Fabric Stash Organizing

You all know how much I like LOVE fabric.  Since it is a rainy Sunday I decided to go back to my craft room and start rearranging again.  When it comes to rearranging my fabric I can do it all day.  I look at all the colors and designs and imagine what I could make.  Most times I'm just kidding myself because I have the hardest time cutting my beautiful fabric.  LOL.  So today I will pet and fold my fabric. After looking at a few pictures of other people's stashes and reading tons of blogs I decided to sort through my fabric.

Step one. (I don't have a before picture)  I pulled out all fabric that was not "prim" to me.  I buy all kinds of cotton fabric when it's on sale or when I see it in thrift stores.  Since I can't sew clothes my stash is limited to cotton quilting fabric. I had a smaller bookcase where all this fabric is for now.  I haven't gotten to it yet to reorganize.

Step two:  I then stacked my "prim" fabric according to color.  You all remember ROYGBIV of the rainbow right?  That's how I then put it on my shelf. 

Step three: After seeing a picture where someone put their fabric on their sides like books of course I had to hop on the train and try too.

I really like the way it looks AND I can see all the fabric.  On the top shelf I am not tall enough to see it at eye level so i can't see what's on the bottom of the stack.  I think I'm going to do this on the top shelf too and see if I like it this way for awhile.

I'm getting closer to reorganizing the whole room but still have a long way to go.  I promise I won't bore you with tons of pictures of it though. LOL  I promise I will get to some crafting things soon.

Success

I didn't get to my sewing last night as some horrible upset stomach hit me. ICK!  Thank goodness I didn't see any of my food again though it felt like I was going to.  I, like many others, have no time to be sick. 

Anyway,  this morning I am feeling a bit better and decided to go try again to make a fabric basket.  I changed my pattern, looked for new fabric, and this time went so much more smoothly.  The outside fabric is a canvas I bought a few years ago to make a purse.  Yeah obviously that didn't get done.  lol.  So, luckily I had it for this project.  I know what your are thinking... Mary, you are so prim why did you buy these colors.  The answer is I love brown and pink together just like I like teal and brown together.  Besides this will be in my craft room, which is in my dark basement.  This will lighten it up a bit. :-)

I probably should have stiffened up the sides, but then if I leave it this way I can smoosh more baskets together on the shelf I have.

Here it is...  I changed the measurements to 11"X11"X11".  If you can sew straight seams you can sew this.  There is only a total of 9 seams.

 As you can see my brown scraps are in here.

I will make a pattern for the next one I make and post it.  Until then have a great day!

Craft Room Organization

I know it's not the beginning of the year, but I have been thinking about organizing my craft room.  Actually I have already started.  I think I need to redo so I'm not going to show you quite yet.

I know, who has time for that at Christmas time?  Well, yesterday was a work day for me and today is actually Christmas here at the homestead.  I got home from work and lo and behold everyone was up and ready to open gifts.  We opened them and then everyone scattered to do their own thing.  I got spoiled by Steve with watches, earrings, and necklaces.  Can you believe it he still hasn't got the nerve kicked in the butt to give me a ring yet. lol.  Oh well, I truly am OK with it I just like to tease him.  It is an ongoing joke between us. One day he wanted me to listen to an old country song titled "I'll be a Bachelor til I Die."  Well, my old ears heard "I'll be a bastard til I die."  It gave whole new meaning to that song let me tell you. 

Anyway, my very smart daughter gave me the best present of all.  She gave me a two sided fabric cutting mat.  My old one has been used and abused in the past few years.  It was so bad it was dulling and chinking my rotary cutter. :-(  Well, this afternoon I had to take that baby for a test drive.  I have been pinning like a mad woman on Pinterest recently for craft room organization.  I keep seeing these fabulous fabric baskets/ fabric buckets people are using.  What a fabulous idea I thought!!!!!  ummmm....well.... you all know from the past I share my failures as well as my successes.  So today this is a failure BUT not a complete failure.

