Tuesday, March 3, 2015

A Charming Smile, Tuesday Tip and a Contest to Enter!

Hi peeps! 



How is everybody today? I am at the tail-end of a four(yes, four) day migraine…not fun at all! The sun is shining, it is fairly mild and I'm talking to you…so a much better day! 

Before I was laid low I managed to get my citrus batik HSTs for the table topper all trimmed…YAY!!! Now I get to have fun and play!! I'll get you up to date on that!!!


Did you know…Much like velvet and corduroy, thread has a nap?...I KNOW!!!
I only found this out recently…this is after almost 40 years of plying a needle…

When you hold the end of the thread that is coming directly off the spool and press your fingers while running them down the thread, it will feel smooth. Now do the reverse…you can actually feel the difference.



This is an important thing to consider, especially if you do a lot of hand sewing. So, what I do is thread my needle BEFORE I have clipped my length of thread. That way I will remember which tail of thread is which. I keep that end of the thread short and cut at the end of the longer piece. The longer piece will always be on the nap...and the shorter piece will be against the nap…but that is okay as it's the longer piece that I'm concerned with.


Once I am sure which thread-end is which, I knot the longer end. It really makes a difference! I do a lot of hand sewing at night in front of the TV(will show you in a later post) and can tell you that my thread runs through the fabric pieces smoothly and I rarely get a tangle! Awesomeness!!!


Last night I managed to get another men's shirt cut up…I really have to start removing the buttons from the placket strips…I've got several of them waiting for attention! As you can see, this one has an embroidered logo and I will try to find a use for that. The shoulder yoke and sleeve cuffs were lined in a nice chambray, which was an added bonus. 

This was one of the Kid's shirts, a men's size small, so there wasn't as much useable fabric. But, I had originally purchased it at half price from Value Village, it was worn for a year and now I have cut it up for quilting fabric…so it was a super-recycling project, and plus I really liked the pattern/colours. I might give it a bit of a starch treatment as the resulting fabric is a tad thinner than the other shirts I have slated for demolition.


Don't forget to enter Craftsy's #Secret Stash Contest! Prized include a secret stash box of goodies as well as a Craftsy class of your choice! Bonus!!!

Stay tuned as I have new sponsor news AND another giveaway coming soon!

Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

Quilty Huggs, 

Jacqueline

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

W.I.P.-it, W.I.P.-it good Wednesday!

Hi peeps!



I started working on the citrus batik table topper I mentioned here and here.


I usually eyeball it when I'm doing half square triangles(and they never seem to work out), but this time I decided to draw the sewing lines on the wrong sides with my Frixion pen. Woa! What a difference that makes! I never realized how much my machine(and my hands) move the fabric around, making slightly wobbly lines instead of nice straight lines. 

In all fairness Pfrancine(my Pffaf) is in dire need to be cleaned and have the motor timer reset but I got this pretty pile done in no time flat!


I wanted to show you what happens when put your iron on the marks made with a Frixion pen. You can see the pen marks on the bottom triangle, below the stitching. 

I pressed the seam quickly, and as you can see on the top triangle, the marks disappeared completely. It's like magic!


I have been seeing others around blog-land who are pressing their seams open and thought I would give it a try. A small project is a great place to see how it goes. I liked how crisp the seam was.


Here is one of the finished HSTs, now all I have to do is *ug* trim these squares down. 

I can't tell you the specific dimensions as this was a free-with-purchase pattern and it is not available on the Timeless Treasure website. I did go there to check, so that I could share with you, but no I can't. Sorry…but, you can probably figure it out!


I wanted to talk about thimbles…do you use them??? 

I have never been able to use a conventional thimble, they always felt 'wrong' on my finger. I have been using a leather thimble(pictured above) for years, but wear them out very quickly as I push the needle with the side of my middle finger. These thimbles cost around $10-$15 plus shipping and I have gone through several in the past 18 months, while I have been working on two enormous hexagon projects.

