Food this time!

I've been knitting and am done with the scarf and fingerless glove, but haven't taken pictures yet.  Yesterday, however, I decided to make some Cinnamon Rolls!  Todd gave me Pioneer Woman's Cookbook for Christmas (YAY!) and she has a recipe for them in it that's supposed to be really good.  Yesterday, however, I decided to use our family recipe.  First I tried to make the dough in the bread machine, but it's too big of a recipe, so had to finish it with the mixer.  Anyway, I decided to snap pictures of the finished projects.  :D




Pictures aren't great because I used my small camera, but they taste really good!  Still not quite like when my Mom makes them, but still good.  Maybe I roll them out too thin, not sure.

I'm thinking of next time use PW's recipe and see which one I like the best.

I took a quick trip to Michael's the day after Christmas because they had most of their yarn on sale, so I bought 6 skeins (2 skeins each of 3 different kind/color).  I also had to get some Christmas stuff that was 50% off.  And I bought a set of 12 holiday wine glasses (with gold on the rim) at Target for 50% off - $7.50!!!  They will go great with the china we brought home from Todd's grandma's house in IL.

So I've started another scarf - this one white.  I'm using the circular knitting needles again - I really like them.

After all of our Christmas celebrations are done, I'll have another post to show what I made for Megan and Kate.

Tomorrow is New Year's eve, everyone have a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Shawl is done!

I finally decided the shawl is long enough, so finished it the other day.  I've been reading online about "blocking" knitted things, so thought I'd try it.  It is usually done (I think) for lacy things so you can see more detail, but I wanted to try it to stretch it out, so we'll see if it works.  Years ago when Todd bought my craft table for me from Craigslist, it came with a large cardboard thing and I finally used it!  It really worked great for the blocking, because it's marked every inch and I used lots of pins.  Then I sprayed it with lots of plain water,so I hope it works.  Anyway, I snapped a couple of pictures.







It measures 11 inches wide by 68 inches long.  I set it under the ceiling fan in the office, so hopefully it won't take too long to dry.  It's going to be really nice when it's colder outside!  (Yesterday it was 82 here, but Christmas is supposed to be in the 50's.)

I also finished a couple other craft projects, but they are Christmas gifts, so can't be posted yet.  Once they are given out in January, I'll post them.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

I can't believe it's almost Christmas!

Wow, where has the time gone?  I've been busy - we traveled to Nebraska for Thanksgiving.  That was a lot of fun and I've posted about that on my personal blog .

I did complete another quilt - this one is for our step-grandson.  He wasn't in the family yet when I started quilting and made the rest of the grandkids quilts (which reminds me, I need to make one for McKenna!).  I had already purchased fabric from Wal-Mart a long time ago and it's the same as the other Split Rail Quilts I made.  Unfortunately, I didn't have quite enough for the inside border to be the same, so I had to improvise.  Here's the finished quilt:

I need to figure out how to label it yet.  The other ones I made printed off labels on the fabric paper that I used for picture pillows, but I'm not  sure if they hold up very well.  Since I now have my MIL's Bernina, I think I'll stitch a label, just something quick, but that's all I'll need to do.   I machine quilted this with clear thread, but the back didn't turn out very well, but it will have to do. (I'm not going to post a picture of the back since I'm not happy with it.)

I've also been knitting and a little crochet.   Before Thanksgiving, I decided I wanted a shawl and had a few patterns at home, so I bought some pretty yarn - Lion Brand Homespun Barley is what I decided on.  I actually finished it while in Nebraska, but then decided I wanted to make it wider and longer, so after we got home, I ripped it out and I'm starting again.
This is where I was on it a week ago:

I've added to it since then, but still not to the size I want, so I'm still working on it.

Something else I decided I want to make are Fingerless Gloves.  I have a couple pair of them sewn out of fleece, but wanted to make some out of yarn.  The first one I did was crocheted, made out of the same yarn the shawl is: (Found the pattern on the internet)




I only made one and it's a little bulky, so wanted to try knitting one.   I didn't have a pattern for these, so made it up as I went.



Still not happy with this one, either, so tried it with a different yarn.




 That was better, but still not quite what I wanted.

So I went out last week and purchased some circular knitting needles.  These let you knit a tube.  This was the first try - it took me a while to figure it out but I sat down one morning and found a picture tutorial online and figured it out.


Showing the circular needles:


That was much better, but it turned out too big.  Yesterday we were at Wal-Mart and I decided ot buy some more circular needles, but in a smaller size.
And yesterday I made this:




MUCH better!  So I've started the second one, but need to finish the shawl to figure out how much yarn I have left.

So that's what I've been working on lately.