This is my FIRST attempt at a fabric basket.  I read looked at the pictures on several blogs on how to make one.  Would you believe almost every one of them I posted had all measurements in cm!!!! No disrespect to those who use cm BUT I am trained to use inches. grrrrrr... So, I put on my thinking cap and tried to draw a pattern. Ughhh I knew geometry would come in handy again since taking it my sophomore year! I walked my little self upstairs and told my trusty sidekick (Steve) to help me.  He is super smart when it comes to measurements and patterns!!! However, he looked at me as if I was an alien trying to explain to him what I was trying to achieve.  Something must have clicked and he found a huge mistake I had made. HA! problem solved.  I wanted an 11" wide, 11"length, 13" height basket.  Sounds easy right? WRONG!!!!! Let me just show you how it came out.

I know it is very flimsy, but I didn't want to go all out in case it didn't work.  Uhhhh glad I didn't. lol.  As you can see it is not the measurements I had hoped for. :-(  BUT all is not lost.  It fits my Longaberger market basket protector. SCORE!!!! My original thought was to put all my red fabric scraps in this"basket".  Red with red get it???? lol.  Can you tell I've been gone for far too long! As you can see all is not lost because unknowingly I made it fit the protector and can still use it.

I think Steve and I have figured out where I went wrong.  I'm going to correct my pattern and try again.  If it works I will post a tutorial for those who would like to get organized too.  I'm off tomorrow so maybe I will either make it tonight or tomorrow.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 

to you and yours from 

Gettysburg Homestead

Mary, Steve, Courtney, and Bailey

Trying Something New

Good evening everyone.  Long time no see :-)  To start out I should say trying something new isn't always good.  As you all know I have been trying out Facebook for quite some time now.  It has it's pros and it has its cons.  I must say at this point the cons are outweighing the pros.  I really like the fact I could have virtual conversations with my "friends."  I don't like all the drama involved with it at all.  Ugghhh!!!! I, personally, have not been wrapped up in any of it but I'm tired of seeing it and reading it.  I will be keeping my accounts on there for those who would like to have instant gratification of talking with me, but for the most part I think I'd rather be here.  Back to showing you what I'm working on and typing out my thoughts and getting your opinions.  Even if no one comments it's quite alright.  I'm happier here :-)  It really is therapeutic.  I can see where I am and how far I've come.

I have a lot of new crafts I want to work on next year.  It's not too early to start planning is it?  I have a bathroom redo to do complete with a shower curtain I will be making.  Do I feel a tutorial coming on? lol.  I want to try paper mache, clay sculpting, quilting, punchneedle, rug hooking .... oh the possibilities.  If any of you have any thing you would like to see give me a holler.  You know how to find me.  :-)  I can't promise how often I will post, but I'm going to shoot for once a week.  I don't want to set myself up for failure for telling you more than that then not delivering.  My life is still hectic as always, but in some ways it is slowing down too.  We will go into that in time. 

So, on the flip side of "Trying Something New"  I made for the first time tonight tiramasu.  It is Steve's 35th birthday today and this is what he wanted. What does a good girlfriend do but search the net for a good recipe.  I picked a couple and thought I could mesh a few together.... until I bought the mascarpone cheese.  Lo and behold there was a recipe on the back of the carton.  It looked and sounded easy so that was the one I tried.  Here it is....

Tiramasu (as found on the BelGioioso Mascarpone container)

3 large eggs
1 cup espresso or strong coffee cooled (I used strong coffee)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp cognac or brandy (I omitted because I didn't have any)
8 oz Belgioioso Mascarpone
2 tbsp cocoa
24 lady fingers (I changed this a bit because the recipe called for 10)

1. Combine 3 egg yolks, 1 tbsp coffee, sugar and (cognac if using) into bowl.  Beat 2-3 minutes.  Add mascarpone and beat 3-5 minutes until smooth.

2. In another bowl, combine 3 egg whites and a pinch of sugar.  Beat untilstiff peaks form.  Gently fold into mascarpone mixture. 

