A Matter Of Time

It was only a matter of time until:
Spring and Spring Break arrived.
I have time to explore the fibers and fabrics in my 'work room'
I bought a Rigid Heddle Loom.

My birthday is in March. My husband and I buy our own birthday presents. Something we have done for the past few years and it's fun. It has to be something significant and that feeds our avocation.
In his case; golf equipment.
In mine; another toy for the quilt room.

After some deliberation and research, I decided on a 24" Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom. It took me about a half hour to put together. I also purchased the stand which I would recommend. My thoughts are to tackle the volumes of yarn scraps and impulse yarn purchases. Well, in fact it is doing just that. There is a learning curve, so I watched plenty of YouTube clips and bought a couple of valuable books. My first warp was not that successful so I removed it and tried again. Perfect. Let the fun begin. I started with a random variety of DK yarn and before I knew it  I was created fabric.
I also purchased an online lesson on Craftsy which was very helpful. It was a half-price special offer. ( I don't think I would have bought the full price version). I never purchased an online lesson before but I have to admit I really thought it is very good and I can refer to it anytime I please for a refresher.

I wasn't quite sure what to do with my first sample of fabric so I made a simple purse out of it.
Then it was only a matter of time...say a few minutes, before I was off and running to see what I could whip up next. Thinking placemats.

And then a table runner.











I think my knitting needles are jealous.

Harmony

The musical is done. Spring Musicals, a rite of passage in most Music Departments around the U.S. All musicians are in high demand, especially pianists. I didn't direct this year, but instead accompanied and directed the pit orchestra. There is nothing like live theater and High School shows. Any thing can happen and it usually does. It's a great thing for students to experience. So many aspects come together and work in perfect harmony. The work involved is mind boggling, but it is worth it. 

Now I can return to my avocation. Since I have had little time to quilt or get involved with complex projects, I managed to do another wool felt candle mat. It's a project that is very satisfying to me as I enjoy hand sewing and it's quick as well. Pretty little free pattern online. I adapted it to my own liking and colors. I think I need to make one for all the seasons. Little shamrocks and celtic designs would be festive!
I'll ponder that.

And since it is not spring quite yet in New York State. We have had an amazingly warm winter. However with the arrival of March, it seems winter has finally arrived so therefore I can place my table mat for about 3 more days where we have a forecast of temps in the 60's. It is still a wintery day here though and so to conquer the "let-down" that musical productions generate and since I haven't baked for a few weeks due to all of those rehearsals, cookies are in order. Chocolate cookies. I discovered a new favorite:
Thank you Martha. Grammy's Chocolate Cookies (recipe is on Martha Stewart's website)

Just don't over bake these babies. They will be hard and crisp (but perfect for those who like to dunk their chocolate cookies!)
I alos made these cookies half the size that is suggested in the recipe. I like small cookies.  Undercook them a little and let them sit on the baking sheet. 
Some things are made for each other
Cold weather and cookies.
Cure for the 'post show'blues and chocolate.
Shades of Blue and Chocolate Brown.
I just love it when a plan comes together.
Perfect harmony

Newbies

Just a mad rush to the first day back at school. After one day back, I know my projects are going to slow down considerably. It's musical time again with after school and weekend rehearsals.
So the last projects and the newest are being posted.

First, a simple pair of fingerless mittens made for my hairdresser who found some yarn and gave me license to make any type for her. A bulky locally made yarn of mohair and wool. Very imperfect wool, but she'll appreciate them. I personally don't own fingerless mitts, but will make a pair now that I see how handy they can be. Found the free pattern "Ursus" on the internet through Ravelry. The pattern did not have thumbs on them, so I created a bit of a thumb extension.

