Busy Day!

Apparently I recovered my mind after a night's sleep and I've amazed myself at what I've gotten done today.  I cleaned the inside of the frig, removing everything from the door bins and washing them out followed by the shelves and drawers.  It looks so tidy in there now. Orderly even.  At least for a day or so! 

Next up was deep cleaning the main bath upstairs, scouring the sink and the toidy so they sparkle.  So that leads me to my next set of decorating photos.  Christmas, even in the bathrooms.

The little lamp stays on twenty-four hours a day and gives a warm glow to a bath that has no outside window. The door to the bathroom is just to the right of this photo. Below is a view of the other side of the sink area, taken from the doorway. 

Next up is a closeup of the quilted wall hanging I made using my embroidery machine.  I'm still amazed I can do such large designs!

And last, this cute little snowman soap dispenser. Can't remember where I found him, but I love him!

And last, but not least, I made more cookies! A double batch of Puddin' Head gingerbread cutouts.  

I've been making these for thirty-six Christmases! Tradition!!  ♥

Fall in a Heap Day

Apparently I used up all my energy and brilliant words over the last few days and to use one of our favorite phrases, I've fallen in a heap today. I've done nothing constructive and thought no deep thoughts.  (Do I ever think deep thoughts? I'll think deeply about that.)  (Smile)

So here are a couple of photos of past projects. The first is a stitchout from Embroidery Library which is no longer available. I suspect it's because the digitiser used the UK spelling of counsellor instead of the American counselor. I don't mind. It hangs at the top of the stairs to the basement.

And here's a closer view of the window pane quilt in the living room.  It uses Holly Taylor's fabrics in a Doug Leko of Antler Quilt Designs pattern.

And that's it for today from the Resort. I think we're going to pick up dinner curbside somewhere tonight. Heap! It's fall in a heap day! ♥  

 

And In the Sewing Room . . .

. . . disaster reigns!!  I started to do a major sort and clean a week or so ago, but then I remembered that I needed to make bibs for an upcoming baby shower.  This couple has decided not to find out what they're having beforehand and I realized that the few bibs I had left in my stash were definitely boy or girl.  As in pink and frilly or blue and all boy.  It's been a long time since I went to a shower where the gender was unknown.  

I pondered designs.  I ransacked my stash of flannel--which ran to mostly pinks and blues.  Hmmm. . .  An already messy sewing room began to look as if a tornado had struck.  

 

I usually start my bib making by cutting a bunch of bib shaped blanks, and so I began.

The grey polka dot and the red polka dot seemed to be good choice for neutral bibs, and I began with the grey. I decided on a lamb theme and began with a Debbie Mumm design from her Baby Oh Baby design set.  

I have about six bibs done now, and plan to keep on stitching until I have a nice pile of them again.  So. Much. Fun!! ♥

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.  ♥

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Snow is lightly falling and I need to put some Christmas music on.  I am using a Christmas mug for the first time today.  

So, outside is not the only place where it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  My sewing room has taken on a life of its own and I'm not certain if it's ever been such a mess.  

I think every surface is covered.

Thread, stabilizer, fabric, patterns, and other things (including a coffee cup from several days ago!) are everywhere!  There are projects in various states of completion including this one:

I go to a ladies bible study on Tuesday mornings at 9:30, and since a morning person I am not, even that time seems early to me.  When I get there, I always realize I haven't taken time to put on hand lotion, so I get out the tube in my purse.  It seems rude not to offer it to the others, so I always do. My tube was almost empty last time, so I thought it would be fun to give each of the ladies a little stocking with a small tube of the same lotion.  Couldn't find a small tube, but found the cute little bottle shown in the picture and it fits perfectly in the stocking.  

Another project has been some in-the-hoop felt ornaments to add to packages and gifts for family friends.  These are Nordic inspired ones from Embroidery Library (as are the stockings) and are fun and quick to stitch out.

And I've become enamored of simple tea towels and stitched these out.  

The Jingle is for my kitchen, and the Peppermint one will be part of our friend Tina's family gift--I'm going with a peppermint, red/white theme for the items.  

Ann and Daniel stopped by yesterday late afternoon to pick out a Christmas tree.  Did you know we have a small Christmas tree "farm" here at the Resort?  Just for us and family, and several years ago they were big enough to start using.  When Ann left I gave her a Jingle towel for her kitchen and she loved it.  (Both towel designs are also from Embroidery Library.) So fun to give simple little gifts!!

