Dec
23
Merry Christmas
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I received this from a friend and would like to share it with you.
Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas. My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he’d been memorizing songs for his school’s “Winter Pageant.” I did not have the heart to tell him I’d be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there’d be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a seat on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as “Christmas,” I didn’t expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son’s class rose to sing, “Christmas Love,” I was surprised and delighted by the title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row- center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, “Christmas Love.” The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter “M” upside down - totally unaware her letter “M” appeared as a “W”. The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her “W”. Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood - the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: “CHRISTWAS LOVE”
May your Christmas be filled with Love, Laughter, Family and Friends.
Dec
22
What a week- I found out the hard way this week that I am allergic to Amoxillin! Suffice it to say that my face looked like a chipmunk and my lips looked like I was addicted to collagen injections ! I am feeling like a normal human being now although for a few days I actually spent most of my time in bed- getting nothing accomplished!
I decided that I want to make aprons for my sisters, sisters in law and both moms. That means 8 more aprons to be done by Monday. Yes I am nuts! Luckily I have all the fabric I need, and there are lots of hours in a day.
Newly married Katelyn came over today for some sewing help. The entrance to her basement has no door and is right at her entrance. Her two new grandmothers are coming over for a visit tomorrow and she wants it to look “nice”.
We (I only helped with measuring and pinning. She did all the sewing! ) got the panel done in record time. The grommets had us fretting for a few minutes as we could not get them to “lock” with just hand pressure and a hammer was not doing the job either.
We grabbed an old hardcover book, centred everything and gave the book a good hard whack. That did the trick.
Oh yes -I have some news! Good news! I got another job. Now most of you who read this do not know much about my non-sewing life. I do have a job- I am a farmer. Buuutt if I am not super, over busy I get bored, so I am always on the lookout for something that sounds interesting. The new job - and yes I still get to keep my old job too- involves doing insurance adjusting for a government agricultural agency. It should not be fullfull time - that means at times it will be full time and other times not so busy. I am looking forward to starting in two weeks! As Kate would say “Yay Me!”
Some Christmas photos to share….
an angel…
the last christmas ornament the girls ever gave to my grandmother…
this ornament made by my mother
Herman the cat
a paperpieced nativity scene that I appropriately finished while on a tour of Israel; the girls stockings I made years ago; and a Santa that my mom made many years ago.
Treasures all!
Dec
16
Are you all CrAzY?
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Dec
15
Christmas Aprons
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Christmas is approaching way, way too quickly! I just realized this afternoon that I have yet to get a package together for my sister and her family in Alberta! We don’t exchange gifts, but I like to send a little something out to her. The rest of the family all live within 40 minutes of each other, Jeremy’s family is in Wales, and she does get a little lonely at Christmas time. At least that is what I tell myself- I know I would!
What a better night than tonights stormy one to get her apron drafted, sewn and reviewed!
You all remember the fabric-
(Hey wow - Blogger has changed! I can see the photo in draft view-how cool is that!)
Next was the “opportunity” to draft my own pattern as-
a) I do not have the perfect pattern at home
b) the perfect pattern is a McCalls that goes on sale NEXT week
c) I lost the Ebay bid on the set of 4 vintage apron patterns that I Really Wanted
d) It is too stormy to get out to Fabricland
So - after searching online for “free” “apron” “pattern” for a really, really long time, I decided to draft my own.
Here is what I came up with- I took a rectangle of fabric 18″ X 32. I wanted a few gathers at the hip line, so I softly gathered a 4 inch section that was 4 inches from the centre. (on the top edge of course!)
Hemmed the bottom.
Sewed on the waistband, basically a 3″ X 29 inch contrasting fabric, adjusting the gathers to fit.
Narrow hemmed the side seams.
Made two ties about 3 inches wide and 36 inches long. Narrow hemmed 3 sides.
I like the look of a pleated tie, so I made a pleat where I was going to attach it to the waistband.
Then I sewed the ties on. On the photo I crossed them to the front and tied them there.
I found this pocked on my searches. I cannot take credit for the original design, but I did tweak it to my needs. ie made it bigger and the tie ends fatter. Here is the website where it can be found POCKETPDF
Voila la apron for my little sister- well she is over 40 but she is still younger than me!
Merry Christmas Lisa!
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