Moving!

No not literally, lol my blog is moving domains! You can now visit me at http://patcheduplife.christsgarden.com/

My New Passion

I had originally started this journey with hopes of  learning to quilt and do patchwork of all kinds. I wanted to be able to make lovely blankets and clothes to give as gifts or to keep for myself, or possibly to sell at some point.

Well, unfortunately I have fallen in love with doing something else, and everything else just pales in comparison. That thing would be sewing for my daughter! I just love making things for her! I love how curious she is when I am on the floor cutting out patterns and how her face lights up when she somehow knows its going to be for her. I love how she prances around so proud when I put the new skirt I made for her on her! She doesn’t care if it is not perfect! She doesn’t care that it is not “in style.” She just knows that I took the time to make this special thing just for her and no one else and she is happy about that!

I have so many things I want to do for her! So many projects in my mind and alot of them are very ambitious! So I will be learning sewing techniques that I can use elsewhere, when the mood strikes me to make something other than baby toys or clothes, lol, and I don’t have to worry if I have not perfected it because I know Cassy loves it just the same!

Catching Up

I have been sewing up a storm but I haven’t had the time to sit and blog about them, so I need to catch up!

Just recently I made my daughter Cassy a stuffed turtle, a teddy bear, a purse, a skirt, and a jumper, and I started on a comforter cover for her bedroom.

Turtle was just kind of something to pass the time on a weekend, I didn’t have a pattern so I just drew the shapes directly on the fabric with crayon. It didn’t turn out as great as I had hoped but Cassy likes it. Its colorful and soft and squishy!

I had made 2 teddy bears before, for my nephew and niece, but it had been a long time. I used a pattern I had gotten on the internet. Anyhow I actually haven’t finished it just yet because I ran out of poly-fil and I put the head on wrong. Hehe! It’s actually looking off to the right instead of straight ahead. So I have to take it off and do it over.

Then I started on Cassy’s purse. That was a super fun project! See, she was always trying to carry around my purse, so I figured I would make her her own! I knew I wouldn’t find a pattern for that so I just got the shape that I wanted it to be and drew it on grid paper, and that’s how I made the pattern. It turned out just the way I wanted it to! It fits perfectly over her shoulder but the straps aren’t near long enough to go over her head (she is only 16 months, after all, have to consider choking hazards!) And what makes it even more special is the pink fabric came from her great grandmother, who passed away earlier this year. She loves it, and she carries her little cell phone in it, it’s so cute!

For some reason I can’t post pictures of the purse though, so I will post pics of that later.

Then, I decided to make Cassy a skirt. I got the instructions from The Everything Sewing Book by Sandra Detrixhe, for a little girls jumper, but I didn’t add a bib or suspenders. The skirt came out so flowy and Cassy just twirls and dances while she wears it, but as you can tell in the picture, it doesn’t slow her down or keep her from climbing everything!

I just now finished making a jumper for her. Now, I have been really sick and my mind is not exactly at its sharpest, so I did make it harder than it had to be, and I made some dumb mistakes, but that’s ok! I like the final results! I don’t have pics to post just now because Cassy was in bed before I could finish it but I would like to blog on it some more tomorrow, and I will post pics then. For now though, I must be off to bed!

Hey There, Stranger!

Wow I can not believe it has been so long since I have updated my blog! Believe me, my absence was not by choice.

This has been one of, no THE craziest year of my life, some ways good, but, unfortunately, most of it was bad.

Lets see, where have the last 8 months gone??

Well, first, my aunt passed away unexpectedly, then a week later my cousin (her daughter) had her baby. My hubby and I bought our first home and moved in it, and my grandmother in law passed away. Then my beautiful baby turned 1 year old, and 2 days later my Papa passed away. Then my ex aunt filed for divorce on my uncle, and a close family friend passed away. I went back to work 2 days a week, and my brother bought the house just catty cornered from us. Then my darling hubby broke his collar bone in a freak 4 wheeler accident.

So that brings me up to date, hubby is still recovering from the accident, on light duty at work, and I have just been trying to hold everything together around here! So I guess its needless to say that my sewing supplies have been collecting dust in the spare bedroom, but I have started to get them out again and with summer coming to an end I believe things will start to slow down and I will be able to focus on that again.

Its good to be back!

Practice Makes Perfect!

The house is clean, hubby has been fed, the forum is under control and the baby is right here on my lap.

I haven’t completed an actual project although I have completed one baby block, and I have practiced my applique’  onesie. It has changed quite a bit too.

I was telling hubby that I was going to make the scotty dog appliques and he said “Why would you do that? We have wienie dogs, not Scotty dogs!” I laughed it off but after I thought about it I realized how clever an idea it actually was, and to be truthful I loved the idea so much that I now have in mind an idea for a quilt!

So I have to change my goal lists, lol, I probably will return to do a Scotty dog applique sometime in the future, but for now I am going to try my hand at wienie dogs!

