Merry times

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with the people they love to be with. I am thankful for the times spent with family.

I made this ornament from Tilda's little bear pattern, and I used some glitter, sequin and beads to dress her up for Christmas. In the box she went for the annual Christmas ornament exchange party and the recipient was very happy to get her.
I'm thinking of some new ideas for projects that I could share, so hope to be back soon with more of my sewing adventures. Until then, God Bless. KS

It's Christmas time!

Hi, I have been soooo busy, you know how it goes during this season. I love, love Christmas time!! and I love the busy times of seeing relatives, mailing Christmas cards, cooking, decorating for Christmas, baking cinnamon rolls, (everyone's favorite), picking out a gift for a loved one, and looking at the beautiful colors of Christmas, and a side from all this fun, the most important thing I remember is the reason for the season of our Lord and Savior's birth. Jesus Christ. He lives!

These are some pictures of my little decorations I have up, they are so cute and my home feels extra cozy during Christmas time.

Celebrate the birth of Christ.

A dream home.

Little mom and baby deer, so cute!

This cute advent calender that I like to fill with little Christmas chocolates, all hand made by me!

Antique Christmas ornaments.

My favorite little church, perfect center piece.

Well there you see, I love Christmas!

I am working on some sewing, yes really I am, on my friends quilt that I hope I can complete soon. It is queen size quilt so it takes time. 

I wish you all a Happy December, keep looking up. Merry Christmas!!! KS

Happy Veterans Day!

How thankful I am for the veterans, they do have a special place in my heart. 

Here is the quilt I finished, just in time for Christmas. It is for sale on my Etsy shop. So excited to get it pictured. I love how it came out, so pretty, and has that cottage feel. 

Nice and warm too!

Pretty green vine with leaves on the back.

Hope your days have been good. It's that time of year when the wind blows a bit more, and the leaves make that pretty sound as they move around in the air. It's a lovely time of year.

I love the bustling and moving around and what girl wouldn't love shopping! It's so much fun to have a day just out either by myself or with a special friend, and just eat a little lunch, walk around the sights, and buy a little something too.
In between my daily outings with my Mr. (here he is lying on a cool floor after a long walk), I try to get in some sewing, or some embroidery work, or sewing a quilt for a friend.

I'm relaxing!

The quilt show in Santa Clara last month was wonderful! I enjoyed seeing the quilts, the vendors, and getting a day away. It was a dream! All that fabric, and pretty little things to keep someone very busy.
Now, back to work I go getting some things done. Christmas is approaching and got to get some gifts finished. Enjoy your day. God Bless! KS

Overwhelmed

Hello.

 "Overwhelmed" is the title of a new song I recently heard on KLove, christain radio. It's by a band called Big Daddy Weave. I just love to listen to this song. Good music just soothes the senses.

Well, an update on my pretty quilt. I have started sewing on the binding but this picture shows you the back of the quilt. The back fabric actually had a pretty print of vines and leaves on one side, thought it would look different on the quilt but it works just fine. I'm a firm believer in using what I have on hand if at all possible and this piece was just waiting to be used for something. All cotton of course.

Other things that I sometimes like to make are bracelets, earrings, and bead necklaces. It is fun to use those little shiny beads, so I started looking at my beads that I have saved for a while and I found a book on making bracelets with beads. I made one bracelet. Soon after the first one, came a second one which I sent to a friend of mine and she loved it. They are so pretty and fun to wear.

I love the color of the big blue bead, it was perfect for my bracelet.

This is the bracelet that my friend received. It is so pretty! 

Two more pink tone bracelets, one for my daughter and another to give away.

My friend also received a receipe that I wrote down for her to try, it is my version of Alfredo stuffed jumbo shells with artichokes and ground turkey. She just texted me to say she loved the bracelet and it fit her perfectly. 

I'm happy that it made her happy. 

So, as you see, I have been busy lately with my bead work, and with my quilting. What new projects have you started?  I think I will keep making more bracelets, they can be addicting once you start on one but quilting and sewing are still my favorites. Go start a project folks, you will have so much fun with it. I just read a neat article in Molly Makes magazine where the writer said, crafting really does relieve stress. I love that! Blessings, KS

Glorious Day

Hi. It is a glorious day of the Lord! Wow, I just got back home from church. It was a great message and wonderful songs to our Lord Jesus. I so much enjoy seeing my friends, and my family members there all together. We have such a great place to worship our God.
We are in Revelation, and it is great to hear the news of our Lord Jesus Christ who is coming for his people.

I love Autumn time, and we are in it now. Beautiful trees changing color, and the coziness of putting on a warm sweater in the morning, especially a Sunday morning. I hope it is cozy and beautiful where you may be too. As for my sewing projects, here is where I am with my new quilt I'm working on.

