Toy Society Drops

I'm ashamed to admit it's been nearly a year since I've done a drop for The Toy Society.  When several of the girls in my sewing group decided to participate in a Halloween weekend drop, it was the  perfect opportunity to get back in the swing of it. I managed to drop two handmade toys while Mark and I were at a local flea market. With so many people milling around, it was hard to be covert, but I managed.

The first drop was another of my robots, yes-I'm a tad obsessed.

 Funny, I was so worried about being spotted dropping this guy, but he hung around unnoticed for quite some time! We visited the building where I dropped him first thing and went back to that building(for vintage hankies)about four hours later and he was still there! We checked again after the hanky buying excursion and he was gone. Yay!

The next drop, was this guy. A mini version of Lars. He's OK, but I think I'll go back to making the larger ones the next time.

I don't know how long the mini-monster stuck around. It was probably an hour later when we walked back by the stone bench where I left him. He was gone.

 I hope they found a good home or at the very least, made someone smile!

Want to spread a little hand made love? Head on over to The Toy Society for more information about this fantastic project.

Progress on the Wonky(but not so much) House Quilt

When I decided to start blogging again, I decided to take The Process Pledge and share my quilts in stages of completion.

I am currently in mid-piecing of the Wonky House quilt. I may have mentioned this before, but I chose the least wonky of my Sew Bee Wonky bee blocks and built several more less wonky houses to go along with them. I'm also using a more traditional method by putting the sashing strips in.  I guess you might say it's a Wonky quilt, but not so much!

During my sewing group meeting last week, I was able to get all of the sashing strips made and lay out the quilt. Here's what I came up with.

It took me too long to get them in just the right order and I found myself obsessing over goofy stuff such as getting two of the same colors or fabrics too close together. Clearly, I don't  have a liberated quilting mindset yet.

This afternoon, I'm sewing the sashing strips to the house rows and I must say...I'm in love with this so far and I cannot wait to see how it ends up!

Vintage Thingies Thursday--Cupcake pics and a disturbing doll.

I just stopped by Colorodo Lady's blog and saw that she's still hosting Vintage Thingies Thursday. HoooRaaay...I loves me some vintage thingies!

A few weeks ago the mister and I went up to Grand Rivers KY to see replicas of the Nina and the Pinta. On our way to and from, we stopped at some antique shops and flea markets. For my reappearance at VTT, I thought I'd share some things that I bought and a couple I left behind.

I love these little cupcake pics! I've been wanting some forever and don't come across them very often. These are smaller than the ones you normally see. So sweet! I should totally make mini cupcakes, and soon!

I fell in love with this vintage apron(surprise, surprise) with it's 60's calico cat and dog print and adorable green gingham ties/pocket detail! I think I gave a whopping three bucks for it. I would have paid more. Just sayin'.

Apron  Fabric

And what did I pass up?

Weeeellll.....THIS. I don't think an explanation of why I left this behind is really necessary, is it?

And THIS.

I Care. And I'm Creepy.


Can't get  enough vintage thingies? Head on over to Colorodo Lady's blog for more vintagey goodness!

It's Not Technically a UFO if I'm Working On It! ...is it?

So yeah, I was serious when I said I was going to get back to creating!

 A while back, I joined the Sew Bee Wonky Flickr quilting bee hosted by my friend Kandra. When my month rolled around, I asked for wonky houses.

I'm so glad I did! They are wonderfully charming little blocks! If I were more industrious, I'd post photos of them all here, but instead, I'll direct you to our Flickr Group, if you are so inclined to take a peek at more of them, they're near the beginning of the group photostream.

Once I got my blocks back I realized a few of them, though ADORABLE, weren't going to work out in the quilt I had planned.  Mostly because when I trimmed them up to fit, I would lose a good deal of the house design. So, I've made several more on my own to add to the quilt.

My original plan was to make a nice, structured quilt with white sashing where all my little wonky houses are lined up in nice neat rows. And I'm sticking with that plan. I'm thrilled with the blocks that don't fit into this quilt, because it means I will have enough blocks to make two little house quilts! One nice neat one, and one that's crazy-wonky and will call for improvisation when it comes to putting it all together!

For now, I'm working on the one that plays nice and I'm at the point where I'm ready to add the sashing. I'd thought about using a solid white Kona cotton, but I had a white on white print on hand, so I've decided to go with that. No more of this running out and buying more fabric just to finish a quilt when it isn't really necessary! I'm trying to learn to use what I have whenever possible. I think it'll work out just fine.

I'm fairly certain I want to add "Home Sweet Home" to the border.  I've searched high and low for the tutorial showing how to make letters as shown in this quilt. The original tutorial must have been removed due to the soon to be published book on the subject. I am so excited to finish this quilt that I can't wait for the publication date! (Although I plan on getting a copy ASAP!). Anyhow, I've been trying to teach myself how to make the letters for "Home Sweet Home". I think I've got it. My practice piece:

Once I get the S and the T figured out, I'm good to go! Actually, I'd really like the quilt to say "Welcome to My World" but that's a lot of letters...and I'm a lot of lazy.