3.(I changed this step from original directions)  Quickly dip each ladyfinger into remaining coffee and layer 12 on the bottom of a 8X8" serving dish.  Spread 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over the lady fingers.  Dip the remaining lady fingers in coffee and layer on top of mixture.  Layer the remaining mascarpone mixture on top of ladyfingers and then sprinkle cocoa.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

NOTE:  The next time I make this I would brush the coffee on the ladyfingers instead of dunking.  They became too watery and very strong taste of coffee.  It was still very good don't get me wrong!!!! lol.  Just a minor change.

Thanks for coming back and I look forward to writing again.

New Patterns Available

Just a quick hello and to let you know I have more new cross stitch patterns available.

 Pattern now available!!! You will get BOTH sheep patterns in one pattern!!!! Available as PDF for $7.50 or a mailed version for $10.00 includes shipping. Both versions include color photo, chart, and color legend.

Pattern now available!!! You will get BOTH of these patterns in one pattern!!!! Available as PDF for $7.50 or a mailed version for $10.00 includes shipping. Both versions include color photo, chart, and color legend.

Pattern now available!!! You will get BOTH of these patterns in one pattern!!!! Available as PDF for $7.50 or a mailed version for $10.00 includes shipping. Both versions include color photo, chart, and color legend.

I just finished up my first fall sampler and hope to have a pattern available soon!!!!

Diet Update...

Good Monday morning!!! Well, I am at the 2 and a half week mark of my diet. I have been trying so hard to stick with my 1400 calories a day and it is getting easier.  I heard somewhere that it takes something like 21 days for you to form a new habit.  I'm almost there!!!! I have not had pop/soda up until Saturday evening at a picnic we went to.  The pop was in a drink that the hostess made so it wasn't pure pop in a cup.  After that I drank my detox water that I brought with me.  If you are looking for a refreshing and addicting way to drink water you need to try it. 

Detox water recipe:
1/2 cucumber sliced
2 lemons sliced
12 fresh mint leaves

Throw all of this in a pitcher and keep it in your fridge.  I used it for 2 days and kept adding water to it as I drank it.  I drank 4 or more glasses in a day.  I warn you it makes you pee!!!! lol It is suppose to help get rid of any water weight gain you have so that your body can burn fat more efficiently.  I don't know if it's true, but it is really yummy! 

I'm sure you're wondering if I'm making any progress.  Well, if you'll remember I don't own a scale so I haven't been weighing myself.  However, I do work as a paramedic and have access to scales.  So the other morning when we took a patient to dialysis I stepped on their scale.  To my dismay it actually showed I weighed more than what I did at the doctor's office.  My partner did remind me that all of the clothes, boots, and equipment we carry do weigh quite a bit.  I left it all on when I got on the scale.  So, I'm not discouraged at all. lol.  I will say though I am noticing a change in my muffin top/ spare tire.  I know you are thinking there is no way you can tell in 2 1/2 weeks.  I'm not down a pants size but I can tell I'm not as bloated.  I'm pretty happy about my progress anyway!!! I thought I'd show you some pictures today.  I should've worn the same clothes but you'll get the idea. lol

The pictures on the left in teal are when I started... the ones in the dark blue shirt are today.  Please ignore how icky I look today.  lololol it's laundry day!!!!

So, I am showing progress in my eyes!!! This makes me want to keep going.  I do need to add some belly exercises, but I'm trying to decide which will be the best for my fibromyalgia so I don't feel like I've been kicked in the gut for days on end.  lol.

I'm trying to get a few things done today and will try to post again soon.  Have a great day!!!!

Happy July 4th

I thought I would post today since many of us will be celebrating tomorrow.  I will get back with you soon about how my diet and health are doing.  But for today, I though I'd share some pictures of some rearranging I've done this week..   I'm really trying to simplify and actually am selling quite a few things on my Facebook business page. You can check it out if you look to the left side of your screen and click on the Facebook Badge. :-)  So these are just a start...

