Microwaveable Fabric Bowl

We know that this isn't a new pattern, but some of what is out there isn't as easy as we have done it here at the shop. And some of them are too big, although you could make it in almost any size.

The key to this project is 100% Cotton everything!!
When you use cotton batting, cotton fabrics and cotton thread, you do not have to worry about using them in the microwave.

Perfect for the office or at home for that single bowl of soup or the cheese dip bowl!

We like this 10" size, but you could adapt the size use on larger or deeper bowls.

We are already thinking of how many folks we know that need these as gifts.

Stop in the shop sometime and we'll set up a class time if you need it or help you pick out the right materials for you to make one at home. 

You will need:
2 - 10" Squares of 100% cotton fabric
2 - 10" Squares of 100% cotton batting
100% cotton thread

Two 10" Cotton Squares of fabric and Two 10" squares of 100% Cotton Batting.

Sew one cotton batting square to the wrong side one piece of fabric from corner to corner.
Repeat with the other two pieces.

Fold in half with right sides together. Mark for a 1" dart, 3" long.

Sew in darts.

Trim Darts at fold.

Press Darts open to reduce bulk

Using 1/4" seams, sew right sides together leaving open a 3-4" space for turning.

Sewn right sides together showing space left for turning.
Trim corners to help in turning and reduce bulk.

Turned right sides out. Then press.

Sew along all edges (appx 1/8th inch) to close the opening and tack seams down.

Press again, and you have the perfect microwaveable fabric bowl.

 

Ready to GO!

Start Light Quilt Completed!!

9 Blocks... done!!

 It's done... complete!!

Well the quilting still needs to be done, but the top is together!!

This is the part of the process that is so rewarding for me. Everything starts to come together and you see how it's really going to look at the end.

the layout

I love getting creative with background fabrics. I keep thinking that at some point my opinion of that is going to change. Yet when I complete a project where I have used a 'non-traditional' background... I love it! It just makes it different in a very nice way.

But even more importantly , Emma still loves it!

That's all that really matters anyway right?

One happy girl!!

Corner blocks for Star Light Star Bright

Chain stitching... love.

I got myself in gear again this week to stay up to date on my Star Light Star Bright Quilt A Long.

I was emotional about losing a wonderful childhood friend this week so it was easy for me to lose myself in my sewing and stay at my machine.

Seeing the blocks come together this week made me really happy and Emma is ready for it to be done and on her bed. How am I going to convince her that it needs to be on display at the shop for awhile first?

Let there be corner blocks.

We (Rachel's Quilt Patch) will be have a display of all our local 'Star Light Star Bright' quilts on Bridge Day Staunton 2014... well that's the plan.

We are part of a group of businesses planning what will be a great 2nd Annual Bridge Day Staunton - (RE)connect to our local culture.

Till then I better make sure I stay up on my progress and get this quilt done in time!!

Emma asked "When will it be on my bed Mommy?

Catching up on my Quilt A Long

YES!! I have caught up on the Star Light Star Bright Quilt A Long!!
It's been a rough week, so I am just happy to have caught up.

Start Centers finally done. There are 3 of each arrangement.

Lined up!!

Machine ready...

DONE!!

Half Square Triangles

You use what you have sometimes...

I started on my half square triangles for the Star Light Star Bright Along... then life took over.

When you work for you Mom, in an industry you love, you get a lot of: 'You must sew all the time! And have such a great time in what you do every day.' I am coming to realize I don't start many large projects like this one because many time life and business gets in the way of what I start. I have to be more intentional about not putting it away and losing sight of what I started out to do. Thankfully with this project, I have the rally call of friends to make sure I complete it.

But for now, here's a few pictures of my progress and a few of the job that is taking up my time this week.  I really do love being able to provide a service for another downtown business that makes their exclusive t-shirts all the more special. They'll be ready and on the sales floor at Made; on Friday.

A Good Tool.

Cut & sewn correctly.

Question:
How do you figure out the value a good quilting tool?

Answer:
Mess up your cutting so bad you can't use it!


