The Sewing Mom

WOW!  A whole week and I haven’t written a single word?!

I left town a week ago today and flew to Cincinnati for the International Quilt Festival!  My sister Grace picked me up at the airport, she had driven in from Eastern Kentucky and we enjoyed a night of driving around Covington and Newport, Kentucky, towns immediately across the Ohio River from Cincinnati.  In case you didn’t know, the airport is actually on the Kentucky side of the river too.  We enjoyed a great dinner on the patio of a wonderful restaurant, overlooking the river with a full view of downtown Cincinnati, and spent time getting caught up.  I love getting together with my family!

Following dinner we headed back to our hotel and tucked ourselves in for the night, getting much needed rest that would allow us to conquer the vendor booths at the quilt festival over the next 3 days!

On Friday morning, we left the hotel just after town and found our way to the convention center in downtown Cincinnati.  Can I just say, between Covington, Newport and Cincinnati, I have NEVER seen so many one way streets!  Drove us crazy!  But, we did eventually find a great parking lot that wasn’t full (surprisingly) and it was connected by a skywalk to the convention center.  We made our way in and, after buying our 3 day passes, we started to hit the vendors.  We managed to take a “Create on the Spot” class where we made fabric covered picture frames, and then it was time for lunch.  We had to go up 2 flights of escalators to the food vendors, but found some good, but expensive, food and sat down for a bit to rest our feet.  In the mean time, our mom and sister Karen had made their way from Indiana and met us just as we were finishing our meal.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping the vendors and did one more “Create on the Spot” class where we were taught how to make a paper pieced petal shaped bowl.  Of course, that project wasn’t finished in class, so it’s currently in my UFO pile.  I best not leave it there too long or I will forget how to finish it!

Anyway, we spent Saturday and Sunday doing much of the same and Sunday afternoon, I finally did it.  I found myself at the Janome booth, buying a sewing machine!  I got a really good show deal and got them to throw in a free motion quilting foot too.  I’m happy to say, my new machine arrived yesterday.  Yes, shipping it was way cheaper than paying the airline to check it, plus, since I was shipping to another state, I didn’t have to pay sales tax, so I saved all the way around!  More on the machine later.

The festival ended on Sunday, but we stayed over until Monday so we had more time to visit.  The trip was a ton of fun and we found very good restaurants all over the place.  So, when we weren’t eating at the festival, we were eating extremely well, and a moderately priced budget!  All those one way streets and all those restaurants, probably all within a 5 mile radius of each other, who knew!  I’d definitely go back there again.

I have lots of pictures, but none downloaded just yet.  I’ve been trying to get paperwork together for our new roof, damaged by hail, and all sorts of other stuff, so I hope to get to downloading very soon.  In the mean time, here is a photo of a shirt Grace embroidered for her daughter this morning, I think it’s super cute!

So you don’t think I’ve been sitting around doing absolutely nothing, I thought I’d share my latest project, and yes, it is softball related!

Each family is responsible for creating some sort of decoration for one game during the spring season that can be attached to each player’s locker prior to the game. My daughter was very specific this year and said she wanted me to do something that was 3D. So, I searched and searched for ideas, keeping in mind that I was trying to stay relatively inexpensive. After scouring the internet, I decided to create magnetic bottle caps. Once I acquired all of the supplies, this was a pretty simple task!

I purchased a pdf file from an Etsy seller and was able to add player names so each magnet is personalized. Here are a few photos of what I did.

After printing the sheet of personalized softballs off my printer using card stock, I used a 1 inch circle paper punch to cut them. Then, using double sided tape, I secured them to the inside of the bottle cap in which, I had used a black Sharpie around the outer edge to create a “framed” look.

After securing the softball to the inside of the bottle cap, I topped it off with a clear plastic self adhesive circle. This makes the artwork stand out and gives it a more finished look. I also attached a strong magnet to the back.

So, I’m done, and on to another project!

