Fabric, Ribbon, and Yarn

Reflections 2011 (Diets/Carolina Christmas)

2012-01-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

This is the sunset from Roy's Restaurant out in Hawaii Kai. We went there to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary in 2011. It was delicious! We had the house salad with butterfish. As we were eating the butterfish, we were looking for bones. It appeared that we had boneless butterfish. After we were done eating, we asked about it. They said someone picks out all the bones from the butterfish! What a job! As you can see, we had fresh fruits for dessert.

The little anthurium was our centerpiece and they gave us a gift certificate to return to eat there again. We were planning to go back in December, but both of us are on special diets and can only eat certain things. :-(

As I mentioned in my last post, DH was diagnosed with prostate cancer and is now on an Anti-cancer diet from Dr. Jason Uchida, naturepathic physician. His diet consist of fresh fruits, veggies (raw), nuts, seeds and fish. He is also taking an arsenal of supplements! He needs to juice some of his fruits and veggies two to three times a day.

I am on an Anti-Candida elimination diet from the same naturepathic physician to get rid of some of my allergies and food sensitivities. I can't have any of the major allergens along with whatever I am allergic or sensitive to. I can eat turkey, fish or organic chicken. I am taking enzymes, probiotics and hypoallergenic vitamins. I still need to take two more things. Dr. Uchida said that this will take about one to three years. Lets hope this works. I'd love to be able to eat more things.

Remember this quilt? Carolina Christmas? Well, I was having some issues with it because my poinsettia blocks were about 1/2" smaller than the Christmas star blocks. I ended up putting a 1/2" border around the poinsettia blocks to make them the same size as the Christmas star blocks. Since that has been resolved, I've been able to sew the blocks together. I put on an inner border, started to put on the last border, then I found a small hole! Arrgh. Now I have to patch the hole. Well, that's where I am on this quilt. I don't think it wants to be made. lol. Well, I'll let you know when I patch it.

2011 Reflections (Footprints in the Sand)

2012-01-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

This post is for Eleanor, my niece. My brother and his wife were in the process of moving back home from Arizona, when they lost her at six months. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. I am sad that I never was able to get to know her.

My DM tells me that my brother and his wife go to visit her weekly.

While we are on the topic of life changing events, DH was diagnosed with stage three prostate cancer this year. Fortunately, the scans showed that it had not spread to any of his major organs. He had his prostate removed in April and will have to have radiation, however, before radiation can be done. He had to have hernia repair surgery to prevent complications once radiation has begun. His hernia surgery was in October, so much of my year was spent taking care of DH. His radiation is scheduled to begin at the end of this month.

As a result of the surgeries, I can really see where the Lord has carried me through these challenging times. The poem "Footprints in the Sand" illustrates how I feel I was able to make it through this year. This battle with prostate cancer is not over yet, but I know the Lord will be with me in whatever 2012 holds.

Oregon Trip #2!

2012-01-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since my last entry and so much has happened that I don't know where to start. The first picture is of the view on the way to visit my MIL at Oceanside Hawaii Assisted Living. She has been there for a year now.

The next two pictures are from our second trip to Oregon. to get DD#2 set up in her dorm room. This is the sunset from our room at The Grand Hotel in Salem. It was a very quick trip.

We ate at Marco Polo Global Restaurant where they have delicious gluten free food. I had the Sauteed Chicken Breast with brown rice. It was delicious!

The next two pictures are of omiyage that I made to take up to Oregon to give as gifts. Of course I have to include some sewing/crafty items in this post. :)

I got the tissue holder pattern from an internet group that I belong to. These were fast and easy to make.

I learned how to make the combination tissue holder zippered pouch from a class I took at Bernina.

CPK/Summer 2011

2011-09-28T01:14:00.000-07:00

During the summer, I heard that CPK had gluten free items on their menu, so one day when we were at Ala Moana, I had to try the food there. This was their Waldorf Salad, a half-order, without nuts and cheese. I had the dressing on the side, of course. It tasted good, but it wasn't very filling and I got hungry a few hours after eating it. It was also pretty expensive. I would have tried the pizza, but I couldn't eat the whole pie by myself.
I recently heard that CPK removed their gluten free pizza from the menu due to cross-contamination issues. It's a good thing I didn't order the pizza. I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon.

The next picture is of how the summer went for both DDs. It was the summer of removing wisdom teeth. Ouch!

I also discovered gluten free pizza at Down to Earth. It is the best gluten free pizza I've eaten. It soon became my weekly treat. I've had to stop this recently. I will explain about it in another post.

I saw this quilt at the Hawaii Women's Expo. I almost ordered the kit for it, like I could make it (haha). I think my skills are not that well developed yet to make something like this...one day...one can dream right?

The last picture is of a big green lizard. It looks like it is a good six inches. I don't know what kind it is. This particular lizard lives at my voice teacher's house in Manoa. If you know what kind of lizard it is, please tell me. I would like to know.

Memorial Day

2011-09-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

We visited the Veteran's Cemetery on Memorial Day to put flowers on my FIL's grave. I think the Boy Scouts always put flags on all the veteran's graves along with leis. They try to put fresh flower leis, but since the public schools got out before Memorial Day, some of the graves had plastic flower leis on them. The plastic ones looked real until you inspected them closely.

A Planning Meeting

2011-09-28T00:49:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since the last time I posted. We had dinner at PF Chang's (my favorite restaurant). We had the gluten free Singapore Noodles, Philip's Better Lemon Chicken, and Chicken Broccoli. Needless to say, the food was delicious. I think this was when we planned for DD#2's graduation party.

Oregon!

2011-05-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Our family went up to Oregon for Willamette's Hawaii Club's Luau. The cherry blossoms were in bloom when we went up. My picture didn't turn out very well, but they were so pretty.

The next picture is of one of the center pieces for the luau. They had these glass bowls with bath beads(?) in them with a candle and it glowed in the dark during the program.

The next picture is of the pineapple that was being served at the luau.

We were able to stop at Bob's Red Mill while we were in Oregon and ate at the restaurant there. I had the tofu scramble with gf toast. It was probably one of the best meals I had up there.

It was a good trip, unfortunately is was too short since we had to go during the school year and I could only take off for a few days.

Time to sew?

2011-05-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

I made this bag back in February as a gift for one of MAC guests. She gave me some fabric that I forgot to take a picture of. She gave me mostly green fabric. Thank you to Kathryn Devine for all the fabric!

Now that school is done for the year, I need to get ready for dd #2's HS graduation. Maybe I'll have time to do some sewing (sigh).

May Madness

2011-05-20T00:54:00.001-07:00

Cleaning my room at school for the end of the year. Just dropped off about a dozen small wastebasket sized bags full of fabric at the Goodwill drop off point. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures. We were getting ready for DD#2's high school graduation.

9-Patch Pot Holders and Wreaths

2011-03-01T00:16:00.000-08:00

I'm so far behind in my blogging, but this is what I made with those 9-patch blocks. I gave these away for Christmas gifts. I had a request to make more, but I haven't had time yet. I have been busy making other things.

Every year the City has a wreath contest. These are some of the wreaths. The first one is made from things a person found on their walks.

This next wreath is made of balls covered with fabric. They also glued some sequins on it. The small one below has little paper stars on it.

This next wreath is made with bottle caps and little toys. The one below it is made from magazine pages.

This particular wreath was made from puzzle pieces! It looks like the pieces that made up the anthuriums were painted.

This wreath was made from scrubbers.

This one was made from bubble wrap that was painted silver!

This one was my favorite! It is made of yoyos.

Some people are so creative. I hope you enjoyed this.

Forgotten blocks

2011-02-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

I know this post is really late...I'm a bit behind in my blogging.

Last year I made these 9-patches as part of a sew-along. The sew-along was for a month...and I only made seven blocks, because I got distracted and started making the string blocks pictured below. The string blocks were so much fun!

So while people were making quilts out of all their thirty plus blocks, I had a few nine patches with about a dozen or so string blocks that I didn't quite know what to do with. I set them aside and forgot about them until Thanksgiving or Christmas, when Bonnie Hunter made, RRCB, another mystery quilt.

As I was looking for fabrics for the mystery, I found these blocks. Well, I set them aside...again, and made some coasters for Christmas gifts.

The coasters pictured below were given to my SIL and brother for Christmas. They were a hit! I didn't know she loved Strawberry Shortcake until I gave these coasters to her. I had the hst on one side with Strawberry Shortcake on the other. I'm so glad she liked them.

