Some cook, I sew and write: creativity brings joy

Life has been busy, shall we just say that?  Time passes hastily it seems. We've had some excitement here.  We traded in our family van for a BMW which promptly blew its transmission.  It went downhill from there and a month later we bought a used Toyota Venza, which my husband loved.  We had that about a month (one payment exactly) and my husband was in a wreck and that car was declared a total loss.  It protected him and got him home though!!!  Thank goodness for GAP insurance (which still hasn't paid everything off but will.)  Now we're back to being right-side-up in a third vehicle and praying for no nefarious incidents. Yeah.  I haven't really been in the mood to write. My son, however, got home from his church mission.  Yay!!!  He liked his room and quilt.  Double yay! My daughter, my baby, just graduated from high school with honors.  We found a school with an AFA in Theater (specifically backstage) that she is ...

Wow!  It feels like a lifetime ago when I last posted!  I've completed a lot of projects so I'm just going to scrapbook them here. My perennial cross stitch project: A completed quilt top: A completed quilt: A Valentine's Day table topper: A new dog, rescued from the local animal shelter.  She's a sweetie and getting healthier.  We've gone the rounds with skin issues! My daughter played Alice in Alice in Wonderland: Christmas placemats (8 of them): Removed a darling wall mural with lots of sanding and priming to transform a little boy room to a 22-year-old's room: Added the quilt that I raced to finish for my son's homecoming.  He has been gone for 2 years, serving a church mission.  He's the one in the suit and tie! The finished product: That quilt?  That's the one with 22 Rapid Fire LeMoyne Stars that I was pretty sure I would NEVER finish! I finished the top sign (Welcome) ...

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...