EPP by machine getting easier!

I think I like it! This little piece, which I think will be turned into a table mat, took me about 5 hours to complete. That includes cutting and basting all the hexies, piecing the flower motifs and then sewing them all together with the border. I don't think 5 hours is so bad for this.

Once I got the hang of it, it went much faster. **Note to self: Next time, graph my design out and piece in strips rather than flowers.** In this machine pieced method, I think it would have been much easier to assemble that way. It's just so much fun, though, to see a bunch of flowers put together. I'm glad I now have an alternative to hand sewing my hexies. I still prefer the look of the hand pieced, but if I have to make a quick gift, this is the way to go.

I don't think the stitches are as noticable as they appear in the photo. I think the light from the flash just picked up the monofilament thread. I tried using cotton thread in a sample piece but it was too noticable. I could match the thread to the petals but when it came time to sew around the center yellow hexagon, the colored thread was too much, so I decided to stick with the clear monofilament.

Please let me know if you try doing it this way. I'd love to know how it worked out!

English Paper Piecing By Machine

Today I received my copy of English Paper Piecing By Machine by Julie Higgins. I bought it from an Amazon.com I have no idea why this book is selling for up to $170.00! I was fortunate enough to buy a new copy for less than $10.00!

Anyway, given my new obsession with hexies, I could not wait to get this book. Like me, although this author liked to English paper piece by hand, she wondered if it could be done by machine. I really like the projects shown in this book and I went to work right away to see if I could do it. She happens to whipstitch the pieces together with right sides facing, just as you'd do it by hand, except she does it on her machine. I didn't like the way mine looked because with this method the thread was very visible. I tried it with monofilament thread but because I had to remove the piece from the machine after sewing each joining seam, the monofilament unraveled.

In the end, I decided to assemble the flowers my own way, which is not covered in the book, by butting the pieces together and sewing them flat with a narrow width (2.5 to 3.0) zig-zag stitch with a length of 1.4. I tried them with both right sides facing up and wrong sides facing up. I prefer to sew them with right sides facing up so that the monofilament is coming off of the spool and the regular cotton thread is in the bobbin. This produces the result in picture #4 and in the flower on the right-hand side in the examples below. The flowers on the left-hand side were assembled by hand, the traditional way.

The result was just satisfactory but I did enjoy the speed by which I could put a flower together (about 20 minutes). I will have to experiment more. I think the book is very inspirational and the projects are certainly do-able with this method.

The Tiger Who Came To Tea

Football camp then Hawaii, woohoo!

My oldest son left for football camp in Utah this morning. He will come back on Thursday and then Friday night we head for the airport for our early morning flight to Hawaii. I'm not getting excited yet. I usually don't until I start to pack, which I always leave until the last minute. I try to make a list ahead of time so it's just a matter of gathering things together, then I pack my list in the suitcase so I don't forget to bring anything home with me. My mom has requested that I bring her some Chicharrones from a Mexican meat market or carniceria that she likes here. Yes, they make Chicharrones in Hawaii but they are more expensive and she wants a bunch. In fact, my cousin, John, who came here and made me some pinacbet, has also requested I bring some for him, along with dried cherries from Trader Joe's. It seems that they are hard to come by (or are too expensive) in Hawaii. A friend at work makes cookies with them and he wants her to make some for him. At least he promised to let me taste them!

I know Anthony is just less than 2 hours away but I miss him. Chris is excited because he gets me all to himself. This is Anthony's last high school football camp and I'm pretending that this is how I'm going to feel when he leaves for college. I don't like this feeling! Can you imagine that he doesn't want to go to Hawaii with me? He wants to hang out with his friends here for the summer. I told him that any of his friends would love the chance to go to Hawaii and that he's only going to be there for 12 days before he has to come home for football practice. This may be the last time I can get him to Hawaii with me as I don't know where he'll be after graduation. I'm hoping he can get accepted at the University of Hawaii so I can make more excuses to visit my family, yet if he goes to the University of Nevada, Reno or even University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I'd be happy to get to see him more often. I just hope he gets in somewhere as his grades aren't the greatest and he hasn't taken the SATs or ACT yet so we don't know what scores we're dealing with. Oh my son! Sometimes I want to smack him for not taking school more seriously! Now that he's going to be a senior he can see what we've been trying to drill into him for years, but I'm afraid it's too late. I know I'm not fun to be around sometimes as I usually get on the subject of school and then it turns into lecture hall, but as a mom, I only want what's best for him.