Friday I had a nice surprise - we were at Todd's work Christmas Party and I received an email from etsy that someone purchased another item!!  YAY!!!!
Melissa in Aurora, CO purchased one of my fabric book covers, so I'm stopping at the Post Office on the way to work to put it in the mail.

My sister also opened an Etsy shop last night, so if anyone is interested in Stained Glass pieces, she does GREAT work!  Her etsy shop, and her website.
This is a Christmas ornament she gave me:

And while I'm promoting other people's work, my step-daughter, Megan, had a blog about the items she crochets, so here's the link to that.  (She does great work, too!  Really cute items for babies.)  And her Facebook page.  Too late for Christmas, but winter's not officially here yet!!!

I needed something to organize my earrings,

so tried making something to hold them.  I saw something on craftster, another one so the last time I was at Hobby Lobby, I remembered to get a sheet of plastic - I think it's used for cross stitch.  I think it was 49 cents.  Anyway, I knew I needed to be able to get to the front and back of it, this is what I came up with:



I hung it next to the dresser and mirror where I keep the rest of my jewelry, and it's really nice to have all my earrings handy.  I probably should have made it a little smaller so I could at least put a frame around it, but it's fine for me.

I did start another quilt, this one for our step-grandson, Dom.  It will be for him for Christmas.  I thought I had taken a picture of the quilt top, but apparently I didn't.  I'll have to take a picture when it's done, I've started quilting it (machine quilting so I get it done before Christmas).

I'm organizing my Photobucket account,

so if you see any pictures that are missing, please send me an email or comment on the post and I'll correct them.

Thanks!!!!

No, I haven't stopped sewing.....

Just haven't take time to update my blog for a while.  After the tablecloth was done, I decided I wanted to have some place mats to use so the tablecloth won't get dirty right away.  I had some fabric left over so used it to make place mats.

I made two of each of these:

And yesterday I decided I needed another wallet, so decided to make one to match my purse (of course, lol).  It took me ALL DAY, but I designed one that had everything I wanted - mainly a zippered pocket for bills and coins, enough slots for debit cards, etc, and a pen holder.  This is what I came up with:

 Drivers license

So now my set includes:  purse, coin purse, kleenex holder, cosmetic bag, laptop bag, wallet (this one), travel wallet, credit card holder, sunglass holder, book cover, notebook cover and a few other small pouches to hold things in in my purse.  But I still have some fabric left, so we'll see what else I make!! :D

I've also started working on the quilt I made for our bed again.  I've found Nel's (MIL) sewing machine quilts much better with the walking foot than my machine with the walking foot.  Hopefully it will be done soon, but here is the picture I took today.

Happy Veterans Day, everyone!  Take time to thank a veteran for their service to this country!

Tablecloth is done!

I finally finished the tablecloth!  I really shouldn't say finally finished, it really only took me three weeks.
I decided to machine quilt it, so worked on it all day yesterday and finished about 9 pm last night.  The machine quilting took about 7 hours, but I'm happy with how it came out!  Whoever invented the walking foot for a sewing machine is pure genius!!!  It works so well and makes the quilting very easy.  The worst part of machine quilting the tablecloth was all the turning I had to do.  Anyway, on with the pictures!




 I've worked on a couple placemats, but don't like how they came out, so I'll have to keep working on them.  I didn't cut the binding for the outside on the bias, and that makes them not lay flat.  As soon as I get some done that I'm happy with, I'll post them.

Back to the tablecloth - as intricate as the pattern looks, it really was pretty easy to make. I'm tossing around the idea of making another one so we have two to change out, but really should finish one of the other projects.  Nel's machine quilts so much better than my machine, so I may work on the quilt I started years ago for our bed and quit hand-quilting it and machine quilt it instead.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

A new project!

Since we brought home a round table from Todd's grandma's house, I didn't have any tablecloths that fit well.  We brought a couple home with the table, but they are small.  So last weekend I decided I wanted to make a quilted round tablecloth.  I searched online and found this.   What made me think I could do it, I'm not sure.  The video just made it seem so easy, but later when I really sat down to look at the finished product, I started second-guessing my abilities (lol).  All the corners and everything started to scare me.  But I went to JoAnn's on Sunday.  It's so hard to pick out the fabrics!  I was worried about one of the reds.  Anyway, I started working on it.   I took it to work on Monday and pinned the pieces together, and that worked really well.  (I have a hard time taking the time to pin things when I'm sitting in front of the sewing machine,)   I had to make the boarders pretty large because the table top is 48 inches across, but I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.



This is just the top, I need to make the sandwich, then I'm going to quilt it with transparent thread.  I'm hoping the quilting will smooth things out.

