New fabrics from Summer and Crochet progress

Hi!  I bought these fabrics this past summer in Ohio for my kids.  

 

I want to make flannel pants for pj's or lounging.  The Curious George is for Ali.

Elvis is for Amal.  Best concert!

This is not flannel.  It is cotton for Ali.  So cute!

Amal has a thing for Snoopy!

Now, I can easily send this fabric to the tailor here and have HIM make some pants for my kids but I would really like to make them myself.  I have been quilting for years but have not been making clothing so don't know where to start.  Any suggestions????

I was crocheting.  Ali laid out the blocks of the crochet for me and it is SO SMALL!  I have enough of the yarn left over so I have made 1.5 more blocks!  Here Peaches (freshly shaven) is playing with the yarn!

Uki came in (also freshly shaven) to see what was going on...

Peachy was going to town.   She tried so hard to get the yarn!

Here are the blocks laid out on my floor and you can just see Ali's feet and hands.  I'm not so sure about the colors.  

This was actually the first photos I took.  Uki and Peachy are sniffing each other but I like to think they are kissing!  When Ali first saw this years ago between two cats he asked if they were GAY!??

Here is the Peach.  I had the blocks laid out on my new photographing station and this little cow made herself a little bed.  So cute!  Thank God they have Soft Paws on or some damage would have been done!

That is about it.  I took out a kit I bought from Mala in Dubai from 2008; but there are so many mistakes that I don't know what to do.  My friend had done hers and struggled with it which in turn inspired me to take mine out, yet again, and have a look.

I took everything out of my studio and I LOVE how empty it is!  Everything is in the hall and my hubby is gonna freak if I don't get it back in here!  I want to enjoy the 'empty space' for just a tad longer!  I think I will unload stuff I haven't touched in one year.  Interested?

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon as I feel that I W.I.L.L. get some sewing done in the near future!!

New fabric and Crochet progress!

Look at these lovelies I got yesterday!  I need to get busy and what I need to do is decide how I want to use these fabrics.  Hey, I still have to look through my stash to see what I might have to go with it.  Stay tuned!

This is one view.  Shall I throw in some red??

Another view.... oh, so pretty and NOT MY PALETTE!  So, this will be a challenge for me!

I have been into paisley's since I went to Scotland a few years ago.  Let's see what comes of this.

Off the hook is my completed crochet squares!  I just have to figure out how to put them together.  The free pattern I picked up on the aisle in the States this summer doesn't tell you how to put them together but upon closer inspection; I found a website that gives some ways to 'seam' the blocks together.  Let's see what I end up with!

Thanks for stopping by...

Picasa Fun; Favorite memories of summer 2010

I'm going through my photos and as I get lost in blogland; I have been seeing these collage of images and I like!  So, my beautiful, intelligent daughter showed her Momma how to make collages of pictures using Picasa.  I got the jist of it and read a tutorial on the Picasa help menu and here we are!  I like.  Did I say that already?  You will probably see a lot more of this.

I am using photos of America on our visit there this past summer because I feel sad.  I miss my family and my Mom was supposed to come in November for another visit.  Something my sister said makes me believe that she won't be coming now.  I'm sad.  So, bear with me as I go down memory lane.

No one told me how hard it would be to be in a foreign country without my family.  It does not get any easier either after 16 years here in the Middle East.  I have a lovely life; but there is no place like home and one's own family!

Ok.  I feel better... thanks.  Now to give the details of the photos...

Starting from top left to right:

1.  My kids and I are doing South Beach.  My daughter, 14, is the only one that is being really good.  She was stellar in America!  I still lost 11 pounds and she lost 42 total from February and Ali gained.  Bless him!  Little shi%!  Anyway, Amal made cake balls and with the theme of 4th of July.  People, the child stole my thunder and I couldn't be happier to have her do that!  She made these and they rocked!
2.  The kids on Lake Erie next to the USA flag.
3.  My family.  My husband is missing.  He never comes to America with us.  It's Ali, my son, me, my Mom, Amal - my daughter, behind her my Dad, next to him my BIL, the lady with the sunglasses is my sister and the two little ones are my nieces, Melina and Sofia.
4.  Amal and Ali
5.  The Fam
6.  Aunt Dorothy's beautiful cake.
7.  The Fam
8.  Cake ball in all it's glory
9.  Uncle David's private beach he shared with us!