On the needles/hook? I've been crocheting more pot holders as this is so relaxing to me at night. I've been trying to set more time aside to work on my hexies but the crochet has been winning out. I even went to my opthalmologist to get a different contact lens for my right eye so that I don't have to wear my reading glasses so much anymore. I'm used to the change in vision that the two different lenses cause temporarily. I used to feel a bit nauseous when I first put my lenses in but now I don't. It's great.

Weenie Hut Jr.

The other day, the kids and I were watching Spongebob Squarepants and this episode came on. I remarked how much my little one, Chris, looked like one of the fish in the Weenie Hut Jr., the one with the braces and glasses. Of course, he took offense, and I don't blame him. I think it's pretty cool. I love my Chris!!!!!!!

Hot Pads

I saw these two hot pad patterns and just had to try them. They both look way more difficult than they actually are. In fact, once you make one of each you've basically memorized the patterns.

Here is the pattern for the flower shaped Starburst Hot Pad.
The assembly video is a must see as the pattern is not well written.


Here is the pattern for the Crochet Flower Hot Pad.

If you are a Ravelry member, you can see more great examples of both of these!

Richard Armitage is bringing sexy back!

Found this fan vid on YouTube, of course!

I first became aware of Richard Armitage from watching the final two episodes of the Vicar of Dibley, which was one of my favorite British comedies, starring Dawn French as the vicar. I then saw him in a BBC miniseries called North & South. He is one very handsome man! Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so. He looks like he coule be the UK's answer to Hugh Jackman. His fan base is kindof freakish in their demonstrations of admiration as evidenced by the following clip. Enjoy!:

Whack-A-Kitty

Have a great weekend!

Canned and good to go!

After doing my research on canning/preserving, I ran out to the store this morning and bought some 1/2 pint canning jars, which I think are a much more manageable size for my marmalade. I reheated the marmalade and sterilized my jars and rings, etc. I followed the instructions here. The coolest thing is hearing the little "popping" sound the lids make when they seal as they're cooling. I knew I was on the right track then. The only bad thing is that I think I lost some of that pretty pink color (it darkened a bit) when I reheated it. I'll do better next time for sure. I canned 5 jars and put the remainder in the fridge to enjoy now. All I have to do is figure out who I'll share these goodies with.

Pink Grapefruit Marmalade

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to find a jar of Elsa's Story Pink Grapefruit Preserves at Home Goods. I think I paid under $6.00 for it. It was amazing! I was hooked and immediately wanted to make some for myself. Only problem was that I had never made preserves or marmalade before and didn't know how to proceed. I Googled for recipes and when I found this one on Recipezaar.com, it sounded too good to be true. Too easy! I figured I had nothing to lose but a couple of grapefruit and some sugar. I happened to be watching the final season of Ballykissangel on DVD and one of the episodes involved a jam making competition. That was the impetus I needed to get off my butt and make the marmalade. Since I altered the recipe and process a little, I'll post the recipe here so I don't forget what I did.

Pink Grapefruit Marmalade

3 red grapefruit
1 kilo white sugar
6 tbsps. Realemon lemon juice

Place grapefruit in pressure cooker and add enough water to cover fruit halfway. Cook on high pressure 40 minutes. Release pressure and remove fruit to a large bowl with a large spoon so as not to lose any pulp. Cut fruit with a fork and knife into small pieces. Add lemon juice. Pour cut fruit into a large pot and add sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. If you have a thermometer, bring to jel stage or 220 degrees. I did not have a thermometer so I just had faith that it would turn out.

