Mar 25, 2012

Sewing Kit

I made this sewing kit for my son who is going on a church mission for two years to Brazil.  
My son is an Eagle Scout, so I thought that it would be "manly" to use this theme.  Besides, everything else I have is pink with flowers.
I had some Boy Scout fabric that I made a quilt out of a few years ago, so I made this sewing kit from the scraps. I cut out the rank badges and the words from the Scout law from the fabric, ironed them to wonder under and ironed them onto some charcoal colored fabric.  Then I outline stitched them so they wouldn't unravel.


 The vertical tab (red star fabric to the left of the felt) holds two spools of thread and closes with velcro.



I like all the pockets and the scissor holder.


This is the back of the kit.


These are all the things that are being put into the kit....a usb drive (non sewing related....), iron on reflective tape, thread holders, iron on mending fabric, a seam ripper (who doesn't need one of these!!!), folding scissors, safety pins and a "pink" tape measure (you never know!!...about the tape measure I mean, not the pink :))



 Here is the sewing kit fully loaded!!!


Come back tomorrow.  I made a really cute "girlie" sewing kit, complete with a TUTORIAL and a GIVEAWAY!!!!
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Mar 22, 2012

Monster Smoothie



Now for something a little bit different.
I try to go to exercise class every morning.....and when I come home I like to have something healthy, filling and low calorie.  I have been drinking this Monster Smoothie for a couple of years now.  I have refined it somewhat and I think it is really delicious.



I used to use my blender, but it is big and a pain to wash out every day.  My husband bought me a little machine that you insert these special cups into.  It is so much easier to use!  It comes with about four or five of these plastic cups that go in the dishwasher.


One cup of milk, or a little less.  I like to use coconut milk, but didn't have any when I took these photos.  The coconut milk adds the perfect amount of sweetness.  I recommend trying it in the smoothie.




One banana, broken into pieces.



Two large tablespoons full of greek yogurt, about a l/4 of a cup.
Fage (pronounced fa - yeh) is my favorite because it is thick and creamy and has a great flavor.




One cup of frozen peaches.  The peaches add sweetness, and since they are frozen, they make the smoothie cold.  Don't use red or blue berries because your smoothie will be a nasty brown color.  I used to use fresh mangoes, but I prefer the frozen peaches.  Stuff the peaches down in the cup.




Now add a large handful (about one cup) of fresh baby spinach leaves.  It sounds gross to put spinach in a drink but you can't taste it. 




I squeeze the blade onto the cup and screw it on tightly.



Then I blend the smoothie until it is all mixed up, about a minute.








Now I can enjoy my very healthy, creamy and delicious Monster Smoothie.  Two servings of dairy, two servings of fruit and one serving of vegetables.  *You can add some ground flax seed for extra benefits.  Try it and tell me what you think :)


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Mar 21, 2012

Doll Bassinet


I did a lot of sewing this past Christmas. I bought a baby doll for three of our grandaughters, and made a bassinet, pillow and quilt to match their doll's outfits.  
This is one of the quilts I made.  Nine 5" squares sewn together, machine quilted and bound.



Doll quilts are so cute...you can use them for table toppers, placemats, mug rugs, centerpieces, or even as doll quilts :)



I love this little bassinet.  I made two this color.  


When I was sewing these bassinets with their little pillows and quilts, I wanted to buy a doll of my own so badly just so I could see how sweet it looked lying in its own little snuggly bed.


I made one like this.


I was fortunate enough to see one of my grandaughters open her gift.  Charlotte was pretty happy!



Charlotte takes her baby with her when she goes grocery shopping.



Charlotte loves feeding her baby, she is such a good Mommy :)



Reagan likes her doll too!



Reagan carries her bassinet like a purse!  Ha ha!!



Reagan is so precious with her little doll, she is a good Mommy too.  Grandchildren are a blessing



For a complete tutorial on the bassinet, go here.


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Ironing Board tutorial



Today, I will show you how I made a beautiful ironing board cover.  I got the idea from "I Have to Say".  
This is my lovely ironing board cover.  All my covers get these nasty brown stains.  I think it is from using spray starch.  Does that happen to you?



I went to JoAnn's and bought three pieces of Denyse Schmidt fabric.  My ironing board measures 18" wide by 48 l/2" long.  I bought 5/8 yard (22.5") of the first fabric (goes on the pointy end), 1/4 yard (9") of the middle fabric and 1 yard of the third fabric (goes on the end).  I also bought 4 l/3 yards of 7/32" cording which is found in the upholstery section.
Measure your ironing board and do the calculations. I used a l/2" seam allowance and 4" extra all around the ironing board.  It is always better to have a little bit extra than not enough.
Here are my three fabrics sewn together.  The selvages are on the sides, I sewed the cut edges together.




I laid the sewn piece of fabric on the floor, right side down. Then I put the ironing board on top of the fabric and traced 4" all the way around with a blue pencil.  It doesn't have to be extremely accurate.