We as Colombians have a meat pie that is called EMPANADA.  My Dad makes the most delicious ones.  I can't get the ingredients here in Oman to make them myself and although I have made the filling and the Ahi (accompanying sauce) the casing continues to confuse me.  Anyway, he always makes them for us when we go visit.  I fear that very soon all I will have are photos and memories as it is a huge task that takes it's toll on him.  I should not say that I suppose.  Here are some photos from this past summer of him making them.  The actual cooked empanadas are from two years ago.

1.  My one and only Dad.  2.  The cooked, BAKED (we stopped frying years ago) empanadas.  3.  The meat and rice mixture once ready for putting in the shells.  4.  Modern conveniences and tons of Latinos in America has made this step easier.  Goya products has put out these disks that make life so much easier.  Stuffed and ready to be baked.

We eat these with a sauce called Ahi.  You almost use a tea spoon.  You know, the really long handle and the size of a teaspoon to get down in the jar to get the sauce and you put it on the empanada and take a bite.  Then, you keep doing that until you are done!  Nice!

Thanks for going on this little trip down memory lane with me.  Come by again soon!

I have the sweetest daughter!

During the summer, we went to this store called ArtMart in St. Louis. It was WAY cool!  I bought a BUNCH of stuff but the coolest thing was what the man gave me (besides iPod know how!) as a freebie for just buying stuff there.  He gave me four little packets of modeling clay. Nothing eye catching; just a black and white bag.  I gave one to Eden and I kept the other three for Amal, Ali and I.  Hey, I'm a kid at heart!

So, back in Oman, Amal got to cleaning up her room and making it even more of a TEEN room.  During this time; she made a bunch of little things with this clay.  She REALLY enjoyed it and she kept talking about it.  Finally, or at some point; she called me upstairs to her room to present me with these items:

A card... the front...

the inside...

the back and 'label'...

My new little man, Alejandro...

a close up with my new man... isn't he cute!  He is holding a Colombian empanada (meat pie)...

here is the whole loot: card, Alejandro, a peach pie, a plate of chocolate chip cookies, a Hershey kiss and a quarter to show scale...

the packet...

Blogger has yet again changed it's 'way' to do things so it took me hours to get this pictorial story up. I have too much to do for this! However, I wanna share just how cool my daughter is!  The colors are the colors in the Colombian flag.  The hat and poncho or DRUANA as we call it there he has.  Also, again, the little meat pie which WE LOVE!  My Dad makes the BEST in the world!  This clay can be painted. It just dries pretty quickly.  If you find it; pick it up for the kids for a fun filled afternoon!

Thank you Amu!!  I LOVE them!

New Giveaway on blogland!

I just came across this blog with this Australian designer, Sarah Fielke, that is doing a giveaway of her new line of fabrics.   Go check her out here and good luck!

Fabric Loot and The Green Crochet Monster Problem SOLVED!

Hi.  O.M.G.  look at the fabric loot I scored yesterday!

A 5" charm pack of FREEBIRD by MoMo for Moda!

and...

My FIRST JELLY ROLL! 

 FROLIC by Sandy Gervais for Moda!!

and...

OZ by (I can't read it) for Moda!

Thanks Maya!!

still more...

Three very pretty Japanese fabrics from Japan.  Thanks Megumi!!  I got selvedges too!  Who hoo!  The center print has cats throughout!

UPDATE :

The Green Monster problem has been solved.  I decided to undo the one block I had made and loosened my tension all the while checking and re-checking to make sure it was the same size as the others!

I'm on to my second one but in hind-sight; I wish I had done this one first as single crochet will be taking me a very long time to finish!!

Here is a sneak peak!

I also found out how to sew these blocks together!

Thanks for stopping by...

Ragheb Alama Feat. Elissa-Betgheib Betrouh-Arabic Music (Watch In HD Wid...

This is my very favorite Arabic song from 2001. I LOVE this woman! Elissa!

If you have never heard an Arabic song before and are going to; please let the video download before you listen to the chop chop version!  Maybe in America it won't take forever to download!?  Let me know what you all think!

Do any of my readers CROCHET??????

Hi.  Do any of you out there crochet?  I have a dilema.  I have four colors that I am crocheting into 8" squares for an afghan.  Each color is a different stitch.

