Shoe Bag

Since we will be taking a trip soon, I decided I needed a shoe bag.  I began looking for an embroidery design and when I saw this one, I looked no more.  It was perfect.  Every time I say that phrase out loud, I crack up.   : )

I may change the drawstring.  There is blue in the shoe, but not a lot. 

Now, do I make one for Rob, my husband??  Probably not like this one.  Maybe one with his name or initials!

New Project!

Saturday I attended a Block of the Month class at one of my favorite quilt stores (50 miles away) with some of my quilting friends.  We purchased the book "Hop To It" and for $6 we received the fabrics for the first block.  Next month we take back the finished block and we get the next block fabrics free.  At the end of the year we'll have all the blocks and the store will have border/backing fabrics available for purchase.  If you miss a month, you can purchase the block fabric for $6.  But it is possible to get all twelve blocks for $6.  Quite a deal, uh??

We do NOT make the blocks at the store.  The dealer shows us the month's block with any instructions needed.  Then she shows new items in the store--fabrics, patterns, notions, quilt class samples, etc.  She has three sessions each time and there was 35 people in ours.  It's very popular.  People love to get a little something for free (?).  Most of us end of spending a lot more than $6.  She has a good thing going!

This quilt is appliqued with a mixture of batiks and prints. Should be very pretty. You have your choice of applique and I'll be doing fusible applique.  I appreciate needle turned applique but do not have the patience to do it myself.  The first block had 43 pieces!   A bunch, but surprisingly it wasn't that bad.  I now have to stitch it down.  On this project I'll be using a small zig zag stitch instead of a buttonhole stitch with invisible thread.  Better get on that!

Wrapping Clothesline!

When my brother-in-law, Jim,  hears what I've been doing, he's going to give me a hard time.  What is the purpose--he would say.  One time when I was "making paper" he dropped by and said I had too much free time.  But he just doesn't see my "creative side".  : )  That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Anyway, I spent the day yesterday making bowls from wrapped clothesline.  It was fun.  I probably would have made more but I ran out of clothesline!  My bernina sewed through that clothesline like butter.  My dealer had suggested using the double cord #59/59C foot, but I tried using my open embroidery #20C and had no problem at all.  Having the grooved foot would be useful though if you had one.

I used 3/16"  polypropylene reinforced cotton clothesline.  The book which I used was "It's a Wrap" by Susan Breier  You can make coasters, purses, bowls of all kinds, lids, and embellish with all sorts of things, like buttons, beads, yo yos, etc.

I may try more later, but probably not. Need to finish some old projects that I've started and pushed aside.  Sometimes you just have to stop what you're doing and try new things.  I think I do that too often.  Oh, well.  Life is too short not to do what you want when you want to do it.

Tonight we're going to my sister's house to bring in the new year.  A quiet evening of playing cards and maybe a game of Wii.   Hope it's clear enough to see that "Blue Moon".   HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Oklahoma Blizzard 2009!

Oklahoma had 14" of snow on Christmas Eve!  If that becomes official it will set a record.  I personally don't think we had that much but the wind was so bad that the drifts dealt a lot of people a lot of misery trying to get home to their family.   One being my nephew who was stranded on I-35 for 10 hours.  He made it home finally just in time for Christmas dinner.  We all were so happy to see him!

Christmas was wonderful.  Just sorry that not all of my siblings could make it to dinner.  But that is okay, rather to be safe and warm than have an accident.

Now after the snow and wind has stopped, yesterday and today was wonderful for the kids to go sledding and build a snowman!  My grandkids had a ball as you can tell from my photos.

Embroidered Eyeglass Case

 This eyeglass case was made at a "make it and take it" class at my Bernina dealer's Christmas Sale.  Actually, it was more of a "watch it and take it" deal!  It was all done "In the Hoop" except for the last step which was folding it over and sewing it together which I did at home.

It is a design by Bernina--check it out at your local dealers!  I'm going to make more after the holidays.

May all of you have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Embroidered Fleece Throws

Today I'm finished some very quick easy gifts for my great nephews!  I was going to purchase some fleece and make the throws but realized just buying the throws was quite the time saver!  I used "Alice" font for their names and my Bernina whipped them out so quickly.

Four of the boys are in one family and each have their own throw now.  So they'll be no more fighting.  Each will have their own special throw.

I also made pillowcases with glow in the dark names embroidered on them.  They turned out pretty cute.  However, I already wrapped them, so no picture.

Just have one more item to make for Christmas.  Better get on it!  Hope your projects are all done!

Secret ingredient sweet bread!

This morning I tried a new recipe--a quick sweet bread.  It's similar to banana bread but no bananas.  It's also going to be a fun recipe to share with friends and family because of one special ingredient.  I'm not going to even tell them what it is.  Well, maybe I will if they like it!

Now don't be turned off when I tell you what it is, because when baked you cannot tell that it's in there.  Are you ready??  A can of Pork and Beans! The recipe is from a book by Joanne Fluke--The Plum Pudding Murder.  All her Hannah Swensen mysteries have lots of recipes in them because Hannah has a bakery, and Fluke incorporates the recipes in her stories.  Her books are quick, easy reads and I love reading the recipes. They all are a little different from the usual things I make.

