Chevron Pillows

Back when I recovered the little stool I also cut the fabric to recover a pair of  pillows.  I finally got them sewn.  I had to think on it a bit because I wanted a flange edge.  Is that the right name for it?  

I figured it out and it worked on the first try.  Love it when that happens.  Then I was kicking myself for having put if off for so long.

They came out great.  I love the look with the new couch.

Now to move on to getting things on the walls.  I am trying to work all/some/any of the things we collected when living and traveling overseas into our decor instead of just storing it in boxes.

Weighted Lap Pads & Hot Pads

No fabric in this week.  None at all.  Whew!

Fabric out:

2 frog & turtle weighted lap pads for Craft Fair - 0.63 yds

I love this fabric!

2 ocean weighted lap pads for Craft Fair - 0.76 yds

The perfect use for a large print.

4 cloth napkins with mitered corners for Craft Fair - 0.71 yds

Before they were sewn.

24 signature squares for carnival auction quilt - 0.71 yds
(no photo - you know what a white square looks like - right?!)

6 quilted hot pads for Library sewing class - 0.72 yds

4 of the 6 finished hot pads.  Nice job, ladies!

Fabric Purchased since last report: 0 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 95.01 yards

Fabric Acquired since last report: 0 yards

Fabric Acquired YTD: 22.65 yards

Fabric Used since last report: 3.53 yards
Fabric Used YTD: 136.56 yards

Total: 4.65 yards destashed

This week I was in a kind of limbo not knowing from day to day when I would start the new job.  Since I didn't start the new job I started some new projects.  Thankfully they were little and got finished.  Now if I could just settle down and get some of the big projects done.

The Library class yesterday went great.  Quilted hot pads.  The ladies are all excited about setting up additional classes outside of the library, so that is encouraging.  I had my first sale on Etsy this week which was exciting as well.

Kate over at Life In Pieces has challenged us to try to stitch 15 minutes each day.  I was able to sew at least 15 minutes most days.  Some days more.  I am happy for that.  Labor Day I even got Little S sewing!

Days stitched since last report: 6/7
Days stitched this year: 236/258
Success Rate: 91%

Linking up to QuiltPaintCreate and Life in Pieces to keep accountable.

August Giveaway Winner

The winner of the leftover hexagons is...

Renee G who said:

 

"I haven't been very adventurous. I have only worked with hexagons."

Well, Renee, here are some more to work with. Have fun with them.  Let us know what you make.

Lots of potential!

Send me your address so I can get these sent off to you.

Monthly Goals - September

Today I am at a "pre-employment briefing" that is scheduled to be 5 hours long.  Not sure how that qualifies as a "brief"ing, but ...  If it means the start of the new job I am all for it!!

Since this is the beginning of the new normal for me I figured I'd better catch up on reports on the quilting/sewing front.  So from this point forward I am current.

I have not been good at reporting on monthly goals at all.  Granted it was a strange and hectic year, but I'm not giving up yet.

FINISHES

Alligator Baby Quilt - FINISHED in January & donated to Little Lambs through Hands 2 Help

Bright Hexagons - Finished in August

Carnival Quilt for Ms. D - FINISHED in February and auctioned off in March

Boxy Stars - DONE DONE DONE

Commissioned Carpenter Star - Finished in July

Commissioned Chinese Coins - FINISHED in May

Handprint Quilt - FINISHED in March
  
Scraps from a Friend Baby Quilt - FINISHED in January & sold 


Thrift Store Baby Quilt - FINISHED in January & donated to Little Lambs through Hands 2 Help

WORKS IN PROGRESS

BOM Challenge with Jo - I'm keeping up so far  


Commissioned Carpenter Star #2 - ordered, but not started

Cowboy Quilt - ready to be quilted

Curtain Quilt - flimsy is finished, backing is ready

Little Monkey - flimsy finished in June.  It is destined for our new niece. who we won't see until December, so not too much pressure, but I do need to get going on it.

Quinceanos Quilt - needs borders

Red White & Blue - went to the long-armer because it was too big for me to wrangle and is back, needs binding

Scrappy Mountains Majesty- needs borders and quilting

Spider Web - needs to be quilted

Strips That Sizzle - still trying to figure out what is wrong with the machine I use for quilting, since this is partway quilted and I don't want to unsew it

X Marks the Spot - needs to be quilted
 

Hmmm.  None of the older stuff was finished.  No surprise there.  I did make a lot of smaller product for the craft fair in October.  The cowboy quilt was a complete surprise.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tasty Tuesday - Chicken Kiev

Little S and I were looking for something to make for dinner the other night.  Our qualifiers were "chicken" and "quick".

