This and That and Kitchen Stuff

Ack!  Not exactly a few days later.  Well, in my defense, I've been busy!  My big Bernina 830 sewing machine was in need of a spa treatment and the best technician lives in Montana.  He does come over to the Spokane area once a week to pick up machines at several designated drop-off points so we had taken Moby Stitch (the great white Bernina!) up earlier and we picked it up last week.  That's a day out of town, but there is a Trader Joe's up there which is, of course, a mandatory stop.  :-)

We've had Daniel over each Sunday night through Monday dinnertime since the beginning of August until this week as Ann had to be back to work at school, prepping for the new year.  He's so easy to have, but still it seemed like the days went differently when he was here as we visited and found things to do.  School started last week on Wednesday so he's back to learning.  Fifth grade this year!  Where does the time go?

Last Monday it finally worked out for Dan to have my birthday party and Ann and family showed up with pizza to share dinner and cake with me. Such a fun, wonderful time we had!  

Since my machine was back, I have ventured into my sewing room and have started a new round of bibs.  I had only two left in my gift pile and they were both for girls.  I've embroidered five new ones and cut out about twenty blanks to work on next.  

But enough on this stuff.  I mentioned in my last post that I'd do a kitchen post, so here goes.  

In May when we were at Costco I stopped to look at a Ninja Foodi Flip Air Fryer they had for sale.  I have friends who love their smaller air fryers but I didn't have a space for one, either on my counter or in my pantry, and I draw the line at storing kitchen items in the garage! The foodie is made to flip up and take up a smaller amount of counter space when not being used.  As I pondered the display, Dan picked one up and put it in the cart. "Happy Mother's Day!" he said.  Okay!

It took a bit of figuring to decide where to put it in my crazily designed kitchen but I finally put it in the corner where my mixer has lived and moved the mixer next to the frig.  It works, and somehow it seems I have even more room in that corner than I did before.  And we love our Foodi!  I've always loved the Mexi-fries at Taco Time and now I can make my own.  Score!  And the Foodi is more than an air fryer, it is a convection oven, a toaster and can broil, too.  It has a much bigger capacity than the usual air fryer and so is great for families.  I made little pizzas last week using ciabatta bread from Costco and they were so good using the air broil feature on low.  And it's perfect for reheating things like pizza or crispy casseroles so they aren't soggy the second time around.  

In its down position, otherwise up against the side wall

Yummy ciabatta bread pizzas!

And in other kitchen news, we are awash with zucchini!  Awash I say!  Last year we could hardly get any to grow and this year Dan brings up four or five (or more!) a day.  I'm working hard to be a good zucchini steward and use it all, so varied recipes have been used.  One winner was a chocolate cupcake recipe found in the August Costco magazine.  Oh my!  As I've told all my friends, it received rave reviews from everyone who ate it (I made it into a cake).  The zucchini chips featured in the article are good, too!

This cake from the Six Sisters is also a winner. And last week I found this recipe for zucchini onion pie.  I did change it a little; I caramelized the onions instead of adding them raw.  We loved it! Of course we've already had multiple dinners using my old stand-by summer squash skillet. Zucchini bread?  Of course!  

And thus ends this summer's zucchini themed post!  ♥

Snoctober!

Well.

I took some photos of our beautiful leaves last Thursday night.  The yard and the trees were so beautiful!

And then Friday came.  And so did the snow.  

This was just the beginning.  We ended up with about four inches.  And it's still here!!  I feel like it must be December.  (I have refrained from playing Christmas music, however!) Five days of snow and cold in October.  Tomorrow is supposed to finally be above freezing and then maybe the snow will melt.  

We stayed in and cozied up to the fireplace and I've been knitting away on those brown socks.  Good news!  I should be done tomorrow.  I was able to get away with undoing just the toe of the too-short-sock and I'll be the first to say how amazed I am. I'm just glad it worked!  Time for a new color of yarn!

I'm also getting the Christmas wall hanging quilted, a little at a time.  I finally decided to just stitch in the ditch using my Bernina 830 and a walking foot.  I'm so thankful for a machine with a large throat space and my nice sewing cabinet so that everything is level with room to spread out.  Spoiled, that's what I am.  

Well, that's the latest here at the Resort.  Just trying to stay warm and get a few projects done. I made a yummy ham and pea soup in the Instant Pot this week and that's kept our tummies warm, along with muffins.  I do love winter cooking!  ♥

Getting Closer!

Yes, Christmas is getting closer!  I am so happy I got the cards all done last Thursday and in the mail on Friday. There have been years. . .