Pancake Mix

2011-01-05T00:11:00.000-08:00

I received this mix last year and finally was able to make it. (I think I received it from my parents.) I didn't really care for it, but it did make really fluffy, thick pancakes. The reason I didn't care for it was because it was hard to cook. My first few came out a little undercooked until I figured out how to do it, because it was so thick. In my opinion, Pamela's Pancake Mix is better, but that's just my opinion. Thanks for listening.

RRCB steps 1 & 2

2011-01-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

Here is step 1 of RRCB. This step was easy enough and I got it done in time to do step 2. After seeing everyone else's pinks I hope my pinks are not too light.

The next picture is of step 2 for RRCB. I was able to get this step done in time for the next step also. Again, after seeing everyone else's browns, I hope my browns are not too light. I didn't have much dark browns.

I am still working on step 3. I have 3 more string blocks to go...almost done. Then I will go on to do step 4. I have posted step 1 and 2 with the group photos.

Happy 2011!

2011-01-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I posted anything. Things have been crazy and I also got sick...I'm still not totally well, but will have to go back to school/work tomorrow.

Anyway, the pot holders on the left were made as samples for my sewing class.

I also made a tea wallet, which I sent to my SIL in Arizona for her birthday. It was late, but I hope to be on time next year. Sorry about that, I hope you enjoy the wallet.

I made more things for Christmas, but forgot to take pictures. I will post the pictures of what I have.

I've been working on RRCB when I have time. I will post pictures of the steps I have completed. I'm currently working on the last ten string blocks of step 3.

I also need to finish putting Carolina Christmas together. Lots to work on this year...will keep you updated.

RRCB

2010-11-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

Here are my fabric choices for Bonnie Hunter's new mystery Roll, Roll Cotton Boll which will be starting on Nov. 19. I had to get a few more browns since I didn't have enough variety. I didn't realize how many pinks I had. Yikes!

My two constants will be the green and red fabrics shown in the first picture.

I am hoping my neutrals have enough variety in them. We'll see how this one turns out. I still have to finish my Carolina Christmas.

Walking Foot and GF Mixes

2010-11-14T01:33:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a long time because I ran out of space on my computer. I couldn't download my pics from my camera. : (

Anyway, I am using another computer. (Note to self - get an external hard drive.) I downloaded my pics to this other computer that has an external hard drive.

My first pic is of my new walking foot. Well, I bought it one or two months ago. I just couldn't post the pics until now. I am so happy with it. My pot holders, I'll post pics later, came out so nice with the walking foot.

The next set of pics are of some gf mixes my brother and his wife got for me. So thoughtful of them to remember me. There are not an abundance of a variety of gf mixes available here in the islands.

I tried the Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix and it came out really nice. I forget to take a pic of it. You could smell the cinnamon as it was baking and it smelled so good. The loaf also looked very nice. I cut it and ate about half a slice. Then I got a reaction to all the cinnamon. It had lots of cinnamon in it. I was so sad that I couldn't eat it.

They also gave a Mesquite Pancake Mix, that I haven't tried yet, and a Brownie Mix. I'll let you know when I do try these. I'm looking forward to doing so when I have some baking time. Thanks to GY and JY for thinking of me!

Blue Angels

2010-10-30T01:46:00.000-07:00

The Blue Angels were here for Bay Fest. Bay Fest was held later this year than last year.
We were lucky enough to be invited to my daughter's classmate's house to watch the show. It just happens that their street is in line with the runway at the base.
The show was spectacular!
It's too bad my camera isn't that good. These were some of the best shots I got. My daughter's camera is newer and she was able to get better shots.

$2 Fabric and Bees

2010-10-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

I went to Fabric Mart and these were in the $2 fabrics! I don't know why I bought so much brown. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be able to use it for something.

One morning we found this dead carpenter bee in our garage. It was just lying on the asphalt. Strange, huh.
Anyway, I just have to tell you my "bee" stories.

A few years ago I was driving to Kailua with my windows down and a honey bee landed on the arm rest inside the car. I was so scared that it would sting me. I pulled over as soon as I could, opened the door and got the bee out. Needless to say, it just fell to the ground when I swiped it out of the car with something.

Now a few months ago, as I was driving up the Pali Hwy, and another honey bee fell into the car. This time it landed on my left knee! I was in the left lane and had to go all the way to the right lane to go on the Old Pali Road! This time I was really scared because it was on my knee, luckily I had long pants, but still...anyway, I had to swipe it out of the car and off my knee with something. Again, the bee just fell. It didn't fly, it just fell.

These happened when I was driving alone, so sadly, I have no witness of these freakish events. I do not want to experience this again, but has anyone else had these types of things happen to them? I would like to know.

Shop Hop

2010-10-03T00:53:00.000-07:00

I participated in a Shop Hop in August and purchased these two items. It was on two weekends so I split the shops up and did some the first week and finished the rest the second week.

A few weeks later I got a phone call saying I won a prize from the shop hop. Yay! I won some fat quarters. I've participated in this before, but never won anything. I'm not sure what I will make using them, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I'll let you know when I do. Until then, I'm enjoying just looking at them.

Embroidery Workshop

2010-09-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

I went to a embroidery workshop back in August and got to play with the Bernina 830. It was fun. We got to make bags. This is the bag I made. It has reverse applique. The pink heart was done using reverse applique.
In reverse applique, you cut away the top fabric to reveal the bottom fabric. I could have cut it a little closer, but it was the first time I've ever done this, so, I guess it came out okay.

Here is a close up of it. I also learned how to attach crystals to my design.

The last picture is of the cut away we also learned how to do.

Another lady in my group made that one.

The 830 is a huge machine! It is also very sensitive. I don't think I want that machine, it is too sensitive. I've talked to three people who purchased the machine. Two of them still haven't taken it out of the box and the third doesn't like it because it is too sensitive.

I'm thinking that maybe I'd like the 730 if I ever get enough funds to purchase an embroidery machine. I've also heard that Janomes are really good too.

What embroidery machine would you recommend?

A bag for Ruru

2010-09-05T00:24:00.000-07:00

My DD is in Japan this semester. She has a host family for a home stay, because Tokyo International University doesn't have dorms. The family has a little girl.

Naturally, we got some omiyage, like kona coffee, chocolate covered macadamia nuts, etc., for her to take up. We decided to make the girl a bag using some cute hawaiian print fabric. My DD chose the fabrics, made the lettering and I did the rest. It took me 3 days, of course, I didn't work on it continuously...I had to go to work. lol.

The first picture is of the bag with 1-1/2" wide handles. I actually got done with it a little earlier, but decided that the handles made the bag look funny because they were too wide and too long. I ended up taking it apart and redoing the handles. I shortened the handles and made them 1" wide. It looked so much better.

This was one of the few times that I actually made something without a pattern. This is also the first time I put a pocket on the inside of the bag. I don't know if you can see it in the last picture.

We thought it turned out really cute.

Moli'i Fishpond

2010-09-03T02:30:00.000-07:00

Went to a wedding during the summer. The couple had their ceremony at the edge of the Moli'i fishpond. You can see the archway where they performed the ceremony. It was a very beautiful setting. I had never been there before.

The bride's sister did ceremony. She got her license online!

The ceremony was performed at dusk, then they had the wedding reception on the grounds in a very large tent.

Choosing fabrics

2010-09-01T02:14:00.000-07:00

I needed fabric to start a new quilt, so I bought two of the same print in different colors...couldn't decide which one to use. Ended up using the bottom print with the fabric on the upper right hand corner of the picture. The pattern of the quilt is called "Harlequin quilt". It consists of diamonds all on point. I had to purchase a special template to cut the pieces.
At the class, I was able to cut can start sewing, but have since had to put it aside because school started. I'm not sure when I'll be able to continue on it, but I will keep you posted.
Start any new projects lately?

Pinwheel coaster and shoes

2010-08-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

This was an experiment coaster using the extra half-square triangles from Carolina Christmas that I wrote about here, here, here, here, here, and here. I still have lots more, but I got tired of having to square them. I also had to match the sizes so that they would match.

These are my new Earth shoes. I had to order them through the internet because Birkenstock didn't have them in stock. Luckily, they fit perfectly and they are so comfortable.

Pillowcase

2010-08-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

Well, school has started and I don't have much time to do any sewing. This is a pillowcase I made during the summer as a sample for my class at school. I wanted to make more samples of pillowcases with different patterns, but I never got around to it.