Red squares = 8 needed
Purple squares = 7 "
Rust squares = 7 "
Green squares = 8 "

I finished the red, purple and rust squares.  I started working on my green ones.

THEY ARE TOO SMALL!

I have been stretching them to fit but I fear that when I sew all the blocks together; I will encounter problems if I make it bigger.

I have never sewn crochet to crochet or to nything else before.

I don't want to start over so here I am asking for your help.

The only other thing I can think to do is change the stitch.

Oh, the stitches are as follows:

Red - half double crochet
Purple - single crochet and then double crochet to form little bubbles
Rust - double crochet
The Green Monster - single crochet

I think my tension is too tight or sumpin.

H.E.L.P.

Oh man, I know this is not the best picture but now you can see them all!

Any help would be really apreciated!

Thanks for stopping by...

Dubai, BFC, Pizza, Kids and then some!

I'm not sure which came first of the following pictures in this post but I think this one was first.  I finished my purple squares and have started and finished my first rust one.  So, to date, I have 8 red, 7 purple and only 1 rust.  This is going to be a very masculine and pretty afghan or quilt!  Here is my ever present supporter Uki!  She was attacking the tails of the threads and it was so funny!

Ali got this little kit to make teeny, tiny pizzas.  We finally got around to it and the kids had a lot of fun.  The end product was a bit salty for my taste but I did not say anything to them!

Here are the kids working hard in the kitchen.  Two things;  not sure what the knife is about and Ali sucking his thumb??  I asked and Amal was in the process of cutting veggies and Ali wanted to demonstrate how delicious raw pizza stuff was!!  I hate my kitchen!

Here is just one tray of the goodies.  Ali made calzones and Amal made a salad.  This girl is really getting into cooking!

Here are the variety of little pizzas and calzones.  What made this SB was that we used whole wheat flour and low fat cheeses.  The middle one was Amal's favorite with feta cheese and black olives and oregano.  

This is a must to post.  My husband's friend from Bisiya many years ago told me that they have BFC and that it was very good.  I said, "what is BFC??" and he said it was their form of KFC.  Since this place wasn't Kentucky but Bisiya, they call it Bisiya Fried Chicken!  So funny!  It is so very tasty and we eat it with bread.  Personally, I like it with hummos and veggies and bread.  This is very famous in this little village.  

Here we are driving into Dubai.  The tallest tower is the world famous TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD called Burj al Khalifa.  What a sight!

We stayed very close to The Dubai Mall.  We LOVE this mall.  It is huge and it has all sorts of stuff that we all love!  We stayed in a place called the Qamardeen and it was nice.  It was 4 star!!  :)

I found a new place that sells cupcakes called Kitsch and it is adjacent to Candylicious which is a Dentist's dream as well as everyone else's but for different reasons!

SORRY, WE DID NOT LIKE THEM so much!

Very pretty though.  Looks are important but taste is also very important. 

Of course, we will try them again next time we go to Candylicious but they were dry and the frosting was not as tasty as, well, mine!  Here are the kids posing with them.

Here are Ali and I posing in front of the Dubai Aquarium with the colorful lights from Candylicious bouncing off the glass!

Here are Amal and I, same as above.

Amal got her first COACH bag!  Woo hoo!

and SO DID I!!!!!!!!!  I did not use mine on the spot.  That is my hubby!

We also went to Magnolia again and tried two smores cupcakes; red velvet with cream cheese frosting (all our favorites); vanilla cake with chocolate frosting (my hubby's favorite and it tasted just like mine!!);  in the middle right is carrot cake with a weird cream cheese frosting; and top right is their banana cake with caramel frosting and caramel inside.  

Y. U. M.

We then at some point went to see the water fountain show outside of Dubai Mall and also outside of Burj al Khalifa.  We took so many photos and it was not as impressive as times past.  The kids felt gipped!

Back home and Amal vacuumed the red carpet and rolled it up and I really like the new Ikea pillows with NO HIDEOUS RED CARPET!!

I know this is blurry but you can see the carpet rolled up and Waqar's laptop and bag and our new sheep rug for the cats.

It has been a wonderful week.  Time spent with the kids as a family is always good.  Spending time with family and friends is also cathartic.  Spending some money with NO OBJECTION FROM THE HUBSTER was priceless!  Getting to plan our next trip up in November even better!

Now, this has been a very long post and very picture heavy so I must bid you adieu!!

Thanks for stopping by...