Machine Embroidery and Me

I'm not certain how I first became aware of embroidery machines for home sewers.  Maybe ads in quilting magazines?  As I recall, the ads I saw featured Bernina machines and designs by designers such as Precious Moments and Debbie Mumm.  Then a quilt shop in a nearby town became a Bernina dealer and I decided to make a trip to check out what they had to offer.

Well of course you know I bought.  My first machine was a Deco 600, a stand-alone embroidery machine with a 4" x 4" embroidery field.  And it cost me $1800!!  And the year?  1998. The quilt shop had a monthly embroidery club and I began driving the 45-minute each way trip on Thursday evenings (a good night for me because there was only one day of teaching left in the week).  It was three hours of learning and sheer fun each time.  Of course, I always seemed to come away with a new card of designs and more and more thread. An inexpensive hobby this wasn't! But sooo fun!

As time went on, I began to hanker for a larger embroidery field.  Four by four isn't very big.  And bigger designs were coming out.  Meanwhile, we had become grandparents for the first time and daughter-in-law Amy had chosen Winnie the Pooh as the theme for Ryan's nursery.  Well, it just so happened that the Brother company had acquired the rights to Winnie and Disney characters and had built them into several of their machines, including their top-of-the line ULT 2002.  The designs, along with additional 5x7" and 6x10" hoops were irresistible.   I bit.  

And so it went.  Later I upgraded again to a Bernina 730 and then again to their 8-series 830.  Oh the huge designs I could now stitch out!  Ten by sixteen!!  

But backing up, there was more to my stitching than just the fun.  I loved teaching but it is a stressful job and takes a lot of energy.  Machine embroidery allowed me to continue to be creative by stitching beautiful designs on premade items such as tea towels or make simple projects such as pillows or wall hangings without too much effort.  That part of me that needs to be creative was allowed to continue to flourish.  And let's not discount the soothing sound of the machine as it stitched.  We didn't call it Deco therapy for nothing!  

And now fast forward to last year.  My Dad had died in November of '16 and then suddenly in the  late spring of '17 my mom discovered she had cancer that had rapidly spread.  She died June 25th.  And then our cat, Buddy, died in August.  I was in serious need of some therapy. While I love my huge 830, it needs to be set up to embroider and then babysitting while it stitches.  I longed for the simplicity of my old Deco which I had long since worn out.  I mentioned this to my long-time (sixty-four years and counting!) pal Kathy and true friend that she is, she did some research and found a machine she thought might work.  

She was right!  My old Deco, while sporting the Bernina name, had been made by the Brother company and the machine Kathy found, another stand-alone machine, was a Brother PE-770.  With Dan's encouragement I ordered one through Amazon and it showed up two days later.  It's price?  A mere $540!!  It can stitch 5x7" designs and I've discovered over the years that most of the designs I use are no larger than that.  I was thrilled to thread it up and sit and silently hum along with its stitching.  I can walk away and come back--no babysitting needed.  It truly got me through the end of last year.  Deco therapy at its best.  

(And Kathy?  Well, she ordered one, too!)  ♥

Taking a Little Pause. . .

. . . from cleaning sinks.  Such a rewarding job when done, but not so much fun when doing.  I am grateful for nice scrubby sponges and good cleaning supplies!

I didn't mean to be gone for this many days, but last week was busy, and coupled with the remains of my cold, I just didn't get back here.  This week looks to be much quieter and that's good.  Cleaning needs to continue!!

I took the Thanks banner to our pastor's wife yesterday and she loved it.  Just was so excited and actually jumped up and down clutching it and hugging me.  So glad I did it.  I also made another kitchen towel for the friends who have a Christmas tree farm using a design from Embroidery Library.  It seemed appropriate and a nice thank you for the pumpkins they gave us. These towels are kind of addictive!

Well, I think I hear the kitchen sink calling my name so I'd better get back to work! ♥

A Fun Project

I subscribe to BH&G's American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine, so somewhere along the line, I also liked them on Facebook.  Some interesting projects show up from time to time and I'm faithful to download them and stash them in a folder on my computer and promptly forget about them.  But a few weeks ago a cute and simple project appeared, and after downloading, I actually printed out the instructions and took them to my sewing room.  

