Yarn

This post is really about the weekend but since most of the pictures have some yarn in them….

Weekends have a whole new and wonderful feel now that Jerry is not out of town all week long. I’m happy to say he is currently on a big project in Boulder. Instead of frantically trying to squeeze everything into a few days of having him home, we can actually relax a bit and really enjoy the weekend. The weather helped that quite a bit as we had two beautiful days here. Now on to the pictures….

I did knit a teeny bit this weekend, two projects I have going are Cerus [a scarf done in linen stitch lengthwise, I’m using Malabrigo Rastita yarn in Piedras] and Gansey Scarf [I’m using MountainTop Canyon yarn in Mesquite] they are both coming along nicely. You can find more info about these at my Ravelry project page.

We headed out for what would have been a short drive if not for a mountainside traffic jam yesterday that added an hour to our drive home covering a 2 mile stretch through some of the most damaged roads from the flood. Earlier on our way out we passed this pretty tree.

Back at home Jane says hello and my chives are sprouting on the back porch!

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PS I’ll be back with a new Basket Sampler that’s perfect for Spring/Easter and a few more kits for a previous offering. Happy Monday!

odds & ends

Some ‘sunshine’ on my kitchen counter, I treated myself to a bundle of sunny washcloths and received a little gift from someone sweet. I’ve been doing a teeny bit of knitting and stitching. I love the Gansey Scarf pattern in my knitting birthday book and the colors of this sampler I’ll tell you more about another time.

I added my terrarium presents and love how they look, I need better plants now I think! Any suggestions?

Webshop update –

The last Love Thy Neighbor Kit has been sold but I’m still offering the design with threads at a very good price and be sure to see the Newest Prairie Schoolers and the ones on sale to go with them them!

Coming Soon ~ ~ Another sweet Basket Sampler!!

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Be Mine!

I think the Calendar Girls from Little House Needleworks are so sweet. Here’s my version of February’s little lady. I used the threads listed and stitched this over 2 on Light Mocha Cashel linen. I have enough linen for 4 more projects this size so I’ve listed some semi-kitted designs at the webshop.

As a Valentine week breakfast treat I whipped up some white chocolate, raspberry French toast this morning. It was really yummy! I think it was pretty too. As usual I made way more French toast than we needed so I’ll be zapping it for future meals for the next few days. I’m not sorry there are extra berries and chocolate too :0)

Here’s the whole sampler from yesterday’s heart. It’s got a very romantic theme. It’s by Brenda Keyes and sadly I don’t see it available at her webshop any longer. Do check out her other beauties, several are on my wish list and I have the Providence Sampler well underway.

Here’s another heart from my Sampler Wall, more about that tomorrow.

Wishing you sweet things this week!

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birthday fun

Yesterday was my birthday. A big one! We had a very nice family party, Amber did all the baking & cooking. I spent a good part of my day doing extra special things like cleaning! Doesn’t the kitchen look shiny? I’ll spare you the master bathroom but it’s shiny too.

I was spoiled with all manner of good things! Naturally there was cake, German Chocolate and very fancy, she also made this. Tyler gifted me a Craftsy class I’ve had my eye on. Amber & Evan gave me some fun things for my terrarium and Kellen & Ethan have added considerably to my knitting fun and comfort with a book I’ve wanted and a nice ottoman for the living room. Jerry is home for the weekend which is probably my favorite thing!

Looking forward to the ‘BIG GAME’ this weekend (the ottoman will come in handy,) just in case you don’t know who we’re rooting for, here’s Kellen with a hint….

Now I should go clean my sewing room (with its very snowy view) some more.

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PS – just saw my neighbor ski by out the sewing room window :0)

make your own!

Back with another pillowcase and as requested, my method in detail.

For starters….I do NOT wash the fabric before I make my pillow cases. I’ve generally used high quality quilt shop fabric for these. There is a bit of shrinkage when I do wash them (before I use them) but not enough to matter. Since I don’t know what fabrics you may be using, I can’t say if shrinkage will be an issue for you. That being said, the fabric used in this tutorial is less than high quality, I’ll let you know what happens after I wash it :0)

You need to look at your fabric and decide if you are working with an all-over print or a one-way print. I’ve shown a sample of each. For an all-over print I use the ‘store fold’ for the edge of my fabric. I’m not uber-worried about being thread perfect straight and with/against grain on these either. These are basic fold and sew pillowcases, but nice ones :0). With a one-way print you may need to open up your fabric and fold it the other way to have the print look right. You can see if I went with the ‘store fold’ the ladies on the pink/yellow fabric would be sideways. Most fabric on the bolt (quilt fabric that is) is about 44 inches wide and you buy it by the yard. If you are using the store fold a yard is enough for a standard pillow, you will need an eighth or quarter yard more if you have to fold it the other way.