Since I made this marmalade on the spur of the moment, I didn't think enough ahead to get some canning jars so I made a quick dash to the store and bought some pint containers. I figured that whomever I gave the marmalade to would just have to consume it all within 3 weeks or risk food poisoning. I was assured by one friend that this wouldn't be a problem and after tasting it, I am sure it won't be!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Glue stick basted hexagons

I thought I blogged about this already but I guess it must have been a dream. I've been making my hexagons like this lately for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's much faster than basting with needle and thread and secondly, my eyesight isn't what it used to be. I've realized that I need reading glasses to see what I'm doing, especially since I am making such small stitches and using needles with tiny eyes. Also, I don't see too well when I'm up at 2:00 a.m. trying to sew! I don't sleep well at all these days. In fact, I have to be completely exhausted in order to fall asleep and stay that way. I'm thinking it might be the dreaded "change of life". Anyway, back to the glue stick basting...in case you're concerned that it will be difficult to remove the papers once the hexagons are sewn together, don't be. They release just fine! I honestly haven't come across a reason not to do it this way, especially since the glue will come off in the wash and the glue sticks are readily available in any drug store and are very inexpensive! Try it, you'll like it.

My new computer

My husband thinks he's pretty slick. He went behind my back and bought me a new notebook to replace the one that died. It's pretty nice but as with any new computer, you have to get used to a different keyboard.

I'm having fun playing with it. I still haven't looked at the manual, so I don't yet know what I'm missing.

I'm still plugging away at my hexagon flowers. I am now up to 3 colors, purple, pink, and teal. They all have the same yellow centers so although they're different, they work together. I only have 22 flowers put together so far but I've been steadily making at least 2 per day. I'm also testing the washable glue stick method of basting. Much faster but I don't know how great it will be when it comes time to remove the papers. The glue really sticks!

I also made a little zippered wristlet upon which I've appliqued a teacup. I just wish I put in a layer of batting or interfacing to give it a little structure, but then again, I really didn't think it would turn out.

My first Tim Tam and a tuna casserole recipe

OMG! These biscuits are to die for! Steph and I stopped by the British Grocers store on Decatur/Twain this afternoon for a look-see as we had never been there before. We were used to getting our stuff at International Marketplace but were curious. They had all kinds of goodies but we found the prices of their products to be quite high. I understand that as a small store they can't buy as much as International Marketplace and keep their prices down. I did love their selection, however, and will be back. They carry frozen bangers, crumpets, scones, and other yummies as well as dry goods. Having heard about the delicious Tim Tam biscuits, I just had to get some. I also bought a couple of small bags of Smokey Bacon flavored crisps for Chris (whose favorite food in the world is bacon).

If you don't like tuna casserole, please look away now.





What do you do when you look at the clock and realize it's 7:30 pm and you haven't cooked dinner yet? I made tuna casserole!

1 16 oz pkg elbow macaroni
1 10 3/4 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 10 3/4 oz can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 soup can full of milk
2 6 oz cans tuna
2 cups shredded cheese (I used Fiesta blend)
salt & pepper to taste

Cook macaroni according to package directions, though I like to cook mine a little longer. Drain and set aside. Combine the rest of the ingredients except the cheese. Stir to blend completely. Add cooked macaroni and stir. Add cheese and stir to blend completely. Serve as is or transfer to a greased casserole dish, top with crushed Ritz crackers and melted butter and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until bubbly. I didn't have crackers on hand and we were to hungry to wait for that anyway. I served mine with homemade dinner rolls. A salad would have been good, too.

Framed hexagons - quilt-as-you-go

Yesterday, my fabulous husband made me a couple of Lexan hexagon templates. Okay, I hounded him until he made them to shut me up.