And now I'm on to present wrapping and plan to start on the baking this week.  I'm so glad to have a freezer to store cookies in so they'll be fresh when needed.  Spritz, gingerbread, shortbread, and maybe some frosted sugar cookies.  Oh yes, and some candy cane cookies. Fudge?  You bet!  All of these are a tradition and would be missed by the usual attendees.  

I'm doing a little more in the sewing room.  I've always wanted Christmas pillowcases for the queen bed guest room and decided this was the year.  I have the first one almost done.  I'll be back at it tomorrow--unless we decide to head to Costco.

I finished a small machine embroidered wall hanging this year and remembered to hang it up this week.  The design is done in my jumbo hoop on my 830 and though the picture isn't the best (so hard to take a picture of something on the wall), I think you can see how it turned out.  Even after all the years I've had my 830, I'm still amazed at the large designs it can do.  So fun!!

And now I'll sign off for the time being--I think I'll wrap another present or two.  ♥

Knock Knock! It's Me!

Well, hey there!  Yes, it's me.  And it's December.  The house is all decorated and the cards are sent. I'm enjoying the season and puttering away with little projects.  And I finished a big one!

I finally quilted the big Through the Winter Woods quilt I started last winter (seen here and here) over Thanksgiving and then got the binding on over the next week.  Ann and Eric and boys were here for Thanksgiving and Ann was able to quilt a top she made years ago, so we congratulated ourselves over our accomplishments.  Two big buffalos down!

Another big yahoo took place this last weekend.  When I got my humongous Bernina 830 a few years ago, I knew it was too heavy to use with the lift in my sewing cabinet so Dan locked it into position so I could have the bed of the machine even with the cabinet top and built a box to lift it up when I wanted to embroider.  It worked, but it was a chore to lift that 45 pound machine in and out, so I often didn't. I'd put off embroidering or I'd muddle along sewing without having the machine even with the cabinet top.  Last summer I wondered if it would be possible to order just a heavy duty lift and after checking the internet, found one.  We ordered it and it's been in a box under a table in my sewing room. Until Saturday.  Can I just say I am thrilled?  It has rejuvenated my sewing mojo and I'm one happy sewer.

So, Saturday night I just had to embroider something. The new lift worked perfectly and up popped my machine, ready for the embroidery unit.  I dug out my huge jumbo hoop, found a piece of Osnaburg and began a one color Christmas wreath I've been wanting to make for several years.  I didn't even know what I would do with it, but I decided the time had come to stitch it and stitch I would.  I toyed with several colors and went with my favorite dark red.  When I was done, I decided to make it into a pillow with fabrics left from the Winter Woods quilt.  Several hours and five presser feet later, I was done.  Here's a photo of the quilt and the pillow.

Five presser feet?  Yup!  The quarter inch foot for the seams, an all purpose foot for the zigzaging the Osnaburg edges, the ruffler for the ruffle, the buttonhole foot and the button sew-on foot for the closure on the pillow back. And oh yeah--the embroidery foot for the design.  Guess that's six! ♥

Feelin' Swanky

Swanky:  stylishly luxurious and expensive

Yes, that would be how I'm feeling after my latest embroidery project.  I'm just sorry it took me so long to do it.  What?  What's that you say?  What did I do? Well, I monogrammed our sheets!  Yes, I did, and I love it.  Or them.  Whatever...

I've made many, many machine embroidered pillowcases over the years, starting back with my little Deco 600 sixteen years ago, and I love them.  But lately I've wanted to up the swank, so to speak, and have a set of sheets that spelled (haha!) luxury.  Every time I washed our sheets, as I put them back on the bed, I'd think, "I should monogram these right now," but then I'd decide to wait to a better time.  Turns out yesterday was the day.  

The above picture is of the band on the top sheet, monogrammed in the center.  The letters come from OESD's Sterling Monograms and are absolutely gorgeous!  I resized to fit the sheet band and they stitched out perfectly.  I resized again for stitching on the pillowcase bands and again they stitched out perfectly.

When we bought our first queen mattress about twenty-five years ago, I made a decision to have all cream linens and blankets on our bed.  They seem so restful, and I still just love having everything match.  I'm also a huge fan of tone-on-tone for monograms, so that's what you see.  I do indeed feel swanky!  ♥

Projects

Hoo boy.  Somehow this month is just racing by and my blogging is taking a hit.  I mentioned that I had finally come out of my sewing slump and created two projects for embroidery club.  Here's the first one which we'll do in May.  

