Ella, Day 3

I didn't post this weekend but I have a good excuse. I was exhausted! Chris and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Ella. She was delightful. Saturday (after I had a nap) we were talking about how much we missed her. We took her to her Grandmother's house (also my brother's house) Saturday where we also had an 85h birthday party for my Mom. My cousin came in from Asheville, NC and we got to see one of my nieces for the first time in over 5 years. It was a wonderful afternoon.

This post is about the last items that Ella and I made. She used every available minute and we were cutting out things up until she had to pack to leave. Here are the last 3 tshirts that we made. She wore the "dance" shirt to the party. Her little brother loved his new shirts.
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The special project that we worked on thursday night was a pajama set for Mom for her birthday. It was kind of a last minutes thing so we went to WalMart to buy some pajama bottoms and she designed this shirt as a top. She designed this herself on the Cricut. I think she will be getting one for Christmas!

The big news is that we actually finished the blanket! It's not perfect by any means. I think when working with kids that it's important to accept finished over perfect. It's disheartening to have to frog stitching so I just made repairs as we went along. She really loves it and I have a great photo of her rolled up in it but I don't share kid's photos on the web so I'll keep that one to myself.

It's made with Lion Brand Off The Hook yarn and we used all of 7 skeins. This is a great yarn for kids and people who want to make things fast. It made a really squishy soft blanket but I hope to never use this yarn again.
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We had time left Friday night so we learned how to use the pen and how to cut paper and then she wanted a zipper bag for her backpack. So I got to teach her a little sewing. She mostly liked the knee lift and had it up and down about 100 times! 
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We even added a little tassel to the zipper. We got up Saturday and had an hour or so to kill so we cut some things that she can iron to future shirts. 

Yesterday I actually got to see Ella again. Her parents were planning to tile their backsplash and I offered my wet saw. Then I offered to help. I did most of the cutting while they installed the tile. I was a long day but we got it done! Today I'm exhausted and very grateful that I don't have to grout it. It's going to be a day of cleaning up the sewing room and shopping for a new TV. I might get some more potholders done.