PORK AND BEAN BREAD  (I'm changing the name on my recipe to "Secret Ingredient Bread")

1 15-oz can of Pork and Beans, undrained, pureed with blender or food processor
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil (not canola or olive)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3 cups flour

Stir eggs with beans. Add oil and vanilla, mixing well.  Add sugar, then mix in soda, powder, salt and cinnamon.  Mix all this well and add nuts.  Add the flour in one cup increments, stirring after each addition.  Spoon batter into 4 small, greased and sugared loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.

I also made the Easy Cheesy Biscuit recipe that was in the book.  Really good!  The recipe had cream of tarter, sour cream and two different cheeses.  This would really be good with stew or beans.

My local library has several of her books.  This is her website:
http://www.murdershebaked.com/index.htm

Try one, they're delightful!

Finger Pincushions

These little pincushions are so easy, quick and handy to have!

We needed a craft for our Christmas guild party and this is going to be it .  (We've done that the last few years instead of games.)  I had seen these for a long time but just hadn't made any.  I whipped up one in minutes.

All it takes is one 3 1/2" square of fabric.  Fold it in half diagonally, stitch 1/4" seams leaving opening for turning.  Stuff, whip opening closed and pull corners together to fit finger and whip together.  That's it.  How's that for something quick!

The only thing you need to remember is poke the pins in sideways NOT in the top.  If you do, you'll be feeling it!  : )

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year!

The extended family had other plans but my kids and grandkids were here and we had a great time!  Lots of food!  On Friday we did a little shopping to see what the kids like and then took in a movie.  It was A Christmas Carol 3-D with Jim Carrey.  We did NOT like it.  I have seen many versions and this was definitely the worst.  Too scary!  Lyndey hid her eyes a lot.  And they used a lot of the text from the book which was a little hard to follow, especially for the kids.  Not a feel good movie for the holidays at all.  We did take the kids to see Planet 51 earlier in the week, thank goodness.  That one was delightful!

Now to take down the Thanksgiving decorations and get Christmas started!!

Embroidered Bookmarks!

Just made these neat little MAGNETIC bookmarks on my Bernina 730e!  Are they bookmarks or bookmarkers???  I never know for sure what to call them.  The design called them bookmarks, so that's what they are today.

They embroider as one piece, you add the two magnetic strips and the top folds back to catch the pages in a book.

Things I'm learning with embroidery projects--no matter how small you think the project is, always start with a FULL BOBBIN.  And each one of these bookmarks takes almost a full bobbin.

My non-embroidery friends are amazed that these are just thread--no fabric.  I love the different designs.

My granddaughter, Paige, is here (school's out in Texas the whole week of Thanksgiving) and she wanted to make one for her teacher.  So she chose purple thread for the background and away we went.  She couldn't believe the sewing machine would make lace by itself.  I love to share my sewing and crafts with her.  She's always willing to try my projects AND I get to do some fun stuff while she's here.  Brother, Jake, is into computers, so that keeps him busy.

The picture is not too clear UNLESS you click on it and that magnifies it.  You can then see the images better.  Don't know why.  I'm hoping Santa gets me a new camera for Christmas.

A few more stocking stuffers done!

Take Five

Today I finished putting the borders on this quilt. Talk about a quick quilt, this is the one to do!!

A friend and I are wanting to do some pro bono quilts to bust our stash and wanted to try this pattern.  We took our fabrics AND scraps to our local quilt shop (who by the way, donates her AccuQuilt to use for pro bono projects) and used her "Take 5" die to cut enough for five quilts in short time!  It takes longer to line your scraps over the die than it takes to roll it through the cutters.

I'm so impressed with that machine.  She has multiple dies to cut--squares, triangles, dresden plate, and strips in several sizes.  She rents the machine out for $5 an hour if you are a guild member.  It is definitely worth it.

My friend, Nita, has made one too, also using just five fabrics which the pattern calls for.  BUT, in an effort to use those small scraps of fabric we have, we have chosen 12 fabrics instead of five and going to make some really scrappy.  We'll see how those turn out.

Scrap Therapy

Recently I attended a class of "Scrap Therapy".  I won this class at the Ultimate Embroider Seminar I attended a while back.  I was planning on taking the class with a friend earlier and we had to postpone, so it worked out well.  I got to go free--always love that.  Of course, it cost me anyway I had to have some patterns.

Basically, the idea is to get your fabric scraps cut into workable sizes.  Then they have patterns (if you need them) that use the 5", 3 1/2" and 2" squares.  Once you have the squares cut, you just grab the plastic shoebox which they give you with the  class and start sewing.  Someone once told me that those scraps are still just as expensive as when you first bought them in bigger yardage.  USE THEM UP!!

We also got to use the quilt store's AccuQuilt cutting machine too. Wow!  You can cut 10 layers of fabric and the 5" cutter has 8 squares.  That's 80 squares a cut!  That's the way to go if you have many blocks to cut and so accurate.  The quilt store lets you rent the machine if you want and I plan on doing it.  Much  cheaper than buying the machine.  lol

The time you'll save using this machine will get you sewing so much quicker. What do you think our grandmothers would think??  I like to think they'd love it.  Scrappy quilts here I come.