Sylvia's Simple Shots

The progress on the slow stitching scroll continues.

I found this button in a .50 cent bag of buttons when I visited the thrift store in Wetaskiwin while on a visit with my sister.

It matches really well the colors in the backing fabric of the scroll.

It is a shell button and measures about 1.25 inches across.

You can see a hint of the tie I created as well.

We had a good dump of snow overnight.

I was glad I did not have any place I had to be and could just hunker down till the roads were cleared.

I have simplified my method of keeping the bobbin with the matching spool of thread.

It is a simple elastic band about 3-4 inches long. I push one end through the bobbin then pull both ends over the top end of the spool.

The expensive gadgets I bought were a total waste of money.  Several broke the first time I put a bobbin on them.

This bands are cheap as dirt and can be replaced instantly should one decide to fail.

Happy with this new system.  Easy to add to the system as well as I have box of 100s at my disposal.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.  I have read several of her books and enjoyed them a lot.

The story of 4 Chinese mother and daughters in their early years and their later years.  It was a lot of characters to keep track of.

This one was a disappointment.  The conflict between mothers and daughters was not fun to read about.  I did enjoy the beginning and the end had some wonderful bits in it.

I found a tin at the ReUse Center for my ORTs.

Orts are the leftover snips of thread that remain when you are done stitching. They may be be tiny bits clipped when you run out of thread, or longer lengths you no longer need.

I love the green shamrocks on the lid and it looks like it originally held a wonderful confectionery.

As you can see the box is full of fluffy threads.

Perfect!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I made Raspberry Bavarian to remind me of my wonderful Mom.  This was my favorite of the desserts she made with the raspberries in her garden patch. Used frozen berries.

I did grate a bit of dark chocolate on top and added a Simple Pleasures Cranberry and Citrus cookie.

You can find the recipe in this post - Raspberry Bavarian.  

I miss her a lot!

On Monday, I walked to Fabric Land while my car was at the dealership for services.  It was great to have decent weather I could walk 20 minutes.

I needed sewing machine needles because I broke a couple working on my ReUsable bags.  While I was there I came across these Bobbin Mates which help to keep the spool of thread with the matching bobbin. The price was good for 12.  I would use these for my regular thread that I use often - white, black, grey, navy and brown maybe. 

They work great.

Fabric Land was having a huge sale on mask elastic.  This is perfect for the elastic on my ReUsable Bags so considering it was 70% off I bought 10 yards of each color - black and white.  

I had worked out that I could use the elastics off disposable masks which easily break and I had a few in my stash that I had not thrown away.

That elastic was for sale at the fabric store as well but I thought is narrow stuff would be more versatile and stronger in the long run.

It was a week of doctor visits, blood work, xrays, ECGs, IV lines and a ride in an ambulance with a visit to Emergency. Answering a lot of questions and trying to remember what happened when.  It's been a bit of a time since Jan 6th and I hope the worse is over.  I still have specialist appointments to come.

The results were negative and I was lucky to have my aunt give me a ride home.

Thanks so much!

I bought a few music CDs for the hospital where Mom spent her last hours.  They gave us a big room and a CD player with a couple of CDs.  They were Mom's favorites. Fortunately, my neice was able to find stuff on line.

This is more of the type of music which we chose for Mom.

I will drop them off next time I am there.

This is a small flower vase which was Mom's.  All summer she had a small vase of garden flowers on the table.  Cosmos was one of her favorites and they are a great cut flower.

She grew Pansies, Nasturtiums, African Daisies, Impatiens, Lavetera and more I am sure.  She used carrot tops for a bit of green foliage in her bouquets. 

This is a Vintage 1960's Avon urn jar for bath product - my web research tells me.  I see that it once had a stopper.  I am not sure when Mom got it but she liked it and used it every year.

Will I ever have a cut flower garden?  Sure would like that very much.

We shall see.

I finished this book this week.  Jinnie by Josephine Cox.   I think this is my third book by this author.

It is set in England in 1963 with some events having taken place 10 years earlier.  A great story of tragic events and the love of a woman for an abandoned baby.  Sister who are polar opposites and grandmothers who step into the gap for their families.

I mostly enjoyed this book.  The grandmothers one was Sarah and the other Sally so I often confused them.  The story was all concluded in the final few pages of the book which seemed incongruous with the timeline and pace of the first 90% of the story.

Always enjoy England as a setting.  The story took some pretty steep curves at the end but all things turned out well after all.

I started back with areobics this week now that the knee is improving.

This is the easiest work out I have.  When I worked a groups of us girls would close up the board room and do this 1 mile 30 minute routine then have our lunch.

I started again with the 1 mile this week. Taking it easy but at least getting back to my life before my inactivity took a toll on my body.

Bernina 830 Sewing Machine & 1st Project

The new to me 1972 Bernina 830 Sewing Machine arrived yesterday thanks to my sister and brother-in-law.   I purchased it in late February through my sister then I started making the space to house it!  Then COVID hit and life changed.  I have continued to clear, de-clutter, and get rid of stuff and last week there was space for it. 

