OMG !!!! Do you realize September is almost here???? I mean REALLY close???? Do you see all these logos???? They are my swaps due on or about the first. But wait there is more!!! There is my Yahoo groups too......A favorite Literary character, a fall pincushion, a primitive Halloween doll and a Fall doll to a buddie in Australia ( which by the way her birthday is tomorrow so theres a little somethin' in the mail to her too.) And do you think I would have all these completed by now??? I can proudly say they are almost done, some just need sewn, or cut or shipped or designed but all in all they are all in some form near completion. I can't wait to share the finished projects with you!!

My New Toy

Last weekend I loved my husband for loobing and greasing, and oiling and cleaning my squeaky old machine to get me through a few more projects. This week I love him for surprising me with a new machine!!! I have been professionally sewing for decades and never had a machine that did more than zig-zag. See that number 66??? Thats how many different stitches this baby does!! It actually has a button thatmakes it so you can sew with NO FEET !! No power pedal on the floor!! It is such a great idea but I had the hardest time NOT using my foot. So I still do but it is a really cool option!! It also has an automatic needle threader. Once you figure it out its nice but figuring it out was pretty funny. It came with DVD instructions. So I am freeze framing, taking off my glasses to see the needle, putting on my glasses to see the next step, taking off my glasses to see the needle, backing the DVD up because I forgot step one, realizing I lost my glasses when trying to thread the needle and then throwing everything off the table and accussing family members of stealing them and then finding them in my hair. Ok back to step one....... it really isn't hard to do once you know what you are doing. It was me not the machine!!
She also purrs so quietly I can sew in the middle of the night and no one will know.

It may not be my mother-in-laws $10,000 sewing machine but it is the best one for me.....and so is my husband!!!! I love you Malcolm!! Thank you!!

Greetings from California

To all my rain drenched friends on the East coast,

Greetings from SunnyCalifornia !!

Sunday brought a sun filled adventure for me and my little buddie. We went to California Adventures and Disneyland ( again ). I think this is about Abbie's 25th trip this year. I have not been on a few rides that I was really excited to try. Of course I had to try the brand new Toy Story Mania ride. That was the BEST ride EVER!!!!!! It is 4-d, interactive and just so COOL !!!

The other ride I was really excited to try was Soarin' over California. This is a beautiful 3D flight over the mountains, orchards, deserts and beaches of the state we live in. Almost made me happy to live here until it flew us over the desert and I remembered what it was like at home.....brown and dirt!!

Of course we rode on Pirates of the Caribbean ride and had the most fabulous clam chowder bread bowls in New Orleans Square. ( Ok, truth is I just wanted to put a pic of Johnny on my page!! While looking for a pic I read that Johnny is going to be Barnabas Collins in Tim Burtons Dark Shadows....eeek.....scared me as a kid and he is going to be the Mad Hatter in a Disney 3D Alice in Wonderland.....can't wait until 2010 !! )

Next trip to Disneyland will be next month to look for Halloween decorations and costumes.

Aprons and Annies

Besides my addiction to aprons, my other passion is doll making. I have joined a group of incredible women all with the same passion. I am learning so much from them about the primitive style that is so popular now. When I was designing and selling dolls and patterns back in the early 90's everything was "cute" . Its been exciting to see the path this art has taken.

Primitives are to look ....well old, used and loved. I have been busy sewing staining and stuffing for challenges and swaps with my new friends. Maybe soon I will go back into production and sales but for now I am just enjoying all the great patterns I have been finding on line. I hope to offer a freebie pattern link to my blog every week. Here are some of my latest dolls that I have made an received.

Out Smarted the City

Our lovely desert city of Lancaster does not allow home businesses to put signs in their yard to advertise a business. Well I am a daycare located less than a block from a school. When I heard the afterschool programs were all full and Arnold ( the governor ) cut back on aid to some of my daycare families I knew I had to do something to drum up business and help out our community at the same time. We are allowed to have signs on our vehicles but they really aren't that noticable when driving down the road. Think BIG !! One of my best friends and also a daycare parent donated a 15 passenger van to us to use for feild trips. Aha!! The van is now my billboard for my daycare. As you can see we did some creative painting on it and parked it between the house and the school. I added flags to the yard and have had the big bounce house inflated all week. You can't miss us now!! So far we have enrolled two new afterschool kids because of the van !! Neccessity is the mother of invention right!

Back to school

Agust brings us back to school time. We only have two of our own still in public school. Adam starting 11th grade and Abbie starting 4th grade. Our grandaughter, Roxy also goes to Kindergarten this year all to the same school that all my older kids went to many, many years ago. We are so lucky to live close enough for the kids to walk to and from school.

Our Own Gold Medalist

Our Beautiful Gymnast, Abigail, wowed them at her first competition ! She scored a perfect 10 in each of her 4 events. We of course are as proud as possible with her progress. She advanced from beginner to level 3 in just 6 months. She is blessed with the greatest coaches and support team, Jimmie and Crystal who make sure she gets to practices and cheer her on.

Next stop the Olympics!!!