Well hello there August - funny how fast the month goes when you're busy. And boy am I busy!

Actually looking over my "goals" for the month - I've almost completed all of them already!
1) Make guest list book (fabric to sign) [done]
2) Hem 4 flower girl dresses [done]
3) fix straps on bridesmaid dress [done]
4) Hem wedding dress! [done]
5) Make ring bearer pillow [done]
6) Make veil [done]
7) Make bracelets as gifts for the "mom's" - 3 [done]
8) Make some clothes for my honeymoon (dress/tank tops)
9) Start next RR
10) Knit baby shorts for coworker
11) Start baby sampler for coworker

That's pretty amazing! This month is just flying by. Everything for the wedding is ready and done (I think) - just waiting for a couple of things to arrive (like my wedding ring!). But i'm not stressed - I have a week and a half to deal with any emergencies!

I even have this weekend free to maybe sew a dress for the honeymoon - we'll see, not going to worry about it. I'm knitting away on the baby shorts for a coworker's baby for now. And in the evenings when I'm home we're practicing the Fox Trot for our first dance.

I'm so excited - Hawaii countdown!!!

August Goals:

This is it - the wedding is August 23rd - gotta get these things done!

And that leaves only the following wedding things for August:
1) Make guest list book (fabric to sign)
2) Hem 4 flower girl dresses
3) fix straps on bridesmaid dress
4) Hem wedding dress!
5) Make ring bearer pillow
6) Make veil
7) Make bracelets as gifts for the "mom's" - 3
8) Make some clothes for my honeymoon (dress/tank tops)
9) Start next RR
10) Knit baby shorts for coworker
11) Start baby sampler for coworker

July Wraup -

Sewing:
1) Finish 5th flower girl dress [YUP]
2) Fix purple flower girl dress [YUP]
3) Hem 2 white flower girl dresses [nope]
4) Bustle wedding dress [YUP]
5) Hem wedding dress [started]
6) start making Veil [nope]
7) Hem sister's bridesmaid's dress [YUP]
8) Make ring bearer pillow [nope]

Stitching:
1) Finish Glenna's RR [YUP]
2) Start knitting shorts for a coworker's new baby [YUP]

And that leaves only the following wedding things for August:
1) Make guest list book (fabric to sign)
2) Make thank you notes
3) Make some clothes for my honeymoon (dress/tank tops)

Glenna's NRR!

Only about a week late in uploading the pictures :) I stitched Ladybug House by Elizabeth's designs for Glenna - here's my house:

And the whole RR so far - only one spot left!:
I thought I'd be stressed out about this RR since I'd be busy with wedding things but it turned out it perfectly filled some free time I had while house sitting when I couldn't be in my sewing room anyway! What a pleasure to stitch.

In other news - I've continued the go to bed at midnight and get up at 6am ritual so even though I'm working 11-12 hour days at work, I still have a good 4 hours in the evenings to do things around the house. My big project this week has been my wedding dress - I did the bustle on Sunday and I started hemming it Wed night (pinned it up), Thursday night I hemmed the underskirt of the dress and also the separate undergarment I wear to puff out the skirt more. Tonight I will start the actual dress fabric hemming - yikes! The length is perfect though - 2 1/2 inches I have to cut off !

My deadline is to get the dress hemmed and the applique put back on the bottom before Saturday night so I can bring it back home with me!

Peaceful Silhouette framed -

finally a picture!

This is the piece I stitched for my fiance for his law school graduation, he bought the kit and I stitched it. It is now happily framed and awaiting his new job in September where he will hang it. No point in bringing it to his current job with only 4 more weeks to go.

I am continuing the schedule of getting up 6, working till 7, going home and staying up till 11:30 (asleep by midnight) - this gives me a couple of good hours in the evenings to get stuff done and I'm excited.

I've decided to redo the zipper on the green flower girl dress - so I will be doing that this week hopefully and finally fixing the ribbon on the purple one, then they will be ready for hemming. Lots to do but I think I can manage it - less than 5 weeks to go!

Last flower girl dress is finished!!!

I finished it up last night. I'm a little mad at myself for not being more careful when basting before attaching the zipper as the seams don't match up as nicely as i'd like but it's really not that noticeable and I was too lazy to fix it. I just know it will bug me now though :(

All i have left to do on the girls' dresses now is to hem them and fix the first dress that doesn't have the ribbon like the other two. It's a pretty easy fix, just unstitch part of the side seams on the top, add the ribbon and stitch back up. I may try to do that tonight if I get a chance but I also have to make some veils tonight so we'll see how it goes.

I think i officially have less than 6 weeks now - and of course work is just insane right now so i'm working long hours and sleeping less and really looking forward to the weekend even though it will be packed!

Stitching away on Glenna's RR! I finished the house last night and the fountain. I have mostly flowers left and the sun and bird. I'm stitching Ladybug House by Elizabeth's designs so it's got some specialty stitches that I always enjoy.

I've been stitching while listening to my current audiobook - "Silent in the Grave" - which I'm loving!

