Fun with babies made by their great grandmother

crocheted-baby-pattern

I posted about these sweet crocheted baby dolls more than a year ago.
The 2 oldest grands both have baby siblings and they had so much playing with these yarn babies last week- each crocheted baby has an attached blanket and a bottle in one hand- The grands sat in that chair for a long time taking care of the little babies.

if you want to make one,  my mom's pattern is at the above link.  I've seen other patterns online too.  

July decorations - inside

Scrappy table runner I made last year

The Uncle Sams shaped like candlesticks are made from plastic canvas.

The log cabin little quilt is from my mom.

A few flags to make the mantel look patriotic.

Happy 237th birthday to our U.S.A!

blog partying with

SunnySimpleLife

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

A Stroll Through Life 

scenes from my parents home

we made a quick trip down to the NE Texas area to see our parents this weekend.
I always do some cooking while I am there- I like cooking and my parents and brother really appreciate meals they don't have to cook.

This cooking session took about an hour and I made my Aunt Bernice's Mexican casserole, goulash, corn on the cob from my brothers garden last year, honey oat bread and a salad with tomatoes from Dad's backyard garden.
After I cooked it,  I put most of the food in containers that could store the extras in the fridge.  They will enjoy being able to heat up servings - at least until it is all gone.  Then my dad will say it is time for me to come back.
I wish I could of cooked more for them but it was a short visit.....

My mom has always done handwork and I thought you all would like to see these 2 quilts.
One is scrap nine patch- those nine patches are really tiny too, maybe 1 inch squares finished.
They are hanging on an oak quilt rack made by my Uncle Rex- the pie maker.  

the other quilt is a scrappy yo-yo.  It is not really a quilt, as it is just one layer of yo-yos with no backing and is only for decoration. I think it is so pretty- a really happy piece of handwork.

the yo yos spread for a better view


linking to
A Cultivated Nest

Cookie baking

I baked 3 batches of cookies this week.
Chocolate chip- no recipe, you all know how to make them, right?
Fork cookies- a new recipe with just 3 ingredients, from Mary Berry, the recipe is below.  (I added a little Princess flavoring)
And golden raisin biscuit cookies that have rave reviews on the King Arthur baking site.

The little dish in the top left is to eat at our house. The assorted container is for our daughter in law's birthday and the 3 other containers are for my parents and brother.

 http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/golden-raisin-biscuit-cookies-recipe
They are the rectangle ones in the lower center and they might be my new favorite cookie recipe.  
They are a little fiddly as the dough is rolled very thin but the recipe worked just right and tastes special.  I followed the recipe except I did not have the fancy sugar for sprinkling on top and just used a smaller amount of table sugar instead.

linking to

A Cultivated Nest

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5085073/?claim=q7c9vjtdes9">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

This weeks sewing- several projects

My daughter will be going with her family and in laws to the beach for a week soon.  

She prefers to dress my grand daughter in modest swim wear. 

 I am not sure how she ended up with this size 5 swimwear when grand daughter needs a 3 or 4, maybe it was the closest size she could find in the style she was looking for.

 She asked me to make it fit and after much thinking and snipping, I did. 

I like that this suit is not only appropriate but it also has SPF protection to help prevent sunburns.

I shortened the top and that part was easy- I just took a 1 inch tuck all the way around just above the top stitching, then I stitched it down too.

The shorts were a little trickier.  I didn't want to mess with the side details on these track shorts, so after much thought,  I made pie shape cuts in the waist band then overlapped the cuts until I removed the necessary 4 inches.  I stitched them down as smooth as possible so they won't be rough or bulky on her skin.

 Daughter was pleased with the alterations but I am not sure my high school home ec teacher would of approved of the hacking I did on the waist band.



Youngest son made this drawing and put it with this corduroy he found in my sewing room.
He requested an organizer for traveling.  

Here is what I came up with -  a tri fold many pocketed tie shut pouch.

I don't think it is for personal care items but things like chargers, a flash light, etc.  

I lined all the patch pockets with a dinosaur print - also from my sewing stash.
This son was a dinosaur nut when he was a little boy and  said he was going to be a paleontologist when he grew up.
 That did not end up being his line of work,
and even though he is all grown up,  In my heart, he is still that cute little boy who thought dinosaurs were the best thing ever.


I also made 2 pacifier clip straps for the youngest grandson and am working on 2 peasant tops for me. The tops are almost finished but I don't like how the sleeves are so big and want to add some narrow elastic to the bottom of them. 

Did you do any sewing this week?