I saw the blue one(a Roxanne's mid-priced metal thimble) on clearance so I ordered the largest size. I have mentioned my thick fingers before, and I really thought the XL size would fit. Well, it only fits if I rub a tiny dab of hand lotion into that finger…and, well it still didn't feel all that right. Plus after just a few hours of use, the pretty blue paint started to come off!



I was shopping at a favorite Etsy shop and noticed the metal cuff-style thimbles there. They were ultra cheap…I think 4 for $1, so I bought them. Well, they work great! I have been using one for a couple of months now, with no problem! Just goes to show you that expensive doesn't always mean the best!


Don't forget to enter Craftsy's #SecretStash Contest here.
Prizes include a box of secret stash goodies(and they have tonnes of things to choose from!!!) as well as a Craftsy class of your choice! Cool!!!

Also, the person I awarded my consolation prize to in my last giveaway never got back to me, even though I allowed 48 hours for a response. 

I have contacted Pam P. and hope she will get back to me asap!

I did notice that a lot of the people that commented were "no-reply bloggers" which means they didn't have an email connected to their open id and therefore I had no way of contacting them. So, if you would like to win …and receive your winnings, please check your Google+ account and see if your email is visible in the top right drop-down window. If it isn't, just Google how to fix the no-reply blogger issue on your Google+ account and you will find a few tutorials to show you how to fix it!

By the way, a big HELLO *waving happily* to my new followers. Thanks so much for joining up!

Question of the day:

Do you wear a thimble, and if you do, what kind of thimble do you use?

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Quilty Huggs,

Jacqueline

Monday, February 23, 2015

A Parade, Some Web Specials and the giveaway winner!





Hi peeps!


photo, vancouversun.com

There was no sewing done chez moi on Sunday, as the Hubs and I decided to go see the Chinese New Year Parade in Vancouver's Chinatown. We braved the bus...all 90 minutes and two transfers of it, though the Hubs was a little nauseous by the time we arrived. I have to sit down on the bus as I walk with a cane and can lose my balance, but he had to stand and was jostled around like a milkshake. I got some Gatorade into him and he started feeling better.



This is a photo of me just as the parade started. You can see the ornately decorated gate to Chinatown to the above right. The parade started with an ear-splitting barrage of firecrackers…almost 5 minutes long! That was a treat as fireworks have been banned where we live for years. The air was blue with smoke and some people closer started choking from the gunpowder(?).



These dragon dance guys were waiting for the parade to start. They usually walk further apart and make the dragon "dance" by moving the poles up and down, this way and that. There is another guy following who is banging on a metal drum on wheels. If there are a few dragons in a row, it can get deafening.


I wanted to show you how busy it was, there were throngs of people from every walk of life there. You can see that the parade stretches for blocks…and this photo was taken at about the half way point.


These teen girls did an intricate dance…fancy footwork with fans!!!!


Sorry this one is blurry…by the time I had turned my camera on(it has auto-shutoff), I only had a few short seconds to get the shot.


These ladies also did a lovely, artistic fan dance.


The lions here, in red and gold have 2 guys underneath them. When the front guy gets tired, he switches off with another guy walking behind.

The parade was so long that after about an hour we decided to go find somewhere to eat. After the parade winds up, there is no room anywhere to sit and have a meal.

We had Dim Sum-which is like a tasting menu  and got 5 things to try…wish I had taken a picture, as it sure was tasty! Our favourites were the steamed BBQ pork buns…I could have had more. To be honest, I have had them before…but it that was about 20 years ago!!! YUMM!


I went to check out my favourite cookwear store and they were having a 25% off sale, but I managed to exit without a shopping bag full of neat things! 

Just as I was leaving, the lions came up to do a blessing for prosperity in the New Year. They do it in front all of the stores in Chinatown and there is usually such a big crowd around that you can't see. I had ring-side seats, so to speak and managed to get a good shot.


Here I am at the gate again, as we were leaving. As you can see, the crowds of people had noticeably thinned out.


I did make one purchase though. The White Rabbit candy on the left was something my parents used to buy me when I was little. It is made out of sweetened condensed milk, has a chewy texture and each piece is individually wrapped in a layer of (edible)rice paper. I also bought about a cup's worth of Goji berries. They are very healthy and have a tart-fruit taste.