Enjoy!!!

Diet Update #2

Thank you everyone for your comments on my last post!  I now know I am not alone in my battle!  It is not easy I tell you. lol.  Your words of encouragement helped tremendously in this first week. So thank you :-)

Well, I have officially been on my diet for one week. I found an app for my phone called My Fitness Pal in Playstore.  If you click on the name you will be taken to their website to check it out. I basically count my calories with it.  You enter everything you eat each day and it keeps track.  You can also keep track of your exercise and water intake too. I have been trying to walk but the shin splints and hip pain have slowed me down a little.  But the last walk I took was 45 minutes. Go ME!!!! I'm not going to say I didn't indulge twice :-/  I LOVE Moolatte's from DQ so I went and got a medium caramel one and WOW! did it blow my calories out of the water.  A medium is 600 and some odd calories!!!! Then I paid for it as my stomach got upset and cramped up on me.  So, I decided no more.  I believe I am having an intolerance to some dairy.  That being said I bought almond milk, which I really like, but have still been eating Greek yogurt and cheese without issues... I think.  The reason I say that is my stomach has been giving me issues now.  I felt as if I had a ball or an air pocket in my epigastric (right below the breast bone) after eating certain things like citrus, dairy, and now beef.  Not good because I LOVE my orange juice and pineapple!  I also had a really yummy dessert that Steve made with Oreos and Cool Whip.  So I did cheat a little :-( 

Other than that I was feeling pretty good.  Was being the key word.  My body is now beginning to betray me.  I had to go to my doctor on Monday for a medicine check to get my fibro and asthma meds refilled when I discovered I have a few other things going on.  The good news I lost 2 ounces in 3 months! LOLOL I was actually 149 the last time and this time I was 148.8. Anyway, they did my blood pressure which was fine BUT my pulse was 110. A normal one is 60-100. When they told me I didn't give it much thought. I was taken to my room and after waiting the doctor came him.  I used to work for him so we have a good relationship. We discussed a few things and I told him it seems as if I have been getting short of breath, hence the diet thinking the extra weight was causing it, when I go up a flight of steps or walk long distances. I told him about my stomach issues and that my fibro seems to be settling in my back.  He looked and asked if I was nervous because my pulse was up. I said no not really.  How about anxious? Can you feel that your heart is pounding? Why yes now that you mention it I do I told him. I ignore a lot of things my body does and pass it off as my fibromyalgia. Anyway, long story short, I ended up with a heart EKG and bloodwork. There is either something wrong with my heart or thyroid. I'm still waiting on my results of the bloodwork. It is now Thursday and my pulse rate has yet to come down to normal. Yesterday at work I had lightheadedness, shortness of breath, anxious, pounding heart, and just felt exhausted.  I know it's because my heart is working extra hard. So, hopefully the doctor will let me know soon what is going on so we can fix it.  Until then he sent me home with Omeprazole for my stomach to try for 8 weeks. 

In the meantime, I think I found my new calling.  Instead of being a paramedic I want to be a smoothie maker.  I have found that I LOVE them.  I'm coming up with new recipes all the time.

This is a banana/strawberry smoothie 1 banana 1 cup frozen strawberries 1/4 cup Greek vanilla yogurt ice and a little water to thin it. 208 calories

This rascal hurt my stomach but it was yummy!  1 banana, 1 cup fresh pineapple, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 4 ice cubes. 370 calories you could cut the calories by only using 1/4 cup coconut milk just increase your ice.

I made a blueberry/banana one today that is ok.  I need to perfect it.  Not quite what I want it to taste like. LOL.  I also want to get some spinach to add in too.  I need to go grocery shopping so that will be on my list.

I finished stitching my final patriotic pinkeep yesterday.  Now I can finally finish up some more new patterns.  I'm also working on a special order doll for fall.  I have the best customers!  They sometimes have more confidence in my abilities than I do.  Hopefully I can finish it up and show you soon.  Until then have a great day!

