Monday, September 29, 2008

Cooking Birthday Party and Tutu Curtains

I had a busy weekend, finalizing and getting my Pillow Pals pattern out, starting on my new pattern, cooking, cleaning, helping with a birthday party and a sewing project. Although it was busy, it felt good getting alot accomplished. I think maybe the beautiful cool weather we are having motivated me.

Friday night I helped with an 8 year old birthday cooking party. There were 6 girls attending. Her mom had them make pizzas and pig in a blanket for the main meal, fruitini's, decorate cupcakes and make ice cream sundaes. They also got their nails painted. They each had a monogrammed apron in hot pink. I added some bright ribbon to the birthday girl's apron to make her's special. It was also a slumber party although I only stayed a couple of hours. It looked like fun but I'm sure it was a long night for her parents.

They are making fruitini's here. They dipped the rims of their cups in pink colored sugar, added some cut up fruit and topped it off with cute little drink umbrellas.
The main dish was pizza on french bread and pigs in a blanket. Here's the birthday girl with her pizza creation.



My sewing project for the weekend was tutu curtains. A friend who is a dance teacher asked me to make some curtains for her studio. I found several cute ballerina fabrics online by Michael Kaufman and she chose this one for the curtains. I added a tulle ruffle along the bottom for a little something extra. She has two windows so I made 4 - 45" wide panels and added the tulle ruffle along the hem. For the tulle ruffle, I used 4 yards for each panel of the 6" tulle in a roll.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Pillow Pals - New Pattern Now Available

Pillow Pals is now available in my Etsy Shop.

Pillow Pals are easy to make, fun and functional epattern. Make it a family project and have the children help pick out the fabric and help with the stuffing. They are great for nap time, sleepovers and road trips and well as a great gift idea. The pattern includes instructions for both a small and large style with different face designs for boy and girl versions.
Here are my tester pictures and her comments about the pattern.

"This is so cute and I want to make some for the kids b/c I think the small size will be perfect for car trips! They are always falling asleep with their heads all katty-wampus (is that a Lancaster county dutch term? LOL) and I think this will be much more fun than using blankets or coats!
The pattern was easy to follow, as usual and the pictures were great!"

I loved the picture in the bushes so much I retook my cover pictures and included one with the greenery.









Thanks Leigh Ann for testing and sending these great photos.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Customer Creation - Sunny Wrap Dress Pattern

Here is another great Customer Creation from Paula from the Sunny Wrap Dress pattern. I love the bright colors and coordinating stripe. Thanks Paula for sharing these pictures.


Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Customer Creations - Annette Reversible Sundress

Here are a couple of customer creations from the Annette Reversible Sundress Pattern. The dresses and of course the model are very cute. She has an Etsy shop where she sells pillowcases and childrens clothing called Bungalow Kids. Thanks K for sending these great pictures.





Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Nanoo Designs New Cover Look

Here is the new look for my pattern covers. Thanks Aimee for inspiring me with your ideas.

Check out the latest on I Made This from Sunny Pattern by Cara Beth Creations.




Friday, September 19, 2008

Pillow Pal with New Cover Style

These are two of the larger style Pillow Pals and a peek at the new style pattern cover I am working on. I hoping to have it out for testing this weekend. I want to have it available soon enough so that customers can have it to make Christmas gifts.

I liked the cohesive look of Sew Sensible's new pattern covers and decided to "borrow" the idea to create one for my patterns. Here is what I came up with. Let me know what you think.


Monday, September 15, 2008

Pillow Pals (Smaller Version)

This past weekend I was invited to a baby shower for sisters who are due 1 week apart. One is having a girl and the other a boy. I decided to make matching smaller versions of my new Pillow Pal pattern for a gift. I liked the smaller size for infants and toddlers and the larger for older children, tweens and even teens. Since this came out well, I am including both sizes in the pattern. The pattern will be ready for testing soon, then available for sale.
These are so much fun that I've already started thinking about my next pattern that is a similar idea. More on that later.

