Quilter's Best Friend

Finally got good assistance with my Crazy Quilt project. They say it's not about getting to where you are going but more about the Journey along the way. Popeye and I are having a great time on our Journey to complete this quilt top.

Crazy Quilt

After years of quilting I've collected allot of fabric in various amounts. My inability to throw away a good piece of fabric, no matter how small, left me in a quandry of what to do to tame my ever increasing stash. The solution was a Crazy Quilt. With enthusiasm to get started, I went to work on what was sure to be a quick, easy project that would solve all my problems. Precious fabric would be used up and my storage problems solved. I sorted my fabric in a very scientific manner: Chickens (yes, I have lots of chicken fabric so this had to be a separate catagory), large pieces, medium pieces, small pieces and those too small to do much with pieces. The to small to do much with went into a small plastic bin. The entire quilt top had to come from that bin and no other fabric was to be included. I have never made a crazy quilt, but how hard can it be? Cut up fabric, sew back together, layer, quilt, bind and in no time at all you have a new quilt. I now know why this is called a crazy quilt. One must be crazy to start on such a project. I am not sure if I went about it the right way but, two years later, I am still working on this quick and easy project. I have 20 more inches to add to the length and I will probably add some kind of border and call this quilt top done. Final size will be around 80 inches wide by 100 inches long. The picture shows the project as it is now. I hope to have it done in a few weeks and be ready to quilt it this Summer.

Completed Hand Bag Project

Finally finished my handbag project. These are photo's of the final product. The buckrum was difficult to work with but the results were well worth the effort. The bag has a nice sturdy feel but remains flexible and the colors give it a moden trendy look. I will be posting this to Etsy soon.

Coconut Caper

The deep freeze has killed my little coconut palm tree. My husband had found a sprouted coconut at the river's edge and planted it in our yard about three years ago. It had done really well until the recent freeze. I am reminded of one of my trips to Key West. I am sure the Statute of Limitations is far past in the type of crime I am about to confess, so I shall proceed to unlighten my heavy burden. We were driving along the main Key West roadway and I spotted the largest coconut I'd ever seen. It rested peacefully beneath a coconut tree right smack in front of the main entrance to a Motel. I knew it wasn't mine to take but, I had to have that coconut. I begged my Husband to get it for me and he refused. He finally agreed to drive the getaway car. So with nerves of steel, we drove slowly and as close as possibly to the object of our endeavors. Suddenly, I threw open the car door, I felt my legs carrying me accross the perfectly mancured lawn in pursuit of my treasure. I spotted it, bent over and yep grabbed it. Without delay, I ran swiftly back to the car where I slamed the door and yelled GO! and we were off like the wind. Two bandits joyfully escaping with our treasure. Yes, I stole a coconut. This incident is now known as the Great Coconut Caper. I still have the coconut.

Handbag Continued day 3

The cold weather continues but is expected to warm up soon. This is going to be a difficult year for the farmers in this area. I am anxious to return to work but, that may be a few more weeks, depending on how soon tax season picks-up or if it does at all. Until then, I will keep busy with my sewing projects. The good news is that I actually sold something on etsy and I managed to add two more items. Yeah. I have a friend coming over to sew on Friday which should be interesting. Not sure what we will tackle but I'm sure we will have fun. Today I worked on my hand bag project. For those interested, here is the next step in creating this lovely handbag: Adding Lightweight interfacing to various fabric pieces. A total of 14 pieces have lightweight interfacing. They include: Four handle strap pieces(right on pic), outside pocket (bottom). All of the lining pieces (light blue pieces) and the two outside, top piece where the zipper will be added later (top center). Next I will work on the Buckram and fleece interfacing.

Hand Bag Continued

Hello dear readers, yep that means both of you (-:

Today was very cold for South Florida so I spent the day inside. I managed to get my new project under way. I have selected my fabrics from the Forever Love Series by Heidi Grace. The colors are blue, brown and white. Referring to the pic , the light blue will be the lining and inside pocket. The spotted dark brown will the the outside bottom and sides, with the lighter white/brown fabric being the main outside front, back and top of bag. The small dark brown piece, in the center, will be the outside pocket and the long narrow brown pieces will be the strapes. There are eight pattern pieces and 18 total fabric pieces to assemble.