The embroidered words are from an OESD Design Studio pack called Liberty.  I enlarged it quite a bit so it would fill the background area.  I did the blue one first and then, because I love Osnaburg, did the red one.  I used stitch #4 on my Bernina (I think it's that number on all Berninas) to do the wavy quilting stitch down each stripe. I really like this project and think that it could be fun to do for different seasons with other designs in the background square.  I love projects like this!

Meanwhile, I've cleaned up all the flat areas in my sewing room and I think I'm about ready to make a patriotic wall hanging to go over the sofa table in the living room for the summer.  It's a Schnibbles pattern from Schnibbles Times Two by Carrie Nelson.  It has many small pieces so I'd best be starting on it so I'll be ready by Memorial Day.  

It's Friday! (OTN)

There's not been a lot of knitting going on around here this week, but I have a little to show you.  I've baked, been to that celebration, worked at the shop, and actually done some sewing!  I guess you could say I diversified this week.  :-)

Not a lot going on with the socks, but I am getting close to shaping the toe.  Another inch or so.  If I put my mind to it, I could probably finish today.  We'll see.

Just for fun I started a new washcloth.  I love knitting these and I think I could do it in my sleep.  Actually, I probably have done it in my sleep, or at least in a stupor.  

Here's a couple of recent ones.  I love to put a stripe in the middle, but I experimented with scraps and came up with the cream colored one, too.  Doesn't look like a "leftover" does it?

I got the pattern from Homespun Living.  Click here to get the pattern for yourself.  Her blog is filled with beautiful pictures -- you'll love looking around if you haven't been there before.

It's a very dark and stormy day here at the resort. Thunder is echoing in the distance and we've had rain and wind.  It's very humid, which is unusual for our area. I feel like I'm in the tropics.  

In other news, I spent quite a bit of time in my sewing room yesterday and had fun.  My bib supply was down to only girl bibs so it was time to think boy.  I cut out a number of "blanks" in various blue flannel prints and began to stitch.  I recently saw a bib that had a cute expression so I made up my own in my software and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  

Pretty cute, huh?  The stacked ducks are from the Baby Breedlove collection by OESD (still available on line at a great price!)  When I finish up here I'm heading back down and to do some more stitching.  And hey, it's all done with a needle, so it fits right in with OTN Friday.

Happy weekend!  

Spring?

It's the first day of spring, and . . .   

yes, that's snow.  It seems to go along with the shop project I've mentioned.  It's coming along and I'll share a few pictures.

There are nine embroidered center pieces that make a scene of Santa's sleigh with the words Merry Christmas. Around the edges are the black pieces, each embroidered with a lace snowflake design.  The last part of each section is a stitching line.  By matching them, the pieces fit together and form the scene.  

I'm hoping to finish up this week and when I do, I'll post a finish photo.

A Little Sewing Fun

I haven't posted on anything sewing related in a while so I decided it was time.  I'm working on a project for the shop, but I put it on hold for a few days so I could design a new project for this month's embroidery club. Sometimes when I have to do my own creating, it seems a little overwhelming.  This was one of the times, but I "bit the bullet" on Monday.  It's an idea I've had for a while.

First I made a simple pillow, but I put contrasting cording around it for fun.  I decided I'd make the pillow red as it would work through many seasons in my living room (my accent colors are dark red, dark green and navy blue).  I like having very neutral furniture (sort of beige/tan) as a backdrop.  I rummaged around in my sewing closet and found a chunk of dark red fabric that was just the right size, and then a piece of checked fabric I thought would work for the cording.  

My first mistake was in cutting the pillow front and back. I totally forgot to cut them different sizes so I could put a button closure in the back side.  Oops!  Oh well, Plan B: I'd leave an opening and stuff the pillow form in and then stitch it up.  The cover didn't need to be removable. Well, try as I might, there was no way I was going to stuff that pillow form in--it was too big and stiff.  Plan C: stuff the pillow cover with craft stuffing.  It took some doing to make it look smooth, but in the end I was satisfied and called it good.

Now, on to the reason for the simple pillow, the embroidery part.  I thought we could make wraps with embroidery for different seasons and simply change them out whenever.  I used my favorite decorating fabric, Osnaburg, and embroidered three flowers in dark green and dark red.  A little velcro on the ends, and it was easy to wrap the pillow and give it its first makeover.  

Here's another view where you can see it with other red, green and navy accents.

I'm kinda likin' this idea.  Now to make a wrap for summer with something patriotic.  The possibilities are endless.

Oh, and that rocking chair?  It was the first piece of new furniture (excluding the washer and dryer) we bought when we moved from the 8x35' trailer into a duplex when we were expecting Matt.  It's seen plenty of miles.  :-)

Winter... and Moby!

