How NOT to Embroider

So.. A friend of mine is coming back from a mission soon and I thought a temple handkerchief would be a nice gift (thanks Melissa for reminding and setting it up!). Remember my problems with embroidery before and the black ink bleeding into my material? Well, I talked to a lady at the sewing store and ended up buying some powder to use in transferring my design to the fabric.

I made my template (poking holes with a needle over a design I printed from of the Internet). This is the back.

Then i "pounced" it with "Quilt Pounce" (after prepping the pad with the powder)

And what do you get when u put white powder on a white handkerchief?

This:Hmm... kinda hard to follow the design, eh? So I just winged it with her initials in the corner.

I made them small so it would be harder to tell that I winged it.

I'm pretty disappointed. I'm sure she'll like it, it was just going to be ten times as awesome! The lady at the sewing store told me that this pounce stuff was SO MUCH BETTER than a fabric maker.

Ya right.

I'm going to Joans tomorrow to pick up a fabric marker (and a whole bunch of patterns cuz they are only 2 dollars!).

PS.. It's looking way positive that my company will get this big government design job. Looks like I will probably still have a job next week! YA!

PPS. Anybody need a "Quilt Pounce"? I'd give u a great deal on it :-).

Tomatos and Socks

Don't have much to blog about so this is going to be kinda random.

Here is a tomato from my garden. Its as big as one of those hothouse tomato's you can buy at the store. Unfortunately, no matter how healthy and happy my tomatoes plants I'm not getting the bulk of fruit I thought I'd get off of my plants. I'd rather have a bunch of little ones than one HUGE (comparatively of course) one. I even tried to help the pollination process but it didn't seem to effect anything. I think Melissa and I are going to try a different type. I've gotten the best luck with "Early Girl", and no luck with "Heat Wave", so we're going to try a kind mentioned in one of Melissa's ward gardening classes.





Here is a combination of clothes I put on for work the other day. Who lets this sleepy eyed person pick out work clothes for me? I've thought about keeping pictures of combinations I pick at 6:30am, but I'm too lazy. And most of them aren't quite as funny. (If u can't tell, blue socks with a green shirt and grey pants)


I've been sewing at home and found out I am a size 12, 14, 16, depending on where I measure. There is no way I'm telling u which is which, just think about what would be the LEAST flattering and go with that.

Here are some bloomers I made so I could practice pin tucks (they are at the bottom of the leg). I don't like the heavy ruffle at the bottom, so I'll probably replace it with lace. And I've since learned that smaller pin tucks look prettier, but I'm OK with these cuz they are practice.

There u go. Hopefully wonderful things will happen in the next few days that I can blog about. Truth be told, I'm just marking time until the family reunion.

I. Can't. Wait. NINETEEN more days!

Saturday Ride

These are my thoughts as I went on a bike ride with Melissa Saturday morning. (I use the term "with" very loosely. In this case it means we start out together at the bottom of the turn off to Mt. Charleston (I meet her there at 6:30 AM... at first it was to get ahead of the heat but apparently 6:30 AM its now a precedent cuz its only been in the 80's this weekend but we still met at 6:30 AM (did I mention AM?) cuz Melissa has "things to do" on Saturday) and she talks to me for a few minutes then heads out and I slowly make my way past the houses for about an hour and 1/2 until I see her coming the other direction. Then I turn around and follow her down. She is FAST! So this is why I have PLENTY of time to think about things. )

It is a beautiful morning! Man Melissa is fast, I can't see her anymore. Good, now I can go slower. I should have brought my ipod. It was OK last week cuz it was all new but now its boring.
Oh, car. (Rumble as they go over the dividing line, passes me, Rumble back). Isn't that funny that last time it took me a while to figure out what that rumble was?
(Breaking into Song) Oh what a beautiful Morning! Oh what a beautiful Day! (other random snatches of songs from Oklahoma)
Car. (Rumble, Rumble, Rumble, passes me, Rumble) Why is that car swerving around before it gets to me?
(Singing)They have a big Theatre, they call the Burly-Q, for 50 cents you can see a dandy show!
Burlesque is a french word.
Yes, those French are rather risque (thinking of a conversation Melissa and I had Friday at lunch). Hey, those are 2 French words.. probably cuz they describe the French!
Car. (Rumble...... passes me, Rumble) Isn't it funny how some cars go out and around me so early? They did that last week sometimes too.
Hmm.. are there any other French words like that? I can only think of the word uninhibited and that's not French...
AH! RIDER talking to me behind me!
"Morning" (kinda under my breath) "Man, you scared me" Oh my goodness, I almost ran right off the road! Good thing I don't go very fast. This is why I don't look behind me when I ride cuz I swerve.
He shore is fast. Look at those muscles. Those calves are probably 3 times as big as Melissa's. I wonder if he'll catch up to her? Probably. He's already out of sight. Good, now I can go slower.
(Singing) A little light is going by, a little light....
What is that sound? That is so loud! It must be a HUGE truck. AH.. scary!
Rumble, Rumble, passes me, passes me, Rumble passes me, Rumble, etc. Lots of cars stuck behind that huge truck...
Wait... duh.
I shoulda known that rider was coming cuz the cars were going out and around him! Yes, my middle name is smart. Well, at least I can blog about it.

