Airplanes for Jaxon!!

Finally finished the Airplane quilt for grandson Jaxon.

I know he is just going to love it, because he loves

planes of any kind.

Quilt measures 50 X 68.

Fabric is Ready, Set, Go!   
by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman Fabrics 

 A little free motion quilting.

Quilting with straight lines.

 The back has planes too!! 



Soda Biscuits - No sewing today!!

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
1 cup buttermilk



Cooking Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425 F
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.   Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal. If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved.
Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.  If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board.
Gently, gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick. Fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough down to 1 inch thick.

Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.
You can gently knead the scraps together and make a few more, but they will not be anywhere near as good as the first ones.
Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.
If you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.  Do not over bake.

Note 1: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.
The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
I have found that a food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of over mixing.
You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.
Rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to overstimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit.
Note 2: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.
When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 425°F for about 20 minutes.

Carol ♥

Machine love!!!!

Working on the babies airplane quilt today.  It was a chance to use my

Singer 306K, my Bernina had the walking foot on and

I was too lazy to take it off.  Well....I am in love with my 306K anyway!!

 

 

 

This lovely machine was one of the first to be made in this

series, it is rare to find this one without the cams, just straight and zig zag stitch.

Made in 1954.

Ragged Flower

Another one almost done.  I am quilting this on my old Bernina,

so it will take awhile. Using the walking foot to go

around each flower and don't really know

what else I will do.  Creating as I go :)

 

 

Carol ♥  

Finally done!!

Wow, I made this quilt top 7 years ago; It was one of my first!! 

So this week I decided it was time to quilt it and on my old Bernina sewing machine.  I am new to machine quilting, so that took awhile, but now I feel very satisfied with it : )

Carol ♥

Fabulous new fabric

 

Love this fabric from Spoonflower.com

 

I made this 18 inch pillow for my couch and I am so happy with it!!

 

 

 

Here is a link to the designer of this fabric.

 

http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/760012

 

Carol

♥



Repurposed Quilt

My first blocks for the repurposed quilt.

I am using old jeans from our family, and a few other interesting items.

For this block I used two differant colors of jeans, an old Levei shirt that was my dad's, for the sky and a small amount of fabric from an old pair of

brown pants of mine for the boat.  The sail is a small piece of fabric from the 1960's that my mother

gave me a long time ago. 

For the water I used a portion of a hem from a pair of peddle pushers belonging to my Mom.  I thought it gave an interesting wave affect.

Well that is the first block; I am so excited to have started this project!!

 

More blocks, this one from hunting and military pants. 

 

 

The snow on this tree is made from the lining of a pocket,

 

 

Below I used a seam in these old brown pants of mine

to make a design in the basket. 

I'm sure I will put a flower in this basket :)

 

Carol

♥

My GO cutter.

I have had my GO cutter by Accuquilt for sometime now, so it is time to get GOING!!

I love hexagons,so I will be working on this hexagon flower quilt. It will have ragged

edges, that is what makes it so easy. Everything will be cut with the

GO cutter :)

This is the first block, so I will probably make a few changes, but I am

very happy with the way it is going.

It is a 14 inch square block.

Carol ♥

Bernina from the 1950's

Aaawwww.....Bernina !!

They sew forever!!

I read a blog tonight about a lady and her 1955 Elna sewing machine.

It made me want to post another one of my oldies :)

When I first found this machine, it did not sew at all, but after

spending a few days with it...well, it sews perfectly now!!

Feel like doing a little hand sewing!

Pattern from Baskets & More by Country Threads

Tiler's quilts are done....a long time coming!!

Sorry..... I have been gone from my blog for sometime now, MORE SEWING COMING SOON!!

The winter garden was a success.

Rag Quilts

I had never been interested in making rag quilts until I

met my friend Vanda. She has made well over 100

of them for family and friends. She gave me

this fabric, so I made this rag quilt and now

I am hooked on making them.

I made this one for my new grandson that will be

here soon, November 13. It is made without

batting and I really like the softness of it.

I hope he likes it!!

My granddaughter and I are also making one
together out of scrapes form my Pillow Project,
so I will post that as soon as it is done.
That is the great thing about rag quilts, it does not
take long to make one and an 8 year old can help!!

The Brother Flair-a-matic 190

I purchased this machine six years ago for $15.00. I always brag about how good it runs, but never use it. Since it weights 35 pounds it is hard to get out from under my sewing table where I store it.

But today I drug it out to see how it would sew

on a heavy duty job. I did not want to break my Bernina trying to

sew through too many layers of heavy fabric. This Brother Flairamatic did a great job.

So I will be using this one often now!!

This Brother Flairamatic model 190, was made in the late 1950's.

One of my Singer machines

Singer 221 Featherweight

white/light green in color,

made in 1964, this was one of the last

Featherweights Singer made.

Featherweight machines were manufactured from

1933 to 1964.

Sophia loves to sew on this one too!

Recipients

This is where all the pillows go...

the City of Surprise Police Department.

Little pillow form tutorial

Recently someone ask me, how do you make the little pillow forms

for the Pillow Project?

So here it is. If you have any questions you can email me from

my website http://www.sewingisforfun.com/

Cut two pieces of fabric 11x13 for small form and 12 1/2x17

for larger form.

Turn right sides together and pin all the way around.

You can cut your fabric on the fold, as in this picture.

So no pinning on that side.

Sew with desired seam allows all the way around,

leaving an opening on one side so you can stuff the form.

I also serge around for more durability. Be careful

not to serge passed the stitched line. If you do, you will not be able to fold under the opening

seam allowance properly. If you do not have a serger you can use your

zigzag stitch or just skip that step.

Stuff through the opening. Don't stuff too full or your

pillow will not be soft.

Tuck in the seam allowance of the opening and pin.
Make a nice 1/4 inch seam on the inside so it will not pull open.
Sew close to the edge, assuring that you catch the fabric on the inside.
I also place pins horizontally an inch or so away (see picture) , this will help
hold the fabric in place as this is the hardest part of the project.
Please try to ignore my ugly cut finger!


Who made the decision that pillow forms are white!!!


I like the pillow form to match the pillow in someway.
Either in theme or color.

The Pillow Project

After starting the Pillow Project a year ago, it progressed pretty slow.

Now I have a reason to get moving!

The Pillow Project has the opportunity to make pillows for The City of Surprise.

Through their Intervention Program, the pillows will be distributed to children in need.

I am so excited for this opportunity and could not wait to share this good news.

If anyone would like to know more about my Pillow Project go to sewingisforfun.com