Mothers Day Stash Report

Fabric In: I exhibited extreme self-control last weekend.  I went to my favorite thrift store after a CPR training class over in that area of town.  There were several pieces of fabric that I was interested in, but nothing I needed.  The giant number 55 from last week's stash report kept flashing before my eyes! So it put them back and only bought the 25c zipper.  The zipper drawer is not full yet, so that was safe!!

Fabric Out: Last week I caught up on fabric in for 2019, this week I'll catch up on fabric out.  

March - Ms. D's Carnival Auction Quilt  The signature squares had already been counted out in 2018 when I gave them to the class to design.  5.03 yards for the setting squares, borders, backing and binding.

Super Quilt

April - Burp cloth set for one of Little S's teachers who is expecting. 0.8 yds

For a baby boy.

We didn't know the name so we went with the last initial. 

April - Sea Glass Storm at Sea for Baby Z.  This quilt is near the top of my all time favorites.  I'll write a detailed post about it in the near future.  8.16 yds

Sea Glass

April - Garment Bag style Cover for College E's Fancy dresses - 2 yds

May - Pillowcase for my Carnival Auction Experience winner - 1.1 yds

May - Starter fabrics for the Carnival Experience winner - 6 FQs


Fabric Purchased Since Last Report - 0 yds
Fabric Purchased YTD - 46.20 yds

Free to Me Since Last Report - 0 yds
Free to Me YTD -  8.75 yds

Fabric Used Since Last Report - 18.59 yds
Fabric Used YTD - 18.59 yds

Fabric Movement -  36.36  stashed 

Price/Yard YTD - $0.64 / yard

Making progress, although it is 5 months worth in one report, so it seems better than it really is!!  Eleven more days of school, then the numbers will come down a lot faster - I hope!

I did pretty well this week.  I missed Friday because of sheer exhaustion from work and the arrival of College E for the summer and Grown Up R for the weekend, but overall I stuck with it and sewed a minimum of 15 minutes each day as challenged by Kate over at Life in Pieces.  Since I am starting my year with the month of May my numbers are a little off, but that's okay.  As long as it keeps me on track.

Days spent on sewing related tasks this month: 10/11
Days spent on sewing related tasks this year: 10/11
Percentage of time on task: 91%

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

Saturday Sewcial

Today was the first sewing class at the library since the fall.  The library had to move while it underwent repairs and there was no where for the sewing class to meet in the temporary location, so we had a long break.  That was good for me to get a chance to adjust to my new job and to reflect on what we had done in the sewing class and see what direction it should take this time around.

In the midst of prepping for the sewing class I found out that Grown Up R was going to come home for the weekend for Mothers Day.  What a nice surprise!  So I quick adjusted the class time to be when the girls were out at a movie and I asked the library to limit the class size so we would have a better chance of getting finished on time.

Two of the participants came to most of the previous classes.  Another one was brand new.  Three was the perfect number to be able to attend to everyone.

We made patchwork pillow covers with an envelope back.  The two sewists with a bit more experience made 9-patches with the 5" squares and were able to finish their project.  The newer students chose to do a 16-patch with 3.5" squares and just got the top finished.  She had more to learn since she had never touched a machine before. 

They all did a great job.  I wanted for them to focus on threading their machines and work on a uniform seam allowance.  With the small group we had today they had a chance to get all of their personal questions answered, so it was successful.  I hope they have enough confidence to go home and practice.

Next class is mid-June.  What fun easy project can we do next?  Something red, white and blue would be good.

Bright Hexagon Quilt Finds the Perfect Home

I made the Bright Hexagon Quilt a while back when Little S saw the design and I figured I could make it with what I had on hand.

I tried to sell it in a few craft shows and on Etsy with no luck.  In all honesty I am not good at selling what I make.  It is much easier for me to give it away, so not selling it didn't break my heart - or the bank since it was all from stash.

Fast forward a few months and the Bright Hexagon Quilt is still sitting waiting for some attention and a co-worker is expecting a new grandson.  There is a lot more to the story but the bottom line was that I really felt like giving the quilt to her was the right thing to do even though the baby-to-be was several states away, it might be a while before she saw him, and he truly did not need a thing.  I tried to talk myself out of it because she might take it the wrong way.

In the end, I couldn't get over the feeling in my heart that she needed the quilt.  So I wrapped it up real pretty and gave it to her.

Oh my.  It was one of those times that I could not anticipate or explain, but boy was it the right thing to do.  The look on her face and the story she told me - I'll never forget it.

Before I didn't worry much about selling a product.  Now I really don't.  My sewing ability is something I need to use to bless others.  This quilt was a big reminder of that to me.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict to share finishes.

Sewing Experience

Today was the day that my offering at the Spring Carnival Auction got "cashed" in.  My Carnival Experience was a 2-hour sewing lesson with a pillowcase as the product.

The little girl was not one of my students, but is in a class down the hall.  A while back she had bought herself a "kiddie" machine which it turns out you don't even need a bobbin for.  She was so serious about sewing that her mother bought the auction package for her and a real sewing machine.  We waited for her sewing machine to arrive so that the lesson would be more practical.

Sewing the accent band to the top.

The machine has tons of fun stitches and at first she wanted to test them out.  But then we got settled into the basics - making a bobbin, threading the machine, the "spider" (which I teach early on in all my classes), and seam allowance.

Wrong sides together for the first step of the flat-felled seam.

As she went along, she got straighter and straighter.  There was just one short stretch that needed to be unsewn and resewn, but I did that.  I rarely have kids rip seams on their first try.  They need to fun stuff to start off with and get hooked. 

Tada!!!!!!!!!  I love the colors.

Yesterday was Day 7 in my goal of something sewing related Every Day in the Month of May.  Last night I worked on the preparations for this class as well as a bit of sewing on the hexagon quilt. 

