Matchy-Matchy

Each time that I choose fabrics for a new thread catcher, I imagine how the fabrics will look alongside a sewing machine.  Most times, the imaginary sewing machine is white, but sometimes I imagine a black machine, or even a red sewing machine.  As I have mentioned previously, I have that Matchy-Matchy thing going on.  I can't help it.  That's how I am wired.  I wonder what sort of machine this little cutie will sit beside...

I made a few of this design a couple of years ago but stopped selling them in my Etsy Shop, Curry Bungalow, because they were quite labor intensive with all of those little yo-yo's ringing the pincushion.  Interestingly... this design is the most viewed sold item in my Etsy Shop with tons of views each day, coming from Pinterest, I suspect.  

I recently had a custom order request for this design and made one up for my buyer.  I found that making those little yo-yo's was kind of enjoyable!  I can make enough for one pincushion in just over one hour of evening TV.  And the wonder is that I am actually able to stay awake!  

I've had a number of requests for the pattern.  We'll see how these sell.  I just might have to consider writing it!

Missing in Action

Are you, like me, asking yourself, "Where has the summer gone?"  Mr. T. and I were just reminiscing about how when we were kids (we actually attended the same elementary school...) that the summer just seemed to go on an on endlessly!  Not so these days.  I blinked... and now it's nearly the end of August!.

I've not been idle, just not blogging.  Mr. T. and I spent a good part of our summer so far getting our yard in order.  It had become more than a little overgrown without our realizing it.  We were cutting and trimming and digging and thinning and not making a whole lot of progress.  Then Mr. T. did a wonderful thing.  He hired the gardeners from next door!  Without my knowing, he'd walked over and talked to them and hired them on the spot.  These two fellows are ridiculously hard workers and have taken care of all of the big stuff.  I don't think that I have ever been so happy to write big checks! There is just a bit more work to do around the koi pond and they will be finished.  And we have our beautiful yard back.  Mr. T. and I can handle it from here on.

Happy Koi, looking like flying fish.

Meanwhile, I'm still making thread catchers and working on, OK,.. just thinking of working on a couple of new patterns.  I just purchased fabrics from the brand new line "Gooseberry", from Lella Boutique.  They're so DELICIOUS that I can hardly stand it.  Lucy loves them, too.  Looks like she has a new best friend.  Just listed at my Etsy shop, Curry Bungalow .

And another in a different colorway... TOO CUTE!

Lost and Found

Have you ever thought that something was lost and gone forever, then it just magically turned up? That's what happened yesterday.  I made this Feathered Star quilt for our son, known here in Blogland as the G-Man, when he was about 11 years old.  This quilt was on his bed from boyhood on into adulthood.

We were certain that the quilt was lost.  Actually, I was certain that his former girlfriend had helped herself to it.  I can stop being mad at her now.

It turns out that the quilt was packed in a box by Mr. T. shortly after we moved here to Curry Bungalow in 2007.   He had consolidated a lot of things from various boxes and hauled them up to the attic in the barn.  The quilt was in the box on the very bottom, in the very back.  Of course.

I washed the quilt and hung it outdoors from the deck cover to dry in the shade.  Naturally, I had to critique my work.  I noticed that the bottom edge is just a bit wavy.  I've learned since that time just how to keep that from happening. But my hand quilting is pretty darned good, if I do say so myself...

I blogged about the missing quilt here, over three years ago.  Yesterday, I texted our son and said, "Look what I found!"  He called right back (a rarity...)  and was completely astounded!  His girlfriend texted me this morning and said that she knew how much that quilt meant to him since she's been hearing about if for four years!

After all this time, that quilt is finding it's way back to him.  I love it when things like that happen. 

An Old Friend

I just made this pretty Thread Catcher.  I have not made one using my Dreamy Dresden Thread Catcher Pattern in months and months.  It was kind of like meeting up with an old friend again.  What is it about sewing those little bits of fabric together that I love so much?