I opened my binder of saved recipes and found this recipe for Microwaved Chicken Kiev.  The microwave part didn't appeal to me at all, but I knew we could cook it in the oven easy enough.  It was a copy of a magazine page, with only the date "December/January 2012" and no identifier as to what magazine.

The fun part was softening the butter, adding seasonings, and reforming it.  Sticky, but fun.

Seasoned butter cubes!

 The breading was messy, but that usually is.  It wasn't for company so I wasn't too worried about how it looked in the end.

The result was very yummy.  Unfortunately there were no leftovers.  This was definitely a recipe to be repeated in large quantities.

The last piece did not last long!

Chicken Kiev

5 T butter, softened, divided
1/2 t chives
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t white pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz each)
1/3 c cornflake crumbs (we used seasoned breadcrumbs)
1 T grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t dried parsley flakes
1/4 t paprika

Combine 3 T softened butter, chives, garlic powder, pepper in a small bowl; shape into 4 cubes.  Cover and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.

Flatten chicken breast halves to 1/4 thickness.  Place a butter cube in the center of each.  Fold long sides over butter; fold ends up and secure with a toothpick.

Combine cornflakes, cheese, parsley, and paprika in a shallow bowl.  Melt remaining butter.  Dip chicken into butter; coat evenly with cornflake mixture.  Place seam side down in baking dish. 

Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.  Since I was baking and not microwaving I had to estimate this part, but it was pretty close.

Delicious.  It would not be a bad idea to keep seasoned butter cubes in the freezer to have on hand.  Get all the messy part done at once.

Design Wall Monday

Another hexagon on the wall.

The yellow one is the newest.

In between mending and some smaller projects I got another hexagon finished.  It looks like the newer blocks (on the right) are larger than the older blocks.  Hmmm.  I will have to check on that.

I only need 3 more whole hexies and 2 4/6 hexies.  I have them almost all cut, but I need more white triangles.  I think my goal of having each hexagon be a different color might work.

Linking up to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts to show what we are working on.

Cloth Napkins, Pillows, Brown and More

A mixed review this week.  But for the sake of keeping it honest here it is.  This has been an unusual year for my fabric acquisition and usage and I am very curious how it will all play out in the end.

Fabric In:
bolt of brown - 8.75 yds  $5

That's a lot of brown!!

peach 2.7 yds $0.50  (missed a photo, but you can imagine solid peach)

baby panel 0.69  $0.75
lt brown w/ feathers 0.7 yds  $1
lt moss green with + signs  1.19 yds $0.50

Fabric Out:
5 tissue covers for August library class: 0.27 yds

2 decorative pillows for Studio class - 0.58 yds + trim

gave away - fabric that was not cotton - 0.49 yds

chevron pillows  (hoping for a post about them this week) 1.11

feather napkins  0.58

I love this fabric.

Fabric Purchased since last report: 14.09 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 95.01 yards

Fabric Acquired since last report: 0 yards

Fabric Acquired YTD: 22.65 yards

Fabric Used since last report: 3.03 yards
Fabric Used YTD: 129.5 yards

Total: 1.12 yards destashed

Hmm.  That was a week in the wrong direction.  But at those prices it would be unwise to not buy it.  Also, looking forward with the new job I know I will not be able to get to the thrift store as often, so my future reports should be better on acquisition.  How the job affects usage remains to be seen.  My hours are not going to be much different that the previous job, but I don't know about taking work home and energy level yet.

Kate over at Life In Pieces has challenged us to try to stitch 15 minutes each day.  This was an odd week with getting things done for the pre-employment process and then getting a miserable cold.  Some days was only 15 minutes, but that's okay.

Days stitched since last report: 6/7
Days stitched this year: 230/251
Success Rate: 92%

Linking up to QuiltPaintCreate and Life in Pieces to keep accountable.

BOM - Month 9

This on sure snuck up on me.  I had finished it a while back, but not written it up. 

My Goal!

This was a cute little block.  Once again I am going to say I love the pre-cut format for these.  So easy to whip up quickly.

Month 9

But I will also say that I don't think I would like pre-cut for all of my quilting.  I even saw a similar set of Joann's pre-cut BOM blocks at the thrift store and I passed them by.  I didn't loving the colors or block designs and I have enough on my plate right now that even the speed of pre-cut wasn't tempting.

Linking up to Jo's Country Junction to share how we are progressing on our BOM.

I had better get out Month 10 right now or it will get forgotten in the next weeks!!