Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I Take it Back

That thing I said yesterday about maybe having sewed a little too much? I take it back! There's nothing like a visit to the quilt shop to re-energize a quilter--not to mention the fact that the quilter may have come home with a bag containing stuff for about 20 more projects! Oh, and you know what's the biggest sewing motivator? The realization that the quilter won't be home to quilt any night this week. ARGH!

So, it's back to work in the morning and another four days until the weekend. What did I spend my last day off doing? First thing, I got up and baked a cake. Simple stuff. See the photo below? You lightly beat the eggs, add the cake mix and cherry pie filling, and pour it into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake for about a half hour at 350 degrees. You can frost it when it cools, but we like it as is.


After that, I added the binding to this Valentine's Day wallhanging--just a quick, simple little project to fill a blank wall in the master bathroom.


And after that? Shopping for wool garments at two Goodwill stores--everything was 50% off in honor of the holiday. Next, a trip to the grocery store ensured that we now have enough food in the refrigerator and pantry for the coming week.

This evening was our monthly Knot-Y Ladies embroidery class with Gran, and on the way there, I stopped at a third Goodwill. My car looks like I live in it with all the bags of wool in the back seat! I still need to unload the bags, but I'm not in a hurry. I'll do that sometime this week. Unloading means sorting and deciding what's what and I don't want to take the time for it tonight.

During class, we started talking about the Tuffets I recently made, and I wanted to answer a couple questions people had that you may have too. First of all, Tuffets is a Schnibbles pattern--there are actually TWO Schnibbles patterns for Tuffets. I used the patterns for the first few I made. Most Tuffets measure around 5" x 5" or so, so they're fairly large--think about the size of a charm square. One of the Tuffets I made measured 5" x 7", so before I sewed it all together, I decided to make it into two Tuffets because it was so large. The last two tuffets I made weren't from the patterns but were simply similar and made from the scraps I happened to have on hand. I've stuffed my Tuffets with a combination of ground walnut shells for weight and polyester stuffing for loft. These smaller ones I've made are great for pincushions--the larger ones can be used as pincushions also although they seem a little large to me. Any size can be used to fill a bowl as decorations though. And speaking of that idea . . . .

Along somewhat similar lines, I recommended that the ladies in my class check out the blog Notjustnat. I found Natima's blog through the Friday Night Sew-In; she makes stuffed hearts, as you can see in her blog header. And not only does she make fabric hearts, but she embellishes her hearts with buttons, stitchery, etc. AND sometimes she buys embroidered items from the op-shops (thrift stores), cuts them up, and makes hearts from them. Cool, huh?! Great Valentine's decorating idea!

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

9 comments:

Kris said...

I knew it! Too much of a good thing indeed!

Unknown said...

Cute fabrics in the valentine quilt. I knew that you would never stop sewing.

Laura said...

OMG, I LOVE chocolate cherry cake! That's what we call what you made and we slather it with a generous amount of Cool Whip. Deeelish!

Jan said...

That cakes sounds divine! Tks so much for sharing ... I'm gonna give it a try once the w/e rolls around again. Loved what you accomplished during the "Friday Night Sew In!" Hope your hubby is OK after his fall.

Shirley--Knot-y Embroidery Lady said...

Not being able to sew until the weekend!!! In words of my DH, "I think "we" need an intervention here."
Shall I bring a stitchery or a binding one of my quilts needs to your office so that you can at least hand sew on your lunch hours? Just let me know and I will get a care package made and delivered!

:o)

Jocelyn said...

I love Natima's blog. She is so creative. Such a sweet gal. I love your little Valentine's Day wallhanging. Very pretty.

Heidi said...

My mom makes that very cake recipe.. except one difference. She pours it into a jelly roll pan and makes Cherry Brownies. YUMMY!

What is all the wool for? (I love goodwill)

Dena said...

You did a great job on your Valentine wall hanging.

Rhonda said...

That cake sounds great, I'll have to try it one of these days...when I'm not sewing something....LOL
Take care.