Weight Loss Journey Day 1

Happy Thursday!  Have you ever thought to yourself where the heck did all this weight come from? I've never had an issue with weight why now? I've been asking myself this for awhile now.  Up until about 4 1/2 years ago I never had an issue with weight.  I was wearing size 4 or smaller (30 waist in men's work clothes)  and actually could not put on weight.  I didn't worry about what I ate and didn't have to do any exercise. Life was awesome! lol  I of course was 34 at the time too.  I am now 38 almost 39, 20 lbs heavier with not a muffin top but a spare tire. I'm also that many years post divorce, a developmentally disabled daughter who was in her important years in school, fibromyalgia diagnosed with medication, and big eater since Steve is a guy who loves food, working full-time with irregular eating times so fast food was my friend. When I sit down I can feel the rolls and it makes it uncomfortable to sit.  I have gone up to size 12 or 14 in women's pants and 34 waist in men's (my work clothes size).  I don't like the way I look even though Steve tells me he likes a woman with meat on her bones :-/ uggghhhh What happened?????? I made excuses, that is what happened.  I've decided that today I'm starting a new chapter.  I now have an 18 year old and 14 year old and it is time for me to take care of me.  I'm going to make changes for me!!!! 

So, what does this mean?  It means that once a week I will be posting my progress good or bad.  I'm not using a scale because I will get discouraged if I don't see a change. Plus, I don't even own a scale.  I also do not own a full length mirror.  I will use my clothes as a guide.  This will be my personal diary.  I know I will fall off the band wagon I'm sure, but I'm going to try my hardest to get right back on.

Let's get started shall we...

I can't believe I'm going to show you pictures, but it will get me motivated now that I know you will all see what I truly look like.

This picture was May 27th my daughter's graduation...  I know it doesn't look like I need to lose weight, but as I've been researching I found that my BMI is 29 which is obese for a 5'5" 148# woman with a small frame. :-(  I don't feel good at this weight either.

Now these are today... please ignore the dirty mirror lololol.  see I'm even to lazy to clean that!!!!  I have been so lazy for a long time.  I blamed my fibromyalgia by saying I hurt to much or I was tired, but I will no longer do that.  I got myself to this point. 

I am a good camouflage artist... big baggie shirts....

Stretchy pants that hold the spare tire in...

 

The spare tire... ugghhh yuck!!!!!

Excuse me ma'am are you pregnant?!?!?!?  check out the tire....

 

This now holds me accountable since I've put it out all over the web. lol.  I conquered the biting my nail thing and hope I can do the same on this.  I have walked about 30 minutes the last two nights.  I will need to build that over time as my hips have become sore from the walking.  They are already tender from the fibro, but it will not hold me back.  I am researching better eating choices like yummy smoothies for breakfast, fruits and veggies (which I love) for snacks and nutritious meals other than processed foods.  I'm going to try and cut out white flour and some dairy.  I've been getting stomach problems recently and not sure if it's related.

I found an application on my phone to help keep track of my calories and started that today.  It says I need to keep my calories around 1400 calories a day to lose 1-2 lbs a week.  I'm not off to a very good start as Steve ordered a potato pizza last night for dinner and there was left-overs so I just HAD to eat them. :-(  lol  I will go grocery shopping tonight for the things I need to get started.  So, as I embark on this journey wish me good luck. LOL  I know I will need it.

More New Stitcheries

I've been working hard on new designs in the patriotic themes.  I have 3 more and have one last one in the works.  For some reason I really got into these pinkeeps this year.  I haven't had time to finish the patterns yet, but hopefully I will this week.  I also had an order on another one I already made and finished up that last week while I was on vacation.  These are the newest ones.

This last one was stitched by a good friend on Facebook Reeta Hackler.  I just didn't have enough time to stitch that one.