We had a really nice time but were so ready to go home. The buses were a lot less crowded, but the Hubs still had to offer his seat to an elderly person.


Here's some deals I found on the web(links included):


Woo-hoo! You can enter to win Craftsy's #Secret Stash contest here
Contest runs till March 15, 2015


Any stash or sewing room welcome!

Prizes include a box of secret stash goodies and a Craftsy class of your choice!



Accuquilt is offering 30% off 30 items till Feb. 28, 2015. No code needed.


Bow Tie Die Reg. $49.99, now only $34.99!


Fons & Porter are having a 20% off Customer Appreciation Sale
Code is: FPSAVE20
Ends Feb. 26, 2015


Sister's Together Kit, reg $109.99, now 20% off!


Zulilly always has amazing sales going on, especially for Women's Plus-size clothing. I found this slimming tunic for $37.99(CA$)…reg. price $89.00(CA$). That is more than 40% off and I've seen dresses @ 70% off!


on sale for $37.99 CA$

And now for my Giveaway winner(s)…

 I asked the Hubs to pick the winner(s) and so, the winner of the 8-piece fat quarter bundle from Sew Sister's Quilt Shop is:

GranChris!

I have sent her an email and hope to hear from her soon.

I decided to have a second prize winner as my blog has recently surpassed 100 followers via Bloglovin' and I thought that was something to celebrate!!!

The second prize winner is:

MMK!

I have sent a message and hope to be sending a little package of treats soon.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for commenting…there were so many great ideas mentioned and some I hadn't thought of too! Win, win!!!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Quilty Huggs,

Jacqueline




Saturday, February 21, 2015

Foodie Friday, a recipe, FREE stuff and GIVEAWAY Reminder!


Hi peeps!



Well, this was supposed to be a "Finish it up Friday" post, but I just didn't get to it this week…grrr…though I did manage to finish drawing all the sewing lines on the citrus charms for the table topper I first mentioned here

I also managed to clean up the mess I have been making on the kitchen table, so I can finally get back to some actual sewing!!!


I had two, yes TWO, foodie flops this week…arggh! The above casserole was a Velveeta cheese recipe I have been wanting to try. I decided to make a basic cheese sauce instead of using the Velveeta…wrong!!! Then the Hubs said he wanted chicken in it too. I thought that would be okay, so I sauteed up a couple  of chicken breasts and chopped them into the casserole dish. This recipe also calls for medium salsa. Really, it is basically 3 ingredients-Velveeta, cooked pasta, salsa and a few spices…how could I get it so wrong??? My guys liked it, but to me it tasted weird, and not in a good way. Maybe it was because I had been thinking about using the Velveeta and the real cheese sauce tasted different…who knows…I sure won't be using that recipe again.


Fast forward to two days later…I got a craving for Sloppy Joes and didn't want to use the crappy powder mix you can buy in the store. No, I wanted it to be more healthy and less chemically…wrong, wrong, wrong!!! I searched for a recipe online and found one with mostly whole ingredients. So, I cooked it all up and called everybody for supper. O.M.G., it was awful…really gross. BLECK!

The recipe called for some vinegar(which I did think was odd at the time) and some brown sugar. There was no chilli powder mentioned, so I just added some. Well, the chilli powder was the only thing that tasted good! The mix was vinegary and overly sweet, all at the same time. UGGGG!

We had sandwiches for supper. 

I am banished from using recipes I find online for a while. (OOPS!!!)


We went to Costco this week, and among other things I picked up a big package of lean hamburger meat, and a couple of jumbo cans of diced tomatoes. I did the math before we went and there is the equivalent of 3.5 x 28 oz. cans in one jumbo one(100 oz.) at Costco. So, it is way cheaper to purchase the jumbo can and divide it up into 3 freezer bags, than it is to buy 3 x 28 oz. cans. There is a lot less packaging used as well.


The next day I set myself to making up a jumbo batch of spaghetti sauce base.