 Hopefully, I'll have a more of this quilt top to show off soon!

Facebook Kills My Creativity. But at Least I Know What Barbie I Am!

Two months? Really? It's been that long? Man, my three readers have probably moved on to other blogs, blogs where they can get some real crafty/quilting/cooking/random action! Sigh.

Lately though, I've been  feeling the need to blog more. And create more. Create a lot more.

I'm figuring out that other than when I'm with my family, the time that I am truly myself. truly the me who is content, calm, happy, and most satisfied is when I'm creating.

And I'm not picky about what I am creating. The mere act of sitting down in front of my sewing machine with a flat piece of fabric or on the couch with a handful of felt and turning it into something is thrilling to me.

Sometimes my creations are inspired by others, for example: this quilt top that I recently finished inspired by the likes of Gwen Marston and Denyse Schmidt.

Sometimes, I use patterns that other people have made and put my own spin on it with fabric choice or details. The apron is a purchased(Simplicity or McCalls) pattern. The elephant is Simplicity 2613.  I chose to use a vintage pillowcase and added some of my precious Amy Butler scraps for a bow.

Sometimes, things are in my head and just want out, as was the case with Lars, Pete and this mini-quilt.

Lars

Pete

Mr. Robot Goes for a Walk

I think I've mentioned this here before, but Facebook is killing me, creatively. I have little self control when it comes to FB. I can't bear to think of the number of hours that I put in reading status updates, updating statuses, looking at pictures of other people's grandchildren(children I've never met), playing stupid games, and taking idiotic quizzes.  My FB addiction is not the only thing to blame for my lack of crafty time, however. If I spent the time MAKING stuff that I spend looking for patterns, no telling what I could get done!

Now, some might suggest that blogging is waste of creative time, but I'd disagree. As far as the blogging goes, I've looked back over my blog and it appears that the times I've been the most crafty and creative are also the times I've been blogging regularly.  Even when this was merely a girl trying to blog her way through learning to follow a recipe, it was still a creative journey! The mere act of putting down my thoughts, gleaning inspiration by reading blogs of other crafty ypes, and journaling my creative processes is simply one more outlet for creativity. Additionally, the bloggy craft challenges and Flick Quilting Bees that I participate in allow me to use this crazy internet thing to be inspired to do something productive and meaningful. Taking the "Which  Barbie Are You" quiz does not. 

What it comes down to is this: My frivolous online nonsense has been far outweighing my creative time. And that's about to change! If creating lovely, strange, and useful things is what I really want to do, what makes me tick, gets me excited, then it's what I should be doing! And I plan to do it now. Starting today, Kellie Cooks...again!

More From Chicagoland...Stuff We Ate.

Finally! More photos and yammering to share from my summer trip to Chicagoland. I had such a great time with Jackie and Scott...I'm already thinking of planning another trip during Fall Break.

I'm not really a huge fan of hot dogs and no way would I think about eating one with all that "Chicago Style" stuff piled on it. However, because I am a hopeless superdork, I decided that I HAD to go to Superdawg during my visit. Mainly, because I'd seen it on a PBS documentary called "A Hot Dog Program",  but also for the building(I dig Googie arcitecture) and for the giant hot dogs standing atop it....none of which disappointed! The hot dog was dang tasty for a plain hot dog...hey...I can hear you...stop snickering at me.

Scott, w/a Chicago style Superdawg.

I sampled Jack's chocolate milkshake...fantastic! And in case you didn't believe me when I said I was a  superdork...here's proof...I took a photo of the box the hot dog came in.

We also ate restuarant in the 'Burbs called Portillo's. 

The atmosphere was really fun...the gal you see at the counter would call out a number and whenever someone went to pick up their order...she'd grin and rhyme the number.  "Number Two...I've got a meal ready for you!"

Portillo's  had a little bit of everything on the menu...including their own version of the Chicago dog, I, however, opted for another classic....Italian Beef....Lord. Have. Mercy. 

Then there was the Hollywood Palms...a resturant/movie theater. Our servers actually brought out a meal while we were watching a movie!  For whatever reason, I didn't take any photos of the individual theaters, which were all decorated in a different movie genre theme, but there are photos of those here.  I did manage to get a photo of one of two bars.

And what trip to Chicago is complete without amazing pizza? I give you Giordano's. Amazing is an understatement.

My favorite restuarant was Ann Sather.  I loved everything about it! 

....from the Swedish style decor to our waitress (who looked alarmingly like Ed Begly Jr.)... 

..to the ENORMOUS & delicious cinammon rolls... 

