IT'S BEEN A LOOONNNNG TIME!

I am downright embarrassed about the amount of time that has elapsed since my last post!I have been busy around the house and in the flower garden since our return to Maine! That doesn't mean that quilting has been at a standstill, though! June brought with it two special graduations and I was able to finish dorm quilts for the graduates. My nephew's has been signed, sealed and delivered ! My niece has seen her quilt but I have just finished the binding . I will take pictures before I head to southern Maine to deliver it.

I have been able to sew most Mondays with a group of friends that meets year round at a local clubhouse. I so enjoy my time there. I have finished up two UFO's from my fabric closet. Both of them  were started at  Maine Quilt show  classes a few years ago. I am putting the finishing touches on one and will count that as my 2nd Sunday Christmas project. The other one is hanging on my covered deck! Very cheerful!

I am off to stitch a little before firing up the grill. Enjoy the rest of your day.

With needle and thread,
Pieceful

Baby Gifts!

Camp

Very soon I will be packing up to spend three weeks at summer camp! While there I co-lead the Counselor-In-Training program. This will be my ninth summer working at this camp! It is difficult for me to comprehend that this year the group of young girls I had in my cabin my first year (when they were 7) are now sixteen and will be in the CIT program!! Before I head to camp though, I have a few stops to make! Also, there is a Baby Shower planned for the weekend that I return from camp so I have been getting ready for that too.

College Gifts

Before I arrive at camp I will get to stop in and deliver late graduation presents to my cousins! I got them both bins of school supplies and odds and ends (batteries, Tylenol etc.). My cousins are ten years younger than me and live a fair piece away so it will be nice to see them.

Grab Bags

I will also have the chance to stop in and finally see my best friend as a new Mommy! It's been quite a while since I've had a good visit with Beth so I can't wait to catch up. On Pinterest I saw some great version of handy Grab Bags for new Moms. I made two versions. One for Beth and one for the baby shower for my friend Sarah that I will be attending when I return from camp.

Grab a Bite

My first Grab Bag is intended for dining purposes! I made some cute little bibs then added 2 wash clothes, hand wipes and a little bibs then put them all into their own little drawstring pouch. Quick and easy to throw into the diaper bag or glove compartment!

 Quick Change

The next Grab Bag is for a quick, convenient diaper change. Each bag has a diaper, wipes, a little trash bag

The material that I used is left over from the Diaper Bag that she will be getting too! Sorry for the poor picture, I was in a bit of a rush to get this posted before I have to get packing!

Stay tuned. I will be at camp for three weeks but I know that Pieceful will have some posts during that time!

Respectfully,

Harmony

Summer Vacation

Quick Update!

I realize that it has been some time since my last blog, but life got very hectic with the end of the school year! Just because I wasn't typing doesn't mean I wasn't crafting though! I'll show you a few things I've been working on  but first I would like to share with you some very wonderful news! In my last blog I shared with you the story of making a 'Designer' hospital gown my friend Ashley waiting for a double lung transplant (see earlier post here). Well, my gown got there just in time! On day 540 of waiting, she got the call! She is now the proud owner of a new set of lungs!  She is recovering remarkably well, but it will be a long road for her yet so please do keep her in your prayers. Here is a picture of her in her gown just before surgery.

I have since made another 'Designer' hosiptal gown. This one looks quite different. One of my very dear teaching friends has a  13 year old son and he was just recently listed for a heart transplant. This will be his second! It just amazed me how science can give to quality of life. Being a teenage boy from Northern Maine, he clearly loves to hunt! So, I thought it only fitting to make him a camouflage and hunter's orange gown for his big hunt for a heart! Lucky for me the kid has a great sense of humor!

More Recent

We bought a new couch! I thought that perhaps it was also time to update the throw pillows too since I was still using the same cases that Pieceful made for me in college. I love to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle so you may recognize this fabric as the same material that I made a diaper bag out of, but the colors go very well with the brown of the couch! I'll show you the old cases to the new cases. The front is the first picture and the back is the second.

From:

To:

 Pinterest

These next projects I got the ideas for on Pinterest! Where would we be in life without Mod Podge? I certainly wouldn't have this trendy new Kitchen Mat or Mouse Pad! I simply Mod Podge-ed fabric on! The kitchen mat was a foam mat that I found 50% off at WalMart. The original had great big oranges on the front. My kitchen walls are yellow so I used this cute bee material! Now that summer vacation is here I have the time to play with my camera more as you will see in the photo below.

Quilt Retreat

For my birthday this year Pieceful is taking me on a Quilt Retreat! I am very excited as it will be my first. It's not until this fall, but I already have a list of supplies to bring. I will need to bring a gift for a game we will play. As I was making my Mouse Pad I thought of a fun (inexpensive) gift so I have been watching the sales racks at WalMart and what do you know - I already found nearly everything I need! So I've made up the gift and tucked it away all ready to go. My gift idea is a Colorful Computer Station! There are flower pens, a Mouse Pad, a Frame to use as a Dry Erase board (I have one of these by my bed...they work so well!) and I'm on the look out for a nice patriotic note pad to complete it! I have spent less than $5 and I think it will be practical too!

Stay tuned for more!

Respectfully,

Harmony

Cystic Fibrosis

'Designer' Hospital Gown

Just the other day I was browsing on Pinterest and I found a link for a pattern to make 'Designer' hospital gowns. I was so pleased that I immediately re-pinned it and the next day I bought material to make a gown for a very specific friend of mine.