Here's my recipe and cost breakdown…in CA$:

4 lbs. lean hamburger meat(~$15)
1 jumbo can of diced tomatoes($4)
3 cans of tomato paste($1 ea=$3)
1 20 ox. can tomato sauce( $2)
1/3rd of a jar of roasted red peppers(on sale $3, so $1), chopped*
4 onions($1), chopped
half a bunch of celery($2), chopped
4 cloves of garlic(in house), grated
pepper, half a handful of italian spice mix, 1 T pepper flakes(all in house)

* I use roasted red peppers in the jar as fresh red peppers are overly expensive here at this time of the year.

Total cost $28.00

Here's some basic instructions:

Cook hamburger in large skillet. Transfer well-cooked(i.e.: no pink showing) hamburger to a large plate lined with several paper towels to drain out some of the fat. Saute the chopped onions and celery in the skillet with the leftover fat. Pour the entire contents of the can of diced tomatoes into a very large pot. Add your tomato paste, tomato sauce, chopped roasted red peppers, sautéed onions and celery, grated garlic and spices. 

Bring the ingredients in the pot to a simmer, stirring everything together. You can see that I have 2 spoons in the pot; I find it much easier to mix/stir such a heavy sauce with a spoon in each hand, stirring two figure-eights. Once all of your ingredients are well-mixed, add the cooked and drained hamburger meat. Now here comes the long part! Stir the contents of the pot, while at medium-high heat. Keep stirring till the sauce starts to boil…this will take a while, so put on a CD of your favourite tunes-I am partial to Frank Sinatra while I am at the stove! Once the sauce boils, turn the temperature down and let simmer uncovered for an hour, stirring often. 

Now your spaghetti sauce base is done! Let cool on the stove(or you could spread it out in a large lasagna pan so it will cool faster). Once totally cool, separate into 4 large zip-style freezer bags(I use my 2-cup pyrex to do this). Flatten the bags full of sauce somewhat and pop into the freezer. The reason you flatten it out is so it freezes quicker and it also defrosts quicker(just in case you forgot to take something out of the freezer for supper)!!! 

We used a quarter of the base for supper that night, so now have 3 in the freezer. The reason I call it a "base", is because you are going to want to add a 20 oz. can of spaghetti sauce to the base when you warm it up, to make a nice rich sauce.

So, for cost per meal for a family of 4(we are 3, but had more than enough leftover for the Hubs' giant lunch the next day) would be $12, as below:

Base $28/4= $7
Spag sauce tin $2(but is often on sale)
Pasta $1
Garlic bread $2

..not a bad price..a good meal and healthy too!




What do you think about FREE food? Like it??? Last post I told you how to save your herbs before they go bad, and today I'll show you how to make FREE vegetable stock! 

Did you know that every time you cut up vegetables for supper, or as an ingredient for a certain dish, you are throwing food away? You cut the tops and bottoms off of celery, carrots & etc. and throw them away. Same goes for vegetable and fruit peels.

The next time you have to prepare some veggies, you can follow this neat trick…put all the off-cuts into a zip-style freezer bag, and keep it in your little freezer on the top of the fridge. That way it is readily accessible and you won't forget about it. You can do the same with peels(though not citrus or banana…that would be yucky) too, as long as you clean the vegetable first! I also add cut up apples, herbs that are a little old and anything in the crisper that is starting to go off. I just cut the nasty bits off and throw it all into my freezer bag. The above bag only took about a week to fill!

So, what do you do with it? Make vegetable stock!

Fill a large pot with water, empty your frozen veggie bag into the water and put it on high heat. Then you can add some pepper corns, several bay leafs and a little bit of red pepper flakes. Let it boil for at least 30-45 minutes. Then put a large, empty container in the sink and position a sieve or strainer on top of it. Carefully pour the vegetable stock over the strainer. Discard the cooked vegetable ends. Now you have a lovely stock, with no chemicals or salt to use when you make chicken soup or anywhere you would need to use a cooking stock. I like using this broth to cook rice in, instead of plain water!