Day 7 was the first day I have had to really make myself sew.  But I realized that if I have something ready to go - the never-ending hexagon project - I can just sit for a few minutes and be done.  I don't mind at all.  It is so therapeutic, but the thinking about everything else I should be doing is what slows me down.  Once I have sewn a bit I am relaxed and ready for anything - maybe even making a new resume.

Today was Day 8, and I did plenty of sewing today!!  It has been a while since I have taught sewing and I realized how much I enjoy it.  It combines my two favorites - teaching and sewing - and kids!

Tasty Tuesday - Chicken Quesadillas

Every now and then we end up with grilled chicken breasts leftover from lunches where Senor G has office space.  They just don't seem to be quite as good leftover and cut up over salad isn't my thing.

So I was looking for a better idea for using them then cutting them up for soup or fried rice.  Little S and I googled and found a winner.  Check out https://gimmedelicious.com/2014/06/07/quick-and-easy-leftover-chicken-quesadillas/

I made a double batch in order to use up all the chicken I had at them time.  It turned out to be a good thing since we all wanted to take them in our lunches for the rest of the week.

Instead of mixing by hand I used the KitchenAide and that made the mixture all nice and smooth.  I added black beans and extra cheese before grilling them. 

Instead of grilling on the stove I used the George Foreman and that heated it all though and left some nice grill lines as well.  As soon as I heard a sizzle I took them off and they were perfectly done.

I just made them again this week and used leftover roast chicken along with some chicken breasts.  I added an entire can of drained seasoned beans while they were mixing and it blended in nicely and added another layer of flavor.  The first few that I made were too full and ran over quite a bit when grilling.  I was more careful on the others.

Quick and Easy Leftover Chicken Quesadillas

from Gimme Delicious

4 8-10 in flour tortillas

1 c shredded cooked chicken

1/2 c shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

1/4 c cream cheese, softened

1/2 t garlic powder

1/4 c chopped cilantro

salt & pepper to taste

1.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, chicken, cheese, garlic powder, cilantro, salt and pepper.  Mix thoroughly until well combined.

2.  Heat a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray over medium heat.  Carefully place one tortilla on the pan, top with half the mixture and spread out evenly, top with another tortilla.  Cook for 2 minutes then flip with a spatula and cook the other side for 2 minutes or until light golden and the cheese is melted.  Repeat for second quesadilla.

3.  Remove from heat and cut into 8 slices.  Serve with salsa or guacamole.

When I had small tortillas I used 2 tortillas for one quesadilla.  When I had larger tortillas I only spread filling on one side and then folded it in half before grilling.  That's why the pictures don't seem to match the description.

16-Patch Pillow Cover

The goal of getting my 15 minutes in today was the motivation I needed to finish the 16-patch pillow front that I started yesterday.  Part of my problem finishing things is agonizing over the littlest details.  Well, I was determined to do my best and move on with this. 

So I cut the fabrics Little S most liked and arranged them in a pleasing design.  It was not symmetrical so Little S did not like that part.

Joined them together by webbing.

Ironed.

Tada....

I think the combination is going to be just fine.  Tomorrow I will try to get the backing on.

Prepping Plans

I had Big Plans for the day.  It turned out to be a very rainy Sunday afternoon, which is good for inside projects.

1) Prep the pillowcase for the private sewing lesson that was my offering for the school spring carnival auction.  The girl who won it is not in my class, but her teacher says she is a good student.  Her mother says she bought a kiddie sewing machine with her own money.  That was so successful the mother bought her a real machine.  I'm thinking she is serious about learning to sew and I'm happy to help her.

Nice and bright.

The colors she asked for were rainbow, bright, light purple, lime green.  The purple is not really light, but it is a perfect match to the butterflies.  Check! Done!  Ready to go!

2) Make two samples - a tote and a drawstring bag.  We are having Entrepreneur Day as the culminating activity for our Economics unit.  It will be held the last week of school.  The kids make their product at home and then will buy and sell among the 10 3rd grade classes.  Since testing will be over and we are on the downhill slide into summer I thought it might be fun to take the sewing machine and let them make their own "shopping bag."  I need to get the steps down to the bare minimum and get a time figured out so we can allow enough time for all 24 kids to make their bag before the big day.  This didn't happen at all.  I was running out of steam and still needed to work on my lesson plan and other school related stuff.  

3) Make a sample for the sewing class at the library this Saturday.  The library has reopened after it's roof repairs during the winter and I signed on to keep going with the  monthly sewing classes.  I was very thankful that their closure coincided with my heaviest months at work.  I put some more conditions on the class this time around - everyone has to have their own machine and class size of 5 students or fewer.  I might change that to 3-4 students unless they already are confident sewists.

First round of auditions.  The yellow is just a place holder since there were no precut greens.

I finally decided on a 16-patch pillow cover with an envelope back as the project.  Plenty of opportunity to sew short straight lines while practicing threading and getting to know the machine.  No hand sewing to finish it up.

Still auditioning colors and patterns.  It needs to coordinate with the leafy sham on the right.

My sample is using 5" squares mostly from my stack of random precuts.  I can take the rest of the stack to the class and there is enough variety that they can find 16 that they like.

I will make the sample to match my bedding since I changed out our bedding last fall when the room got painted but never really did anything final with the new colors.  This is a step in the right direction.  I think I am on the right track with fabric selection.  I will let this idea marinate and work on it again tomorrow.  Progress.  Done for now.

That was all so much easier to do with a clean space, easy access to my fabric stash, and a clear table top.  Woo hoo!!  I am 5 for 5 on doing something sewing related Every Day in the Month of May.  I really wonder how long I can keep this up!!