More Christmas gifts

I fell in love with these little zippered bags several years ago.  The directions were published in Threads magazine in the January 2005 issue and at the time, I made a few of them.  They were a bit fussy but they came out well.  And best of all, the ladies I made them for loved them!

Fast forward to 2011.  As I was sifting through ideas for my new daughter-in-law, this one came to mind.  She loves purple and I found just the thing in my stash: pieces of royal purple silk velvet, leftover scraps from a prom dress.  I paired the velvet with a metallic gold shot cotton for the ruffle and a pretty piece of cotton batik for the lining.  And then I remembered embossing velvet a few years ago.  So I dug out some hand carved wooden stamps and fired up the iron.  It was slow going since each image is done one at a time, but the results were fabulous.  I finished the zipper with a golden glass fish bead and filled it with a few essentials (nail polish).  I hope she likes it.

And of course, when I showed it to two creative friends, they liked them too.  So yes, I made a few more.  I had enough embossed velvet left over to make a slightly smaller bag like the first one and chose two pieces of cotton velveteen for the others.

Gift tags

Recently, the speaker at our guild was Ann Lainhart.  She presented a trunk show of lovely fussy-cut quilts.  One of the patterns she had for sale was an 8 sided Christmas ornament.  She also brought fabrics that would work well with her pattern and she had many finished ornaments for sale.  I don’t usually indulge in this sort of thing, but the projects were small and her striped fabrics were different.  I bought her pattern and 3 fabric pieces to try a few.

Later, a fellow guild member suggested that these would make lovely gift tags.  I concurred and came home to figure out how to make it work.  The pattern makes a double sided ornament, each side cut from the same fabric but slightly different in orientation.  The gift tag idea makes the fabric go twice as far since they are single sided and backed with plain fabric for writing on.  Also, rather than filled with several layers of batting, I used a stiff Pelon batting.  And I promptly made a play date with my friend to make more.  After piecing 12 (yep, I bought more fabric at the local shops), we got together to finish them off.

Start with a strip of striped fabric.  Large patterns are difficult and require more fabric and some planning.  Smaller patterns are easier.

Cut 8 triangles from each side of the strip.

Sew them together, being careful to match the stripes so the pattern continues nicely around the octagon.
Cut a layer of stiff batting and a back.  Attach a hanging loop and satin stitch around the edge.  Voila!

How time flies!

I had hoped to post some things I’ve been working on for the holidays but the postal service tripped me up.  I had made some little houses for Advent to share with my grandchildren and didn’t want to ruin the surprise by posting before they had arrived.  Alas, somehow the set traveling to Hawaii was sent parcel post.  And even though the inexpensive shipping price seemed incredulous, the postal clerk assured me that was because they didn’t weigh very much.  What she didn’t mention was that it wasn’t first class, which would have arrived in a week.  Even though I had allowed 2 weeks for them to arrive, it took three and arrived the same day as the replacement set I sent since I feared they were in postal limbo and might not turn up until Spring.

Yes, it is true that I made three sets, one each for the two grands and one for the window at the shop where I volunteer.  Needless to say, they aren’t hanging in the shop window and it’s a good thing I had that extra set.  They look so simple but were amazingly time consuming, mostly because there are 24 of them in each set, each one requiring two roofs, a front and back, a piece of interfacing, and a pocket.  Then there are the windows and doors, all different and sewn on individually.  One set had small squares with the numbers written on them and hand embroidered on the back.  The other numbers were stenciled on each pocket before assembly.  Then they were sewn together, turned and finished by hand.  Phew!

Anyway, since they have all arrived and then some, here is set #3, the only ones I remembered to photograph.  The pattern and directions were published in Quilting Arts Gifts magazine.  I chose to put the Christmas story in the pockets.  Each day has a short passage from the Bible so that by the time Christmas Day arrives, the whole story has been told.  After all, that’s what Christmas is all about – the coming of the Christ child.

Wishing you joy as you look forward to His coming.