Note to self... Make More!  Just listed in my Etsy Shop .

Got Batiks?

I've been playing around with the few batik fabrics from my stash.  I felt that my Sew Sassy Thread Catcher Pattern would make up really nicely with these fabrics and I wanted a Thread Catcher option that was a little more simplistic, less cute.  I don't generally work with batiks, but that's not to say that I don't like them.  Some of my quilting friends work exclusively with these fabrics and I drool a little bit when I see how beautifully they combine colors.

Batiks are lovely to work with.  They have a bit more body and a tighter weave than the usual quilting fabrics and they hold a crease like nothing else that I have sewn on.  I love the vibrant colors and subtle patterns.

I used a large covered button for the center of the pincushion.  Perfect!  For those of you who "don't do FLORAL", and you know who you are... this is the thread catcher for you!  My Sew Sassy Thread Catcher Pattern is available for download from my shops on Etsy and Craftsy  Just search "Sew Sassy Thread Catcher".

It Doesn't Take Much...

It doesn't take much to make me happy. A mail order package of a long awaited newly released fabric line is usually enough to send me straight to my sewing machine with a big smile on my face!

I just ordered these delicious fabrics by Zoe Pearn called "Summer Song 2".  I usually love everything that she does and these are no exception.  These two thread catchers went together beautifully, I think.  I did them in the same prints but in two different colorways.  I can't decide which one I like the best.  OK... I love them both!  Just listed at my Etsy shop, Curry Bungalow.

Hooray and Hallelujah !

I finally have my new SEW SASSY Thread Catcher Pattern completed and posted on Etsy and on Craftsy! It is so very gratifying to see it finally completed and posted online. This is a screenshop of how my Etsy shop looks at this moment in time.  I still need to add the posting for the single Supply Kit on Etsy, but for all intents and purposes, it is finally on it's way!

Feel free to share, tell your friends, post on Facebook and pin to Pinterest! 

You know... I learned a big lesson on this pattern. This one took WAY too long to complete and I have learned that I cannot pause while in the writing process. In the immortal words of Nike, I need to JUST DO IT!

I love the way that this design looks great with soft and subdued fabrics as well as brighter, bolder ones.  What's next?  I have more pattern designs in the works!

Moms and Mother's Day

I've been working hard at making Thread Catchers to keep up with demand for gifts for Mother's Day and I have just posted these five in my Etsy shop, Curry Bungalow .  As I write those words, "Mother's Day", I am wishing that my own mother was still living and that I could give her one of my Thread Catchers.  She's been gone for many years and I think about her every single day of my life. She is, of course, the one who set me on my way at the sewing machine.  She didn't teach me to sew, she led by example and offered encouragement and advice when needed.  I am convinced that her gentle way of helping me to learn is the reason that sewing has been one of my lifelong loves.  I like to think that she would be so very proud of me and my little Bungalow Business.  I owe it all to her... Love you, Mom...

Cuteness Overload!

Oh... my goodness!  How cute is this?  I have been waiting and waiting for these Moda "Feed Company" fabrics and just cannot keep my hands off of them!  Just finished this Sew Sassy Thread Catcher with Detachable Pincushion. Available at my Etsy Shop.

Raise Your Hand...

Raise your hand if this hits close to home.  Mr. T. and I had a big laugh at this one!

Beautiful Baby V.

Last July I blogged about my younger daughter, known here as Butterly.  She and I made a baby quilt for her friend Lesley, who was due to birth a baby girl in August.  We had tons of fun making that quilt and you can read about that process here.

Fast forward.  Butterfly is spending the week end at the beach with her very bestest friends from good ol' Placer High School where she finally got to meet Baby V.!  And, guess what traveled along with baby to the beach? The quilt that we made!  Butterfly finally got to hold that beautiful baby! She's in love... and she texted me this photo just now. She told me that the quilt, our quilt that we made together, is used and loved, words that warm my heart because that's what quilts are for, right?.  I always get a little emotional about babies, and I just had myself a moment here.. looking at this photo of Baby V. lying on those fabrics that we cut up and put back together with love in every stitch.

