Sewing is Therapeutic!

Welcome 2016!

I welcome 2016 because 2015 was a difficult year culminating in the death of my mother a few weeks before Christmas. As a result I haven't posted much in the last year. Unfortunately, I lost my mom little by little as dementia robbed her of her memory, her abilities and her understanding. It was hard for all of us, especially my dear Dad who was her sole care giver for at least the last 5 years. All of us live in different cities and towns, so the travel was just too much to do on a continual basis. She's good now, but we have to learn to navigate this world without her. She is missed! As you can imagine, December was pretty much a write off for us, but I did manage to get a few things done in between all the funeral arrangements. 

On a happier note, my son Mike and his wife had a baby girl on November 9th. That was also a very busy time, but in a good way. We are blessed! Her name is Addison and she's a sweetie. Also, my youngest son Tony is getting married this year to a wonderful girl who has been so easy for us all to fall in love with. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for these two. It's a match made in heaven! 

Anyway, I'll show you what I made in the last while. Sewing is therapeutic for me! I love it. I actually made 6 of these but forgot to take pictures of most of them. The pouches are made of canvas and a variety of cotton poly fabrics. The messy sewing is intentional on the applique. I love the look. The petals and flags are backed with interfacing. I also added quilt batting to the backs of each side for a fuller sturdier pouch. The pouches are lined with colorful fabric.

 

Completed pouch, front side. Note the cool zipper pull I made up.

Back side

This is the other one. I love birdhouses and apparently so does my sister. She also loves giraffes, so I added one to the zipper. Photos are of the front and back. Sorry it's a bit fuzzy.

With all that had to be done, I just bought gift cards for Christmas, but wanted something to put them into for the girls. I also gave a pouch to my sister and sister in law after Christmas. We don't exchange gifts, but it was just because I love them. These came together in a couple of hours and were fun to do. It kept my mind off of other things. 

Well, that's all I have for you. I hope I will feel like posting again soon. I'm making some clothes for Addison with free patterns I found online. I do love to sew, but I need to make some cards up again soon as there's 3 birthdays in January. We had 4 birthdays in December as well, but I bought cards for them as there wasn't time. 

Well, have a good week everyone, and thanks for listening to my sad tale. It's okay, Mom had a good life, but she'll be missed. We were very close and I know she's in a good place! 

Blessings,

Carmen