Two subjects for the price of one

I decided to cover two subjects today, because I seem to be getting a backlog of sewing stuff that I haven't blogged about yet. Can you imagine that? Ha!

Without further ado, here's subject #1:

Yeah, I've made several of these Pixie Baskets before, which you can see here and here. I made them using the tutorial you can find here. This one also is trimmed with ribbon designed by Jess for Renaissance Ribbons. I had decided after sewing my Honeycomb Basket (read about it here), that I needed something to hold the spools of thread and bobbins I'm using while working on a project that involves several colors of thread. So here it is, and I've been finding it to be one of the most useful things I've sewn. I love it!

Subject #2 isn't actually a sewing project, but it will be useful for some of them. I bought a KAMsnaps pliers and 300 snaps in many colors. I kept hearing good things about the snap setters, so I decided to try out the pliers. (They also make a table press, but I don't use enough snaps to make it worth the cost.) I've had a different type of snap setter for many years, but it's only good for metal snaps, and I like all the color options with the plastic ones. So now I can do whichever type I want.

Here's a closer look at the pliers.

I love it! It's so easy to use, and the snaps go in nice and tight.

Although you can buy them directly from the KAMsnaps site, I bought mine from Amazon. There are a number of options available, with different quantities of snaps. I also bought this case to store them in. It doesn't have quite enough sections, but if I mix two very different colors in a section, I should be able to easily find the parts I need. So far I've left them in their little bags, though.

If you've followed my blog for years, you may recognize the fabric below. It's from Jess's first line of fabrics. I'd made a bunch of these business card envelopes to sell in her Etsy shop, and when she closed the shop, I had a few unfinished ones that I never got around to adding the snaps to. I thought they'd be good to practice on with the new snap setter.

It worked like a charm!

Soon I'll show you a new project that I put snaps on!

Also, I just finished up a pattern test, and when the pattern gets released, I'll show you that.

Last but definitely not least, Courtney also finished up her fabulous sewing projects for the fair. It's less than 3 weeks away, so I'll be able to show you then! I can't wait - you'll love them! (And one of them has snaps on it, too!)

Something different

This is not a sewing post. How 'bout that? I just happened to see something that I thought was so interesting that I just had to show you.

Last night I saw several of what looked like young baltimore orioles trying to get grape jelly from my feeder. Some did well, but there was one that couldn't seem to figure out how to get to the jelly in the feeder. A bit later, one of the parents came, sat on the feeder, and fed that baby the jelly! I was amazed, as I'd never seen that happen before. I wasn't quick enough to catch them on camera, but this morning it happened again, and this time I got it! So cool!

Now I'm wondering just how those babies knew to come to the feeder in the first place. Did the parents bring them earlier, or is it instinctual that they just know to go to something orange???

Geranium top

Here's a little bit of sewing I finished about 3 weeks ago but couldn't show you until now because it was for a gift, and I didn't want to take the chance of ruining the surprise. It's a Geranium top, made from the Geranium Dress pattern by Rae Hoekstra of Made by Rae.

The fabric is babywale corduroy from Jess's Spring Quartet line designed for Cloud9 Fabrics. I'm happy to say that these corduroys are finally scheduled to be released THIS MONTH!

The back of the top has three pearl-like snaps for closure (although the pearl-ness doesn't show up in the photo).

The top was a gift for Jess's friend's baby. Unfortunately, it's a size 6-12 months, and the baby is only 3 months or so, so she couldn't model it for us. :) But here are a couple more photos that Jess took before she sent it to her friend.

She put these cute leggings with it as part of the gift.

The pattern was easy to sew (although you'd have thought I was a sewing novice, because I made every conceivable mistake in the process and ended up giving my seam ripper a workout - I forgot how to sew after our Cincinnati trip, I guess ;-Þ), and I certainly recommend it. Plus now there is an Expansion Pack you can purchase so that you can add a collar, a zipper, long sleeves and/or a number of other things to change up the look of the dress - awesome!

I have a number of other sewing projects in the works. Plus Courtney has one of her 4-H projects finished, but I won't be showing you until closer to county fair time next month. Sorry about that, but it will have to wait until after the "fashion review" (there's a clue for you). I can tell you this much, she did a fabulous job on it! I am so proud of her!