I forgot my camera while I'm house sitting this week so no pictures until this weekend unfortunately :(

July Goals -

Really getting down to the line here:

Sewing:
1) Finish 5th flower girl dress
2) Fix purple flower girl dress
3) Hem 2 white flower girl dresses
4) Bustle wedding dress
5) Hem wedding dress
6) start making Veil
7) Hem sister's bridesmaid's dress
8) Make ring bearer pillow

Stitching:
1) Finish Glenna's RR
2) Start knitting shorts for a coworker's new baby

And that leaves only the following wedding things for August:
1) Make guest list book (fabric to sign)
2) Make thank you notes
3) Make some clothes for my honeymoon (dress/tank tops)

June Goals wrapup! - wow i can't believe June is over - 2 months till the wedding!

sewing:
1) Finish flower girl dress #4 [YES]
2) Fix flower girl dress #3 [not yet]
3) Finish dress form [yes but didn't work - so bought one]
4) Start flower girl dress #5 [YES - top done!]

stitching:
1) Finish hardanger on ring bearer pillow [YES]

wedding:
1) Finish 4 other pearl necklaces [YES]
2) Finish 5 pairs of matching earrings [YES]
3) Make ring bearer pillow [not yet]
4) Attach wording to invites [YES]
5) Mail invites! [YES]
Also got a great start on Glenna's NRR! I'm stitching ladybug house by elizabeth's designs!
And made shower thank you notes and sent them!

Shower this weekend.. both kinds :)

My sister threw a bridal shower for me this weekend, she did such a great job hosting a large part (about 30 people showed up with the potential for 40). I got to talk to lots of people I hardly knew but knew me (I grew up in a small town) and lots of people I haven't seen in a long time.

And I got to give the bridesmaids these gifts I made (here is the final necklace with earrings that I made):
And my definite favorite of the gifts was this quilt that my Mom, Grandmother and sister made for me! I got to pick the fabrics so I already knew I'd love it but this was just beyond expectation. Here it is on my bed (as soon as I got home!):
Here is the patch my grandmother stitched for the back!
And my grandmother made me a matching runner for my dresser! She also made me matching pillow cases (not shown) - what a surprise!
She also made me another table runner to replace my christmas one she made me since I told her I leave that out all year, here it is on top of the christmas one. I love it - the bright colors are definitely "me".
I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my family and those that will become family in just under 10 weeks time! I can't believe how close the wedding is, so much to do but yet so much is already done, I really feel like it's soon now!

I also finished the 4th flower girl dress this weekend and left it with my grandmother who is going to hem it. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture because i finished it the morning we left Friday to go back home. It's the same as the purple one I did but it's in green :) One more to go!

Very hot and humid!
We spent the weekend sweating it out - not turning on the A/C just yet (turned it on today though!). So the weekend consisted of activities I could do in the livingroom and diningroom under the fans!

So I've almost completed making a dress form that exactly matches me - pictures to come after I finish it hopefully Tuesday night. It's my height with my heels for the wedding on, since the goal is to use it to hem my wedding dress. If it can hold the weight of my wedding dress that is... it's a bit flimsier than I'd like.

I also worked on thank you cards, making a design I like for the shower thank you's and cutting all the necessary pieces/colors for the card (about 60 even though i hopefully won't need that many).

I also made the earrings to match the bridesmaid's pearl necklaces and I'm very happy with them, so I made up the little boxes with matching cards to give them at the shower this coming weekend - wow - it's coming up so fast! I just have one necklace left to finish and one bridesmaid won't be at the shower anyway so even if I don't finish it until the following weekend i'm fine!

The unbelievable part is that I didn't read at all this weekend, not until last night before bed when I started "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" which I bought at BJ's. I've been on a reading craze lately, maybe it's good I slow down and get other things done for a while and read a more serious book in my evenings.

It's going to be a busy week with friday off to go back home and help my parents around the house (for the wedding) - I swear every third word out of my mouth is wedding - i can't wait until it's over and life can resume normalcy!

Wedding Stuff...
Finally - the wedding invitations are almost finished (I just need to print the important information stuff and attach) but the outsides are all done.. here's the basic layout:
And here's my stack of 120 invites! The "happy" is embossed in white, the swirly pattern is stamped using versamark ink and the rest is pretty self explanatory.
And as of last night I have 2 of the bridesmaid's necklaces finished. These are knotted pearl and amethyst necklaces. I even made the adjustable chain closure so I'm pretty happy with these. I've finished knotting the third necklace and just have to make the chain tonight before I start on number 4 (there are 5 total plus earrings I still have to design!)
So wedding stuff is moving along! I'm hoping to get some sewing of flower girl dresses done this weekend and some more thank you notes made for the shower. So much to do!

Wendy's RR - finally some pictures!

Here is the house I stitched for Wendy's RR - Acorn Hill by LHN.
And here is the whole RR so far.

This was such a treat to stitch, I did make some slight modifications to the actual pattern I used but I love this house (got it at Celebrations) so I was very excited to stitch it!

I'm still here - i promise! Wow - May was a really light month blogging - things were just so busy with work!

