Randomnous

Hard to post in your blog about sewing projects when you have not stepped foot in your sewing room all week.  Not sure how many of you that read this are aware of it, but I have advanced lupus.  I actually originally had included it in my blog title because it is unfortunately a large part of my life and is actually the thing that brought me to sewing and quilting in a round about way.  However, when I started posting it came to me that I didn't want my blog to be about a person Lupus that quilted.  I wanted it to be about a quilter that just happen to have Lupus.  It is of course a part of my life but it isn't my LIFE.  It is only a small portion of it.  It has definitely made a large impact on it.  Shortened it I am sure.  But then many things could have done this as well.   My main goal is to try to keep it on the sidelines as much as I can.  There are times I am successful it doing that.  Others, not so much! Especially recently.Not sure if it is the Lupus that has been giving me so much hell lately of the Fibro.  It can be hard to make a distinction sometimes.   Then again, does it really matter which one the culprit is?  Don't really think so.

I try to use this time to research and find great patterns and tutorial.  Come up with plans to do things around the house... you know, that kind of stuff.  So that is what I have been doing.  I have been hoping to find some fabric that I can use to make some quilts to donate to some of the tornado victims.  Not any luck so far, but I still have some hope.  I never really know how long the down time will last but I try to wake up each day and do the body check.  I usually don't put much stock in how I feel in the morning.  Lets face it, as any Lupie can tell you, mornings are generally pretty crappy.  However, on a good day the crappiness is only temporary and will fade in an hour or two and you can get moving around.

Today is my youngest grand daughter's birthday.  She turned a whopping 1 years old today! My daughter brought her over for a visit.  I asked her to since the regular on the phone "happy birthday" just doesn't have the same wow factor for a 1 year old as it does say a 3 or 4 year old.  My daughter had some homework to do for a college class.  Mr. Nana was a sweetie and agreed to watch my grandbaby while my daughter used my laptop to do her homework.  They were playing and we could hear them both laughing up a storm.  Then we both noticed it had gotten really quiet.  I then bet my daughter that they were asleep, laying on the couch. I was HALF right.  She came running back to my room and grabbed her cell and got this adorable picture which I absolutely adore! Can't wait to frame it and get it hung!  But mostly it just shows how much Mr Nana adores our youngest grand daughter.

There he was, with our grand baby all snuggled up in his lap, wrapped in his favorite bathrobe.  Both of them sound asleep! Gotta love it!

Till next time, have a great day!

Sincerely,
nanasrcool

I have been working on several projects at the same time.  You know what that means.. lots of small things done but nothing big finished.  I tend to like to work that way though sometimes.  Sometimes you just need some projects you can finish up quickly.  Kind of like an instant gratification thing.  That is one reason I was never keen on online shopping.  I mean you find great stuff but then you have to WAIT!! OMG!

I remember as kids when my mother was raising us on her own. We really had it rough at times.  When she went grocery shopping that twice a month and actually bought those snacks.  Me and my sisters would eat them up within a few days! Woosh....Gone! So patience was never a strong point for me.  However, now I have found online shopping to be my best friend.  I no longer can drive so it is my only way to shop.  Now, that I have had to use it, I have really come to appreciate it.  I mean how many times have you gone shopping and would be going through the sale stuff finding something your really like only to have the rest of the grouping sold out or not in your size? I hate that! lol  Now if one online shop is out, I simply locate the rest at another shop! Simple!

So I made a few things.. first I made some place mats to go in our breakfast area that actually match my kitchen.  I made most of the stuff in there and so I guess it is only right the place mats needed to be made by me as well...

They turned out pretty good I think..What do you think? 

I am working on a table runner to go with them

I also made a pin cushion to decorate my sewing room.  I got the instructions from DIY Dish.  .  I am not extremely happy with how it turned out.  Not because of the design.  That part is great.  But mostly it is probably my sewing inexperience.  I plan to make another one and see if it will come out better.  I am holding off till I can get something for the head part like they suggest.  They suggest a small Christmas ornament like a glass ball or glitter one.  So I will hold off til I have make a Hobby Lobby run (which thank goodness did NOT get hit by the tornado that touched down withing only a few hundred feet from it) and pick one up! The Kwik Kar Lube shop next to it is history and nothing but a pile of cinder blocks now.  But my favorite store in the world is still there and in full working order! yeah!

I have a few more things I am also working on that are larger projects.  But will have to post them at a later date.

Hope you are having a great day! Keep quilting and sewing!

14 Tornadoes in your town can make you go HMMMM

While this post has nothing to do really with quilting or sewing.  This blog is also about my life. My experiences and feelings about them. To not include a post about something which effects me so profoundly and has certainly scared the beejesus out of me would be crazy. It is also why I have not posted. I was just unable to find a way to post a happy, up beat and fun blog post about sewing and quilting. Right now I am busy working on quilts, yes.  But quilts that will give comfort.  Quilts that will let someone know their pain is not forgotten.  Quilts that will let a child hold something that is theirs and not lost.  As you read this blog post you will come to understand why this means so much to me right now.  It feels like I must do this.  Call it survivor guilt or simply compassion.  Call it what you want, but it is something I feel very strongly that I need to do.