This is step 2 of the Star Light Star Bright Quilt A Long.
My flying geese took shape part Wing Clipper method, part traditional method, but not by choice. 

And look how pretty.

I have to begin by telling you, I am not known for sewing slowly or methodically. I like to race through things and this time I really paid for it.  I zoomed through my first set of flying geese and they turned out wonderfully. I love the Wing Clipper by Deb Tucker that we carry at the shop. It helps you make 4 perfect flying geese out of 5 squares of fabric.

The assuption is that you have cut the fabrics correctly. And that's where I goofed. I cut all my background squares 1" too small for the second round of flying geese. I noticed that they looked different, but I didn't stop to measure and I kept sewing. I knew it wasn't right when I trimmed them all, then started to press.

When it doesn't look right, it probably isn't.

Emma has been itching to take a walk up on the bridge and up onto the hill above the shop. It was a good time for a break, some fresh air, and refocus on the day.

When we got back, out came the seam ripper and with a little help from Mom, they were all 'unsewn'.

Sewing was slow and steady from that point on since I was now dealing with all bias edges where I needed to sew, I didn't need to be streatching the fabric too.

It took longer than I wanted it to, but they're all done now and ready for the next step. 

A bridge break with Emma can solve almost any problem.

Ready for the next step... finally!

New Energy = Renewed Energy

Briar Rose by Windham... and a couple blenders.

I have been in a funk.
For awhile.

I am grateful that I work in an industry that I love, with my mother and my daughter in a great town with a wonderfully supportive 'family' of small businesses.

I have to confess that some days it is challenging. And sometimes I let those challenges get to me and they bring me down and I lose focus of everything from the customer/friend walking through the door to the beautiful fabrics and new notions that usually bring me such joy.

I use tags to help me keep track of what I need to cut next.

Given all the things that bring me down and distract me,  I decided to (like some of my friends) to pick a word for the year to focus on each day.

I chose energy. Namely I want to focus on my own energy. What I bring to my own day and how that affects me, those around me, and the space around me. It didn't take long for me to sense a difference in my attitude.

My new focus on energy made me be open to a friend who encouraged me to participate in a Quilt A Long.

Cutting... DONE!!

What is a Quilt-A-Long you may ask? The best explanation I can give is that is it's like a mystery quilt, but you get to see what the end product may/will look like. There is a schedule so that you know when you need to have each step done and be ready for the next instruction. Not only does this give me a goal for when I need to complete my next step, it also gives me a community of quilters to keep me on track.

I selected the picnic blanket size and I picked fabrics I have always wanted to use, but needed a project that suited using bright and fun fabrics.

I will be posting my steps along the way and there is still to join in if you'd like. It's already been a lot of fun for me. 

Here's to new & renewed energy in 2014.

Fiesta - It's about the little things

I have always loved these colorful plates. My love for them started at Grandma Neff's house in East Petersburg, PA.  They were the family's daily plates going back to when my mother was a child.

I got my hands on some of my favorite pieces from her collection at the family sale years ago (thanks to the generous bidding of my parents).  I am honored to have a cobalt blue mixing bowl and a complete cobalt blue place setting along with a nice collection of dinner plates from her collection.

Last year I decided it was time to add some color to my daily living and received much of my new collection as Christmas gifts. I created a mix of color similar to my Grandmother's.  I love that it brings a smile to my face even when I am washing dishes.  The variety of color is refreshing to me. They are more durable than I expected and they are made in West Virginia. http://www.hlchina.com/

(OK... now I'm in trouble. In looking up their site to link to this blog, I have discovered pieces that I didn't know existed. Guess they'll go on this year's Christmas list.)

Looking back it strikes me that my Grandmother was a no nonsense, straight forward, no frills kind of woman, yet her daily plates highlighted her colorful side. A side that we only have truly come to appreciate in her passing this week.  It is yet another example of how she blessed me in the example of how she lived her life. Keep your eyes on the details because it really is about the little things.

Maternal Ties

4 Generations - Mom, Grandma Neff, Emma Rose & me

I have been fortunate. I have known all of my Great Grandparents and Grandparents on my Mother's side of the family. 

