Trump!

I have a friend who just moved to the Trump property in Rancho Palos Verdes. She invited Noey (and me!) over to swim today.

It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day. (that's the Pacific Ocean in the background)

The views were spectacular!

and Noey had a lot of fun! (and I did too!)

Strawberry Fields Forever

or how I spent my Saturday instead of sewing all day!

We drove out to Riley's Farms in Oak Glen, CA yesterday, and spent the entire day there.

We had a great time picking strawberries, raspberries, pears, and apples. We took a hayride, drank fresh pressed apple cider, and had the most delicious raspberry milkshake. Noey got to hold a baby pig (but I didn't have my camera handy) and jump in a bouncer.

It was a fun day, even though it was HOT! (100 degrees plus) and dusty, dirty. (we're city folk, okay?) I had to hose off about a 1" layer of dirt from the both of us when we got home! I thought I was looking all tan, but then it turned out to be mostly dirt!!

My lastest sewing projects are two simple A-line skirts made last week. Both fabrics are quilters cotton from JoAnn's. The blue I just purchased recently, the black has been in the stash for a year or so.

I knew my TNT skirt pattern was old and out of print but I didn't realize the company was out of business until I pulled it out to look at the date - 1997!

The two of these together probably took less than 2 hours to make. These are seriously the easiet skirts; just side seams and elastic waist casing. I do hand sew the hem, and that takes the majority of the time. Couldn't be easier.

I would really like to stay home and sew today, but we've been invited to go swim at Trump! Who am I to say no to Trump?!

and speaking of Noey....

...here she is on the first day of (gasp!) Fourth Grade!

She is quite the grown-up girl these days and doesn't hesitate to let me know that!

We made this delicious cake to celebrate the first day of school.

Interesting.....

......that my last post (way back in December of last year!) would be about Lunch Bags! That's what my most recent project was - Lunch Bags! Noey started school last Wednesday, and on Tuesday (I work better with a looming deadline!) I finished her new lunch bag, and one for her BFF as well. I used the same Favorite Things pattern that I used for all eight last year. Noey chose her fabric, a quilting cotton, and I used fusible fleece to give it stability. I attached a larger strip of Velco this time around to help it stay closed a little better.

As Noey says " You think the outside is wild? Take a look at the inside. BAM!!"

So now I'm working on a blouse for me. I'm using a cotton lawn that I got from fabric.com awhile back. It's light and airy, perfect for the 90 degree weather we'll have through October. I'm making the 3/4 length sleeves, so hopefully I can still wear it well into Fall.

ETA: I finished the blouse this afternoon! Next up (maybe tomorrow) a simple cotton A-line skirt and then I'm gonna tackle knits!

I have not knit a stitch in.....oh, gosh, I don't know.....6? 8? months. Sad, isn't it? I have a couple of projects on the needles, but no desire to pick up those needles. I have such limited free time, I feel like I have to choose one or the other, sewing or knitting. Sewing has a much better return for me. I can sew a skirt in an evening, a blouse in a weekend. Oh well, when Noey is older I will have more time than I'll know what to do with! (but I don't want to think about that now!)