Scrap Box Skirt Project

In May of last year, Doodlebug got her first sewing machine. Since then, I have been trying to find ways to get her excited about sewing. She likes to sew but if it takes a bit too long, she passes it over to me and asks for help and the next thing you know, she is gone. So, I thought I would try and inspire her to practice her seams by sewing together blocks to make a funky little scrap box skirt. We had so many bright and colorful scraps in her box and I had quite a few scraps left over from a few summer outfits that I made her this year. Doodlebug loves bright, jazzy, mix match clothing so, I had great hopes she would be excited about this project.

We dug through the scrap box to pull out pieces to cut. Our only requirement was that the pieces were big enough to cut a rectangle from, color was not a consideration. We decided on a basic size and stack cut blocks using the prior block as our pattern. We did not concern ourselves with making sure they were a perfectly cut block, as long as they were close that was good enough. After all, Doodles is only seven and the project was for practice and the seams will not be perfect anyway.

When we finished cutting, this is what our stack looked like.


We didn't want to cut too many blocks of the same piece of fabric and we had very little of some of the fabrics, that wasn't a concern.

To make it more fun, I decided to add a bit of randomness to the project and we tossed all of the pieces into a paper bag, shook it up and started pulling our blocks out without looking and stitched them together however they came out of the bag. It was fun. Doodlebug seemed to enjoy it too.


I sat her machine up beside mine and I sewed some too right along with her. I figured if I helped her stitch blocks it wouldn't take too long or she may lose interest.

We stitched the blocks together to make rows. We had no idea how many we would need so, we just stitched until we felt as if we had enough, keeping in mind, we would be gathering each row. After the blocks were stitched together, I went over them with the serger to prevent them from fraying.





Once we felt we had enough to make a very full skirt and would be long enough, we gathered the sections and sewed the rows together. We folded over the top section to form a casing for elastic and stitched it around, leaving an opening for the elastic. We added the elastic and stitched the casing closed, made a very narrow hem and we were finished.

I am going to see if in the future, I can inspire her to think about all the things she could make by stitching together her scraps and mine as well. It was a great opportunity to talk to her about how many years ago folks had to stitch together scraps and such to create useful things they needed such as, patchwork clothing and quilts.She said she really wants to make a quilt sometime. I think that would be a fun winter project.

Blessings!

Henstory

Yesterday was an eventful day. One of our chickens laid the first viable egg. On the 23^rd, Papaw came in after closing up the chickens for the night and he was thrilled. He found a leathery soft little egg under the roost in the chicken house. It was the first sign our gals were ready to start laying eggs. We were surprised because, they are a bit ahead of schedule. We didn’t expect to get our first egg until mid to late August. We have no idea which gal did all the hard work first. We sure wished we knew exactly which one was the first hen to lay but we have no way of knowing at this point.

I guess I should have been blogging a bit of our adventures of the beginnings days of raising our chicks. Honestly, when we brought our little gals home in March, we were so busy with homeschooling activities, I didn’t slow down much to post photos for the family to see or to blog about the chicks. I have decided to try to do a bit of henstory here in this blog entry. I have tons of photos to share and I do hope I don’t overwhelm you with them all. We have just enjoyed raising these chicks with our granddaughter and the feeling of satisfaction that we all feel by the evidence of a job well done with this first egg is a momentous occasion for our family.

We started our chicken house a couple of years ago. Papaw built it and Doodlebug helped some. After the house was built, we had a few vacations planned and knew that getting chicks that first year was not a good idea.

This past spring on March 10^th, we took Doodles to the Tractor Supply store to pick out our very first chicks. She was so excited. We had spent weeks of reading and planning through the winter and getting ready for this day.

We brought our little ones home and put them in Doodlebug’s bathroom with a warming lamp and she was so excited. We had no idea what we were in for. We had so much fun every day caring for them and watching them grow.

The chicks grew very fast. We were swapping brooder boxes weekly, to my surprise. I can’t say that I was glad when during that time, our water heater went out but we sure needed the box that it came in to make a brooder for the chicks for their last week or two in the house.

Doodlebug picked out her very favorite chick right away and named her Sassy. She would hold her chick and sing to her. It was quiet precious. We read so many books about what to expect week by week and how to care for our chicks. It was so sweet to watch Doodles develop such a nurturing attitude with her chicks over the few weeks they were in the house.

By the time mid March came, our gals were beginning to look more like miniature chickens and the weather was warming up a bit. On March 15^th, we had our very first day of mid 70 degree days. We took the girls out for their very first outing. They loved the sunshine, warmth and the feel of the grass. We sat close to them and we all sunned together. Doodlebug loved having her little gals out in the yard. It was a big mile stone for us. All of our gals had done very well and we didn’t have a single chick to die from the beginning. I will say though, next spring when we go to get a few more baby chicks, I will maybe think about getting them a couple of weeks later than what we did for these gals. I had no idea that they would grow so quickly and really need to go to their house outside long before the weather was warm enough to really move them. Two weeks would have made a huge difference in the care and comfort factor of raising chicks in one of our bathrooms in the house.

