Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Project of the day is.......



Hopefully everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and spent time with family with those and those who we did not want to partake with! Just look at it this way...who would be around to have those lasting stories to pass down through generations if we didn't have those "special" members of the family? LOL

Now to the project of the evening. I made two quilted pillows for two chairs that needed sprucing up. As the studio evolves I slowly add new items and take away other stuff that is no longer needed or no longer makes any sense to have. Seems like I am always undecided on how I would like this space decorated because I love sooo many things. But most of all I am in my happy space when I am creating and that's all that really matters to me!

Enjoy T

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

I just wanted to wish everyone the very best holiday and safe one!

Eat, Sleep, and Eat some more! Then Sew....or shop til you drop!


Take Care and see ya after Turkey day. T

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Yes Success!



I would like to report that my bird completed it's cooking process around noon today and when I tell you this bird came out scrump-dilly-umptous, it did. I'd never cooked a bird this long, a turkey, where it was so tender the meat was about to fall off. I think the key here to making it juicy was the seasoning injections along with the long slow cooking time. I periodically would check on it throughout the night just making sure everything was coming along nicely and my house didn't burn down! LOL

I Loved this process! I have now adopted this to be a family tradition when cooking turkey for the holidays from here on out. You should try it as well, just to see if you like it.

Project updates: I have now completed three projects on my list for x-mas and seems like tons more to go.

If your like me you find that the end of the year brings more demands then any other time of the year. Around my house, we have car tags do, house taxes due, end of year birthdays, holidays, unexpected family members, hoa fees and any other stuff added to the list, then it takes you that long to recover!! Wow I am exhausted from just writing all that.

I am off to try and make another dent in my project list.

Happy quilting, stitching, sewing, crafting, and anything else that keeps you creatively inclined. Love ya! T

Friday, November 18, 2011

Pre Turkey Craziness!


It's now 8:30pm, the baking has started!


Take a peek under, this is where I placed the hickory chips.


Made holes in the foil and sprayed with oil.


Seasonings with chopped onions for flavor.


A clearer view of the hickory chips.


My Recipe


Ok check this out, while watching Drive ins, Diners, & Dives (I think that is the order)I was watching this diner where this lady makes sandwiches and one was a turkey sandwich. So it wasn't what she had on the sandwich it was the way she cooked the turkey. It was smoked in one of those industrial HUGE ovens. Well I got this brilliant Ideal that I could do that with my oven....or try anyway! So I went off to try my adventure.

I preheated the oven to 225 degrees, injected the turkey with an injection of what ever I had on hand, chopped some onions and stuffed them into the cavity. Soaked some hickey chips and placed those in the bottom of the pan with a screen on top for the turkey placement. Then, after injections everywhere, I rubbed my delicate turkey with some more seasonings and set it on top of the foil placed on top of my hickey chips. I poked small holes in the foil so that the hickory chips can smoke my turkey with flavor...at least that is what I am hoping happens anyways! LOL This is the catcher...this thing needs to cook/smoke on 225 degrees for 16 long hours. If this bird isn't done in 16 hours and falling off the bones, consider this a failure and back to square one! LOL

I will update you when this turkey is finally done...in 16 hours! See ya then. T

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Finished Project of the Day


I just finished my sister's socks for x-mas. The story behind these are she came over one year....notice I said one year! Ok it was two (LOL) and we had a yarn dyeing day. I gave her a crash course in dyeing and this was the results. I was afraid there would be some pooling with the colors but she did wonderful and I clearly see a pattern within the sock. I would have to say this was a success. When I talked with her the other day, the first thing out of her mouth was were are my socks at? Geez! No pressure, please. Ok they are done and ready for x-mas.

Now I am off to make the next project. Due dates are in the mist and x-mas is how far away? I better get on it.

Now go finish a project and make someone in your life happy! T

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Project of the Day-Wool Pin Cushion Tutorial


The project of the day: Wool Pin Cushion

Tutorial Purpose: To learn how to apply wool to a project without having frayed edges.