I've been reminded that Christmas is coming, but I'm not done with my samples yet. sigh.

Dilema

2010-07-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been cutting t-shirts again, I found more "holey" t-shirts, just in time for the hot summer weather. These tees have come in handy as we've been having very little rain and the weather has been very muggy.

I also made some pencil cases for my dd to give as gifts this up coming school year...I've been reminded that I need to start on Christmas, but somehow, I'm drawing a blank on that. Hopefully, something will speak out to me about that...maybe it will jump up and down, scream and wave at me saying, "Make me! Make me!" Yeah, right! Any suggestions?

Carolina Christmas Part 5

2010-07-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Okay part 5 done. Now, on to part 6...almost done! Woohoo!

I have to square the blocks, then sew them together. The blocks pictured below are not sewn together yet.

4 poinsettia blocks are to be sewn together and 4 Fox & Geese need to sewn together to create a Christmas Star block.

Let's hope it comes out okay.

Jewelry Roll-Up

2010-07-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

I went to a Bernina Club meeting in June where we learned how to make a Jewelry Roll-Up. I haven't made one yet, but maybe someday...

Carolina Christmas Part 4

2010-07-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

Carolina Christmas part 4 is done! Oops, I forgot to take a picture of the blocks after I added the green. Oh well. Maybe it will get done in time for Christmas this year. lol.

When school got done in May, I had tons of scraps that I brought home from school because the bin at school wouldn't close. I brought it home, washed it, ironed it and gave it away to some of the ladies at church. They were very happy. One of the ladies even made me something. I will take a picture of it and post it later.

Happy sewing everyone!

More SOL Dinner Theater

2010-07-08T00:25:00.000-07:00

This is a quilt I made that was donated to the silent auction for SOL Dinner Theater. It is a "Turning Twenty" pattern, but I called it "Turning Seventeen" because I used seventeen different fabrics instead of twenty. I started it last year and finished it in time for dinner theater. It sold for $300.00. I was so happy!

This is the front of the quilt.

The back of the quilt looks like this.

Another contribution was this banner. My DD and I designed it. I then sewed it together and DH put in the grommets with the cords.

Stage Skirts

2010-06-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, last month, we were busy with SOL (Soldiers of Light) Dinner Theater. Dinner Theater is their only fundraiser that they do every other year.

The students sing and dance and put on a show. The parents cook, donate things for the silent auction, bake things, make decorations, costumes, etc. The theme this year was "Seasons of Love". Therefore, the decorations were in Spring colors with butterflies and flowers everywhere.

This is one of the stage skirts I made. There were 3 of us moms sewing them. We made them in sections. One of the moms came up with the design, and the other mom and I followed her lead. I was able to find out the best way to attach them to the stage with the help of The Friendly Sewing group on Delphi Forums. Thank you to all who gave me input on this. : )

I've attached pictures of the set up of the gym...all of the parents hard work.

This first picture of of the stage without the stage skirts. The one following that is with the stage skirts on part of the stage. By the way, the choir director loves the skirts and says he will use them over and over.

The next picture is of the bake sale set up in the gym.

The picture after that is of the silent auction tables.

Then there is a picture of the scaffolding where the videographer would be, along with some other decorations.

The tables where the dinner guests would be eating and enjoying the show, along with the bleachers where show only guests would be seated.

Some butterflies on a fence to separate the dinner portion of the room from the sales portion where the bake sale, silent auction and refreshments would be sold.

More fencing with butterflies and flowers.

An archway with a walkway lined with flowers led the way to the dinner area from the entrance to the gym. The arch also had lights!

Iron rails to section off the walkway into the gym and act as a separation for the selling area. The butterflies were made by the parents, painted and decorated by the students. The students later got to take home their butterfly as a souvenir of the event.

Sorry for such a long post. I wanted to keep all of these pictures together.

Birthday Gifts and more quilts

2010-06-26T02:02:00.000-07:00

My DD came home from college last month and brought these wonderful mixes and crackers for my birthday. Of course, since I am posting about it so late, everything is gone.

I made the french bread first and it was yummy!

The next thing I made was the Bob's bread, not my favorite, but it was okay.

The crackers were delicious! Those disappeared with the help of DH and DD.

The last thing to go was the Pamela's mix. I used it to make a coffee cake for Father's Day. It turned out great.

I would buy all of these for myself except the Bob's gf bread. Thank you DD for the yummy treats!

Here are more quilts. This is the last of them from the quilt show...enjoy the eye candy!

Spring Concert and More Quilts

2010-06-24T02:20:00.000-07:00

In May, my dd's select choir, called Soldiers of Light, had their Spring Choral Concert. They performed with the Middle School and Elementary School choirs. During the performance they gave a preview of their Dinner Theater Show, which I will post about later. Since the performance was right before Mother's Day, each student presented their mother's with a rose. This is a picture of the rose I received from my dd.

Next, we have more quilts. The first one is a bird of paradise. It was really pretty.

This one is of my mother's quilt teacher or kumu. There is a little photo of her next to the quilt. I don't know if you can see it.

This one if of tea pots, I think.

This one is of pizza.

These are several quilts. I was trying to take a picture of the green one because it was a OBW (One Block Wonder) that looked like a lei.

I will post more quilt pictures. I think those will be the last of them.

More Quilts

2010-06-21T01:57:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice Father's Day celebration today. We went to church, then had lunch at my parent's house. It was nice because my brother and his wife are here to visit.

Oh, I forgot to take a picture of the coffee cake I made using the Pamela's White Cake Mix my dd bought me for my birthday. It turned out very good. I will definitely buy that mix if I need to make a white cake.

Here are more pictures of quilts. The first one is of Princess Ka'iulani. It is in 3D.

The next one was beautifully quilted.

The third one was a reversible quilt as you go quilt.

As for the fourth quilt, I thought it looked like it was woven.

The last quilt was done with sashiko quilting.

More quilt pictures will be posted later. May was a very busy month.

More Quilts

2010-06-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

I went to a free motion machine quilting class. Almost everyone else had a special foot for this except another woman and myself. We both had to use our darning foot and it was very difficult to keep the same speed evenly throughout. I will post a pic later because I didn't finish my sample, but I do have more quilt pictures.

The first one is a vest, the rest are quilts. I will post more later. Enjoy...

Playing Catch Up

2010-06-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to catch up with my blog reading. I was 5 weeks behind...now I'm 3 weeks behind. I found out I missed the big May giveaway on Sew Mama Sew...sigh...I was super busy in May with school stuff (my school and my DD's school).

I did get ~~some~~ lots of sewing done in May, I'll post pictures of that later.

I'm posting pictures of quilts from the quilt show, sorry I don't know the names of the quilts, but they sure are beautiful...

I'll post more pics later...enjoy the eye candy!

Quilts by my Quilt Teacher

2010-06-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

These are quilts my quilt teacher, Barbara Alama, made. This first one was made for the company that made the fabric to display in their booth.

The second one is called Asian Tiles and the third one is called You've Got Mail.

All three were on display at the quilt show.

Miniature Quilts

2010-06-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

I went to the Hawaii Quilt Guild's Quilt Show last month. These are some pictures of miniature quilts that they had there. The first one is one my quilt teacher made. I don't know if you can see it, but there are teeny tiny crystals in the center of each small square.

This one looks like it took first place. The details are so tiny!

This one looks like it took second place.

The miniatures were amazing! I'll post more pictures later.

Samples

2010-05-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of a sample bag I made for a few students in my class.. Of course, my words came out sideways because I wasn't paying attention to they way I cut the fabric, but being that it was just a sample, it didn't matter. This was the first time I ever put a zipper on a tote bag. The hardest part was getting it to match on both sides of the flanges. I got the pattern from an old issue of Sew Simple Magazine, then I adapted it a bit by adding lining and securing the straps better.

I also experimented with yoyos. Don't know what I'll do with those in the photo or if I'll make any more. I'd like to attach them to hair clips, but I don't know where to get the hair clips.

I liked the bag so much that I made one for my mom for Mother's Day. I liked the size, and it came together pretty quickly.

In our garden

2010-05-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

I had used lots of green onions for my food class at school and didn't want to throw away the roots, so we planted them. This is a picture of how they looked after they were just planted. Can you see how they're kind of bending over?

