This past week has been super fun!!  Classes started back up and the studio was full of students, great projects both started and finished and energy!!  I love a full studio!  On my front I did a lot of baking, cooking and cross stitching.  The Santa cross stitch is coming right along...

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I also made a sourdough starter,

Which turned into sourdough bread, waffles and pizza crust.  All were super yummy – the kids now want to make homemade pizza every Friday instead of store bought.  That’s a win in my book!!  I also made a friendship bread starter..

Which turned into bread, cookies and pancakes.  I still have a little left in the fridge to make more pancakes.  Both starters are sitting on the counter being fed and cared for so we can have more fresh bread and goodies!

Some planting happened.  I have had those cute little pots forever and they were looking very forlorn so I decided to plant them – spider plant to the left, some random little plant from the garden in the center and two leaves of a succulent on the right.  I hope they all grow.  The two at the top are an ivy and morning glory (from seed) – one of my sons gave me those cute glass planters and I wanted to use them right away!!

My two youngest (13 and 17) decided to play with chocolate.  They covered oranges and apples – that’s healthy, right?? and then filled ice cube trays with chocolate, raspberries, little marshmallow bits, and more chocolate.  Needless to say, all of these are gone!

Lastly, I tried my hand at crab cakes and they turned out pretty good.  Everyone ate them and liked them.  Can you see the sourdough bread in the left photo?  There were also some cooked made with chocolate chips filled with peanut butter – YUMMY!!

All in all, this week was very productive and looks super busy, but I didn’t feel super busy.  I guess that’s the best way to go about it, do the things you love and life feels great!

We had a fantastic first week back in the studio after winter break!

We had lots of finished projects!!

And continued to work on longer term projects.

And work on projects that are just about finished!  It was such a great week in the studio!

Last week in the studio was so much fun!

Several worry pets made their appearance!

We had a cross stitch finish and huge progress on another project by a different student!

And a really fun and creative tote bag for a special mom made by this student.  This bag has so many extra details!!  Button eyes, a mouth with lips that is actually a pocket (things like keys can be placed in the mouth and go in the pocket that’s attached), “MOM” labeling, and there is also a cup holder inside for his mom’s coffee or water.  What a thoughtful and uber creative finish!!

I've been having quite a bit of fun this week!  Some of it for the studio and some of it just for me.

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I made this little guy as a sample for students.  It’s a worry doll and is filled with beans.  You can squish him!  It really takes no time at all to stitch up!

I worked on The Giant Rainbow Blanket for DD#3 and have passed the half way mark.  I am hoping to finish this by the end of the year.

The cross stitch Christmas stocking is moving right along.  Santa can now clearly be seen.  This is also hopefully on the list of finishes before Christmas so it can be used this year.

I needed some stabilizer (very stiff) for a project and thought I’d try using the plastic from this pretzel container before going out and buying something special – I’ll post the results – good or bad!

I had some roses from my anniversary that were looking a bit drab and thought I’d try my hand at some fabric dying with the petals.  I still need to set and iron the fabric and will update next time.

Pumpkin and glue gun -finished results coming soon.  I’m actually really excited about this!!  Halloween is my second most favorite holiday!

AND … the studio has a new look!!  The old Costco chairs were taken apart and spray painted fun colors (purple, red, orange, yellow and green) and the seats and chair backs were covered with new fun fabrics.  I love them!!  I have some other ideas for the studio as well – check back for more updates!

Today was such a blast in class!  Students were working on all kinds of different things!

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Weaving with pick up sticks!

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These two were...

working on cross stitch projects!

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Attaching a zipper.

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Knitting - one student is starting a scarf, the other is starting a doll.

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This student is cutting out fabric for a tiered and ruffled skirt.  She altered an existing pattern in order to make it the way she wants.

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This student is cutting fabric for a patchwork binding on a blanket.  I love that I am able to have each student make whatever they wish!!

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Lot's of fun things happened on my play desk this week!An apron was made!  I love these fabrics and it was so fun to attach that large ric rac!  I had to go super slow to get around the curves neatly, but I love the way it looks.  The original pattern had the pocket at an angle, but I love to actually USE my pockets so mine is straight up and down.I made a whole bunch of yo-yo's out of scraps.  I'm not sure why, but aren't they cute!!  I also am not quite sure what I'm going to use them for, but sometimes that is not the point.  I am enjoying making them - that's the real point.I worked on the Grandmother's Garden hexagon quilt.  Two of the flowers are now attached and some green "vines/leaves" have been added.  This project is super fun to work on at the end of the day when I am tired.More stitching on the cross stitch Christmas stocking.  AND...Not so fun, unstitching the same place because I apparently can't count and put them in the wrong place by one space.  GRRR!!  Oh, well, now I can go back and stitch them in the correct position so all is good!

This past week was sooo much fun!!  Our classes are off to a fantastic start!

We had letter pillows!!

Zippered bag!

And fun pillows and stuffed animals!  I can’t wait to see what this group of students will make next!

This past week has been a little strange. Things have been really quiet - my kids are back in school, and there were no camps or classes. I have been cleaning and organizing the studio getting ready for this coming week. I am really excited for fall and our new class schedule!

I worked on this rainbow blanket for one of my daughters.  I am now more than half way done and am feeling energized to finish.