I found a few FREEBIES around the web and though you might like them too!

Craftsy has a lot of FREE little classes(I like Bag-making Basics by Kristen Link) and e-guides(like the one about using your scraps)…just waiting for you to enjoy. It's a great was to try out Craftsy before purchasing to see if you like it(though I am sure you will). 



If you do find a class that you'd like to purchase, the greatest part is that you will own it forever and can keep on going back to watch it for as many times as you like! I know I have gone back to Playful Piecing by Camille Roskelly more than a few times!!!

There are several e-guides and mini-classes on quilting/sewing/crafts too, but I thought you might like to check these ones out(all are completely FREE): 

Photography
http://www.issuu.com
Just enter what you are looking for in the SEARCH window at the top of the page. I found several quilting/sewing/embroidery/crafts titles and I am still looking! You just create a free account and save the titles you like so that you can look at them latercool eh?

Sew Sister's Quilt Shop has all their Christmas fabric at 40% off!
Select patterns are 40% off! I'm loving that Giggles pattern by Jaybird Quilts! But then again, I am a real Jaybird junkie!!! I have 3 of her rulers and several patterns.
Don't forget their awesome Clearance section, where prices average $7.99(CA$) a meter!

Check out their value-priced shipping:

Order TotalCanadaUSAInternational*
$0 - $19.99$4.99$12.99Actual Postage
$20.00 - $100$8.99$12.99Actual Postage
Over $100Free$12.99Actual Postage

and...

Don't forget to enter my Sew Sister's giveaway here!

Giveaway is closed and has been awarded. Thanks!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Quilty Huggs,

Jacqueline

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Thrifty tips, happy mail, a new sponsor...and a GIVEAWAY!!!

Hi peeps!



I got some lovely Happy Mail this week! This is the 14-piece Sakura bundle, which was only $23(CA$) plus a modest shipping fee(under $5), from Massdrop

They are having this drop again, now as we speak, so you'll have to hurry on over to pick up yours before they are all gone. 


I just love how it is tied up so cutely…definitely keeping that chevron ribbon for a craft project!


The prints have a slightly muted tone and a beautiful soft, drapey feel to them. These two prints are my favourites, but honestly, it was tough to choose between the other prints included in this bundle.


This is one of the sturdy boxes my purchases came in. There were even some plastic packing balloons inside to keep my purchases from shifting during travel!


Here is the new Enchanted 10-piece bundle offered at Massdrop. We need only about 25 more people to "Commit to Buy" and then the price will drop down to $22.99(CA$). The great thing about "Commit to Buy" is that your credit card/Paypal account is only charged once the price goes down to the lowest and once the drop has ended.


Enchanted is the latest collection by Sarah Fielke…you may know her from her Little Quilts books(I got one for Christmas…yahoo)! 

This drop is limited to only 32 bundles, so you have to get in fast to get the deal! Here's the link.


I recently won these great reusable fabric shopping bags from Teresa of The Green Bag lady fame. She makes these shopping bags and gives them away for FREE!!! She believes we can all do our part and eliminate using plastic shopping bags during our everyday shopping trips. 

There is also a tutorial on how to make them, and if you would like to become a baguette(that's what she calls the makers of green bags for giving away), you can contact her through her blog! If you'd like to win one for yourself, here's the link to Green Bag Lady.


I thought I would share an upcycle I did recently. I love Baker's Twine, but it unravels and gets all messy once you have started using it. I had an a-ha moment when I saw the holes in the lid of a small parmesan cheese shaker.


I washed the empty plastic cheese shaker bottle(the 2-cup sized one), then let it air-dry for a couple of days. I then removed the label by wedging the tip if my kitchen scissors under the label and started cutting. After I had peeled the label off, I gave the outside of the bottle a little scrub to remove some of the adhesive left from sticking the label on. It doesn't matter if there is a little adhesive left over as you will be covering most of it with the label from the spool of twine. Carefully cut the label open then centre it on the clean bottle and tape it securely.