There was a wedding shower coming up at church, so I decided on a themed gift featuring the project and sunflowers.  I already had an extra sunflower hot pad and I had recently finished a sunflower yellow dishcloth. Enter the project, a tea towel, and I would have a good start on a present.  I machine embroidered an appliqued sunflower on a white flour sack type dishtowel and added the trim from the project, bought a Pyrex baking dish and voilà, I was a happy gift giver!  And no, I didn't take a picture.  

But! When Dan had his knee surgery, our friend Tina came to visit bearing a huge basket of goodies for him--oranges, ingredients for chicken soup, a bag of coffee, and a baguette.  We've kind of adopted Tina since her husband Steve's death two and half years ago, and she wanted to bring her "Dad" some love.  I realized later that I had kept her basket and decided that it needed to be returned with some goodies in it.  So I made another towel and dishcloth.  Here's the towel:

And here's a link to the instructions.  The instructions call for cutting 4 1/2" squares to make the prairie points, which I did for the first one, but I thought they were a little big, so I cut 3 1/2" squares for this one and I like them better.  

When I first found the project, I went looking for flour sack type towels here in town and was dismayed to find they were rather expensive.  Three towels for $15.99 seemed to be a little over the top.  I searched on Amazon and finally found these.  I paid $16.99 for a dozen, but now that I check, I see that they are $21.99! Amazon's prices vary so much from day to day!  But even at that, they are much cheaper than the five plus dollars each they sell for locally.  

It's a fun project, and both the bride-to-be and Tina loved their gifts.  I'm excited to make more.  I can see Christmas themed ones, Americana ones, etc.  The prairie points are a great way to use up small scraps. Let the stitching continue!!  ♥

Meanwhile, Back in My Sewing Room...

Yes, people, things have been happening in my sewing room.  My last post from there was about a baby quilt and while I pondered starting another, I decided upon a different course of action.  About four years ago, I found a project in a Fons and Porter's Quilting Celebrations magazine that I just loved.  It was a banner for Thanksgiving that simply said, "Thanks."   

I made one and gave it to daughter Ann.  She hung it from her mantle and it was perfect in her house.  While it was in place, Ann hosted a baby shower at her home and our pastor's wife saw it and loved it.  She asked if she could pay me to make one for her.  I declined because I hate to sew for pay--I discovered long ago that it takes all the joy and fun out of it.  I also need to say that at the time I made Ann's, my embroidery machine was giving me fits and it didn't know if it was the digitizing of the designs or my machine.  At any rate, I had no desire to make any more!  

Fast forward three years to last year.  I decided I would try again.  Since I had realized I could hang banners under my dining room window (my fireplace has no mantle), I wanted my own "Thanks." I decided I would stitch on my new (more on this in another post) Brother embroidery machine and see how it liked the digitizing.  The answer?  It did! I hung my banner and loved its message. **

So, back to this year!  I decided to make another banner--a gift for our pastor's wife.  I would make one for her because I wanted to and for that reason only.  I happily stitched out a pile of letters.

These need to be trimmed and a ribbon inserted and then they will look like this:

I just realized that there were two projects in that particular issue and that I wrote about the other one here. I really like Patrick Lose's projects and predict other embroidery designs will soon be purchased for my stitching fun!  And in this link-heavy post, here's a last one--to his designs.

**Note:  It was indeed my machine that caused the problems on my first stitching of these designs.  A trip to the spa straightened everything out, but still I was a bit "buffaloed" to try it again using any of these designs. After stitching the banner pieces on my Brother machine, I decided enough dilly dallying and stitched out a sunflower hot pad, which it hadn't liked either and it did just fine. Boom! Buffalo slain!

I've Been Stitchin'

I'm not really in the mood to blog, but I decided I need to or it will be weeks ... again.  Dan has been super busy with his consulting so I've had long days with time on my hands.  I have enjoyed watching some quilting videos online and have ordered a few things to feed the habit.  One thing doesn't necessarily have to do with quilting, but it does sometimes figure in.  I have many types of stabilizer for machine embroidery and every time I need to use some, I've had to pick through a whole shelf of them (an upgrade from the basket I used to keep them in).  I noticed a clever over-the-door hanger just for stabilizer in an email from Nancy's Notions and I decided to order one.

It's easy to see what types of stabilizer I have and I no longer will have to spend precious sewing minutes searching for the one I need.  Plus, the hanger is out of sight and I had an empty shelf!

