Samples

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.