Pop your spool of Baker's Twine into the bottle and thread the tail end through one of the holes in the lid. Snap the lid in place and…VOILA you are done!


I was at Walmart this week and picked up a plastic bin(pink as there were no purple ones…how shocking???), some fat quarters, paper clips and bulldog clips(clearance $1…bonus!) and some very large knitting needles. I had seen tutorial on knitting your old and ugly stash into rugs…how cool is that? 

I will try to find that tutorial again and will share it with you!


I got the pink bin to store my charm packs in. The wicker basket(above) I have been using doesn't hold all of my charm packs, and I wanted them to all be in the same place.


Here's the contents of the bin now…I'll have to find my other charm packs to fill it up!


I then re-filled the basket with my special(hoarded!) fat quarter bundles. There is my Cotton and Steel collection, some Amy Butler Glow and Free Spirit solids.



There is a 'good' dollar store in the Walmart mall, so of course I had to go! I got a glittery pocket portfolio so I can store my notes, ideas etc. for blog posts, some post-flags, a clear box with lid and handle, some plastic bins to decorate(tutorial coming soon), and 2 covered ice cube trays.

I read an article in the paper about herbs that get thrown out after they go bad. Now this really struck a chord with me as fresh herbs are expensive here at this time of the year and they are always going bad before we can use them up.
What you do is: while the herbs are fresh you cut them up with scissors and place in an ice cube tray. Fill the cubes with water, cover, then pop in the freezer, making sure that the tray is level. When you need some herbs, pop a herb cube into your cooking pan. The heat from cooking will melt the water and you will have the benefit of fresh herbs all year long.

You can do this with garlic cloves too. That's why I bought 2 trays…I didn't want the garlic smell to overpower the herbs. I will make both trays with a Sharpie, so as to not get them mixed up.



I have been wanting a box dedicated to storing my precious Aurifil thread. As you can see, the spools have room to stand up straight and there is room to add more as I get them…on sale, of course!!!


I'd like to welcome Sew Sister's Quilt Shop to the QSH! family.

Here's a little about them:

Sew Sisters Quilt Shop is a Canadian Quilt Store dedicated to all things quilting. Whether shopping online or in person at our store in Toronto our goal is to provide you with great service and offer top quality products at the lowest possible price. We have a large selection of quilting fabric, patterns, books and notions - everything you need to complete your unique quilts! Be sure to check out our very large Sale Section with over 400 bolts of fabric for only $7.99/metre!

At Sew Sisters we believe you should buy fabric, not postage – so we offer great rates on shipping.
Orders over a $100 ship for free within Canada!

Shipping Charges


Order TotalCanadaUSAInternational*
$0 - $19.99$4.99$12.99Actual Postage
$20.00 - $100$8.99$12.99Actual Postage
Over $100Free$12.99Actual Postage

Really, you should check out their sale section...lots of goodies there(and only $7.99 CA$ per meter). I even found some hard-to-find Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt there recently! 

The everyday prices for even designer quilting fabrics averages about $12.99(CA$) a meter…which is an awesome price…and no currency exchange to worry about for Canadians!


The Bargain Lover’s ClubPrice: $18.99 per month 
If there is one thing we love more than any other at Sew Sisters it is a great bargain!

Join our Bargain Lover's Club and we will send you 8 fat quarters every month for only $18.99. The postage is included for Canadians - others please enquire about shipping rates. All fat quarters will be great quality quilters cottons handpicked from our sale collections. You may cancel your membership at any time.



The lovely ladies at Sew Sister's have generously offered to give away an 8-piece fat quarter bundle from their wildly popular Bargain Lover's Club

Please note this giveaway is for Canadian and USA addresses only.

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment describing your latest upcycle

I will pick a winner at noon(PST) on Monday, February 23, 2015.

EDITED TO ADD:
-It is not a requirement of this giveaway to follow me, but it sure would be nice if you did!!!
-Sew Sister's Quilt Shop and myself are not responsible for lost or stolen mail from this giveaway.

**Giveaway is closed and prize has been awarded. Thanks for participating!**

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Quilty Huggs,

Jacqueline