...to what has got to be hands down the best breakfast sandwich and potatoes I've eaten in my life.

 I would ride the train 5 hours just to eat at Ann Sather again. 

Expect more Chicagoland photos and yammering at a later date...

Riding the Rails to Chicago

A week ago today, I took the Amtrak to Chicago's Union Station to visit my sister Jackie and her husband Scott who live in the Chicagoland 'burbs. I was, of course, soooo excited to be visiting my sister but I was also pretty hyped up about the train ride! It was my first time riding the Amtrak(and traveling any distance alone).

I know what you're thinking and yep, I really am that big of a dork.

Now, I wouldn't go so far as to call the Amtrak ride "exciting" but it was an inexpensive way to get from Point A to Point B and avoid driving alone for nearly 7 hours. And yeah, call me a dork, but it was actually fun to ride the train.  I shelled out an extra 16 bucks for business class and am glad I did. I had plenty of room and the seats were comfortable. The train was clean and there were no creepy/weird people riding with me...in case you worry about that sort of thing. Not that I worried about that beforehand...at all...

The snack bar and dining area was in the back section of my car. I took a break from my seat(it's there in the photo above on the far right...see it?)to head to the dining car to read for a bit.

 I enjoyed watching the scenery which consisted mainly of small towns and farmland as we went by. The side to side rocking motion was sort of expected and didn't bother me at all. It was all very train-like and again, I quite enjoyed it.

Two years ago when I visited Europe, we took a train trip from Wroclaw Poland to Krakow--Vienna--Prague--Dresden Germany--back to Wroclaw. WHY do I not have photos of those trains?

Despite the lack of photos trust me when I say I enjoyed those trains a bit more than the Amtrak. The European trains(with the exception of the train from Germany back to Poland--eeeeew) were newer and nicer than the one I was on last week. Of course the scenery in Europe was much more beautiful that that between Carbondale and Chicago. Among other things we rode by rivers, lakes, fields of sunflowers, quaint little homes with flower-boxes, and at on point a friggin' castle on a hillside!!! It was truly amazing! On the other hand, I don't recall a dining car in the European train experience. I do remember that we packed our lunches and/or breakfast each time. However, those lunches and/or breakfasts consisted of chocolate filled croissants and/or cheese and crusty handmade bread. I ate a Sara Lee banana nut muffin and a Pepsi on the Amtrak. Hmmm. I guess the European trains (run down stinky Germany-Poland train not included) still have a bit of an edge.

BUT STILL...I will absolutely take the Amtrak again. I'd like to take it on a longer trip, actually. Should you ever get the opportunity, I say you should ride the rails too!

I'll be jabbering about my trip more in my next post.

Skirting the Issue

You might not think it if you passed me on the street, since my normal "uniform" is a denim jacket, slacks, and Chuck Taylors, but I'm kind of a girly-girl. I enjoy reading fashion magazines, playing with makeup and shopping for clothes. Then there's hair--don't even get me started on hair! 

I wanna talk about skirts. I love skirts. They can be dressed up or they can go casual, they can be fun and girly or classic and sophisticated. A skirt, provided it's the right length, is nearly always an appropriate choice. They're the perfect spring and summer staple(think cool and breezy) and equally fabulous in fall and winter when paired with tights or great boots. You can't go wrong with a great skirt.

The sad thing...even though I'm a confessed skirt lover, I rarely wear them anymore. In fact, I wore a skirt exactly one time during the past school year.  Once upon a time I wore them often. When I returned home from Europe(where everyone seemed to be in skirts all the time), I went skirt crazy and wore them constantly. And then I gained a little weight...OK, at least ten pounds...and I stopped wearing them. 

It's funny, but my desire to wear skirts seems to go hand in hand with myself self-esteem. If I'm feeling like I look OK, you'll see me wearing skirts more often. If I'm feeling that I look like Jabba the Hutt's sister, you won't. And for a while now, I've been feeling more Hutt-like than OK.  And that's not OK.

I'm too old to be worried about everyone else is thinking. And it's high time I got comfortable in my own skin, tree trunk legs and all. I think it's time I start wearing skirts again!

Although never one to pass up a shopping spree, I'd like to make some new skirts rather than run out and buy them. I love the idea that they can be custom fit and made from fun, funky prints. Considering I get it right. I have made a skirt before. Twice, actually! This is the first one and I go into mind numbing detail about the experience here if you're interested in that sort of thing.

 

My second attempt at a skirt is below. It's made from a vintage sheet(and yes, I have worn it in public). The details of that one are here.

 

 I have an embarrassing number of skirt patterns in my stash. I won't tell you how many, but I will say it's more than five. I'm thinking about using one of these three for my next attempt. They're all rumored to be easy patterns. I don't believe that for a second, but I'm willing to try.