You want to start with a piece of fabric that is 40 x 36, 36 is your pillowcase length. Use the store fold or fold your fabric in half so that you are working on a 20×36 rectangle WRONG sides together (pretty side out). This fits a standard pillow, like the one shown. They may be a bit snug if your extra firm pillow is brand new however, mine are not. You could always use a store bought pillowcase you own and like size wise as a guide for fabric dimensions, just add in your seam allowances.

NOW – with your 20×36 triangle which has the pretty sides facing out, sew a scant 1/4 seam starting at the left side of the folded edge sewing down a short side, hopefully my picture here explains this better. Sew down, make a turn at the corner and sew across the long open side also. You will leave one short side open. Trim this seam allowance about in half, be careful not to nick your stitches.

Turn the case inside out now. I use a giant knitting needle to poke out the corners. you can press it now to get that seam edge nice and flat but I just use a pin to pull it out flat and then pin it. Do this down the short and across the long sewn side, still leaving one end open. Now sew again using a full 1/4 seam allowance on the pinned short end and long bottom leaving one end open. This nicely hides all the raw edges on your seams. Leave your case inside out.

You now want to press about 3/8 to a 1/2 inch of fabric along the open side of your case wrong sides together (see the picture), cat on ironing board is optional. I like my finished pillowcase to be somewhere around 30 inches in length so you will want to press your fabric over again for the hem allowance. This hem is a nice place to use decorative stitches on your machine and a pretty colored thread. My machine goes straight forward and backward and that’s it so I didn’t get fancy :0)

I hope this will be a useful starting place for making good use of pretty fabric that may be hanging around at your house.

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PS

This is just how I made these. It’s not THE only way. If you have a better way or think my way is bad, that’s fine, really, you needn’t write me about it. I’m all about reducing negativity just now :0)

PPS

I have some fabrics for pillowcases to the webshop!

pillowcases & pancakes

I am really trying to get the sewing room cleaned out for 2014. It’s become so cluttered I can hardly think in there! I’m trying to just get rid of most of what’s in there that I don’t use directly for Impie, Hattie & Bea, the webshop, and maybe one or two other projects – the rest HAS TO GO! I need to attack it when I’m feeling ruthless, that doesn’t happen very often!

I did run up a batch of pillow cases with some larger fabric pieces I had stashed and from some miscellaneous bolts I have on hand. I used about a yard for a standard pillow, a half yard more for a king sized. I love the mis-matched look of these and they feel nicer (and are finished nicer) than the mid-priced sheet set pillowcases I usually use. I have a few more fabric pieces to do up, I might blog a tutorial if anyone has an interest. I need to stop looking at these pictures, it might bring on a nap and then I’ll lose momentum!

And, just perfect after a night’s sleep on pretty pillows, blueberry pancakes – yum!

Yzma says hello.

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sweet & spicey

Tried a couple new recipes from Pinterest. Acutally I’ve used the cinnamon roll recipe before, but this time I actually made cinnamon rolls with it, just standard without the fancy nuts and chocolate. I love this recipe!!

Also I tried out a Buffalo Cauliflower recipe. Pretty tasty but no one would eat it with me. I used blue cheese dressing for the dip.

Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend!

PS – Do you like my new yellow pot – I made the cinnamon roll dough in it.

PPS – Here are more pins, with comments, of other Pinterest recipes I’ve tried.

Christmas Sweets & Treats

I hope your Christmas was Merry and that the New Year will bring you Great Things!

We had lots of treats here, the sweet kind and a few new things for my kitchen.

Christmas morning we enjoyed a hot cocoa bar, I made a slight adjustment to a basic crockpot cocoa recipe. You can find one from Country Cottage Needleworks in the 2013 Ornament Just Cross Stitch issue and also on Pinterest. I only used about 1.75 cups of chips (I used mini-chips and saved the other 1/4 cup for sprinkling) and added a bit of sugar and baking cocoa to the mix. I had several other choices for dressing up each cup and of course lots of whipped cream!

I have a new color in my Fiestaware collection – Lapis. Very pretty and already in use. Santa also left a little gadget in my sock for poaching eggs. I’ve tried it out with pretty good results, it will take a bit of practice to perfect but it will be a handy thing to have around.

I still have Flamingo (a dark pink) Fiesta on my kitchen wishlist! I think it will look perfect with my other colors.

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O Christmas Tree….

and baaaad kitty!

Merry Christmas!

Share a link to your tree in comments! Hope your Holidays are coming together sweetly.

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snow birds

and a squirrel…

Like many people here in the USA we’re experiencing some Extra Wintry Weather. I’m keeping the feeders full and making good use of my camera and knitted apparel.

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Happy Weekend!