What I’ve been up to

in my new greenhouse… Growing about a million or so tomato plants, and half as many pepper plants. Seemed like it, anyway, but probably more like just over 200 tomatoes about 50 peppers. Mostly heirloom varieties. Far too many to keep, so I’ve been hauling them down to the local Farmers Market for the past three (rainy) Saturdays. Managed to sell most of them. What I have left are the “exotic” varieties that ripen green or black. And, for some reason, the Amish Paste – only sold one out of 30-some plants. The Super Italian Paste went quick enough. Perhaps I should have renamed them “Super Amish Paste”! Adding the unsold plants to those I held back for my own planting (2 of each of 12 tomato varieties), I have about 90 tomato plants to stick in the ground somewhere. And about 30 pepper plants – mostly hot peppers.

My vegetable garden still has a tonne of dirt mixed with rocks sitting of it from last year’s renovations, so it’s not likely that I’ll be able to use that this year. I guess there’s always the front yard. I promised all of the would-be buyers that I’d be dragging truckloads of green and black tomatoes back to the market come summer! Need to start shopping for a pressure cooker. I have dozens of herb plants that I have to repot now and take to the market.

And what have I been sewing lately? Not a lot. My new needle plate arrived and my sewing machine is happy again. Even though I pounded my old plate back into shape, I noticed when I compared it to the new one that it was still missing a spring. Anyhow, the machine is humming along, but I wasn’t. For weeks, it seemed like every time I sat down to sew, I’d make another big, ugly mistake that would take time to correct. After I ruined the third of the clutches, I gave up and went out the greenhouse. You can’t tell by the picture, but I sewed too close to the zipper on the top clutch and can’t zip it without catching material in it. The one on the bottom, I made a mess of the inside pocket. The latest one… I unstitched it today so I can redo it properly.

Too much on my mind lately, I think. I was better off in the greenhouse. But now that the tomato rush is over, maybe I’ll get back to sewing. Especially if it’s going to rain on every weekend.

Until next time,

Awwwwww

Nothing but pure fluff in this post. Baby bunnies at Desert Hills Ranch in Ashcroft yesterday. Happy Easter!

Spring fabrics

Working on some cute little clutches using bright, spring-like fabrics – by Kate Spain, I think. I bought them as remnants, so I don’t quite recall. I was looking through my fabrics last night to pick out some more selections and every time my hand went to some intricate or dark colour and pattern, I had to remind myself to keep it light and happy!

I learned two new things in making this clutch – I made piping for the first time, using an inch and a half strip of fabric to cover some butcher’s twine. I’ve since bought myself a piping foot, but this was made using just my regular straight stitch foot. I love the way it accents the little clutch. A little bulky by the zipper – the next one I make, I may clip the butchers cord back so that I don’t have to sew over it with the zipper – but it still worked.

The second thing was these cute little “brad” flowers. I bought them at Michaels in a package of 50. They’re metal with a double prong on the back – like a magnetic clasp. So you pierce the fabric, open the clasp – I used an extra little piece of firm stabilizer to hold it in place – and that’s about it. I don’t think they’d go through the washing machine very well, so I wouldn’t want to use them on anything that’s going to be tossed in with the laundry. But… I like the way they look here.

And inside… Still working on getting those welt pockets looking better. Not happening yet. It’ll come. Like the zippers. I bought myself a new zipper foot (along with the piping foot, and also a beading foot) which I used to install this zipper. I like it much better. The new foot is the longer one. The shorter foot came with the machine, and I’ve been using it for the past three years or so, but I’ve never been happy with it. I’ve only used the long foot once, but it seems to hold everything down better and helps me sew more evenly. It’s possible that I’m just making excuses for all of the bad zipper sewing that I’ve done in the past, but I really think the new foot has made a difference.

I mentioned in the post before the last one that Mr. ZQ had gone to visit his folks after his dad broke his hip. Well, all of the medical tests and procedures uncovered a nasty and virulent form of lung cancer, and his dad passed away on Thursday. I guess the positive spin on that is Mr. ZQ had time to spend with his parents before his dad passed away, and his dad didn’t linger for months or years in agony as some cancer patients do. It’s sad that another good man has left the Earth, but he’s left behind him a large and loving family. Rest in peace, Ron.

To market, to market

Well, I hammered my needle plate back together and I ordered a new one. It hasn’t arrived yet, but the old one is working satisfactorily for now. Even did some FMQing with it. That’s a thing about living in a small town – the resources, like repair shops, aren’t there so you learn how to do things yourself!

So I finished the Farmers Market Tote. One down, three to go. I’m hoping to make some to sell at our Farmers Market in May – did I tell you that already? I really like this pattern. It’s simple but stylish. And it’s big – it uses a lot of fabric! So use something inexpensive. The feature fabric – Moda’s “Odds and Ends” - was on sale for $3 per meter, the straps and outside pocket are canvas which was about $5 per metre, and so was the muslin which I used for the inside of the bag. The green fabric on the bottom came from the thrift store, so it was real cheap!

