Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Horizon 7700: Sewing on a Button

I've come a long way since once hand-sewing a button onto the top I was wearing when I was mending DH's shirt!  Even though I am much more proficient at using a needle and thread these days, I am still very excited that my Horizon 7700 will sew on a button for me - practically automatically!

Watch my video to see how simple it is to attach the button foot and set the machine to take care of sewing a strong and tidy button!  I'm almost hoping those store-bought shirt buttons will start falling off more often!

Perfect Points Sampler Blocks Finished!

Lesson 4 of the Perfect Points Sampler was fairly easy for me since I completed an entire Hidden Stars Quilt of Ohio Star blocks.  I think I'm definitely getting better at half-square triangles now!

The Pinwheel blocks were my best work so far and I had no problems with them!  Even the back seams swirled the way they were supposed to.

By this point I got caught up to the rest of the group (since I started the quilt-along late waiting for my fabric to arrive).  Lesson Five ended the project with some paper piecing.  The LeMoyne Star 4 was fun to make and this was my first time using paper piecing.  It all went perfectly, and I got such lovely points, until I had to sew the 2 halves together.  Things got a bit wonky then but I just accepted my work as done.

The Basket Block was the last square to make.  It was pretty simple but looks complicated.  I almost had it perfect until the top of the 'leaves' didn't quite line up.

So that's my progress on the Perfect Points Sampler.  Next week I'll share the completed quilt top.

Stupendous Stitching

I told you about Craftsy earlier this month and about the Machine Quilting course I'm taking.  Now I've signed up for ANOTHER course: Stupendous Stitching!

I got really excited watching the previews for this class, which basically teaches you how to produce a piece of art using fabric and thread.  By combining different materials, decorative machine stitching, hand embroidery, AND quilting, you turn an ordinary fabric background into an unusual, and individual, framed work.  I've chosen this stunning blue Batik for my background!

I checked out the website of the instructor, fiber artist Carol Ann Waugh, and saw that she also has a book and some kits of materials available on her website.  I love how-to books so I was torn between taking the course or buying her book - each costing about the same amount.  I emailed Carol and presented my ultimatum and she recommended the course since it is such a great, interactive platform for learning.  That personal recommendation, and viewing all the student examples and reviews, AND an endorsement from a fellow Horizon 7700 owner, made me choose the class.

I had to gather some new supplies to start the lessons and next week I'll review some of the items and techniques I'll be using.  I am so excited to start and learn something new - and after working on those rather finicky Perfect Points blocks, I am totally ready for something free-style, random, and with a disclaimer that 'There are no mistakes'!

First Rhubarb Pie of the Season!

Mmmm, the first rhubarb pie of the season is made (and already gone!).  Here's a reminder of this great recipe which I shared with you last year:

Easy Strawberry-Rhubarb pie recipe: mix 2 cups halved fresh strawberries with 2 cups sliced rhubarb. Add about a cup of sugar (or to taste) & 1/3 cup flour, mix, and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Dot with a Tbsp of butter and put on the lid. Bake at 425F for 20 mins. and then turn the heat down and continue baking at 350F for another 30 mins. or until done. Simple and scrumptious!

 

Greek Salad Dressing

We've been on a real Greek salad kick lately and this is our favourite dressing recipe.  I just add the ingredients to my small mason jar, screw on the plastic lid, and give it a good shake.  It only takes a minute to make this lemon-garlic zesty dressing.

Greek Salad Dressing

1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp oregano

1 tsp fresh chopped thyme

1/2 cup olive oil & salt to taste

Crazy About Quilting: Confessions of an Average Quilter

I checked this book out from the library and really enjoyed the cute and humorous stories by Ada K. Moyles.  Many of the articles were originally published in Quilt World magazine and now this Canadian quilter has assembled her vignettes in book form.  (It's available on-line at Amazon if you can't find it at your library).

This is definitely a light read - perfect for me, who has a hard time finding time to read long chapters and long books!  I finished the book in a couple evenings at bedtime and smiled often as I readily identified with the 'average quilter' experiences, from how to get the housework done faster to allow more time for quilting to the measurement of time itself in a quilter's world!

