A wee zipper bag to match the tote :)

I made a tote a few weeks ago out of some fabrics that had been given to me by a friend - today I found a remnant piece of the original fabric, so I whipped up a zipper bag to match :)  The zipper bag is self-lined, and the rick rack trim on the outside is the same as the rick rack trim on the inside pocket of the tote - I managed to use up not only a fabric remnant, but a rick rack remnant as well :D

RIP Fabricland Aurora - my local fabric store (only 10 minutes away by bus - it was SO convenient!!!) closed today - there's another one 15 minutes away by car (an even bigger store, actually) but - well - it's not my local little store that was so easy to get to!  I hope all the employees find new jobs quickly, and I hope a decent store goes in it's place!  A Joanns would be nice ... ROTFL!!!  Too bad we don't have that delicious chain here in Canada :D

The cat watches me :D

The sewing room, like the upstairs, is undergoing reconstructive surgery (aka being reorganized) - the cat likes to supervise, and of course I have the old laptop here for kijiji and printing off patterns.  I should have tidied before photographing, lol.

Here's the tote and zipper bag I got finished today - I have another identical set cut out - this used up 3 pieces of stash fabric!

 The tote lining and pocket :D





We kijiji'd tonight and bought a black leather couch/loveseat set from a seller in Richmond Hill - we put it in the living room  - that's where C's fancy tv and tv stand are used, so it's pretty much the boys room.  We'll be doing the room in taupe and black, so I'm watching kijiji for other goodies!

Please don't ... don't eat the daisies ...

The blue/daisy fabric one of the two that hubby won at the Amherst Museum quilt show this past Saturday - the fabric that he was kind enough to donate to *moi* ;)  I decided to use it up and make a tote bag - I had just enough of the daisies and just enough of the yellow gingham to do this set.  I didn't even have an inch left to go in the scrap bin - I used every last bit of both fabrics, which means that two pieces of stash fabric are now used up!  I want to pick up some trim at Fabricland to finish the project off - I didn't have enough fabric to make the straps a bit more substantial so I want to add a strip of white/yellow daisy trim to the middle of each, and then use the same trim on each of the two (self-lined) zipper bags.  I got everything done to the point of needing to attach the trim, so it won't take long to finish the set when I get the supplies!

Catching up on some photos

A few recently completed projects ("recently" being subjective, as I found them stacked in a "to be photographed" pile and I don't know if they've been posted yet or not, LOL) ...

3 bibs made to use up the last of those pieces of flannel - all are being donated

6 reusable fabric gift bags - better than paper :)





Banana zipper bag because - well - some people are just bananas, lol!!  This will be going to the animal shelter for a fundraiser :D

7 cat pillows and 5 cage quilts for the shelter - the cat pillows are stuffed with thread/fabric scraps from my sewing efforts, and with a bit of pillow stuffing washed and recycled from pillows that are no longer usable :)  I even cut up the pillow casing to use as stuffing - that way every piece of the pillow gets reused - none goes in the landfill!

Man vs. Octopus - gorgeous! Happy ending - safe for work & kids :D

I'm such a noodlehead! ;)

Anna is the real noodlehead (actually her daughters are, but for the sake of clarity and brevity, I'll lay that moniker on Anna, hehe) but I'll be a noodlehead assistant - I made my first noodlehead zipper bag today, lol!!  It's sooo cute!!
I followed her directions for the gathering & front band, but then I did my usual Heart of Mary construction for the rest of the bag - I can do these in my sleep now, lol.  I love the way the gathers look - it adds a nice dimension and ZING to the bags - thanks, Anna, for the tute and idea!