My dear friend Ashley has Cystic Fibrosis. I have known Ashley since we were children as her grandparents were from my hometown so she would come visit in the summers and then we both attended summer music camps in high school. We eventually both ended up as music majors in college and lived together for two years on campus. Fast forward to the present day. Ashley is currently waiting for a double lung transplant. She has been listed for 513 days. This is a very long time to be waiting. When she is in good health, she has the good fortune of living as home. But staying healthy is difficult when you have limited lung function. She has spent many months at the hospital receiving care. Despite it all, Ashley always wears a smile and has a positive outlook on life. I wanted to send her a nice bright hospital gown to brighten her tough days.

 Above: Front view. You can really see it because the print is so busy, but there is a pocket that covers a button hole that is long enough to lace heart monitor wires through.

 Above: The tops of the sleeves have velcro and a button near the neckline.

 Above: Rear view. Flaps overlap to provide plenty of coverage. There are two sets of ribbon ties. One at the top and one midway down the back.

 Above: Here is a closer look at the material.

Above: These buttons were perfect!

Respectfully,

Harmony

Giving

Relay for Life

Cancer Sucks. It seems to touch every corner of life recently. For the past five years I have participated in Relay for Life in various roles. If this isn't an event you are familiar with, I highly suggest you google it and find an event in your area. I relay to find a cure. I relay in honor and memory of many family and friends. I began as a member of a team in honor of a colleague, the next year I became a team captain playing the role of an organizer for other team members and organizing fundraisers. Now, I am still a part of a team but I also am on the Event Committee as an Entertainment Organizer. I arrange music and activities throughout the night to keep the walkers energized during their over-night adventure. I also fund-raise throughout the year. If you are interesting in donating to my team please click on the following link: Donate! To pull my weight in fundraising I agreed to donate a bag that I made for a Calendar Raffle. There was a prize for each day in the month of April! Mine will be drawn next Wednesday and here is what the winner will get: A Tulip Purse! I just love this material. The photo hardly does it justice.

I also just finished another Quick Trip Diaper bag for a friend of a friend. The picture quality is not the best as I had poor lighting today, but it is a brown and blue/teal. It looks much busier than it is in real life, I promise! I love this bag because it has pockets galore! It has a pocket on the outside front, and an elastic pocket below one of the straps and SIX on the inside!

Respectfully,

Harmony

Projects Galore

Fun Projects

Even though it has been a while since I was last able to post a blog, I have been very busy crafting! This post is going to be chock-a-block full. 

Last Week

I was pleased to attend the baby shower for my best friend, Beth. On my last blog I shared with you the the Swaddling Blanket that I made for her from the book Fabric by Fabric One Yard Wonder. Well I took another project from that book too. I made her a stroller bag. Of course, I forgot to get a photo so instead I will share with you the picture of the product from the pattern.

Diaper Bag

The blanket and stroller bags were just fillers though. The real present was a diaper bag! She already had the big 'everything but the kitchen sink' heavy duty diaper bag, but what new mom doesn't want an trendy option for quick trips out? My solution to this was found in an online pattern!  I chose the Quick Trip diaper bag found here: Quick Trip Diaper Bag It has a plenty of pockets inside and out. The pattern called for PUL fabric for a waterproof lining. I don't have any available to me, so I lined it with a standard cotton fabric. I also substituted the button for magnetic snaps. This pattern is very well written and I was able to put this bag together in approximately four hours. Here is my version...

Shopping

The baby shower was trip south to a 'Big City' for this county girl.  It was also the perfect opportunity to take a trip to JoAnne Fabric! My dearest Dad gave me a gift card for Christmas and it was just calling out to be used. Sadly, I had no specific projects lined up so I tried to think about what were some staples that I would be needing. Below is a photo on what I stocked up on. Gutermann thread (on sale and very good to have on hand), paper weights (I had fighting with pattern pieces), 3 packages of magnetic snaps (I can't buy them where I live....and I LOVE them), 2 bundles of 18"x21" solids, and 1 yd each of a print and solid that I will be using to make a purse that will be part of a fundraising raffle for my Relay for Life team.

 This Week

This week is a school vacation and it came just in time! It's only Monday and I am already using the time to craft every spare moment! This weekend I decided to make myself a bouquet of flower pens. Have you ever noticed that the pens that are left by the note pad to take phone messages or write grocery lists always seem to grow legs and walk off? Well not longer. Here is my beautiful pot of pens.

Puzzles

Vacation is all about taking time to refuel. Growing up it meant working on a puzzle. I love puzzles and I get a new one nearly every year for Christmas! But living in a small apartment, it isn't easy to find the space to complete a puzzle. The puzzle I got for Christmas this year was the perfect size and it was fun to put together. This is what I spent Saturday doing.

Knitting Project

Last night I plucked up the courage to attempt a slouchy hat on my knitting loom. I've wanted to make one for awhile now, but had not found a pattern that I liked for the loom. After watching a few youtube videos, I decided to attempt my own! I'm pleased with the result! I will be making more of these and I will probably make them a bit longer than this one, but you have to start somewhere right?

Respectfully,

Harmony

Christmas gifts on Easter Day?

Easter fell on the second Sunday of the month but I was able to keep my commitment to work on Christmas presents on this day! The weather here was lovely and I was able to cut out a project and do some hand stitching out in the screen room! A real contrast to the weather in Maine. When Mr. Pieceful and I talked to Harmony today she said it was snowing in northern Maine! Tomorrow will find me finishing up the Christmas gift and placing it in the gift box! Next month I will continue this resolution back home in Maine! Hope it stops snowing by then!

I have been busy since my last post working on small items to send back to Maine. The quilt group that I belong to is having it's biannual Quilt Show the first Saturday in May and I have made items for the Sale Room. I have made bread basket cloths, pin cushions, bibs, a nursing apron ( aka Udder Cover or Hooter Hider),burp cloths and a few other things.