Keeping It In The Family

Hi
It feels like ages since I posted. In fact when I mentioned it to my daughter she said, it's only been a week, anyone would think you haven't been on for months. LOLLL Well the truth is I love posting and I love reading your comments even more.

I've been away visiting my daughter and son, I stayed with them for a week and it was fun being with them. When my son left a few weeks ago to take summer work, before starting uni again after the summer, I thought it would be wonderful just me an hubby alone and I suppose it is but I kind of miss the little devil. He has so much energy he wears me out just looking at him coming in and out of the house. LOLLL

Me and my daughter had a day of fabric shopping. She is keeping the family tradition, although she's still not as crazy as I am when I see fabric. We went to a huge indoor shopping center with about 250 fabric shops. Heaven for me. I was like a kid in a sweet shop. At one point I lost sight of her while looking for fabric and was trying to find her and keeping my eyes on the fabric at the same time. After we had bought a few pieces she managed to drag me away. She 'still' has more self control than I do but I don't think it will be for long.

These are the fabrics that my daughter chose for herself.

 

I think she did pretty well don't you?

And here are mine.

I didn't do so bad either. I'm so looking forward to my next visit. I now have a partner in crime. LOLLL

~ Maria ~

 

   

 

Food Glorious Food

This may be the case for some but for me it's a living nightmare. My hatred of cooking is so bad that it stops me from eating a lot of things I should. If it wasn't for hubby I would probably live off cheese and tomato sandwiches, tea and biscuits. LOLLL
Does anyone else feel as I do? or am I alone in my misery. The funny thing is people always compliment my cooking. Yes I can cook just absolutely hate doing it. A complete waste of time. I'd much rather sit here in front of my computer with my cheese and tomato sandwich checking out what people are doing, does that make me nosy? LOLL
Anyway I thought I'd post once in a while some of the things I cook in the hope that it will help me to be a bit more creative when it comes to food.
Last nights meal for example I made Lasagna, salad and coleslaw.

The salad would have just been tossed into a bowl if I wasn't posting it here. LOLLL

The coleslaw I made myself and instead of serving it in a plastic container straight from the friedge I put it into a pretty bowl and made a tomato skin flower to put on top. The leaves are from cucumber skins. I'm impressed myself  LOLLLLL looks like I picked it from the garden.

I'd love to hear from anyone that either loves or hates cooking.

~ Maria ~

Toilet Roll Holder

I found some HTS's quite by accident yesterday that were left over from a previous project and was stuck what to make with them. I wasn't in the mood for cutting out more to make something larger and I could have made a couple of pot holders but they didn't go with the colour scheme in the kitchen. Then a light bulb came on. Just enough to make into a toilet roll holder.
This is what I came up with.

And this is the back

Now I'm looking at a few other HTS's in a different fabric and wondering what to do with them. I'm going to be getting a bag pattern to test in the next few days so don't want to start anything I won't be able to finish before the pattern arrives.

~ Maria ~

I'm Back

I just got back yesterday after visiting my daughter for a week. Had a wonderful time. We went out and bought her her first sewing machine. We decided on this one, the Janome LR1122. I think it will do her fine to start off with. We reorganized her room and she's already thinking of doing some patchwork. Next shopping trip will be for a cutting mat and quilting rulers. Poor hubby has two fabric addicts in the family now. LOL

She's taking sewing classes and has nearly completed her first project which was a skirt. Her next one will be a pair of trousers. She is the fourth generation on my side of the family to keep up the sewing tradition and she seems to have taken to it really well.
Of course now she has a sewing machine we had a good excuse for fabric shopping. Or rather I did. She only bought two pieces of fabric, me on the other hand, lost control and ended up with eleven. LOLLLL They have a better choice of colours where she lives.
These are my fabrics.

I bought these to do some kind of patchwork but still not sure which patterns to choose.
On the down side when I returned home the grass and weeds were knee high so that will take up a couple of days to put back into order but first I need to take a look at patterns to see what I can find for my fabrics.

~ Maria ~

Travel Tote Bag

After getting all that lovely fabric from hubby a few days ago I kind of got distracted from my UFO's and started thinking about making a bag. I'm going away tomorrow for a few days to visit my daughter so I needed a bag that was roomy enough to put my camera and all the other things that us ladies carry with us.
So on Thursday rather than waste time searching for the perfect bag for me I decided to make up a pattern for a bag that suited my needs. Large with lots of pockets a zipper closure and plain. There was no plan I just quickly took some measurements and started cutting away and this is what I came up with.

