Keeping busy on a Snow Day!

It's still snowing - snowed all day Saturday.  Didn't go anywhere!  Sewed all day.

Our photo book for baby Renee is almost done.  Just to finish sewing through all the layers of pages so it won't fall apart when little hands are busy with the book.  Here are photos of the process of getting the pages together.

Sewed together two framed pictures and then put another set of two pictures, right side together, and put a piece of batting on, and serged aroung the edges, leaving an area open on the the bottom side so I could turn it right side out.  Would you believe on the cover pages, I goofed the first time and had one page upside down!  dah!  had to cut around the serged area and fix, then reserge correctly.  It made the cover a little smaller, but it still turned out ok and a little bigger than the other pages.  Then another time, I serged around the whole page, forgetting to leave an opening!  Had to cut some threads.  Does anyone else ever goof like that?

This shows the other side of the serged piece before turned right side out.

Now to decide what order the pages should be - no special order, just a good mixture.  Then hand stitched down the middle of all the pages for so pages won't shift when I machine stitch the middle seam. 

You'll note the ribbon taggies I put on when I sewed the cover together.  This is the inside of the front and back cover pages.  The taggies off set each other when the book is closed.  Decided not to do all the way around the book; and don't know know that I like it any better this way.  Still undecided on a closure for the book.  I need to buy more ribbon if I want to put ribbon on the front and back and when closed tie in bow.  Didn't have any long enough so will have to buy more ribbon the next time I get to town. 

Front cover.

The completed book has 14 picture pages inside, and when closed measures about 2 1/2 inches wide.

With the cover pages, there are 16 picture pages.  Could have done more, but then I think it

would have been too bulky.

Back cover page.

Maybe I could sew a cute button on both the front and back cover, with an elastic that is tight on the back cover, not able to come off, and with a little elastic loop to pull over the button on the front cover.    Wonder if that would be better than loose ribbon to tie.

Which option do you think I should do?

This is what I was working on most of the day Saturday. The "sweetpea" print is is lavendar and is so much prettier than this picture!  I have it ready to quilt and hope to finish it today.  It is a square table topper.

Odda was my helper and my "tail" - following me  every time I moved from the kitchen, back to the sewing room, to sew pieces together, and then back again to kitchen to iron seams, or cut more, etc. etc.  When I was busy, she'd lay down and nap a little or nuzzle me to pet her! 

Start of a MN Family Christmas Cloth Book!

Yesterday I got the pictures transferred onto the fabric by using The Electric Quilt Company Printables.  I scanned the pictures with our inkjet printer onto fabric sheets.   The directions  have you peel off the plastic backing after allowing the print to dry for 15 minutes.  Then I soaked the fabric printed 8.5 x 11 pages in room temperature water for 10 minutes, (used my cake pans with water)and then rinsed and laid flat to dry.  I had the printed fabric sheets dry on folded towels on the table.  This morning I ironed the fabric I found in my fabric bin  that I'll be using to make quilted framing around the pictures and ironed the picture fabric.  I was really pleased at the color quality that transferred to the fabric. 

I cut the picture fabric with 1/4 inch edge around each picture.  Some of the pictures I put at an angle with two pictures in the space.  So I'll have to make the quilted edging different sizes.

                                                        
 Got the use of more pictures by putting two together. 

This will be the front (group) and the back of the book (the dogs).  The pink will be the spine of the cloth book.  I think I'll add another color to frame both pictures together.  Now to pick the pictures that will be the 1st page inside and last inside page.  Then I'll make the quilted frame around those pictures to match the set here.  The rest of the pages will be just a little smaller than the cover.  

I don't have a pattern, but it makes sense to me that the cover should be just a little larger than the inside pages.  I think I'll make  two stitched lines about 1/2 " wide on the first couple of pages down the spine, and for the middle pages, just a single stitched line.  But I'll see how that will fit together as I get further along.    More pictures will come.

Little hands to play with a cloth book; to turn puffy pages; to learn the names of her aunties and uncles and cousins;her GPa and GMa; and dogs!  I'll be finishing this to take to baby Renee in Louisiana when I go in February.

Preparing for our gathering!

We made pork patties!  The kids in Louisiana want to take some seasoned pork patties home with them when they come for Christmas, so yesterday we got the job done.  I think the southern MN kids will want to take some home also.  We use unseasoned pork that was ground from the front shoulders the last time we had hogs butchered.  Since we didn't think we had enough, we went to the local meat market and bought another 15 lbs of course ground pork.  Ours had been packaged as 5 lbs in bags, and so we made up 25 lbs into seasoned patties.  Steve has made up our own seasoning (I don't even know the recipe for that), and depending on how spicy you like your pork patties, depends on how much is mixed in.  You mix the seasoning in with your hands, and then use the press to make your patty.  We like ours about 1/3 lb.  On a bun, it is the best "Ham" burger around!

