Rubber Duckie Baby Gifts

I have been trying to get out of my funk and finish up the baby gifts for our niece's baby. Here are the things I just finished, with one more project to go! Yeah, Yeah, I've been procrastinating on the bath towel, but I will finish it soon. I know the penguin isn't a duck, but Mommy likes penguins. What can I say?

Morgan Girls' Blankies

My friend and neighbor is going to New York State to visit her former foster daughter's three young girls on Friday and asked me to make a fleece blanket for each of them. She wanted them to have each girl's favorite animal on a piece of fleece in the girl's favorite color. Their mom is no longer in the home, so it has been a traumatic time for them. The blankets will hopefully afford them a bit of comfort when they are sad.

Alivia's and Samantha's designs are from Eliza at Stitch It Cheap; Lani's is from Nita O'Keefe.

A prayer of Sir Francis Drake-circa 1650

I have been cleaning up my sewing room/office to prepare for a big embroidery session and found this prayer by Sir Francis Drake. It is just as relavent today as it was in 1650. Pray it with me if you dare.

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wilder seas where storm will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back the horizons of our hopes;

And to push us in the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Cake Pops

I almost forgot...

Another fun project I made and paid dearly for it in pain in my hip were these Cake Pops. DH had eaten some when he was visiting a friend and searched diligently until he found the pans to make them. I had a blast baking and decorating them (also made a glorious mess of the kitchen counter!) and they tasted like brownies on a stick. Yum!

A few Summer Projects

Where has this hot and humid summer gone? It is a wonder any of us have survived to tell the tale! Fall is coming, just not fast enough.

My sewing room is NOT air conditioned, but I'm thankful for the fan I have going most of the time I'm in here. It seems that I get one foot forward and then fall back two. I've been trying to make some bias binding for a project for our niece for her baby before we leave on vacation, but I have now managed to mess up two quarter-yard pieces of fabric. Maybe the third try will work.

Here are a couple of projects I managed to finish, even though I have been fighting deep depression and the heat. One is a little sippy cup I found at Hobby Lobby embroidered with a sweet little ducky. I am trying to make Kristin baby things with a rubber ducky theme and this is the first one I have completed.

I also embroidered an apron for my friend and neighbor Marie. She was with me when I was at Hobby Lobby and mentioned that she could use an apron when she is working in the kitchen. Here is the one I gave her.