 They are a bunch of 6 inch squares that came together to make this twin size quilt. As you will notice, I still do the pinning with safety pins, haven't started using the new adhesive sprays on the market, but maybe I will try it out sometime. Any helpful hints are welcome.
I tried to stay in the pinks, mauve, color palate but threw in some yellow and light blue. I'm thinking of putting some yellow for the binding. We will see how it turns out.
Since I haven't put anything new into my store for some time, this one will be going for sale on my
Etsy shop.

"Hi everyone, Mom has her camera again."

Here is my sweet lab, he loves my attention.  Always wants to play with me, Who could resist this face?

Well, hope you all have a glorious Sunday. It's off to the kitchen to prepare some brunch for me.

Hopefully I will get a chance to work on my quilt today.

Keep looking up to the sky! KS 

Joyful sounds!

Joyful sounds of my big wind chime outside my house is so lovely.  My favorite place to sit is on my park bench after a long walk back home when the two of us can hardly wait to get there after we walk up to 2.5 miles. Something about wind chimes like this makes me happy :).

 It is starting to remind me of the pretty times of fall. Already I see pumpkins coming in at our local Trader Joe's store. It's wonderful and I'm thinking pumpkin bread, hmm, so good! Our weather this week is great, sunny and a slight wind. The cool breeze is very welcomed, such a blessing!

As for my sewing, I started on a new quilt, and can hardly wait to finish it. I have another one that needs quilting, very soon I hope. It seems that I have little projects always going around here, its either hand sewing, embroidering, or sewing hexagons . I also just finished and sold a very cute skirt to a lovely lady. Sorry but I completely forgot to take a pic of it. Oh well.

I'm looking forward to attending the Pacific International Quilt show this year, it's held in October and in the city of Santa Clara, the place where you find "Great America" the amusement park. A fun place to go if you haven't gone yet. Can hardly wait for the quilt show!! All the vendors, quilts and people to see, it's amazing!

Here is a pic of my doggy, he got a new toy yesterday.

"Love it mom"

Time to go do some sewing, Adieu! KS

Happy Labor Day!

 Hi. It's good to get back to my computer and write a little bit. I know it's been a while. Today I'm just hanging out at home all day, so I used my labor day to finish up this really nice bag. It is from Lisa Liams, A bag for all reasons book.
 I found the fabric at Birch fabric store. I visited the store a few weeks ago and spotted this left over piece of fabric, I new it would be nice as a purse or bag and here it is, just finished it today and so happy about that.

The lining is also a  nice color of blue. The bag was pretty easy to assemble once I got all the pieces cut out and labeled. Then I used many of my saved up magnet closures, D rings, all the metal pieces were recycled from old purses. It feels great to finally use up these items that I saved for a new bag and I love it!, what do you all think?

Here is a pic of a little dress I made for a little girl who turned 2 years last week and just loves the Cars theme.
Of course I said yes to the request for a dress. I added some bows, and checkered fabric. I think it is very cute and easy to wash and wear, just what little 2 year old's need.

Cute little dress

 Something I enjoy is baking. I especially love the smell of the cooked peaches, or apples. It reminds me of being home, a calm time, Here I made a peach pie. I'm still working on getting the crust just right, it always seems to be the most difficult for me. Any hints are welcome. Take a break and enjoy a piece of pie. Keep looking up at the sky. KS

My favorite is peach pie!

Good day everyone!

Oh, its a gorgeous Saturday! I really enjoy my weekends because it gives me time to do my work around home, like my chores, listen to some of my favorite music, and do some sewing.
I'm happy to say that I made a very cute dress for a lovely lady to wear and she loved it. Yeah, it makes me happy when I can make someone else happy. Here is a pic of her new dress. Its a cool, very light grey with cute little elephants. Now who wouldn't love elephants?

Here at my very mini farm, (my side yard), we have tomatoes growing and lots of jalapenos. I was so blessed to have one plant produce so much food for me. I also have had lots of beautiful zucchini growing, enough to give some to other people. I made a chocolate pecan zucchini bread yesterday, mmm so yummy.
It's been quite hot around here, great for my plants but very hot for my sweet lab. He loves to be outdoors but it gets very hot for him so he spends a lot of his day time lounging on the kitchen floor where it's cool to him. There he lies, very stretched out listening to whatever music I have playing. He loves it!

"What is it mom? I'm resting"

 I decided to do some cleaning of my sewing room, yup, it is time again. I have so many scraps so I decided to start cutting them into squares and storing them for later quilts. Scrap quilts are my favorite kind to make.
My latest project are some cool large thick hand towels. I am currently embroidering them, and putting an edge of colorful fabric. They are so pretty. I'll show you all what they look like when I'm finished with them.

My stack of squares is growing.

And, lastly I want to tell you all about a  movie I saw last night at my church called "God is not dead". It was very good, and real. If you haven't seen it, hope you can. It brings me closer to my Savior. He is alive!
Well, I have enjoyed telling you a bit of my adventures for this week, hope to get back here soon. As always, thanks for coming by. Happy sewing! KS

Two brothers

Hi. Hope you are all doing well. Here I am to show you what I just finished. They are so cute, two little brother cloth rag dolls. Great for little boys or girls to hold onto. I think that dolls are so wonderful for children, they really do help children develop their imaginations, attachments, and friendships.

