Time out from Christmas Sewing: A New Bag!

I started with this thrift store find.

Lovely, isn't it? You can't tell by the flash photo, but it is a nice wool and the red is truly red, not pink. And the blue is a teal. Anyway. . .

I used the Buttercup Bag pattern and ended up with a cute bag. I didn't have a magnetic closer, so I rigged up a ponytail elastic and a button. I actually like it because you can fit more inside closing it that way.

It's a little smaller than the size purse I usually carry, but it's a new purse and that's all good as far as I'm concerned. Nice and wintery made out of that wool, too.

Sew & Tell Friday: The Food Edition

This week's Sew & Tell Friday (<---click here for lots of yummy recipes) is all about food, because, well, there's been a lot of cooking and baking going on these past few days.

There will also be lots of sewing going on in this house starting today and through the weekend. I'm really looking forward to cranking out some projects here.

I ate my share and more yesterday and had a great time with family. I received an e-mail and a phone call asking me for the following recipe, so it goes without saying that it is a long time family favorite. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

We just call it. . .

Corn

or That Corn. As in "Sis, do you have the recipe for that corn" or "Mom, what do you put in that corn."

Go here for the recipe. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is what we woke up to this morning. Our first measurable snowfall! It created a beautiful coating on the ground but won't interfere with holiday travel.

The snow certainly puts one in the Christmas spirit.

We had Oven Apple Pancake for breakfast.

It was the perfect choice for something light to eat on Thanksgiving morning in anticipation of a big feast at noon. Speaking of which, time to get ready!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Enjoy your day!

Thanksgiving -- and then Christmas!

My son and his lovely wife received one of these for a gift. How lucky are they? It has lots of fun shapes to make, but they weren't thrilled with the recipe that came along with the product.

So, they asked me. I passed the request back a generation and asked my mom, who has always made the best "spritz" cookies. (Hint, hint, Mom, make some this year please.)

Mom brought out this adorable vintage cookbook. It cost 15 cents back whenever (there is no date on or inside the book). This book is chock full of recipes, most of which were Pillsbury prize winners. This particular recipe was developed by Ann Pillsbury.

The recipe is posted over on my cooking blog.

I am gradually getting out my Christmas decorations. Each year is new. I don't always use everything I have and I don't always put things in the same place from year to year.

Here is a table runner, embroidered by my mother. Have fun with your own decorating!

Maybe I should read the manual?

This was fun. I hope you can see it clearly. I did some machine quilting on the motifs on this panel.

My sewing machine was making a beep as I stitched forward and backward.

I thought it was yelling at me for holding in the reverse stitch button, but I discovered it was offering to go backward without me holding in the button. Imagine that!

I wonder what other wonderful things my machine does that I don't know about. I'm sure that the functions I use are only the tip of the iceberg.

Here is some knitting I've been working on for years. Good thing I don't do a blog focused on knitting because it would be pretty sparse.

This is a baby afghan made using Carol Duvall pattern. Is she still on TV? If so, it must be at a time that doesn't fit my schedule. Anyway, this pattern is really easy. (Believe me, it has to be in order for me to make it.) It makes kind of a thick double knit that's nice and cushy for baby. I do not have a recipient in mind for this blanket, but maybe some day.

Note: I can't get the page to load for this pattern. It is dated 2001. If you would like a photocopy mailed to you, send me an e-mail with your address.

Another Purse

You might be sick of looking at the same purse pattern, but . . .

this one is a little different.

I lined the handle with batting. I like it a lot better that way -- the handle doesn't crumple up like the one I made earlier.

This purse is for my mom. The lining is made from a blouse that was 1/2 done, and was in the process of being sewn by her mom (my grandma). My grandma passed away in 1984. The lining is kind of a puckery seersucker type fabric; I really like the texture. But the "generational" connection is the real fun in this project and I'm excited to tell my mom where the fabric came from.

My grandmother made most of her family's clothing. The quilt pictured below was made by her, using scraps from all of those sewing projects. I could sit and stare at this quilt for hours. Most of the fabrics were made up into "house dresses" for everyday use but some were, I'm sure, sewn into church dresses.

Reproduction fabrics are fun but they don't come close to the real thing.

For an end-of-the-week treat, visit Sew & Tell Friday for lots of yummy projects from some crafty folks!

Quilts for Kids Ready to Go!

Well, here they are, all ready to mail to Quilts for Kids. This pattern was really fun to make. As always, I learned a few things.

1. I'm very pleased with how the charcoal thread worked with the quilting on the colors and the black. It really blended in nicely. I used light pink thread on the girl's quilt.

2. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the back-turned-to-front binding (the organization's request) but I like how it turned out.

3. I'm more of a cross-hatch and stitch in the ditch quilter than a meanderer.

4. This was the first time that I used my walking foot from start to finish. Yes, even on the piecing!

Now on to other projects!

Noah's Ark

There hasn't been any sewing going on this week in this household, but I still dug up something to show off. I decided to share the most difficult thing I've ever made. Well up to this point, anyway, we know not what the future holds.

Perhaps 18 years or so ago, I was shopping with my youngest son. He saw this pattern and asked "Mom, will you make this for me?" Well, who could turn down this adorable 5 year old?

This is a zippered top Noah's Ark, with enough room to hold all the animals and Noah. Notice how you can identify the girl polar bear by her pink flower and the boy by his blue one? The boy kangaroo wears a tie and the girl has a pouch. And of course a girl zebra has pink stripes and a boy has blue! For some reason, there is no difference between the boy and girl giraffe.

While they are waiting out the flood, they can even look out the windows.