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A Day in the Life

October 24, 2009 by Ashley Hackshaw

Worked on fixing this sewing machine for my friend……

Put some layers onto a portrait commission I’m working on….

Worked on this nursery painting…..

A friend came over and I helped her pick out some ribbon for a baby shower. She brought me a stack of t-shirts, yay!

Lunch: Cooked broccoli in the wok with garlic and soy sauce….ate with steamed rice and Diet Orange Crush in front of the computer while reading email.

Finished this nursery painting….

Worked a little on Sienna’s flower girl dress. Trashed the instructions. Hand-stitched the lining while watching recorded Project Runway from last night.

Placed some orders and put together a stack of outgoing mail.

Washed and folded some new fabric:

Picked up Sienna from school. Went to the post office. Went “bird-watching” in the back yard…..

……and we practiced our photography. Sienna had a snack of cheddar goldfish and jelly beans which is all over her face.

Started dinner while watching Fox News and flipping through new magazines. Menu: taco salad

Sienna worked on a new sticker book waiting for Daddy to come home for dinner.

Now back to watching the news and hanging out with the family…..working on the zipper of the flower girl dress. I’m pooped….. Have a great Friday night!

Wedding Part II: My Grandfather’s Book

October 22, 2009 by Ashley Hackshaw

I was flipping through this scrapbook I made and it brought back lots of memories of my own wedding. I made the scrapbook in 2003 when my grandfather passed away. For his wake before the funeral I enlarged my favorite photos and afterwards I put them in the book with the words from his eulogy throughout. I used a Canson spiral bound scrapbook, spray adhesive and a silver gel pen.
Here is my grandfather and my little sister at my wedding:

My grandfather loved his rose garden. It was huge. For my wedding flowers he cut EVERY rose bud and flower from his garden. When he passed away, I went and dug up every rose bush and moved them to our NC house.

I opened another one of my shadow boxes to snap a photo……this is my great-great-grandmother’s garter belt! My Aunt Sharon gave it to me for my “old and blue” when I was married. My great-great-grandmother must have been a toothpick….I couldn’t even get it over my foot!

Mr. and Mrs. Lil Blue Boo…..married May 5, 2001 in the backyard of my childhood home:

Ok….I know I’ve been on the grandparents kick lately, but I miss them. I just wish they had lived long enough to meet my daughter and to see my brother and sister get married.
My grandfather was awesome. Seriously awesome.

If you get freaked out easily don’t read any further….but I have a quick story to tell:

My grandfather (“Paw-Paw”) fell walking his dog in 2003 and broke his hip. I was able to see him before he went into surgery and he assured me he would be fine and everything would be okay. After surgery he had complications and went downhill quickly. He was in intensive care for a while….he would drift in and out of consciousness and ask us “who is the young man at the end of the bed?” I don’t know maybe he was hallucinating….or was there someone waiting for him at the end of the bed…..
My grandfather passed away one night soon after that.
A few months later my step-grandmother Brownie passed away suddenly from a fall. The entire family packed up Paw-Paw and Brownie’s house and sold it. Soon after my sister called me:

Perry: Ash, Paw-Paw just called my phone.

Me: Shut the eff up. What are you talking about?

Perry: My cell phone rang….it said “PAW PAW Calling” and I didn’t answer it.

-silence-

Me: Well….did……he……. leave a message?

Perry: Um, yes……it was……..just static.

Me: Call the number back.

Perry: I did. The number is disconnected. It doesn’t exist.

When I saw the movie White Noise I had to walk out of the room. If you’ve seen it you know why.

Some other favorite photos from the book:

Chipping away at the Berlin Wall in 1989

Paw-Paw as a young man on the farm in Kansas.

Paw-paw was incredibly detailed and meticulous. He was mathematical and methodical. He was fanatical about documenting his family history (you can see some of that here in “Paid in flour and potatoes”). I’m the same way. We both majored in math. So did my dad. Funny how things happen.

Wedding Part I: The Ring Pillow

October 21, 2009 by Ashley Hackshaw

In 2 weeks we head back to North Carolina for my little sister’s wedding! I’ve got a lot to get done before then! Sienna and I finished the ring pillow last night. My sister sent me a ton of photos of what she wanted and a box of fabric to match her dress….

Here is how I made it:

I cut two 11″ x 11″ squares.

I sewed all the way around the squares using a 3/8″ seam and leaving a 4 inch gap to turn it inside out (large enough for my hand to fit in as well).

Then I cut two long strips measuring 6″ x 48″ and 10″ x 48″ and folded each in half right sides together. I sewed the long end closed using a 3/8″ seam.

I took the larger of the strips and turned it right sides out (I did not iron because I didn’t want any creases) and tucked one end into the other…..

……and sewed the two ends together using a blind stitch.

With a needle and thread, I sewed a gathering stitch all the way around the fabric “tube”…..

….until it looked like a large ruffled flower:

I took the square pillow and turned it right side out…..

…and marked the center using my disappearing ink pen.

I pinned the large ruffle flower to the center of the pillow attached it by hand-stitching it to the pillow in between the pleats.

I repeated the entire process using the smaller fabric sleeve.

I “smushed” the small ruffled flower into the pleats of the large ruffled flower and hand stitched them together.

I cut a 4″ circle from the fabric….

…..and stitched around the folded edges….

….to form a small yo-yo.

I placed the yo-yo face down into the center of the ruffled flowers and used a blind stitch to attach.

I took the shadow box I made of my grandfather’s military things from our photo wall……

….and used his United States Navy pin for the center. He passed away in 2003 suddenly and I always thought he would live to see all his grandchildren get married.