A Rose for Hannah and More

Here are the latest three blocks I've made for Hannah's quilt. First there is a rose for Hannah. This of course is from the musical Beauty and The Beast. Not sure why it is upside down, but it's too late to try and figure out how to turn it right side up, so turn your device upside down to see it right side up. LOL As I was sewing this block I kept humming the song with the chorus about Be Our Guest.

   Next I made the lion from The Lion King. This is the second time I've made this one since Hannah has some luggage I made with different Musicals on the front. This time I made a smaller size. I always like the way this one turns out with just the two colors of fabric. As I sewed I hummed some of the songs from the musical. I could imagine the powerful music in the background.

And finally I made a block from 42nd Street. This is a musical I'm not familiar with but Hannah was and wanted it for her quilt. Unfortunately, I could not sing any of the songs from this one as I work, but I did enjoy singing many songs from other musicals as I made this block.

Now I only have one more block to sew for her quilt (Peter Pan) and then I will start the fund of putting it all together for her. This should be interesting since the blocks are not all the same size. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have the finished quilt to share with you all.

Noah's Turn to Sew

It always amazes me how my kids especially Noah and Libby come up with these ideas and then thinks I will be able to accomplish them. In the past few weeks Noah has come up with two items he "desperately" needed. The first on was some kind of WWII map/courier bag he wanted me to help him make. All he had was a video of this bag he'd found on the internet and wanted me to help him make a pattern and then make it.

So off to work we went. Oops I meant I went. Fortunately I had recently sewn something that started out with the same basic idea so I start there adapting the pattern. I asked Noah what materials he was going to use and straight away he went to my craft room and found fabric and plastic for this project. Oh well, I probably have too much fabric anyway, on second thought you can never have too much fabric.

I began cutting the pieces out for Noah, but I told him he was going to have to sew the bag. So off to work he went. Noah worked really hard on this project. He had to make two button holes, sew in hardware for an adjustable strap, and sew a sheet of plastic into his project (slippery).

Noah completed his project in a days time which is hard for him since he is easily distracted. Here is the final product. He did a really good job.

Yesterday afternoon, Noah once again had a project he wanted to complete. Having just finished listening to the Eragon series he had gone out to the shed and made him a new sword last week, now he needed a sheath(?) to carry it around. Wanting to do other things yesterday, I told him he would have to come up with a pattern. Well the little turkey went and got his paper, pen and measuring tape and drew a rough draft of a pattern. I was able to put him off on the sewing until this afternoon. I had not been home for very long before here he came with his pattern. So once again I went to cutting out pieces for his pattern.  He did really well. I thought he might give up when he was turning one part since he use pell tex ( a stiff interfacing) to make it more sturdy and it was a narrow 20" tube, but he kept on even though it took about an hour to get it turned.

 After getting the piece turned, Noah took a fishing break. He came home from the lake so excited he had caught 5 fish and a turtle. As soon as he got cleaned up he was after me to get back on his project. So after supper I helped him finish it up. It took just a little bit more of sewing and he was done. Here is his finished project.

Now he can carry his sword around without having to use his hands. Wonder what bright idea he'll have tomorrow???

Steadily Working

Last week Libby came into the craft room and asked to make something. I told her if she had a pattern or a good drawing we would see what we could do. Looking around she saw a pattern I had just printed and was getting ready to make. She decided she wanted to make that pattern. It was a Makers bag which you could make in two different sizes. She wanted to make the large one for her dolls' suitcase when we traveled to see Hannah. The pattern was for an experienced seamstress, which she is a long way from being. I informed her it was a hard pattern but she insisted on making the "Mary Poppin's" bag as she called it.

Next we went looking on the shelves for what fabrics she wanted to use. The pattern is set up so you can use several different fabrics or just a couple. Her philosophy was the more the better. So she picked out fabric which matched with her main color. I was very impressed. So on to cutting it out and sewing now. I cut the many pieces out for her since it was just measurement given for each piece.

Now we began the fun. We began putting it together. First she ironed on the interfacings to the different pieces. Then we began sewing. She made a button pocket for one side of the exterior of the bag. Then she made a zipper pocket. I know a lot of seamstress who dislike installing zippers.

Libby did a great job. Next we moved on to making the inside lining. On one side she made three slip pockets. The other side she made two pleated pockets. It was quite a bit of work but she stuck too it. Next came putting the two side together and then making and adding the end pieces. Once this was done, she had another zipper with a binding to add for the bag to close. I actually helped her out for the next step, which was binding the whole outer part. Once that was done she made the handles and sewed them onto the bag. She did a wonderful job. It took her a little over a week working most afternoons for a couple of hours. It looks great and her dolls will be proud to have their things carried in this "Mary Poppin's" bag.

Zipper side and button side.

Two New Squares

This last week I completed two new squares for Hannah's quilt. I also made a cute little backpack, I thought was going into the store. Libby kept on telling me how she needed a new ruffle Paris backpack and since it was the last of my pink Paris material she got her a new bag.

The first square I completed this past week was another Mary Poppins square. Hopefully, Hannah will not reject this one. I think this one turned out much better, than the last one with the two different sky colors.

The next square had the hills alive with The Sound of Music. I enjoyed making this one and a couple songs from the musical actually played on Pandora while I was making this square. It really put me in the mood to make this square.