Rib-Sticker Soup

We all have memories from our childhood of our parents making us eat stuff that was good for us but that we disliked for one reason or another.  Sometimes as adults we learned to eat said food and sometimes not.  As a parent I was no different than my own mom, putting the healthiest food I could in front of my kids.  This included Rib-Sticker soup which was NOT a kid favorite.

Rib-Sticker soup is a hearty soup full of beans, split peas and lentils; it’s high in fiber and protein and low in fat and great paired with crusty bread and a salad.  What could be better than that?  A good number of years ago when I started cooking with less fat, this was a recipe I found in Lowfat Lifestyle by Valerie Parker and Ronda Gates.  My big issue with beans and split peas in general is how mushy they can get;  I don’t enjoy that paste-y texture.  And I was skeptical about this soup but decided to give it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised at how firm the vegetables remained, even after sitting in the refrigerator leftover.  It was good, easy to make and chock full of good nutrition.  The recipe quadrupled well and froze well.  It became a staple for us even though it was eaten under duress by the small fry.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago.  Our daughter is on a restricted diet because of her little one – no dairy, no soy, no chocolate.  Cooking healthy meals is a bit of a challenge.  Somehow, we suggested Rib Sticker Soup and she decided to give it a try.  It was a hit.  It’s good that our taste buds do a complete change every 7 years isn’t  it?  And for those of you who’d like to try it too, here’s the recipe:

Rib-Sticker Soup

1/4 cup dried white navy beans
1/4 cup dried small red beans
1/4 cup dried yellow split peas
1/4 cup dried green split peas
1/4 cup dried lentils
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups chopped celery
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups stewed tomatoes
4 cups beef broth

Soak dried beans, peas and lentils overnight in water to cover.  Add all other ingredients the next day, stir to mix well.  Bring to boiling, then lower heat, cover and simmer 3-4 hours or until vegetables are tender.  If soup is too thick, add additional broth or water.  Serves 8

More Maryland fun

It was an innocent stop.  Really.  We just needed some Velcro to fix one of the cloth diapers Ellen has been using for Nathaniel.  And while we were there I could look for yarn suitable to make doll hair.  We looked at yarn – no suitable choices.  We looked at beads and crochet cotton just because.  I picked up some variegated thread for my crocheted river stones.  We ended up in the notions aisle for the Velcro… which also happened to have a display of Babyville Boutique items.

Now when my children were little, I used cloth diapers for a good amount of the time.  They were flat fold or the newer prefolded kind with plastic pants to keep clothes dry.  I guess some mom’s still use those, but cloth diapers today are amazingly sophisticated.  They are expandable using a series of snaps, they have a pocket for the absorbing part, and of course use Velcro closures to fit the waist (that’s the part we had to fix in the first place).  You can buy these units, but they are pretty pricey.  Even used ones go for a goodly sum.  But now, thanks to Babyville Boutique you can make your own.  They have books and patterns; they carry the PUL fabric (it’s breathable but waterproof); they carry the suede cloth used for the lining; they carry the snaps and the special tool to apply them, special elastic, fancy design labels and embroidered patches.  The PUL fabric comes in fetching prints and lovely solids and is sold as yardage or as pieces in a kit.  This fabric was our downfall.  Ellen fell in love with the cute little aliens fabric that was in a kit pack with a solid and a sweet dino print.

We checked out with our packet of Velcro for the repair and my crochet thread.  After all, making these diapers was going to be a lot of work, not to mention the amount of money one could spend for all the coordinated goodies.  And don’t forget the $20 tool for the snaps. Could she use more diapers?  Probably, but she was doing ok with the number she had.  But Ellen couldn’t forget those aliens. So after a day of deliberation and counting the cost of $$ and labor, we headed back to Joann’s to check it out.

First we read through the book to see how they recommended one used their products.  The fabric kits came with 3 pieces each, so we figured we would make 3 diapers.  We bought the snaps but thought we would try to do without the tool.  We decided we didn’t need the fancy, top-stitch elastic but did buy the wide Velcro for the front.  We decided not to buy the book either, but rather use one of the diapers Ellen had at home as a pattern.  We bought yardage of suede cloth, poly thread and thin elastic for the casings and headed home.