My daughter already had a shirt with a wienie dog design on it so I just traced the image onto squared paper. I kept it the same size, but for the quilt I have in mind I am going to enlarge it. I am also going to do 3 onesies because my cousin is having a baby boy next week and I want to have that as a gift for her.

I have never done an applique before so I practiced on some fabric I had (you’ll recognize it ) and a plain onesie Cassy has had for a while. My original plan is not so busy, or pink, but I actually think it turned out really well for my first time. I tried using a decorative stitch and I have to say thats really the only thing I don’t like about t. Next time I will just do a zigzag.   I sent the pics to my mom and now I have to make a shirt for my niece! LOL looks like hubby really hit the nail on the head!

Finished with Project #1

The house is clean, supper is cooking, the baby is playing, hubby is at work, the forum is fine, and I am so excited!

Today I finished my very first real project! I made, all by hand, a pouch to keep my sewing supplies and small projects in! I made a few mistakes, some I could fix, some I could not, and it’s not perfect, but it is soooo much better than the first time I tried to do this style!

I had intended to stick with a style until I perfected it, and then move on, but I am going to go ahead and move on to something else. I think learning a couple of new techniques might just help me figure out this one. Anyway, I will return to this style sometime in the future because I really like it. It would make a nice front for a throw pillow, or even a small quilt.

Now I am on to quilted baby blocks. I’ll cut out the pieces tonight, and sew them tomorrow. Since this one is done by machine, it won’t take long at all.

Almost Done!

The house is clean, the baby is being good, all is well with the forum, and my darling husband is playing Call of Duty (of course!).

I have been working really hard, when I can on my project, and I am almost done! I can already tell that it is going to look sooooo much better than the first time!

So, here is what I have done.
First, I took eight 10 1/2″ squares of fabric, and folded them diagonally, and over again, and pressed them down, to find the center. 

Once that is done I folded the corners down to meet at the center, pinned and pressed them down. Then I repeated that step, and made a small stitch at each folded down corner. After that I whip stitched them together, in two rows of four, and whip stitched the two rows together. Then I had to measure from one corner to the middle of the patch, and got 3 1/2″. I cut ten of that size squares of the heart and crossbone fabric, and pinned the squares diagonally over each seam. Then I rolled the folded edges over the raw edges of the new fabric and slipstitched them in place. That is what creates the “cathedral” look.

That is the step I am finishing up right now, when I am done with that I will fold it in half and whip stitch the sides together, and add two mor heart and crossbone squares to cover those seams, and repeat the steps.

 

New Project

The house is clean, the baby is sleeping, hubby’s at work, the dog has been fed and the forum is running smoothly.

I am starting a new project, well, I guess I could say my first official project. The other one was just to figure some things out. This time I actually have a purpose for what I am doing. I am going to make a pouch for my purse.

Right now I am doing the oh so boring measuring, pinning, and pressing portion of the project that seems to take forever, but of course, necessary. I just have to keep telling myself I will get to the fun part soon, lol.

Here is a pic of the fabric I am using:

Its going to be the same style as last time, but hopefully it will look a lot better. I am going to be using the whip stitch, and running stitch, both just learned, and of course the slip stitch. We shall see.

Potato Soup

Ok, the house is clean, dinner was awesome, baby is sleeping and hubby is watching T.V. .

I was asked today to share my potato soup recipe, so here we go!

So it’s not really a recipe, because there really aren’t any measurements to share, I tend to eyeball everything.  This is more like a set of instructions.

Potato Soup

Boil some peeled, cubed potatoes, until tender, about one large potato per person is good. Drain and mash about half the potatoes, add about 1/4 cup butter, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in some milk until it takes on a soupy texture.  Thats the base.

At this point you can add meat such as diced ham or diced german sausage, onion, and/or celery (or you can use celery salt, thats what I do) and garlic to taste. Mix it all up, and cook on low for about 4 hours until meat is really tender. Stir every now and then and add milk if it starts to get too thick.

There you have it! That is all there is to Potato Soup! It really sticks to the ribs and tastes awesome.

Chicken Fiesta Soup

The house is clean, baby is playing in her playpen, hubby is playing video games and dinner is in the crock pot.

Today the Cowboys play the Eagles, so I am making my Chicken Fiesta Soup, one of my favorite things in the world to make, so I thought I thought I would post the recipe.
3lbs boneless chicken breast or thighs cut into bite sized chunks
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans Rotel tomatoes drained
4 tsp chili powder
4 tsp cumin
1tsp salt
1 small onion chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1. Combine chicken, chili powder, cumin, salt and garlic in crock pot.
2. Add bell pepper, onion, mix well. Stir in tomatoes and broth. Cover and cook on low 5 to 6 hours, or on high 2 ½ to 3 hours until chicken is tender.
3. Turn crock pot on high, stir in beans, cook for 5 to 10 minutes until beans are heated through. Serve in bowls with desired toppings.
Suggested toppings: Cheddar cheese, crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, chopped avocados