On Saturday hubby and I went to New York to go to a quilt show at the Amherst Museum, and to do a bit of shopping.  He's always so good about taking me to stuff like that - he's a nice guy :)  (He even asked, on the way home, when the big show is in Kitchener so we can make plans to go!).  We went to the show and to several Joanns, Walmart, Kmart and Aldi ... I had a few quilt stores on my list but I was just too tuckered to shop any more.  How embarrassing!!  I did manage to find some pretties, and came home very happy :)  Not pictured - 2 queen sized Warm n Natural batts, 10 yards of iron on interfacing, and a Fig Tree quilts clutch pattern :D

Hubby won a doorprize at the quilt show, and he kindly donated the win to his loving and appreciative wife :D  Next time I'll remember to take my camera to the show - there were some AMAZING quilts on display - absolutely breathtaking!


It was a great day with perfect weather - I just wish our friends Luchy & Attilio NoBlog could have come with us - we'll be going again, tho, so hopefully next time they can make it :)

My next project - a "Noodlehead" clutch :)

I just found this tutorial and since I've been known to make a zipper bag or two (or 87) in my spare time, I think I'll give this one a try - it is QUTE QUTE QUTE!!!  Don't take my word for it - go peek at Anna's blog - then you'll know exactly how adorable this project is!  She has some other tutorials on her site as well - I'll have to have a closer look this weekend!

The new carpet is here!

The carpet guys are here right now laying our new carpet - family room, living room, dining room, downstairs hall, stairs going upstairs, and upstairs hall.  These were the first rooms we decided to update!  When I saw them carry the carpet in my first thought was ... errrrrrrrrrrrrr BORING!!!  But nope - it's a light caramel color - it has some punch to it (considering it's beige) :)  I like it, and they seem to be doing a nice job!  Our old $hit furniture (which is mostly green) is going to look like crap until we replace it, LOLOL. 

My poor kitty (who is feeling much better now, thankfully) is very annoyed that he got locked in the basement until these guys are finished - I didn't want him underfoot or stepping on anything sharp, and I knew that all the kerfuffle would just upset him.  He has his litterbox and food dishes down there, plus I put one of his little quilts on the floor for him.  AWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I'm such a furmom, LOL!!!

Made by request ...

for a friend's DIL - I think she has a monkey button or pin to attach to it, lol!

We just got back from taking Z to the vet - he was pretty sick yesterday so we got him checked out. Hopefully he'll start feeling better now. I asked DS1 to grab a photo when we got back - just because ... just because I'm wearing my jeans and a button shirt and they FIT :)  Fat people will know what I mean!

Now ... iDon'tLaugh!

ARGH I decided to finish up a project (simple tote bag) I had cut out and started weeks ago - I just finished stitching the lining and bag together, which means that the only things left to do are to topstitch the top, and to handstitch the opening (through which the piece was turned right sides out) closed.  THE POCKET IS UPSIDE DOWN!!!  The rick rack and opening are at the bottom!!!

I'm going to have to rip the whole pocket off, open the bottom of the lining, restitch the pocket in place, then restitch the bottom of the lining.  Yeah - I'm happy.  NOT!!! LOL!!!

Edited about 15 minutes later:  OK, it didn't take very long to fix the problem, and it wasn't very difficult, LOL.  I'll definitely pay closer attention to pocket orientation next time *rolls eyes* :D

iLaugh :)

When your friend is having problems with her dad (he's ill), what do you do?  You make her some panties, of course - zipper bag panties :D
Edited to add:  I could retitle this post SheLaughed, LOL - I just heard from the recipient and she quite liked the bag - YAY!!

Heather, don't look at *this* post either :D

Almost finished ... just a bit of *xxxxxx* required.  They almost make me wish I were working so I'd need to take a lun ... pffft hell no!

Heather don't read this blog post!!! Come back tomorrow!

