My Granddaughter headed to her Prom

My granddaugher looks so beautiful in her prom dress. She invited us to her house to take some pictures before she left. The lilacs were still in bloom, so they became the backdrop. She had a great time at the prom and the afterprom.

Change of Pace

I have been watching small owls since they were born. There is a webcam showing the inside of the box and another showing the outside of the next box. The website to view the owlets and their parents is here. The babies are large and look like balls of white fluff.

There is also a list of others webcams you can visit. The screech owl 2 has new babies and is fun to watch. I have also watched the eagles feeding their young and the hummingbirds. Below the webcasts are chats that you can read to see what is happening. This site is addicting.

Hot Dog Style Pillowcases

Our first Wednesday sewing group is going to make pillowcases for charity in May. I found some fun fabric on sale so decided to make a few for the goup. I used the "hot-dog style" for construction. You can find very good directions at this website. I did an extra step and ruffled one of the trim pieces before attaching. I though it would make the pillowcase look a little more girly. It may look even better if I had made it a little wider.

Fabric Postcards

I became part of a postcard exchange with the theme of "Spring Celebration." Hate to admit it, but I struggled with deciding how to interpret the theme. A couple of false starts were thrown in the trash. One afternoon I took pictures of my blooming lilacs. Then one picture was printed on fabric, cut, and sewn back together as "four-patch" posies. So the cards are named "Lilacs as Four-patch Posies." They go out in the mail today!

Floral Dream Pillowcases

These pillowcases are just fun to make! I received the pattern from my local Bernina store when I attended a sewing group. The original design has three flower designs but I thought the initials would look great and make a nice wedding gift. The directions are from Through the Needle, issue 13 in an article by Kay Lynch Hickman. I may even make a set for each of the grand kids who are married for a Christmas gift.

I have also been busy making pillowcases for my Bernina shop who will give them to charity. The charity pillowcases are not quite so fancy. I am using the "hot dog" method for these pillowcases. It is quick and fun to use. I'll post a picture in the next few days.

Fun Time

Last night I was fortunate to have the opportunity to present the program for the Manhattan evening quilt guild. My program was "Using Your Computer to Enhance Your Quilting". I talked about blogs, yahoo groups, You Tube, and interesting sites for finding information and just for fun. I planned a power point presentation. One of the members said I could use her phone to connect directly to the internet, but the phone ended up in an accident with a floor on Sunday. So it was back to Plan A. We had a good time and I think they enjoyed the ideas and places I presented. Then I showed a few of my quilts, sewn items, and embroidery. I had a great time.

Going "Green"

I have lots of left-over fleece from making Christmas gifts. These are dusters for your Swiffer dusters made from my left-overs. The fuzzy one in back is for your hand duster. I made mine out of fleece but they can be made of any fabric. I think flannel would work especially well. There is a website that explains how to make the hand duster cover.

The one in front is for the floor duster. I simply cut a piece of 5" X 18" fleece for the base. Then I sewed down the middle of six pieces of 2" X 10" fleece. You are finished with your duster cover. Just wrap the ends to the top and poke into the holes. I like both of them because they can just be thrown into the washer.