flowers are pretty

Now, I will be the first to admit that we are definitely NOT a garden oriented family. In fact, our excuse for a garden is a little pathetic (harsh, but true). HOWEVER, just because the overall garden experience is a bit lame, that doesn't mean that there aren't little treasures to be found.

And today seemed like a great day for treasure hunting.

The heat fogged up my lense... but hey, lets call it artistic.

 

Not sure when this turned into a photo shoot for my adorable dogs....

the joy of discovery

Has someone ever given you a bunch of stuff (for any given subject/activity) and you know how everything works and what it's for EXCEPT for that one piece that makes no sense? Yes? No? Maybe it's just me. I got basically everything I sew with (hardware wise) from my mother, the ex-crafter. This includes a fancy Bernina sewing machine with included feet. Basically, i looked at all of the feet, and with help from the manual, was able to figure out generally what they were for.
Except this little thing.

I saw a normal presser foot with a giant, chunky, flamboyant attachment that was annoyingly placed right in the middle of the foot. And boy, was I confused. So, what did I do? [BEWARE, THIS NEXT PART MAY BE HORRIFYING FOR YOU TRUTH-SEEKERS AND PERSISTENT TYPES] I gave up. Yup, I packed the little foot away and tried to forget about it. (Which by the way, didn't work. See, this foot is just as persistent as you truth-seekers are. It wanted to be discovered.) But wait! Imagine my excitement when, while catching up on posts from Ashley's blog makeit-loveit.com, I came across this post! Oh wonderfullness! I finally know that my little mystery foot is for blind hems!

And thus, the little chunky, flamboyant presser foot was assigned with a purpose. It should be getting good use, for mom has decided that now I get to hem pants. I'm debating if this discovery was good or bad.

keep calm and watch project runway

Today was... today. I spent the day sewing those dreaded squares to more dreaded squares. Did I mention I managed to graze the edge of my finger with the machine needle? Yea. Good job Libby. It could have been worse though. The needle ended up close enough to the edge of my finger not to get 'stuck' (thank goodness), but far enough that It drew blood. So yea. Today was... today. But now?

Now...
It is July 28.
It is 9 o' clock.
I am happy.

Why? Because it's time for Project Runway season 9 of course! Corny as it may be, not to many years ago, Project Runway is what inspired me to begin sewing. I looked at those designers and i said "If they can do it, why can't I?" So I dug out mom's sewing machine, bought some fabric, and cut up an old t-shirt to figure out how it fit together. And that's where it began! Where I found something I really enjoy doing!
Anyways, enough of my backstories.
I'm just happy to hear Michael and Nina's professional critiques, Heidi's ‘Auf Wiedersehen’, and of course Tim's 'Make it Work!'

attack of the squares

Currently, I am working on a rag quilt for my brother.... which means squares. 

Lots of squares.

But that's not the worst best part yet..

I used all of my selected fabrics...

counted my squares...

and

didnt

have

enough.

 reaction?

But wait! When cutting out the squares, I kept the scraps! YES! So I attempted to straighten them out into somewhat nice strips and sewed it all together...

Then used it to cut out...

more.

squares.

See people?! This is why I like circles.

lemonade

So... I have a confession. I may or may not be addicted to lemonade... ok, I am. I 'restock' my fridge every so often with this stuff, and when I do, I cant get enough!

The recipe is actually very simple:
- one and a half cups lemon juice (pulp should be left in)
- eight cups water
- one and three-fourths cups sugar
Boil sugar and one cup of the water until sugar is completely dissolved. Let it cool till room temperature, then chill in the fridge. Mix with the remaining water and lemon juice. (recipe uploaded by 'Jo' on allrecipes.com)

I like to add a bit less sugar, as I like my lemonade tart. But that is up to you.
I also like to store that in mason jars... but that's probably just a me thing. (people tend to think you're crazy when you drink lemonade out of a mason jar at lunch... )

Squeeze seems to like it too.

hello blogworld

I hope we become good friends.