I have placed it in front of the window so that the light will be the best most of the time.   There is enough room on the right for me to access the window to open, clean or get out if I needed to.

You can see the ironing station on the right hand side.   The cutting and pinning station of the craft table is behind the desk and on the left hand side.  That makes a very good working triangle where everything is at hand but there is enough room to work.

The desk has a lifting mechanism which allows it to be stored in the desk, then the machine level to the desk top and then higher still to access the free arm feature of the machine.  It works really well and I will get some lubricant to help it work a little better.

I created Thread Bobbin storage in a Ferraro Chocolate box. I love the clear lid so I can see the contents.  I created the channel organizer with 80lb text paper.  I cut a piece 16 T x 8.25 W inches then scored it every inch.  Then it was a matter of creating the channels to hold the bobbins. I taped the edge on the right to the bottom of the box. As you can see I have expansion room.

I decided to store the sewing machine needles in the space left. 











I used the same boxes for Thread Storage.  They are deep enough to accommodate most spools. I organized the thread by first separating the polyester from the cotton. 

The ones displayed are the polyester which I have the most of.  The spools were organized by color into separate boxes. Reds and pinks, neutrals (black, white and beige), 2 boxes of blues then a box of yellow and greens.

My niece made this Needle storage tag book for my birthday.  It is tag shapes with ribbon sewn to them then protected with a clear one on top. 

The label at the top allows me to remember what I have stored there.  Sometimes you have to switch out needles but you don't want to return it to the new ones.  This system allows me to store it here until I need it again.

These small wooden boxes were made by my brother-in-law when we needed boxes for selling cards at craft sales.  I have not used them for a couple of years because I bought a large card display.  They fix perfectly in this drawer and makes use of all the space.

Small cutting tools, my rotary cutter and blades, measuring tapes, pins straight and safety.

This is the extra hook on the pole where my African Violet lives.

The light on the right hangs over the craft table.


I refurbished it's lace cover today.  I cut the lace in half so that I will have the same fabric for the other light.
I hemmed the top edge then added a white grosgrain ribbon along top of the wide hem on the bottom.  It is a single layer which allows more light to get through.

I will be getting another hanging light for the extra hook which will give me lighting on the left hand side of the sewing desk which likely will be needed when sewing at night. 

It is very exciting to have a dedicated sewing space where everything will be close at hand.  Keep an eye out for quilts in the near future.

Share Your Cup #242 - This week

This was tea this afternoon. 
I sliced a Granny Smith green apple and included a couple oatmeal cookies.

I made some of my original favorite Chai tea which was Rooibos Chai Tea from Tea Desire.  A bit of honey and some cream. Delicious. 

I served it in a new cup.  I love big mugs but the
jumbo yellow ones I have had for years were getting too much so I was looking to come down in size a bit.  This is the second smaller one to join the row above the tea cabinet. Designed by Laurie Gates from California.  I researched the mug and found the collection had 6 bright colors but I got the color I wanted, yellow!

I found some of the blue and white tea related items Margie mentioned a while back.

I found the tea towel was too much of a turquoise color so I left it but I brought the Primose Hill napkins.  At 13 inches they would like be considered dinner napkins. 

They worked really well with my Chelsea Garden tea cup and dessert plate set. I love the scallop edge and the small flower pattern.  They will go well with several of my blue and white dishes.

I met my aunt at a sewing store yesterday as she was picking up a piece for her machine.  I had not been there before and expected they would have fabric. Not really, it is a machine store with sewing, embroidery and serger machines.  I was a bit early so I browsed around. There was thread, needles, notions, feet, stabilizer, a bit of fabric and a clearance section. 

This is where I found these gorgeous espresso colored large sewing machine bobbins.  The are 1 inch in diameter and 3/8" tall.  The lady asked if I knew they would fit my machine.  I said no I don't have a machine I have a camera.  These will be great for photography props!! The are for an industrial single needle sewing machine.

This is a sweet little book that came my way this week. 

It has many ways to do something for others. Those who are hurting, struggling, in need of practical help or spiritual help, those we live with or near - our family.

Some of the chapters are Friendship, Affirmation, Forgiveness, Comfort, Celebration, and Tradition.  It includes several nice recipes, gift ideas, and traditions. 

One she mentions is setting aside time after school for her children, to talk, be together and have a snack.  This led to many wonderful conversations and the college girls still like to have time with Mom at 3:00 pm when they visit.

I made this card for a large blog hop being hosted by Coffee Loving Cardmakers.  They have a few per year and this one is the Spring one.  All the cards have to be coffee, tea or cocoa related.  It is a lot of fun and the links are nearing 1000. 

You can find the details about my card here.

The blog hop here.

I am sharing this post with
Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson who hosts Share Your Cup #242

Bernideen at Friends Sharing Tea

Ruth at Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Have a great day!