Project Level: Advanced Beginners with some speciality embroidery stitches (please visit www.youtube.com or the web for simple tutorials regarding these stitches)

What a great way to use those scrapes of wool in the scrap bin than to make a pin cushion. It's handy and every sewer can use one. Keep in mind this would be for any wool project you choose to make. Let us get started.

Supply List
Steam-a-Seam2 (This is Key!) NO! NO! to WONDER UNDER or HEAT BOND
Wool Scraps
Sharp Scissors for cutting small pieces
Polyester stuffing or your favorite filler
Matching Embroidery Threads (I am using Valdani for this project)

1. Gather your supplies, your pattern, your wools, threads, etc.





2. Trace your pattern pieces onto your Steam-a-Seam2. PLEASE NOTE: This is a special bonding paper. What makes it special from other bonding agents is it is tacky making it useful in keeping your paper from shifting on your fabrics as well as let's you reposition temporarily without a permanent bond. The tacky side is the side you should be drawing your shapes on with a #2 pencil.
Once you have drawn your shapes onto the tacky side of the paper, it's time to cut them out. Seam-a-seam2 has two paper sides to it, with the tacky sheet in between it. Except you will find there is a loose side that comes off easily, just make sure when cutting out your pieces BOTH sheets are attached when cutting.




3. When cutting out shapes, leave 1/8th to 1/4th inch around each paper piece. DO NOT CUT On THE DRAWN ON LINES prier to tracing.


4. Next iron your pieces onto the wool. Follow your label instructions for this.

5. Now your ready to cut on the drawn on lines. Cut out each piece with precision
sharp scissors. This is the key to keeping your edges from fraying. Steam-a-seam2 serves two purposes here. A.) It's a lite weight bond which makes it easy to stitch through and B.) It seals your edges to keep your wool from fraying.



6. Peel off the back paper from your cut out pieces and positon on your main fabric. Reposition if necessary and iron in place for a permanent fix. Your ready for your specialty stitches. Stitch with your favorite embroidery stitches to finish edges. Here I have used a simple blanket stitch and a bullion stitch with beads to embellish. (YouTube is a great resource for finding these stitches.)

7. Once your done with any specialty stitches, attach your backing fabric, stuff, close your opening and your done!






I hope this method works for you like it works for me. Nothing like viewing someone's beautiful wool hand work to see those edges fraying like crazy. If your gonna put that much time into your work make it look great from every aspect.

Good luck! Have a wonderful creative evening. T

Friday, November 4, 2011

REMINDER!


Ladies and Gents, let's not forget our daylight savings time this weekend. It's Fall so we fall back an hour on November 6, Sunday!

You know what this means don't you?....one more hour's worth of sewing, YEAH!

Have a good one! T

Thursday, November 3, 2011

2 Pounds! 2 Pounds of Orange!



What do you do with 2 pounds of freaking carrots? You make Carrot Curry soup of course. Now I have to tell you how I came to the conclusion of making this soup. It comes from shopping without looking to see what you have first....imagine that! LOL I am sure those out there in blogland have certainly done this before, right? I got home and had not one bag but now I had two....geez! Time to get to looking on the web for a recipe and I love soup so I new it was going to be something of that nature. Curry Carrots it is! It turned out great with some of my own tweaking. Here if the recipe if you'd love to try it.




Basic Carrot Soup

2pds Carrots, peeled and chopped
6cups chicken Broth
3 Cloves Garlic
2 Tbsp Celery Seeds
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 small onion, chopped

Optional:
1 1/2 Tbsp Curry powder
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/8 tsp Pepper

Saute onions, carrots and garlic in skillet until tender. In a separate deep pot, add chicken broth. Next add your sauteed carrots, add celery seeds and salt. Stir and bring to a rolling boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Next pour mixture in a blender and puree, then put back into your pot and simmer another 30-45 minutes until done. Serve with a sprig of parsley and enjoy!


Project of the day is: Embroidery. More handwork coming down the pipe.




Have a wonderful night and keep those creative juices flowing daily! T