Organized Workspace February 3, 2010

As the final project of my long weekend and something LONG overdue, I organized.

 

Most of my projects were semi-organized…in plastic grocery bags or various other bags that I picked up along the way. My system obviously wasn’t the most sophisticated, but at least I kept each project together with the other contents. The only problem was that I would have to look in each bag to find the project I was looking for. I kept all of the bags in this huge nylon car trunk organizer (not pictured) that I found last year at Wal Mart. It worked very well for keeping all of my projects together, but I purchased the organizer for my trunk and was unable to find another one to actually keep in my trunk.

 

My mom talked about organizing her projects in plastics containers, and being a fan of plastic containers, I thought it was a good idea for myself, as well. It sure beat my current organization plan of bags in bags and sometimes in more bags. Besides, my desk was getting fairly cluttered, too.

 

BEFORE - I don't normally have everything piled up like this, but I wanted to show everything that I was organizing and putting away for the After pictures. Most of the bulk is fabric for different projects.

 

AFTER - Everything from the Before pictures is put away. Most of the bulk was fabric, which I organized by project in the plastic containers under the work table.

 

It only took me an hour to organize everything, and I must say that I am quite proud of myself. I lean a bit toward the hoarding side in life, as I am seeing by watching Hoarders the past couple of months, though luckily not nearly as bad as most of the people on that show. However, one thing I have learned is that pretty much any hobby can make a normal person lean toward being a hoarder. Now I just need to organize everything else in my life like this!

 

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Productive Hibernation February 1, 2010

I mentioned in my last post that we rarely get snow in the Nashville area. Here I am again talking about the snow. We got much, much more this time, only 3 weeks since the last snow. I love the snow, but I can honestly say that I only want to see it once a year, then I’m ready for it to go away until next year. It’s true that we don’t know how to drive in it, but it’s also true that the local government is not prepared for it with plows and salt trucks, especially for more than just a dusting.

 

I’ve been at home since I got home Thursday afternoon. I did leave once on Saturday with my dad in his 4×4 to scope out the roads. It took us 45 minutes to make the 5 mile round trip to one of the local gas stations, and my place of work is 17 miles from home. Needless to say, I had no interest in driving until the roads were all clear. I got up this morning, anticipating going into work, until the news reported ice and numerous accidents in the area where I would have to drive to work.

 

Here’s a few pictures of the beautiful snow that I now have a love/hate relationship with. (If you click on them, you’ll be directed to the photo on my Flickr page.)

 

One of the country roads a few miles from my house on the way into town.

 

For the first time in a very long time, we had enough snow to go sledding!

 

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However, all of this hibernation wasn’t in vain. My mom and I both got a lot of sewing done, including two baby quilts that I completed. I can’t show you pictures of the completed quilts just yet, because I want the recipients to be the first to see them, but here’s a sneak peek until then.

 

Baby Boy Quilt Sneak Peek

 

Baby Girl Quilt

 

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Weight Watchers 0 Point Cabbage Soup January 9, 2010

I used to make this recipe frequently a few years ago and decided that today would be a great day to make it again. It’s a super easy recipe that is healthy, too.  The recipe is also easy to add or alter. FYI, the picture below has lean ground beef added that no longer makes it 0 Points, but it’s still very healthy.

 

Weight Watchers Cabbage Soup (with lean ground beef added)

 

Weight Watchers 0 Point Cabbage Soup

Ingredients

• 3 cups nonfat beef broth or nonfat vegetable broth or nonfat chicken broth (beef is the best)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cups chopped cabbage
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup green beans
• 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• salt & pepper

 

Directions

1. Spray pot with non stick cooking spray saute onions, carrots and garlic for 5 minutes.
2. Add broth, tomato paste, cabbage, green beans, basil, oregano and salt & pepper to taste.
3. Simmer for a about 5-10 minutes until all vegetables are tender.
4. Add the zuccini and simmer for another 5 or so minutes.

 

Notes

1. I have added yellow squash and lean ground beef (adds calories/points, but still overall healthy).  I buy as many fresh vegetables as I can for the best nutrients.
2. Make larger quantities of it and freeze it in individual freezer bags/containers to thaw and eat on cold nights that you don’t want to cook.
3. If you can find No Salt Added Broth, it’s even healthier.