On a more somber note, my thoughts and prayers go out to our neighboring state of Texas as well as though on Louisiana's coast during the recovery from Hurricane Ike and for the continued recovery from Hurricane Gustav. I pray that all have strength through the aftermath and many future blessings. Here are a couple of links for relief efforts, Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge and Joel Olsteen's Lakewood Church in Houston.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

New Pattern - Pillow Pals

This is the first try of my new pattern called Pillow Pals. I made the girl version but plan to make a boy version also. This is an easy and fun pattern to get the kids involved with. They can help design the face and help with the stuffing. Its fun and functional and a great gift idea. I have a few adjustments to make, then I'll start on the instructions. I hope to have it available in a couple of weeks.

New Pattern

I've started on a new pattern that I am very excited about. This one is a fun pattern that will have options for boy or girl and will be able to be customized to match your child. It will be a great family project. I'll post more about it soon.

Hurricane Gustav - Aftermath

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Traffic is still an issue, stores are slowly restocking but are open only during limited hours (even Wal Mart). Schools are starting to reopen in some areas. Power is being restored slowly and the clean up continues.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Forecast is looking better for us. Ike is now being projected to hit the southern part of Texas. It's still quite a distance from but we are hopeful that we are not going to be in Ike's path.

Many schools and businesses are operating today and with many traffic lights still not operating, the drive to work or school has been a challenge. My mom said the Donaldsonville area is slowly starting to get some of the power restored. My parents are still without power but are hoping and praying they will get it in the next couple of days.






Monday, September 8, 2008
Power has been restored for many people in my area and the Baton Rouge area but once you cross the Sunshine Bridge to Donaldsonville and further South, power outage is almost at 100%. My mom and dad live in Donaldsonville and choose to stay at their house without power. I don't like having them uncomfortable but they assure me they are OK. We get food and ice to them regularly and check on them several times a day.

Although grocery stores are open, they are only partially stocked. To think that another Hurricane could be on its way is very disheartening but we trust that God is in control and He will get us through all kinds of storms.

Saturday, September 6, 2008
Great news. When I got home from work yesterday, the power was on. It was a great nights sleep last night.

Today I volunteered in Donaldsonville with other faith based organizations stationed at the Donaldsonville Dream Center (a Healing Place Church campus). Samaritan's Purse and Billy Graham's Disaster Relief Group were two of the organizations helping with disaster relief along with other volunteers from churches in other states. I met some people from Virginia, North Carolina and Texas. Here is a link to our pastor's blog that shows some of the help being provided.

This is a pictures of some of the Samaritan Purse workers cooking a large pot of spaghetti sauce to feed some of the community.


This is the makeshift bedrooms for the volunteers located in an old middle school that is now being used by Healing Place Church for services.

These large organizations are self contained and carry all they need to help. They have alot of experience in situations like this and are very organized.

This is a line of people in Donaldsonville waiting to get ice and MREs. The National Guard was on hand to help with the distribution.
This is a common and welcome site.

Friday, September 5, 2008
Some aftermath thoughts:
You realize just how dependent we are on technology. Basic necessities like food, water and gasoline that we take for granted are hard to get.

You realize how quiet everything is when widespread power is out.

You realize how kind people can be and how willing to help strangers in need.

You realize how important the church family is. The outpouring of help from churches all over the United States has been great. Healing Place Church, my home church, is one that has partnered with many other churches in the country. These churches have sent supplies and people to help. Food, water, tarps and other necessities are being distributed free of charge and crews of volunteers are helping daily with the distribution, cleaning up of yards, removing trees and any other needs.

You realize how material things don’t matter but people do.

You realize no matter how bad it might be, someone else has is worse. (My co-worker found out she has water coming up around her house, my neighbor has two small children and a sick husband)

Other Random Notes:


I saw a firefly outside my window last night, something I haven't seen in a long time. Probably because there are always lights outside.


I miss being able to sew.


I've been doing sodoku puzzles at night and discovered that I'm not very good at it.


Bad News:

Hurricane Ike is another possible threat for us:


UPDATE: Praise God!!!! My daughter has power at her house. I will be sleeping with air conditioning tonight. She lives in the middle of the city, close to a hospital. Hopefully, I will have power soon.

Thursday, September 4, 2008
It took me about 30 minutes to get to work yesterday but 1 1/2 hours to get home. The traffic was bumper to bumper and I had to detour several times for gas lines, a wreck, trees etc. Getting gasoline is still a problem, many waiting in line for hours. There is no shortage of fuel but without power, the pumps don't work. I should have enough fuel to last till the weekend and I'm hoping power will be available for more gas stations.