I also made a couple of biscuit baskets using the Aunties Two biscuit Basket pattern. Fun stuff, although not that easy. It was a tad tedious turning all the tubes, but makes a nice gift. I made 3 miniature ones for Christmas gifts (my own adaptation) but only took a picture of one of those. I like to buy my patterns at Create For Less.
Finally my pride and joy. A baby quilt I started during the summer and finally finished. I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to quilt the project and finish it. I juxtaposed circles all over the quilts squares and I love it. I used plates and lids from all sorts of things around the house. This is a baby quilt for my dearest colleague who teaches with me. She is expecting her 2nd baby any day now and I cannot wait to give this to her. I know she will love it. It is a quilt from Judy Martin's scrap quilt pattern book called 'Newport Beach'. I used scraps from my own granddaughter's quilts that were full of primary batiks and blenders. It was so much fun to make. I had some striped fabric on hand with all of the colors and made a bias binding which really touches off the excitement of the quilt.I love how the primary squares 'float' on the quilt.

 

...for Kylie Sue and babe.

Endings. Projects and the year 2011

 It's December 30th and after a quick trip to a fabric store to stock up on thread at 50% off I headed off to the sewing room to finish projects.
This cute table runner is made from all of my assorted Christmas scraps. It ended up nicer than I imagined. I thought it would be a bit too busy, but it works and I will set it aside as a gift for someone next year. It is one of the designs from a pattern I used earlier call Little Charmers II (Anka's Treasures designs) . I didn't use charm squares, obviously.Went together in a flash and is as straight forward as can be.

 I also finished a purse. I've already stuffed it with my wallet and phone. Awesome purse pattern. The pattern is from Four Corners Designs and is called The X bag. Neat construction with pockets created from the bag pieces overlapping each other and sew together on the sides.
I fused decor bond interfacing to my fabric which I won't do again as it made it too stiff, although it is nice, but makes it difficult to sew through the thickness of the side and bottom seams. I will make this using quilted fabric next time.
I am in love with this fabric from Marcus fabrics.

By the way. I bought 40 spools of thread. I'm ready for 2012!

Post Holiday Rush

I'm in only one rush....to get as many projects finished and started in one week as possible and loving every minute of it. The pre-holiday craziness is exactly that for a music teacher/musician. Evenings and weekends are tumultuous between concerts and rehearsals. The kids are more than excited at school which makes for exhausting days. Once Christmas Day is over I feel a little like Gollum from Lord of the Rings as I gaze at my week long break and start reciting, "My Precious". I have made some very cool things in all the haze of December. And I will post these projects as they become finished projects.
Our Christmas tree this year was cut from our hill. This is our 5th Christmas in our new home and every year we have put up a tree that was found on the property. We love it's little imperfections, in fact it makes it perfect in our eyes.

The presents started going under the tree and I realized that I had insufficient wrapping materials this year. I am a huge blog follower and bookmarked a blog a little while ago that was about making homemade bows out of fabric. Well, it was fun and easy once I got the hang of it.

 Look at the cool fabric bows I made. I now have a use for the strips of fabric that I keep throwing in my fabric bin. I had only time to make a few of these, but I think I will make several and set them aside of future gift giving. 

A gift certificate for my mother presented me with a "how do I wrap this" challenge. It was simply a sheet of paper with information from the website that I gave her a gift certificate. In fact I had to cleverly make it look nice and print it out. I did not want to slip it into a regular business envelope so I used the same idea as the bow and made an over sized envelope out of fused fabric (like the bows). I used a yellow business envelope, gently took it apart and used it as a template. Voila! My mom loved the envelope and she is going to store things in it as it is useful and sturdy.  Perhaps old Christmas cards or pictures or it can be re-gifted for someone else.

 Well off to the races. I have mittens and quilting and sewing projects, "my precious"!

Encore performance & UFO completed

The first one was so fun, I decided to make another Cardi-vest for Claire. Made using Paton's Shetland Chunky yarn in Tangerine. Hope there is an "orange" day at her Kindergarten! This sweater has "October" written all over it. This is such a wonderful pattern. I could make dozens of these. An easy weekend project.

 Husband's sweater is done. It was posted as a beginning project last year. A beautiful sweater and he looks great in it. This project took time, but it wasn't an unpleasant or burdensome job....just a lot of stitches!






