Customize...

Hello,
I enjoyed a first birthday celebration for my sweet niece, Faith, today.  She is such a cutie. :0)  It was a small gathering of family.  We enjoyed fellowship and watching her and my nephew, Lucan, play.   There was cake and ice cream.  Faith, enjoyed her cake to hilt, with it all over her face, hands/arms and belly.  Needless to say, she wound up in the bathtub to get cleaned up, which she did not appreciate.  :0)   Oh, the memories of days past, when my two were little.

When I was getting Faith's gift ready to take to her party, I realized I did not have a birthday bag.  I had bags for Christmas, Easter, Wedding/anniversary, but nothing for birthdays.  I also had solid dark colored bags, plaid bags, brown bags and one white bag.  

So I decided to take the white bag and turn it into a birthday bag.  

Here's what you do.   Take a plain bag, makers and pens of various colors, and draw a custom design on the bag.  Here is the bag I did today.

custom birthday bag

front view

back view

This is also a great way to save a little money.   Buy the lower cost, plain bags and make them to fit the occasion.  They will look nice and will have your personal touch.

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I leave you with a blessing tonight.  

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace. ~ Numbers 6:24-26 NIV

God bless and keep you,
Sonia

Small Quilt pattern...

Hello, 

I finished the love quilt today.

It's a simple pattern if you would like to make one.

Here's what you need...

• 1 color fabric, your choice, for backing
• 38" square
• 4 coordinating or contrasting fabrics of your choice, for the pieced top.
• 1/2 yard each of two colors for the large nine patch (in this one blue and pink)
• cut four 9½" blocks from each. (4 blue blocks and 4 pink blocks)
• 1/3 yard each of remaining fabrics for two borders (in this one hot pink and green)
• for first border cut two 2½" x 27" strips and two 2½" x 31" strips.
• for second border cut two 3" x 31" strips and two 3" x 36" strips
• Batting - 36" square

All together now...

1. Sew three rows of the 9½" blocks.
1. first row - sew three 9½" blocks together (blue to pink to blue)
2. second row - sew three 9½" blocks together (pink to blue to pink)
3. third row - repeat as for first row
2. Sew the three rows together, making the large nine patch block (27" square)
3. Sew the two 2½" x 27" strips to two ends of the large nine patch block
4. Sew the two 2½" x 31" strips to the remaining sides of the large nine patch block
5. Sew the two 3" x 31 strips to two ends as in step 3.
6. sew the 3" x 36" strips to remaining sides as in step 4.
7. Sandwich backing, batting and pieced top together and pin or baste for quilting.
8. Quilt or tie as desired.
9. Bring the backing edges to the front for binding and stitch down. 

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Well, that's it for this evening.

Here's wishing you a wonderful weekend!

God bless and keep you,

Sonia

Something New

Hi,
Today, was a peaceful day.  It was overcast and rainy ~ the kind of day that mellows me out.

It seems I have already settled into a new routine.

• My mornings are spent job searching and turning in my resume.  
• My afternoons are spent catching up on projects with a nap thrown in once in a while.  

I miss going to work and clocking in but I am enjoying this time I have to get projects done.  :0)


I finished the two projects I mentioned last night.















I was able to get a start on the love quilt too.  It is going to be a nine patch with borders.  The nine patch block is 27" square.   I will add a border, maybe two, tomorrow and try to finish it.  I think it is going to make a pretty baby quilt.

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TO MAKE AND WEAR

I've created a new page tab, titled To Make and Wear.   This page is of one of my Pinterest boards, showcasing crochet and knitted items you can make and wear.   If you see something you would like to make, click on the picture.  It will open in a new window, click on the picture again and it will take you to the pattern.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

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That's all I have for this evening.

Have a fantastic Friday!

God bless and keep you,
Sonia

Oh, what a mess!

Hello,

Hope you had a good day. :0)

As most of the country, we are in drought conditions here in Arkansas.  Today, we were blessed with rain and it is suppose to rain, I think, through tomorrow morning.

A few blogs back, I mentioned some projects I was going to work on (love quilt, table cloth).  I took one look at my sewing area and realized I was not going to be doing any sewing until it was straightened out.  Over the holidays, I let it become a "catch-all".   Oh, it was a mess!

My cabinet was not in good order either.









So, I straightened it up.   Boy, did I let it go too far.  I usually try to straighten it up after each project, so that it is ready for the next, but I guess with everything going on with holidays and such, I let it get out of hand.

I'm happy to report it is back in working order.  The cabinet is now organized to where it holds more than before, and I can close the doors.

Then it was time to tackle my sewing/cutting table.  I found a few projects that I need to finish before I start on the love quilt and the tablecloth.  You know how it is, you go through your stash and lo' and behold there's a UFO (un-finished object).  

I pinned up two of them so that all I have to do is quilt and bind them tomorrow.  I had two others also, but they need more than minor quilting and binding, so I put them back for later.

I also had some pieced blocks I acquired in the past.  These blocks are not that pretty to me, but I hated to throw them out.   I've been wanting to make a laptop pillow to use, so I used the blocks.  








When not in my lap, holding the laptop, it can be a pillow on the couch.




Now, my sewing/cutting table only holds the two projects I'm going to finish up tomorrow and the fabric I'm going to use for the love quilt.



As I stated, it became a place for everything.  I had Christmas decorations, the things I brought home from work out of my cubicle, scrap-booking items, etc., to put away.   I also had some pictures my dad drew.  He gave them to me over the Christmas holiday.  They are now in a safe place.










I feel like I have accomplished something and I needed that.

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If anyone would tell you the surest way to happiness and all perfection, they must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you.  For it is certain that whatever seeming disaster happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing.  ~ Unknown

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Have a terrific Thursday!

