Some cook, I sew and write: creativity brings joy

Even though I haven't been showing any sewing, I have been productively engaged in quilt making. Some time ago, I began piecing quilt blocks from the Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month.  It's a free course taught by Amy Gibson of Stitchery, Dickery, Dock , and I learned a number of new-to-me techniques.  I have decided I much prefer watching videos showing how to construct something and then referring to directions for specifics.  I guess that means I'm primarily a visual learner.  Anyone else like me out there? My daughter held up the quilt top but my phone was slow to take the pictures.  After several tries, I actually got one of the whole quilt held up straight, but I much preferred this one. Missouri Star Quilt Company had directions for an inside out block and I had the plastic template so I tried this too.  It isn't quilted yet but I found the dark purple outside fabric at JoAnn Fabrics so that will be the back and binding.  Orig...

So much has happened but I've not blogged about any of it.   First, the major event taking my time had nothing to do with quilting but everything to do with family.  My husband had a bad case of cellulitis, or beta hemolytic streptococcus group A infection in his right calf.  They put him in the hospital for 2 weeks until they began seeing serious progress.  He is still battling the infection but he is home now.  He is also trying to build up his strength.  Two weeks in bed has serious implications for muscle tone!   This is what it looked like when he was able to come home: It looks more red now because he has been up and around on it, but hopefully it will continue to progress. On the quilting front, I received my very first Sew Sampler box from the Fat Quarter Shop a couple of weeks ago.  Here's the tin with appropriate wisdom for the week! And the contents: I'm quite excited to make the mini quilt with ...

Wow.  It has been awhile since I last blogged.  I have been quilting, but I've been making gifts which means I don't want to blog the projects until after they have been gifted.  I have been much better about posting pictures to Instagram!   Here's a sneak peak of the biggest project that I've been working on for a few months.  I made a tiny, but critical, mistake that caused me to have to seam rip the whole quilt apart and basically start assembling it all over again so really, this quilt should count as two!  I panicked thinking I wouldn't be able to fix it so I hurried to buy a second kit that is now extra.  So if anyone wants a quilt kit, I purchased it for about $80 from Craft Time Fabrics and would be happy to sell the unopened kit! It's off to the long-arm quilter now and then my son will receive it.  Shhh!!!  I have tried really hard to keep this one quiet and nearly invisible to him. He and I also went to see the Vik...

We're coming up to Valentine's Day and I just finished the Valentine tabletopper quilt for someone who gives of her heart.  Can't say who because she has no idea it is coming!  So happy with how it looks and it will be even more personal after it's autographed by pertinent parties. Here's the back of it.  I think it looks really nice!!! I recently got the reminder that I canNOT pull the fabric at all when sewing because the stitches pull too tight and don't hold.  Not good especially if the quilt will ever need to be washed.  All those raw edges will fray and come out from underneath the binding.  I don't want to think about what would happen if it was in the middle of the quilt.  So if you start noticing skipped stitches: 1)  Change needles and make sure you have the right kind in the machine. 2)  Make sure the thread is properly threaded through the machine.  This should probably be number one. 3)  Use a lighter t...

Have you ever had one of those times where you felt like you couldn't get moving? Well, that happened to me with quilting.  I couldn't get off the dime.   I started cutting fabric for my  Through the Ages  quilt and then mis-cut a piece.  And couldn't fix it.  First, I didn't realize I should have fussy cut it a little more because I cut off the head of the knight and the seam would take off the head of the lady.  Then I realized I cut it 1 1/2" too narrow and didn't have enough fabric left for a second try. Thankfully  Fabric.com  still had that particular print available.  Through the Ages  website did not.  For $2 more, I bought a yard rather than a 1/2 yard of fabric and it's on its way here!  $15 later including $5 shipping.  That hurt my feelings!  That really took away the little head of steam that had been building up so I looked around for a new project.  Preferably quick and easy. ...

My daughter has a huge creative streak and especially loves costuming and dressing up as characters in books and movies.  She has a Cosplay party coming up and she decided to step outside of her usual mold and take a fictional/historic character from the Regency period.  Channelling Jane Austen here. Nearly there now.  Now I get to tackle buttonholes, which I have never done on my Janome.  The dread of new things is probably worse than actually doing it, don't you think?  I have a quilt that took nearly a week to begin cutting fabric for it.  So far I've only made one cutting mistake and hopefully that will be the last one but I've got three more fabrics to go.  The dress from the front: Okay, not exactly true to the period.  We picked a cotton and another fabric would probably be the more likely fabric.  Softer too.  And I used elastic to gather the neckline because I can.  I would give anything for a zipper in the bac...

My hexagon block is finished for the Amy Gibson modern quilt .  I'm not a big fan of doing hexagons and I have one more quilt block using them.  I suspect paper piecing will be something I'll do when I have to do it.  It takes considerably more work although Amy's video instruction makes it simple.  I used regular copy paper for templates and can see the advantage of buying pre-made hexagons.  Mine weren't perfectly sized either but it worked.   This year we finally bought an emergency kit of food for our family.  120 entrees while they were on sale.  We've often put in 72-hour kits using regular canned food but that food takes more space and doesn't keep as long.  Now to figure out where to store water. I found a new recipe for Hamburger Stew.  Originally I used radishes instead of potatoes to make it THM friendly (which I liked but my husband did not), and then I made it again with potatoes.  The Pioneer Woman d...

My husband's Christmas gift was another hard one to keep under wraps.  A couple of months ago, he turned me onto ceramic potter Jessica Putnam-Phillips' @jessputnamphillips Periscope and I learned that he would love to have a large mug made by her.  While watching her make some bowls and mugs, she displayed a jade green mug that she had made previously and commented that she had some others in progress.  Instantly I knew what I wanted to get him. Because Jessica makes one-of-a-kind work, I emailed with a request for one of those mugs.  Since my husband watches her Periscope posts, I knew it would be tricky to pull it off.  I also use his Paypal account rather than creating my own so I knew paying for the mug would be even harder.  Thankfully, Jessica was willing to work with me and I got the mug right before Christmas. I just realized that this picture doesn't show the carving details and he has it at work so I can't take another p...

How was your Christmas?  Mine was fantastic!  I got to spend it with most of my family and talk to my missionary son.     I finished some more projects too.  My phone rang a few days before Christmas and it was my quilter calling to tell me my disappearing 9-patch Christmas quilt was completed!  Her husband has been terribly sick and in the hospital so I had told her not to worry about getting it finished before Christmas.  She got it done anyway though!  What a nice surprise!  It was also wonderful to learn he was home in time for Christmas! I hurried to add the binding so I'd have it for Christmas morning. I made some last minute Christmas Eve presents for Santa to fill Christmas morning.  Yes, we still do stockings.  Santa has always only brought things that can fit stockings because I've never liked the idea of something for nothing and the very-noticeable unfairness of how "Santa" brings marvel...