I have an AccuQuilt Go! cutter which hasn't been used as much as it should be.  I watched a few videos and was inspired to buy a BOB (block on board) die for making shoo fly blocks.  It came on Tuesday and yesterday I decided to give it a try and sew a test block. I picked a pink fat quarter and after searching through various other FQs decided on a yellow print that included pink.  Well.  After making the first one, it was so cute I used up the rest of those quarters and made two more. I decided these three were too cute to waste and I spent some time plowing through my fat quarter stash and came up with several more fabrics that would work.  I'm thinking a baby quilt or small lap quilt.

I know it's a poor picture because the sun is hitting the back row but you get the idea.  I love that the pieces come out of the Go! so perfectly and by putting the two colors together with right sides together I can start right in stitching and chain piece.  (Some of the pieces for the next three blocks can be seen in the bottom of the above picture.)

Here's a picture of the die.  It's called a BOB, block on board, because all the pieces needed for the block are on one die.  

I'm having fun!  And, gasp! I'm working on another quilt when I haven't finished the Yellow Brick Road baby quilt I was working on last week.  I am one of those weird quilters who always finishes a quilt before I start another one, but really, the top is done (see below) so technically I'm sorta done with it.  I'll just quilt these one after the other and be done with both lickety split!

And now to head down to my sewing room and crank out (literally!) a few more blocks! ♥

November!

We've been on the road this month.  After returning from Bruder Bear's, we were home for a while, working on bathrooms (will it ever end?), exercising (me!), and doing fun stuff like the laundry, etc., and then we were on the road again.  Last weekend was spent in Boise and McCall, and then Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of this week we were on the road watching soccer games as our two grandsons' school competed in an end of the season soccer tournament.  They came in second and Cam was chosen one of the six top players in the league.  

As my faithful readers (thank you for sticking with me!) know, I purchased an electric pressure cooker this year. I'm part of a Facebook group for the Instant Pot (the brand I purchased) and they are a busy bunch.  All kinds of pictures pop up each day and they seem to go from topic to topic.  

There's a yogurt function on the Instant Pot and I really never intended to use it, but then pictures began to show up on FB.  Intrigued, I checked a blog site that had been featured and read through the instructions and decided I should give it a try.  Oh.My.Goodness!  Easy? Absolutely.  Delicious? Absolutely. Will I do it again? Yes!

I ended up with six pints of thick, creamy yogurt from a gallon of two percent milk.  It did take all day, but I was only actively involved for less than an hour.  

I found the very nice plastic lids (made by Ball) locally. And I have to tell you, in my current issue of Country Living, they feature a set of very similar looking lids, in a set of six, for about forty-four dollars!!  I bought my box of eight for about four dollars!!  Pretty big price difference.  

The blog site recommended draining the yogurt in something called a nut milk bag, but I just used a large mesh strainer lined with a tea towel and set it over a big stock pot.  Worked quite well.  Here's the cleaned up pieces.  I used my canning funnel to ladle the yogurt into the jars.  

I've been happily eating the yogurt for days now.  I spoon some into a dish, add a drizzle of pure maple syrup, and sprinkle on some home-made granola.  And speaking of granola, here's a link to the recipe.  This stuff is seriously easy to make and totally yummy. 

Fall has finally arrived and it feels good.  Time to cozy down, drink hot coffee and tea, and make plans for the holidays.  I stitched a few leaves to add to our seasonal decor.

Hanging on the china hutch door

Tucked under a candle with embroidered wrap

Happy November!  ♥

This Is NOT a Mirage!

Yeah, yeah, I know I've been absent.  Sometimes the words are just not there, for whatever reason. Maybe just so I won't bore you!  :-)

And now, it's October and fall is here.  Love it!  The poplars are laying down a carpet of gold on the grass in the backyard, the box elders are turning their usual stunning red, and the days are blue and gold.  Here where I live, fall is our shining time.  Gorgeous!

I've decorated the house and added a few new pieces. I've need a centerpiece for the dining room table and back in August I took advantage of some coupons at JoAnn's and bought three large fall picks and one flower pick that had about five chrysanthemums on it in varying colors.  Two weeks ago I finally got brave (Who has to get brave to make a centerpiece??  Apparently I do.) and decided to see what I could do.  I had a lovely white casserole/soup tureen in the cupboard and I used it for the vase.  I simply bent the stems of the fall picks in a 45 degree angle and placed them in the dish.  Then I had Dan cut the flower pick apart (I tried, but my fingers didn't have enough umph...) and placed them among the leaves.  