By mid April, we started taking our gals out to get acquainted with their new home. We did have to bring them back into the house to the old brooder box a night or two until we finally got the break in the weather and the nights were no longer getting below 60. They loved the space and quickly got use to being outside. I was so very happy to get them out of our house and into their own house.

Over the past few months, we have been saving all veggie and bread scraps for them. We have been feeding them kale and lots of greens. They love greens. Doodles and I have been growing flats of wheat grass for them too. It has taken me a bit to get use to saving all little veggie trimmings like the tops from strawberries, apple and pear cores. They love cabbage leaves, carrot peelings and many other scrap that I use to just toss or compost.

Yesterday morning I went out to let the gals out. I did a quick glance in the nesting boxes but they were all empty and I let the gals out into the yard for the day. I didn’t think much about the girls gathered around the door of the hen house looking in a bit later and I even noted to myself that one of the gals was making sounds like our neighbor’s hens when they were in production mode. I guess I was still thinking it was too soon. An hour or so later, Papaw went out to walk to dog and stopped in to check on the gals. He came back to the house beaming with smiles and carefully holding our very first egg. It is small and speckled but the shell is fairly firm and we will be cracking it open as soon as Doodlebug is here to see the egg and we cook it together. I never knew that such satisfaction could come with this first egg. Before long we will be getting 8 eggs a day if all goes well. We have been saving egg cartons now for weeks and getting ready. I will post photos as soon as all the gals get busy and Doodlebug goes to collect the eggs for the first time.

Here are a few little photos we snapped of the gals yesterday afternoon.


Papaw bring flowers to his gals.





OK, so I can't close without showing you our very first egg. Though it is small, we are so please. We are looking forward to many wonderful fresh eggs soon.



Hope you all are having a wonderful, blessed summer!

Words of Wisdom and Tid Bits of Daily Life...

Remember always that you are just a visitor here, a traveler passing through. Your stay is but short and the moment of your departure unknown.

None can live without toil and a craft that provides your needs is a blessing indeed. But if you toil without rest, fatigue and weariness will overtake you and you will be denied the joy that comes from labor’s end.

Speak quietly and kindly and be nor forward with either opinions or advice. If you talk much this will make you deaf to what others say and you should know that there are few so wise that they can not learn from others.

Be near when help is needed but far when praise and thanks are being offered.

Take small account of might , wealth and fame, for they soon pass and are forgotten. Instead nurture love within you and strive to be a friend to all.

Truly compassion is a balm for many wounds.

Treasure silence when you find it. While being mindful of your duties, set time aside to be alone with yourself.

Cast off pretence and self-deception and see yourself as you really are.
Be of good cheer and with this understanding, summon strength and walk on.

Faith is like a lamp and wisdom it is that makes the flame burn bright. Carry this lamp always and in good time the darkness will yield and you will abide in light.

This was written by Buddha. I know I will be adding a copy of it to my Inspiration Journal.

Since our break from school, I have been doing a bit of sewing for Doodlebug and Doodlebug has been having a blast with summer activities. It is so good to see her enjoying her summer so.

Below is a photo of a little country girl top that I made. She is really into wanting to dress like a country girl these days.


I am still intending on adding an applique of a chicken to the bib top and making a little pair of ruffled leg capri pants to go along with it. I think I will add a farm animal to it too. She loves it and it fits pretty good. I made it from a McCall's pattern that I had not used before. I was not pleased with the pattern. I had to make quiet a lot of adjustments. I will be adding a note card to that pattern envelope with all adjustments needed so, that won't be a problem again.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and also too, I hope all the dads have a wonderful Father's Day!

Blessings!!!

More Homeschool Adventures "Making Cheese"

You may want to pop down to the bottom of this 
page and turn off the music player before viewing.

Doodlebug and Papaw sure had a good time making cheese several weeks ago. Papaw picked up a cheese making kit when he was in Atlanta. He knew it would be a good homeschool science project for him and Doodles to do together. As you can see from the little video, they had a great time in the kitchen.

The little kit was awesome and had everything needed to make cheese except for a couple of gallons of milk. There were recipes for making all types of cheese but one of the simplest ones was the Farmhouse Cheddar. There was enough ingredients to make several batches of cheese so, next we are going to make a goat's milk cheese. We want to try making a soft type of cheese and thought goat's milk would be wonderful. I will be sure to let you know how this turns out and maybe take a few photos.


I wished I would have snapped off a few photos of the waxing process but, I was sick the day they waxed it and wasn't near the kitchen. Right now, the cheese has been aging a couple of weeks. We are thinking that it maybe ready near Easter. We will be sure to let you know how it tastes. I am so excited. I have always wanted to make my own cheeses. I have a secret dream of owning my own goats someday.

We stay so busy these days it is hard for me to find time to blog much. Doodlebug has been taking an enrichment geography class and a gymnastics class on Mondays. She has really been enjoying it so much. She should be going today but bless her heart, her allergies have really been giving her a hard time this spring and she isn't feeling real well today. She is so stuffy and I am afraid she may have a sinus infection because of the allergies. I had one myself last week but I can tolerate my home remedy to put an end to it but she can't handle it. I will be so glad when the tree pollens are down some but then, “Hello Grass Pollen!”

Will write again when I can. I am promising to try harder over the next few weeks.

Blessings!!!!