The next picture was taken a week later. They look a lot better. I think that's when I cut a few stalks from it for something I was cooking.

There were also sweet potato flowers in the patch...an indication of potatoes...we need time to dig.

What are you growing?

Discoveries

2010-05-08T02:10:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with the combination of flours I use for my bread. I think I like this combination the best...I could change my mind. It's brown rice flour, white rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch/flour, cornstarch, and potato starch/flour. I've also found that mixing half the yeast in with the flour mixture and putting half in a well, makes the bread rise higher, rather than putting all the yeast in a well.

This is a picture of a quilt my grandmother made. My mom was cleaning out one of the closets and she found it. I was very happy that she gave it to me. It is still in very good condition.

Scraps

2010-04-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've acquired more scraps and they're overflowing. I'm working on organizing them into strips and squares. It's a bit of a mess right now. I've got more in my classroom at school. I don't want to bring them home until I get these taken care of. They just seem to multiply on their own. I've got to get a better system. I think my bins are too large. I was thinking of getting smaller containers to put in the larger ones, kind of like silverware dividers that you can get at the dollar store. That way I can separate dark, medium and light colors. Right now they are just being piled in the pink containers.

I have one pink container that is full of crumbs or weird shaped scraps that is full. I think I will work on that container first so that I can put more into it as I keep cutting.

I'm not sure how small I should go. I think the smallest piece is a one-inch square. I have to find more patterns or think of more things I can make. I've made lots of crumb blocks...I could make more, but maybe it's time to try something else...maybe some sort of crafty type of thing like patchwork coaster, card/picture holders or potholders??? Hmmm, any suggestions?

Housewarming Gift

2010-03-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

No sewing for a week. I had to take my sewing machine in for servicing. I accidentally sewed through my cutting mat. Now I have a pinhole in my mat. Oh well, my sewing machine was due for servicing anyway. It hasn't been in for over two years, I think. I'm glad it will only take a week. Maybe I can get my scraps under control. They're a mess.

I also have a picture of the quilt I sent to my brother and his wife for their house warming gift. It is the Japanese Buzzsaw Quilt I started over a year ago. Barbara did a beautiful job of quilting it, as always. This is my second quilt.

Here is a picture of the front and the back. I had to piece the back because I didn't have enough fabric for the back. Luckily, I had enough leftover fabric from the front of the quilt. I love how it turned out. I wanted to keep it, but knowing that I loved it, I knew they would love it too. I did tell them that if they didn't like it, they could send it back to me, (heh, heh) but no such luck luckily, they loved it. That makes me happy. Now to start on another one...hopefully, this next one will be for me.

Sakura-Ningyo

2010-03-07T00:28:00.000-08:00

These dolls were at my MIL's house. I couldn't see just dumping them no matter how much I didn't like them. We don't have room at our house. The dolls are about two feet tall, have real hair, are made from cloth and are in excellent condition.

I called around, but no one could tell me if they were worth anything. I finally emailed a doll expert on Antiques Roadshow and sent him these pictures. He emailed his friend, Alan Pate, who said that these dolls are sakura-ningyo made from a kit popular in the 1920s.

We'll be looking to donate them somewhere. I guess they're not worth much, if anything...learned something in the process, though.

Chinese New Year at Ala Moana Center

2010-03-01T17:43:00.000-08:00

We were at Ala Moana Shopping Center the week after Chinese New Year to buy shoes for my daughter's prom dress and we saw all these different clubs performing all over the center. There were at least two clubs per floor. We saw this one while shopping at the Apple store for a hard drive. It turned out to be my daughter's classmate's club.
The sales person at the Apple store told us that the club will only go to the store if they have the red envelope out in front of the store.

Note where the red envelope is. It took them a while to get it. Can you see it?

Later, we saw another club at Robins. The red envelop was right below the B. They had to have the head jump on the tail's shoulders to get the envelope. I took a video of it, but I have to figure out how to post it.

Betty Crocker Mixes

2010-02-21T23:16:00.000-08:00

Times Supermarket had the Betty Crocker gluten free mixes on sale, so I thought get them to try them. There are four of them. The first one I tried was the cookie mix. We had a meeting to go to and had to bring some dessert. I thought I'd take the cookies for dessert, but they were a disappointment. They turned out flat and crumbled when you tried to pick them up to eat them. I ended up buying oatmeal raisin cookies from Safeway for the meeting. I took some of my crumbly cookies to eat, but not to share. : (

Next, I tried the yellow cake mix and made cupcakes for a lunch. These were delicious. I left them unfrosted because I wasn't sure if the frosting was gluten free. I took them to the lunch, but hardly anyone ate them. Was it because they were unfrosted? Oh well, more for me. YUM! They're gone now, but they were so good I'd buy this mix again.

Wattle Seed Muffins

2010-02-20T22:51:00.000-08:00

I finally tried this gluten free muffin mix my brother sent me from Oz made with wattle seeds. I used applesauce instead of macadamia nut oil or butter. It was very moist because of the applesauce. As soon as I opened the bag, I felt sick from the smell. I did taste a little of it, but I couldn't handle eating it. My husband said it tasted like coffee. Oh well, my voice teacher loved it because of this. Thanks anyway, bro, sorry I couldn't handle eating it.

Water Bottle Carrier #2 and Seam Rippers

2010-02-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the first water bottle carrier I made for my husband. I made the mistake of using nylon for the outside and the inside. The nylon on the outside wasn't very sturdy and started ripping.

This is a picture of the new carrier I made for him. It has denim on the outside, nylon on the inside, and is much sturdier than the last one. Again, I used Carol's pattern. This time I did not embroider anything on the outside. It's just plain. My husband really likes it.

Recently, while I was reading The Quilter's Message Board, there was a thread about seam rippers. The question was asked if seam rippers can become dull. It appears that they can and it is difficult to find a way to sharpen them.

I've had my seam ripper for 20+ years...I never knew that they could become dull. They talked about using an emery board and the Samurai Shark to sharpen them. I'll try the emery board first. In the meantime, I bought myself a new one. The white one is my old one. The brown one is my new one. I'll let you know how the emery board works. If you try it first please let me know if it works.

Carolina Christmas Part 3

2010-02-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

My machine kept jamming when I sewed these two pieces together to make step 3 of Carolina Chirstmas. After quite a few of these, I figured out that I needed to change my needle. Then things went much better and I am finally finished with step 3.

Here is a picture of my finished pieces for step 3 of Carolina Christmas. I'm not sure when I will get to step 4 because I'm working a my Japanese Buzzsaw quilt, which I blogged about here. I am finally finishing up the binding. After that I need to make a label...I need to find some white on white or beige fabric to make the label on. I'll post more about it later when I'm done with it. I'd tell you more now, but it's going to be a gift. I really don't want to say anymore until the people I give it to receive it. I want it to be a surprise. : )

Water Bottle Carrier

2010-01-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

My daughter received three stainless steel water bottles for Christmas and to keep them from being dented and scratched, I made her a water bottle carrier using Carol's pattern. (I finally understood the pattern.)

I used my mother's machine to embroider my daughter's name on the carrier. My mother has a sewing machine that embroiders letters and numbers, I think, only...no images. It also can only embroider the letters in one size only. Oh well.

This is a photo of the sky at dusk. Taken from Ko'olau Shopping Center on a voggy evening. The colors were a brighter, pink/orange when I was driving into the parking lot. It changed really fast in the time it took me to park and get out my camera. sigh...maybe next time I'll get a better picture. We seem to be having lots of voggy days. Hope you're having nice vogless (is that a word?) days where you are.

Cute Fabric and PF Chang's

2010-01-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

I found this cute fabric around New Years. It reminded me of TokiDoki. I bought two yards of each, then asked my DDs what they wanted me to make from it. Their response, "I don't know". I'm leaning toward pillowcases, cute bags, or something. I'm not sure. What do you think? I saw a quilt made from it, but...any suggestions?

We went to PF Chang's for dinner. The only place I trust because they have a gluten free menu. We had my favorite, the lemon chicken with brown rice, spinach and some egg drop soup. The soup was salty...I don't think I would have that again.

Deformed Potatoes

2010-01-11T23:01:00.000-08:00

We harvested potatoes again right before New Years. The one on the left was huge! We think it was made of several potatoes that joined together.

Here's a close up of the huge potato. We actually had two huge deformed potatoes.

Here is a picture of all the normal sized potatoes.

