Thursday, August 16, 2012

feed your stitching soul....

Wednesday, I had the pleasure of teaching a beginners sewing class to a group of tweens. Only one of them new how to thread her machine and we had 2 projects planned for the 3 hour class.
Yes - a bit optimistic perhaps.
After walking them through the basics of their machines, like turning them on :) we got started....

They ranged in age from 9 to 13 and were very excited to learn. Although their seams would not have passed muster, (some of mine still don't)  they dove in will great zeal and fearlessness. Our first undertaking was a pillowcase - you know the one.... it has the accent between the hem,  you roll it up like a burrito and then finish it off with French seams.

Their fabric choices were delightful, and they all couldn't wait to dress their pillows with them.  I ended up marking the seam allowance on their machines with masking tape to make it easier for them to stay true to the seam and it really helped. The youngest student had to put her foot pedal on a phone book to reach it - she was adorable and did very well.



Several thread jams later ( from not lowering the presser foot) and we had our pillowcase finished and pressed! Just enough time to tackle the little bag pattern. We used the Runaround bag pattern by Lazy Girl Designs, a cute and fun pattern, and to save time I did the cutting out for them as they finished up the pillowcases.

Again, their choices of fabric were cute and they were thrilled that they would be putting in a zipper! It went quite well and needless to say their mothers were more than impressed when they came to collect their daughters - now, real sewers!

It's so fantastic to see another generation of sewers emerge and to watch them discover all the creative things they can do with their new found skills. 

Seeing their enthusiasm energized me and brought back memories of some of my first sewing projects - remember when double knits were de rigeuer? OMG

Please, if you haven't already, pass along your skills whenever you get the chance.  It's not only great for the next gen of stitchers,  it's wonderful food for your stitching soul. Not chocolate chip cookie food, but deep down, healthy, hearty, soul food.

                                           It's Stitchtastic!







Monday, August 13, 2012

puzzled?

Made another jaunt up to Wisconsin in July, my Dad had to have a pacemaker put in and I surely wanted to be there to support him and my mom. It was amazing though, how quickly they put pacemakers in. He was out of surgery in about 1-1/2 hours and is doing just great. He had to stay in the hospital just one night. Here he is in the waiting room beforehand with my sister-in-laws husband. Looking pretty relaxed huh. All went well and he is recuperating very well too.



While I was there we had the rest of the family over a few days later to celebrate my moms birthday.  We also worked on the puzzle from *H E (double hockey sticks) that I started while there.
*If you don't know what H E double hockey sticks means ask someone older.
Anyway this was a puzzle of a Gee's Bend quilt, mostly black and white with a touch of red. I would tell you the name of it but it is still on the table at my parent's house! Of course we assembled all the areas with red in them and now all that's left is black and white.

 My niece and nephew (seen here) told me I was evil for bringing it. Even though there were about 7 or 8 of us working on it - it never got finished before I had to leave the next day. I keep asking my dad if he finished it and all I get in response is a chuckle.

My mom and I went to the grocery store and picked out her birthday cake. Heve you ever heard of a Fürst Pückler cake  ???? Well...neither had we until then. We saw it in the bakery case and it looked really good. It had a chocolate glaze instead of frosting. We asked the lady at the bakery counter and she said it was mutitple layers of vanilla and chocolate with strawberry filling and marzipan under the chocolate glaze.  When we googled it there seem to be several versions. It is a German recipe and named after Prince Pückler, Hermann Ludwig Heinrich Fürst von Pückler in fact. If you are bored or curious someday, google him.

Fürst Pückler cake - no really


Turns out it was a REALLY good cake and my mom (and everyone else) was happy she choose it.

mom's birthday ( she's at the piano)
Oh, and I just have to share this pic of dad (great Grandpa) with our newest family member, Miles.. my great nephew - he is so adorable!