And just because I have 500 skirt patterns in my stash(I exaggerate) does not mean that I'm above ordering yet another. This one got a nice review on SewMamaSew and it looks like it might be flattering--I love the simple lines and the length on this one. Lots of fun fabric possibilities. July 7 edit: I just bought this pattern too! I seriously need help for my addictions.

Any opinions on these patterns? Take into consideration that I'm 5'4"ish and NOT a size 8...or 10...or...you get the idea.

And while I'm asking questions...what's your favorite thing to wear? Least favorite? Do you think what you wear affects how you feel about yourself or is it the other way around?

A Trip to the Quilt Show

My Sewing Machine Hates Me

Remember the time I Killed My Iron? Well, I think I may have seriously injured--or at the very least infuriated my sewing machine last night in an effort to learn to do a random meandering/stipple design. I think I pushed her past her limits. In addition to going 100MPH because my machine has no speed control, I was relentless with the sewing!  First I went crazy on a small quilt sandwich, then on countless sheets of paper, next back to the quilt sandwiches until finally she coughed, sputtered, and slowed down to a crawl. The bulb even gave up and burnt out on me!  I have so much I want to finish before school starts back...a couple quilts, a Toy Society project, aprons for the etsy shop, and a secret project that I'd hoped to get done before my Chicago trip next week. And now, nothing is going to get done for a while. Nothing but a trip to the repair shop, that is. I'm hoping that a good cleaning and oiling will do the trick and have ole' Katie Kenmore(and me) whistling a happy tune instead of crying the blues.

In the meantime. I suppose I can finally photograph and list the aprons that are ready to go into my etsy shop. I can read that stack of books I planned on being halfway through that I've only just begun to read. I could cook...I could even try out some of the recipes(for Mark) from this great  blog that Val sent me. There's plenty that I could do to keep busy. But y'all know I'd rather be sitting at the sewing machine listening to showtunes on Pandora!

Happy Father's Day

To my dad.

He is most excellent and much loved.

Kellie Cooks(and eats) A Vegan Dish...And Lives to Tell About It!

My husband is a vegan. I am sooo not a vegan. He is thin, I am chubby fat extra-large not thin. I'm certain I could point out more health related differences between us and chalk it up to his vegan-ism, but I'll stop at the thin/not thin thing. Since that's where I always end up...Weight. Sigh.

I tried to do the no meat/no dairy for a while not too long ago. It didn't last long...almost made it three weeks. Surprisingly, I didn't miss the meat that much, but those of you who know me know that I'm not a big fan of veggies(or beans) and I will go out of my way to avoid eating them. Instead of replacing meat and dairy with vegetables, I was replacing it with Cheetos and Little Debbie cakes. So I stopped that little experiment before the weight gain got out of hand. Yeah, I know. Pathetic.

Despite my failure as a vegan, I have begun to become more interested in trying to eat healthier {{{hides M&M's wrapper and half empty glass of Coke}}} and think it's about time I started cooking(if only occasionally) for my husband of 23 years. I'm going to try a bit harder to prepare food that Mark will eat not only because it fits his vegan diet, but because it tastes good. And hopefully I can tolerate it...change is hard, people! My mother keeps telling my taste will change. Um, Mom, I'm still waiting for cauliflower and cabbage to taste like Cheetos and Little Debbie cakes.

My Grandma Doris got us this cookbook for Christmas two years ago and yesterday I blew the dust off, and cracked it open. How sad that it took me two years to use it! There are some recipes that Mark wouldn't touch due to the dairy/egg ingredients, but I have come across several that either omit those things or could be easily altered.I made a dish called Southwestern Fettuccine Bowl. It turned out to be a great recipe! Mark absolutely loved it and I will admit that I liked it too, despite my preconceived notion to the contrary. A quick and easy dish, loaded with good stuff...I'm sure it would be just as good with a whole wheat pasta of some sort substituted for the fettuccine noodles if you wanted to make it even healthier.

Southwestern Fettuccine Bowl

What You'll Need:
8 oz uncooked fettuccine
Olive oil-flavored cooking spray
1 cup chunky salsa
1/3 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can black beans, drained, rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

What You'll Do:
1. Cook and drain fettuccine as directed on package. Spray fettuccine 2 or 3 times with cooking spray, tossing after each spray. Remove from saucepan; cover to keep warm.

2. In same saucepan, mix remaining ingredients except cilantro. Cook over medium heat 4 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until corn is tender.

3. Divide fettuccine among 4 bowls. Top each with about 3/4 cup sauce mixture. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Photo brought to you by Betty Crocker. We ate ours much too quickly to get a photo!

Ack!

I don't know how, but somehow my feeds were not updating. Y'all who follow may have just gotten bombarded with feeds in random order! So sorry! But at least I'm updating now, right? Now if I can figure out how to get FB's Feedburner app to work, I'll be square.