This is a charming little book and I would recommend it to any quilting lady out there - average or otherwise!  (Make sure to check out the Mental Health Questionnaire for Quilters...I think I'm in trouble!)

Friendship Isn't a Big Thing Scrapbook Page

Here's that Enchanted Power Palette again!  I had pulled out the Divine collection to scrap photos of my BFF but then I saw the quote sticker above in the Divine kit and knew it was perfect for my layout!

This time I punched the You & Me using the Creative Memories Border Maker and adhered it to another strip of embossed paper which I edged using the Eyelet Border punch from Stampin' Up.  I also added some red embossed paper on my polka-dot background, along with another shiny embossed Designer print paper.  I rounded the corners with the appropriately named Corner Rounder!  I added a journal box, matted on black, and 2 photo mats.  The last touch was some paper flowers at the corners.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was in Cleveland I was very excited to find Ghirardelli chocolate chips.  This product isn't available where I live (well, I've never found it) and since I love Ghirardelli chocolate squares, I knew they would be awesome chocolate chips!  I couldn't wait to try the recipe on the back of the package and the scrumptious chocolate chip cookies did not disappoint!  Check out my video recipe below and for more Ghirardelli (to end the confusion - it's pronounced 'gear-ar-delly'...with a hard G) recipes go to the Ghirardelli website.

Border Guide Foot

I was just playing around with my Horizon and tried out a really fun and cool technique using the Border Foot.  The foot guides your stitching so you can have parallel lines of decorative stitches but you can also use it to make a decorative border using a combination of stitches.

I stitched out this example on my practice sandwich to demonstrate.  (I didn't line up the starting point so the sides are not mirror images of each other but you get the idea.)  You sew the first line of stitches to make the right side of the border.  Then by moving the fabric so that those stitches are within the guide marks on the special foot, you stitch the left hand side of the design.  Once that is done you center the needle between the two rows and add the decorative stitches right down the middle.  It really makes a beautiful border!  As you can see in the samples in the video below by Janome, even just simple rows of regular decorative stitches can be used in a variety of ways to add a lot of detail to a quilt or other project!

It is just so fun to discover and play with these awesome features on my machine - it opens up endless creative opportunities!

 

Craftsy Machine Quilting Course

Last week I wrote about Craftsy - the on-line provider of instructional craft courses.  While I am part of the free block-of-the-month class, I also signed up for my first paid course: Machine Quilting, and thought I'd share my thoughts with you.  The class is taught by Wendy Butler Berns, an award-winning quilt artist.  She offers 10 lessons taking you through all the steps to make a quilt.  I wish I had taken this class right at the beginning of my interest in this hobby - it would have saved me a lot of trial and error!  Wendy is very thorough and explains the process of quilt-making - from preparing the quilt to binding it at the end.

I will admit that much of the material was review for me since I have made quilts from start to finish but I was interested to learn more about the walking foot techniques and knew I was bound to pick up many other pointers.  The walking foot chapter was helpful and reinforced what I was already doing on my own and gave me suggestions to make things easier.

I also wanted to learn more about marking on a quilt and following a pre-drawn design.  Wendy gives a good overview of these topics, as well as free-motion quilting.  Wendy likes to machine-bind her quilts and I got some great ideas from that chapter.

I think this is an excellent course for a beginner quilter.  The steps are explained several times and Wendy doesn't cut corners with her lessons.  Some students complain that she makes a 'short story long' and while it can be repetitive in places, everyone learns differently and it's better to over-explain than under-explain.  You can always skip ahead to more relevant topics for yourself and your skill level or ask questions of Wendy if you don't understand a certain part.

Even though I knew most of the material presented, I am happy I took the class and can review it forever.  It's nice to have confirmation of what I'm doing, ask questions if I need help, and have access to particular information and points if I need to refresh or review.  There is also the aspect of inspiration and encouragement, feedback and affirmation.  I really enjoy that!