Thank you my sister!

What a nice surprise, many thanks to Rachelle @ Smoking Needles for nominating me for this award.
This is such a nice award to get & to share!

The rules are:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and /or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.

I'd like to nominate:

Sherril @ Sherril's Sewing Saga
Jackie @ Jackie's Sewing
Christy @ Sew much fabric, sew little time
Krystal @ Krustallos
Linda @ Danvillegirl
Debbie @ Stitches & Seams
Kyra @ Black Threads
Susan @ Knitter's Delight
Alethia @ Kassmin's Creations
Christy @ Designing Creations
Opal @ Opal's Passions
Dei @ Dei's Delights
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, creations and this great sisterhood.

Slowly making progress...

Well I've been working on my potential TNT's patterns for the past few days. It seems like it's taking for ever. Several of the patterns had never been used before and those that had been used had to be altered. So, I've been trimming some & tracing others preparing them for alterations. I've made a muslin on this one, so it's good to go now with a real fabric. Thanks to the FBA I've had to make, my patterns look pretty butchered up...this is the full bust alteration,this is the jacket pattern, I also did the alteration for the top, I can see getting a lot of use out of this pattern,So, I need to make a muslin on these to see how I did. Here's a neat jacket pattern & accompanying idea book I ordered from Nancy's Notions (Nancy ran a special on this combo but they are usually sold separately)
I didn't include this in my potential TNT list because I ordered it and had not received it when I was pulling the others together. I think this one will make a great TNT jacket pattern. So I traced it and it's now ready for alteration. With these jackets underway I'll work on a couple skirts, they will be a lot easier. Also I want to get a couple pant pattens done to see if I can come up with a great fitting pair of pants. It's slow going but I'm making some progress. I won't be making anything else for Winter. At the rate only Spring & Summer sewing is on my mind. Funny thing my fabric stash consists mostly of Winter weight fabrics especially for jackets, so I will have to seek out a few pieces of fabric for Spring & Summer sewing. I'll be firing up my machine soon and hope to have something to share soon.

Happy Sewing!

Faye made my day!

I was feeling kinda blue yesterday. I really wanted to work on some of my pattern alterations but I'd been having problems with my back lately and it felt pretty bad yesterday. So, standing at my cutting table was not an option for a few days in the past couple weeks. Since I couldn't really sew since I didn't have anything cut out & ready to work on I decided to browsed my favorite blogs to see what was happening with my online sewing friends. When I came to Faye's blog it caught my eye. She made some very pretty pattern weights out of large washers and pretty color ribbons. I thought what a great cheery idea and I instantly wanted a set for myself. Later in the day my back felt a little better and since I live pretty close to a hardware store & craft store I decided to go out. I was able to quickly find the washers and then went to the craft store and found some pretty ribbon on clearance. I almost began to have a little bounce in my step (almost). I got back home and in no time I had my very own set of pattern weights. Here's a pictorial of how they were made. I used fabric glue instead of hot glue, I think they both work fine, also I used two washers wrapped together on a few just for a little extra weight. You'll need ribbon about 28-30" inches long -by- 5/8 to 1" inch wide & just wrap to cover.Fold over and glue end to the back,
So easy and what a way to add some cheer to your sewing space. THANKS FAYE! I had to email Faye and thank her for brightening my day and it kept my day from being a total loss craft wise.

Potential TNT's

These are the patterns from my stash I've chosen that I think have potential for good wardrobe basics. Some but not all are OOP (Out of Print). I've chosen a mix of jackets, skirts, pants, tops and dresses to be used in both woven and knit fabrics and will work for all seasons. Some will be keepers and some won't make it. So, my next steps are to get these patterns altered & fitted, make up some muslins and sew, sew, sew. This weekend will be a great time to get started, hopefully I can at least knock out two-three of them for starters.

A little knitting

I almost forgot to post about the "scarf" I knitted. It's just a practice piece and I'm not sure it actually classifies as a scarf , I really didn't want it very long since I only wanted it to go around my neck and tuck into the top of my coat. I didn't want it flying in the wind and I don't need any extra padding anywhere on this body, especially in front, LOL! Here's a picture;

For some reason it didn't photograph well. I decided to join a knitting "Meet-up" to get some tips, pointers and inspiration from other knitters in my area. They meet every Monday night at a Starbucks, I won't make every meeting but will go when I can. Everyone is friendly and very helpful. It's a low key group, I look forward to learning more about knitting. Next, I'm going to knit a couple dish clothes just to get a feel for some different stitches and I've got to work on getting a good even tension in my stitches. So, I'll post those whenever I get them done, so more to come.
UPDATE: I was able to take a picture that shows a little better detail.
(All in learning how to use the setting on a camera, LOL!)