 

Recipe Found at RecipeZaar

 

Brrrr! It’s cold! Middle Tennessee usually only gets snow MAYBE once a year. It’s true that we don’t know how to handle it, but that’s part of the charm of the area. If you don’t like it, then move back North or wherever else you call Home. I went out today, and this is what it looks like near my house. Luckily just a few miles away the roads were mostly clear. I’m thankful I don’t have to deal with this on a regular basis, however it’s really pretty when it lasts.

 

Middle Tennessee 2010 Snow Day

 

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Funky Frogs Quilt As You Go Update December 31, 2009

I have an update to add regarding a previous blog entry! Back in August, I wrote about a Quilt-As-You-Go quilt that I had made for a friend who was having a baby. I now have pictures of the baby and her new quilt. The outfit she is wearing is adorable…and matches the quilt!

 

 

http://adventuresinquilting.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/funky-frogs-quilt-as-you-go-quilt/

 

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Yeah I’ll get right on that December 20, 2009

Lately it’s like this for me.

Market Basket October 25, 2009

 

Maybe it was a mistake in naming this blog Adventures in Quilting because lately it seems that I’ve been posting less about quilting and more about other crafts and hobbies….and here I go again.

 

Recently I made my second First Basket. I say it was the second one because a few years ago I had participated in making a Longaberger basket, but really I just helped the Longaberger basket maker…or mostly got in his way. This time I did more of the making of the basket with a little bit of help from my mom and the teacher.

 

 

The basket I made is called a Market Basket, and Donna Christian was the teacher. Donna has become a friend of the family in the past year, and offers several other classes in other hobbies like quilting, crocheting, sewing and pretty much anything else if you ask nicely and enough other people are interested in making it a class. Yes, that’s a shameless plug for her! She doesn’t have her own website, but if you live in the Nashville area and interested in her contact information, let me know.

 

 

One thing that I discovered early on in making my basket is that there is probably an amnesia involved in the process. The first part of making the basket was.not.fun.at.all. It was complicated, and I can best compare it to trying to dress a siamese twin octopus (because this basket had 15 reed pieces). I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for my mom and Donna’s help, I probably would have given up.

 

 

But once a few rows are weaved in, and the basket starts taking shape, the process does become easier and more fun. I just need to get better at remembering to push down the rows and pull the reeds tighter so that it fits together better.

 

 

When I was done, we dipped the basket in tea mixed with ammonia (oooh, stinky!) to tea dye the basket instead of brushing on a stain. The next day, we dipped it one more time to make it slightly darker. I really like the darker, more subdued color than the bright unstained color. It’s definitely more warm!

 

 

While the first part was.not.fun.at.all, I’m going to make 2 more baskets before I decide if I like making them or not. I didn’t really like sewing the first few times, but I did grow to like it a little more each time. And thus, I tried out another hobby!

 

I included just a few pictures from the basket making process in this post. To see all the pictures taken, go to My Flickr link for the complete set.

 

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Professor Sprout Costume September 11, 2009

Another non-quilting sewing project that I have put together is a Professor Sprout costume from the Harry Potter movies. Professor Sprout is the Herbology professor and Head of House for Huffle Puff. I made the costume for the Dragon*Con convention that I attended Labor Day weekend. This is the first time I have attended the convention, but I was so excited to go, and I wanted to be one of the many participating in wearing a costume.

 

I had lots of help from my mom and friend, Linda. Since I am new to sewing and never sewn a costume or clothing, I couldn’t have done it without them.

 

I didn’t make the hat, but I added the ivy to it, and I’m wearing a curly, gray wig, but everything else was sewn. I got very lucky on the fabric by  finding it on Clearance at JoAnn for $2 a yard on the dark and $5 a yard on the light. If you look closely on the light fabric, there’s vines and leaves embroidered onto the fabric, which fits with the character so well! The dark fabric is thick, but it lays just perfect and doesn’t want to wrinkle easily. Oh, and credit goes to my dad for the boots!

 

My boyfriend, David, took pictures before Dragon*Con at Centennial Park in Nashville.  These were my favorites from the ones he took that day.

 

 

I met up with some other people at in Harry Potter costumes through Cosplay.com and attended a photo session with them at Dragon*Con. Here are just a few favorites of the pictures David took there.