My biggest concern at this point are my parents who live in Donaldsonville, which was hit harder than we were by the storm. My dad told me last night he was on the roof all day repairing the shed. He gets nervous and can't stand to let it sit until help can get there. I will try to get them groceries and ice this weekend and some help with clean up.

I try to stay on main roads but during one of my detours, this is what it looked like. I managed to get through but it was slow going.
Although I had to go around these trucks, I was happy to see them working on clean up. I know the employees for the electric companies and debris clean up are working not stop and we all appreciate it.

These next few pictures were taken in my daughters subdivision. It's hard to tell, but the root system on this tree when it blew over picked up the shed with it.

Many have cleaned up and stacked the trees on the side of the road for pickup.






Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Well we made it through the storm and I'm at work today finally able to connect to the internet. Cell phones haven't been working well either. Text messaging works sometimes but getting through with calls has been very difficult. I had no damage on my house and family has had only minor damage. We are without power and may be for awhile so the biggest challenge has been the heat, especially at night. I am very fortunate to have a gas stove and gas barbeque pit so we have been eating well trying to cook the stuff defrosting in the freezer.


We are under curfew from 8PM to 6AM. We went to bring a tarp to my daughter who lives a few miles from me and were stopped at every red light by police wanting to know where we were going. It's really strange at night because everything is so dark and quiet. The only sound we here at night is the sound of a couple of generators in the neighborhood.


I took a video showing the wind through the trees in my backyard but can't seem to upload it.


A local grocery store just about 1/2 mile from my house was announced to be one of the few open. We were hot and bored so decided to go get a few things we would need to cook some of the items in the freezer. Below are some of the pictures. This was my first experience with this kind of chaos.


This is the bread isle. No bread of any kind was available however they were well stocked with other items.


This is the front by the check out. As you can see the store is packed. It took about 30 - 45 minutes to get to the front of the line.

Here is the back of the line which reached from the front of the store to the back at all registers. We waited in line about 30 or 40 minutes and when we were 3rd in line to the register, the generator quit working (they said it burnt up) and all of the customers were asked to leave. We weren't able to purchase the groceries but did get 10 bags of ice. What is really sad is there was a couple of customers in line in front of us that got cooked food from the deli and icees. They drank and ate as they were waiting in line, leaving the empties on the shelves. This kind of situation brings out the best in some and the worst in others. Generally people are very patient and helpful but there are the ones who look at it as an opportunity to take advantage of people, steal and make money.


The parking lot was full and when we were leaving we witnessed a wreck from someone backing out into another vehicle. It just so happened that a police car was behind the one that was hit.

A load of ice was delivered but it went very fast.

I'll post pictures of some of the damage when I'm able to get around to take some.



Sunday, August 31, 2008:
Hurricane Gustav is moving faster so it looks like landfall will be Monday instead of Tuesday. Here are a few pictures of preparations. No rain, no wind and no clouds yet but it will change in a few hours.

It is times like this that you realize how little control we have but we know that God is in control and no matter what happens, He is always there to comfort and help us through all kinds of trials. My daughter has her own house now a few miles from mine with my youngest son and friends. It's a little strange not to have her here with me but my two nieces and parents are here and my oldest daughter and her boyfriend will be arriving later. Earlier we called my daughter on speaker phone and prayed together for protection for all of us in the path of Hurricane Gustav. Say a prayer for us tonight.



This business had a little bit of a sense of humor. They marked the plywood with signs. Door, L, R, and window.

Saturday, August 30,2008:

Looks like Hurricane Gustav is heading our way. Preparations have begun. Stocking up on food, water, paper plates, cups & snacks.
Gas prices fluctuate. This station had gas for about $3.50 yesterday, now it is $3.70.

Contra flow begins tomorrow morning out of New Orleans.
Contraflow for Hurricane Gustav still is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. Sunday for southeast and southwest Louisiana, even as the storm gains in intensity. The time depends on traffic flow as well as the storm's speed, path and size


People waiting in line in New Orleans to get on buses out of town.http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/08/30/ap5373694.html