Don't tag me bro' aka...~six secrets~

OK, it's a play on words, "don't taze me bro" by that crazy kid at Florida State who wanted his 15 minutes.....check that 2.2 minutes of fame.






So..anywho, I have been TAGGED by my favorite witch, thegoodwitchtoo to reveal six intimate secrets about myself. Whoa....hold the phone...is Big Brother listening? OK, well, for the good witch Casandra I will dive into the cauldron and give you an idea of the things that make sewhappy so happy!




1) I luv luv to hear young children say and do the funniest things....every family member has heard a little person say something just totally clever or innocent that made you want to smile or laugh a belly laugh. I have many, but the only one that comes to mind at the moment is one year our son, Jeff and his wife, Sheila (named by the family as Jela, 'cause we are too lazy to write out both names) gave McStevie (my hubby, self-named after me watching countless hours of McDreamy and McSteamy on Grey's Anatomy) a new basketball and t-shirt from his favorite college basketball team (The Cuse in Syracuse, NY). Our then 4 year old grandson, Tucker, decided to try on the shirt, to which sewhappy gramma says "you could swim in that shirt". Well, I got a blank look from this sweet child and he looks directly in my eyes and says, no, gramma I'm just gonna wear if for a few minutes. Apparently, he thought we were going swimming. Children are so innocent and precious and precocious all at the same time...they say what they think and often repeat what you say, so be berrry, berrry careful.





2) I luv luv to watch aforesaid Grey's Anatomy and a few other shows...will Meredith ever figure out that she will never be happy, BECAUSE SHE IS TOO FRIGGIN' MUCH OF A NUT CASE! Man, don't you just wanna put your hand threw the tv and wring her little beeotchy neck....get a grip Meredith, life doesn't have to have that much drama, and IT"S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT YOU! oh, thanks I feel sew much better now.





3) I luv luv cheese doodles, most all of them, but my absolute FAV is Wise cheese doodles, the big fat ones that melt in your mouth...oh and **sigh** they love me too.





4) I luv luv Dunkin Donuts coffee. Thanks to my friend Pat in KY! When she lived here, she and I would always travel to Syracuse together for "fabric sightings" and because she gets carsick, she would drive. And, because she had to go by "the Dunkin" before getting to my house she would bring me coffee and breakfast......I miss her so! And...damn her for getting me hooked on that coffee!





5) I luv luv my sewing/classroom. It is my sanctuary, where I go to get lost.... relax....where I spend time out when I have been bad..and I am always bad. I have four six foot tables in it now so I can really spread out and make a huge mess when I'm not having class.

Sew Happy

Time Out Space

6) I luv luv watching my birds all year long. I have one bird feeder I can see from the big living room window and one I can see from the slider in the kitchen/dining. McStevie is a doll and knows how much I luv this so he keeps them well-stocked for me. I have a pair of cardinals I call Fred and Ethel and they bring more cardinals back around in the winter....just sew lovely to watch...keeps my heart warm all winter...and winters are very long here in northern NY.

What we have here is a failure to communicate...

What's your favorite Paul Newman movie??




I am in a bit of mourning for one of my favorite actors has passed away....Paul Newman...Mr. blue eyes...Mr. Paul Newman's Own....wonderful products for his wonderful charities...the list goes on.





Forget the fact that the man has been married to the same woman for 50 years, which is an amazing thing all by itself, but in Hollywood no less. Forget the fact that he starred in wonderful, unforgettable movies ...(Cool Hand Luke, who could ever forget Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Hustler, The Color of Money) and gave the car racing world enthusiasts someone to identify with....he just seemed like a good guy...the best....




I would have loved to meet the guy and just hang out...just to peer into those blue eyes once and hear him say....what we have here is a failure to communicate.....such a great film...such a legend...you will be missed Paul Newman!

WOOT ~~My Latest Creation ~~

Woot....I believe if you look in the dictionary you will find it says: a loving term of excitement used by Etsy artists or also used to describe something awesome.

I have been commissioned through Etsy to make a craft aprons for Heather at her Mooseberryhill etsy shop and Julie at Thebumblebeestudio shop for their upcoming craft show. I wanted to do a "test drive" by making one for me. Mine is made from some Debbie Mumm fabric (given to me by my best buddy, Pat) and a sweet yellow check. Notice the little buttons, thread spools and stars. I wanted it to have ALL the elements that a good craft show apron SHOULD have. Here is my proto-type....WOOT!!!

It measures 20 inches wide by 11 inches deep. It has a total of 7, count 'em 7 Pockets! There are 2 very narrow pockets on the left for pen, pencil, screwdriver, what have you. It has a pocket to hold business cards. I got super clever and embroidered my etsy shop, Sew Happy Designs, name on the pocket, WOOT.

