Some More Love Day Decor

This week we started a "Dump the Plump" challenge at my school.  It kind of copies the Biggest Loser show but we wanted to set our own rules.  It HAS to be fun to get us teachers to participate.   So the weekend was a horrible start, I mean who goes to the grocery store to buy healthy food but then drives through an unnamed fast food restaurant after?  But back on it today and pretty much hungry all day. My team probably doesn't have a chance at winning this competition.  I'm one of the those "lose weight for swimsuit season and gain it for sweater season" kind of people...but I'm also very competitive.

Right now I'm thinking of sweets which leads to "Love Day."  I finally finished up that pillow that I started over Christmas break.  The lace was a no-go but I think the poms-poms fit it perfectly.

Click HERE for the tutorial for this pillow.

I also made some placemats.  My house could use a little more love with a teenage son...or maybe not...he recently acquired a girlfriend.  Yikes!  These are pretty fun to make.  I used duck cloth on one side and outdoor canvas fabric on the other side.  I'm sure you could use duck cloth on both.  They have such cute prints in this kind of fabric.  I already spotted some more I want to buy and make more of these.

First I cut fusible interfacing to to iron on the back of the top piece.  Then I sewed all the way around at 1/4" with right sides together leaving an opening big enough to flip right side out.  I then ironed all the seams flat.  This was probably the hardest and most painful part of the whole project (my poor fingers).

Once they were flat, and the opening folded and pressed flat also, I top-stitched around again and making sure I caught the opening in my stitch.

After that, I cut out the heart backed with Heat N Bond and stitched a satin stitch around.  For more directions on this go to my A Valentine's Day Applique post.

Here is what the back side looks like.  I like that it can be flipped over and still look cute.

I even started on another project this weekend.  A while back I bought a couple of charm packs just because I liked the colorful fabric in them.  I still haven't completely decided what my pattern will be but I did make them into half-square triangles.  For now, squaring them up will take some time.  I had to buy a new rotating mat to help me.  Gotta have new tools!

Here is a layout I was playing around with.  I kind of like it but I may try some others too.

Parenting, Working and Muffins

My son is 14 and every summer he has a goal to become nocturnal.  He wants to stay up all night and sleep all day.  Well last night, or shall I say today, his last day of the break, he almost met his goal.  Just in time for the new year, right?  Today was back to work for me so begrudgingly, I had to call it a night a little earlier than I wanted to last night.  I told him good night and off to sleep I go, dreaming of wild children and lesson plans.  I wake at 4AM to him rummaging through the refrigerator, looking for a snack.  He had yet to go to bed!  I yell from my bed to go to bed but quickly fall back to sleep so I'm really not sure what time my teenager/bat went to bed.  He text me at 6PM this evening (I was still at school) and said he had just woken up from the night/day.  My "Parent of the Year" certificate should be arriving any day in the mail very soon!

Last night I was determined to finish a baby crib quilt that's part of a bedding set my mom and I made for a friend.  She called me to ask if we could make it gender neutral but not boring.  She wanted it colorful.  Sure! No problem!  I was thinking it would be easy to pick out fabric for it.  Not so much.  I was a little worried how it was going to turn out.  It's all done and ready to be packaged for delivery and I have to say, it's pretty dang cute!  I don't have photos of the whole set yet, but the crib quilt was on my design wall late one night.

Because I stayed up late...because I wasn't ready to go back to work...because it was cold this morning, getting out of bed was a struggle.  What was worse, sitting and being professional developed (it can be a verb) for several hours and knowing what needed to be done in my classroom. It all was accomplished, lesson plans complete, Christmas decorations taken down, winter decorations up and home by a not so early hour of 6ish.  Of course, since my son missed two meals during his hibernation, he's HUNGRY!  Quick meal of spaghetti so I can use up the overripe bananas to make these babies...banana nut muffins.  LOVE!