Finally, had a distress message from the grandaughter the other day. She was traumatized to find out that she had a loose tooth. A harsh reality for one who has never gone through it before. Well, I immediately set out to make a Tooth Fairy Pillow. It will conveniently hang on her door handle or the bed headboard. Used a embroidery download and designed my own little pattern. The grandaughter called last night to tell me how much she loves it. For her, It took the sting out of the idea and her phone call made my evening.

Bread 'n Butter

Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day....gorgeous!

Three weeks ago I ventured into more homemade bread baking. I really wanted to try to emulate some good airy "custardy" type of artisan bread. I bought the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day"....which is a misnomer, but true in some respects. I haven't stopped making homemade bread since. I bought my first store bread today only because we were away on vacation and I came home to an empty breadbox.  I'll be back to making this again tomorrow. Easy and delicious. Look at those nice airy holes and tender texture! I also made boule' breads and it is so fun to make the size you want. As a point, I didn't go out and buy all of the gadgets they say in the book. I made due with what I have. I do have an oven stone and a 5 quart plastic container, which held the dough just fine. I don't have a pizza paddle or peel so I just put the dough on a piece of parchment and 'floated' it onto the hot oven stone when the time was right. I am going to get myself a nice baker's blade or lame to slice the tops. I also own the Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart and his recipes work beautifully as well. I prefer his stretch and fold technique in the beginning stages of making the bread and combine processes of both books. Check it out!

Now on to the the Zucchini bread. I know. Moan.....

This is the only recipe I like and the only one I make. Not a big fan of greasy over spiced Zucchini bread, however I do like tea or quick breads (as they used to call them). This is pleasant and light. It's the lemon zest. Feel free to try.

Lemon Zucchini Bread

• 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest

In a bowl, beat together the zucchini, sugar, egg, and oil. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder; stir in the cinnamon and lemon zest. Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat, and cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Now I can't possibly post something that doesn't pertain to my sewing. I acquired an amazing tool. Old tool. It's a pair of Florian Pinking Shears. Never have I cut with anything so unique and incredibly solid. It makes THE most wonderful pinking. It cuts curves like a breeze and the atypical pinking shears have nothing on this tool. I can't believe they don't make them anymore. I can imagine if someone has weak or arthritic hands it would be awkward and tiresome. I saw that this goes for amazing high prices on ebay and I received it free from a family friend who passed away. I can't wait to edge all of my crafts edging with this tool. It cuts like butter.  If you ever see one of these at an antique store or flea market. Try it out just to experience it's operation. So neat!

Summer break begins with an ipad case.

 My ipad is one year old this week. I can easily say it's probably the most enjoyable technology item I have ever owned. Recently, I've noticed all of the rage with fancy covers and so forth. I thought for sure I wanted to design one on my own, but when I got this particular pattern for sale at half price at Joann Fabrics, I grabbed it and decided to give it a review.  I started sewing this at 8:30 last night and had it finished by 11:15. (Another reason I love summer vacation, I can stay up as long as I want!)
"Two thumbs up". It takes 2 fat quarters and the measurements are very precise. The author does say at the onset, "be sure to read through the pattern first". I'm glad I did; it helped make the directions very clear. (I'm not always so obedient). But when it comes to my ipad, I want to do right by it. Because this was a trial run of a pattern, I chose two of my more uninteresting fabrics. Well, if the darn little thing just didn't come out perfect. It doesn't look too bad in these fabrics and I will use this for the time being.
Now, my plastic case I got with my ipad has a feature that helps it to prop up. I don't use that feature at all, yet my husband uses his all the time so this wouldn't work for him. I love the soft case, the feel of fabric (instead of hard black plastic and fake suede) and the fun look. I'm heading up to my sewing room to make another with some funky fun fabric. The pattern alone is a great reason to buy or use two coordinating fat quarters that you love and a fancy/fun button or two to decorate. (One note: All I had on hand was white elastic for the inside. Obviously black would disguise the elastic better. Since there is plenty of white in the fabric, it doesn't look bad at all. )

The pattern also comes with a pattern for a soft shoulder case for the iPad. I located the pattern on Clotilde for another view of this product.