I am sure you are anxiously awaiting the next step so I will give you a hint. It involves Interfacing. woo hoo. I know you are eager, but you will have to check back tomorrow to see what happens...until then happy sewing.

Hand Bag Project

I am starting a new sewing project. I have chosen a cute Simplicity handbag pattern. The pattern is designed for three different sizes, Sm, Med & Large. I chose the medium size. It consists of 4 contrasting fabrics, light interfacing, fleece interfacing, buckram, and a 10" zipper. The Buckram (a stiff interfacing which will give the bag a nice shape) was hard to find locally so I mail ordered it. The pattern called for a 12" zipper and then stated to cut two inches off, not wanting to cut a good zipper, I mail ordered a 10" Handbag zipper with a larger pull. This should be a fun project. Check back in a few days as I will chart my progress in my next blog.

Good Friends

We are blessed to have great friends with big hearts. Our friend, Don, graciously gave up a day and helped us retile part of our shower and fixed a mess caused by a leak. We couldn't have done it without him. We took him and his wife to a seafood lunch today and as a treat I fixed one of Don's favorite desserts. I call it Chocolate Delight. It consists of four layers of yummy goodness:

Layer one: 1 Cup self-rising flour, 1 stick butter, not margarine, 1 cup chopped pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar. Blend all and press in bottom of 13X9 pan. Bake for 10 to 15 min. Remove from oven and let cool

Layer two: 8 oz cream cheese, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/2 of 13 oz cool whip

Beat cream cheese and sugar together, add cool whip, mix well, spread on top of layer 1, crust.

Layer three: 2 pkg (small) instant chocolate pudding; 2 1/2 cups milk

Beat together untill thickened, a few minutes

Spread on top of layer two, cream cheese

Note: for thicker chocolate layer use 3 boxes of pudding and 3 3/4 cup milk

Fourth layer: top with remaining cool whip and sprinkle with chopped pecans if desired.

Enjoy!

Soup on a cold day

mmmm. hot soup on a cold day.
Here is how I made my vegetable beef soup in a large crock pot
In Crock-Pot add:
28oz can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato sauce and 1 can water
1 package frozen mixed vegies 16oz add more if you want
2 beef cubes
1 to 1.5 lb lean ground beef..brown before putting in crock-pot
1 to 1.5 lb beef tips...I cut each piece in half but not necessary
cook all day on low yummmm.
add anything to your taste

My Sister

My sister has asked that I post about her. (yes, she actually asked me to talk about her) so here goes. She is two years, minus six days, older than me. We have always gotten along very well except on those occasions when she misbehaved. I, on the other hand, have never misbehaved (cough, choke). I have always looked up to her from the very beginning of our time on this lovely planet and thank God often for her in my life, as well as, my other siblings. I honestly cannot imagine my life without them. Before my dear sis gets to full of herself, I will just mention an old memory. I had a small stuffed tiger that I dearly loved. Once in the middle of the night, I realized the wisker's fell out of his little stuffed head. All in tears, I went to my big sis, woke her from a sound sleep and asked her to "fix" my dear tiger. Without complaint, she proceeded to try to stuff the wiskers back in the poor tiger's head. I don't believe her efforts worked but I was satisified she did all she could do. (-: Now, with Christmas just past, I will share a few ornaments she has given me, which adorn my tree every year. The little red skates, she made herself, I have a second pair in green. I love birds so she sent me a bird, nest and three eggs. I ususally drop the eggs and as they are rolling around beneath the tree with me in fast pursuit, I silently thank my dear sis for the birdnest ornament. The third is a Christmas Porcupine, I have no comment on that one, I just consider where it came from. Love you sis.

My First Post

I have finally surrendered to the Blogging craze and established this blog. My husband and a friend re-tiled our shower today. It had started leaking and needed to be repaired. While the men worked, I had fun using my sewing machine. I made a small camara case with a long handle. A friend and neighbor came by for a visit and we made a small phone case for her. She then took my camara case for her daughter. (-: I am glad my afternoon of sewing went to good use. My neighbor and I had a great afternoon of creating. No day is wasted when one has time to create. I also had time to add two new items to my etsy account at CypressHollowGifts.