I am inordinately pleased with the results!

I got a new catalog in the mail and found these cute little pilgrims who begged to be added to our home. They are a Williraye design.  Aren't they adorable?

A week or so ago Ann and I ran away from home to a neighboring town for a little fun.  In addition to Costco, we hit Pier One and I, sucker that I am for seasonal things, had to buy this mug to drink my fall morning coffee.  I love its pumpkin color, it's shape, and rustic glaze. It makes me smile each day.

Last week when I went to Ann's for my usual Thursday afternoon of watching the D-man, Ann had my birthday present waiting.  We both enjoy the Pioneer Woman's cooking show and her cookbooks, and were excited to learn she had a line of kitchen goods coming out.  Ann had been waiting for them to show up at our local Walmart and they finally did. 

This beautiful bowl was full of utensils including a wooden spoon, masher, and flat whisk.  What fun!!  I love kitchen things!

I've been machine embroidering again and did some lace this week including this bookmark:

Meanwhile, Dan has been working on our bathrooms as time allows.  Part of the plan is to redo the cabinet fronts and he's been experimenting with drawer fronts. I think we've got it figured out!

Normally I'd be watching Daniel this afternoon but he was up all night with the throw-ups so Ann is home with him.  She said he was finally starting to feel better about ten this morning.  So, here I am, doing a catch-up.  

Happy October!  ♥

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!  ♥

A Small Holiday Project

I hadn't done any machine embroidery since I did the aprons for a friend who works at a nearby shop back in November.  I know.  I had burned myself out coming up with projects for the quilt shop and I just couldn't even think embroidery until, well, until now.  And did I mention I retired from the quilt shop?  I did.  The flowers finally did me in and I never went back after my last day on January 2.  

Anyhoo, after I finished the runner I felt the call of my 830.  And it said hitch up the embroidery unit and do something!  I'd gotten an email from Gooseberry Patch featuring food and decorating for the Fourth, and one of the ideas was a table topper, which I initially thought was a coaster.  Anyway, it gave me an idea and I decided to run with it.  I brought up a design from a patriotic set from OESD, resized it to be four inches square and set about stitching it out.  And stitch I did. Or rather my machine did.  The entire top is solid stitches and it took just over a bobbin of thread!  And the bobbin on an 830 is, they say, 40% larger than a normal bobbin!  That's a whole lotta thread!

I wasn't sure what I'd end up with, and given the time it took to stitch out, I wasn't sure I'd want to do more than one, but as I used the coaster today, I think I'll do at least one more. 

I used a blue heather felt for the fabric and slid another piece under for a backing before the red border stitched. I think I might have liked white felt better, but it would get dirty faster.  My daughter Ann came up with the idea for these felt coasters some years ago.  They wash and seem impervious to assaults by little boys.  Oh, and they don't scratch the furniture.  ♥

A Fun Day

Yesterday was a busy day and it was a fun one.  After a busy first part of the day getting the usual morning things out of the way, I headed to the shop where I had scheduled a class on the Christmas wall hanging I posted about here.  My long-time pal, Kathy, was up for the class and we had a great time stitching and visiting.  The class members got a lot accomplished and we'll meet again in two weeks to finish the project.  

When the class was over, I headed home where I knew family members had gathered for a visit.  My niece Jennifer and her son Grant are visiting from Oklahoma, and they, along with Mom were at the house, with Ann and Daniel arriving soon after I got there.  The little boys are just a few weeks apart in age and have hit it off every time they've been together and yesterday was no exception.  

They began their interaction with Daniel showing Grant the floor grate in our living room (which allows warm air upstairs from the wood insert in the family room fireplace).  Apparently there was once something caught in there that Daniel had noticed and they were checking to see if it was still there.  (FYI--I can't see anything.)

From there they progressed to the wooden train set...

and putting marbles in the bucket of a truck...

which led to hide-and-seek in the "boy's room" ...

and culminated in a laugh-filled free-for-all on the bed!

Those little cousins had a great time and not a cross word was heard between the two of them.  They kept the grown-ups entertained and the cameras flashing!  All too soon it was time for Jenny, Grant, and Mom to leave and another cousin visit is firmly etched in our memories.  ♥