 
10. Build a garden bed in the front yard.
11. Paint Chalk board?? Really haven't figured that one out.  

The sweetest guy...

.....makes me breakfast every morning and leaves it in the fridge for me to wake up to after he has gone to work. He feeds the animals, lets out the doggy and always kisses me goodbye when I'm in my slumber. He's my T.J. and I don't know what I would do without him. I don't like cooking that much ( I'm too critical with myself and I think anything I cook never turns out good) so he does...and I clean. A perfect match I would say.

Blueberry Pancakes

The winter always brings comfort food to mind when we are sitting in the house with our long socks and slippers on. I bought blueberries at the store....for what I don't know. Then Friday I thought...."I want blueberry pancakes!!" as I said at the dinner table. Sunday I finally made them. I used whole wheat pancake mix....although buckwheat is better in my opinion. Either way we demolished them, along with some ice coffee. T.J. is building my confidence back up for cooking. I've been out of practice for too long.