I also decided after reading Pamela's blog, Our Pioneer Homestead, that she liked stitching on prairie cloth I decided to get some.  I really like the thickness and how it looks like linen.  It appears to be like stitching on 28 to 30 count cloth.  I took a picture with my phone (bad I know) comparing linen to the prairie cloth.

The prairie cloth is in the middle.  The top and bottom are linen that I had in my stash.  Click on it to see it bigger.  A few of us had a discussion on Facebook as to whether it will take stain or not as one of my stitching friends said she attempted to coffee stain it and it didn't take very well.  Pamela told us that she uses walnut ink or stain and hasn't had an issue.  I'm also told it ravels pretty easily.  So, I may need to use a little masking tape or run a stitch around my piece to prevent that.  It'll be interesting when I start to use it.  I have some coffee stained hardanger to use up first.  I will let you know when I try it out. 

We have another meeting with my daughter's job specialist from the County Board of Developmental Disabled today since she turned 18 on Saturday.  The job hunt will begin.  We believe we have narrowed it down to working with animals, for now. LOL.  I'm sure it will change but it's a start.

Hope you have a great day!

New Patterns

I have managed to come up with a few new cross stitch patterns recently.  They are quick and easy patriotic pinkeeps.  Just email me to order.  You can also find my patterns at The Fabric Peddler in Wadsworth Ohio :-)  I'm working on a few more as we speak!!!!

The pattern is $7.50 for PDF version and $10.00 for printed copy includes shipping. Both version include color photo, chart, and color legend. Each sold separately!!! If you buy all 3 at once in PDF version you only pay $18.00 now through June 30, 2013

New Finds and Decorating

I thought today would be a good day to break away from talking about my kids to show you some new to me things I've acquired and how I'm using them to decorate.

First off, since putting up my new faux blinds (which I can't remember if I showed you) these are plastic ones I found at Menard's.  I really really wanted wood, but wowee!!! are they expensive. Steve talked me into these and I have to say they were much cheaper and I LOVE them! But if you'll notice from previous pictures I took down my quilt hanger above the window.  For the longest time I couldn't decide what I wanted until last week.  I decided on a ladder.  I've seen them in other people's pictures hung over kitchen islands or in front of windows with baskets hung from them.  I don't want to hang it from the ceiling since I rent.  The ladder is a bit wide for my shelves so I went to the basement and found some spindles I had in the garage that were just the right width and just laid the ladder across.  The little black table is an old tool box turned up on end.  As you can see I didn't have much space and it fit perfectly.  So think outside the box when you see things at yard sales, flea markets, or antique shops.

A little closer look... I found the wrought iron basket tree at the flea market $7.50, the yellow basket up top GW $.50,  the next one down,red/pink looking basket GW $.50, the blue one I painted but a GW $.50, the gourds I bought from a friend, the dried green beans I bought awhile back, dried sweet annie and dried flowers, there is also another basket in the back you can't see GW $.50.  You CAN decorate with very little money. 

My next find at the flea market was this thread keeper.  I LOVE anything old and wood!!!! I love the carved detail in the drawers.  It was marked way down in the booth I found it in.  You better believe I snatched that baby up!!!!

I also got the round wood boxes on the top shelf from some friends on Facebook.  They wanted rid of them and I was happy to have them!  Let's call them pantry boxes :-) lol

Moving on I now have a fetish for egg baskets.  I just can't have enough when I keep finding them really cheap!!!!  By the way the Americana pinkeep is available for sale $10 plus shipping (made by me) and the star box is 1 of 3 boxes that is also for sale (painted by me) $20 plus shipping.

I also found this great quilt rack at the flea market for really cheap! I just don't have a home for it yet. But for the price I couldn't pass it up.

I think that's all I've acquired recently except a few more gourds.  I've really been trying to stay out of the stores and not buy a thing.  But occasionally a girl has to do what a girl has to do.

I'm on vacation this week as my daughter's grad party and 18th birthday party is this weekend.  Hopefully I will be back this week to show you some more things I've been working on.  Have a great day!!!