Chris and Cory

They will be for sale at Boyd and Bradley Art Studio in Atascadero. 

I also finished my latest quilt that seemed to take me a long while. It is a nautical twin size quilt and it is featured at my Etsy shop. Here is a pic. It is one of my favorites because of the whales and sailboats.

A friend of mine asked me to make some doll clothes for her grand daughter's dolls. I immediately said yes, of course I would. Doll clothes are one of my favorites because the dresses are so cute. Here are the 4 dresses I made.

So you see, I have been very busy sewing. My favorite hobby ever! 

I think I will have to get started on more items, feel free to drop me any comments. 

Finally, today I want to tell you about this cool music I found and have constantly been listening to. They are a band called "Jesus Culture", featuring Kim Walker-Smith. Her voice is amazing!! All the band members are just so good. This music is all about worshiping our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus and remembering how wonderful he is to all of us.

I can hardly wait to go to church tomorrow, and sing to the Lord. 

So take care, and hope you can come back soon to read about my sewing journey. Keep looking up to the sky! and Happy Sewing! KS

It's summer!

It's been some time since I sat here to write something. No excuse really, just keeping busy and hiding in my sewing room. Surrounded by fabric and bits of scrap pieces is quite relaxing actually. Something about all those colors, it makes me happy.
I have been walking up to 2.5 miles and dreaming of getting to 3 sometime soon. I just love it! and my faithful companion loves it too. He can hardly wait to get out everyday. How about you? any tips on how to keep up with walking as a great exercise? Let me know.
What I have been up to is making dolls, and bags, and quilts, oh my and I made myself a cute linen skirt today.
I'll have to take pics of those things, but for today I just have pics of my bags. Here they are. I love my bag, it came out just as I envisioned it and I'm already using it daily.

 I came up with the idea of making fabric out of scraps since I have quite a bit of them and then quilted it. I tend to use mostly scraps or small pieces of fabric often. Its lined and has a metal zipper. I filled it up with my everyday things I need and off I go each day with my pretty handmade bag. I'm planning to make more of these, maybe a bit smaller in size. This one measures 18 inches across by 12 inches in height.

I also made this cute clutch bag, its so unique. Soft but heavier than regular cotton, more of a canvas fabric, a green zipper and a pretty red flower button. This bag is featured at my Etsy store. It can also be used as a cover for an Ipad. Two things in one. So useful!

 
And, this pic is of my beautiful zucchinis. I love tending to my one zucchini plant and it has produced these lovely vegetables. Just with water and telling it how I appreciate what it grows for me. Lately my favorite kind of bread is chocolate zucchini bread.

Well, Its time to get going, hope you all have a great weekend. Keep looking to the sky. God is great!! KS

Fun weekend

It's a weekend full of so many activities, one of my favorite times of the year and so much good food to eat!
Lately, I crave some ice cream, a perfect time for a scoop of chocolate rocky road, my favorite.
I had a lovely time with family yesterday, seeing all the graduates graduate from college and seeing their joyous faces of finally finishing this part of their education and getting out of school.
Such an accomplishment for them. I wish them all success as they go out to the work force or to further their education.
I'm especially proud of my beautiful daughter and wonderful son in law for graduating!

Well, let me tell you what's new in my sewing room. I spent this last weekend making a cover for my Ipad. So many scraps, that I just had to make something with them again, and this cover came out so cute. It can also carry all the wires and things that come with it. What do you think?

This memorial day, lets remember those who have fallen, and those still serving. Thank you for your service to our country.
Hope you all have a fun filled weekend with family and friends. Keep looking up at the sky. KS

Joyful May!

Here I am again. Lots to do now a days, so many events going on around us. It's that time of year, when I love getting outside and doing things. Walking is my favorite thing to do, and popping into cute little shops around town is enjoyable.
The tea towels I started last month are now finished. I tend to take my time making things because I have so many things going on at the same time. Does anyone else do that too?
I have a quilt I'm finishing up very soon, more tea towels to embroider, some baby burp clothes to finish, and I just finished a new sewing machine cover for my daughter. It is my own design, and pattern. My daughter loves it and thinks it is so unique. I loved making it for her, and I'm so happy because she has caught the sewing bug, and she is making her first quilt! I'm her teacher, something I like doing.

Here is a look at the tea towels I just finished. They are so cute of a chubby chef, making his wonderful french delights. They will be for sale on my kimikistraw.etsy.com shop.

 And, I have to show you some of my beautiful flowers that I am blessed to have growing in my back yard. These are all blooming now so nicely but the strong winds make the petals fly with the wind sometimes. I got a few for a bouquet to place on my table, they make me happy!

I will stop now as I have to get going. I have chores to do, both here and outside so I wish you all a happy day and may our Heavenly Father bless you. I wish all moms a Happy Mother's Day on Sunday!

 KS