I saw some projects that people made with this framed hexagon technique and just had to try it, particularly since it's quilt-as-you-go. I found the instructions and templates at OzQulits.com. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't have patience to wait for things and I especially didn't want to wait for a couple of templates to come all the way from Australia. Besides, for what purpose is my 3-car garage filled to the hilt with power tools of all sorts other than to make whatever I desire? Ha! (and that's not exactly what he'd say if I told my husband that!) Anyway, the templates for sale were 5" and 7" but I wanted them to be 6" and 8". "No problem", he says, and these are what he made for me. In fact, after seeing the completed hexies, he offered to make me a 10" template. See why I love him?

He made these templates from 1/8" Lexan (similar to plexiglas) so I can just position them over my fabric and rotary cut them. So quick! Also, because they're clear, I can fussy cut the fabrics if I want. I may offer a set on my Etsy shop to see if anyone else wants one.

I must tell you that like any sewing project, pressing is absolutely essential. I tried to do one without pressing and it was not pretty. Also, I found that for me, a small (1.8 L X 3.4 W) zigzag stitch was much easier for me to handle than a straight stitch. I really didn't have the desire to hand stitch these. I will, however, whipstitch them together by hand when I'm ready to connect them. I can get 8 of these hexies from one fat quarter for the front motif. I'm not sure how much of the backing fabric I've used. This is a fun little project and I can see these turning into a table runner. On their own, they make cute coasters.

Hexagon quilting - English paper piecing

The other night I saw some hexagon quilts and found them to be so pretty. I don't really want to undertake that kind of endeavor at the moment but still want to make something with these pretty little English paper pieced hexagons. I saw that some people turned them into coasters, purses, placemats, etc. I also wanted some handwork to take with me while hanging out with my friends at our weekly get together. These were perfect to work on! I adapted one of the little wallets I made into a mini sewing kit. It held everything I needed: templates, scissors, needles, pins, bobbins full of thread, and fabric strips. So neat and tidy and takes up as much room as my cell phone. Since the picture was taken, I have added a magnetic strip up the middle to hold my pins and needle while I'm sewing. I have lost one needle in Bernie's keyboard already and almost lost a needle a couple of times while sewing in my recliner. That wouldn't have ended well.

I appliqued one of the flowers to a hot pad but in a moment of "not-so-brightness" used monofilament thread! Yikes! I can still use it but have to turn it over and put the hot object on the back side so as not to melt the thread. Can you say, "Duh"!!?? I plan to make coasters as well as a table runner. These projects are very quick and so satisfying. I've seen the flowers appliqued to tote bags and jeans as well. Now I just have to figure out how I want to back them and I'll be good-to-go.

I also wanted to show the method I use to baste and piece these motifs. Some people pierce the paper when they baste. I do not. This way, I can reuse the same template several times. This example is the fourth motif I've made with the same set of templates. Thrifty or lazy? I found these templates online but I have since made my own using Microsoft Word. I tried printing on cardstock because I thought they'd last longer, however, I think I like regular printer paper instead for ease of removal. Keep watching to see where these little flowers end up!

Computerless!

I've been wanting to blog for awhile now but I am on my husband's desktop. My laptop is dead. I had a Gateway that was about 4.5 years old and was working just fine, especially since Bernie wiped the hard drive for me and we re-installed all my stuff. It ran so much faster without the extraneous crap on it. I went to turn it on a week and a half ago and the "on/off" button was stuck. We called the computer guy who came and fixed Bernie's laptop a couple of weeks earlier and he couldn't get the cover off while at my house so he took it home. Long story short: it would cost about 1/3 of what he thinks it's worth to fix it. No matter that we paid $1300 for it when we got it. He thinks I can find a comparable one for about $400. Maybe, but who wants comparable when I can get BETTER! In fact, I saw one the other day for about $600. Wow! I had no idea what is out there for the price! I'll be getting another laptop soon, when I can be assured the purchase won't leave us hurting, after the mortgage, bills, groceries, and other necessities are paid for. In the meantime, I can use Bernie's or Chris' computers.

