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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

How to make a Tortilla Cozy with a Rooster.........

  
Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.             ----Dale E. Turner




Here was the problem:   The Tortilla Cozy tutorial  said to use a 10 inch plate to cut the circles for my pattern and, well...............here are the shapes of the plates in my kitchen:


 .....so on to Plan B:  While searching the kitchen I spied the bowl I keep my fruit in and.......Voila!.....a 10 inch circle!


I had decided that I was going to make several Tortilla Cozies as Christmas gifts this year and I also thought I would make two sizes;  one for regular size tortillas and one for the smaller taco size tortillas.................enter Rooster #2!  


 This plate is the perfect size for the smaller cozy! 

I cut 2 outsides and two insides for each cozy (I used a pre-quilted fabric for the inside).... I had thought the pre-quilted would be enough padding but discovered it wasn't so I added a layer of polyester batting in between


And so here you have it----- Tada!  A tortilla cozy made with a rooster!


I used two different methods for putting them together after I had sandwiched the fronts and backs with the batting:
 
 On the smaller one I sewed the front to the back all in one step with the binding and on the bigger one I sewed the binding to the front and the back separately and then sewed them to each other.  I think I like the second method better even though it uses twice as much binding.....

 


The yard continues to compete with my sewing room for my time................Here is what I worked on this morning before I went to the sewing room. 


 This little water feature is in the corner of my little side patio..........St. Francis is made of clay and over the years he had begun to shrink because the water has broken down the clay so I had to stand him up on a pedestal of sorts so he would be taller...........then I decided to add some new river rock and clean it up a bit.............all the little frogs and turtles and squirrels seem to like the new arrangement......and so do I!

Ok...........back to the sewing room......Ta-Ta for now...............
 



Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Spring Fever.........yawn.........


Make the choice to embrace this day. Do not let your TODAY be stolen by the ghost of yesterday or the "To-Do" list of tomorrow! It’s inspiring to see all the wonderfully amazing things that can happen in a day in which you participate. Steve Maraboli




I still seem to be dealing with a little "Spring Fever".............I keep "talking the talk" about doing a lot of sewing but I don't seem to be "walking the walk"..............anyway.............I did manage to get a cushion done for the top of the Little Apples Quilt..........I used some of the half square triangles that were left after making the quilt blocks and then added an eyelet ruffle to match the dust ruffle...

 In retrospect I think it would have looked better if I had reversed the direction on every other row of the HST but I had already sewed them together while making the Little Apples top in an effort to "save my scraps"......so I decided to just "make do" with what I already had.......and besides, I remembered about the "from a moving train" concept of looking at my work and decided from a moving train it would look fine......lol.....

I really like the way it looks between Mama's embroidered pillow cases...........................
 

 Note the covered panel on my headboard.......underneath is the original wicker panel that came with it that sort of got a big hole in it in one of my moves many many years ago....I have two panels that I made to cover the boo-boo and I switch them out to match the cover on my bed but it kind of looks like maybe I should make one more for Little Apples.......hmmmmmm........or I could go outside like my kitty Miss Tinkerbell,  and watch the birds????




If you look really close in the photo on  the left you can see her "stalking" the birds that come by to eat from my birdfeeders....and on the right I managed to get a close-up of her before she gave up because I was "cramping her style".....haha.....


Usually I have mostly Whitewing dove and house Finch and some beautiful Pyrrhuloxia but this roadrunner came by last week to have a drink........






You see why I'm not getting any sewing done?????? LOL......ok then I will say Ta-Ta for now.....I will talk to you next time......


Friday, April 12, 2013

Wayyyyyyyyyyyy Behind on blogging.......



Finding happiness should not be seen as finding a needle in a haystack. Happiness is within. Each day is a blessing that brings an abundance of happiness. Therefore, finding happiness should be like finding a gift in a stack of gifts. -Steve Maraboli


Goodness, it has been two weeks since I posted......I don't think it is "Spring Fever" because I am certainly getting lots of other things done...............I have done a little sewing.....I have done a little gardening and I even got a chance to go home to New Mexico for a visit with Mom and Dad, my brother and sister......

So I also got a couple of small projects done...............I made another mug rug/mouse pad for my son.......(yes he is a Texan...how did you guess???....lol)


I put a label on the Americana Tablecloth so I could give it to my Mom as an early Mother's Day gift.....



 and also made a thread catcher for her.......



I sort of combined a couple of tutorials I found on the internet and I think when I make the next one I will change it up even a bit more......


I used the pin cushion and hanging straps from one tutorial and the basket from another......and, of course, I had to add a little "ME" (machine embroidery) to it too!



 I got some nice mail this week.....my swap partner, Lori, sent this pretty "Scrapbagger" block to me.....



 and she also sent this gorgeous "Broken HourGlass" potholder and her sweet daughter made the precious bunting.....Lori included a lovely handmade card with it......Thank you so much, Lori, I love it all.....

So I guess that is all I have been up to.....tonight I start my work week again.......off to get a couple of winks so I can stay awake til 7:00 in the morning...................Ta-Ta for now.......