Not sure if any of you have heard.  I live in Mesquite TX.  This is a suburb of Dallas.  My family, and when I say my family I mean ALL of my family with the exception of my oldest daughter and my youngest daughter, live in Forney, TX.  My mother and daughter specifically live in Diamond Creek.  This is a subdivision there.  My sisters live in Forney as well but in different neighborhoods.  Forney is a small town.  They have one 4A high school.  One Walmart and a Brookshires.  That small.  My mom's subdivision is one like many of you know.  Small surrounding an elementary school with about 125 homes.  Not large by any means.  Now, it will never look the same again.

On April 3rd the Dallas/Ft. Worth area had a really rough weather day.  We had 15 tornadoes touch down from 1pm to around 5pm.  Two of them in my town.  There was some damage done.  It was very scary.  But the scariest time of all was when I was on the phone with my mom. She works from home about half the time.  My daughter and grandson were there with her as well.  We had just had a tornado touch down here.  The second one in a couple of hours.  I must have spent half the day in my hall! lol..

While on the phone with my mom, I was telling her it the storm cell was headed to her in Forney.  She was outside looking at the sky, as most of us in tornado alley are prone to do when we hear there is one coming our way.  I hear her say "oh yeah, there is tons of circulation! I can really tell with the dark and white clouds! Wait, there is one coming down now! Oh and it is not going back up! That one is staying down on the ground!"  Meanwhile I am on the phone with her telling her to get the he$$ in the HOUSE NOW! My mother is a VERY stubborn woman.  By the time I was done, I found myself screaming at her at the top of my lungs "Mom for the love of God get in THE HOUSE NOW!!!! PLEASE GET IN THE HOUSE!!" She finally did go in the house and get in her hallway.  I could hear on the news that one was on the ground in Forney.  I heard Walmart had been hit.  I said as much to her on the phone.  Her reply was "Something sure did because there is nothing but tons of insulation in my pool and back yard!" The total of the true devastation had not yet become known to her.  Only after walking outside did she get the full picture of how much devastation had happened.  Also how truly lucky she had been.

There were fortunately no deaths in the Dallas/Ft Worth area that day.  By some miracle for sure.  One woman in my mother's neighborhood was home with her grandchild and babysitting 2 other children.  She was huddled in a bathtub with a 5 year old and two 18 month olds.  After it stopped she had no home around her.   Yet no injuries.  I am attaching a video of my mom's neighborhood.  It looks like a bomb went off! This is the footage someone took of the tornado going down the street.  This is headed directly for my mothers home.  Yet it took a turn here, just a small one and missed my moms house by only a very short distance.

I feel so fortunate.  Those that I hold so dear are alive and well.  My mother's home, while definitely damaged, nothing in compared to the other 75 homes in her neighborhood that had severe damage and in most cases demolished.  Some actually GONE. Yet no deaths, not even a severe injury.  I have been busy with life that sometimes can get in the way with blogging.  I am working on trying to gather some donated material in a "free-cycle" group in our town.  I am making some quilts for my mom to take to her neighborhood church and give to some of the effected families.  Mostly the children who lost so much. My son went to the school in that neighborhood.  The school itself was actually hit.  The roof was peeled off.  There was a woman that came to pick up her children (the tornadoes hit right when our schools let out). A teacher came running out to her car and said a tornado is coming. The woman instead chose to go into the school to ride out the safety. Her car was found across the field mangled and almost unrecognizable.  Another woman came to pick up her child and went into the school as well. Moments later the car was picked up and thrown into a home across the street from the school.  These woman should have ran out that day and purchased a lottery ticket for sure! The video below tells some of the stories I mentioned as well as shows some of the aftermath.

I feel so fortunate and in many ways a bit guilty.  While my own home has been adjusted by the insurance company.  I have a totaled roof, gutters, screens and fence.  But compared to many, it is nothing. The thought of those I love so much being lost is enough to stop me in my tracks.  I would have lost my mother, daughter and grandson in one foul swoop. That is a terrifying thought for sure. I choose to look instead at how fortunate I am to have them safe and sound. I am sure many in my area feel the same way.  With so many tornadoes that day, I am sure many feel EXACTLY as I do.

We are in for some more rough weather tonight and tomorrow morning.  Right now Oklahoma City and other towns in tornado alley are being hit.  They tell us we have a slight chance of ours becoming tornadic as well.  That is what they said on April 3rd as well so not going to feel much comfort in the word "slight" again.

You know I had to give my room my own stamp!

I forgot! I managed one other finished project. lol I have been VERY busy this week!  I gave my room my own stamp!

 The letters are chipboard for only 1.00 each.  I had to make the apostrophe from card stock..  I used some wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby and mod podge the wonder stuff!

Make something beautiful today!
nanasrcool  

My take on the pottery barn Eagan Mirror

Okay, so this isnt about quilting.  However, we quilter's love to make our homes look their best.  We also love a great project!  I found one on the blog    TheLetteredCottage.  They have a how-to make this beautiful Pottery Barn Knockoff Eagan Mirror.  The price for this thing is unbelievable.  For one with only 9 mirrors well over 300.  For a large one your are in the ball park of over 600.00.  I certainly can't afford a 600.00 mirror! But I can make one for $57.00 using some power tools, elbow grease and a handy dandy Hobby Lobby 50% off coupon.

