Upcycled Purses

 My readers know I am fond of Linda/Laura Kemshall's, DesignMattersTV web site.  A year ago they had a video on 'upcycled purses', which I did purchase but I never did make any.  I saw in one of their recent posts they were showcasing it again so I watched!   And then I got out some of my older quilts to cut up!

This was my first tote!  It's leftovers from a quilt I did years and years ago from the pattern, Illusions, by Carol Fallert.  I only had pieces of this leftover from the quilt because I've made other items from it!

The inside is lined and not sure you can see but Laura has a cool way of adding little pieces of fabric to the ends of the zipper, which makes for a really neat and easy way to insert the zipper!

This was  a quilt I made a few years ago.  The sun flower was all beaded!

But I think it ended up being a cute purse.  THese are only around 7-8" x 6".  I added some embroidery to the quilted fabric because it was too plain. 

See the blue pieces at the zipper ends?  Clever and makes for a neat finish!

I made this shibori piece/quilt a long time ago!  So, since it's just sitting around, time to cut it up too!

I think it made a nice tote/purse!

This quilt was done for our yearly exhibit in 2009...exhibit was 'inspired by Aubrey Beardsley.

I'll get two totes from this quilt

I'm making these for little Christmas gifts for the girls.  Only need about 6 more!  But I'm having fun making them!

Thanksgiving 2022

 

Another wonderful dinner at Darrin and Kris' home!!! Both kids were home from college and Nick/Braylon actually had some turkey dinner with us before heading to Braylon's house with her family for Thanksgiving!  HA

This post is primarily pictures for my 2022 Blog Book so not in any particular order!

Yes, we had tons of dessert!!!  YUM

Kris decorates their home so beautifully each year!

Kris mom has gifted her this little guys

Every little nook is filled with decorations!

So beautiful!

And her dinner setting is always awesome!

and the best Thanksgiving dinner, as usual.  Kris makes the BEST mashed potatoes!  And her turkey is always perfect!

Caught Nick and Braylon on the steps for a pic!

Kris filled us up with appetizers before hand...YUM

It is football time you know!!!

Kris' mom is so sweet!  She had this little guy sitting in our car when we left!!!!

And this metal tag was on the bag!  How sweet!!!  Thanks, Nancy!

Language of Flowers Progress

Progress on Hilary's Language of Flowers online class.

Hard to see but I finished the quilting on the collage...At least I think you can see some of the quilting.  It needed to blend into the background as our flower stitching is to be the main focus.  

This is the back so you can see the quilting that's on the front!

I used a water soluble material I've had for ages!  I wasn't sure it would even dissolve in water but it did!  Yes, I did a practice piece first!

Using a deep green/gray Signature thread I had.  Seems to work well.

I added stitching of leaves....not the greatest piece but now I know what I need to do when using this technique in the future.  

 I'll make sure my tracing is easier to see on whatever tracing paper or soluble material I use.  The tracing kept disappearing as I was quilting.

This is the back of the piece.  

This shows the tracing I was using.  The background was changed from when I took this picture but you get the idea on how the stitching 'should' have looked!  HA  

I'm happy with results...interesting process and as they say "it looks good from a 747"!  HA

Language of Flowers class

 I haven't been working on this online project for a few weeks...but I did get to work on this past week!  Met with some buds last week for lunch and my friend, Mary, gave me some of her vintage fabrics to look through to see if I could use any!  And, yes, I did find some fabrics to use!  THANKS, MARY!  Today, I added fusible web to the back of the strips I want to use.  

Of course, I keep changing the layout, which is fine.  I'll let it 'perk' for a day or two and start playing again.  

Here are a few of the layouts....this is just a practice piece...I'll fuse pieces to batting and start to do some FM stitching...then trace the outline of the flower, which I'll then free motion quilt with black thread - just the outline of the flower.

The next two are similar but placing of flower is different!  This is a favorite.....placement wise of flower.

I think this is one of my favorites...but who knows!  I'm sure not one to stick with one decision long!  HA  

I made this on Monday...apple pie...doesn't look so great but doesn't have to as long as it tastes good, right!!!!  Yep, that hole is from my spoon dipping in to make sure it tastes ok!  And it did!!!

It's Recipe Time!

Well, it is fall after all!  So my post on FB and here are mainly about bagging leaves!  HA  I'm not sure what else I have been putting in a lot of effort in but....leaves are one chore!  This is the last tree in our yard that needs to drop its leaves!  I am sure our neighbor is looking forward to not seeing them in their yard (that's there house behind the tree!).  Bob and I do rake in their yard to pick up leaves.  We try to be a good neighbor!

The other, so called chore, is  making new recipes from the web site Half Baked Harvest!  I love her recipes and have two of her books.  If you enjoy trying new recipes, sign up for her emails.  I'm posting just a few of the ones I've made over the past few months...YUM!

Rosemary Chicken and Avocado Bacon Pitas with Honey Feta Sauce:  Don't let the Feta throw you if you're not a fan.  I used 2 ounces of Feta and 1/2 cup sour cream!  Perfect!  This was excellent!