Then I cut all the way around on the blue dashed lines that I drew.




Guess what?  I have extra fabric for my stash!  


Measure l/2" all the way around and press.


Zigzag close to the edge, all the way around.  Don't worry that there are crinkles around the curves.  This won't matter a bit.


Turn zigzagged seam under 3/4" and press all the way around.  There will be a few more crinkles this time, but the seam will be under the ironing board and won't show.


Stitch this seam all the way around with a straight stitch, close to the edge, leaving a 2" opening at the end (the square end) of your ironing board cover.  


I pinned a safety pin to the end of the cording.  Make sure your pin takes a good bite into the cording, or it might slip out when you are pulling it through the casing.  Push the safety pin through the 2" opening of your casing, at the end of the cover.  It will take a while, but carefully ease the safety pin with the cording, all the way around the ironing board cover.




Lay your ironing board cover on the floor, right side down.  Center the ironing board on top of it.  




Pull the cording sideways, easing the fullness around the ironing board.  Tie the cord and then tie a bow.  You can tuck the cording under the cover so that it doesn't hang down.




Now you have an awesome  redesigned ironing board cover.  This is the prettiest ironing board cover I have ever had! 
 It was so easy that I could even have a new cover for every season.  Not really, that sounds a little bit fussy to me........and with the prints, those nasty stains might not show up as much.  
This was a really easy project, easy enough for a beginner sewer :)




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Mar 20, 2012

The Farmer's Wife Quilt Along

In January 2011, a blog named Fussy Cut, was doing a quilt along based on the book, The Farmer's Wife.  The goal was to complete two blocks every week.



In 1922, The Farmer's Wife magazine posed this question to their readers:  "If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in light of your own experience, have her marry a farmer?"  The magazine at that time had 750,000 subscribers, and received over 7,000 letters.  The best answers to this question are included in this book, along with the traditional quilt blocks they inspired.
Here is one of the stories:
City Life Holds No Glamour
Having spent the first two years of my married life, as well as much of my childhood in Chicago, city life holds no glamour, no lure for me.  I know its lacks too well.  I would not exchange the homely joy of riding in a "tin Lizzie" in the country for the excitement of "keeping up with Lizzie" in the city or town.  I have had more genuine enjoyment in caring for and breeding up my flock of beautiful White Rock chickens; more real pleasure in tending my flowers and vegetables, more honest satisfaction in working with the lambs and bees, than I ever experienced in the varied round of activities that made up my life in the city.  Such wholesome, outdoor work serves not merely as an absorbing occupation for the moment, a time killer, so to speak but is also an investment which later pays well.  There is not space here to tell of my love for ;the panorama of ever changing beauty that unrolls from my cabin on the hilltop.
It must be admitted that country life has neither what is of more value to earnest men and women:  wholesome living conditions, an excellent moral environment, opportunity for mental growth and spiritual development, and the possibilities of real and lasting happiness.  It is my conviction that when America wearies of jazz and reverts, as a nation, to the ideals of her pioneer forefathers, a=many will find in the simple joys of the country an antidote to over sophistication.  We who are already on the land and love it, despite all its lacks, know the blessed peace and security and happiness that nature offers those who have discernment enough to "hold communion with her visible forms."

There is a possibility of 111 6" blocks in the book.  Originally, I was planning on making a queen size quilt which would take 110 blocks. As I was sewing the blocks, I realized that 110 blocks was too ambitious!  I decided to make 50 blocks, which is a lap quilt.
There is a CD that comes with the book and you can print off paper piecing templates.  It is so much easier to just cut out the pieces with your rotary cutter.  Bee in my Bonnet had some great tutorials and ideas.
I made six design boards, foam board with quilt batting, trimmed in cute fabric.  The quilt batting lets the little pieces stick, and you can audition which fabric combinations look best together before you sew them together.




Then I bought a little binder with 5" X 7" page protectors to hold my sketched blocks.  




I decided to make my blocks in 30's prints, otherwise known as "Aunt Gracie".  Here are most of the photos of the 6 l/2" blocks.  Most I absolutely love, but some I'm not that crazy about.








I used every color, so the quilt will have a "scrappy" look.
The blocks were lying on the floor for a long time.




I have never worked on a quilt where the blocks were set on a point.  It took a little while to get used to.  I bought slate colored fabric for the sashing, pale pink for the posts and pastel yellow for the setting triangles.  I thought the slate would show off the colors of the blocks.  I sewed some of the sashing, posts and triangles and marked each row with a slip of paper.  Row 1, row 2, etc.  Then I folded them up very carefully so they wouldn't wrinkle, to work on when I have more time.  I have two projects I am working on right now that I need to have completed in two weeks.




That is the story of my "Farmer's Wife" quilt so far.....


I have a "Farmer's Wife" board on pinterest if you want to take a peek.
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