I was DETERMINED to make this mirror! I just loved it the moment I saw it.  It fit my style and furnishing so well.  The one in the tutorial uses rubbed oil bronze paint.  That stuff is wonderful! However, it wouldn't really go with my black wrought iron bedroom furniture.  So I made mine painted black and used silver rosettes.  I have quite a few silver accent pieces in my bedroom. It really turned out beautiful.  I hope you will give it a try yourself!

Go for it! I got the wood trim at a place called ReStore.  It is discounted building material.  It is owned by Goodwill.  I got 8ft trim pieces for only 1.00 each! So the total price was 57.00 but seeing it hanging on my wall, knowing I made it myself.....PRICELESS!

Have a great day and make something beautiful!
Nanasrcool

Cutting table redo

Okay, I have been a busy girl! After the lamp I did yesterday turned out so great.  I had planned to redo the cutting table or at least make it look more attractive.  After I did the lamp, it just made the table scream FIX ME! So ... I did!

 I got a closet rod and made some curtains to hide all my ahem..storage as opposed to junk?  After that was done I started eyeing my pressing pad.  It was gold! That certainly didn't go with the rest of my room.  Then I saw the left over material from the curtains.  Yep, still plenty there to cover it.  I pulled out my handy dandy electric staple gun and went to town.  Getting the staples out where I had attached the prior cover was the hardest part.  Those suckers were in there!  I pressed on and got them all out.  I am so glad I recovered it.  It was the perfect touch.  You can also see where I did some stencil work on the ends.  I loved doing that.  They are so easy to do and it really added to the table.  It is really coming along well!  I can't wait to show you all of it.  Each time I complete something it makes me even more restless to do another project.  It is like seeing  the finish line and it pumping you up to go further! I look around at my room and it is coming together so great. The curtains are screaming at me to fix them!  I mean the leopard print was here when I moved in.  I never had the need to worry about changing them out.  But now.... man they gotta GO! I have some material to make some more.  Curtains that actually match the room.  Not as much pink in them as the table though.  I dont mind a little bit, but not all over.  I will have to see..who knows... I guess we will just have to wait and see!

Till next time,
Nanasrcool

Lamp Revamp!

My first lamp redo!  I made a blogger rookie mistake and didn't remember to take a good before picture! All I can offer is a crop of a previous photo taken that had the lamp included.  I know baaaad photo! I totally agree.  I am working on getting better pictures for you guys.  I have improved the photos I take with my phone.  Still no comparison to photos taken with a real digital camera.  I am not one of those folks with an Iphone.  Though I must admit I am coming closer and closer to going over to the dark side and breaking down and getting one.  The HiDef pics alone gets a big check mark in the "pros" column.

Anyway, as you know I am working on redecorating my sewing room.  Making it more functional, organized and ....well pretty too! I mean we spend so much time in our sewing/crafting room.  It should be beautiful as well.  For me it helps with the inspiration process.

I am having a great time as well.  Learning so many great things about re purposing items that have seen their better days.  Adding my own style and making them fresh and new again.  That is what I did with my lamp.  There are so many posts online about how to redo your tired lamps.

I have this boring beige lamp that I use on my cutting table to add a bit more light to my cutting mat.

 Again, I so apologize for the poor quality photo!

I covered the cord with painters tape. I also covered the the light set up with tape as well. Took the beige lamp and painted it black using Krylon's satin finish black spray paint.

While I waited for the paint to dry I made a pattern for the lamp shade by laying it flat on a large piece of paper.  I used packing paper which is large and cheap.  I started at the seam of the shade and first traced the top by rolling the shade till I was again at the seam and tracing it by pencil.  Then did the same with the bottom making a pattern for my shade.  I pinned the pattern to the wrong side of my fabric.  I cut out my pattern giving an extra inch around the pattern. You can then us pinking shears to give a good finished edge and prevent fraying.  I also sewed and pressed a 1/4" seam on one end of the fabric for a nice finished seam.  I sprayed the lamp with permanent spray adhesive.  I used Elmer's because it allows you to re-position the fabric before it becomes permanent. Also because it dries clear.  I adjusted the fabric to make sure to get the wrinkles all smoothed out.  Also, I made sure I had around an inch on the top and bottom of the shade. I also made sure to have the end seam (the pressed end) finish at the original seam on the shade.  After it was attached and smooth.  I cut small snips on the top and bottom extra inch.  I used fabric glue and glued it to the inside of the shade.

Then I chose to add some trim to the top and bottom.  Use your own choice of embellishment.  You can use beading, ric rac as I did, or even ribbon.  I attached it with a glue gun. It gives the lamp a more finished look.

Then I reattached my shade once it was dry to the lamp.

Voila! Looks GREAT!! Like new! I love it!

I was so excited with how this came out, I felt confident to move on to my next project!

Have a great day!
Nanasrcool