Crockpot crispy chicken tinga tacos with Jalapeno Avocado Crema:  Another excellent meal!!!  OMG...so good!!!!  Yes, I love her Mexican recipes...one more coming!

Weeknight Cheesy Baked Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch:  Similar to above but also SO good!!!

Slow Cooker Mustard herb Chicken and creamy Orzo:  I used rice (I made ahead) instead of Orzo and sour cream instead of heavy cream.  Another winner!!!

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast:  OK, I cheated and just used a store bought spinach dip for the filling!  This was delicious!!!  I only used one chicken breast (large) which I cut in half then sliced half for the stuffing.  Not a Harvest recipe either....

I still had a small piece of chicken left over so  I made Bob a gourmet sandwich tonight!  I put some Jalapeno jelly on once side of a ciabatta bread, one slice of white cheddar cheese, some sliced apples and the left over piece of chicken (sliced).   (I used Ciabatta Roll - take & bake - you bake room temp roll for 5 min.  After it cooled, I added ingredients then wrapped in foil and kept in warm oven for about 10 min.)  YUM!!!

One Pan Maple Dijon chicken and Butternut Squash:  This was so easy to prep in the a.m. and just toss the squash in oven first, then I put the chicken on the opposite side of the squash (her recipe says to lay chicken on top of squash but I wanted them separate!).  This wasn't from Half Baked Harvest....but really a good recipe! 

I am also knitting a row now and then!  Christmas target date??  I hope~!

ENJOY being Betty Crocker!  Do let me know if you made one or more of the recipes!!! 

Fall is here!

One of our trees in the front yard...
yes, our leaves blow into our
neighbors yard (white van)..we do
try to rake as many as we can!  Have
to be neighborly, right!

 And that means it's time to start bagging leaves again!  We only bagged 3 today...beautiful weather here in Michigan the past few days...temps from 60-75!  Yesterday, we were going to rake leaves but it was so windy I just cut back my hosta plants in the back yard.  I don't normally cut them back until spring but we have bunnies that like to visit our yard at night and the dogs go crazy!

I have been busy the past month helping with our Friends group prepare for our book sale, which was a great success!  We raised around $1000, which isn't bad at all!!  Our next sale won't be until spring so we'll have somewhat of a break!

In between time, I'm still knitting..although, I did go 6 days without touching my needles!  The pics below show some of the progress...I'm only on row 30 or 31 or 69 rows!  And the color isn't really showing up it's true color...This was my start.....

And this is a closeup of the funky SPIKELET stitch...those little bobbles!  

It has a similar ruffle neckline as my first lace top but not as tight.  My sister was on vacation (tour of Egypt!!) so we are both caught up and around the same row knitting.  Always fun to knit with her!!!

And check out my mandevilla vine!!!  I brought it inside when night time temps dropped to 55.  She's doing so well!!!  I am determined to not set her back like I did last year!  

She even has a flower budding!  

I made a purchase that is helping me keep her alive!!  Last year I either over watered or didn't water enough...and repotting and fertilizing this plant just about did her in!

I love this meter! Works so good!  Of course it's an Amazon purchase!  Go figure!

So now it's time for Lions football and knitting and maybe a glass of wine later!  I have my veggies all washed and marinating and my Parmesan Oven-Fried Chicken all ready to toss in the oven at half time so dinner will be ready when the game is over!  Works for me!

Nope, I'm still here!!!

I am still alive and, yep, I'm still knitting...but haven't in a few days.  Actually, My sister and Nancy have been on a tour of Egypt for the past 10 days!  They've had some great experiences but my sister said they should have done this tour when they were 50!!!  Folks were dropping off left and right from some of the tours due to the ups and downs and walking required.  But MaryAnn and Nancy hung in there...even with a slight cold!  They are troopers!  So, I've been waiting for Mary Ann to get back and catch up to me in knitting.  I'm not that far ahead of her so she'll catch up quickly...then we start on the hard part!  HA

I am also working on the Language of Flowers online class with Hilary.  It really is interesting and I'm anxious to get started on the quilting and creating a piece....but...I figured I needed to do a practice piece first.  I decided to use this flower picture to trace/draw....

I'm using an old pillow case for the background (dots!)...the lace piece is from my flea market find.  Other pieces are from my stash.  

Just playing around with different layouts.

I am going to use the first layout and not this one.  Looks like an 'E'!  HA

Once I get the collage fused and sewn down, then I'll trace the flower and start stitching.  

But in-between knitting, making this collage, I'm helping set up for our local library book sale next week!  It's a lot of effort but we're lucky to have a great leader who is very organized.  Yes, she (her name is Amy!) and I get along very well....go figure you say!  HA

I also made some book marks to hand out to the kids or even adults.  I have lots of card stock that I've either stamped, dyed or printed on.  What better use then to sew edges of two pieces of card stock, punch hole and add a ribbon.  I only have about 18-20 made so far.  Hope to get more made as our book sale is next week.  

And speaking of our book sale, I've put together a youtube video that we can post on social media.  Hope you enjoy our little library and the effort the friends group put forth!