A little something I'm working on for someone who shall remain unnamed *studiously avoids looking at the post title ;)* - I can't figure out how to get the text to go beside each photo, so we'll just consider this to be an Almost Wordless Tuesday post, and go from there ;)

Sibling rivalry? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The graffiti is DS2's opinion of DS1's painting skills - as you can see, DS1 is rather entertained by the notion :D  Believe it or not, these two get along incredibly well - I don't know if it's because they're so close in age (17months apart) or ???, but they really are great buddies, and have been ever since they were little :)  Such good boys!!  Shhhhhhhhh don't tell them I said so :)

We got the downstairs primed yesterday - rather - the guys primed while I did laundry and supervised ;).  I thought hubby and I would come to blows with our disagreements about what would be done and what wouldn't - it was like a marital war zone at one point! We shall persevere, tho ...and hopefully get through this renovation in one piece, and still married!! ;)  He really should just do what "I" want - it would make life so much easier ... FOR ME!!! :D

P.S.  I revived my cooking blog so I could try to keep cooking/sewing+life stuff separate - here :)

Two days early for weigh-in ...

I usually do my weigh-in on Mondays but I've been watching the numbers and decided that in view of this morning's number, I would do my official weigh-in today ... because I hit a rather happy milestone - I've lost 30 pounds :)  I can fit into some old jeans now (although they're snug, so another 5 pounds should make them more comfy), and I spent this morning reorganizing my closet - a bunch of old clothes now fit so I hung them up, and got rid of a few pieces that are too baggy.  What a great start to the weekend!!!

I'm very photo phobic, but someone took this picture 2 years ago after I lost some weight and fit into the jeans.  Of course I regained the weight the next day *eye roll* so they didn't fit for LONG, lol!  But I must have been the same size then as I am now, so here you go - my hair is shorter now, and more grey, but that's me :)

Cheddar dill biscuits ...

Recipe adapted from Jean Pare's Rich Tea Biscuits (from the Muffins & More cookbook) - this is - by far - the best recipe for tea biscuits in the WORLD.  Tonight I tried brushing the tops with milk before putting them in the oven - it makes them even MORE perfect.  Who knew that flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, butter, shredded cheddar and some dillweed could possibly look or taste SO GOOD!

I also made Chinese Orange Beef with broccoli (instead of snow peas) and red peppers - it was delicious (and very low in fat, so I had some for supper) but the picture looked so bad I can't possibly post it, lol.  It tasted a lot better than it looked :D  I've modified the recipe a touch - I only use half of the sauce ingredients - the full amount makes FAR too much sauce.  I also add a bit of cornstarch to the sauce to thicken it up a bit.  Really quick to throw together - I cook it in the dutch oven at 300F for about 2 hours - PERFECTION!

This is why you do a draft first ...

when you're working without a pattern or instructions :D  My SIL asked me if I could make some cutlery wraps for her and her work buddies for their bag lunches - hell yeah I could!  She sent me a picture of what they wanted - it was a very simple project.  I figured it out in my head, and tonight I put thought to fabric.  Not the pretty fabric we picked out, tho - I wanted to do a trial first, just in case!  My results were pretty good, but with a few things that needed tweaking:

1.  Don't use one sided ribbon - if you have the pretty side out when you sew it, the wrong side will be out when it's tied!  Not so pretty, lol.  I'll change the ribbon to a fabric tab with velcro anyways - I didn't have extra test fabric for a tab, but I have lots of the good fabric.
2.  Move the tab (or ribbons) down to the middle of the wrap - for some reason I thought up high would be proper placement.  HUNH?! LOL!!!

3.  Round off the edges of the flap that folds down to keep the cutlery in place - when the wrap is rolled, the flaps are a bit unwieldly - the corners stick out a bit.  Round corners should eliminate the problem. 


I'll work on the good ones after I get approval from the recipient!  Heather?

OOoooO - a couple of hours later - I just had a thought.  The wrap as made has 5 slots for cutlery because the one I was copying, had 5 slots.  Maybe I'll leave one slot double width so they can slide a cloth napkin in.  4 cutlery slots should be more than enough, I would think?  H?

Some days you sew, some days you cook :)

Today was a cooking day - I was serving really boring leftovers to clean out the fridge, so I wanted to serve some goodies with the crappies :D

Greek pasta salad - requested by DS1.

