Busy with Owl and friends

It has been a long time since I have posted. A lot has happened in that time. I spent a large part of the summer teaching sewing to young girls. It was a fun and rewarding time. But just as that was ending and I had hoped to have some fun family time, my husband was laid-off. As you can imagine this was devastating.There have been other things that too were very upsetting, just not a good August, and September has not been much better.

On a happier note, I have started a Facebook "Like" page. It is "Pam is Always Sewing" . Why you ask? Well it has made it easier for me to share pictures and information about the little zippered bags I have been making.  It is a great for my friends to share my info. It seems to be working well, as I have gotten lots of orders and that makes for grocery money. :-)  Here are some pics of the little guys. They are made in the hoop, on my embroidery machine. The patterns come from Embroidery Garden.

YO-YO'S!!!

I really enjoy making theses little yo-yo's but the question is always what do I do with them. This spring while working on the costumes for Cinderella I found a place to put some. ^_^ On the hat of the Narrator (she later becomes the Fairy God Mother). Here is a picture of her hat.

 

But I had not quite got my fill of making Yo-Yo's so I made this:

I know you ask how many bags can this woman make. Obviously one more! 

I used a great pattern for this bag by Rebeka Lambert at Artsy-Crafty Babe It is a free pattern "Pleated Tote" All you bag makers she has some great patterns in her Etsy shop, so please check them out. Also for the non-sewer she has some lovely bags made for you.

Quick project!

Ruffle Pillow Case

I really wanted to sew a fun yet quick project. I really do not need to start another new project. So I have  had this fabric set aside to make a pillowcase for my daughter. I really love how it came out. Quick easy and fun!

At least I got something accomplished today!

Pinwheel Quilt

Remember last summer when I started this wonderful Pinwheel Quilt? Well I am at the end now. Well....I still have to quilt this HUGE quilt. But it is so wonderful! I can not tell you how happy it makes me. The colors are so wonderfully bright and cheery. There are 88 blocks, on the front and back of this quilt. Each is a different 1930's reproduction print. No two are alike. My dear Aunt Sally has been collecting these prints for a long time, and generously let me cut my quilt from her stash. I would never have been able to make this quilt without her help. Here are a few pictures before the quilting. You can see that Teaga was there to check out this quilt as she does with all the others. ^_^

 Quilt tested doggie approved!

 Front 8 blocks by 10. (12inch blocks)

Back side of quilt

Graduation

Well 4 kids and 20 years of Homeschooling comes to an end. Our youngest has now graduated. She has been a joy to watch grow up, into a wonderful young woman!

Summer Sewing Classes

During the summer I am blessed to teach sewing classes at Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theater. We have a great time and make all sorts of fun sewing projects. Here are a few pics from last years classes.   No faces for the kids, to protect their privacy. :-)

 They made 2 bags some great Pajama Pants and a pillow case.

I had a few Adults sewers too!

If you would like to join me this year, here is the info:

Learn to sew with Fantasy costume seamstresses Pam Anders & Marie Sexton. The two and one half-hour class meets each day for one week in the costume room of Fantasy.

In BEGINNING (age 10 and up) sewing, you will learn basic sewing skills by constructing a pillowcase, a simple tote bag, and a pair of sleep pants.

In INTERMEDIATE sewing, good knowledge of basic sewing or a previous sewing class is required. You will be making a pillowcase with contrasting band, scrub style pajamas with set in pockets and patch style pockets, and a bag with a zipper.

In ADULT (or Teen) sewing, good knowledge of basic sewing or a previous sewing class is required. You will be making a tote bag and a pair of scrub style pajamas. We will also make a fun project with a zipper.
Learn to make your sewing projects on our sewing machines or bring your own. The instructor will mail you a letter after registering with a list of supplies to bring. Class size is limited so register early!!!

Give Fantasy Playhouse a call at (256) 539-6829 the Summer Schedule is also available on the web site.

We are fine.

We did make it through the horrible tornado out break in North Alabama.

