Sunday, July 15, 2012

4th of July Fun

We recently celebrated the 4th of July in our little town.  I have to say we really have a great time in Gunnison.  It always starts on July 3rd with a concert (3 year tradition now) and fireworks.  This year we had Restless Heart, the country band from the 80's.  Alright I think it was the 80's because I knew a lot of songs and I only listened to country in the 80's.  
Even though the city banned individual fireworks this year (fire danger too high) the city still put on their firework show. We don't have as big of a show as some of the big cities, but it is always a good time.  Thanks to the fire department for putting on a great display!


The next morning starts with a parade down Main Street.  Everyone lines up their chairs, floats move down the street and everyone (even a few adults) enjoy catching candy.  

My side of the family.
Andy's side of the family (I know they love being on here!)

My side of the family and Andy's side of the family always sit together.  So there are lots of cousins and family around.  

My girls and some of the nieces also danced in the parade.  They had to walk up the entire street dancing, then they walked back and watched the rest of the parade.  Little A even made it through the whole parade.  I don't know how much dancing she did but it was really cute to watch all of them.  


The parade lasts between and 60 and 90 minutes.  There is really nothing like a Gunnison parade.  The businesses, schools, and well everyone gets involved.  Where else can you have the fire department with kids squirting water at spectators followed by a dairy entry with their biggest bulls on parade?  I'm sure it sounds weird to some people but we have a great time!  I know many people return to Gunnison to celebrate the 4th.  It usually turns into a large class reunion.  


After the parade we had a BBQ potluck at my parents.  We ate too much but had a great time being together.  
We missed all of the family that couldn't be with us, hopefully we can get everyone together another year!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Craftiness for a boy

Well as some of you may know we have a lot of estrogen around here.  With four girls in the house (including me) and just my husband from the male variety, crafts for boys don't make an appearance.  
Finally I have something for a boy.  

My sister has a little boy who is about to have his sixth birthday and he loves karate!  He is just about to get his purple belt and it is a big area of his life.  My sister requested I make a karate bag for him.  She could totally do it but since I am on break I have a little bit more time.  This is what I whipped up.  



It's not that spectacular but he really loved it.  I was going to be really crafty and make the bag but I remembered I bought some bags on clearance and it turned out it was the perfect size.  I found some clipart (free) on the internet, fused it down and sewed around it.  Hopefully he will be able to use it for awhile. 

I think I need to work on my crafts for boys, but I feel this is a start!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Something Fun for the Kids!

 Not much has been happening in the quilting part of my life.  Just lots of other projects and general laziness!  But isn't that what summer is for?

This is one of those other projects.  There is this really cute ruffle fabric that I love!  If you haven't seen it the fabric comes with ruffles already sewn onto it.

One morning I woke up with the great idea to make raglan t-shirts with it.  Okay, but there was a problem.  I don't know how to sew clothes (at least not very well, and I usually end up cursing it about halfway through) and I couldn't find a pattern.  Low and behold the internet came to my rescue once again.  I found this great tutorial on how to make your own pattern and step by step instruction on how to sew it together.  You can find the tutorial at Craftiness is Not Optional.  Seriously, this was a great tutorial and I could show you the steps I took but why?  You should just go there and see for yourself.  

Here is the final product!


They are a little hard to see so check out the ones further down.  


I found the ruffle fabric at Hobby Lobby.  I think it was originally about $11 yard, but it was on sale at the moment for around $7.  I felt okay about that, especially when they turned out cute!


For the older two I bought 1 yard, and I have enough to make a pillow or something out of it.  For the youngest I either bought 1/2 or 3/4 yard.  I can't remember but I have some left over of the pink also.  


They were not that hard, I just had to line up the ruffles before I cut out the pattern.  Really easy!  


Sorry, I had to add another picture of all three girls they are just growing up too fast!  

If you have any questions leave me a comment or email and I will get back to you!