Like Birthing A New Baby!

Just put the finishing touches on my new Sew Sassy Thread Catcher Pattern cover design.  I hired an extremely talented Graphic Designer. OK,... she's my daughter, but she's still extremely talented!  I'm LOVING what she came up with for me.  The design is hip... happening... and just plain SASSY! I have a few steps yet to complete before I push this little bird from the nest and let it FLY!

The Bozz....

It was a sad day at our house today.  Bozz, my handsome but toothless tabby made his last trip to the vet for that little something to ease him to the other side.  He was just a few months shy of 17 years old.  Bozz was my Mother's Day gift back in 1998, chosen just for me by my son, who was 16 at the time, and Mr. T.  It was their big conspiracy, choosing a cat for me.  I had wanted my own cat for the longest time, and when they presented me with a mewing box on Mother's Day, I opened it and burst into tears.  Bozz purred from that first moment I picked him up and he purred up until he had no purr left.  

He was a gypsy cat, moving with us from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to Juneau, Alaska.  Then to the Georgia coast and on again to his last stop here in Oregon.  BIG MOVES, each one, but he was a trooper, even though he would scatter every time he heard the jingle of the truck keys.  He was pretty sure that meant that he was going for another long, long ride.  

He was never a lap cat, but if he felt like it he just might sit next to me.  But in the last 6 months he made it his business to be the lap cat that I had always wanted.  My butt would barely hit something solid before he was on my lap, and purring, of course.  

They say that all dogs go to heaven.  I'm hoping that there is also room there for my handsome old tabby.  Bozz liked dogs...

"L" is for Lumpectomy

Today I am spending the entire day in my pajamas, Christmas pajamas by the way.  I have parked myself in front of the fire, I am covered by a favorite old quilt, Rosie-the-Wonder-Dog is keeping me company and I have just finished my very first nap of the day. I actually have a bona fide reason for all of this laziness relaxation.  A Lumpectomy was performed yesterday on my right "Ta-ta" to remove something suspicious in a milk duct found on my recent routine mammogram.

I'm feeling pretty good today, under the circumstances, and I could probably be up and working, but I have decided to milk this a bit, no pun intended, and take a little time for myself.  My dear friend, Sharon W., whose Cranberry Walnut Relish is featured in the post below, advised me not to get dressed, do my hair or put on makeup because then everyone expects you to be just as you always are, taking care of things and getting the job done.  I can't very well be expected to work in my pajamas, now can I?

Yesterday was a busy day.  I had to be at the local imaging center in the morning where a wire was inserted into the area that the surgeon would be removing, sort of a "Dig Here" marker.  They had a little trouble finding just the right spot since I have what they termed, "a busy breast", meaning that there are lots of cysts and stuff in there.

I then got my first peek at the brand new gazillion dollar 3-D Mammography machine that has just arrived here in the Burg.  We are very lucky to have such new technology here in our small town. There were two mammogram films taken to be certain that the wire was in just the right place.

The wire had been wrapped in gauze and was taped down to my skin.  I was advised to travel braless over to the Surgical Center where the procedure was to be done.  I laughed and told the tech helping me that I had not gone braless since the late '60's.  She said, "Me neither!", then we both laughed uproariously!   Imagine the scene.... two 60-somethings standing in a tiny dressing room, me with a wire sticking out of my boob and both of us laughing like crazy about going braless.  Humor always helps at times like that.

Now, here comes the best part!  At the Surgical Center I was handed this huge paper gown to change in to.  I was escorted to a prep room and situated on the gurney.  My nurse, Julie, asked "Do you run hot or cold?" and I replied that I run on the cold side.  So she hooked up what looked like a vacuum cleaner hose to a port in my huge paper gown and then she turned on the warm airflow. Sweet Baby Jeepers!  My gown sort of inflated with wonderful warm air.  I was in heaven!

