multi-tasking

While my sewing machine takes charge and merrily stitches along, I simply need to be present to change thread colors when it tells me to and try to intercept any problems that might arise.  So, of course, I need something to keep my hands busy.  This is one of the wool applique projects that I brought along--

It is a pattern by Buttermilk Basin, By Thy Hands September, and will become part of the block-of-the-month series that I am starting at Bear Patch.  This wool portion is sewn by hand and then joined with a traditional quilt block that is sewn by machine.  The best of both worlds!

Barb, one of the ladies attending the retreat with us is sporting this lovely bracelet, a gift from her lovely husband!

It comes from an Etsy shop for Blackberry Designs.  They can make them for all sorts of interests and people and hobbies and occupations.

I am loving this new project bag that my kids gave me for Christmas.

It actually is a knitting bag, and that is how I have been using it until I packed up for this trip and realized that it would be great for toting my handwork projects.  It comes from the Tom Bihn company.  Made in Seattle and co-designed with the people at Knitty Magazine, a great source for wonderful knitting designs.  There are pockets and stuff sacks and pouches and leashes to coordinate in wonderful saturated colors.  This is the Little Swift.  I thoroughly love this tote bag and all of its features.

Oh, and by the way, Tom Binh makes lots of other neat stuff, like backpacks and messenger bags and briefcases.  Check it out!

I think Ian is developing his own creative side, now using his pajamas for a hat!  Such a style icon!

embroidery fun

I am learning some great new things for my sewing machine functions.  I think this all supports my sewing habit, and further justifies the purchase of fabric and notions!

I have started embroidering some designs on the machine that will go into a little "quiet book" for the grandson(s).  This is called R is for Robot and comes from the OESD company via embroideryonline.com  The very best part of this project is the 3-D glasses that come with it!  When you look through those glasses the thread colors seem to come to the front or recede to the back, giving that 3D look.  Maybe it will be more fun for the grown-ups than the little boys, but that's fine by me!

And down below is the collection of stars that I have embroidered to make a wall-hanging size project.  There is still quite a bit of finishing to do, but the star embroidery is all done.  I have to trim down and then sew together all of these blocks, then decide whether to continue on with the embroidered border blocks, or just call it good and but on a binding!  I am leaning towards the latter, what do you think?

I am spending the rest of the week at Bridge Creek Cottage in August, WI, for the Bear Patch retreat for machine embroiderers.  They are arriving soon!  I am part worker bee and part sewist on this trip, so I can help with serving the meals and clean-up.  It's a good group of women, mostly known through our connection with the store.  Very fun to spend the time together, and last year I learned so much from everyone here.  I am fighting off a cold and experiencing some laryngitis, so not much of a conversationalist.  I am not normally know as a jabberjay to begin with, but having this squeaky voice that comes and goes doesn't help at all!

Did you catch the reference to The Hunger Games?  Bob and I finished listening to the recorded 3 book series of this story, and have watched the first 2 movies.  Although quite "dark" and tough to listen to in some sections, it was overall a good read.

Two other books recently finished:

Micro by Michael Crichton

and Roadside Crosses by Jeffery Deaver

Micro is an intriguing story of science gone wrong, just like other Michael Crichton books.  This one is set in Hawaii and involves miniaturization of people.  Itty bitty people that become prey to bugs and spiders that dwarf them!

Roadside Crosses is a mystery novel set in Pacific Grove, a town on the Monterey peninsula of California.  Since I had the good fortune of visiting there last spring, it held names and descriptions of some things familiar to me.  The mystery is wrapped up in the world of online fantasy games and blogging!  Not this blogger!

Both books were enjoyable but not great works of literature.  Right now I am reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding, supposedly a great work of literature.  I heard it was sort of like a precursor to the Hunger Games.  But it has a lot of references to things that don't make total sense to me, either because it was written in another time and place, or because it is bedtime and I keep falling asleep!  I will have to look up the Cliff Notes!

assorted thoughts

I finally finished the bind-off for a scarf that I have been working on for quite some time, but a project that didn't need to be rushed since it was for myself and it's the dog days of summer here--80 degrees and plenty o' humidity!  There is a link in the title below the picture that will take you to the source for the directions.  This is not my first Mini Mania, I have shared it before.  And I have shared it with several people that I know, all of them working on their own version now.

Another "Mini Mania" scarf done!

We have had a few babysitting gigs lately, much to our delight!  Since I haven't shared any recent pictures of our little guy, here you go--

This was towards the tail end of one of our many walks, but this time he declined the stroller and strutted his stuff.  Got a little tired, but slept really well!  I can carry him for a bit, but his is packing on the pounds.  And Bob can't even lift a gallon of milk yet, so he has no choice.

I have carved out a some time for a little indulgence in watching this series--

And I can say that I have enjoyed this bit of historical fiction, and look forward to the next season!

I have been learning some more things about the embroidery attachment for my sewing machine--Bernina 730-- and have accomplished a finished project!

This is a pattern and embroidery design from Claudia's Creations.  I felt quite a sense of accomplishment with this, I have a bit of trepidation when it comes to this new venture in computerization.  New to me, that is!  But it really went off without a hitch, once I got it going!  So there will be more ahead, I am sure!  The design CD and instructions are available at Bear Patch.

some updates

I have finished up some things and it is time to share with you!