We were very blessed to have no damange. We had 100 hours of no power. My son counted, this is how I know. ^_^ We spent the time remembering how to play board games. LOL We really did have alot of good old fashioned family time. We did some puzzles, we even had a camp fire in the backyard. roasted marshmallows and made Smores. Yummy!

So many people lost everything. It is devastating. Please pray for those that were so deeply effected by this horrible out break of tornadoes.

Easter and Cinderella

We spent Easter weekend at the our Civic Center performing Cinderella. It has been such a fun weekend. Here are some pics (I am sure more will follow). We have one more weekend to go.

 My Cinderella and her on stage Prince

 My two daughters dressed in the peasant costumes. Savannah is the body double for Sonia when the Fairy Godmother casts her magic spell sending Cinderella to the ball in her beautiful ballgown.

A fairy tale come true.

Lots of little princesses wanting to get Cinderella's autograph and a picture.

Cinderella

Cinderella is going well. I am having so much fun with the costumes we are making. Fantasy Playhouse had a wonderful little tea party for little girls. It was so much fun. The older girls got to be the Princesses and host the little girls. I can't tell you how tired we were, but oh we had so much fun. I wish I could post more pics but I do not have permission from all the children so here are a few of my princess and some of her friends.

No this is not Cinderella's Ball Gown this is her Tea Party dress. We will wait till after the ball to show that dress. ^_^

The Wedding!

My oldest son was married yesterday. It was lovely. Such a special day.

 Mr and Mrs. Jason Anders

 The wedding party

Our new family

It was lots of fun. I make my dress and a matching bow tie for my husband. I also made the stoles and muffs for the brides mades. We add lots of bling to the bride's dress and veil. They have left on their honeymoon, a cruise to Mexico. I now move on to making costumes for Cinderella.

Wedding party gifts

I made these little bags for all the women in the family as little clutches for the wedding. I will be adding wrist straps, but wanted to share these with you. No they are not as wonky shaped as they look in the picture.

Cinderella!

We are thrilled that our oldest daughter has been cast as Cinderella in our local community theaters production of Cinderella in April!

I cannot tell you how excited we are. She has waited a long time for a lead role. She has had many fun ensemble parts but this is her first lead! The rest of the family is evolved as always, my husband will be the King and my youngest daughter will be helping me with the costumes.

Right now I am working on my oldest son's wedding and then it will be on to work on Cinderella, so not sure how much blogging will happen but I will share pictures of both events. ^_^

When Snowed in Sew!

Well this snow storm has really shutdown our southern city we just do not have the resources to deal with the snow and ice. So with no school and many businesses closed, we were rather home bound.  So when stuck at home why not sew! ^_^

I have been a rather creative slump. Yes, I made all those cute zipper bags but that was a follow this pattern type thing. I have had a block when coming up with something of my own.I have been wanting something new and modern for a purse. I love quilted bags but I wanted something different. ( I have made so many of those quilted bags) Finally I am happy with this one! Being snowed in I could not go shopping for this one. I had to use what was in my stash. So I dug out the leftovers from the Mod Quilt Sampler I made some time ago. Anyway this is the result. One purse, a wallet and a Snap Happy Bag.

 This shows the set- wallet closed.

 Here you can see the open wallet and the Snap Happy Bag, You can find the pattern HERE

I opened the wallet here to the outside so you could see the full pattern. This is a wallet pattern that I have come up with myself by combining several other quilted wallets with the options and techniques that I like. I do not sell the pattern, sorry.

Since most of the county has gotten snow of some sort what did you do during your snow storm?

More Snow in Alabama!!!!

Believe it on not we had more snow in Alabama, and lots of it! We had 9-10 inches at our house, north of Huntsville. Yes the city is shut down, we do not have the equipment to handle this kind of snow event. Also we have a lot of elevated road ways that freeze very quickly. I think our annual snow fall is 1.5 inches. So we were thrilled with this snow. For many children in Alabama and some adults this is the first snow they have seen. There have been lots of fun reports of people using all kinds of inventive things for sleds. Canoes, lots of pool items, boxes, cookie sheets, plastic bins etc. We just played.