The Crab Dip Placemat

Earlier this summer I attended the Three Rivers Art Festival and just had to buy this adorable crab dip dish and cracker plate. I had a bridal shower coming up and knew this would be a great gift. The pottery was made by Francine Zajac from Washington, PA. Francine's web site  shows many of her functional items including brie bakers and chip and dip plates.  I was quite taken with her pieces so my daughter-in-law and I couldn't leave without purchasing a few.

I always like to make a handmade item to go with my gifts so I found quilting fabric that went so well with these pieces.  I decided to do an applique of a crab in the center and quite luckily found this free crab applique on Designs by JuJu  http://www.designsbyjuju.com/free-applique-crab?___SID=U.

I absolutely love this set of pottery with the placemat and had a hard time giving it as a gift!

Here is the crab dip recipe that came with the pottery:

Hot Crab Dip

1 can crab meat                      1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

8 oz. cream cheese                 1 tsp. onion powder

2 Tblsp. mayonnaise                Parmesan Cheese

1 Tblsp. lemon juice

Combine crab, cream cheese and mayonnaise.  Add lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Put in crab dish and top with Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

My Singer 99 - What a Beauty!!

I didn't feel like sewing tonight but was bored so I decided to get one of my vintage Singers working.  I have this little 3/4 Singer 99 that was given to me by a former co-worker.  He had found it in his aunt's house and no one really wanted it so he gave it to me a few years ago.  I looked it up online and it was born in October 1955.  I really do not think it was used hardly at all.  I did not get a manual with it but I was able to find the manual online free so I proceeded to oil the many places indicated.  The manual says to oil every 8 hours of sewing - I find that amazing because I also have a vintage Singer 66 that my mom and I sewed furiously on  for decades and probably oiled once a year.  My 66 was well used and looks way worse for the wear than this beauty.

 

So after a really good oiling - I figure it hadn't been run since the 50's - I just ran her for a few minutes with no thread to get the oil all through her.  Then I was able to wind a bobbin (one I had from my 66) and threaded her.  Here are my first rows of stitching.  I didn't even have to mess with the tension.  This machine has a great rhythmic clickety clack of a mechanical sewing machine.

I didn't get any extra attachments other than the seam guide with this machine but I do think my ruffler, hemmer foot, gathering foot and 15/16 binder from the 66 will fit her.  I don't have a zipper foot but I doubt that I will be inserting any zippers with her anyways.  I really like the skinny feed dogs and may actually do some piecing with this machine.

I guess next I will clean up the 66 and see if I can get her running.  The 66 was born in 1948 and my Singer Treadle, according to it's serial number, was born in 1910.  Both of these will take alot more work than the 99.  Jobs for the cold snowy days of winter!

Zipper Bag Made in the Hoop

So I had bookmarked a design for a zippered bag made in the hoop. It has a lining and all seams are concealed. I finally bit the bullet and bought the design. Actually not a bad deal since it has the design for six sizes of hoops - from 4x4 through 8x14.  It is from Digistitches http://www.digistitches.com/easy-zipper-bags-2-in-the-hoop.html



I want to make a few items for door prizes for my golf league and thought a small golf bag with our league name on it would be useful. So I added our name to the front and used golf fabric. Usually my first try at a pattern has issues but this bag came out perfect. The zipper is added in the hoop so no other sewing is needed. I made the 5x7 and it is a perfect size for some tees and a few ball markers plus a phone. Next I will try the 4x4 size for a change purse.  I can see that this design will get a lot of use!

Whipped Up This Purse

A few weeks ago my hubby and I decided at the last minute to go to a Pro golf tournament taking place locally.  As I was looking online for tickets I noted that no purses or bags larger than 6"x6" were allowed.  Wow that is really small! I had a few that would fit into that size but they were clutches and I wasn't going to spend a whole day carrying it around. I needed something that would hang over my shoulder.  I knew I had no purse that small but figured I could whip up something with a shoulder strap for the next morning.  I have a slew of 7 inch square blocks made up that will one day become a quilt but no time soon. These blocks already have a backing on so I figured I could pick two, put them together with a zipper and seam it up.  I really had no cord for the strap that matched it so I used uncovered ecru cording and my little shoulder bag was born.  My only supplies needed were 2 quilt blocks, a zipper that I cut to size and cording - all found in my sewing room and a 1/2 hour of my time.

It held my iPhone, change purse and a comb.   It is almost like a little disposable bag but will come in handy another day I am sure. Actually it may be great to use when I go to the occasional casino since I like to carry little with me when I go to one.

Crayon Holders Made In The Hoop

Last weekend I went to my son's for a cookout and knew some young children would be there.  I had gotten an embroidery design for a crayon holder from Cassandra's Embroidery Designs http://www.cassandrasembroidery.com/CrayonChalkRollupWithBonus.htm quite some time ago but had never used it.  It is intended to hold the crayons and roll up but the pocket on the back was perfect for a small coloring book so I put one in for each holder. The only thing I changed in the pattern was that it called for water soluble stabilizer and I found that tear-away actually worked better.  This is a perfect small gift for young children and can be made in less than 1/2 hour.