Konza Creative

Goodness... it's amazing how much can go on in one week.  I saw my parents and had a good visit.  I am so thankful for their neighbors and all that they do for them.  They are very lucky to have such good friends.  Life isn't easy when you are in your 80's. And then of course there is the election.  It will go down in history as one of the nastiest, ugliest and most unpredictable elections... well unpredictable by the media.  I am not sure what is happening to this country, but it is time that everyone really take a good look.  Lost is the ability to disagree with grace, dignity and respect.  I think Thomas Jefferson said it the best  to William Hamilton, April 22, 1800: I've become pretty fond of Mike Rowe and I think he summed the whole thing up pretty well in his post . I think that the only thing I can do in the midst of all of this chaos is to go on and hopefully try to bring a little joy to everyone I meet. Sounds sappy right... but what else i

It's been over a year since I've seen my parents so a trip south was long overdue.   Hubby and I decided to take a road trip to see them.  Road trips are great because you get lots of knitting done! I t is a 12 hour drive but we break it up with stops here and there.  The best stop is  Hancock of Paducah.  It's also a big online fabric store... you name it, they have it!! I was good and only bought a few things:  The solids will be used to make this pattern which has been in my stash for quite awhile: I love the modern look and feel of the pattern, I am thinking it might be a good Christmas present! And at the end of the day this us how much knitting got done: Those are a lot of bobbles! The day was quite uneventful until we go to the hotel and realized I didn't have the key fab for the VW.  After lots of looking, thinking and reviewing we came to the conclusion that I never had it... so hopefully it really it as h

Some days it's just nice to share some random thoughts, so here is this week's top 10: 1. The pillow I made at my quilt retreat looks great on the rocking chair! 2.  Do you know that you spend a large part of your waking hours in your office?  Why not make it a little more bearable?  I love to surround myself with wall hangings that reflect the season. 3.  Every once in awhile I do  a little embroidery work for some of my daughters friends.  I hope her dot likes it. 4.  I got quite  bit done on my October sewing to-do list... now if I can only get started on that Style Arc Estelle pattern !  After making a black one and an olive one for daughter #1, I thought I needed one too!    I bought 3 shades of refined ponte from  Joann's  (blue, black and olive).  Do you I might be overdoing it? 5.  Daughter #1 came home and she and Daughter #3 gave Daughter #2 a wonderful baby shower.  I will do a post on that... 6.  Am I the only one that spend

 This was a post that I had started late last year... and obviously as I wrote I had no idea were were going to move. But letting go of the old and embracing something different is always hard.  We've let go of lots of stuff this past year.  We have totally painted and updated our upstairs.  Gone are old children's bedrooms to be replaced by a study and guest bedroom,  The outside of the house has been repainted, the landscape updated.  And yet memories from the past were discovered as we progressed through change.  Side drawers in the bathroom had children's drawings from felt markers probably out of boredom from sitting on the potty too long.  Weeble wobblers, old bibs and miscellaneous toys were found in the front landscape as we dug out 25 year old bushes.  But I have discovered while changes have continually been made to 3605 Monarch Circle memories just kept getting made. That study was a son 's room that was once a tribute to his love for K-State.

A lot has happened this year but rather than try to back track and blog about all the events (like moving, a new grand baby etc),  I decided to just post about the last few months here and there.  For now I'll just post about this past weekend. Eight women and one weekend, so much fun, so much talent and so much sewing!! This was my first quilt retreat and I can't wait until my next one!  I had so many projects I wanted to work on but I decided that I would prioritize,  The first on my list was to start on a quilt for the new grand baby that is scheduled for arrival on Dec. 19.  Dani and I visited the quilt shop and she picked out this colors and this baby triangle pattern .  I cut all the triangles out before the quilt and promptly started on it when we got there Friday night. We stayed at a darling and quaint Bed and Breakfast called Shabbi Shack in Topeka, Ks.  She is really set up for for Scrapbookers and what a wonderful treasures she has

Well I made it through my first Me Made May! I did have to reuse a couple of pieces, so going clockwise... I am finding that the culottes are a very versatile addition to my wardrobe!  This time I paired it with a blue striped t-shirt and pink sweater and it was perfect!   I think I finally got the perfect shift dress with this one.  I thought I had blogged about this dress but I realized I had not.  It is basically this dress . and the fabric was purchased at Gorgeous Fabrics. It is a wonderful border piece and I was so glad I was able to incorporate that into this version of the shift dress. This is one of my favorite summer dresses . What is not to love, the collar the polka dots..it just makes me happy when I wear it! I have had this top for quite awhile and the pattern is no longer available, but boy has this been a summer staple!  I found this wonderful eyelet fabric at Joann's and it had this great embroidered border.  I used that embroidered border for the heml

