Next!

Well, the bridal shower is over. It was good, but I'm glad it's done now and exists as some good memories. I'll finally post some of the stuff I made for it though - lots of sewing involved!

I made coin purses as party favors and filled them with little bags of mints. One thing is for sure - I have no plans of making 23 coin purses in a week in the near future. The fabric was various satins that were given to me by a lady in the quilt group I attend in the summer. Each rectangle was finished with free motion quilting before the Velcro was added and the sides stitched up. I can't take credit for the pattern - I found it courtesy of an online pdf put out by Valerie Custom Quilting. Great instructions...highly recommended!

My other project was a purse for the bride. I've been wanting to make a purse for a long time and have had some decorator fabric (also courtesy of another quilt group lady!) that's been sitting in my room. I looked through them and found some pieces that looked like they'd fit the bride's personality well. It turned out great and I can't wait to make some other purses! Neither can some other people considering my mom kept giving me hints that she really liked this particular purse. Not the best picture, since like most of my projects, this was finished in the middle of the night. But you get to see fabric that I liked the best.

I guess the only other thing in the last week that's been exciting has been this dinner I made - spinach and artichoke salad with couscous cakes. It was good. From a magazine, but still amazing that I could make the cakes without them falling apart completely!

Looks good...especially with the U.S. Presidents placement, right?

I started my first hand quilting project today with much help and encouragement from one of my most favorite people. The basic design is a traditional sunflower in the middle surrounded by some intersecting circles. I'm not sure if it will be a wall hanging or the top of a pillow covering (or a draw liner if its really bad...). But here are a few things I learned very quickly:
1. it is impossible to thread a needle while someone (however kind they may be) is watching you
2. there is quite a difference between low and high quality thimbles
3. hand quilting when you unknowingly used a cotton-poly blend is enraging
4. batting you love on your sewing machine may betray you when hand stitching
It seems that most people are either one or the other - machine or hand quilters. They may occasionally venture into the other area, but often turn back. Though my fingers are raw from yanking my unwilling needle out of my poorly chosen fabric, I will finish quilting it. And I will hand quilt another project! But I do like the speed of the machine quilting.
After tomorrow my sewing machine will be taking a break by living in the basement for a while. Actually, it may go see a doctor since my free motion quilting hasn't been going too well. No matter what I do to the tension, the bobbin thread is tight and the top thread is getting pulled through the back on even slight curves. At least I'll have my hand quilting.

Bridal Shower prep

All current projects are currently on hold. This week is devoted to the cleaning of the premises, finalizing of food lists and decoration planning, among other things. My current issue is really the cleaning since areas like the kitchen need to be cleaned every day and I'm kind of the dishes person. We were going to clean off the deck and patio, however severe thunderstorms and tornadoes has delayed that.
I can't post most of the stuff I'm doing since they are surprises for the bride who quite possibly will read this before Saturday. If I figure out a menu that is impressive and still doable, then I'll post it :-). Happy cleaning...

Pictures!

Well, I finally got the pictures off my phone. There was a good amount on there too...400 or so. Here's a picture of the landscape quilt I made a couple weeks ago. The only problem with it (besides my horrendous job of binding it) is that now I want to make a set...you know with a night and day time scene to match.

I only used three fabrics for this - most of the color change is actually netting I found in a Walmart remnant bin. I have burgundy, pink and yellow netting placed according to the colors in the 'sun' fabric and then used some variegated and bright threads to highlight the water. I wouldn't recommend the little strips that I did for the water reflection though - I ended up with a strange arch shape that I had to block. Must have been pulling on the fabric....whoops.

In other news, I have been quite experimental in my cooking. Not really, but it's experimental for me and probably downright weird for my family. Like...I made a poached egg. Totally weird, since we only do the hard-boiled or scrambled kind. Kind of a kid menu treatment of eggs. I was really proud of it though since it actually worked and didn't spread all over the pan. I made a fried egg too, but it was kind of ugly so no picture. Hehe.