Fast forward.  The surgery is over, I am bound up with bandages and something that looks suspiciously like a TUBE TOP, this time from the '70's.  Another fashion blast from the past! Going braless AND a tube top, all in one day!

I was discharged and Mr. T. brought the car up to the secret door that leads to the street.  As we were driving home, Mr. T. told me that the surgeon had come out after surgery and spoken to him. He said (with that funny twinkle in his eye that tells me that he is about to deliver a zinger), that all went well and that the full pathology would be ready in about a week.  Then he says, "The surgeon said that your milk ducts were not the problem, the problem was in your MILK DUDS." Then he handed me this.

Maybe you had to be there.  Maybe you had to have just come out of anesthesia, but I laughed so hard that I nearly p.... well... suffice it to say that laughter really IS good medicine.

I love that man.

UPDATE - December 18th.

I am so happy and relieved to say that the pathology report has come in.  The letter for today is "C" for CARCINOMA.  But it's not a super bad kind.  My diagnosis is Ductal Carcinoma In Situ which means that it is contained within milk ducts and is not at this point invasive in any way.  I had been steeling myself for really bad news, (family history...) but that I have been assured that my diagnosis is not super serious.  I will be starting an estrogen suppressive medication soon and will continue to have regular diagnostic screenings.   I'm feeling so very grateful.

Now, everyone, go schedule your mammogram!

Cranberry Walnut Relish

Do you have favorite, time tested recipes that always appear on your table at Thanksgiving?  One of our favorites is Cranberry Walnut Relish, a recipe given to me by my dear friend, Sharon W., over 35 years ago. We use this in place of that nasty, gelatinous, quivering blob of GAK that comes slithering from a can. Blechhhh!!!

This is the original recipe, written in my own girlish hand, all tattered and stained.  I suppose I could recopy it,... but I kind of love it just the way it is.  

Sharon was my bestie way back when I was a young mom.  She had a teen-age daughter and she warned me about all that I would be experiencing in the future as the mother of two girls. She pretty much nailed all of it.  We used to take power walks almost daily.  My butt has never looked so good since.

Cranberry Walnut Relish is super easy to make.

You will need:

2  packages of fresh cranberries, 12 ounces each

2 cups of granulated sugar

1 cup of chopped walnuts

1 cup of orange marmalade.  (The cheaper store brand is fine.)

1 orange

OK, lets get started!

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the chopped walnuts into a large Pyrex baking dish and toast for 8 - 10 minutes.  Oh, LOOK!  My oven in clean!  Just in time to completely dirty it up for Thanksgiving...

Rinse the cranberries under running water in a colander.  Remove all of the funky, soft and/or shriveled ones.  

Using a zester tool, cut about 1 tablespoon of orange zest.  If you do not have a zester tool, this link will show you how to easily cut the zest without one.

Put the cranberries, the sugar, the marmalade, walnuts and orange zest into a large bowl.  Add the juice of half of the orange and thoroughly mix it all together.  

Eat the other half of the orange.

Spread the mixture into the Pyrex baking dish used to toast the walnuts.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and stir after about 40 minutes.  Replace the foil after stirring.

After removing from the oven, let the mixture cool.  Spoon into a pretty dish and add an orange peel garnish.  

This recipe makes just over 4 cups of sweet and tangy goodness!

It just would not be Thanksgiving at our house without Cranberry Nut Relish.  And fond memories of long time friends. 

Note - My dear friend, Sharon, passed on August 21, 2015.  I miss her terribly, but her Cranberry Walnut Relish will be on our Thanksgiving table, this year and always.  

Weavers and Thread Catchers

One of my Thread Catchers was recently purchased by Geri R. who left me some lovely feedback. She wrote, "I am so impressed with your work, the design of this piece is perfect and I love the fabrics. I don't have a wastebasket near my loom and have been throwing my little ends on the floor, picking them up when I get up from the loom. Unfortunately, my dog has discovered these threads, and I find them everywhere! No more!  Thank you again."