Here is a photo of the two large deformed potatoes. We didn't eat those because we figured there would be dirt inside them if more than one potato joined together to form the huge one.

Otherwise the potatoes were a great addition to our New Years celebration. We were even able to share some with our neighbors.

Carolina Christmas Part 2

2010-01-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

I finished part 2 of Carolina Christmas. Yay! On to part 3. I have all the red and neutral cut, but I have to work on two water bottle carriers first. Having problems finding the sliders here. I'm looking on the internet because I couldn't find them at Fabric Mart. Will post pictures later.

Kadomatsu

2010-01-03T00:28:00.000-08:00

Been trying to upload this since yesterday. Happy New Year!

We got this kadomatsu from our neighbor. The translation is literally "pine gate". It is made of bamboo and pine needles. You're suppose to have two. They're suppose to be put outside your door to catch the evil spirits and in this way, they bring you good luck. According to this Midweek article, the bamboo symbolize growth and strength and the pine represents long life and endurance. With this kadomatsu, we wish you a healthy and happy 2010!

Carolina Christmas Part 1

2009-12-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

Part 1 finished...working on part 2.
Now I understand the importance of using the triangle ruler...sigh.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

We got this in the mail on Dec 21. Perfect timing for Christmas. Thank you Tanabes.

Wishing all of you a blessed Christmas.

Carolina Christmas Step 1

2009-12-19T01:59:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of using these colors for Carolina Christmas, but may change my mind and use the red instead of the blue because of the poinsettia blocks. Here is my part 1 of step 1. I found the rulers at Ben Franklin. I haven't used them yet.

Carolina Christmas and Sweet Potatoes

2009-11-27T22:12:00.000-08:00

These are the sweet potatoes we harvested for Thanksgiving. We shared with our neighbors too.

I am doing a mystery quilt through the internet. It is called Carolina Christmas from Bonnie K. Hunter using scraps. I am still trying to choose my fabrics. I can't decide if I should use green/blue/yellow/neutral or red/green/yellow/neutral. Maybe you can help me decide I have my three choices pictured here. Can you let me know what you think?

Also, I am not sure how important it is to have a 2 yard piece tying the colors together. As you can see I only have one 2 yard piece, the rest are all scrappy. Does it matter?

Earth shoes and fabric

2009-11-27T01:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

This past week my Earth shoes arrived. I bought another pair of Earth shoes. I had to buy them through the internet since Birkenstock was not able to get them. I went to Birkenstock to try them on, but they didn't have my size in the color that I wanted, so they tried to place an order for them. The company didn't have any so I looked online and found them at Zappos. The best part was that they were on sale and there were no shipping fees. : )

I also went to a garage sale and bought some fabric. A woman who was a quilter had passed away and her sister was trying to get rid of her stash. They had a garage sale in June when they sold most of her fabrics. There were just about 8 bags left. They tried to group the fabrics by what they thought went together for a quilt. As you can see, they were $5, $10 and $5 a bag. Here is what was in the first bag.

Next is what was in the $10 bag.

The last picture is what was in the last bag ($5).

I had some nice sized pieces, but there were also some scrap pieces in the bags.

Denim pencil cases

2009-11-16T23:39:00.000-08:00

DD2 needed combo birthday/Christmas presents for a few of her friends, so I experimented. The last time I made these pencil cases, I made them with quilted fabric. This time I didn't want to purchase anymore fabric so I tried some denim I had purchased a while ago. I didn't want it to be plain, so I appliqued a heart on the outside and lined the inside with the matching fabric. As you can see each one is a different color. It took some time to figure out how to do it, but it was worth it because I thought it turned out really cute. I hope her friends like it.

Sweet potatoes and patchwork coasters

2009-11-09T21:53:00.000-08:00

We harvested more potatoes and gave some to my parents and our neighbor after we steamed them. Yum.

I experimented with making coasters and they turned out pretty good. At first I sewed together 5 strips, but they came out too big so I ended up taking off one row. Then I used denim for the back...I think I'll make some more when I have time. Maybe I'll experiment with a different design.

Gifts

2009-10-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

My brother sent these gf goodies to us from New Zealand some time ago and I forgot all about them because we had company at the time. I haven't tried any of it yet, but plan to soon. When I do, I'll post about it.

Shorts

2009-09-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

I needed another pair of shorts to wear at home, so I looked through my stash and discovered that I had enough fabric left over from a long skirt I made for my voice recital last year! Imagine that, I bought the required amount needed for the skirt and had enough left over to squeeze out a pair of shorts!

Orchids

2009-09-16T00:34:00.000-07:00

I got this orchid plant more than a year ago and it finally bloomed! DH told me that orchid plants bloom about every 3 years!

GF Brownies and Fabric

2009-09-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

I made these brownies for a potluck dinner following the instructions on the box. Mistake! It was so oily! Yuk! I didn't care for it being so greasy. I think I need to substitute something for the oil next time...applesauce maybe. I think I like Pamela's better.

I went to a garage sale and got these fabrics for $3. I just washed them and the purple one had about 1 1/2 - 2 yards in the bag! It was a great deal. The red one didn't have a price on it and it was about a yard. The blue one had about 1/4 yard and the colorful one had 6 " wide strips of fabric in it. I'd say that it was a good deal!

Octopus and Sand Crabs

2009-08-31T00:05:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my portfolio for my class. Hurray! I made the deadline! Hopefully I will get the credits to move up the pay scale.

I've updated my blogger and haven't figured out how to adjust the picture size yet.

These pictures are from July also...I'm kinda behind. My DH took his cousin and his family diving for octopus. I've posted pictures of some of the octopus they caught.

These are some pictures of the place we went. I didn't go in the water, but I was amazed by the size of the sand crabs! They were huge!

No one disturbs them, so they come out during the day. I have posted a few pictures of them here. The mounds on the sand are from the crabs and holes they dig.

I also found a puka shell. It was a good size also. I took a picture of it and posted it here too.

Sweet Potatoes

2009-08-29T02:02:00.000-07:00

I'm very behind in my postings. These pictures were taken in July. It is a picture of our sweet potato patch before we decimated it. The next picture is of me trying to dig out the potatoes. (ha,ha) DH had to come with a tool to come help me dig out all the potatoes. Then there is a picture of the area we dug up. I planted more slips...I must be crazy. (ha, ha) There is a picture of all the potatoes we dug up after they were washed. The potatoes on the plate are steamed and ready to be packed up for our potluck lunch at the Ukulele Festival.

A Guava Tree

2009-07-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

There's a little guava tree growing near the driveway in front of our house. The birds planted it. There's just one thing, we have to dig it up and move it. It is too close to that other tree. I don't know when well be able to do that. We also have to decide where to put it. I hope we can move it soon before it gets too big. I also hope we don't kill it in the process of moving it.

I went to The Source and found all these gluten free things! They were having their anniversary sale so I got a really good price for all this. I think, hope I bought enough to last me at least 6 weeks. The loaf of bread you see there is made from the Gluten Free Pantry's Sandwich bread mix. It is one of the green striped boxes . It came out a bit darker than my other loaves...I wonder if I should change the setting to light instead of medium the next time I make it.

Giveaways

2009-07-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

My cousin Kat of Our Adventures in Japan told me that Deb in Hawaii of Kahakai Kitchen is having a giveaway! She is giving away Betty Crocker's new gluten free dessert mixes. I have yet to see them in the stores here on Oahu. What a great giveaway! Thanks, Kat.

Later, I discovered that Linda of The Gluten-Free Homemaker is also giving away the same thing, so...go and enter these giveaways and good luck!

Church Picnic

2009-07-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

On July 4th, we went to our church's annual picnic at Waimanalo Beach Park. It was a beautiful day for the beach, but the Portuguese Man O'War and jelly fish were washing up also. One of the church members (a former science teacher) picked up 30 jellies and man o'war! He took the picture of them in an aquarium that he brought.

After the picnic we met my parents and my brother and his wife at Genki Sushi, where I can eat the plain stuff like maguro, hamachi and cukecumber rolls. :) It was nice not to bring my own food.

