Welcome

This blog started off sharing my bridal business sewing projects and is now a hodgepodge of unique and fun things I have created over the years.

Hope your creative side is inspired!


Tuesday, January 25, 2022

KeepsakeSewing Work room Complete


The workroom is complete. 
A huge thanks to my husband for all the hard work he put in to get it completed.  

Clear plastic makeup organizers are used to keep track of miscellaneous sewing supplies. 










More clear makeup organizers and some disposable scalpel instead of seam rippers. 



 


Saving for later to make... LOVE this!!!

Quilt by Sandra MacKindrick Camp - Found on Everyone Can Quilt Facebook Group

Fabric: Winter Whimsy by Henry Glass (100% Cotton Flannel)

Fabric: Winter Frost by Henry Glass (100% Cotton Flannel)

Quilt Design/Pattern: Chillingsworth Bicycle Race - Free Download

Monday, December 27, 2021

Tripoley Board Christmas gifts

Our family loves to play Tripoley when we are together.  Homemade boards were created for the nieces and nephews.  Each board had appliques cut out with our new Cricut Expressions machine.  The chips are bingo chips and the cards were ordered from Zazzle with each persons name on them.  The boards will cinch up into a satchel bag when the ties are pulled, storing the chips and cards inside.  






 Tripoley Rules

The Deal & the Stakes

  • Before the cards are dealt, the players must place 8 tiles on the playing fields.
  • Place a tile on each of the marked spaces: 8-9-10, King-Queen of Hearts, Kitty, 10 of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts, Ace of Hearts.
  • Some venues may have unclaimed chips from previous game bets.
  • Just add your own.
  • Once the bets are placed, the dealer gives each player a card at the same time. The dealer also deals a blind hand at the same time.
  • The dealer rotates to the left with each round.
  • Some players may have more cards than others.
  • If a player has any of the marked spaces 8-9-10, King-Queen of Hearts, Kitty, 10 of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts, Ace of Hearts they can’t pick up the blind or bid on it.
  • If the dealer doesn’t like his hand, he can exchange it for the blind and no bidding takes place for the blind.
  • It is NOT allowed to examine the blind hand before exchanging it.
  • The dealer’s original hand then becomes dead and no longer can be used this round.
  • Hands cannot be combined.
  • The dealer can auction the blind hand to the highest bidder should they not pick it up. Bidding starts to the left of the dealer.
  • The hand cannot be seen on the stage.
  • The player who buys it discards his hand and pays the dealer his bid with his/her chips for the blind.

Rules for Play:

·         Whoever has the two of clubs must play it first. If it is dead in the blind then the lowest club is played first.

  • The players follow suit until no one can play that suit. A card that cannot be followed is called a stop card.
  • As soon as a stop card or an ace is hit, the player who played the ace or stop card starts over. They are to play the lowest red he has and players follow that suit till no one can play. 

·         Each time the suit play comes to a stop the player that goes out then plays the opposite lowest color of the suit last played. 

  • If the player that played the last suit does not have the opposite color the person to their left can then play their lowest opposite color card.
  • If this player cannot get out either, he continues to move to the left until someone can play.
  • Players with ace, king, queen, jack or ten hearts take the tiles from the corresponding fields as those cards are played.
  • A player can have both the Queen and the King of Hearts.
  • He takes tokens/chips from the King and Queen spaces and the corresponding space.
  • King-Queen square must be hearts.

·         The 8-9-10 tiles can be taken one after the other in any suit by players with 8-9-10. They are not necessarily hearts.

  • If two or more players meet this requirement. The player that plays the 8-9-10 first claims the chips.
  • If no one has the cards played for a marked space the chips carry over each round until someone plays that marked space and then claims all the chips for that space.
  • The game continues like this until someone runs out of cards.
  • As soon as this happens, the game will stop immediately.
  • The player who played his entire hand wins all of the chips in the Kitty field. In addition, the player that went out then collects a chip for each card the players still have in their hand from the players.

 

Frequently Asked Questions
1.  For how long the game continues?  The game carries on until the players choose to quit. If they do, there will likely be some unclaimed chips.

2. Who is the winner?  The player with the most chips is the winner of the game! 


Monday, September 6, 2021

Labor Day a time to create with my daughter.  She recently joined a sorority at ISU and wanted to create some fun sweatshirts.  

STEPS:

1. Downloaded the Greek Font from an Etsy store titled NishGear. 

2. Blew up the font to 4.5" 

3. Printed on cardstock and cut out some stencils.  

4. We then dug through my fabric scraps and she selected he fabrics to coordinate with her sweatshirt.  

5. Ironed wonder under to the wrong side of the fabric.

6. Traced the stencils face down.

7. Cut out the fabric.

8. Removed the paper from the top print fabric stencil that was cut out and pressed to the bottom stencil solid fabric that was cut out.

9. Marked the center of the sweatshirt with chalk and 4" below the neckline with a straight line.  The 4" line marked the top of the letters.

10. Removed the paper from the solid colored letters and pressed to the sweatshirt.

11. Stitched a Zig Zag outline on the letters to the sweatshirt.



Thursday, July 1, 2021

Daughter redesigns Mom's Wedding Gown

Jessica had a vision and included wearing her mother's wedding gown from 25 years earlier.  We met she shared her vision and we went to work.  

Tracy, Jessica's Mom, in the original gown.

Jessica in the reinvented gown.

Jessica with her Dad. 

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Kissing Dutch Brightened up

My parents gifted these to us many years ago for our cul-da-sac garden.  COVID19 hasn't allowed me to alter prom and bridal so I gave our Kissing Dutch statues a face lift.



Saturday, April 18, 2020

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Prom Creations from the 80's

Some of my first designs for myself.  Prom dresses for my junior and senior proms.





 

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Two more t-shirt quilts


Our niece graduates this year.  A perfect gift finished early.


Our daughter is getting her second quilt completed only two years after high school graduation. Binding and border fabric left to go

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Crayons re-born



Do you have a bunch of old crayons.  Our daughter was looking for a project while home from school during COVID19.  Old crayons and a silicon cupcake pan made for the rebirth of some old crayons. 

Monday, January 27, 2020

Corset on dress


Before.


Making the Corset.




This prom dress needed a little more room in the back of the dress and a hem.  The hem fabric allowed for a corset back to be created so the dress was more comfortable and fit better. 

Sunday, December 15, 2019

14 Crates + 1 piece of thin plywood = Stairs for Dorm Loft

Our daughter was scheduled to have UCL surgery and knew she could not climb up into her loft using a traditional ladder post surgery.  We created a set of stairs, with 14 crates purchased from Menards. The stairs were built between her and her roommates lofts so they both could easily get in and out of bed.  The extra storage was an added bonus.  

The sketches and measurements for the plywood cuts.


We did not use the top crate.  It made the stairs to tall.


Thin plywood was cut to lay in between each layer of steps to create stability and then the plywood was drilled down to the crates so the crates didn't slide.  


When moving our daughter home we disassembled the stairs and had instant storage units to put all of her things in.  Next year these crates will become a coffee table and bookshelf for her apartment.  A great investment.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Wooden Spool Wreath


A snow day project warms the heart!  An old wreath re-purposed, a bunch of bright colored scraps and some old wooden spools handed down from my grandmother equals a fun whimsical welcoming door for prom clients as they come for alterations.