I sent a message back to Geri, thanking her for her kind words and remarking that it had never occurred to me that weavers might like my product.  Geri sent me a photo of her thread catcher, on the job, perched near her loom.  

Isn't Geri's loom just beautiful?  Weaving is something that I would love to try... someday.  Too bad all of my space is taken up by sewing things.  Thank you, Geri, for sharing your photo.  

Classes and Kits

How is it that I always forget just how much preparation it takes to put together my supplies for teaching a Thread Catcher class?

I have two classes scheduled for today at the cutest little quilt shop in my area, the  Rustic Rooster Quilt Shop in Myrtle Creek, OR.  I provide the printed pattern and complete supply kit for each attendee.  Students bring their pre-cut fabrics and most have a finished thread catcher at the end of the three hour class.

I have been puttering with some new kit packaging, both for classes and for mailing my supply kits.  I was wanting something that would be great for class, have a nice look about it, be cost effective, not be too labor intensive and would do nicely in the mail.  These are what I came up with.

I started out with this one.  Fine for class, but not so good for mailing. 

Then I folded the brown paper bag like this.  Much better for sending in the mail.

I'm kind of loving the new labels...

This is for the Dreamy Dresden Supply Kits, this time with the ends of the tie clipped.  Perfect!

 Hug Snug works great for binding the kit packages.  I may need more colors... lots more colors!

My students will be getting an unexpected surprise when they receive their pattern.  I dropped my print order off at a major office supply/tech store whose name begins with an "S".  I always have the cover page printed in color and the rest of the pages in black and white.  The harried Copy and Print employee goofed up my order and printed everything in color.  Of course, she didn't charge me for her mistake, so all of my students will be receiving a full color pattern!

So now, my SUV is loaded up and I'm ready to go.  I'm off!  And I'm going to Myrtle Creek, too!

My Epic Blonde Moment

How do you miss a quilt show that your own quilts are being displayed in?  Well, that's exactly what I did this week end.  I was very excited to have entered three of my quilts in the Oakland Antique and Quilt Show in the little town of Oakland, a bit north of where we live.  Quilts are hung on the outside of the charming old buildings on the main drag through town, much the same as is done in Sisters, Oregon for their big quilt show each July.  There is no judging for the Oakland show, but there are Viewers Choice ribbons as well as Sponsors Choice ribbons.  I feel certain that my quilts will never hang at Sisters, but I was excited to see my quilts hung outdoors at the Oakland Show.

I am going to totally OUT myself here and tell you that I COMPLETELY MISSED THE SHOW!!! I was thinking that it was on Sunday when it was actually on Saturday.  Turns out that I looked up the date online and landed on a webpage advertising last years show, hence my mix up of the date.

I would not have even known of my error until the next day when I would have shown up in Oakland to see, well, nothing..., had it not been for the telephone call that I received Saturday afternoon from Penny B., one of the ladies who organized the show.  She called to inform me that I had won the 2nd Place Viewers Choice ribbon and a lovely gift basket for my Birdsong quilt.  If I was surprised at my win, I was even more surprised that I had missed the entire thing!  Can I get a "DUH"?

I pulled some photos of my quilts hanging from the show's Facebook page, the only "real" way that I was able to see the show.

My Birdsong quit was hung on the bank building now housing the Wine Vault, right on the corner.

My Bunny Quilt, still waiting for it's owner...

And my Hanging Basket quilt, on the frames in the alley.

The gift basket was chock full of fat quarters, various notions and four GREAT quilting books, among other things.

 I also received three Sponsors Choice Ribbons, one for my Birdsong quilt, one for my Bunny quilt and another for my Hanging Basket quilt. Four ribbons for three quilts at a quilt show that I did not even attend!

My husband declared this madcap mishap to be "An Epic Blonde Moment".  He's completely right, of course...