I did manage (after a late night friday) to finish off Wendy's RR so i could mail it to Leslie on Saturday morning! I took a picture so i'll post that as soon as i have a minute.

This weekend we helped my sister move into her new house!!! She owns a very nice (and large) victorian in Manchester, CT! I love the house and the property, i'm so proud of her for making the jump! Hopefully we can afford to follow suit a year from now :)

Other than that it's just been work work work around here. I took every free minute I had to work on Wendy's RR. I'm hoping June is better - I'm back on the Body For Life diet for the 12 weeks before the wedding - yup - 12 weeks left! Yikes and so much to do!

Well back to work! I promise - I owe lots of pictures and they are coming!

June Goals -
lots to do this month for the wedding!!!

sewing:
1) Finish flower girl dress #4
2) Fix flower girl dress #3
3) Finish dress form
4) Start flower girl dress #5

stitching:
1) Finish hardanger on ring bearer pillow

wedding:
1) Finish 4 other pearl necklaces
2) Finish 5 pairs of matching earrings
3) Make ring bearer pillow
4) Attach wording to invites
5) Mail invites!

What does that leave for July -
1) Hemming and Bustling wedding dress
2) Making Veil
3) Stitching next RR (due Aug 1st)
4) Hem flower girl dresses
5) Hem bridesmaid dresses that need it
6) Make guest list book (fabric to sign)
7) Make thank you notes

May Goal Recap...

Sewing:
1) Finish flower girl dress 4 [not yet]
2) Unstitch skirt of flower girl dress 2 (purple one), needs to be fixed [not yet]

Stitching:
3) Start Hardanger for ring bearer pillow [yes]
4) Stitch and mail Wendy's NRR [yes]

Other Wedding stuff:
5) Finish 3 knotted pearl necklaces [nope]
6) Finish 2 pearl earrings (need to be designed still) [nope]
7) Finish making invitations [yes]

Greetings from California (again).

Man I get really bad at posting when I’m busy – and things have been busy.

Let’s see – last time I posted was just before Celebrations!! What a great weekend that was!

I’ll have to wait and make a proper Celebrations entry when I’m back home and can take pictures of my class pieces. I took 3 classes in all, the most important one being Beginner Hardanger so that I could then start my ring bearer pillow – which I did!

So since Celebrations I’ve been working on the hardanger pillow and I’ve gotten all pre-stitching done as of tuesday night. Then I even started the cutting just a tiny bit! It’s so addicting! Then last night (wednesday) i finished all the cutting and pulling threads! Here's my progress - estimated around 10 hours of work (loosely):

Also last night I started Wendy’s NRR – I’ve got my house all picked out and all the floss. I just started the grass a bit.

Another project I brought along is the pearl necklaces for the bridesmaids, since I have one completed I strung the other 4 and hung them to stretch the silk, now they’re ready to be knotted! I’ll have to set up a table in my hotel room to work on those a bit each night.

So my 2 weeks in California will hopefully include getting projects done! The ring bearer pillow is coming along so much faster than I thought it would so far – of course after cutting comes all the wrapping and I have no idea how long that will take. We shall see!!!

May Goals - Happy May Day!!!

With 2 weeks spent in California I'm not sure what I'll get done exactly but here's a try:

Sewing:
1) Finish flower girl dress 4
2) Unstitch skirt of flower girl dress 2 (purple one), needs to be fixed

Stitching:
3) Start Hardanger for ring bearer pillow
4) Stitch and mail Wendy's NRR

Other Wedding stuff:
5) Finish 3 knotted pearl necklaces
6) Finish 2 pearl earrings (need to be designed still)
7) Finish making invitations

April Review:
Sewing:
1) Finish flower girl 3 dress [YES!!!]
2) Start flower girl 4 dress [YES!!!]
3) Cut pattern sizes for flower girl 4 [YES!!!]

Wedding:
1) Emboss invitations [YES!!!]
2) Make knotted pearl necklaces (3) for bridesmaids [1 done!]

Knitting:
1) Finish lamb for coworker [YES!!!]

Stitching:
1) Work on Necessaire [FINISHED STITCHING!!!]

Wow that was an extremely productive month!

Where is April going??

I'm doing a slightly different schedule with work, trying to get home earlier and run which means I have to get in earlier, which means I go to bed earlier - it's rough but I think it's working out so far. And I even finished my project work for my class tomorrow (last class!!).

So now i'm going to start a new book and snuggle in to bed after a quick crafty update:

I've been working on the invitations for the wedding slowly, got all the embossing done tonight as well as the ribbons cut! All that's left is putting them together and figuring out how to word the inside and then print those!

As for flower girl dresses - I cut the pattern for the fourth dress and then the main fabric but I haven't yet cut the lining or started sewing. I'm hoping to find some time this weekend around traveling back to NY to work on it a bit.

Jewelry - is on hold, waiting for supplies to arrive that I have ordered and then I think i'll be ready to start making some pearl necklaces! I can't wait.

Well that's my life - besides work.. trying to keep the balance of getting things done for the wedding and getting sleep and exercise! Better work on the sleep part now :)