313 Photography Project - Week 12

Monday: Maple Tree Buds

The maple tree in my grandparent's front yard had these lovely little 'helicopters' as my brothers call them, because of the way they come twirling down

Tuesday: Tiny White Flowers

These tiny, beautiful white flowers are growing in among the clover and Bermuda grass in our back yard

Wednesday: Clover and Grass

A stalk of grass and clover in a jar on our kitchen windowsill


Thursday: Christmas Cactus

Our Christmas Cactus is thriving; I love the thin red border around the leaves!

Friday: Tiny New Leaves

The buds on the trees out back are just bursting into leaves - I love this time of year!

Saturday: Parrot Sewing Pattern

I acquired a lot of new sewing patterns to list in the Shoppe, and one was this way-too-cute stuffed parrot pattern!

Did you notice the pattern? Except for Saturday, I did a macro week!

Tie Applique Onesie

Have you seen those adorable baby boy tie onesies around? They're all the rage right now, and are all over Etsy. Even Walmart is selling them in their own style! For being the latest style, they make a really dapper little outfit for little guys!

I made one the other day - it took less than 20 minutes to make and the result was an adorable baby gift!

Tutorial for this tie onesie coming soon!

313 Photography Project - Week 11

Monday: Yummy Date Rolls

One of our favorite quick snacks - a mixture of nuts and dried fruit chopped up in the food processor, rolled into balls, rolled in coconut flakes, and frozen. Yummy!

Tuesday: Little Brother Outside

Practicing with my new zoom lens on one of my little brothers outside in our garden area

Wednesday: Making Granola

One of my sisters making granola for breakfast next morning

Thursday: Pink Tree Buds

The wonders of spring, captured with my new macro lens

Friday: Dinner with Friends

The little children playing outside - taken with my zoom lens

Saturday: Clover

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! - taken with my macro lens

313 Photography Project - Week 10

Monday: Grapefruit and Pears

Thanks to our local large Farmer's Market, we've been enjoying much more fresh fruit and vegetables lately. I love grapefruit!

Tuesday: Embroidery Project

 This was the test for embroidery on a baby gift...sadly, my embroidery machine decided to stop working. The beginning of the teddy bear was cute, though!

Wednesday: Flowers

It really is spring here, and these tiny purple flowers on the windowsill over our kitchen sink are so cheery!

Thursday: Sewing

Today's sewing project was a quick alterations project for my grandmother. Isn't this fabric pretty?!

Friday: Crocheting

 I've been working on lots of Very Hungry Caterpillar sets lately!

Saturday: Vintage Sewing Patterns

I've been having fun listing lots of new vintage and modern sewing patterns lately in the Shoppe. I've come across several large lots of them on Ebay at a good price and couldn't resist. I've even kept one or two that were multiple copies and were just too cute!

The Remington: The New Motor

I got the Remington a new motor. Besides wanting to convert it from a three-way wiring to a traditional wiring with the cords for the power and foot pedal both coming out of the motor, the cover on the old wire was all cracking away, exposing the bare wire underneath. And with these all-metal machines, I've heard that bad wiring can be especially dangerous. So, for under $50, I was able to order a new motor kit for it which included the motor and power cord/foot pedal.

It's white! Yes, that was my first reaction when I opened the box. White! I was able to get in touch with the company, and they were very easy to work with, but they didn't have any more of these in black - I could get double the voltage in black, though.

I was a little unsure at first about ordering this motor the voltage and Amps are a little lower than the old motor, but as soon as I ran it, I knew for sure this was power enough. It takes off like a jet engine with the slightest pressure on the pedal, and with all the appropriate sounds too. :) I'm assuming those will just wear off with time - after all, this is a machine that hasn't been run for 30+ years, and was finally cleaned, oiled, given a new motor, and run again. I like how I inadvertently photographed the reflection of the end of the lens and my hand in the face of the shiny stop-motion knob. :)

See the old wiring. The insulation is all chipping away above the duct tape and underneath the duct tape is bare wire. The wiring goes directly into the motor and I couldn't even find a way to get the motor open.

Yesterday afternoon, I removed the remains of the old machine from the inside of the table. This one's a little dark, but you can see the power outlet in the top left and the knee-operated pedal in the foreground. A cord from the motor plugs into the outlet, which powers the pedal, and another cord from the outlet plugs into the wall - a more complicated arrangement than it has to be.

I simply unscrewed the outlet and the pedal from the side of the table. They're so old, and they have a certain charm to them. :)

Isn't he beautiful? I've decided the Remington is a 'he'. :) For under $2, I was able to get him set up with a new drive belt and bobbin winder belt from Sew and Vac. For now, it's sitting on top of it's table until I decide what to do with it table-wise. The one it came in is in awful condition and this is way too beautiful a machine to put back in. Maybe finding an old singer treadle table on Craigslist for it would be in order. :)

Now, he just needs the timing fixed. It stitched for a few inches, but pulled the top thread down and wound it around the bobbin case until it jammed. I've seen that before. It's nasty, but it's just a simple timing job. :)

313 Photography Project - Week 9

Thursday: Spring Blooms

It's only early March, and already, the Forsythia bushes in my grandparent's yard are beginning to bloom

Friday: Lego

 My little brothers recently took out the Lego...it brought out memories of when we older ones used to play with these...and the three same little Lego people. :)

Last week wasn't the best week for pictures...but it was very busy in every other way! :)

313 Photography Project - Week 8

Week of February 20th

Monday: Holly Berries in Snow

We had our first sprinkling of snow for the winter last Monday. It was melted and warm and sunny outside by noon, but still a beautiful white world outside while it lasted.

Tuesday: Pineapple

I love the color and symmetry of pineapples...

Wednesday: More Patterns for the Shoppe

I was photographing another lot of patterns for the Shoppe, and especially loved this one; isn't it cute? I have a second copy, so I may just keep it. :)

Friday: Bathtime

One of our little friends - John Mark. He loved hamming up for the camera during his bath!