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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Thanksgiving Meal 2014



Apple Pumkintini



     We celebrated Thanksgiving this past Sunday.  Our son came in from Iowa Saturday evening.  On Sunday morning we all met at the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot.  My husband and I ran the 10K, our youngest son and his wife ran the 5K, our daughter, her husband and son played in the park and the older son took photos.  We then headed to I-Hop for breakfast.

Cranberry, Pecan & White Cheddar Cheeseball


     We started the meal with Apple PumkintinisCranberry, Pecan and White Cheddar Cheese Ball and an appetizer bread from Market Day.  The drinks were delicious and the cheese ball very yummy.  Our grandson loves Craisins and crackers so he loved picking off the cranberries and eating them with the crackers.

Harvest Pumpkin Soup


     Dinner started with Harvest Pumpkin Soup.  I used pumpkin puree made from the pumpkins we grew in our garden.  We made a double batch and had lots left over, should have only done one batch.  It is tasty but not sure if it will freeze so we can eat it slowly.


Pumpkin Dinner Rolls


     I made these delicious Pumpkin Dinner Rolls.  They looked almost as cute as the recipe photo.  Again the pumpkin was from our garden.

Butternut Squash

Quinoa, Sweet Potato Stuffing


Honey Glazed Carrots


     The side dishes were Butternut Squash with Candied PecansQuinoa, Sweet Potato and Dried Cranberry Stuffing and Honey Glazed Carrots.  The butternut squash was good but my hubby had some problems with the grill so it was behind in cooking time.  Wound up putting it in the microwave to finish cooking.

     I doubled the Quinoa recipe and again had way too much left.  It was very tasty with a nice mix of textures.  The carrots were from our garden also.  They were only so-so.

     This was all served with a nice beef roast as I don't like turkey or ham.


Chocoflan


Pumpkin Cheesecake


     For dessert we had Chocoflan and Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce.  I made the chocoflan because flan is one of my favorite desserts and I love chocolate.  The flan part was very good but the cake was only so-so.  Not my cup of tea but others might love it.  My hubby made the cheesecake.  He has gotten really good at making cheesecakes ever since he had to make one for Christmas one year because I was working.  This cheesecake is so light and oh so yummy.

Thanksgiving Dinner 


     My younger son did complain about too much pumpkin which when I did look at everything it was kind of true.  All in all it was a tasty meal though way too much food as usual.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Embroidery Project October 2014



     A client wanted some hankies embroidered for an upcoming wedding.  Fortunately she bought some extras so I was able to do a test stitch out of the lettering.  Small lettering can be difficult because it needs to have enough stitches to cover the fabric but not so many that it becomes illegible.

     In my embroidery software I have a few different small alphabets to choose from.  The client wanted script on the ladies hankies and block on the men's ones.  I chose what looked good on the screen and then stitched them out.  The script looked good but the block one I thought was too full making it hard to read.  I chose a different font and test stitched that (on the top in the photo).  Much better.

     Then it was time to do the actual hankies.  I sprayed them with Mary Ellen's Best Press and pressed them.  I did that a couple of times to give them a little more body.  Then I hooped a sticky stabilizer and using templates I had printed out I pressed the hankie onto it.  I added a few pins and then stitched it out.

     I removed the stabilizer and then pressed from the wrong side to smooth it all out.  They turned out great.  So glad to have the extra hankie because it really showed the difference in the fonts.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Professional Pillow Fabrication

My pillows



     A couple of weeks ago I went to Custom Home Furnishings Academy (CHF Academy) to take a class, Professional Pillow Fabrication.  They are located in Roswell GA, not too far from the Atlanta airport.  I flew in on a Tuesday evening and checked into my hotel for the night.  The next morning we met in the lobby and took a short van ride to the academy.

Wanda and her pillows


     There were five students in class, Wanda, Michelle, Annette, Cindy and myself.  Donna Cash from Designs by Donna was our instructor.  Donna was great.  She first talked about some of the basics of pillow construction and then patiently helped us learn how to use the industrial machines.

Michelle and her pillows


     We made a basic knife edge pillow first with covered cord and a zipper inserted above the bottom back seam.  I learned a new technique for joining the ends of the covered cord that looks so much better than the way I have been doing it.

Annette and her pillows


     We then made a bolster pillow with an invisible zipper.  I made two different ends, one flat and one gathered so I could learn both techniques.  We then put a button on each end using a long needle to thread the cord through.  That was difficult as the needle wasn't quite long enough and we had to smoosh the pillow to get it through.

Cindy and her pillows


     We then made a round knife edge pillow.  Wow!! I got a round pillow that didn't look like a pancake.  A bit of hand sewing involved with it but it turned out great.

Me and my pillows


     The last pillow we did was a mitered flange pillow.  I opted to add some covered cord between the flange and the pillow front.  That did mess up my ability to make nice tight corners.  I had to sew it several times to get it to look nice.  Don't think I will be offering that as an option :-)  It also had the zipper in the seam.

     I wish we had time to make another pillow, like a boxed pillow or one with turkish corners.  All in all it was a great class and I learned so much even though I have been making pillows for a while.  I hope I can go back soon and take the other course to earn my Professional Bedding Certificate.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

After School Sewing November 2014

Elise and her back slit skirt

Bella and her shorts

Grace and her sewing bag and belt



     On Mondays I have Elise, Bella, Aviva and Grace.  Elise finished her back slit skirt even sewing on the buttons with the sewing machine.  She thought that was pretty neat.  Bella finished her shorts that she started last spring.  She added a pocket to the back.  We drafted the pattern for it based on a pair of jeans she was wearing one day.  Aviva is almost done with her peasant nightgown while Grace finished her first two projects, a sewing bag and belt, and has started on a peasant blouse.

Nonie and peasant nightgown

Christine and her sport shorts

Ellen and her hanging organizer

Ellen and her sport shorts

Cara and her capris


     On Tuesdays I have Nonie, Christine, Ellen and Cara.  Nonie just finished a peasant nightgown for her sister, Christine finished her sport shorts and is working on the purse for the purse challenge, Ellen finished the hanging organizer from summer camp, a pair of sport shorts, did some work on a Halloween costume and just started cutting out a dress from Simplicity 6020.  Cara finish her capris and is also working on the purse.

Lindsey and her pajama pants

Nick's fabric

Nick's new project


     On Wednesdays I have Lindsey, Natalie and Nick.  Lindsey finished a pair of comfy flannel pajama pants and is now working on a sport shirt from book 2.  Natalie is almost done with her square neck blouse and Nick was working on a quilt but changed over to making a cool pincushion that will be filled with crushed walnut shells.  He decided to make his pincushion more of a pumpkin pie slice.

Sarah and her sewing bag

Claire and her sewing bag

Greta and her tote


     On Thursdays I have Sarah, Hayley, Claire and Greta.  Sarah and Claire are both new and they have finished their sewing bags and belts.  Hayley is working on a nightshirt and Greta finished her tote which is a Simplicity pattern.  She was a bit disappointed with the flimsiness of it but really like the zipped top technique.

     The kids have been very busy, all working hard on their projects.  Some days I feel like a juggler trying to keep all the balls in the air as they all are doing something different.  I find it a fun challenge though.  Soon we will take off a few weeks over the Christmas holiday but they will be sewing strong until then.