A Daughter's Birthday with Burlap and Ticking Pillow Tutorial

Hello, Dear Friends, I have missed you! 

I enjoyed my break and have been keeping busy. 

Thank you for your sweet well wishes! 

I thought I would catch up where I left off

and start with my daughter Jennie's birthday. 

All of my children are in their 30's now, 

but we have a tradition of celebrating with old-fashioned

cake and ice-cream birthday parties. 

Most of the time......

Here she is at age 4. She's my 'middle child' - diplomatic, 

generous, agreeable, but able and willing to stand her ground

when pushed :) 

When you are in between two brothers and an older sister, 

you develop those skills....

Ramblin' Man and I are both eldest children. 

I, the eldest of four sisters. 

Ramblin' Man the eldest of two sisters and a brother. 

Certainly birth order does have an effect on 

your view of the world and your childhood experience. 

Being the eldest means always being 'responsible'.

What birth order are you, Dear Friends, and

how has this affected your life experience?

You can find more information on birth order Here.

Ramblin' Man set up the deck canopy for the occasion. 

He didn't set it up last year and we so missed having it! 

During heat and rain, it creates a cozy

sitting area for the two of us, 

and is also great for parties! 

All set up for our first outdoor celebration of the season. 

My 'helpers', Whitey Bear and Ling-Ling
 (under the chair), sleeping on the job! 

Kai helps by picking up his stuffed animals. 

He carries them everywhere he goes. <3

He's also great for crumb control! 

I sewed this pillow as a gift for Jennie.

She showed me a photo of a similar one
some time ago and I wanted to surprise her. 

I sewed it from blue striped mattress ticking

with a burlap ruffle. 

Here is how I made it.....

I found this wide roll of burlap for the ruffle Here.

It is finished on both edges. 

You will need approximately 2-3 times 

 the perimeter of your pillow, for gathering. 

I folded the burlap almost in half,
leaving one side about an inch wider,

and pressed it with a hot steam iron to form a double ruffle. 

I used a 1 yard length of 47 inch fabric, 

cut in half along the fold. 

Genuine mattress ticking fabric has a heavier weight - 

perfect for supporting the heavy burlap ruffle. 

You can find mattress ticking fabric Here.

Rather than attempt to gather a ruffle, I simply 

made pleats of about 1 inch wide and pinned them in place

along the edge of the right side of fabric. 

Be sure to put the shorter side of the double ruffle face down

and the fold along the edge of the fabric. 

Lots of pinning.....

Sew ruffle in place about 1/4 inch from edge. 

Remove pins as you sew. 

Pin down corners tightly to keep them
 out of the way before placing backing

over all, right sides facing. 

Pin and sew in place, leaving an opening for stuffing. 

Turn pillow right sides out and you will end up with

the ruffle looking like this.....

Stuff and sew up opening by hand. 

Voila'! 

Spot or dry clean this pillow.

I liked this pillow so much, I might make
one for myself! It does seem to fit perfectly
on my French settee'!

(For some reason the photo has distorted the stripes
of the pillow - an optical illusion!)

Time to party! 

On the menu....

 Grilled chicken kabobs with peppers and pineapple

glazed with brown sugar bbq sauce, 

 Garden Macaroni Salad, (Click for recipe)
 fruit salad, corn on the cob, 

and cupcakes with ice cream. 

The family <3

The birthday gal, Jennie, sitting below baby Ethan. 

It was a beautiful day
and we felt blessed to be all together. 

Thank you for coming along, Dear Friends!

Make a wish!  

xoxo

"Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough."
- Sir James M. Barrie -

Time for Spring

Native Pink Current blooming in the garden

Hello, Dear Friends - Happy Earth Day! 

I have been busy since spring has arrived, 

taking care of my little piece of this sweet Earth. 

Everything is blooming at once! 

We have had a long stretch of warm, sunny weather. 

One day it was in the low 90's here,

in the foothills near Mt. Rainier, 

breaking all records. 

That was a little too warm for me - I'm 

used to cool, misty weather. 

So on hot afternoons I kept busy inside. 

It was so nice to open all the windows wide,

with a light breeze blowing in the perfumed air. 

Today we are back to our usual weather, 

rain and cool temperatures in the 50's. 

Here are five things I have been doing on these 

wonderful days of spring. 

Gardening

Bleeding Heart and Bugle-Weed are an accidental 

combination that I am enjoying right now. 

I had set a pot of Bleeding Heart here to plant elsewhere,

 but loved the combination, so here it stayed.  

This is a shady garden under the sweeping branches

of a large Hemlock tree. 

Hydrangea leafs out from the half barrel. 

This garden includes native deciduous Fern and Forget-me-not. 

A white Camellia blooms alongside the path cut into Yellow Archangel,

across from the Hemlock tree. 