New Adventure Begins

We moved Hannah into her dorm room on Friday. It was so nice. We pulled up to her building and were instructed to stay in the van while a group of students got all her things and carried them to her room. She went to open the door but her dad and I went to park the van once it was empty. By the time we got the van parked and back to the room, the student team was working on another car load and all Hannah's things were in her room. Boy was I glad, I was not looking forward to moving her refrigerator.

In just about two hours Hannah and I had her room unpacked and decorated. It comes from having two very organized people working together. She was quite pleased with her room and I think it turned out really nice.

Friday evening the school had a service where the students marched in down the oaks, opposite of the way they will march out when they graduate.

There was a service where the students were welcomed to their new school and they made a pledge to work diligently and to follow the Jesuit philosophy of education. Afterwards they took a class picture and then the families were invited to each supper with their student before we left them. I find it very encouraging that Springhill thinks it is important to include the families in the students process of moving to adulthood. In October there will be a weekend filled with activities for the families to come back to the school and join in the fun with their student.

It's amazing how much they have going on. The school has planned many activities to help the students get to know one another and keep the students from getting home sick. Every day for the next two weeks there is some activity they can attend if they choose to. Tonight Hannah's dorm pod had a cookie baking/ board game evening. Last night they had bingo for the whole campus, where some lucky student won a $200 gift card for books. Next weekend they are having a retreat for the freshmen if they want to attend.

Hannah and her dad looking at all the planned activities.

Getting Ready for College

Two weeks ago Hannah came home from her summer camp job. We were all glad to see her. The two weeks flew by in a whirl wind of activity. Having not decided the colors of her dorm room meant we had a lot of work to do.  The first decision was what type of quilt she wanted. She finally decided on A Trip Around the World pattern. Next we spent an afternoon in Dothan shopping for fabric and pricing items for her room. It turned out to be a fun girls day out. I learned how to make a pillow case. Hannah couldn't believe I'd never made one before since it is usually a beginning sewers project. Here is a picture of her quilt.

Here is a picture of Noah trying out Hannah's pillow case. I let him know I thought it looked great on him.

Next Hannah wanted me to make her a caddy for the side of her bed. There was not a pattern of what she wanted but she did find a picture of one she liked but with minor changes she wanted done on Amazon. She I had use my depleting math skills to figure out a pattern for this project. I was pleased with how it turned out. It gives her plenty of room to put her books in it, a water bottle on one side with two small pockets on the other side and two pockets across the front.

After I finished this project, Hannah wanted a caddy to go over the refrigerator to store all her plates, cups, napkins, and silverware. Unfortunately, once again there was no pattern so I had to create one again. I wasn't sure if her roommate would want to use the other side of the  refrigerator for something or if she'd like for the caddy to go on both sides. After stressing over this I finally decided if she didn't want to use it Hannah could just fold that side up on the top and went ahead and made it. Once I got it made I thought "OH, NO!!!" the plates are not going to stay. Talk about stressing at 1:00 in the morning the day we will be leaving to take her to school. I went and got plates from the kitchen and tried them out. Thankfully,  it was a great size for plates and not too wide so they wouldn't be all over the floor. Here is the finished project, hanging over my cutting table.

 The other side is the same.

While I was working on these projects, Hannah was busy making a throw rug for her dorm. She spent hours making pom poms. I made a few one evening while she was working at the theatre. Another first for me. Not sure where I was when these basic lessons were going on. The rug turned out really nice and soft, but she did not think I was funny when I suggested she make one for my room.

Another day of shopping, a quick trip to Mobile to drop off a van load of things at my moms (so we all can go to her induction service at Springhill), drilling holes in her flip flops and building dividers for her lap desk storage section and she is finally ready to head off to school, I hope.? I don't remember needing so much stuff when I went to college

Three More Broadway Squares Complete

Tonight I will share three more squares I have completed on Hannah's Broadway quilt. This one I completed in a few hours. It is from the musical Rent, if you couldn't guess. (HA, HA)

Hannah and I went to see this musical at Gulf Coast awhile back. She had wanted to see it and got extra credit in one of her classes for going. (Like she really needed it, an A is an A no matter how many extra points one gets.) Anyway the musical was rated for people 17 years of age and up. Hannah's classmates gave her a terrible time about just being a baby and how she couldn't go. (All in good fun) Hannah did happen to just turn 17 before the show. We really enjoyed the version put on at Gulf Coast. I know they cleaned it up some from the original Broadway version.

The next one is a play my kids are very familiar with, Oklahoma. We have watched the movie many times. John and I were able to go see it years ago when the BCF put on the play. I did at one point get extremely sick of the songs. Nathan performed in the play at the Spanish Trail Playhouse a few years ago. He was told to listen to the music every day so he would be able to sing the songs. Needless to say him being the legalist listened to it every night. He would put it on continuous play at bedtime so I got to hear the songs all night long for what seemed like weeks on end.

This block was a lot of work. I had piles of the different colors all over the place. I was so glad to finish the sky because that meant I could at least put away 6 of the colors I was using. This one was a lot of work but well worth the time.

 The final block I've recently made is from Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat.  This is a fun musical. We have watched the movie version many times. A couple years back the Broadway tour came to Panama City and Hannah and I were able to go see it with a friend of hers. It was amazing.

The first time we let Nathan watch it, he went on and on about how Abraham and his sons would not have worn cowboy boots. Ever the legalist. Now he has accepted that it is not all exactly true to the time period and really enjoys the musical.

Now I must stop the Broadway quilt for the time being, so I can make Hannah's quilt and the list of things she wants for her dorm room. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to this quilt in a few weeks. I am only about half done with all the squares Hannah wants for the quilt.