Happy New Year

 Wishing all my friends and family a prosperous, safe and Happy New Year.




Enjoy,

Laminated Fabric Meets Fusibles

On Monday I showed you this fabric that I plan on using to make a Letty’s Bag.
Well, I’m finally getting around to starting the bag this evening.   The pattern for the Letty’s Bag calls for fusing fusible fleece to both the outside and lining pieces.  My past experience told me that wasn’t going to work on this laminated fabric.  I’ve made a bag with oil cloth before and it melts when you put an iron to it so I was afraid the same thing would happen to the laminated cotton. 
Time to experiment…….
Using a Teflon pressing sheet (to protect my iron) I proceed to make my first attempt at fusing the fleece to the wrong side of the fabric.  After letting everything cool down, I removed the Teflon sheet and low and behold it work.  So next I tried fusing fusible interfacing to the wrong side, and once again it worked.

You know how sometime when you take a picture you get a reflection that you don’t want.  I tried, I really tried to show you how shinny the fabric is.  The large piece hasn’t had an iron anywhere near it but the two smaller pieces have been ironed to fusible fleece (on the left) and fusible interfacing (on the right).   Sorry, you can’t tell from the pictures but trust me, the ironing (with the pressing sheet) didn’t take away any of the shininess.
I’m excited, now it time to fuse the real thing.  Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have an update for you.
Enjoy,

Insights From Sew Cal Gal

A huge thank you goes out to Sew Cal Gal for featuring Two Wacky Women on her blog today.  Here is a direct link to the post about TWW http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2010/12/two-wacky-women.html.   And, you can click on the TWW Logo to visit our website. 

If you haven’t visited Sew Cal Gal blog, you are in for a real treat.  She focuses on featuring various designers, quilt business and anything/everything quilt/craft/sewing related.  She is providing a much needed resource for those of us in the quilt community.

Thank you, Sew Cal Gal, you do a great job.

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday – 12/27/10

Well it’s not exactly a design wall but it does show what I’m working on this week.

You can’t tell from the photograph but the fabric on the top and on the right are the brand new laminate from Tula Pink.   Marilyn and I ordered this while in Houston at Fall Market.  I have been anxiously waiting for it to arrive and it finally did.  So this week I’ll be making a “Letty’s Bag” and will report back later this week. 

To see what others have on their design walls, visit Judy’s Blog.

Enjoy,

Merry Christmas

I’m Still Sewing

I decided to add a little extra something to go with my last minute gifts.  So I made tissue holders to match the Click-it bags I made the other day.

Here’s a close-up of one of them.

 

I used the tutorial from my sister Melinda’s blog.  Here’s the link  http://melindful.blogspot.com then look for tutorials on the left side bar. 

Enjoy,

Last Minute Gifts

Yesterday, with the help of my Granddaughter Emily, I made a few last minute gifts.  As you can see, they are all the same so I was able to assembly line everything.  While Emily was in charge of ironing, I sewed.  All in all it didn’t take us long at all.

Woo Hoo, that’s three days in a row I’ve turned on the sewing machine.

Enjoy,

Mushroom Popcorn

Have you ever heard of it?  Well trust me, it makes the best Carmel Corn. 

My friend Rob makes really great Carmel Corn.   So last year when I read about mushroom popcorn I just had to order some for her and while I was at it I ordered some for me.  Well that was a year ago and I had really kind of forgotten about it.  The other day while poking around in the cupboard, there it was saying “use me”.  So I did.

Here’s the package:

And here it is popped: But to get a real perspective, here is a kernel next to a quarter. 

Isn’t it huge and gorgeous?

And here’s the finished Carmel Corn using Rob’s Recipe.

There’s lot of recipe’s out there but here’s the one I got from Rob.

Baked Caramel Corn

Ingredients: 6 quarts of popped popcorn 1 cup of butter 2 cups of firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup corn syrup, light or dark 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation: Preheat oven to 250. Oil or spray a large roasting pan with vegetable cooking spray, regular or butter-flavored.  Pour popcorn into the pan.  In a heavy pan, slowly melt butter; stir in the brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt.  Bring to a boil , stirring constantly.  Boil without stirring for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla.  Gradually pour the syrup over the popcorn, stirring to blend well.  Bake for 1 hour, stirring every ten minutes.  Remove from oven; let cook completely and break apart.

Just in case you want to order your own Mushroom Popcorn, here’s their website.

Enjoy,

Sewing – Two Days in a Row – Yea!!!!

My daughter came over today so that I could help her make a few Christmas gifts.  So low and behold I actually sewed two days in a row.    

First up, she wanted to make a pillow for a Secret Santa gift for someone at her work.  The theme this year is the movie “A  Christmas Story”.  She found a tee shirt at Target for $5.00 that had Ralphie on the front.   So we added a border, a back and a  pillow form.  It’s 24” and actually came out pretty darn cute. 

Next she needed a small gift for 4 of her co-workers.  She made each of them a Click-it bag.   We were on a roll and managed to forget to insert the little pull tab on each side but they work just fine without (it was way too much trouble to go back and add them).  

Who know maybe I’ll even sew again tomorrow.  It could become  a habit!  Wouldn’t that be nice. 

Enjoy,

I’m Sewing – Yea!!!!!

I can’t remember the last time I actually sewed something but it’s be a long time, way too long.  Finally, this evening I made a pillow.  OK, so it’s just a pillow, but at least it required me turning on the sewing machine, cutting some fabric and even do a little hand sewing.   And, it’s finished!

I hope you can see the unusual shape because that’s what makes it interesting.

So maybe that’s a little over kill on the pictures but I’m so excited to have actually accomplished something.

Until next time,

Enjoy!

Christmas Table Topper

Way back when I made this small quilt that now finds itself a Table topper.   I never have been good at labeling quilts, but it was a looooong time ago. 

This Christmas tree lights up and was made by my Mother, many, many years ago.  I’m not sure if she painted the carolers or not but she always displayed them around the ceramic tree. 

I quilted it very simply.  I like to think I’ve improved since then but I’m not sure.  It’s a simple star that I drew and then sewed on the lines along with stitching in-the-ditch.  I have no idea why I didn’t hand quilt the star, all the solid wedding rings are appliquéd on by hand.  

Enjoy,

The Stockings Were Hung……..

by the chimney with care. 

Every year as a child my sister Melinda and my stockings hung above the fireplace of our childhood home.  After my sister and I were grown, my mother kept them and used them as part of her own Christmas decorations.  When my mother passed away and  it was time to go through her things, my sister decided that the stockings should stay together and she let me be the guardian of them.   So now every year I hang  them up on my mantle and remember all the wonderful Christmas mornings we enjoyed as kids. 

As I recall, a friend of my parents made these for us.  Melinda, do you remember who? 

I hate to say this but they’re 60+ years old.   They’re still in wonderful shape though.  Here’s a close-up of our names that are knit into the top,

Do you still decorate with some of your childhood things? 

Enjoy,

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Yea!!!!! It’s finally time to put the Christmas quilt on the bed. 

Last year we loved having it on our bed.  We loved it sooooo much, it was March before I switched it out. 

Here’s a close-up of the quilt. 

I used my Wacky Devine Nine pattern (http://www.robinquiltsetc.com).  I made it double the size but only used 16 blocks for the quilt and the extra 2 became pillow shames.  BTW the fabric I used was from a Moda line a few years back.

Since I was on a roll, my husband and I put the Christmas tree up,  It’s very, very tall, but I love it.

Now I guess I better get serious about doing a little shopping. 

Enjoy,