Hello.....it's been a long time!

I just rediscovered my blog and will possibly start blogging again.... believe it or not. The world has changed since I last posted here. New environment, new life changes, new world pandemic and the list goes on and on. 

So, what have I been up too? I have added a list of new hobbies onto the ones I still have, and it just keeps my mind occupied doing what I love to do. 

Spring is in the air, and I've got the gardening bug again as I always do around this time of year. The weather is warming up and it is not a gradual warming, it's like "BAM....here I am!" kind of days. A cold front of 20 degrees 4wks ago to 75 degrees and plants that were supposed to come back every year has almost died and took on frost bite is totally gone! My bulbs started coming up, trees are blooming and everything is confused, I believe because of all these weather changes in the world. But I am not complaining, I love to garden, and I will be out there in full swing once I get a number of items off my plate. So, yard here I come! 

Well, I just wanted to say hello and life have allowed me to jump on here again with projects I may be working on or just to chat to see what everyone else is up to. 

Take care and happy project working.

What Are These?

Can someone please tell me what these are called?

A visit to the grocery produced this little gems. They look like a cross between a plum and a lemon. Look at the way the bottom goes down like a tear drop or the end of a lemon.  Of course I didn't know what the heck they were and they didn't have a name for them but they did have a cup to sample them. I didn't sample them, but was curious to bring them home to study what they were and to taste test in the privacy of my home. I only go two, but I will keep you posted as to what they taste like.

Have a great day...now go be creative! T

How to cover a mistake

The project of the day is paper piecing with a muslin foundation. But because I am not that verse in this subject matter you would think following a straight line would be easy, apparently not. If you look real closely you can see where I messed up. I'll admit this is not my specialty, but it was fun making. So what did I do, I covered some of the seams with quilting and fabric paint to cover the mistakes. Nothing like a Chevron design out of flying geese, how is that possible.

Enjoy! Now go be creative and have a wonderfully productive night. Later T

What a Year...Literally! Welcome 2013

It's been quite a while since I have written and I've missed it so, this past year has been an interesting one to say the least and hopefully we can get back on track somewhat. So what are your plans for this year? I have a laundry list and one is to get published, self-publish my own project, and submit my quilts to more shows this year. That is a TALL order but with determination I am gonna make it happen. So what have I been working on lately? Over the x-mas holiday I worked on one quilt, one for my brother I'd been working on forever with the tons of squares and triangles that was on the cover of American Patchwork, then low and behold, I was at quilt guild and that lady who designed that quilt was our speaker...how cool was that. She held up that quilt I almost fell out of my seat with excitement. Other gifts included tons of knitting gifts for family and friends. It was a challenge but I am always up for a challenge. I brought in the new years with family and made it home safely. It was a blast! I hope everyone had a great one as well and now ready for a new and wonderful year. I am signing off for now but I will be back.

Take care and you know what my motto is..."Who cares if my points aren't straight!" Happy Quilting and go make something wonderful! T

Project of the Day is....

Good morning. Scraps, scraps, everywhere! In the efforts to get rid of some of these scraps, I had a need to create this pouch for some needlework designs. Imagine that, like I need another bag for something. I love putting these together and adding hand work for a fast quick project within a few hours or so. Enjoy!

Copyright Chatter to Ponder

Seems there has been a lot of chatter about Copyright in the blog community about what is and isn't the proper edict. I would just like to give my 1 cent of this subject. I like others work hard for what I do and even though I am still considered a starving artist (as they say) my ideals, my creations, and anything that comes from my brain is my own. Do you know how hard that is? You have those who create, you have those who enjoying making those items, and you have those who enjoy selling those items. It's like the cycle of life, it's a full circle, but this needs to be done in an ethical manner. Credit needs to be given to those artists and designers. You make something within the designer’s guidelines, give credit. Remember that "fine" print? If you can't see it, that is where the information is located! When in doubt contact the owner/operator/creator/designer/artist or whatever the title is. This term falls under numerous umbrellas. When everyone works together, everyone benefits, i.e. the circle of life. These are my guild lines: COPYRIGHT NOTICE Applies to any pictures, designs, publications, as well as reproduction on or through the internet, posting, auction sites, scanning, or e-mail transmissions without prior written permission will be prohibited. Please be advised, artist are working together to stop this nonsense of copying others designs and its content thereof. If it wasn't purchased from me and my brain, it's not yours and doesn't give you the right to recreate, sell or anything else unless you are given permission to do so. With this said.....have a wonderful day and go use your brain for something creative today! Later T

Madison says "Oh No, Please don't go there!"

