First crafty completion of the year

This is a market bag I made for Angela using Michigan State fabric.  It folds up neatly to be stashed away.  Pretty easy to put together.  The most time consuming part was the bias tape.

I started this on my old White Jean Machine and finished it on my new Brother CP7500 which I got mainly for the quilting features.  What I can say is that so far I LOVE THIS MACHINE!!  It is easy to wind the bobbins, thread the machine and sew.  I love the 1/4" piecing setting, no more fiddling with the seam allowance.  Now to really learn machine quilting.  It came with a walking foot and the free motion quilting foot as well as the quilting guide for straight lines.  I was blown away with how easily I got started, but there's still a lot to learn.  It's quiet, fast and user friendly.

Brother CP7500

Not the best picture in the world, but here it is.  It also came with an extension table for quilting and a hard cover.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!! I realize that I actually avoided sewing because of the old machine and now I am thinking of all of the projects I want to do this year.

While looking for a biscotti recipe I read a post about Connecting Threads.com and popped over to see what it was all about.  Well it's about some really great fabric for not a lot of money.  I have been looking for a quilt kit to work on for quite a while. Something I didn't have to look at putting the fabric together for, something I could just pick up and do.  And boy was I pleasantly surprised when I bought not one, not two, but three kits for under $70 (including the backing fabric).  One kit I purchased is called Scrappy Diamonds and cost all of $29.46 for the top, binding and backing!  If you don't believe me, look for yourself.  They have a Kit Builder option where you can trade out the fabrics to get an idea of how it will look. 

I was a little skeptical about the fabric until it arrived.  Now I am completely sold on this company.  Trust me, give them a look, you will love the way this fabric feels when you get some and you will really love the prices. I will definitely be going back to them for future projects.

In closing, I'm still learning to live without Jay.  I can see that at some point I'll get to a "new normal", but I'm still having my moments.  Crafting (reading blogs, looking at projects, going through my stash, and actually working on things) is helping me to make it through.

Here's to what I hope is a peaceful, crafty new year for myself and everyone out there in craft land.

New sewing table

The vast majority of my crafting supplies (fabric, machines, tables, etc.) are in storage behind a wall of stuff that would take a long time to get to.  And it's not going to happen while there is snow on the ground.  Also, I don't really have the room I need to use for one of my sewing cabinets.

So my husband surprised me big time on Friday with this new sewing table.  I saw it online and thought it would work perfectly for the space that I have (don't have) and the machine I'm using at the moment.  (I can't wait to get my Singer out and serviced)  I absolutely love it.  The well drops so the machine bed can be level with the table and it has a measuring tape right on the edge for quick measurements.  Here's a picture and I'm off to play with it.

Finish number three for The Challenge

Well I finished the pin cushions. Here are 3 of them. They are Halloween/Fall themed. They were super easy to make. I found the instructions here.




Now I want to make a bunch more out of my scraps. I used flannel tops and felt bottoms on these, the next group will be all fabric. I have some batik scraps I want to use up.

I want to tackle something bigger knitting-wise other than dish cloths. I love knitting dish cloths, but I feel like I'm in a rut with them and when I try something bigger I end up frogging like crazy and then throwing the whole thing in the corner out of frustration. So now it's time to tackle something bigger. The funny thing is one of the very first things I knit after learning was a pair of socks. And I think I did a darned good job on them too. Got to get back to the bigger stuff. More later.

Good things and not so good things

Good things - It's only Tuesday and it's been a doozy of a week so far. On the good end, our farm picked up an account at a new local grocery store to carry our pasture raised chicken, turkey and eggs. We made our first delivery last Thursday. We came home from market on Sunday to a message requesting more eggs and on Monday received a call for more chicken. On top of that they've ordered 50 or our turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Needless to say we are extremely happy that our product is selling at the store. We know that once people taste our chicken and eggs they tend to become loyal customers. It's just really nice to see it happen at a retail level.

So most of today was spent getting the second order prepped and out the door and we'll be making our third delivery on Thursday. If you want to check out the store here's the link: Plum Market

It's a really great store. I can wander around there for hours. I got an amazing 3 year old gouda cheese from them today. The flavor is incredible.

Needless to say, my crafting has very much been hit and miss. I get some knitting in while riding in the passenger seat to market. I've cut out several pieces for the pin cushions and now I need to sew, stuff and finish them. Then I need to wash and block all the dish cloths. I've promised myself that Thursday night is craft night so I plan to have some pictures to post on Friday of something...ANYTHING...craft related.

I've got to get something done on my Wagon Challenge list. I have actually knitted the skull and cross bones cloth, I just have to block it.

Not so good things - On the health front, I'm experiencing major "moon" face from the prednisone. I actually startled myself last night when I looked in the mirror. I didn't realize how pronounced it was this time around. It looks like I'll be on the prednisone for a while so I'll just have to get used to it.

My sister has been in the hospital since last Wednesday out in LA with numbness in her feet. She was diagnosed with MS about 5 years ago and after a bunch of tests and a spinal tap they have decided she is having a recurrence of the MS which is causing the numbness. They don't know if it will go back to normal or stay the way it is or partially go away, she'll have to wait and see. I'll be out in LA the first week of November to help her recuperate from surgery for something else...if she still has it. Her neurologist is worried that the surgery will be another level of physical stress on her body and make the MS worse. So we'll have to decide if she's going to have it. It seems that if it's not one thing, it's another for us as far as health is concerned lately. Time to do some positive visualization.

So that's it for the day. I'm turning in so I can get up at 4a.m. tomorrow and feed the chicks and turkeys and prep the next order for the store and farmers' markets. Then I'm going to craft something just to remind myself that I can get something finished.