Continuation on a Theme

Apparently we're in the mood for pretzels around here. Either that, or our selection of snacks is dwindling. Sarah's big idea for Thursday was to dip pretzels in melted chocolate and add sprinkles, so that's what we did. I must say - that saltiness with the chocolate is pretty tasty. Word of warning - they don't stick around for long. Darn those things!!


This past Thursday was the last day for Happy Hour at Sew-Bee-It. I went. Again. For the third week in a row. And I bought more fabric. Lots of goodness in that basket to add to all the rest that's been sneaking into the house lately. I'm actually starting to sketch ideas for some quilts that are going to stay in our house. Crazy idea, making something and not giving it away, but I think I might give it a try.



And as soon as I get up from my computer I'm headed over to the sewing machine where I'm going to start adding white borders to these blocks. If I did my math right (doubtful), I have enough here for three twin quilts like this one. One for the top and bottom bunk on the girl's new bunk beds and one to send on its way to someone special. I'm going to try something different on the first one though. I'm going to use different whites for the borders around the squares. You could say the decision was driven by necessity, impatience, laziness, frugality - what have you, but I don't have enough of any one white to complete the first one and it would be nice to get rid of some scraps and I'm thinking that, since the blocks are various shades and patterns of a particular color, why not have the surrounding white echo the variety. Good idea? Bad idea? I'll let you know.

Happy Hour

Well, not your typical happy hour, but Sarah and I had fun making some "Cheesy Pretzels" that were a favorite recipe of mine to make as a kid. Our recipe today came straight from my 1980 edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys & Girls. It also has recipes for eggs baked in bologna cups and a salad made with pears, prunes, mandarin oranges and a cherry that looks like a dog in profile. A most excellent cookbook, if you ask me. Funny thing though, I can remember pouring over it and thinking about making all of the other wonderful offerings (like "Crater Ham Loaf"), but all I can ever remember making is the pretzels.



They came out just like I remember them....doughy, cheesy, salty and yummy....and way better than a "crater ham loaf"!!

And just to be sure that this post isn't lacking in fabric, I've bought more. Week two of Happy Hour at Sew-Bee-It resulted in eleven more yards of fabric goodness. Since then I've also had a yard sale and gotten a check from a consignment sale, so you can be sure to find me back at the final night of happy hour over at Sew-Bee-It tomorrow night. After that, I believe it will be time to finish the projects already on the table and start cutting into all my new goodies. I can't wait!!

More Fabric

The above goodies are part of my haul from Michigan. Not only was my good friend Anne kind enough to watch my kids while I ran amok in JoAnn's for an hour, but she also had the top three vintage fabrics waiting for me when I got to her house. I am in love with the top geranium print and was surprised to find a tag on it saying it came from JC Pennys and cost 36 cents. The others are vintage as well. The bottom fabric came from a thrift store and feels more like home decor fabric, but a test swatch washed up just fine, so I'll be treating it like cotton.


And then I got an email upon my return from Michigan. Sew-Bee-It, a local quilt shop, is having happy hour for the remaining Thursdays in August from 4-6. All cuts of a yard or more are half off. So after picking Rachel up from school today, we went straight for happy hour, as all good mothers would do. The above it what came home with me, but here's the problem. I gave myself a dollar limit and worked very hard to stay within that limit....but while trying to restrain myself, I totally forgot to give myself fifty percent off, so I only bought half of what I could have. The horror!! I only realized this after I'd waited in line and had everything cut. The only remedy for this gross error on my part will be another trip to happy hour next week.

So, what am I making with all this new fabric? I have some ideas running through my head, but I also think I've gotten smart enough to figure out that a concrete plan might be a good thing to have, so I've got some sketching to do, some loose math to throw about and then I hope to be off and sewing. My sewing area is getting a good cleaning and organizing at the moment so that when I'm ready I'll have a good space to work in. Looking at all my new goodies is making me want to step on the gas!!

Time to Get Crackin'

This has been a busy summer. Lots of road travel for the family, busy days at home, lots of here and there and all over the place. School starts next week. I'm actually looking forward to it because we'll have to stay put for extended periods of time (even though I've already been thinking of traveling over fall break). Last night we returned from out last trip of the summer (I think/hope). We spent a week plus in Michigan visiting first with good friends from college and then venturing further North to spend a week with my Grandparents and ended with a family celebration commemorating my Grandma's 90th year, which will commence in September. By the time her birthday rolls around they will be 90 and 91 and have been married 67 years. They set the bar high!

That's the background story and more pictures will follow, but here's the point of this post. I've been working on my fabric stash. It hadn't seen many new additions as of late and I needed some inspiration. On our hike up I-75, I managed to time our lunch break with a lightening fast trip through Ikea to pick up a few things I had been hunting for, namely the big gray organic flower print. The girls got to play in the play area, I got fabric, we ate in the cafeteria and then hopped back in the car. It was seamless (pardon the pun).



Then, my friend Anne was willing to watch my kids while I went to JoAnn Fabrics. This is a BIG DEAL for me, especially since the closest one to me is a two hour drive. I had enough to time to thoroughly browse, think, rethink and get what I was looking for. I owe her big for that one!!



And then I hit some thrift stores once I reached my final destination. My vintage sheet collection got a really nice boost this past week and I'm so excited to put them to use!! I found lots of other good treasures while thrifting, including some fabrics, and will share those later, as I ran out of daylight today. Why is is that thrift stores in other towns are always better than the ones in my town? I'm not sure if that's a perception or a reality, but it feels like a reality.


So, despite the fact that no, I don't have enough fabric, I do have more than I did two weeks ago and hopefully, it will be getting put to use soon. Very soon.