This is the front which has four pockets. The button closure is just decorative. The handles base and button closure I used Pleather and I even had some leather buttons.

The back has two large pockets and again a decorative button closure. My Travel Tote measures 14.5" High x 17" Wide x 5" Deep. The outer fabric is like a canvas type upholstery fabric.

The lining is home deco fabric. Sorry my description of fabrics is pretty poor. LOLL
This is the inside. As you can see I didn't put any pockets in for two reasons. Lack of time and also I won't be using them.

The zipper closure was a must, I don't want all my personals falling out LOLL and although I don't always like putting zippers in this method is really easy. Anyone can do it.

The pleather button closure gave me some grief. The top stitching kept missing some stitches so had to sew it by hand which wasn't easy. I had to use pliers to pull the needle through each time so it's not as tidy as I would want it to be.

I even managed to take photos of every step of making it but towards the end gave up because it was so time consuming that I was afraid I wouldn't get it finished on time. Now it's made there are a few small changes I'd make on the next one so hopefully I'll make another one and do a tutorial for the tote bag at some point. It takes longer to take photos and write it up than it does to actually make. LOLLL

Oh I nearly forgot to mention that dear hubby even made dinner yesterday in order to give me more sewing time. Well actually I don't think that was his intention LOLLLLL but I'd like to think it was.
Just look at what he made. His version of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yummmmmm

He was going to do the potatoes fried in the same coating as the chicken but decided to keep it HEALTHIER and just boil them.

There was even tomato and feta cheese salad and marinated olives. Gosh I wish he'd cook every day.

Don't look at the mismatched plates. LOLLLLL Ok I'm off to clean the bombsite of a house now. It's been neglected for days and the ironing is sky high.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Maria ~

Fabric Addiction

I was just over at Liz's blog    http://liz-moments.blogspot.de/2012/07/just-for-record.html  reading about her fabric addiction when hubby came home with this big plastic bag in his hand.

It's hard to judge how big it is but take my word for it, it's big. If I stand next to it the top of the handles come to my hips. Anyway have you guessed what's inside????

Were you right?

Yes, loads of upholstery fabric remnants.

This one the flowers are in a black velvet on a linen effect background.

There were even a few pieces of pleather mixed in with it and best of all they are all free. So here I am sitting at home refusing to venture out into the town knowing I will head straight for the fabric store, now thanks to hubby my craving for more fabric has gone, for a short while at least. Only problem now is I want to make a bag rather than finish some more UFO's. Decisions, decisions.

~ Maria ~

Another Finish

Finally finished another project started too long ago and left on the pile. My daughter had chosen this fabric to make cushions to put on the bed and I used the scraps for making a small table topper.
Not the usual quilting cottons. This fabric was satin and because satin tends to fray quite a bit I used this tutorial.

http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2012/03/stamp-collection-making-the-block-.html#more

Once the squares were cut out I just arranged them onto fusible interfacing and ironed them on. Then it was easy to sew them all up.

Another reason for using the interfacing was because no matter how even you cut your pieces, satin moves around a lot so this method helped them keep their shape. I was stuck on how to quilt it and what colour thread to use so opted for a clear nylon thread. In the center where the fabric is patterned it was difficult to see where I was going but over all I'm pretty pleased with it.

Now this one's finished it's time to move on to the next UFO.

~ Maria ~

Another Finished Dresden Plate Table Topper

Finally finished the last of my Dresden Plate table toppers.

The UFO pile is slowly but surely getting smaller. The next project to finish will be a satin table topper I made from tiny satin fabric squares. It just needs backing and quilting. Not sure how I'm going to quilt it but I had better decide soon or else it will just get left even longer. This one was started about 3 years ago. LOLLLL Guess there's a message in there somewhere telling me not to ever attempt a bed quilt. LOL

~ Maria ~

New Look Blog

Finally I think I have my blog looking more the way I want it to look. It's been a learning process since I started this blog. The hardest part was getting the header just the way I wanted it. On my usual rounds of checking out blogs I happened to come across Christine's blog.

 http://projectsaroundthehouse.blogspot.de/2012/05/how-to-make-blog-header-in-picmonkey.html

This is where I found her wonderful tutorial for making a blog header with PicMonkey. 

http://www.picmonkey.com/

I had tried it before without success but with Christine's excellent tutorial I had no problem this time. Thanks Christine. I'm really happy with the way my blog looks now. What does everyone else think? I'd love to hear your comments.