I just happened to look out the window a little bit ago and laughed to see huge flakes of snow falling.  Since it had been raining earlier, I assumed it would soon turn back.  I just looked again and realized it was still snowing and that it was beginning to cover the ground.  

I don't know how long it's going to last, but it surely has brightened up a dark and dreary day.  And now it's off to the laundry room, and hopefully, the sewing room.

Which reminds me!!  I totally forgot to mention that my Bernina 830, Moby, came home last month!  He seems to be completely recovered.  I'm hoping for no relapses.  :-)

Sewing Room Update

No, Moby's not home.  This is his cousin, Stitchy, on loan from the shop while Dr. Sam continues to treat poor Moby.  However, it is wonderful to be able to stitch again with all the bells and whistles!  Jumbo hoop project coming up!  

The OESD Christmas collections Bernina offers each fall are wonderful again this year, but my favorite of all the designs is the lace box.  It's beautiful.  

I think I'll attach a ribbon to the center and hang it from the tree.  Hmmm, or maybe I'll set it on one the of glass shelves in the niche by the fireplace.  Decisions...  Here's what the pieces look like before "some assembly required."  

These were all made on my old Brother ULT and it did a wonderful job, but with Stitchy's arrival, my sewing mojo is back! 

I haven't started decorating for Christmas yet.  The days are sunny and cold, with no more snow, so it seems a shame to hurry fall out the door.  Winter will soon enough be upon us, but I'm truly enjoying these stunning last autumn days.  Thanksgiving seems to be getting the bum's rush lately, so I've decided to make it my mission to extend it to its rightful prominence this year.   

Sewing Machine Woes

Today has been a rainy, dark, and cozy day. Fall. I love it. And it's a good thing, because the rest of this day has been crazy!

I took my beloved Bernina 830, Moby Stitch, in for its yearly checkup, or as my friend CJ calls it, its spa treatment. I dropped it off before we went to Bruder Bear's, and yes, that was the middle of August. Poor Sam, the tech, encountered difficulties installing new updates Bernina recommended. Long story short, I finally got it back yesterday. Last night, I set it up and started to stitch. Uh oh. The touch keys wouldn't work. Finally, I discovered that if I touched them way up on the top, they would. Strange. And disconcerting. I left several messages on Sam's cell and continued to tinker with Moby with varying success.

This afternoon I decided to give it another try. More problems, bobbin thread showing, which I remedied by filling bobbins with the same thread as the top. It stitched beautifully that way, but then more problems! It has an automatic threader but the button for it ceased to work. Arrgghh!!

Sam called to say he'd talked to Bernina today and they'd told him how to reset the screen. He came for a house call tonight. Alas, poor Moby seems to have had a nervous breakdown and wouldn't even let Sam into the machine setup. He thinks one of those big ribbon-like sets of wires that plug in must have come loose, so he'll come back tomorrow with all his anti-static mats and equipment and break into Moby and hopefully be able to fix it all. I'm hoping Moby doesn't need a complete brain transplant (motherboard). Oh the joys of computerized machinery. So wonderful when it works, so frustrating when it doesn't.

I keep telling myself it's just a machine that's sick, not someone I love. And it's true. In the scheme of things, this is just a little annoyance and will eventually be resolved.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of a little wall quilt I made last fall and forgot about until I found it last week.

An Experimental Project

 

I am still enjoying playing with my 830, and the other day after I embroidered the feathers on the table runner, I decided to try something with the mega hoop. I had purchased a design collection, Initial Style, some time ago and decided it was time to give it a whirl. I'm so pleased with how it turned out! All the way through I was thinking, "It's just an experiment, it'll be okay to toss it," but you know, I like it so well, I may make another to use as a gift. The apple fabric, found in my stash, is perfect with the colors.

I just finished stitching down the binding, and now I'm off to get some dinner on the table. Happy Memorial Day weekend to you all. I'm thankful for our country and the men who have defended it for us through the years.

Oh My Goodness!

Wow. Dan is in Coeur d'Alene for a few days, so I decided to slay another buffalo. Yup, it was time. So to the kitchen I went, picked up the runner I recently made, and bopped down to my sewing room. I set the 830 up for embroidery, got out the JUMBO hoop, and brought up a quilting design. I measured, I plotted, I rescaled, I rotated, and I hooped. I said a prayer, and I pushed start. Oh my goodness.


Can you see those beautiful stitches, those incredible feathers? And that hoop! It's huge, but it's so easy to use! I dream of quilting feathers on my HQ-16 quilting machine, but until then...


I liked this runner, but it was just flat with only stitch-in-the-ditch quilting. Now it has some character and I love it.