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These are sleeves for a sweater for one of my other daughters.  They need to be 25 inches in length as she wants them long with a thumb hole.  The body of the sweater is mostly done and awaiting the sleeves so I can finish it.  This sweater will also have a hood attached.

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There was also some cross stitching done on a Christmas stocking for one of my sons.

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And a birthday cake was made!  My oldest celebrated her 23rd birthday on Friday so I made her favorite cake!  All-in-all a very nice week.

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I thought it would be fun to share a little bit of what I have been working on this past week.  Besides teaching camp - which is so much fun and so very rewarding I

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Prepared more patterns for fall classes which are starting the week of August 20th,

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Started a new embroidery project,

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Worked on some hand piecing for a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that I am making, andDid some ripping.  I had wanted to do some embroidery around the seams of this quilt, but I had wanted to save time and tried using my embroidery machine.  While it looks ok, it was not the look I was going for so now I need to rip, rip, rip!  That little bit you see that is ripped??  That took a little over an hour to do.  UGH!!  Lots more ripping to go, but I think after the ripping is done and I decide on a pattern to do by hand, I will be much happier with the end result.  OK, back to my studio!

Well, I can’t believe that summer camps are done.  I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching summer camp and our campers have been fabulous!  This past week we had sewing camp and there were so many good things that were made:

Clothing!

Hairbands and scrunchies!

Lots of bags and a hanging organizer!

Letters, a mobile and a pompom!

Lots and lots of stuffies!

We had a fantastic time!  Now it’s on to our fall schedule which starts the week of August 20th.  I can’t wait to see what creative goodness is made in our classes!

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We are excited to release our fall schedule for the 2018-2019 school year.  We will begin the week of August 20th!  Please let us know if you are interested in signing up.

Last week was super fun!!  We had a knitting and crochet camp in the morning and a sewing camp in the afternoon.  AND of course there was weaving!

 We made lots of crochet stuffed animals!

We made clothing!

We made wrist warmers – both knit and crochet! 

A stuffed dog whose tummy was empty and had a zipper installed to become a pajama bag!  All the idea of this student!

Lots and lots of weaving!

We made bags and back packs!

Quilted items!

More!

And more!  Looking back at the week, I can’t believe how much we accomplished!!

Last week in sewing camp was such a blast!!!  So many new skills were learned and so many projects were completed!

There were pincushions!

There were clothes:  dresses, skirts and aprons!  Oh, my!

There were bags and pouches galore!

Many, many stuffed animals!

There were weavings, hair scrunchies, and key rings!  We had so much fun!!  I can’t wait until next week!

We are currently entering out 5th week of camp!! I am really behind on the blogging front, but we are having a fantastic time at camp!  Here are some of the highlights from sewing camp during week three:

There were lots of tote bags made.  Each one turned out so well!

Lots and lots of pillows were made.  Some were quilted and some had embroidery on them.

Stuffed animals, pillow cases, and freeform dolls with their own set of clothes!

This sewing camp decided they wanted to weave so we set up the looms for them!!  What a fun time we had!  Lots of scarves, table runners and even a pair of wrist warmers!

Head bands and scrunchies!

And so much more!!  Our sewing camps are so much more than just sewing.  They are about exploration, friendship and fun!

Our second week of camp was a knitting and crochet camp and we had such a great time!!

There were crochet animals!

Crochet shoelaces and a knit coffee cup sleeve!

Crochet monsters, coaster and pillow with a backing!

We even had some good weaving going on!!  Our camps cater to the interests of every student!!

Dresses!

Dress and skirts!

LOTS of stuffed animals!

Sunglasses case and bags!

And many pin cushions!  I would say the first week was a success!

Our first week of camp is off to fantastic start!  We are sewing this week and our group of students are sooo creative!

Finished projects from the first two days of camp.  A sundress and two fox stuffed animals!

We made pincushions to start – either to learn how to use the machines or to brush up on some skills that hadn’t been used in awhile.

Then it was on to other things!   Each student picked their own project and blazed away.

Well...Monday was a day of lasts.  The school year is winding down and our summer camps will be starting up on June 4th!  While I can't wait for summer camp to start (we have so much fun and create so many things), I'm also a little sad to be losing such a great group of students - hopefully then will be able to join again in the fall.  Today we had so many finishes:

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This was the studio during class time. They were all working hard to finish their projects!!

Monday was my last preschool class for this semester.  We had a great time together and I am a little sad that the Monday class is done until the fall.  Today we:

made drawings and then embellished with fabric and sequins,

sewed up lacing cards – each student did many of these.  It was so fun!

And I gave them their pillows.  They painted the fabric last week and I sewed them into pillows to give them on the last day.  They totally LOVED them!!

I have been having so much fun making samples for all the different classes that I teach!

For the studio, I made a sundress and sunglasses case sample for either kids or adults to make.  I might have to make another sunglasses case for the studio as I really like this one!

For the preschool class, I made little wooden looms and people out of used toilet paper tubes.  The students really loved these two activities!

For the tween class, we have a little ladybug bean bag, a woven monster bookmark, a keychain, and several other sewn stuffies that can be bean bags, cat toys or key chains – whatever they want to make.  I had so much fun creating these!