Squash Soup and Pencil Cases

2009-07-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

We got a very large winter melon from a friend and it made a crockpot full of soup! I had never really made this kind of soup before. I used a recipe from Castle High School's 2005 Project Grad cookbook, "Come Eat, My House". I didn't follow the recipe as it was written because it called for Shiitake Mushrooms and I can't eat those (they have gluten). I also did not put in the sherry, Whiskey or Bourbon (I think I am sensitive to the sulfates). It was delicious! Here is the recipe I used:

Chinese Squash Soup
1 Chinese squash (the long white green one) (Peeled, seeds removed, and 1" cubes)
3-5 - 14 ounce cans chicken broth
1/2 can diced Spam or Ham or Chicken (I used frozen chicken breast, sliced)
1 cup julienned Shiitake Mushrooms (I didn't use these)
1 small package Long Rice (pre soaked and cut in 2 inch lengths) (I used Thai long rice)
1 inch Fresh Ginger Root sliced (I used lots of this)
1/3 cup Sherry or Whiskey or Bourbon (I used water instead)
1 teaspoon of Garlic minced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Add everything to the pot except the ginger. Bring to a boil. Reduce to Medium Heat, Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until squash and long rice is tender. Add ginger the last 10 minutes of cooking. Submitted by Jocelyn Cheng

Note: I cooked this in my crockpot and it took a very long time to cook. The conversion is as follows: If original recipe calls for 1/4 to 1/2 hr, cook on low for 4-9 hours or cook on high for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Sorry, no sewing, I'm trying to finish up some things for my MHH class. I took my test online and now I need to finish my research paper. Until then, let me leave you with a picture of some pencil cases I made a few years ago.

Potato Leaves, Bread and Drawstring Bags

2009-07-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

We fertilized the potato plants and the leaves are now growing as big as my hand! (and I have pretty big hands) We harvested lots of leaves and some potatoes for Father's day lunch. It was yummy. I forgot to take a picture of the potatoes. Oh well, maybe next time.

This loaf of bread was made from scratch using a recipe I got from someone on the Celiac Forum. I turned out great! I went to this natural food store called The Source in Kailua. They had so many gluten free things! Mixes, flours, cookies, etc. The owner was so nice. He didn't have the mix I wanted, so he ordered for me. Then he called me when they came in. I really like that store!

I've posted pictures of some patchwork drawstring bags I made and gave away to some friends on the mainland. The outside is the patchwork and the inside is the aloha print fabric with monkeys.

Water Bottle Carrier and More Bread

2009-07-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

I made a water bottle carrier for DH for Father's Day. I used this pattern, but didn't really follow it because I got too confused. I also couldn't find the right sliders. I made it out of nylon and boy, was it tough to sew. I had to use tissue paper to keep it from sliding in the machine. That worked, but then tearing the tissue paper out of the seams was a bit difficult. I wanted it to be light weight and water proof. I don't know if I will make another one like it again, maybe with a different type of fabric.

This bread is made from Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread and Pizza Mix. This time I left the paddle in the bread and it turned out perfect! I just took out the paddle before slicing it. If you look closely, you can see where the paddle was. It was so yummy!

My first loaf of bread!

2009-06-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

This is the first loaf of bread I made in my Breadman. Part of it didn't come out very well. It collapsed and wasn't cooked thoroughly. I think it was because I took out the paddle right before the bake cycle. Next time I'll leave the paddle in. I used Bob's Red Mill's Wonderful GF Bread Mix. To tell you the truth, it wasn't that wonderful. It tasted very beany.

Because of the very hot, humid weather we've been having, I made some cool refreshing lemon water. Yum! The lemon helps to detoxify your liver as well as giving the water a lemony flavor.

Sorry, I haven't been sewing lately. I am taking a Modern Hawaiian History class for school and I have quite a bit of homework to do from that class. I am learning a lot.

What I have been doing, is sorting my scraps. It's a big job. I am a member on several sewing forums and found a site on how to organize scraps...now if I could only remember which forum it was on maybe I can post the link. lol.

Stay cool everyone.

Gifts

2009-06-16T00:51:00.000-07:00

I received these yummy gluten free snacks from my daughter for my birthday. They were yummy and are gone! Thank you Janelle.

Pictured below is the fabric bag I made that I gave my mother on Mother's Day. The gifts that I made for her were in the bag.

Also pictured are more Kaleidoscope Hot Pads that I made for my Auntie as a thank you gift. Thanks Auntie Lana for always remembering my birthday.

Birthday Gifts and T-shirts

2009-05-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

I received a bread machine for my birthday and some dark chocolate. The chocolate was yummy! It's almost half gone. The best part is that they are both gluten free!

As for the bread machine, I sought some advice from the celiac community on-line and as usual they were most helpful. They advised me what setting to use, what bread mixes to try and of course gave me some good TNT (tried and true) gluten free recipes to try. I haven't tried any yet, because I had a difficult time finding some bread mixes. It was recommended to start with a ready made mix so that I would know what the dough is suppose to look like in the machine. To order on-line was difficult also because I would have had to purchase the mix in bulk to off-set the cost of shipping! It was outrageous! I tried to order from Amazon, but many of the grocery items aren't shipped to Hawaii, which makes it really hard to get good deals on gluten free items and ingredients without paying an arm and a leg for shipping...and the search goes on! I'll keep you updated on what I find.

I am altering more shirts for dh...turning them in to tanks or muscle tees...perfect for summer! I also altered a pair of pants, which were torn at the knees, into shorts. Now he has another pair of shorts to wear at home.

Japanese Sewing Books and Sweet Potatoes

2009-05-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

No. 2 daughter's ipod was acting up so we made a appointment at the Apple store in Ala Moana. While we were waiting for our appointment, we went to Shirokiya. Shirokiya has a new/used book/video section. We were browsing through there and I found these two sewing books. They were really cheap...I couldn't resist. One has bags and the other has all kinds of cute things.

Guess what! We found some potaotes! One was big enough to take out of the ground, but the other was still too small. My older daughter had the priviledge of digging it out.

Well, we scrubbed it, cut it up, and microwaved it, but when we tasted it, it wasn't sweet. (sad face) As you can see, it looked really nice, but... Anyway, I asked the Ag teacher at school, but he didn't know how to make it. There is another Ag teacher at school that need to ask, but I haven't been able to talk to her. In the meantime, there was some fertilizer on sale at Longs, so we bought that and my dh sprinkled some on the patch. We'll see what happens...

Sweet Potato Flowers and Mother's Day gifts

2009-05-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Did you know that purple sweet potato plants had purple flowers? I didn't. The flowers bloom in the morning and fall off the vine in the evening. If you notice in the picture there is a bud next to the flower. The flower was a pretty pale lavender on the outside. Near the center it was a dark purple. I asked the Ag teachers at school and they told me to dig around the area where the flower is because there may be potatoes! I asked them how far down the potatoes would be and they said not far, near the top, so I dug around the area where I saw the flower. I couldn't find anything (sad face), but the flowers are pretty. More on sweet potatoes in another post. :)

For Mother's Day I made a scrap rug and kaleidoscope hot pads.

Fabric and Muffins

2009-05-15T16:08:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist buying those two fabrics. They were $1.99/yard. I wish I bought more of the blue one, but when I went back, it was gone. (so sad) I'm not sure what I'll make from them yet, but the blue one would make so many nice things.

I made muffins using the Pamela's baking mix. They turned out okay. The recipe only made 6. I may have to double it or something if and when I make it again. I used the no fat variation. I had to bake it longer than the time indicated in the recipe.

Giveaway Winner and Sweet Potato Leaves

2009-05-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

I entered a giveaway on Sew Mama Sew and won a rotary cutter. Yay! I didn't expect to win anything, so it was so nice to win something.

I harvested some sweet potato leaves, pictured in the plastic bag, then following the recipe on this website, I washed the leaves or immersed them in water, then blanched them for 2 minutes. I then drained them and chopped them. Next, I chopped garlic , stir-fried the garlic and the leaves. It was so good. The family loves it! We will be eating this weekly. Yum!

Turning Twenty Quilt and Sweet Potato Plants

2009-04-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

During the break I took a class at Bernina where I learned how to make a Turning Twenty Quilt. It was so fast and fun! I used fabric from my stash. I didn't realize that I had that much fabric! For those of you who don't know this quilt is called Turning Twenty because it uses twenty fat quarters. I didn't have enough fat quarters so I used half-yards. I thought it turned out pretty nice. All I need to do is put a 6-1/2 inch border around the edge, then get the backing together and get it quilted. I can't quilt it myself because my machine is too small and this quilt is so huge! I will post about it again later. Hopefully I can get a picture of the whole thing when it's completed.

I don't know if you recognize the white printed fabric. That's the fabric I won in Bee Square's giveaway in January. Thank you Diane!