MAY, may I please have more time to sew?

Concert season and Solo Festival season is upon the music teachers in our area. It's overwhelming, but then I don't have to proctor over the state tests that the kids are bombarded with at this time of year. Like the kids, I need an outlet for the busy times and I managed to sneak up to the sewing room to crank out a couple of new items. More stash buster patterns.
The First Pattern is a simple table runner for Spring. It is made with 5" charm squares. This went together in a couple of hours. Easy and variable. Anka's Treasures Little Charmers II pattern. Her patterns are lively and bright. A true rush of happiness. My fabrics are from a charm pack that was on clearance and I have plenty of charms left for another runner.

My free motion quilting was not my best on this work, however. Need more practice.















The next pattern was a hoot. I am making this for my daughter for her birthday. She'll like this tote bag as it fits her personality and lifestyle. I have had this Moda Santorini Olive Grove fabric for a while and I bought it to make an apron out of it, but then that seemed too predictable. Then I found this neat tote bag pattern called Tahoe Tote by Pink Sand Beach Designs that I purchased from Create For Less, one of my favorite shopping places! A great pattern. I will be making more of these.
The other fabric is from the Complements line from South Sea Imports and the green fabric is from a linen shirt that I was just about to give away to the Salvation Army. I recycled it and matches perfectly with the Moda Olive fabric. It's a nice size and the pattern calls for plenty of interfacing so it easily stands on it's own...a very nice feature.  Perfect for toting things around.

This photo is more true to color!

Spring Fever for handbags

Little pieces of scrap fabrics and some free motion quilting

I've absolutely gone crazy for making bags. This little gem is a reward for cleaning and organizing my stash the day before yesterday.  I've been pondering the next big quilt project. I am torn between inspirations so in the mean time I decided to make myself a spring kind of bag to replace my old ones (which I still use on a regular basis.) I didn't want to shock the world with my summer bag from the last blog post......especially when our central New York State weather can't seem to break into the high 50s.

Tell me you don't want one of these cuties!

Vacation summons up some project progress.

Managed to find a little time during the school break to complete some projects.
I made a new purse. I was color hungry. Such a long winter and part of me wanted to escape to warmer climes, but that wasn't possible. Instead I made a purse out of the hottest colors possible. It must have been my "inner summer" in me that was crying out when I selected the fabrics from my stash. 
The pattern is from the book Sew and Go Totes by Kristine Poor (A Leisure Arts publication). Fun pattern and I think I will be making the cover purse tote soon. Don't blind yourself looking at the purse....it's bright!

Since we took a quick trip to Maine to see our kids and granddaughter, I managed to whip off another Wheatfields cotton dishcloth on the 6 1/2 hour trip home. It's a favorite pattern of mine which I have knitted several times before and worth knitting and sharing over and over again. I love my homemade washcloths. I prefer them to terrycloth ones...they're softer on the face, dry faster and I can reuse them a couple of times unlike terrycloth washclothes. This was knitted out of good old Lily Brand "Sugar and Cream"...an inexpensive and practical "no-fuss" cotton yarn. However, if made out of a neutral/natural color, it looks especially nice. I have them posted on Ravelry.

Turkey Track Tote Bag /Unfinished Object - finished!

Today I headed straight to the sewing room. There say a box of two unfinished projects which had to be removed from the cutting table to accommodate costume making for the show.  There sit two projects, an unfinished purse and a wall hanging that only needs to be quilted and binded.

I finished the tote bag. Turkey Track Designs. Neat purse, for sure. The pattern is not for a beginner, though. It can be a bit confusing to follow. Any one with purse making experience will not have a problem.
I would make the handle a little shorter and a little narrower. I added interfacing to the handle for strength. This pattern has lots of possiblities.  I probably will use the ideas in some of my own designs further on down the road. I found this pattern at Joann Fabrics.
Anyhow, it felt good to get back to the sewing room and to say I finished an UFO.