What have I been working on? More potholders in that double-thick crochet pattern, some reverse applique coasters, padded paperback book covers, magnetic bookmarkers, and small bifold wallets. I even made myself a new tea wallet tonight. Sounds like a lot and it is, but I've been having fun. I love my book covers! I used to make them years ago, before I knew my way around a sewing machine. They were ugly but functional. I used to make them out of quilted placemats back then. The new ones are so pretty, especially with matching bookmarkers. The bookmarkers are quick and easy and I can dig into my scrap bag and find enough fabric for several. I've given a few as gifts already. I have really enjoyed the reverse applique coasters. I've been wanting to teach myself the different techniques for applique and this one was first. I found a tutorial on The Sometimes Crafter and they looked so easy I just had to try them. Mine turned out just too cute! I have already given away two sets. One set I liked in particular because I used Chris' old blue jeans as the main fabric and appliqued a hawaiian print to them. They were a gift to a friend who loves Hawaii. I'll make those again! Too bad I didn't get pictures of those! I think for my next foray into applique, I'll try this technique from A Few Scraps' blog. I don't use disposable fabric softener sheets anymore but I saved some of my used disposables for just this purpose. I hope to be able to post pictures soon.

Saturday morning tea

Double thick single crochet potholders

This past Monday, a very nice lady approached me when she noticed one of my crocheted flowers. I gave one to her and in exchange she showed me a stitch I had never come across in my 35+ years of crocheting! It is made by crocheting into the back loop of the current row and a loop of the previous row at the same time. This produces a single crocheted piece that is double in thickness compared to a regular single crochet. She then gave me 3 potholders that she crocheted this way. How nice! I was happy to share my treasures with Leah and Steph. Unfortunately, mine now sits next to my chair, partially dismembered because I forgot how the potholder was made by the time I got home. Thank God for the sample because now I can share it with you!

Mine is made with a size "H" crochet hook and two colors of Lily Sugar 'N Cream cotton.

Chain 26. Turn and single crochet in the 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, which makes 25 single crochets. At the end of every row, ch 1 then turn.

From here to the end of the potholder, put hook into the back loop of the current row and the corresponding loop from the row below. Make sure you continue to have 25 sts every row. I found the last stitch to be the most difficult to make because the stitch from the previous row is a bit tight.

When the piece is of the desired length, you will put the hook in the the two loops as usual, however, you will make a slip stitch instead of a single crochet. This will finish off the top of the piece nicely. Create a hanging loop if desired by chaining 7 or 8 and attaching next to beginning chain. Chain 1, turn and single crochet into the loop. Fasten off and weave in ends.

I did some baking this weekend and this potholder was sufficiently thick to protect my hands from the heat.

Sewing on Friday, yippee!

What do you do when you have two kids at home sick? Well, I spent a few hours sewing! The big kid had an upset tummy and the little one is getting over the flu. They were both parked in front of their TVs and didn't even notice I was in another room.

I've been wanting to make something out of these quilt squares I bought last summer when I was back home in Hawaii. The obvious thing would have been a quilt but I wasn't in the mood to devote that much time and I really have been wanting to make a runner for my coffee table anyway. I chose to make it very simple, using just three of the five prints available in my pack, backing it with microfleece and choosing to turn and topstitch rather than sew a binding on it. Also, as far as quilting it, I chose to machine tie it. I thought it might be neat to tie buttons on every intersection but it would have created an uneven surface upon which to rest a drink and I didn't want that.

After I finished with my table runner, I decided to make a little runner for the boys' bathroom to place their toiletries upon. Anthony vetoed it but as soon as he's not home I'll get my way!

Next, I wanted to treat myself to what was left of my Mary Englebreit fabric. I had made some pads for my Etsy shop out of it and always loved it because of the teacups and teapots, but hadn't made anything out of it for myself. I had just enough for two new pads and a matching zippered pouch. I love them! I swear, next time I see this fabric, I'm buying a few more yards of it and treat myself to a few more things.