The sweet potato plants are growing very well, as you can see. I've started harvesting the leaves and cooking them. They are very nutritious. Apparently, they help lower cholesterol and are high in leutin.

I'll post the recipe I used another time.

Happy Easter and Quilting

2009-04-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! I meant to update this sooner, but I got busy with other things. I can't remember what things...but other things.

At church today we had our Easter Cantata. We've been practicing for weeks. It was called, In The Presence of Jehovah: An Easter Celebration. After church, we went to eat lunch at my parent's house. I made some gf brownies for that, along with some other food. Yum!

Anyway, during the break, I took another quilting class at Bernina. It was a two-day class. I borrowed a machine because I didn't want to lug in my machine. I love my machine, but due to problems with my neck and back, I am not able to lift heavy things. My sewing machine is h-e-a-v-y.

So, for the first class, they set up a machine for me to use and they put a quarter-inch foot (Bernina #57) with a guide on it. It was so wonderful that I had to get one for me to use on my machine at home. It was worth it! It inspired me to work on my japanese buzzsaw quilt. As you can see I finished sewing the blocks together and am now working on the borders. There are three borders for this quilt. I took this to my second class and the instructor helped me with it.

Oh, the class was for a Turning Twenty Quilt and I spent the majority of the first class cutting my fabric. I will put up pictures of that quilt in another post. Hope you had a blessed Easter!

Sewing Machine Cover

2009-04-03T02:14:00.000-07:00

I just recently finished a sewing machine cover for my sewing machine. It's looking rather plain so I want to sew something onto it, but I am trying to decide what. Not quite sure what to do...maybe a flower, or something else. I really don't know.

Tried some hexagon's, but I think I made them too big. Thinking about origami flowers, but they're not quite what I'm looking for. I don't want anything with raw edges.

Spring break is over and school will begin again on Monday. I spent most of my break sewing. I will tell you more about what I sewed in another post.

Rag Rugs

2009-03-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't posted in over a month. I've been overwhelmed by scraps so I was looking for a way to use them. I found an idea on the Sew Mama Sew Forum from Quilting is My Passion. She calls them crumb chaos blocks. They are so much fun. I made a stack of them and made three rugs from them. I have only two pictured here, front and back. The one with the white backing is made from a rug my grandmother made. The front was worn and had holes, but the back wasn't too bad. There is one more, but I think I'll cut that one up and patch up the back instead of using the two layers like I did the last one. It was a bit too thick sewing through all four layers.

I still have tons more scraps and will be searching for other things to make with them. Does anyone have any ideas? I'd love to hear them.

Giveaway and Scraps

2009-02-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

Quilting on a Budget is having an OttLite giveaway! I tried to post this yesterday, but apparently I did something wrong and it didn't work...so...I'm trying this again. I have been looking for a floor lamp for my dimly lit sewing area since, I don't remember how long. Anyway it's been a while. It would be nice to see the colors of the fabrics better.

I have been working on some bags of scraps I picked up from school. There was so much that our scrap bin was overflowing. I am still in the process of washing them and bagging them. I'm putting them into gallon sized ziplock bags until I use them.

Giveaway and Towels

2009-02-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

Jane4girls is having a giveaway! She is giving away a set of reusable snack bags or bulk food bags to one lucky reader here. Check out her blog. She is great a stretching her dollars for things. I followed her link to the Plum Creek Mercantile company website and wondered if I could make my own bags. Hmmm...something to think about.

Anyway, pictured here is an old bath towel that I recycled into two hand towels. Many of our towels are getting threadbare and instead of tossing the good bath towel, I decided to see if I could give it another purpose, besides being a rag. I cut off the raggedy ends, then cut the towel in half and zigzagged the raw edges. Now, we have two towels that are just like new! I just have to figure out what to do with the ends of the towels that I cut off. Any suggestions?

Japanese Quilting Book and Vermicomposting

2009-02-07T16:39:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted and I apologize for that. I hit a dry spell for a while, but now I'm back on track and busy sewing. I purchased this Japanese quilting book for inspiration. It has some really cute stuff in it, but now I have to translate the instructions. Okay, now that's going to take a while. They have pictures to follow, but I'd like to try and translate what I can. Maybe my no. 1 daughter will help me when she comes home for the summer. She may double major in Japanese ( keeping my fingers crossed).

Anyway, I'd like to tell you about my worms. We're going green at school. I have a bin of garbage eating worms at school. We're trying to make a school bin. I have had a small bin since the beginning of the school year (August 2008). Pictured here are others harvesting their worms. This is called vermicomposting. The worms are vegetarians. They eat fruits and veggies, newspaper and cardboard. The worms reproduce rather quickly and one of their waste products is a very fertile soil called vermicast which is great for growing plants. The liquid in the tofu container is called vermicast tea which helps ward off white flies! I put some of the tea on my potato plants and the white flies are gone! Hooray!

Anyway, back to the worms...I bought a black containter from Hardware Hawaii for $5.00 (it was on sale). I learned how to drill holes in the bottom for aeration. Then I put burlap on the bottom first. On the burlap I put torn pieces of cardboard. On the cardboard I put shredded newspaper. Then I dumped in all of the contents of my old worm bin. The bin rests on the tofu containers for aeration. The tofu containers collect the vermicast tea.

I didn't harvest, I just went to a bigger bin. Maybe next time I'll be able to harvest my worms. I don't know if you can see the worms (they're red). I'm hoping I can get enough to have some for home.

Jane4girls giveaway and sewing goals for 2009

2009-01-19T01:21:00.000-08:00

Since the cost of living is so high here, I am always looking for ways to save some money, even if it is just a few cents.

As I was looking at blogs for inspiration of what to sew next, I came across a blog called Jane4girls. She is having a giveaway. She is giving away grocery bags and mesh bags, from a company called hotSACKS. Head on over to her blog and check it out. Her blog also gives tips on how to save money with links to coupons.

Pictured here is a quilt I saw at a quilt show. The flower petals were raised and puffy, kinda like a 3D type of thing.

I think a few of my sewing goals will be to finish two or more of my ufos and to use more of my stash...it's been growing...happy sewing!

Sweet Fabric and Sweet Treats

2009-01-18T00:29:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Diane of Bee Square Fabrics! I received my fat quarter today. I entered a giveaway on her blog and I won a fat quarter of Japanese Fabric. I don't know if you can see it, but it has "sweets" on it. I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet, but I'm thinking maybe a hot pad or pot holder. Thank you Diane!

I also made some scones using the Pamela's Pancake Mix I received for Christmas. I used this recipe on the Pamela's website. Instead of currants, I used raisins and dried cranberries. It was delicious...and they're almost gone! Yum!

Sweet Potato Plant and Fleece Hat

2009-01-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

My sweet potato plant was doing quite well. The first picture two pictures were taken a few weeks ago.

Today, my dh helped me plant the additional slips in the planter in our yard. This is when I discovered that white flies were eating my potato plant. I had to spray down the underside of each leaf with water and wipe off the black eggs. I don't know how successful I was. I guess we'll see in a few days or a week.

The next two pictures are of the pots after I cut off the slips that were ready to plant. They look kind of bear don't they?

The next shot of one of the slips in the planter box.

The shot after that is of the underside of the leaf with the white fly eggs. I don't know if you can see the black dots on the leaf.

The last two shots are of a reversible fleece hat that my mom wanted me to make for her trip to China.

GF Brownies and Kaleidescope Hot Pads

2009-01-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

Pictured are the gluten free brownies I made for New Years. Yum! I did put in some m&ms and it was delicious! Thank you Grant and Juri.

I purchased a Kaleidescope Ruler so that I could could make some Kaleidescope hot pads. I learned how to make these some time ago, but never made them because I needed that special ruler. I tried to make some without the ruler and they turned out horrible. I looked for them so that I could take a picture of them, but I couldn't find them. Pictured are the ones I made last year.

More Grocery Bags and Gluten Free Goodies

2008-12-29T23:35:00.000-08:00

Here are two more grocery bags. The green aloha print one was my test bag. I used the Burda Style "Charlie Bag" pattern, but lined it. I tried to make the little pouch to fold it up in, but it was too small, so I didn't attach it. Then I decided to use the pocket from the Singlet pattern I used before. That worked, but I think I need to make it a little wider. The light floral print bag is made with the same fabric as the other bag only with a different color lining.

