Tag Archives: sewing

Happy New Year!!!

Wow, I have been blogging for one year! Although it has been quarterly for the latter part of the year due to the craziness that is life.

Christmas was a blast, and I celebrated a milestone birthday in the same week. I made my nieces and nephews reading pillows over the past few months. They are 18 inch pillows with a pocket on the pillowcase and handles. They can hold books or electronics and make a comfy addition to traveling. Here is a photo:

I also made this cute Penquin pillow for my kids’ bus driver. I used a multicolor thread for quilting it. The pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman. I just love all her animal patterns.

I also made some other teacher gifts. I made these cute little mug rugs that look like coffee/cocoa cups. The block was a free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop. I bagged them with a disposable coffee cup, some coffee and hot cocoa for a special treat.

As you can see Cinnimon the mini chonk cat approves.

I took two weeks off a Christmas from quilting to clean and organize my sewing supplies and just enjoy my family. I am ashamed to say that I was this years old when I discovered the Container Store online website. I found some very decorative storage bins to store my fabric without looking to messy. They also look great on my shelves as opposed to clear plastic containers. Here are a few shots of my sewing area aka my bedroom while it was clean. Since Christmas it has gotten only slightly messy. I plan to do a bi weekly tidy to put away fabric scraps and keep things organized.

I got a great Christmas gift. I actually bought it in October on sale and saved it for Christmas. It is a quilting frame that I can use with my own machine and kind of turn it into a long arm. It is called a Grace Cutie. I tried it out yesterday and it is awesome. I can use pantographs just like a pro long warmer. I just need to practice to get my speed and technique to make the designs cleaner on the quilts. I practiced on a quilt my daughter made for her dolls.

I finished my two block of the months just before the new year. Toes in the Sand came out beautiful and I cant wait to quilt it later this year.

The A Quilting lIfe block of the month also turned out well. I am not in love with the border fabric. I was looking for a navy floral for the border from the fabric line, but since the fabric is out of print now, I was only able to locate the red. To me it feels too loud but it will be a great picnic quilt.

New Years Dinner!! Hopping John from the Instant pot!

I cook Hopping John every year for new years. Its a Black eye pea “stew” that can be served over rice. I usually cook it on the stove in a cast iron dutch oven, but it takes hours and I really didn’t want to spend all day in the kitchen. Here is a quick recipe for it:

Instant Pot Hopping John

1 lb black eyed peas (if dried soaked for 6-8 hours in water then drained)

2 bell papers one green one another color chopped

1 medium onion chopped

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

Salt and pepper

1 quart of chicken broth4

1 smoked ham hock or a few slices of bacon

1 bay leaf

Saute up the onions, and peppers (us can use the saute function on the instant pot). Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Add the peas, ham hock, bay leaf, salt, and chicken stock. If there is not enoiught stock to cover the peas add a few cups of water. Place lid on instant pot and seal valve and select the beans setting with low pressure for 60 minutes.

I hope you all had a magical holiday season. Next week I will show what I will be working on for long-term projects and some new finishes.

Fall breakfast and new finishes.

Greetings yall! I never intended for this blog to be quarterly but it appears it’s running in that direction. Hopefully, life will slow down soon so I can devote some more time to writing about what I love.

So the past 3 months have been crazy to say the least. The good news is the contractors completed the work on my house to repair where the tree had crashed into it. But during that time, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis. I have been feeling off for years. Joint pain that seemed to run in cycles along with inflammation of my digestive system. I am relieved to finally have a diagnosis and a treatment plan to move forward.

The company I have been working for the fall is our busy season, and on top of all the normal life chaos, I have been working 50-plus hours a week. This leaves little time to blog and get on top of my ever-growing quilt project list. But, hopefully, things will slow down, and I can return to my loves.

I have had some finishes, though. Here they are:

I made this Poinsettia Churndash wreath quilt top. Once it is quilted next year, it will adorn my bed in December. It was a pattern in a Fall issue of Quilters World Magazine 2 years ago. I fell in love with the pattern was have had the materials to make it for a year. I finally got to it.

I did make a baby quilt. I have a cousin who is expecting a baby boy, and I whipped this out in time for her baby shower. It has Minky on the back to make it extra soft.

I also completed the Summer sew along with Caliope quilts using Art East Patterns. The goats were really fun to make but also very intricate with small pieces. They are very adorable, and I can’t wait to quilt them in the new year. I also made a quilt from Vanessa Goertzen’s Charm School Book. It’s called the Modern Basic. I also used her Smoke and Rust line. It is currently on its way back from the quilters. As you can see, one of my project managers has already claimed it.

Banana muffins at last!

I finally remembered to snap a photo of my banana muffins before the kids devoured them all. This is a staple in my home. We constantly have overipe bananas and this is a quick and easy breakfast.

Here is the recipe:

Banana Muffins

  • 2/3cup milk
  • 1/4cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2cup mashed very ripe banana (1 medium)
  • 1egg
  • 2cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3cup sugar
  • 2 1/2teaspoons baking powder

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until just combined.

Place batter in greased muffin tin or use cupcake liners in your muffin tin.

Bake at 400 degrees in oven for 15-20 minutes.

I often sub brown sugar for the white sugar for a deeper flavor.

Add nuts, blueberries, or chocolate chips for even more goodness.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe and my latest finishes. My next post which hopefully will come out later this week will have some quick and easy home made gifts and my favorite fall breakfast.

Adios…until next time.

Catching Up And a New Sewing Machine

Hi yall! I am back with some big news.