I survived another week of Me Made May.  I must admit now that the weather is getting a little warmer it hasn't been too difficult. Going clockwise: The black striped dress is an RTW but needed adjustments as it was too big in the sides and in the shoulders.   The black pants are made out of a wonderful ponte that I bought at B&J Fabrics in NY.  I used the StyleArc Elle pattern and these have a proven to be a wonderful staple in my wardrobe. This is another StyleArc pattern, the Kristen Dress .   I love this pattern and  have made another version of it, which I blogged about here . And yet another pair of StyleArc Elle pants.  My husband was in New Zealand a few years ago and I begged him to bring back some fabric for me.  A little searching on the web led me to a fabric store that was located very close to where he was staying.  After a few emails, I had 3 meters each of black, grey and taupe bengaline!  The first thing I made was these Elle pants as bengaline was

My goal for Me Made May 2016 was to wear outfits that I made 4 days of the work week. This challenge had been more fun than I thought it would be.  It has also made me realize that I really don't need to buy that shirt, those pants or that dress, because I have quite a bit in my closet already! It has also made me think about what I have missing in my wardrobe and what I can make with what is in my fabric stash and in my pattern cabinet! Most of these outfits I blogged about here . The black and white Elle pants I will blog about later.  I hope to make another pair of stretch denim Elles this weekend and I'll blog about it then. I can't wait to see what I'll wear for week 3!

I like the StyleArc Elle pants.  They are quick and easy to sew up and as far as I can tell they don't look that bad on  me.  Since Mimi can't model pants I had to take the plunge and post a picture of me wearing my latest Elle pants: Hubby is a little new to this photo thing... all the other photos he took didn't turn out so well.  The fabric is a black and white bengaline that I found at fabric.com.  It's a good weight for the in between seasons but might be just a little too heavy for the hot summer months.  This was a good pair to take to my conference last week as the meeting rooms were so cold.  I ended up wearing them twice, the second time I wore it with a long white shirt and a red camisole. It's a good travel piece! I have been working on the McCalls Shirtdress Sew Along.  I knew I had to make a muslin but for me muslins are such a waste of time.  So I dug out some plaid fabric from my stash.  Of course the plaid made the work of putting tog

When the call to participate in Me Made May 2016 came out, I knew I just had to participate this year!  Last year I did my own Me Made Week which I blogged about here . It is now the second week in May and I have yet to post on any outfits that I have worn.  I was out of town all of last week for a conference and while I thought about taking pictures and blogging, I just did not have the time.  I plan on recreating the outfits this week and blogging about them.  I made two pairs of StyleArc Elle pants earlier this year and wore them at my conference.  I have learned that while it might be warm outside, conference rooms are always freezing cold, so I always pack pants and sweaters for layering. So I have only been home 2 out of the last 10 days.  I need to get organized so I can figure out if I have enough outfits for the month!  Yesterday I wore this dress: I blogged about this dress here . I may not be able to make 5 days of the work week so I am shooting to wear something

As I said in an earlier post, I have collected quite a few StyleArc patterns.  The Kristin Dress is one of them: I have made this several times and my latest is a purple version made out of a medium weight ponte knit from Hancock.  That piece of fabric had been sitting in my stash for quite awhile.  Originally I wanted to find some purple pleather or leather to use for the pockets.  But after visiting NY Mood on two separate occasions and forgetting to purchase some I gave up on the idea.  And leather can be so expensive even for just a small piece! This pattern should be a staple in everyone's wardrobe.  It is easy and very versatile.  You can dress it up with a nice scarf and heels or dress it down with leggings and even a jean jacket.  I am not fond of having my picture taken but sometime it is necessary just to see how a garment fits on a real body. This is the second time I made this dress.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to blog about it sometime soon. I did

I have been wanting to make this pair of culottes for quite awhile and this pattern has been in my possession for quite awhile. I had a some navy benagline that I had bought from fabric.com and it has been in my stash for quite awhile. Benagline is wonderful fabric but the stretch goes length-wise, along the selvage so you need to adjust if you want to make use of the stretch. But as I started laying out the pattern I realized that I was going to have to be creative as I was going to be a little short on fabric. These are a pretty easy sew.  I decided that since this was being made out of stretch fabric I would add an elastic waist.  Because I cut this on the lengthwise grain and because I didn't have much yardage, I had to cut out View D.  This view only had darts and not the extra fabric needed to make the pleats.  According to my measurements I needed to cut out a size 14.  Because I am shorter, I adjusted the length of culottes by 4 inches, giving me just enough f

I have been collecting StyleArc patterns like crazy.  So I have decided that this year  I am going to dedicate myself to using all of those patterns that I have collected.  The wonderful thing about StyleArc is that they are easy patterns, but so stylish at the same time.  I seem to be at point in my life where I really like "easy to where" items.   I've had this StyleArc Ivy pattern in my stash for quite awhile: I decided to use this reversible knit fabric that I found at JoAnn's:   I love how one side has polka dots and the other stripes.  I knew this would be perfect for this top as I wouldn't have to find other fabric for contrast.  Once I cut out the pieces I had to decide how I wanted the contrast to work, so I laid out the pattern pieces and played until I found something I liked.  So easy to do with this fabric, all you had to do was just flip it over to the other side!  However once you started sewing you had to remember which you chose