The last picture is of the yummy gluten free food I got for Christmas from my brother and his wife, with the exception of the M&Ms. I got the m&ms from my mom. Pamela's mixes are wonderful! We're having gluten free brownies for New Years! I've already eaten an energy bar and most of the shortbread cookies. I'm also halfway through the Cherry Brownie. All these goodies aren't going to last very long. Thanks Grant and Juri!

Now to get ready for the New Year celebration...hope all is going well with you.

Christmas gifts and island wide blackout

2008-12-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Well, we had another island wide power outage. We were having thunder storms. Then the power went out. Hawaiian Electric still doesn't know exactly what caused the outage. The whole island went down last night at around 6:30 pm. We got back our power at about 12 noon today. That meant that we were without power for about 18 hours! There are still people who don't have power! (It's about 24 hours now.) We ended up tossing some food from our refrigerator. Luckily, I had purchased a butane burner a few years ago. This was only the second time we used it. The last time was when a large earthquake rocked the big island two years ago. The weather forecast is for more thunder and lightening storms for the rest of this weekend. I hope the power stays on.

Now for a few of the gifts I made for Christmas. I made a sewing machine cover for my mother, that I forgot to take a picture of. It was green on the outside with salmon colored lining and salmon colored piping.

Anyway, pictured is the fleece scarf and hat I made for my no. 1 daughter in her favorite color. She loved it. I was surprised that it was so easy. She is attending college in Oregon and got delayed in Portland because of the snow storm! She had to spend the night at the airport with some other students from Hawaii. So much excitement!

Hope your day is going well with no power outages!

Grocery Bag and gift wrapping

2008-12-26T01:53:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone, one of my co-workers is retiring at the end of the month. On her last day of work (school), we had a little get together with her and I made her a grocery bag. I don't know if you can see it, but on the side with the floral print, there is a pocket. The bag can be folded up and put in the pocket. I also made one with a pink dotted lining. I haven't taken a picture of it yet. When I do, I will post it.

I also made some reusable fabric bags. They kind of looked like mini santa bags. They were a hit! I hope to make more for next year.

Giveaways and A fabric envelope

2008-12-05T01:00:00.001-08:00

I just got done going through the long list of giveaways at Sew Mama Sew. It took me two days. By the time I got to some of them they were closed and had already picked winners. Oh well, maybe next time.

I haven't really posted anything because I am sewing gifts for Christmas. I will post them after Christmas.

I am able to post about my attempt at being green. I made a reusable fabric envelope and put my SIL's birthday present in it. She has already received and opened it so it is safe to post about it now. This was my first attempt at making a reusable gift wrap. I made it too big. I found a pattern and instructions for an envelope pillow and adapted that to make this gift envelope. I am debating whether to make another smaller one or even make more to be used for Christmas or maybe I'd better make something a little simpler.
I'd better decide quickly or I'll run out of time!

Okinawan Sweet Potato and A Rummage Sale Find

2008-11-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

An Okinawan sweet potato I bought from the market sprouted, so I decided to let it grow. As you can see I stuck toothpicks in it and stuck it in a jar of water. It grew like crazy. Within a week I had to look for a pot to put it in.

I went to Koolau Farmers to get a pot and some soil. I ran into an old friend who used to grow sweet potoatoes and they told me how to do it, which was good because I had no idea how to do it. They told me what size pot to get and when to transplant.

As you can see, they told me to put the potato in a small gallon sized pot. Here is what they told me. When the vines grow about a foot in length, cut the slips (vines) and transplant them into another larger pot. So, I said okay.

About a week later, there were two slips (vines) that were about a foot in length. I went back to Koolau Farmers to buy another larger pot and more potting soil. This time when I went there one of the clerks told me what to do. He said I needed to mix some chips with the soil so that I wouldn't lose any of my potatoes. It just so happened that the mix and chips were on sale. :) The sales person loaded it into my car for me and off I went.

I told my DH about what the sales person said and he helped me the next day to pot the slips. There was no way I could have done it myself because those bags of soil and chips were super heavy.

I just checked my potato today and it looks like I need to get another large pot to pot more slips. The Ag teacher at school said sweet potatoes grow like weeds! What have I gotten myself into?!

I went to a rummage and craft sale in Manoa a few weeks ago. To my surprise they had fabric remants on sale at the rummage sale. I picked up these three pieces of fabric for a total of three dollars. Since then, I've been trying to look for some garage sales that might have fabric on sale. I think the purple and silver one might make a nice bag, but I don't know, I may change my mind on that one.

A Fundraiser and a Rag Rug

2008-11-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a fund raiser at Key Project in Kahaluu. Apparently they have it every year. Many of the businesses donate things for their silent auction. They had lots of art, wine, overnight stays at hotels and even ukuleles!

They opened the evening with the lions and fireworks. The green and red lions looked like Christmas. They had local entertainment which consisted of Jerry Santos and Olomana and a halau.

Our dinner was served in the lauhala basket and the center pieces consisted of a taro plant and some local fruit. I don't remember which fruits were in the husk.

Since our closet is overflowing with rags, I decided to make some t-shirt yarn. I followed the instructions in the tutorial on Polka Dot Pineapple's blog. I think I overdid it though because my hand got sore. I even tried using my rotary cutter. That's when I found out how dull it was! I have since bought a replacement blade. I haven't replaced it yet, but I will.

I am using the yarn to make a braided rag rug. It's giving me a bit of trouble because I can't get it to lie flat. I was hand-stitching the braids together, but I gave up and started to zigzag it together using my sewing machine. Now I have gaps between the braids where the machine didn't catch. I am deciding if I need to go back over it by hand or try again with the machine and a wider zigzag stitch.

I was trying to make it an oval rug, but it looks round. I also mistakenly used three different colors so that it looks like Christmas. Oh well, it will be Christmas all year round once I get it finished.

Two Days of Rain, Two Days of Vog and a Strip Stocking

2008-10-29T22:20:00.000-07:00

We finally had some rain. It rained all day Saturday and Sunday. It was nonstop between a constant drizzle and and a heavier rain. I know it probably wasn't enough to get us out of a drought, but it was a start. Windward Oahu is under a voluntary water conservation as of Aug. 31 until further notice. So far, we haven't been advised otherwise so, I guess we're still conserving water.

After the two days of rain, we had two days of vog. I took this picture on Tuesday. Yesterday, Wednesday, the vog was worse. It was very, very thick. They showed on the news that you couldn't see the coastline on Oahu. Luckily, the trades came back late Wednesday night and today was a lot clearer. It was even clearer than Tuesday when I took the photo.

I had to make a sample Christmas strip stocking for my class at school. I used Eleanor Burns' pattern. It was fun and easy. I did this last year using another teacher's stocking as a sample and the students loved it. Now, I have my own and I don't have to borrow the other teacher's stocking.

Shopping bags

2008-10-21T00:25:00.000-07:00

I am trying to sew bags to use at the market. I've discovered that supermarkets here give you credit for using your own bags. Safeway gives $.03/bag. Times and Foodland give $.05/bag. So far I am not very satisfied with my designs. I took apart a plastic bag from the supermarket and used it as a pattern. I sort of followed the Singlet tutorial, with adjustments here and there. I tried to make a pocket to fold the bag into, without success. I wasn't very satisfied with the final product, although I loved the fabric I used for it. I had problems with the handles too.

This brown bag is my second attempt. I am still not satisfied with the result. I made more adjustments to the pattern and this time I was able to fold up the bag and use the pocket! Hurray!

I will be making a third attempt at this, hopefully I can make it to my satisfaction.

Reversible Patchwork Bag

2008-10-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

I recently made a reversible patchwork bag using Pink Penguin's tutorial. I wanted to use up some scraps of fabric that I brought home from school. I decided to use blues and browns. I tried to alternate the darks and the lights and I think it turned out okay. I'd like to make another one. I'm not sure what I'd use it for, but oh well, at least I used some of my scrap materials. I lined the bag with some sample fabric I got from my mom. Someone gave her sample pieces that they use to order the bolts from. I wanted to make it all aloha print, but I didn't have enough aloha print in the right colors.
I'm trying to decide if I should make another one or try

I also made this red Japanese drawstring bag (Tsunagi Bukuro) using patchwork. It was a bit more difficult, but I must say that I was pleased with the result. I use this bag to keep my music tapes in and my little tape recorder. I purchased the pattern and fabric at Kuni Dry Goods in Moiliili.