Sun dried tomato focaccia bread - requested by DS2 (because he doesn't particularly like the olive bread I've been making as per DS1's request, lol).  Recipe adapted from the Caramelized Onion Focaccia bread in The Mixer Bible, 2nd Edition :).

Almond peach crescents - because crescent rolls were on sale for a buck, the recipe sounded delicious, and I had a beautiful jar of homemade peach jam in the fridge, compliments of my friend SmeeMo - aka No Blog Mona :D





After supper I managed to drop the big (heavy as hell!) salad bowl on top of a Corelle dinner plate ... which smashed into smithereens ... which ruined the leftover salisbury steak leftovers when shards of glass landed on top of the mashed taters :D  Good meal, not so good housewares retention :D

I wish MY teachers had been this cool in school!

Found the pillowcases ...

It was a good day today - I found the lost Easter fabric pillowcases ...

 
... baked 2 pepperoni pizzas for supper ...

 ... notice the 2" tall bubble in this one, LOL! ....

... and tried a new-to-me recipe for maple pudding cake (made with real maple syrup, from the Coutts farm in Perth, Ontario :D) - I did taste the sauce, but only a teaspoon *proud grin :)*.  Damn it was good!  Next time I'll drop the oven temp to 350 - it came out a little too brown @ 375 after being in the oven for only 30 minutes.  I may even decrease the amount of brown sugar by half - it was a bit too sweet.  Dear God did I say that out loud??!??!!  Check the news - hell may just have frozen over!! ;)

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Easter ... we spent the day at my husband's oldest brother's house with his whole family - we had a delicious dinner - they're Italian so as you can imagine, the food was AMAZING :D

I wish I'd taken my camera to get photos of the star of the day - 2 year old Matteo (great nephew) who was, as he always is - an absolute delight.  I gave him one of the Easter pillowcases I made - he was more interested in the chocolate pirate ship that was IN the p-case, LOL.  What a darling wee muffin!  And his mom made me some crocheted dishcloths - I LOVE 'EM!!! 

Hopefully my weigh-in goes well tomorrow --- I didn't overeat today, but there wasn't anything "low fat" to be found - I didn't even have so much as a taste of dessert or candy or chocolate, so the numbers should be in my favor in the morning ... I hope!!  I'm not a saint tho - when we got home I scarfed down 2 x 100 calorie Ah Caramel bars - that satisfied my need for sugar :D

Used up some Easter fabric :)

Several days ago I decided that since hubby is taking me fabric shopping stateside this month, I would use up some of the fabric from my last trip ;)  I grabbed whipped up some pillowcases and zipper bags - I used up every inch of those fabrics.  Somewhere in the basement are 2 more pillowcases - I'm just not sure where they are, lol.  A lot of stuff from upstairs has been stored in the basement during the carpet renovation, so everything is upside down right now.  But happily, 3 pieces of fabric have given their lives with a smile, and can no longer be considered as stash ;)

Mess and dust EVERYwhere!

We've started working on some things in the house that needed to be replaced/updated - we're starting with the downstairs flooring - time to get rid of all the ()*@#$&)(*#$ green carpets that I so happily chose 15 years ago!  HUNTER GREEN!!!  We ordered new carpets (in a neutral beige) which will be installed in about a week and a half, so we started ripping up the old carpets - what a disgusting dirty job.  You'd think I never clean my house, judging by how much dust and dirt is being tossed around.  We're doing the downstairs family room, living room, dining room, front hall, stairs going to the second floor, and second floor hall - all in the same beige.  That's a LOT of furniture to rearrange and get out of the way!  The poor cat is beside himself - he doesn't like furniture getting moved, and there are tacks along the perimeter of all the walls, so he has to watch his step!  Here are a few photos of the ripping up job :D  Of course, I'm unable to place the photos side by side to save space, and I'm not able to get the text beside the photos.  Enjoy the mess, and be thankful it's in MY house, not yours!