My sister actually made something to keep for herself! She’s always so busy creating everything from purses to dresses to quilts, but she either gives them away or sells them. This time, she made something for herself and I think she did a beautiful job. This is her new table topper!

Hair bows are a must have accessory for any softball player in Texas! In fact, the high school team assigns dates to each player that they are to bring in hair bows for the team. My daughter’s first date is this Thursday, so I spent the weekend making 18 bows. Now they can be any design, but I like to go with something the girls prefer because then I know there is a chance that they might actually wear them more than once!

This is my tutorial on making a “stacked” hair bow.

Supplies for each bow:

• 2 1/2″ grossgrain ribbon, cut 2, 11 inches each
• 2 1/2″ or narrower ribon, cut 2, 9 inches each
• 1/4 inch wide ribbon, cut 1, 3 inches
• hair clip of choice (I use a 3 1/4″ curved hair clip)
• button or other decoration of choice
• floral wire
• wire cutters
• glue gun

Step 1: Using glue gun, glue together ends of each cut ribbon to form 4 circles of ribbon

Step 2: Put the 2 like pieces of ribbon together, using a piece of floral wire, approx. 6 inches in length to tie them together in the middle. Repeat for both sets of ribbon. You will now have 2 pieces. From the larger set (in this case, the black/white checked), use the wire cutter to trim off excess floral wire.

Step 3: Place smaller ribbon set on top of larger ribbon set and use the excess floral wire to tie the top to the bottom. You will now have 1 piece.

Step 4: Turn ribbon set upside down, apply hot glue to center and press hair clip into hot clue. Let this set for about a minute before going to next step.

Step 5: Using one hand to open hair clip, place a dot of hot glue inside clip and immediately press wrong side of 1/4″ ribbon onto dot. Place a 2nd dot of hot glue on top of the ribbon now attached to the clip and immediately wrap 1/4″ ribbon around the bow and back to the clip pressing the opposite end of 1/4″ ribbon into the glue dot inside the clip. Cut off any excess 1/4″ ribbon.

Finally, and this step is optional, add button or other decoration to hair bow using hot glue.

This post brought to you by I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. All opinions are 100% mine.

As I’ve mentioned on this blog numerous times, I have high cholesterol.  I manage my cholesterol through diet and prescription medication.  One of the items in my refrigerator that I probably use more than any other ingredient, is butter.  I have sticks of real butter for use in some recipes, but for the most part, I use butter that comes in a tub.  In other words, it’s not exactly real butter.  But, that’s okay, because it tastes like butter and it’s way lower in fat and all the things that can cause my cholesterol levels to go up.  I started out using a certain brand of tub butter, but recently switched to I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread.  Even my husband noticed the difference and we really like the taste!

Imagine my surprise when I learned about the Toast to the Red Carpet – LIVE, presented by I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! inviting movie fans to watch the live stream on Facebook, February 26 from 3-4pm (PST).  Celebrities will be dishing about the red carpet fashions plus there will be a culinary expert dishing real yummy foods along with recipes so we can make them at home too.

Speaking of recipes, here’s one I enjoy making because it tastes good and is super quick & easy.

First, cut chicken breasts into cubes.  Do the same thing with veggies like yellow squash, zucchini and bell peppers (use red, green & yellow).  Spray all of the ingredients with “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” cooking spray, making everything good and wet.  Toss everything with rosemary and lemon zest.  Put it all onto skewers and pop into the broiler.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through, turning at least once.  After removing from the broiler, spray again lightly with the cooking spray and sprinkle with lemon juice.

I like to serve my kabobs with brown or dirty rice and a side salad.  This is a quick, tasty and low fat meal.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter is giving me a coupon for a FREE tub of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread and I’m passing that coupon along to one lucky reader.  To win, leave a comment on this post telling me why you will be watching the Toast to the Red Carpet – LIVE, presented by I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!

All comments must be posted by midnight February 26 (CST) and only 1 comment per person please.  Also, you must have a mailing address in the U.S.A.  Don’t forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner!