Plays nicely with others.....

Oh joy of JOYS!  This weekend has been absolutely wonderful so far!!

It started on Friday night with a visit to some friends....I had made a coconut cake a day earlier and wanted to share a couple of slices, so we took them a sampling and stayed for a chat and a cup of coffee.

yes, that's one of those ancient tupperware cake safes it's sitting on - harvest gold, I believe!

The next day, she called to say that her grandson-in-law, who is a chef at the Hilton, tasted the cake and was so impressed that he wants to order two per week from me to serve in the restaurant on a regular basis!!!  We have yet to finalize this, but even if it doesn't pan out, I'm deeply flattered and honored!  I truly love baking and to be able to share it like this would be a dream come true!

Saturday morning started with a nice long breakfast with my hubby that turned into a thrift-store, friend-visitation, grocery-shopping day!  I love "kicking around" with my husband, and the time passes like crazy when we're together, but that doesn't bother me a bit.   I have to stop here and say how blessed I am to have developed such a wonderful relationship with my mate.  I realize too often how rare this is, so if you have this special bond with your mate, give thanks!!

Anyway, onto more good stuff.....

I have had my serger buried on the floor of my fabric closet for OVER a year now, and last night I decided to pull it out and see if I could get it to work.  I have always struggled with my sergers, never really making friends with them, and I got sick and tired of this one acting up, so I just tucked it away and tried to forget about it.   Some of the things I make for my shop would be much easier to do if this cotton-pickin' machine worked well without thread breaking and such *&(#~%^?! things it does to me!  So, I asked my husband to go to the closet and retrieve the blasted thing for me.

He asked if we should start praying...I said yes - pray HARD.

I was having trouble specifically with the lower looper thread breaking constantly, no matter how loose the tension was.  I decided to just put a heavier duty quilting thread on that spool, and VOILA! - Within 5 minutes, it was working!  He really must've been praying!

The thing sews beautifully, although it was a bit clunky sounding after sitting in the closet unused for over a year.  A bit of oil in certain places and that should fix it up.

I'm working on toddler dresses and this will be so nice to have the seams finished with the serger!  I haven't made clothes in a while and it's a nice change from quilting and handbags, etc.  I can't wait to get back in my sewing room to play with my long lost "friend"!

Pacified, I headed to the kitchen to try out that Rachael Ray steak recipe I blogged about earlier, but didn't get a chance to make.

It turned out pretty good, actually, although I didn't make the sauce because the instructions left out what to do with the chicken stock/beer, and I was in a bit of a hurry anyway.

Probably the best part of the whole weekend was that I didn't clean house...I probably should have, but I didn't want to, so I just didn't!  Of course, you know what they say....

I would just love to have a bunch of this fabric, but I don't know what I'd do with it.  Perhaps it could serve nicely as those valances I've been wanting in my sewing room!  I have a hard time splurging on myself and don't know if I could spend that much money and feel good about it....perhaps I'll have to remember it when I've got a coupon or something.  As a matter of fact, my mother gave me a gift card and told me to use it for "tools of my trade", meaning my sewing business...hmmmm.....could window treatments for the sewing studio be considered "tools of the trade"?

Above all these "good things" that made my weekend wonderful (I'm sure I forgot a few things, too), is the most important and most cherished event that is developing even as I speak.  My youngest daughter, who lives an hour away in her own apartment,  called me this morning with "tears of joy" to say that she had a revelation and is no longer angry at God, and could she come home to go to church with us and have lunch together?  By all means, YES!!!!  Hurry home, dear one!  I've been praying for such an event in her life and this just goes to support my belief that you can't outgive God, and if you trust Him with all your heart and remain faithful in prayer for these things, He WILL answer you, in His time!

So, my weekend will have a few more wonderful events, I'm sure, before Monday arrives!

Quickie

I'm not one to usually do a quick post, I end up rambling on about all I'm into and adding tons of pictures (I love pictures - they really make a blog easier to read), but I wanted to shoot out a quick post so that perhaps my next post won't be so long and drawn out!

First of all, I finished my blocks for the No Sew Block Swap.

I made up one of each and then packaged up the other 8 blocks to send to Kathleen.
I really like the red white and blue one but I wish I would've chosen a darker pink for the green pink white block.  I've also printed up all my instructions for the blocks in both my groups....can you tell that I can't wait to get my blocks back?!!! :)

Also, I just finished up that apron for my "friend".

I've got lots to do today in preparation for the weekend, so I best get going.
Happy Friday!

Puzzle Tutorial, part two

So, you've finished gluing your puzzle and it's been sitting for at least a day, drying, which is more than enough time, really...I've just been distracted by not getting back here until now!

Anyway, first you'll need to flip the puzzle over carefully and peel off any pieces of newspaper that are stuck.  Little bits aren't really going to matter, but you don't want huge pieces sticking off the sides!

Then, you gather your handy tools...simply a hammer and nails.  I like to use panelling nails, like these.

I have both brown and white but think I am going to use the white ones for this mounting.

Choose your spot on the wall (I have a spot where I've already got a bunch of nail holes from moving my quilting rulers around, and then changing my mind, so that's where this puzzle is going)

Then, you simply start nailing, placing the nail into the grooves between puzzle pieces.  I squared my puzzle up with the window next to it to be sure it was hanging straight.  I measured from the top of the puzzle to the window casing and then from the bottom of the puzzle to the window casing and these measurements should be somewhat close, give or take a centimeter!

Not quite exact, but close enough for me!

Space your nails about 6" - 8" apart depending on the size of the puzzle.  I tried to coordinate my nail placing with lighter spots on the puzzle, so as to try to hide the white nail heads as much as I could.

Then, step back and admire your "artwork"!

Yes, I deperately need new valances in here!  This lavender stripe is from when it was my daughter's room!  I just can't seem to decide what color or print would look good up there!

I tried looking through my old pictures to see if I could find some showing the walls of my basement with all the old puzzles up.  All I found was a couple of pictures from when I was a girl scout leader and hosted a Halloween party in 1993!

My oldest daughter is the dracula-looking creature that keeps sticking her tongue out in both pictures!   Why?....silly pre-teen stuff, I guess   :)

I'm the goofy-looking Ace of Spades on the right in the picture below

While I was pondering where to put my new picture puzzle, I took the time yesterday to re-organize my sewing room.

I found this little shelf unit at a local Goodwill store for only $2.  It was an awful shade of brown metal and terribly rickety, but my husband fixed that right up and now I store my current projects on it.  I needed it as I had to clear out some more room in my fabric closets for new fabrics.   I had "fun" organizing those yesterday.  It seems I need to re-stack the fabrics at least once every two months or so, as I tend to grab fabric quickly and not take time to pull it out carefully.

These are just two of them...I have two more just like them in my office/study, which used to be the room that I used as both a sewing room AND an office.






Now that my youngest daughter has her own apartment, I have usurped both rooms and can spread my work areas out a bit.  One daughter remains at home, and as soon as she is gone, we joke about turning her bedroom in the mailing center!

I'm going to try a Rachael Ray recipe for dinner tonight...Palomilla Steaks!

Don't ask me what that means, I just know I saw her cooking it on TV last week and knew I wanted to try it.  I also LOVE carmelized onions, so I'm hoping this will be delicious!  Perhaps we'll have some sort of potatoes along with it.  Here's the link in case you'd like to give it a try....Palomilla Steaks.

Well, it's already after noon, and I have yet to get into my sewing room for the day to do anything besides hang a puzzle!

Cheers!    

Puzzle Gluing Tutorial, part one

Here's my first ever tutorial and it's not even about sewing or quilting!  Go figure!
It's about puzzles - jigsaw puzzles.
My mother used to love puzzles and I remember there was always a puzzle in progress somewhere in the living room or on the dining room table that she would work on periodically.  Often, I would try to fit a few pieces in, but I was always astounded at how hard it was and how enticed she was by working on them.  Slowly, I began to get better at it, and found that I, too, truly enjoyed working on a jigsaw puzzle - it can be very addictive.   What really amazed me was when she was done with the puzzle, she wanted to keep it, so she glued it!  When I grew up and got my own apartment, I started doing my own puzzles and turned them into wall art by gluing them and hanging them up on my apartment walls.  I know, it was simple and tacky, but I loved it!  When I married and we moved into a house, I carried my glued puzzles with me and mounted them all on the walls of our basement den.  I continued to buy puzzles and received them as gifts, all with the intent to glue them and slap them up on the wall downstairs.  I loved that wall, and my kids did, too, but dear hubby...no way!  He didn't like it but he allowed it because it in was the basement, of course!  Anyway, that went on for several years, and then I guess I tired of doing puzzles; either that or I just got too busy in the working world to slow down in the evenings and play with a puzzle.  Eventually, when we remodeled, I tore all those puzzles down and threw them away.  "Why" you ask?....well, so do I!  I  have gotten back to doing a few more puzzles recently, but since I'm sewing and quilting all the time now, I still don't have much energy for a puzzle (like it really wears you out to sit quietly and play with goofy-cut pieces of colored cardboard - c'mon now!)  Well, I bought myself a few puzzles for Christmas and I took a break from quilting for a week or so and enjoyed working on this one, which I finished on Sunday afternoon.

Naturally, I'm gluing it and planning on mounting it in my sewing room - how fitting, right!

Here's how I do the glue part.

You lay your finished puzzle out (hopefully on the board you assembled it on) and carefully slide some newspaper underneath it so it is separated from the board.

Then, you get some of this glue and a foam brush.  I prefer a foam brush to a regular paintbrush because it doesn't leave big brush strokes and you can throw it away if you want afterwards.
I think I got this bottle in the crafts department at Wal-mart and the brush was taken from my husband's stash he bought from Lowe's.  You could even use a bottle of Elmer's glue to do this - it's the same stuff and it doesn't take much to do one puzzle.
Carefully pour some of the glue into a little bowl of some sort (don't worry - it washes out of anything, as it is water based, just like Elmer's)  I just poured it into the cap and used that as my bowl.

Then, just spread it all over the puzzle, taking care to make sure it fills all the little nooks and crannies real good.  You might even want to put on a second coat for good measure, but don't get it too thick.  I just use one good coat myself.

Now, this is the important part......veeeerrrrry important!!!!

Grab a cup of coffee and some mini muffins and chill!!!  :)

Come back in a couple of days for part two and I'll show you what to do next!!

Already busy again

I truly enjoyed the laziness of the last couple of weeks, although I don't really think I was that lazy.  Now, today - I have been just that!  It's after 11 AM and I am still in my robe and jammies! 

My husband and I have been hard at work laying hardwood floor at our house project in the town of Kershaw and today he has so kindly given me the day off and I plan to head to my sewing room shortly after I finish this post! :)

Typically, I'll rack the pieces along the floor in front of the area where the wood is to be laid.  Then, he comes along with his air gun and nails the pieces in.  It's really fun - kinda like putting together a puzzle because you don't want the seams to be to close together and sometimes it's challenging to find just the right sized piece.  Today he's working on some hand nailing because when you get close to the wall, the gun won't fit and you have to face nail all the pieces.  Thus, my day off from racking!!!  There's a lot of bending over and crawling around on your knees so we both enjoyed the weekend of rest from this somewhat painful job.

Lately, I can't seem to keep my hands still so I have been busy doing all the fun sewing things I don't get to do when I have masses of quillow orders to make!

My daughter got this cute little teapot for Christmas and wanted a tea cozy to keep it warm.  It is a very small teapot and I don't have any cozy patterns anyway, so I had to create one of my own.  I think it turned out nicely the first time, and that's rare for me!  She definitely likes it, and that's all that matters.

I've also been working on patchwork quillows.

Red and Aqua

Carpet of Flowers

Rainbow Diamonds

Don't know what to call this one - the pillow was an attempt at Drunkard's Path but I'm having trouble with sewing circles and it turned out much different that it was supposed to, but I think it looks OK.  I gave up on the quilt and just made it plain - the pillow was sufficient circle sewing for me at this time!

I got inspiration from Terry and am designing a scrappy heart patchwork quillow.

I'm also dreaming up something blue and brown

maybe something shabby rose

I've made good use of my own personal quilt while watching TV.

I cuddle up in it every night in my easy chair as we keep our home temperature at a not-so-balmy 68° to save on energy costs.  I really don't mind as it gives me a chance to wear my sweatshirts and sweaters that don't get used too much here in the South.  Every time I get under it, I always enjoy each block and the combination of the two coordinating prints!  I truly enjoy scrappy quilts the best!!!

Speaking of scrappy, I just joined a new swap and am excited to get going on it as I will probably use the blocks I receive to make more patchwork quillows.

I'm also working on a birthday present for a dear friend.  She has been spending more time in the kitchen lately, enjoying baking and such, and she needs an apron.  A couple of years ago, I made my first quillow (the unbeknownst beginning of my sewing business) and she said she loved the colors I used in it.

So, I have actually dug up some of those fabrics and that is what her apron will be made out of.

(I don't think she reads my blog, so I hope this post isn't a surprise wrecker!)

Oh yeah, let's not forget embroidery, as I need something to do while we travel (and sometimes that's just travelling to the closest fabric store which is about an hour away!)

I finished several blocks from Cheryl's Verandah Views from 2009 and hope to get started eventually on her new series, Under the Sea.

I have a dear friend that I grew up with in church when we both lived in Montana, who is endeavoring to wear red shoes as many days as possible in the year 2010, and pairing it with an effort to raise money for the children of Rwanda.

I won't go into detail about what she is doing, instead I'll include the link to her website, Red Shoes for Rwanda, and I want to encourage everyone to visit and consider supporting her in this adventure!  I'm pledging 25 cents for every day she wears red shoes.  She now lives in Washington state and I in South Carolina but we manage to keep in touch through this wonderful thing called the internet!  Please stop by her blog and "read all about it"! 

So, I guess that's it for now....perhaps I should get dressed!  :)