Now the work began: to make a pattern and engineer the construction based on what I had read.  After test driving the snaps, we decided we needed the special tool.  The thing that made this realization less painful was that I would be able to get 6 diapers out of the kit fabrics by piecing the back tabs – a little tedious but so much more satisfying than throwing out all that extra fabric (thanks, mom) and cutting our costs in half.  Ellen was the snap champ thanks to that special tool and I managed to get the first diaper together with several adjustments along the way.  We made absorbers out of an old towel – several layers of terry with snaps to lengthen and shorten as needed, just like the covers.

The plan was to teach Ellen how to make them and we made them in stages.  She did every part of the process except cutting out the patterns.  She ended up finishing the last ones all by herself after we left for home.  She did a good job, don’t you think?

Maryland color

On a recent visit to cute grand baby #2 and his wonderful parents, we encountered color in some expected and some unexpected places. First the expected: Because they are farther south than we are, we got to experience Autumn all over again. And this lovely maple tree did not disappoint.

Now the unexpected: Really, one would expect to find flowers in a grocery store, but this array of tulips at the local Whole Foods took my breath away.

And finally, Have any of you dear readers seen blue fungus? We were doing some yard clean-up, picking up sticks and debris to take to the dump and found this bright blue fungus growing on the underside of a stick. Amazing, isn’t it?

What a treasure to find beauty in unexpected places.

Industrial Blooms

Recently I had the good fortune to acquire these lovely “flowers”. They are lovingly crafted from found objects by an artist I met on line. Check out Paula’s etsy shop here. She has lots of other wonderful things for sale too.

Bead workshop

This month the Maple Leaf Quilt Guild‘s speaker was Lisa Walton of Sydney, Australia. Often, when we bring in a special speaker, there is a workshop offered the next day. Way back in the spring I signed up for Lisa’s workshop. Why? I have followed her blog for a long time. I was originally taken in by her beautiful hand dyed fabrics. Then she started making amazing beaded creations. While she often teaches several types of quilting classes, I was especially excited that this was going to be her beading workshop AND her beaded button class all rolled into one.

I’ve done some beading before with knowledge I’ve gleaned from books and other publications but I’ve never taken a class. The first half of the day was devoted to a half dozen basic stitches used to add beading to fabric. Here are some pictures of my sampler.

The afternoon concentrated on putting those stitches to use in making a beaded button.

Lisa was a wonderful speaker. She gave us a great over view of the development of her fabric dyeing business Dyed and Gone to Heaven. She included her rising fascination with beads, pictures of her new studio and brought along a stack of lovely quilts, many of which I had seen before in pictures. What a treat to see them in person.

Lisa is headed to the International Quilt Festival in Houston, the ultimate in quilt show experiences. She’ll be teaching several classes there. What a treat it was to meet her and get to know her a little bit.

Fall color

Mountain Vistas Art Chair

Recently I was asked to decorate a chair to benefit the local food pantry Black River Good Neighbors.  The chair that was supplied was an old fashioned ice cream parlor chair – round seat with wire back and legs.  I settled on the idea to do a slip cover with a quilted back and seat.

The first step was to clean up and paint the chair.  Since I was going to cover it, it just got a plain white coat of paint.  As I began to plan the artwork, I also needed to think about how to engineer the slipcover so it would fit  and look the way I had envisioned.  I made a muslin to test the design.  Then I took it apart to check the paper patterns I had made.  I used the muslin to cut the final pieces (which still needed additional alterations as I was putting the final pieces together).

The artwork for the back was made raw edge collage style.  I did edge the pieces with fusible web so fraying would be kept under control but I’m hoping the lucky bidder will realized that the cover will not stand up to rough wear.

And I hope it will raise a nice sum for the folks who do such a good job caring for those who need it in our community.