Last week, our Busy Fingers Hexie Group at Bear Patch met for our monthly gathering, and I was able to share this little pillow--

This was a great fabric with the hexies printed in wonderful colors, by Riley Blake.  Makes such and easy little pillow cover without a single bit of English Paper Piecing!   Bordered by Kona white and bound with the stripe that matches from riley Blake.

Also, finally have a finish on this--

Sewing Scissors by Bee In My Bonnet

 And don't you just love it when you can find just the right binding?

Also, I have just been recovering from a bit of brain sprain after 2 full days of a wonderful Bernina Software Seminar--what a lot of great information to absorb and dream of ways to apply new ideas to my future machine embroidery projects.

a finish

Here is a little baby quilt that I started last fall and finally got finished up. The shapes are all cut by a template and then topstitched to the solid background with raw edges exposed.  After I put on the binding (by machine) I ran it through the wash to get it frayed and cozy feeling.  Kinda cute!

Vintage Circle Quilt by YoyoMama

One of the cool things about working on machine embroidery is that the machine runs itself for periods of time, until thread needs to be changed, etc.  So I have been able to do a little knitting while my machine was stitching out designs, and I am working on a little sweater that I hope will fit Ian someday.  This is the back in its current state and I have just started the front.  It's a "letter sweater" and will have a big blue "I" on the chest.  It's a pattern by Debbie Bliss.

Part 1 of 4

So check on over on the Bear Patch blog to see my embroidered blocks!

heading towards the finish

I spent some quality time with my sewing machine last night after driving to Bridge Creek Cottage in Augusta, WI, with Debbie.  We are all set up and ready to greet the Bear Patch Machine Embroidery Retreat attendees today.  I was happy to finish up the stitching on this wallhanging for Dan--

His Highness by Pine Needles

I had started working on it in January and now, except for the binding which is sitting at home, it is all stitched up.  This was a design done with a fusible web on the back of the fabrics, ironed into place according to the pattern diagram.  Then all of the edges need to be stitched down, and that was what I did last night.  The picture  below gives you and idea--

Before too much longer it will be on its way to Montana!

Then I pulled another oldie out of the box.  It was something I sewed together awhile ago, and now I finally have the quilting done.  I kept it simple, just outlining the stars and then sewing between all the strips that frame it up.  Done except for binding, which probably is at home, too!  These were all fabrics from my own shelves, so I can always find something compatible for that binding.  I had been hoarding that star print for the center of this for quite awhile!  I'm pretty sure this pattern was part of the Jo's Little Women Club that was hosted at the store a few years ago.

I will be posting more things about the retreat over on the Bear Patch blog, so make sure you check up on us there!  I think Jeanne has plenty of fun planned for our guests!

will you look at that!

Once again, the theory that you can't teach an old dog new tricks has been refuted.  Because this girl has learned how to use her sewing machine for embroidery!

This is what I hope to accomplish, however, I might edit it down to the wallhanging size.  It is the HoopSisters Feathered Star Embroiderablock of the Month.  My fabric choices are much different than the picture below--

I have had the embroidery feature attachments for about a year, and took some classes from my fine friends at Bear Patch Sewing Center.  But I never made it a priority to continue learning and practicing, and this is something that does take a different focus than the sewing and quilting that I have done up until this time.  I will let you know how it goes.  So far, I have needed a lot of coaching from the machine embroidery pros at the store.  And this week I get to participate in a retreat for just this type of project, so here's hoping that I get some of these stars put together!

Yesterday I mixed up a batch of guacamole for a little appetizer for Bob's birthday dinner, and it turned out so tasty that I thought I should share it with you.  It is based on directions from 2007 Cook's Country magazine:

2 green onions, sliced thinly, green and white parts included

a portion of a jalepeno pepper, we don't like it real hot so I use about 1/6th of the pepper

1 small garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoon juice from 1 lime plus 1/4 teaspoon finely grated zest

2 avocados, pitted, peeled and chopped

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

salt to taste

Combine the onions, pepper, garlic and lime juice in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.  Add one of the avocados and mash all together until smooth.  Add the rest of the avocado but don't mash it.  Add the lime zest, cilantro and salt.  Serve with chips.

Speaking of food, this quilt is called Cranberry Chutney by Madison Cottage Designs.  I am quilting it for a customer, and I really like it.  I am doing randomly spaced straight lines in a grid.

So finally, we are having an important first birthday coming up in about a week.  So yesterday the little guy got to visit the grands, and since I was baking cupcakes for Grandpa's birthday, we thought he needed a little practice to prepare him for the monumental first birthday cake smash in the face party.  Do you think his mommy could tell that he had sampled anything??

hooked up again

After another 1.5 hours on the phone to troubleshoot the new modem, Bob has succeeded in getting one of our 2 computers back online--yay! The man deserves a medal! So here are some photos:

First, the quilt that I quilted for Bernina Barb--

I don't know the pattern name, but I do know that a kit for it is available at the Bear Patch Sewing Center. The unique part of this quilt is the machine embroidered designs that match the designs of the fabric motifs. The machine embroidery is a whole new element to incorporate into quilt designs. When I purchased my new Bernina 730 last December, I opted not to include the embroidery module. Maybe need to re-think that? Here's a closer look at a small section of the machine embroidery.

After completing that, I decided to do one of my own quilts that has been waiting for some attention! This is a small baby-size version of my Star Light pattern--

And I love it when the planets align and bring me the perfect fabric for backing and binding!