Thanks for stopping by

~ Maria ~

Table Toppers

I've been trying to catch up on some UFO's but haven't been very successful. Just can't get into the mood. Guess it's the heat.
This first table topper I made so long ago I can't even remember how long. It was my first attempt at hexies and with the help of my dear friend Naomi over at  http://beeshebags.blogspot.de/ I made this small table topper.

This second one again was from ages ago. One of my first attempts a crazy patch quilting. The fabrics are home deco and cotton polyester. All are scraps from clothing or curtains. Some are over 20 years old. Now you can see what a hoarder I am. LOLLL. I managed to finally put the fleece and backing on it and quilt it. Finished putting the binding on this morning.
Not really sure if I like it or not.

Still have more UFO's to finish before I start on a new project. Hopefully tomorrow will be in the mood to finish my other Dresden Plate table topper.
Thanks for stopping by.

~ Maria ~

Organizing

After making a complete mess of my sewing room I just couldn't think with all the mess around me so decided it was time to tidy up a bit. Shame I didn't take some before photos, they would have made you feel so much better. LOLLL
First was my fabric stash that I have on shelves. It was a mess so that was the first thing. I have mostly home deco and upholstery fabric in my stash with just some cottons I use for quilting. I usually buy those as I need them.

There is still room for improvement but need to buy some more shelving.
Then came the turn of the pleather remnants that hubby is constantly bringing in for me from the upholsters. These are pieces left over from re-covered sofas. They were on a pile on my sewing room floor so it was time to think of how to store them. I don't like folding pleather because it leaves a fold mark so came up with this idea.

As you can see they are just rolled up and tied to some white garden mesh I happened to have lying around. The smaller pieces are rolled up and put in a plastic container. You can see them in the first photo.

Lastly was a design board. I wanted a really big one but didn't have anything on hand to make one so used an old wardrobe door which I covered in fleece. It's fine for the moment but I would love a much bigger one sometime in the near future. As you can see it's already covered with projects.

Still more jobs to do but just need more time. If anyone has worked out how to fit 48 hours into 24 I'd love to hear from you. LOLLL

~ Maria ~

Natures Beauty

After three days of constant rain

 I woke up this morning to find the most beautiful flower had come to bloom in my garden. Last year was the first time it flowered and only had two. So far this year it has one and another just coming up. They don't seem to last very long which is unfortunate because the colour is magnificent.

Hope they're not going to be dinner for this little fellow. LOLL

The rain finally stopped this afternoon and I'm hoping it will stay cool for a while longer.

Of course the draw back is the weeds seem to grow quicker than the flowers so that could keep me away from my sewing in the next few days.

~ Maria ~

Another K.I.S.S clutch completed

Finally finished my third K.I.S.S Clutch. I've really enjoyed making this clutch. Quick and easy to make. I've used Home Deco fabrics on all of them so I think my fourth one will have to be in cottons. No flower on this one. I wanted to keep it simple.

If you'd like to make one go over to Christine's blog and take a look at hers

http://blog.chriswdesigns.com/2012/06/introducing-kiss.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChriswDesigns+%28ChrisW+Designs%29

Christine has used beautiful floral fabrics in bright and cheery colours. The choices are endless. I've even considered making one in pleather. Don't know if it would work but I think I'll give it a try.

~ Maria ~

Winner of the Bow Pleats Bag Pattern

Hi
Today is the day a winner is chosen for Bow Pleats Bag Pattern by Samantha

http://handmadebymrsh.blogspot.de/2012/06/completed-bow-pleats.html

Thanks Samantha for having me as your bag tester and for offering your pattern as a giveaway. I've had fun making the pattern and doing the giveaway. It's also been exciting finding out who the winner will be.

Ok I won't keep you in suspense any longer. The winner is comment #2 chosen by random.org

Debbie H congratulations.

I'll forward your email addy to Samantha so she can send the pattern on to you.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and leaving a comment and taking part. Hope you'll all stop by more often. It's great getting to know knew people.
Don't forget you can visit Samantha's etsy shop if you'd like to buy the pattern and you'll get a 15% discount with the code  BOWPLEAT15

https://www.etsy.com/listing/102466194/the-bow-pleat-handbag-purse-bag-pdf

Thanks again to everyone.

~ Maria ~