Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Four more sleeps

Good Morning to all
Let me begin by thanking Madame Samm for this amazing opportunity, the time she puts into each event is a blessing to all of us that want more information
I have loved all the post to date and wish I had time to make them all, but with just four days left they must be EASY
so hopefully you find this one to be that way, and if you made yesterdays you are well on your way
Here at the shop we call it the turned baby blanket, or self binding, but have added a new twist for the hollidays
your first will take about 1 hour
your second under
A quick and easy table topper

This is what you will need
TWO  yes 2 fabrics


one needs to be 10 inches bigger than the other
the smaller piece will be the focal point
and the larger will be the border
If you are using 60 inch wide fabric you will be able to make a much larger table topper, but for today we are using our
standard 45 inch wide cottons
this is awsome when made from two pieces of flannel
for a baby recieving blanket
but today we are going to make a christmas table cloth
or maybe one for after christmas as time is short 


you will start by squareing up your two pieces
to do this you will fold your fabric in half and measure from each
fold out the same distance, cut as needed to keep square

for the focal point fabric you will measure mark and cut
16 inches from the fold both ways
this will give you a 32 inch square

for the border you will do the same making your
measurment from each fold 21 inches
this will give you a 42 inch square

*note you may be able to make it slightly bigger if the fabric allows
but for today we will stick with these measurments*

now find the middle of both pieces of fabric on all four sides
PIN the two pieces together right sides together


PIN ALONG ALL FOUR SIDES
your bottom or bigger piece will have access on the
corners we call this the elephant ear don't worry it is suppose to
look like this
sew all four sides
ending a 1/4 inch from each end of the short piece
 AND LEAVING A TURN HOLE ON ONE SIDE
Once this is done remove your pins
we are going to 45 your corners
this is a little tricky so stay tuned

DO NOT TURN YOUR FABRIC YET

take each corner and fold with the shorter piece on the inside
matching your seam to the end
yours will actually be sewen not just pinned


lay your ruler on the corner placing the 45 degree line running along your unfinished edges NOT THE FOLD
you will do this on each corner
drawing a line
then sewing each corner

IMPORTANT!
DO NOT CUT YET
TURN THROUGH YOUR TURN HOLE AND MAKE SURE YOU MARKED IT AND SEWED IT CORRECTLY
I am not yelling just making a point

You want your corners to come to a 45
once you are happy with your corners you can cut them leaving a 1/4" fabric from stiching

Turn, lay out nice and flat iron creases on your border and a nice 45 on all four corners

stitch closed your turn hole
either by hand or by machine
if you know how to use your fancy stitches
this may be the time


for all of you out there hop on over to my blog and leave a comment
become a follower and two thats right 2 lucky people will recieve a kit in the mail
sadly after christmas.....

Happy Holidays to all
this give away will close December 23rd at midnight
Thanks for stopping by I appriciate each one of you, and enjoy reading your comments.

Friday, December 2, 2011

wind and destruction

Its December and you would think it is going to get cold and snowy
It has a bit
But the worst has been the wind
last Sunday November 27th it was
my Daughters
16th Birthday
this is my baby

the day was planned
time with family a dinner
and a nice evening together
at noon the wind came up
nothing new here in Southern Alberta
we were going into the city to buy a book for the
Birthday girl, Mr Sugar was securing the baby seat in the car
no I do not have a baby, I have grandkids
he came in and said there is smoke to the west
5 min later his fire pager went off and they called the town over to respond, 5 min later they called Raymond to respond
so off goes Mr. Sugar
( 19 year vetran of our volunteer fire dept.)
this was no ordinary fire with it came winds gusting to 150km hour or 100 miles an hour
in other parts of the world this is concidered
a hurrican or tornado force winds, here in alberta its normal
we don't like it and why we live here I am not sure but we do.

this fire burned 30 km had 9 fire dept. all Volunteer
and many Hutterite colonies that hauled water to the trucks and worked hard to make fire breaks
these pictures are taken from Raymond which is 20km from the fire the second picture is from Stirling and is 30 km from the fire, the flames shot so high and burned so bright that you thought it was much closer
these fire fighters fought hard and lost no one structure
We were not the only fire in SA about 2 hrs later a fire broke out on the westside of Lethbridge these men and women fought just as hard but because it is more populated the outcome was much different

the next morning we could see the damage in our own yard
this is whats left of the play house Mr. Sugar and Sugar Son in Law built for mothers day this year
Yes I want to cry
Mr Sugar says he can put humpty back together again

So now we look forward to Christmas
my Texas children fly home on the 14th
can't wait to see that little guy
its been 3 months and skyp just does'nt cut it

Tonight is Christmas on Main street here in
good old Raymond
I will take pictures and share with you later