I remember each of them... their of oddities, mannerisms, and presence.  They each left a piece of them with me by showing me what was important to them.  Over time, as we said goodbye to each one, they each taught me about loss.  I am coming to realize that one of the blessings of knowing all of them is that I have been through the grieving process at different parts of my life.  At each passing I have grieved differently, because of who they were and who I was at the time. 

Great Grandparents Clyde & Emma Weaver and
Grandpa & Grandma Neff (standing right)

In the last 24hours I have come to reflect on the loss of my Grandparents.  Looking back I realize that I was sad at each passing and the weeks after each one's funeral. But I have also realized I grieved the women in my life more emotionally.  Other than Grandmother, I didn't necessarily spend more time with either Great Grandmothers, yet my heart strings are pulled a little harder as I remember Great Grandma Anna Neff, and Great Grandma Emma Weaver. 

Great Grandparents Harry & Anna Neff

And now Grand Mother Anna Mary Neff is fading.  I find myself wanting to do things that are very uncharacteristic of most of our relationship. I want to hug her and cuddle up next to her in her hospital bed or brush her hair. She is the one I was closest to, but most of our relationship was over shelling peas, reading good night stories when we stayed over, or watching her braid her hair in the morning to put up under her covering.  Over the last couple years Grandmother connected with Emma Rose, even reading to her enthusiastically at one visit in the last year.

Whatever comes in the next few weeks, I will find comfort in knowing that I am blessed that I can reflect on the the Grandparents who helped shape who I have become, and the memories of the women whom I'd admire and love most, as only a granddaughter can.

Love on the Line

I love putting laundry on the line on pretty days.

There is something calming and nostalgic about the time it takes to hang the clothes and wait for them to dry (although on a nice summer day, it doesn't take long). 

I know that Mom hung clothes on the line and as kids we would pretend that we couldn't be seen between the lines in our magical world.  That play wasn't exclusive to home.  I remember playing dolls between the clothes lines at the Wise's home too.  There is just something magical about cloth hanging outside. No wonder it calms me when I take a moment to really breathe in the moment.

I washed the quilt Mom gave me for Christmas on a day that was perfect for putting it out on the line to dry.          

Talk about wonderful. 

The top was started by Catherine Crickenberger from scraps Mom gave her to use.  The scraps are from projects that Mom had done over the years and clothes she had made for us.  When Catherine wasn't able to piece anymore, the sections of blocks came back to Mom and were stored away for a long time.  Last year Mom got them back out and finished piecing them. She ended up with two queen size quilts, one for me and one for my sister.  Special doesn't even begin to describe this quilt. 

As it hung on the line it brought back all those playful memories from a childhood that seems so long ago.  Love on the line... that's just how it felt to look at it on that bright summer's day.

Pig A Pancake - a lesson in rolling with the punches.

I had decided to make buckwheat pancakes for breakfast.  A friend of mine got us the mix at the Maple Festival in Highland County several months ago.  I love buckwheat pancakes and hadn't taken the time to make them yet.  It sounded like a great idea and Emma was easy to convince that pancakes would be better than cereal this morning.

At the mere suggestion of making pancakes, Emma began quoting the book 'If You Give A Pig A Pancake' by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond. 
Emma was ready to make another book real! 

I mixed the buckwheat mix according to the directions, including the yeast, and waited.  Nothing happened.  I mean nothing.  It was a nasty grainy mess!

So plans had to change.  Emma was anticipating pancakes.  Cereal would not do the trick now, at least not without a lot of convincing.  I reached into the pantry for Plan B... some good ole reliable Bisquick.

Ah Bisquick, the cure all for pancake, waffle, or biscuit fails.  When all goes wrong, there is Bisquick.  I mixed it up in my Grandmother's glass serving bowl just so I didn't feel like I was totally selling out.  Everything went smoothly after Bisquick entered the picture.  The pancakes cooked up beautifully and Emma had a great filling breakfast that brought yet another book to life for her.

I received a lesson in rolling with the punches and making the most of every moment (even when they don't go the way you think they should).