It has a large money pocket in the middle with a long Velcro enclosure, so your money won't fall out! It has 3 more pockets of various sizes, one perfect for a cell phone. All pockets are 5 1/2 inch deep. It has a ring for keys and a ring (slanted) to hold a pair of scissors. I put some sweet piping on the top of the pocket section, just for a little somethin' somethin' extra. The tails are long enough to rap around from back and then front again (dependent on your waist line).

I haven't done a craft show in ages, so until I do, I may use mine in my sewing room to hold my gadgets when I sew.

A Ya Ya Baby Shower

She is having a girl!!!

This weekend the Ya Ya's got together for a baby shower for one of the younger Ya Ya's (#3's daughter). The shower was held by Ya Ya #3. It was a gorgeous day and a lovely event with great food and great family! I made a changing pad with a couple of matching burp cloths. I sell these in my etsy shop.

The Copper Cauldron

I received this awesome soap yesterday for "calling in" on the Mooseberryhill radio show from agoodwitchtoo. I showered with it this morning. It is wonderful. Lathers awesome and smells divine.

The YA YA Sisterhood Diva Quilters (DQ)

The YA YA Sisterhood Diva Quilters Story~

I have 5 siblings, 4 sisters and 1 brother (don't feel too sorry for him, he was a middle child and got plenty of attention). I am the oldest and we are all very close in age, mom was quite busy those 9 years.

Back in the 90's when I was getting into serious quilting, I painstakingly made my Mom a lovely machine appliqued and machine quilted topper. Mom was very pleased and said, "that would be so pretty in a full-size quilt for my bed." The idea was born that my sisters and I (all of us enjoyed sewing, some more than others) should band together and make the quilt. We had worked on the quilt off and on for a few years and at one of the meetings I had a brainstorm that we should have a name for our family group...thus the Ya Ya Sisterhood Diva Quilters (DQ) was born. (Oh yeah, I had a written pledge and everything.) The DQ part has double meaning because whenever we would get together in our home town we would inevitably find ourselves at the local Dairy Queen for lunch and/or ice cream...it has always been a hangout for our family and we have literally spent hours there in one sitting.

Anywho...because we all lived in NY state we could take turns hosting the Ya Ya's sewing event. How long could it possibly take to make a quilt if we all met on a regular basis? After all, the quilt block had ONLY 10 PIECES to applique, not including the background square...AND..she would like it to fit her full size bed, with enough room to tuck the pillows and drape a few inches from the floor. The quilt was given to her on Christmas 2003, a mere 7 years since we started the process.

Turns out you can learn a lot about your sisters in meetings like that. There was lots of laughter, tears, and a little sprinkle of mmm....catfights is too strong a word.....disagreements is better. I recall the "pin incident" quite clearly....NO...do NOT...sew over pins....with...MY machine, said Ya Ya #1 (me) to Ya Ya #2! 'Nough said 'bout the rockier times. (I have great respect and admiration for all of my YA YA sisters and they are each endearing and each possess qualities that I love them for.)

Now as we got closer to the end of making mom's quilt we decided we should all band together and make quilts for each other in a similar fashion. OK, let's draw names. Turns out the after the names were drawn mine came out first...and went almost all in succession and rank in the sibling order. It was agreed we would just start with mine and go in order of birth. It was also agreed that each sister would pick an easy pattern to insure there would be no more 7 year quilts. Mine was super easy and the queen size top was completed within a year, in fact in 2 weekends of sewing. Oh yeah, and during that time we hooked up two new members, Ya Ya #3's oldest daughter and my (Ya Ya #1) daughter. Cool-- now we could get more accomplished sew much faster in our "family sweat shop"....YAY!

So far the Ya Ya's have done a quilt for me, and a wedding quilt for sister #2's oldest son, sister #3's oldest daugher, and a "manly" quilt for a family friend. The Ya Ya's are currently on sister #2's quilt which we have been working on since 2004. This block with 37 pieces is beautiful yes, easy, no.... I am confident that the Ya Ya's will get back on track and get it completed.

THE BLOCK




See more of the Ya Ya quilts here...

This blog will have regular updates on the Ya Ya's.

So...finally...after talking about it for weeks and months I have plunged into the blog sphere. I am trembling at the thought of someone actually reading and enjoying MY thoughts...well, I guess that remains to be seen, right?

Anywho, (get used to that word, I use it a lot)...for what it's worth...I'm ready to put down some thoughts and creativeness of my own...so let's both enjoy the ride...hey...maybe...it might actually be fun...in some spots!