Camellia loves it here in the acid soil and sun dappled 

conditions. This is also a sheltered spot from our 

sometimes fierce winter winds.

Camellia is very slow-growing and this one is 

over 20 years old. 

It is full of saucer sized, waxy blooms that light 

up the edge of the forest. 

Our parking area is right next to this little beauty, 

so we enjoy her blooms coming and going. 

Columbine enjoys the garden alongside variegated ivy

in a half barrel. 

I've made a note in my garden journal to purchase

more of these lovely plants, along with Bleeding Heart,

for next year. 

I've planted three more here. 

There were four, but one didn't 'take'. 

A low branch of a Crab-Apple brings out the 

pink Bleeding Heart against the old picket fence. 

The broken slats at the far left were caused

by a very large Black Bear climbing over 

for some bird seed a few years ago. 

We keep the patched fence as a souvenir :)

I also bought a wind-chime.

It's a family legend now :) 

Now that we're back up on the deck.....

This pretty Clematis is blooming through the slats. 

(I have to stain these this summer)

It didn't bloom last year and I thought I had lost it, 

but this year she has taken off and given us a show. 

This pretty evergreen Clematis is growing from a large pot. 

Looking out from the deck, we see Weenie Baby, 

my daughter's mini-dachshund. 

I have been doing a lot of pet-sitting :)

My dogs and I love the company. 

The lilac is peeking out from the left. 

It is very tall. 

Here you can see Kai and Peanut, 

Weenie Baby's sister. 

If you look close, you can see the little blue

Forget-me-not blooming everywhere. 

The lilac reaches to the second story. 

I can't tell you how wonderful the scent is. 

It fills the whole garden 

and floats into the windows with the slightest breeze. 

I planted two more right beside my deck this year. 

So far they seem happy. It will be a few years 

before I get blooms. 

Here you can see the lilac through my sewing room window, upstairs. 

My pet Cockatiel is perched on the curtain rod enjoying

the warm spring sunshine, while I enjoy the scent of lilac. 

He comes out every day to spend time with me while I sew. 

Chattering to the birds outside. 

This brings me to the second thing I've been doing, 

Playing in the Sewing Room

I've been working on a very special 

project for a little Grandson 

who is about to have his very first birthday. 

I can't give away too much....but let's just say

it involves a lot of planning, cutting, and sewing. 

I do enjoy working here in this bright and 

very feminine room. 

This room was where my two little girls grew up

before I cluttered it up with all my sewing 

and craft supplies. 

I have been doing a lot of cutting. 

I'm sure you can guess what I am making :)

Shhhhhhhh! 

Cleaning up..... 

Some home-made sachets keep things sweet. 

Waiting for the next session.....

Tucked away beside the cutting table. 

The sachets keep the cats away! 

Everything is a potential bed in the cat world. 

Am I right? 

Some of my buttons. The hand-painted trays and bowl

are used for sorting. 

The sweet  and well-used pin cushion says it all. 

A-hem! Speaking of cats and beds......

Maggie loves mine. 

This brings me to the third thing I've been doing - 

Crocheting

Something beachy for a certain little someone. 

I usually put in a few rows here and there when I 

get the chance, then do some serious crocheting

while I watch late night comedy shows in bed. 

I am currently watching 'Frazier' on the Hallmark Channel. 

One of my favorites. 

Pomposity meets humility :)

I will keep you posted on the finished project soon. 

Since we are in the house now, I'll tell you

the Fourth thing that I have been doing - 

Spring Cleaning

Can you ever do enough housework? 

Yes and no. 

Right now I am washing rugs and curtains 

and all those things you do at the start of a new season. 

Some days it is like this, and you whistle while you work. 

Other days it is more like this. 

Isn't this the cutest? 

It was a greeting card sent to me. xoxo

This little bank is my incentive for finding loose change. 

Flowers are my incentive for a neat and tidy house. 

Somehow they just don't look as pretty if things 

are messy. 

From Ramblin' Man <3. 

A gift to myself. 

xoxo

While we are in the kitchen, I

want to share the fifth thing I've been doing. 

Eating strawberries! 

This delicious salad has strawberries two ways;

sliced atop baby spinach and in a rosy-hued dressing. 

Here is the recipe:

Strawberry Salad with Gorgonzola

and

Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

serves 4

Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

1 tsp honey

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup grape seed or canola oil

In a blender, puree' strawberries. Add honey, Dijon, balsamic vinegar and salt. 

Blend to combine. While blending, gradually add oil and blend until smooth. 

Salad:

2-4 cups baby spinach, tough stems removed

2 cups sliced strawberries

1/4 cup sliced, toasted almonds

2 oz. Gorgonzola or blue cheese, crumbled. 

Enjoy! 

xoxo

What are you doing this spring? 

xoxo

Today I am linking with: 

Love Made my Home - Five on Friday