A Lovely Idea!

Amanda Wikle via Pinterest

Tangled Up in Thread...

I have been a slacker lately as far as blogging goes...between Spring Break and visiting Sisters, Oregon over the weekend I've not been in front of my computer much.

But I had to sit down and tell you about a new quilt book I discovered...I hope to make many of the adorable patterns in the book.

If you love the 'churn dash' block...you will love this book.  There's also a hat pattern and a little overnight case.

Here is a sneak peak of what's inside the book...

Snow? REally?

If you live in or around Salem/Portland, Oregon...you probably are getting really tired of the crazy weather we have had for the past month or more.  Or you may be enjoying it, and that's okay too.  But, we Oregonians have been asking ourselves "What is going on with our weather"?  One day it's sunny and warm...the next it looks like a snow storm...

which is what we woke to today!

 So how do I cope...wear my flip-flops in the snow and dream of the beach.

My sister lives in Hawaii...lucky girl!

Handy, Dandy Little Ring Pin Cushion

Do you ever need a pincushion 'literally' at your fingertips at all times when you are sewing?

Here's your solution...

a little cutie pie adjustable finger pincushion.
This one just posted on Etsy...

How to Grow Sprouts Tutorial

I love sprouts and have been growing them for quite some time now and eating them on everything from eggs to sandwiches to just about anything, except chocolate.

Alfalfa Sprouts in particular contain lots of good stuff...calcium, folic acid, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, silicon, sodium, zinc, as well as vitamins.

I choose a Sandwich Seed Variety from my local health food store (Lifesource Foods).

To grow Sprouts you will need a quart jar, and a breathable cover of some sort for your jar (cheesecloth, wire, or a lid like my green one...it's made for this very process, I got it at Lifesource Foods).

Soak 3 Tablespoons of seeds in water overnight in jar.

DAY 1...Drain water from seeds, leave jar on counter.

DAY 2...Fill jar with water and drain, repeat during day at least one more time.  It's important to keep seeds wet.

 By the end of Day 2 little sprouts will start to appear.  Oooh, so exciting!

DAY 3...Continue to fill jar with water and drain, repeat 2-3 times during the day to keep seeds moist.

DAY 4...Don't give up, you will soon have sprouts.  Continue to fill jar with water and drain, repeat 2-3 times to keep seeds moist.

At this point, I find a sunny window to put my seeds in, and turn jar on it's side to give the sprouts more room to spread out.  They will grow faster and take on a pretty green color.

Day 5...Wowsers!  Your jar should be stuffed with sprouts and ready to eat!

After Day 5 keep jar in refrigerator, keep moist by sprinkling with a little water, drain if needed.

I wasted no time busting into the jar to eat my sprouts on my sandwich!

Mmmm, mmmmm, so delicious!

Tumbling Block Quilt

For a long time now I've been wanting to make a tumbling block quilt, with no luck finding a pattern.  I have searched for the 'old-fashioned' way of making the blocks...in other words, hand stitching. 

All patterns that I found were for a quick method of strip piecing and machine applique.  Well, that just wasn't what I was wanting.

I wanted to sit down (with good music and coffee) and hand stitch these cute little diamonds and 'get back to my roots'...if you know what I mean.  I didn't want 'quick, strippy methods'...just the bare bones old-fashioned template sort of way.

So I made some inquiries and finally found a sweet lady who gave me a template that I traced and cut out of template plastic.  The smaller diamond you see is to trace for the stitching line.

I searched in my 'stash' and found civil war fabrics that I didn't even know I owned and started tracing and cutting diamonds.  My goal is to cut and sew at least 1,000 diamonds...phew!...that's alot.

The block is approx. 5" big.

Here is what I have so far and I'm loving it!

 Let me know if you are interested in the template.

Have a SUPER weekend.



Rope Basket Tutorial



Some of you have asked how to make the Chunky Rope Baskets that I have blogged about in the past...here is a tutorial that I hope will help reveal some of the mystery of constructing them.  This is a completely self taught project...so please forgive me if my instructions are unclear.  But I say that to say there's no real rules here...just play with it and have fun.  Please let me know if you have any questions...I'm happy to help.

First start by purchasing 1" Cotton Cording...listed below.  For a basket like the one above...I suggest about 10 yards.

Cut a pile of 2 1/2" x width of fabric fabric strips.

Cover end of cording as shown.

Wrap about 5" of cording...wrap fabric around cording...do not twist cording around fabric.

Fold over end of cording so that you start to form a bottom for your basket. An oval will make an oval basket... a round bottom will make a round basket.  The bigger the bottom, the bigger the basket.

Wrap fabric strip over the top of the cording including the cording that was folded over.

Bring the fabric strip up thru the center.  Pull the fabric tight towards you, and continue wrapping fabric around cording. 

I use a wooden chopstick to push the fabric thru the center.

Continue wrapping the cording and at 2" intervals (closer together at corners) wrap the fabric around the previous cording and up thru the center of the two cordings.  The goal is to make it look like it is knotted at the 2" intervals...it's not really a knot, it's just how it is wrapped.

NOTE:  You will have to join strips of fabric for this project...you can do this by making 1" slits at the bottom of both ends of the strips and link the strips together.  Please let me know if that doesn't make sense and I can take some photos to explain.

Continue this until you have the base as big as you want. To start building the sides...stack the cording on top of the previous cording...either straight up and down for steep sides or stack it more gradual for a softer side.

When you are ready to end your basket...cut cording at an angle and wrap fabric around end of cording...it takes a bit of finagling...then wrap fabric back thru the previous cording, tie a knot and hide the ends.

I was able to find one pattern listed below for this technique at Greenbaum's Quilted Forest...give them a call to place an order...they have free shipping.

I notice that the bag is made a little differently in that the 'linked' intervals don't look like knots.  I like mine to look like a knot...just preference.