I used some of the sewing machine’s fancy stitches on the handle. Doesn’t cost anything, but it makes it look a little bit “special”! I wanted to silk screen the market logo on the pocket, but I don’t have everything I need for it. So I used a t-shirt transfer sheet that I printed on my inkjet. It worked well, though I don’t care for that shiny bit that makes up an iron-on transfer. Still, it doesn’t look bad, but I am working at getting the stuff  or silk screening together. I have soooo much “stuff” for all sorts of crafts, but there’s always just one more thing that you need.

Until next time,

Busted

I suppose it was bound to happen. Almost three years without any major problem. Until this morning. Burning the midnight oil, it was, in fact just after midnight. After weeks of working on a market design and testing different methods, I finally found one that worked. So it was time to put everything together. It was going so well last night that I didn’t want to stop. But my machine called it quits for me. It might have been the six layers of canvas, two layers of batting and one layer of cotton, but I don’t think so. I’ve been a bit concerned with the needle plate on my Janome 7700 for a little while now. Although it hadn’t given me any problems, it just didn’t seem quite right. Maybe I wasn’t taking care of it properly. Anyhow, it looks like it needs to be replaced, and the machine won’t work until it is.

Pity that my repair shop is in another city and is only open Monday through Friday – same hours that I work. It’ll be a challenge to get there. I could send Mr. ZQ in to get it fixed, but he’s in Fort St. John for a couple of weeks visiting his parents. His dad had a bad fall at the beginning of February and has limited mobility. His mom’s been using a cane for the past two years, so she’s having great difficulty trying to assist her husband! They’re both very stubborn. So, either I find a temporary fix for my Janome, or else I pull my little Bernina out of the basement. It’s time she got a workout, though she doesn’t have the fancy stitches that I used on the handles. And I’m not thrilled about going back to that narrow throat for FMQ-ing. But, it is what it is.

I was working on this Farmers Tote when she stopped. And, like other free patterns I’ve tried to share in the past, today when I look for it, the link is broken. It’s just a simple tote with a pocket on the front by Maggie Makes. No zippers, no snaps! As I say, it was going together quite nicely, and I was even happy with my FMQ-ing.

Until next time,

Friday Furball – A Long Winter’s Nap

  For a little more Friday Feline, go see Sarah Did It

Spring bling

Look at these beauties! I planted 216 tomato seeds on March 11 (and another 48 on March 18) and put them under the grow lights in the basement. They’re coming up! Every morning I go downstairs and talk to them, because seeing them makes me happy. In a couple of weeks I should be able to move them outside to my greenhouse. I planted 12 different varieties, most of the heirlooms. There are some cherry tomatoes, some beefsteak, some plum and some globe, or slicing, tomatoes. I’m hoping that I can sell most of them at our Farmers Market, which starts in May. The rest I’ll plant or give away – and haul the ripe tomatoes back to the Market in the Fall. I also have a bunch of herb plants to sell. I used to have an herb nursery business many years ago. It did really well, but we had to move and it wasn’t really a portable business. I started growing herbs when I was 13 and I will never stop.

Besides the plants, I’m hoping to have a few bags and things for sale. I’ve started some but I’m not getting far. I caught between co-workers with medical issues and family members with medical issues and things are very topsy turvy at the moment – and have been since the beginning of February. However, I did manage to get this great Fabric Wallet done. The pattern is not to difficult, and the result is quite nice. I made a couple of goofs, but learned some new tricks. I don’t know if it was the pattern or me, but I managed to cut most of my striped pattern the wrong way, so I had to cut a few of the pieces apart and re-sew them back together. And next time, I’ll set the magnetic clasp further back from the edge so I can topstitch next to it as the pattern calls for. I’ll also use my zipper tape on the next one to hold it in place, because this one (no picture) is messier than it needs to be.

Like the pink leopard fabric? That is so NOT me. Or, it never was before I started quilting. Now I buy and use all sorts of weird colours and designs I never thought I’d like. Or maybe it’s because I’m past 50. Anyway, it’s very roomy inside, has little pockets to hold credit card-sized cards, and has a zipper pocket on the back to hold more. But it’s still small enough that it doesn’t feel bulky when I hold it. I think I might actually take this one out in public!

I’ve been rearranging my blog page today a little bit. If you scroll down to “My Favourite Tutorials” (they aren’t mine, they’re just my favourites), you’ll notice that I’ve added a few new ones. From now on, when I recommend a free pattern/tutorial that I’ve found on the internet, I’ll place it there so you’ll have access to it if you want to try it. That’s my plan, anyway.

Until next time,