Ditty Bags

I made these out of a book, (Big Bags, Little Bags, by Atkinson Designs) but have made my own often. Only thing that they do different, is put the nice tabs at then end of the zipper. It makes it look more "finihsed" and holds the zipper together nicely. I think I need to add a carrying tab too...You can always make a better mouse trap...

Cindy finished her Bargello Placemats, and they turned out really nice too. The pic is a bit off color (the brown is more brown, not so red, orange is more rust), they are nicer then they look. The person she made them for has brown and teal Fiestaware dishes. Add this to my list, as now we both want to make some for ourselves!

I have about 6 or 7 things to get quilted up, including more bag fabric, so I can make some more for Bill. Everything has to have one, GPS, Camera, etc, with all their cords in one place. Well, that's the way I like it!
Maybe I will have more to post next week. We have company this weekend, so it will be busy.

I HATE cooking...

Now, some will say that 'hate' is a strong word. And I agree. But sometimes, it is a necessary evil, and this is one of those cases...
When I cook, it is usually a disaster. Oh, I can do the basics, spaghetti, sloppy joes, hamburgers, mac and cheese (out of a box, of course!) but give me a recipe, and I am doomed. I happen to be very lucky, as my husband is a great cook, and LOVES it-AMEN-but he travels a lot, and I am left to fend for myself for weeks on end, and we are just not close to many restaurants...(dang) so, I have the standbys, the ones above and a few more...

One problem is, Bill IS a good cook, so I have been "weened" off of nasty food, and stuff out of a box, or frozen "prepared food", which is probably good, since most of it isn't very good for you. Now, my mother, god bless her, wasn't a very good cook either. She did a few things very well, bread, and meat pies just to name a couple. She was Canadian, and her pies were simple (or so I thought). So, stupid as I am, I decided to try and reproduce them. (Mom passed away 9 years ago, and I might have tried to make them since then, but I honestly can't remember...)
Now, when I cook, it makes me ANGRY because I am not good at it and NO, practice hasn't made it better.... I am very linear, especially with directions, cooking, sewing, putting things together, etc. I read a step, then do it, I do not READ AHEAD, and try to figure out what they are TRYING to tell you in the recipe or pattern. Anyway, when cooking I don't plan well either. I don't usually look at the recipe, and then make a plan to buy the ingredients for a future date, I try to do things with what I already have. Bad news for me. Works GREAT for Bill.

So, I can never find a recipe that has in it what I have in the cupboard, and I suck at substituting. Anyway, this is my attempt at meat pies.

Basically, it is pork, potatoes, allspice, salt pepper, and something that I missed, since it didn't taste "quite right". For one, I think I didn't have the right cut of meat, since they were a bit dry. #2, I think I had too many potatoes, I thought it

was 50/50, but apparently not. Of course there was no real recipe...

I did NOT make home made crusts, that would have made me suicidal/homicidal since I haven't been able to even POST about this for days, to let my anger subside...now that it has tho, I will have to try again, and hopefully get it right next time. Food is not like fabric, you cant rip it out and do it over, or just give it to someone who will love it even with all it's flaws. The only ones who get my food mistakes are the dogs and to keep up with my cooking, I would need a sled dog team!

Looks can be deceiving... they were not as good as they looked, or SMELLED, and they at least SMELLED right, so I guess I was on the right track!

And the BIGGEST reason I hate cooking.....? CLEAN UP. O.k., some of this stuff isn't about cooking, but most of it is. I also made cabbage rolls that were a bit of a flop too. How can you screw up cabbage rolls? Leave it to me....  

Cathy's visit.

Bill's sister Cathy was visiting from Washington to help with family things, but she did find some time to sew. We never have enough time. Too many projects. We managed to make a BUNCH of leaches and collars for her dogs (3) and like me, she wanted some in the cars, in the motor home and at home. And extra collars are good to have. Then, she worked on her quilt. It was her 4th so far, and she is getting better. She learned fusible applique this time.

(Please ignore the mess in the sewing room. I am working on it, it drives me nuts, but too many projects going on at one time will do that to you!)

I haven't done too much fusible applique either, so we learned it, only had to do it "once", since she is a stickler for detail, and I always miss SOMETHING. I think we make a good team...

(Why this turns sideways, I don't GET!)

We also made hand towels. She found one her mom made eons ago, and we kiped it and took it apart for the pattern-naughty girls! But in our defense, it WAS old... I made up a tutorial for her, in a PDF file, and (naturally) don't know how to add it to the website yet, so will have to work on that too...dang blog...has to be EASY, right?
We had plans (always) to make a few other things too, but ran out of time. Hopefully, by the next time she comes, the sewing room will be CLEANER, and more functional. But, I am sure we will come up with more projects to do....!

UFO #6

On Jan. 1st, Judy L. over at www.patchworktimes.com, picked the first UFO for the Challenge. As it turns out, it was one that was cut, but not started for me, my Purple and Green Scrappy Toes. I am kind of getting tired of making these, (4th) but I like the way they look, so I will have to find a different pattern for all those 2.5" strips, good thing there are a million of them out there! The blocks are all laid out, and ready to sew together.

The design wall isn't big enough for all 99 blocks, so I did 4 rows at a time. I think I will like it. I got the border fabrics for $2 a yard, and was excited about THAT. Not often you get perfect fabrics on SALE. so I am getting excited to get this done. And I have a new panto to try out-YES. I will have 3 quilts ready to be quilted and go on my bed. I am tired of the old ones.