God bless and keep you,

Sonia

Cute picture and video

Hello,

It was kind of weird not having to clock in this morning.

I tried reopening my unemployment claim today online, as suggested from the Dept. of Workforce Services, I followed all the instructions and the last window stated:

"Processing Claim - do not close window or claim will not be processed - you will receive a confirmation page when claim is processed"

4 hours later, it was still processing when the website closed out for the day (6 pm), thus the claim was terminated.   ARGG!!   It did say the information was saved for 24 hours, so I'm going to sign on early tomorrow and see if it will go through.  If it doesn't, I'm going to mail it in, instead.

Okay, enough about that little bit of frustration.  :0)

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Earlier, today, Elvis was sleeping in a chair and the sun was shining through a window right in his face.  He used his little paw to cover his eyes as he slept.

I just thought he was cute and took a picture.

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I just realized, I didn't share my newest pin cushions with you.   At the quilt guild meeting, just before Christmas, we had a pin cushion giveaway and we also played "dirty santa" with fat quarters.

Here are my newest pin cushions.  The blue star like pin cushion was from our last pin cushion swap in a previous meeting.  The green bag pincushion was from the meeting in December.



The fat quarter I ended up with in the "dirty santa" game is this pretty blue toile.

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GIVEAWAY

Check Sweet Meadows Farm Annual Pattern Giveaway!

Here's a chance to win a patter each month.

http://sweetmeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/2013/01/time-for-annual-pattern-giveaway.html

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That's it for this evening.

Have a great Tuesday!

God bless and keep you,

Sonia

Cinnamon Swirl and Color Block

Hello,
I have had a day of learning.

In my previous post, I mentioned I was going to make a Cinnamon Swirl Bread.   I did.  :0)

I used a recipe out of one of my vintage cookbooks.  It took a little longer than the modern recipes but it was worth it, because it helped me get over any apprehensions I had working with yeast breads.



It smelled like cinnamon toast while it was cooking and it is tasty.  




Here's the recipe for the Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

1 package of yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons soft butter
2 teaspoons salt
7 - 8 cups flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
melted butter

Stir yeast into warm water.  In a large bowl, add 1/2 cup sugar and pour scalded milk over, add the softened butter and salt.  Stir to dissolve the sugar.  Cool to lukewarm.  Add 3 cups off flour; mix well.  Stir in yeast and eggs; beat well.  Add enough of remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Turn out on lightly floured surface. Cover and let rise 10 minutes.  Knead until smooth and elastic.  Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.  Cover and let rise in warm place until double, 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours.  Punch down and let rise again until almost double, about 1 hour.  Punch down and divide dough in half.  cover and let rest 10 minutes.  Roll each half in 15 x 7 inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick.  Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of sugar/cinnamon mixture; sprinkle remaining mixture over rectangles of dough.  Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of water over each; smooth with a spatula.  Roll each as for jelly roll, beginning with narrow sides, seal long edges.  Place, sealed edges down, in 2 greased loaf pans.  Let rise until almost double, 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Just before baking, brush loaves with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Bake at 375° for 35 - 40 minutes.  If crust browns too fast, cover with aluminum foil last 10 minutes of baking.  Turn out of pans and cool on rack.  Yield: 2 loaves.
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While I was waiting for the bread to rise, I crocheted this dishcloth.  I used left over cotton yarn, from previous dishcloths, giving it a color block look.

Here's the pattern.

Cotton yarn in two different colors

size H hook

Chain (ch) 31

Row 1: single crochet (sc) in first chain next to hook, and in each chain across (30 sc), ch 1, turn.

Row 2: sc in each sc across, ch 1, turn

Repeat row 2 for the next 16 rows, changing color in last chain.

With new color, repeat row 2 for the next 18 rows.

Finish off and weave end pieces into work.

Should have 18 rows of each color and 30 sc in each row.

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That's all I have for now.

Until next time...

God bless and keep you,

Sonia

New Year, New Beginning...

Hello,
I hope this finds you doing well and having a good day.

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Note I wrote when called into the plant managers office this morning

As of today, I am not longer an employee of Stark Mfg, LLC.

I was told at 8:20 this morning that "due to recent changes in the economy, we are eliminating your position and terminating your employment".  Then proceeded with layoff/unemployment provisions, etc.

I am determined not let those responsible, or the situation, get me down.   If you have been with me for any time at all, you know that I totally believe God's will is being done.   I'm trusting Him and stepping out in faith on this new adventure in life.

Leaving today was bittersweet.  On one hand, I'm going to miss a lot of people who have become like family to me over the past 23 years.   On the other hand, I'm glad it's over.

So you may be wondering what my plans are now.

Well, tomorrow I plan on baking a Cinnamon Swirl Bread.  It will be my first time baking a yeast risen bread.   I was going to bake it last week, but we had sweet breads and cookies left from Christmas and New Year.

I'm going to make a love quilt.  I still owe one to the quilt guild I belong to and I want to have it done to take to this month's meeting.

I'm going to make a table cloth for my dining table.  I'm going to try the "Quilt As You Go" method.  If it works as good as I'm hoping, I plan to use that method on a larger quilt, to be completed by the end of May or sooner.

That's a start for my time off on unemployment, between job searches.

New Beginnings List

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Love Quilt

Job Searches

Table Cloth

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Check out this drawing my daughter did in her Art class.   :0)

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I finally have my Christmas decorations put up.   I put the two angels, I found at a flea market a few weeks ago, and the angel I had in my cubicle at work on my piano.  It is a nice change.

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My LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song. ~Psalm 28:7 NIV

Have a wonderful weekend!  :0)

God bless and keep you,
Sonia