Wool Fun...

I have been MIA playing with my wool fabric and making a primitive rug. I have gotten all the flowers, leaves and the pot done and now all that is left is filling in the background. I can't wait to see this finished. I love prims, who would have known. I would love to create a runner. I will have to work on that one. This rug will currently be about 2ft by 3ft. That is not a bad size. I have always made small hooking projects, so this is large to me. In case you were wondering, this design is from the Purely Primitive Rug Hooking book by Pat Cross. Signing off til next week! Enjoy T

Wool on my Mind

Cut up, washed and felted prior to dyeing. Wool on the bolt does not feel the same once it has been washed. On the bolt it may have a thin shiney surface.

Dyed and folded.

So I took a trip to my favorite local fabric market today. I had wool on my mind. I would consider myself still a beginner and I have been wanting to get back to my rug hooking but just couldn't sum up the funds to pay for the prices they want for just a small piece let alone a huge piece for a decent sized rug. One yard can be as much as $54 and the smallest piece can be $8 for just an eighth inch cut. Don't get me wrong, I love supporting the cause, but I love a deal when I see one as well. So off on my adventure I found it, bolts, and bolts of it! Wool, 100% pure wool. I was in heaven. I bet you will never guess what I paid for it? I purchased 12 yards of it for........$1 a yard, yep! $12 for a bolt, not bad and this is 54 inches wide. At first I was like this can't be 100% and I wasn't even going to get upset if it wasn't 100% wool because I got a deal. I cut it up, washed in HoT water and it felted lovely. I dyed it and now I am off to work on my rug. I saved....$636 dollars at roughly $54 dollars a yard. The same silk I purchased at a quilt shop one year for $25, I happened across it at the market and I paid $4 a yard. I must have lost my mind that year paying $25. Only 1 yard was in the budget. LOL So the lesson here is, find a fabric market. If you are willing to rummage threw stuff and take scuffs on your fabric and think outside the box, this is the place for you. It reminds me of a TJ Maxx where you rummage through the clothes or shoes to find what you’re looking for? That is what you do at this place; it's just a big warehouse full of all sorts of fabrics and never the same thing when you visit. So if you see something, get it, it may not be there next time. Do something creative every day! I think a mind is a terrible thing to waste not doing something creative. Hang around creative people, they motivate you the most. Have a wonderful night! Signing off T

I Feel Like Quilting!

Welcome! I just wanted to post a few small projects I just finished and hope you enjoy them. I was in the mood for quilting and hand stitching when I created these. Enjoy!

This piece I call "Reflections of Water". It reminded me of the sun reflecting off water if you can wrap your mind around that one! LOL Have a creative wonderful day! T

LaSt PoSt of the 2011 Year!

I would just like to say thanks to any and everyone who follows my blog. I have really enjoyed this journey, learned a lot from this blogging experience and plan to make 2012 hopefully even better.

I would like to share a few last projects of the year with you.

The first one is the completed quilt from a previous blog. It was completed and was enjoyed by the owner who received it. This quilt can be found in American Patchwork and Quilting, June 2009.


Our local guild had a Xmas party, the board gave gifts of appreciation to our members and I made pin cushions. We had a great turn out and everyone loved thier pin cushions as well, not to mention they desperately needed new ones or just needed one period!


I love to play around with scraps so this last quilt I enjoyed making from recycled blue jeans and with a girl in mind, cut up some floral fabrics to give that feminine flare, created a border with a white binding and there you go! It turned out looking more like a quilts of valor but hey! It still turned out cute.




Now if I don't post again before the new year comes in on Sunday....have a wonderful, wonderful...safe one you hear?

Signing off for the year, T....PS: Thank you again for a wonderful year!

Project of the Day....

X-mas, OMG I feel like is already here. Let's think about this..today is the 6th, 18 more days, Lord where does the time go? I feel like if I blink it's gone. Geez!

Well, my project of the day is a quilt for my brother. This pattern comes from a Better Homes and Garden Book, not sure what year. But I choose brown, cream and black to make it a masculine look. I think the pattern has it made from plaids, however I could not find the nice plaids shown in the picture, so what do you do, you improvise! It's one half quilted and should be done here in the next day or so. I will post once I have completed it. It is a nice size for the lap and I am pleased with how it is turning out so far.

Time to go finish it. ... Have a great night T

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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