After pressing out patties, we put them on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for a couple of hours.  We had to use cake pans too, and covered them with tin foil and put out in the pickup because we didn't have enough room in the freezer.  And, believe it or not, those patties out in the truck froze faster than those in the freezer.

After frozen, we then put the patties in plastic and vacuum sealed the packages; ready to stay in the freezer until either grilled or pan fried for breakfast, lunch or supper!  They are best grilled, but we put our grill away for the winter months.  I fried up a couple to have as burgers for lunch - yum!

I have been so busy lately getting things ready for our "family gathering" that I am sorry to say I haven't been good about blogging.  I won the giveaway of a coupon to use for a new Rowenta steamer iron, and will be getting the mail in coupon soon in the mail.  Thank you Cathy from "Hazelruths" blog.

Below are pictures of some of the pillow cases I've been making for all the young people in our lives.  These are fun and easy to make.  I also have been busy getting other things made and in the mail.  Boy is the postage cost out of this world!  It costs more to mail things than I thought it was going too, but had some gifts done that needed mailing, so mail them, I did. 

The pillow case with the puppies has an appliqued cut out picture of a couple of the puppies, and then I embroidered around each puppy, and filled in the eyes, ears, and markings, as this one is for Marcus.  He is about 9 and has been blind since he was 6.  I thought that he'd be able to feel the detail on a couple of the puppies.  His brother and sister are coming with Stephani.  We consider them our adopted grandkids.  Marcus won't be coming becasue he needs to have some medical attention daily that I'm not able to do for him.

We are anxiously waiting for everyone to get here.  It will be a full, full house!!!!!!!!!   But fun!

I still have a couple of projects I'm working on, but having serger problems, so drove that to Fargo, ND (80 miles) to get repaired.  They called yesterday, and it is ready, so think I'll drive to Fargo on Friday to get it.  I'll make some other shopping stops too!

Have a blessed day!

Busy Friday!

This morning my girlfriend and I went sewing machine shopping! I have several old sewing machines, and the one I use the most, is a Riccar 9900. It has been fixed several times, and the last time (about 3 years ago), the repair man told me that the next time he would not be able to get parts for it, as he had a terrible time then getting the replacement steel parts. So this past weekend, when I saw an ad in the paper for overstock of school sewing machines, where schools have cut back and not purchased like they have in past years; so my interest perked up a little. Of course, I knew that the ad had a leader for the student machines, and there would be more upgraded models available. So we got there and were 2nd in line! I watched and listened, and did upgrade to the most expensive one there. These were Necchi machines, and I ended up purchasing a Necchi Model 4825. It features an automatic needle threader - happy me! I have a terrible time threading a machine because of my bi-focale glasses - so I'm excited about that. It also has a built in overlock cutter - great - now won't have to always use my 4 thread serger that is always giving me fits, and is not working right now. You can also monogram and embroider with this machine. That will be fun to practice.

After I got home the first thing I did was set it up and started sewing. It works great, and I'm pleased that I didn't have to spend an arm and a leg to get a machine that should last a long time. It is warrantied for 25 years. I did have to pay extra for the optional accessory packages, which includes extra feet for working on leather and doing upholstry.



I made a couple of hot pads from scraps for part of wedding shower gift tomorrow. Maybe I should stay up late, and make her an apron too!

Of course I was busy sewing, so I had not started anything for supper. Good excuse to go to a neighborhood little bar that serves great burgers. So thats what we did for supper! Leah and Steven (oldest daughter & hubby) were there also, and they stopped over on their way home. Visited for awhile, and now it's after midnight, and I may just start that apron!

Back to sewing!

Just got done making this table runner "Square Meal" by Atkinson Designs. I really like it, but I'm giving it to one of my sister's-in-law that just moved into a new home. I hope the colors match well with hers. She has a wonderful long dinning table that it will fit on better than my small square kitchen table.


Had a little trouble at first following the pattern, but when I did exactly as the pattern said, it went smoother! I don't like cutting all my pieces out first. I'd rather cut, iron, sew, iron, and cut again. Why that is? Don't know. Probably because it started that way, so is a habit. I had trouble at first with the cut lenth not fitting right after sewing the first 9 square! So had to recut for that; and then got my 1/4" correct and away I went!!!


I used Windham's Clara Barton Collection material. It's so unique. Clara Barton (1821-1912) was known as the "Angel of the Battlefield" for her efforts in nursing care during the Civil War. She was instrumental in bringing the Red Cross to America and served as its president for 22 years.



Already have a Halloween table top started for myself, and on that I am changing the pattern! Duh! It was was to big for my table, so, down sizing it a little, you'll see pictures when done. Also have another project started for Christmas presents. Will get pictures of them soon too.