I'll post pictures when it's done.

Another Project - this one for church

Every year the major fundraiser for our church is "Wurstbraten"

Todd and I always help and are going to again, and for the past three years, I've sewn stuff for the "Country Store".  One year I made a purse, one year I made reusable shopping bags, last year I made some baked potato bags, so while we were at church yesterday morning, I was trying to figure out what I'd make this year.  The bulletin for the service had this on the front:


I got looking at it and wondered if I could do something with it.  Got home and started going through all my fabric and started playing with stuff.  This was my rough-draft:


And this morning I finished it into a pillow!  (I'm thinking of sewing about 1/2 inch around it so it fits the pillow better, but haven't decided yet.)


The nice thing was I didn't have to buy anything for it - all the fabric I had from things I bought or what I brought home from Falls City last year, and the pillow was something we brought home last year.  I also used Nel's sewing machine for the wording on the bottom. (Took me FOREVER to get it just right.)

I hope someone enjoys it!

Chair is DONE!!!!

Yesterday I received the upholstery supplies I ordered online, and was glad I didn't need to work today.  So the day was spent working on the chair and it's DONE!!!  YAY!!!

It took me all day long! (Remember this is the first thing I've ever recovered.)  And I only had to make one trip to WalMart to get more staples, nails and tacks.

Here is the before:


And After with the ottoman:


 Here is the ottoman before:


and after:

I'm not sure where it's going to go for sure, but for now I put it in the living room in place of the glider:

 I'm pretty happy with the way they came out - especially since it was my first try!

Now I'll have to find something else to keep me busy when I'm not working.  Maybe another trip to the thrift store???

Ottoman is DONE!!!!

I ended up not working today, so decided to work on the ottoman.  Yesterday I had taken it all apart and cut out the fabric, so today all I had to do was sew it (easier said than done).

At first I thought it had not been recovered, but found out it had been.

The bottom layer had the top as a pillow, not just smashed on like the green fabric.  So I decided, of course, to recover it as it was originally done and not the "easy" way like the green fabric was.

This was the bottom fabric - I imagine it was very pretty when it was new:


So this is the "before":

And "after":    I had to re-do the bottom twice because I goofed it up the first time.


It's not the best, but I'm pretty happy with it.    I think it will go well with the chair once it's done.  I have the supplies ordered, so as soon as they get here I'll try to get it finished. (And I still need to put the cambric on the bottom, and that's part of what I ordered.)  I really had fun doing it - give me a nice sense of accomplishment!

Now I'll just have to figure out where to put them in the house once they are done.

The Chair is coming along......

I finally had some time to work on the wing-back chair I bought last year.  I had done the cushion a few weeks ago,  but today I finally sat down to sew a couple of the pieces and put them on the chair.  I broke down and bought an electric staple gun and that made things A LOT easier.

Here's the progress so far:

Front:


Side:


Back:


Other side:


Front with cushion:

It looks a little wonky because I just threw the cushion on, I'm hoping it will look better once it's all done and I steam it.

That's all I can do for now, I need to order the ply-grip and a few other things.

One of the things we brought home from Todd's Grandma's house was an ottoman, so I went to get more fabric and will recover it with the same fabric.  I think they will look good!


I guess I can start taking it apart while I wait for the supplies to get here to finish the chair.
 I'd LOVE to hear comments!

Excited! Can't wait to use this!

Last week we went to Pleasant Hill, IL to clean out Todd's grandmother's house.  She passed away last year and the house is getting ready to be sold, so the family all went last week/weekend to get what we wanted.  Todd and I had purchased a 6x12 trailer for the trip and came home with it FULL!!!!!  Among the other treasures we brought home was an old sewing machine.




I haven't tried it out or looked at it very close, but I'm excited to try it out.  This will be my "work horse" - the older machines are made of metal, so they don't break like new ones do.  The Kenmore I have is made of plastic and I've broken a few of the parts and had to replace them.

I'm going to update my personal blog with more pictures of things we brought home.  You can find it here.

Since I worked this afternoon,

I spent a few hours this morning working on the chair.  I have all the fabric off!!!!  This is how it looks now:

The frame of the chair is in really good shape, so I won't have to do any repairs on it or replace any springs.  The next step is to use the pieces I took off as pattern pieces for the new fabric!
This is what Todd and I decided to use:

I'm not working tomorrow, so I should have time to work on it.  The only other things I have planned for tomorrow are to go see "Eat, Pray, Love" (Kate gave me the book for Christmas last year and I finished reading it before we left on the cruise) and I have to be home after 3 pm for a "special delivery" we're getting from Home Depot. **happy dance!!!**