PS. The rider never did catch up to Melissa, she turned around before he got to her (she told me so explicitly).

PPS. We went longer this time and I started to worry when I didn't see Melissa coming back. I was SO tired. My first thought was, if she had gotten a flat tire or been in an accident, I just couldn't bike ALL that way up to where ever she was! Yes, I'm loving like that.

Don't u Hate it When

1. You pull your darks out of the washing machine and see a not so white garment top laying at the bottom of your washer.

2. Vegas Birds sing at TWO O'CLOCK in the morning right outside your bedroom window.

3. The nice quiet fan you bought doesn't drown out singing birds.

4. You get out of the house 5 minutes early only to sit 5 minutes at the traffic light right by your home.

5. You start hitting some traffic just as the radio mentions an accident at the intersection you are approaching.

6. Its only 10am and you are already so tired you can't keep your head up (dumb birds!).

Ya.. me too.

My New Vacuum.. and other relevant information

For my birthday, my parents gave me a gift card to Amazon. After much debate and research (so many things to decide between; books, games, blow torch...) I decided on a Hoover Upright Vacuum.

It came on Saturday and I was so excited that I vacuumed my whole house! Well, the upstairs anyways... Downstairs is covered in "projects".
It is SO nice to vacuum with a new vacuum cuz it's SO strong. I emptied the container THREE times, mostly cuz it was so fun to empty. I LOVE my new vacuum!

Here are some other birthday presents...

Birgit sent me some tins. She is so thoughtful! I really like the "We can DO IT" lady.
The little one is an antique. It has a little mirror inside on the lid.

And Melissa made me a new crochet hook keeper. She sewed it all herself... have I mentioned yellow is my favorite?
It rolls up like this. She got the idea from a crayon keeper pattern and just made it bigger to fit my hooks.

Thank you so much to all of u! Its the birthday that keeps on giving.

PS. Funny story (I've already told everyone in Vegas, but now I'm going to share with the rest of u); Because it was the fifth Sunday, a member of the bishopric spoke to the YM/YW so I didn't have to teach. I was going to stay with the combined adults, but when I saw the power point title "Marital Bliss", I picked up my stuff and headed to YM/YW. :-).

At least I got SOMETHING done

I don't know if Emily has received this yet in the mail, but I couldn't wait to show off my wonderfulness.

Emily asked for a handkerchief to have at the temple quite a while ago. I tried to make some, but my hems where huge and bulky... just not right for a dainty handkerchief! So I gave up....

Then, this Sunday I decided I should do something Sunday-like, especially since I missed church. Out came the sewing machine, muslin, and a hemming foot on my sewing machine. I'd never really tried it before. I messed around and finally got a pretty good small hem.

I could then produce this:Isn't it way cool? I am so impressed with myself! I used a tiny crochet hook and the thinnest crochet thread I had.

See that cool embroidery in the corner? I printed it off my computer and then just satin stitched over the black. Unfortunately, I learned that when you stitch over paper... It stays under ur stitches! I spent hours trying to pick the black paper out. I missed only a few small pieces but then those bled ugly purplely ink onto the muslin. I called my mother in a panic and after her many suggestions I finally just bleached it. I also went to the fabric store the next day and got some marking stuff for next time.... although I'm not so sure there will be a next time. That was hard work!

Emily asked me if I had put "ENH" as her initials but I knew "EH" was going to be hard enough so I didn't, even though I had thought about it :-) (Yes, I told her all about what I had done even though I was planning on it being a surprise cuz I was so excited for her to get it! I told her on the day I mailed it so I was silent for 2 days. )

As a side note... here is some squash I've gotten from my garden (most of u have seen this picture on Emily's blog)I put the screw drive in there for scale (OK, so its a tiny screwdriver).

While I was ill, I didn't feel well to do anything in the garden but water so on Monday I ended up with these monstrosities.Isn't it crazy how fast those suckers grow?

PS.. I've taken quite a few tomatoes off my plants as well, but they go straight from the vine to my sandwich.. no time for pictures!

Sick... And Tired

This is where I have been for the last few days. With a few trips to herebut then back up to here because watching TV was too tiring, let alone crocheting. There was also some time spent here while talking on the phone to loving sisters checking up on me.
I spent alot of early mornings soaking here, cuz it helped me breathe. But always back to here I am sick of being sick. I love the fact that we have this (all of which I used)And as much as I love lazing around here when I'm well,Im sick of it. (Look Mom, I made my bed! Its a good thing I documented it cuz its probably not going to happen again for a long time)

I kept looking around at all the projects I was going to get done (well... planning... HOPING I'd at least START) and dispairing. Of course, the really only awful days were Friday and the mornings of Saturday and Sunday. By the evenings I could at least crochet and even sewed up some loose ends.

On Monday I DECIDED I wasn't sick anymore and worked in the garden, shopped, and cleaned house as much as I could between bouts of this. So.. how was ur Memorial Day Weekend?

(PS.. I'm not sick anymore. I decided. I might even go for a run tonight cuz I'm so not sick... After a short nap.)