 

 

At Dragon*Con, I met an awesomely dressed Dumbledore that I wish I had gotten my picture taken with. I also should have gotten the names and contact information of some of the other costumers, but it was my first Con experience, and I guess I was just overwhelmed with everything going on….and the 35,000+ people there. One thing is for sure, I have been bitten by the costume bug.

Simply Southern Quilts August 30, 2009

I had the opportunity to visit Simply Southern Quilts earlier this month. This charming shop is nestled behind the trees in downtown Sparta, Tennessee. I admit it was a little difficult to find for someone new to the area, because of the way Sparta has their downtown area setup, and with all the trees on the sidewalks, but once you find the location, it’s well worth the visit.

Inside you’ll find bolt after bolt of beautiful fabric and many completed quilts to spark ideas and inspiration. There is also a wide variety of fat quarters available for smaller projects. The store has 3 levels for your adventure through the shop, and the owner and other staff are very friendly and helpful.

I’ve promised myself that I will not buy any more projects or kits until I finish everything that I have bought already (I still have projects from my Las Vegas Shop Hop that I haven’t even started on yet!), I didn’t purchase anything in the store on this visit, but my mom bought the Scrappy Flag Pillow, and next to it on the table was a kit that I have as an idea in my head for some baby quilts that I will make when I am out of the Funky Frog fabric. The kit is called I Spy, and it’s made from a mix of kid’s fabrics for kids to hunt and point out things that they find on the fabrics in the quilt.

 

 

Simply Southern Quilts

http://www.simplysouthernquilts.com/

12 Liberty Square

Sparta, TN 38583

931-836-3271

Retro Dish Towels August 29, 2009

This is the first post that doesn’t quite involve quilting, but because of my interest in learning to quilt, I have branched out a bit and made this adventure of mine more about sewing and not just quilting. I have a few other non-quilting posts in progress, as well.

I picked up these kits at The Christmas Goose Quilt Shop in Las Vegas when I was there in April. They were at the checkout counter and so hard to resist for just $5 with their bright and inviting colors. I found out after my purchase that they’re Mary Engelbreit prints, so that explains my attraction to them since I love the colors and designs that Mary creates.

I bought one to make for my mom and one to make for myself, but now that I have the pattern, I plan to make several more. They were fairly easy to make, but I learned from a few of my mistakes in the two that I made. I have never sewn with rickrack, and I needed to do a better job tucking in the ends so they don’t ravel.

But I suppose that’s what learning to sew is all about…learning from your mistakes and making the next one even better. By the way, this is the first sewing project that I have completed that I have kept for myself. I have a few other projects of my own that I am working on, but so far I’ve given away all of my completed projects.  I hope to find the time to make more of these as gifts.

My mom’s is the one on the right and mine is on the left:

The sample towel in The Christmas Goose Quilt Shop. I wish I had taken a picture of the kits before I put them together.

Funky Frogs Quilt As You Go Quilt August 29, 2009

This project was a Quilt-As-You-Go that I got as an idea at Fabric Boutique. The idea is to use strips from a jelly roll, along with spray adhesive (the kind that washes out and is safe on fabrics…can be found in most fabric or quilt shops), your batting and binding, then sew it all together one strip at a time.

I couldn’t buy the kit while I was in Las Vegas in April because I couldn’t bring the spray adhesive on the plane with me, and that’s just too much to carry on a plane, anyway (as it is, I came back with 53 pounds of luggage from Vegas, thanks to all the quilt shop hops I did!). So I kept the idea in my head and did it my own way. It’s not technically made from a Jelly Roll set, but I did cut the strips as in jelly roll fashion.

The concept of Quilt-As-You-Go is an awesome method for me in making these baby quilts for friends because they can be made in much less time, because I’m sewing about half as much. It’s also easier because the quilts are smaller than most. I’m still not fast enough to make a quilt in a day, but this method sure lessened the work, which made it go by much faster. While I’m trying to make each of the baby quilts slightly different, I will probably use a similar method on the next baby quilt that I make.

I made this for a friend’s baby shower for her baby due in September, Abbi Grace.

The sample picture from Fabric Boutique:

If you are interested in the kit above, Fabric Boutique sells the complete kit on their website. Just look under kits, and it’s the third one down (as of 8/29/09).

UPDATE:  http://adventuresinquilting.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/funky-frogs-quilt-as-you-go-update/