Diagonal Flat Bottom Pouch

I've returned to the sewing machine after our trip to Jess and Alex's, but it's been a little slow getting back into the groove. Summertime gets busy with other things. However, I've completed a couple of projects, the first of which I can't show you for a bit. It's a gift, so I don't want to take a chance of spoiling the surprise before it is received. I'll show you as soon as it's safe.

I just finished the second project yesterday. Cloud9 Fabrics asked me last week if I would test a new pattern for them. I said I would, so they emailed me the PDF pattern and shipped me the fabrics and supplies they wanted me to use.

Here are the fabrics I received. The print is a canvas from the Lines and Shapes collection by Leah Duncan. The solids are Cirrus Solids by Cloud9.

Included in the supplies was a beautiful gold metal zipper. It looked so lovely with the fabrics. I couldn't resist taking a picture of it installed.

The fun and unique thing about this pattern is the diagonal design....

.... and it has a method for getting that diagonal angled just right from corner to corner.

Here's the pretty zipper again in the completed pouch.

The dark blue cirrus solid became the lining.

So there you have it. A new twist on a basic pouch. It also has a flat bottom created by boxed corners, which are very easy to do. Thus the pattern is called the Diagonal Flat Bottom Pouch. It will be a free pattern, and you'll be able to find it soon on Cloud9's Make it Sew projects page. Take a look at that page - there are lots of free cool patterns there!

Another sewing project awaits me (ha - more than one... my list is long!), plus Miss Crafty Courtney has just bought fabrics (well, her mom did) for a couple of 4-H projects that yours truly will be helping her with. Lots of fun stuff coming up, and Grandma G will be busy!

Where I've been

* Updated... see below...

If there happens to be anybody still following the ol' blog, you might think I've disappeared into thin air... or given up on the blog completely. Nope! Neither is true. I have a good excuse for my absence. We made another trip to visit Jess & Alex in Newport, Kentucky, and we were gone a week. We had a great time and enjoyed pleasant weather while everybody back home was enduring abnormally cold and wet weather. Good "planning" on our part! ;)

This post is photo-heavy, so I'll  try to be brief with the narration. 

Of course there were 'projects' to work on while we were there. This time most of them were outdoor ones. Grandpa and Alex were into a building project... look at the lumber.

There were consultations with Jess as to how to get it 'just right'.

There were more consultations.

Jess's and my part of the project was to plant plants of many kinds.

When the project was completed (almost), it looked like this, a huge planter box that served a dual purpose of hiding the not-so-attractive wall behind it.

It was deemed a success! The 'almost' part that hadn't been finished when we left was to stain the boards. They needed a couple days drying time, and the weather wasn't cooperating, with off-and-on showers while we were there. I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the staining done and the plants huge and trailing over the edge of the planter box! (Hint, hint, Jess!)

* Update: I don't know if Jess saw this post or not yet, but here's the photo she sent of the newly-stained planter box! I think it looks great! What a place to lounge, eh?

Jess has flowers on the fence, and there is a little garden below.

After her hoeing job, she got fancied up as she usually does to water her plants.

Okay... truthfully, she was headed to a funeral visitation, but needed to water in the new plants first. Here's a closer look at that pot.

They'd had their backyard redone, with the old deck torn out and pavers put down, and arbor vitae planted along the fence.

Here's the table and chairs (note the lights hung on the fence)...

... and this is the lounge area. It's very comfy, as Grandpa is demonstrating!

More lights were strung on the opposite fence, for a little ambiance when sitting out there after dark.

Did you notice what was planted in the garden below those lights? There was lots of kale (Alex likes to juice it)... AND Jess bought and planted a rhubarb plant while we were there. We don't know if it'll do well down there in that warmer climate or not. Time will tell.

We ate lots of good food, much of it cooked right there in the backyard. YUM!

Speaking of rhubarb, we brought some along from home. Part of it went into this creme brulee, which turned out just perfect!

Another portion of it went into rhubarb mojitos! Very tasty!

We also ate out a few times, for some more new taste experiences.

Last but not least (well, it really wasn't even last), we went canoeing for a couple of hours. It was very fun and produced a lot of laughter.

So that's the gist of it. Projects, food, relaxing, fun and laughter. Couldn't ask for a better time than that!