I have bit the bullet and invested in a top-of-the-line sewing machine that should really help me to grow as a quilter. It is a Juki Kokochi DX-4000QVP. It has a very wide (almost 13-inch) sewing space. It has a built-in walking foot. It has a dual pedal that has a reverse function. I love that I can backstitch by just shifting my foot. I might actually backstitch more like I should. It has a thread cutting mechanism so fewer threads all over my house, shirt, pets, etc. It has a big tablet screen with the instruction manual and videos built in for help. You can even watch youtube videos on it. It has so many more fun features I can’t possibly list them all. It’s like going from driving a Chevy Cavalier to a Cadillac Deville.

Meet Judy the Juki, the newest member of my sewing team.

Not to hate on my Brother SQ2785. I love that machine and still have it. It’s great for piecing and small projects but I nearly broke “Bubba” making my quilted coat. He just wasn’t made for that kind of work. I still plan on using Bubba for going to quilt classes since Judy the Juki weighs almost 50 lbs and doesn’t fit in a standard case. My daughter has claimed Bubba because he has speed control and a needle threader that her machine does not.

Judy the Juki is going to help me learn to machine quilt so I can send fewer quilts out to be long-armed. I also want to learn to do some machine quilting so I can really customize some of my projects. With the larger throat space, I will be able to get a larger quilt under the needle with ease.

I have been single parenting most of the month due to my husband having to attend work training so my quilting time has been almost nonexistent during the week. I am committed to binding while watching tv in the morning and waiting for the buses to arrive. I also try to come in on my fifteen-minute breaks from work and get some piecing or pressing of blocks done. I also try to get at least 15 minutes of sewing in on the night that we are not at the soccer field or boy scouts.

I have finished binding the Chicken Quilt. I took some photos but it has been cloudy and nasty here the past week so photographing outdoors has been postponed. Plus its the “pollening” here in Georgia so I am hesitant to take my quilts outdoors and get them full of the yellow stuff as my allergies are already raging.

I had the long arm quilter do a floral quilting pattern. I just love these chickens.

I also completed a wall hanging. Its the first project I completed on my new machine. It’s a log cabin cross. I also quilted it on my machine but I will have to post pictures later as I am still tearing the quilting paper off of it. I used the quilt paper so I could try out a quilt design with a pencil and erase if needed. I also used it because having worked with grunge fabric in the past my disappearing fabric markers do not disappear quite so easily on them.

Log Cabin Cross made with grunge fabrics.

I also got caught up on Pat Sloan’s Sweet Dreams sew-along. I was two weeks behind. I am loving this retro Halloween vibe of this quilt.

A couple more borders and we are done. Candy Corn and Cats tow of my favs.

I do have my quilted coat done and am working on that post as well. I am also working on some recipe posts if I can ever remember to actually photograph the food before I eat it. I guarantee its coming. We have a great day yall and stay tuned!

Even more cold weather sewing, spanokopita, and cookies!

Hi all! Last weekend it snowed for the first time in the 4 years we have lived in this part of Georgia. It was under an inch but the kids took full advantage and made tiny snowmen. We are used to seeing more copious amounts from our time in New York. But, I am glad we still haven’t had to use the snow shovels for actual snow since we moved here. They are great for scooping leaves in the fall.

It was another cold weekend this weekend as well so I spent most of the weekend working on sewing projects and cooking up some delicious meals.

I worked on finishing my Chicken Quilt. The original pattern did not have a border. I decided to add one. My background is a very pale gray, and the binding is going to be light colors as well. I felt a border would really add definition to the quilt. I like how borders frame a design like a picture. What do you think?

Before and After a Border

I also completed my first month of the Toes in the Sand Block of the Month.

The first two blocks for Toes in the Sand.

I also completed week 4 of Pat Sloan’s Sweet Dreams sew along.

Block 4 was named chocolate chip cookies. This inspired me to help Danielle make some really large chocolate chip cookies with sea salt.

Cookie monster cookies!!! Nomm Nomm Nommmm!

And now it’s recipe time!!! I made my version of spanakopita. Spanokopita is a Greek pastry filled with spinach and cheese. It is divine. I love all greek food and swear there must be some Greek DNA in my body. Feta is my friend.

This recipe combines two of my favorite recipes for spanakopita Michael Symon’s recipe is filled with goat cheese and herbs. Ina Garten’s recipe is made like a strudel so it’s not making small triangles which can be tedious and time-consuming.

Here is the recipe:

Spanokopita

  • 1/2 box frozen phyllo dough thawed.
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter
  • 1 box of frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry or 2 large bunched of fresh spinach
  • 1 package 8 oz cream cheese
  • 6 oz of feta crumbled
  • Garlic salt
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 1/2 cup pank bread crumbs

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare a sheet tray covered in foil.
  3. Cook onions and fresh spinach in olive oil until soft. Drain any excess moisture.
  4. Place spinach/onions in a medium bowl and add softened cream cheese, feta and garlic salt to taste. Mix to combine.
  5. Melt butter in microwave in 30 second increments and let cool slightly.
  6. On a cutting board or piece of foil lay out 1 sheet of phyllo dough and brush with butter. Layer another on top and repeat the brushing with butter. Repeat until you have 10 layers of phyllo dough.
  7. Place 1/2 of the mixture lengthwise down down the middle of the phyllo dough layer. Fold sides together and to make a long rectangle.
  8. Place seam side down on prepared sheet tray and baste with butter.
  9. Repeat with other 10 layers of phyllo dough and other half of the spinach/cheese mixture so that you have 2 rectangles.
  10. Pierce the rectanges in a few places on top with a knife to vent.
  11. Bake until golden brown about 30 minutes.
  12. Slice and serve. This will serve 4 as main dish or 6-8 as a side dish or appetizer
Enjoy!!