Scrap attack!

Have you noticed I haven't done much quilting lately? Reading, yes. Sewing up little gifts and whatnot, yes. But quilting, no. I couldn't take it anymore! I had to get up to my elbows in scraps and work on a quilt (or two, or three).

I started by helping Donald work on a quilt. His student teacher is leaving at the end of the week, and he wanted to make a quilt for her, so I helped him sew up blocks for a signature quilt using some pre-cut 5.5" squares that I inherited from someone somewhere down the line. He picked out the fabrics to use (from a stack of coordinating sqaures), he used the presser foot while I steering the fabric under the needle, he cut the chain pieced segments apart, and he pressed them open on the ironing board. He got a bit tired of it all, and started lamenting the fact that there were 23 kids in his class.

"I should have done this last year in kindergarten when there were only 11 of us," he sighed.

I sent the blocks in with him this morning for the teacher to have all the kids sign one, and then we'll hopefully put it together tonight with the upper and lower borders that you can see in the photo above that I made to make it more square. It is only about 30" square, and I plan to machine quilt with some straight stitches. I've even already made the binding!

I also made a couple more of my leader and ender blocks using 1.5" squares (these blocks finish 6.5" square, and the whole purpose is to use up that black floral - I had a bunch of pre-cut 4.5" squares of it that I wanted OUT of my scraps tin).


I also worked on whittling down my stash of strings because they no longer fit in my strings tin. I whipped up a couple more Virginia Bound blocks (an adaptation of a Bonnie Hunter quilt in her Scraps and Shirttails book). I love these blocks, and can't wait until I have enough to sew them together and have a quilt already! (only 37 more blocks to go...ugh! when I put it that way, it seems like it will NEVER happen!)


I've also had time this past week to work on hand quilting my Pick and Choose quilt.

No new photos, but slowly, slowly, it is coming along. Dare I say that I hope to have it done before Christmas? Did I just jinx myself?

I also want to share with everyone the bag that I received from Janet. I won a giveaway on her blog, and she made me this bag. I love it!

She made the handles in a very clever way so you can use them either long or short - genius! And check out her free motion quilting - I am in awe and so envious of her ability!

She included a beautiful fabric postcard that she made, but I forgot to take a photo of it. Thanks so much, Janet!

Thank goodness, it's November!

I swear, our lives have been consumed by Halloween in the Hutchinson household! First, all the angst about what to be. Then the angst about whether or not the costume parts that we ordered online would arrive on time. Then Friday night, we went to a costume party at the karate dojo. Saturday, after I worked all morning, I hosted a Halloween party for 11 scouts and siblings at my house, followed by a 5 kid sleepover for a Halloween Movie Marathon (kid Halloween movies, not THE Halloween movies). The extra kids were gone by noon on Sunday, and no one will be surprised that I spent the rest of the day laying about in bed with occasional trips to the kitchen for sustenance. I'm proud to say that I also managed to sweep floors, wash dishes and do two loads of laundry - but besides that, I was a complete slug!

Then, of course, came actual Halloween! We trick-or-treated til we couldn't trick-or-treat anymore! (Do you like my homemade rosary? The cross is cut from a cereal box and covered with red fabric. The beads are actually a red fish necklace that my son brought home from fish release day at school when they released the trout babies that they were raising in a tank at school.)

We will have candy until my children have children! The kids are thrilled, but all I can think about is my non-existent willpower. (sigh) Pass me another Snickers, will you?

Today, I am happy to put the costumes away, and head home after school/work to SEW! I already warned the kids that I wasn't leaving the house this afternoon or evening. Today is for me! I wonder what I will sew today...

And thank you to everyone who voted for Jason's Halloween quilt this weekend. He didn't win, but he was so tickled to see that he got votes and came in 5th!

The EASIEST thing I have ever made!

Not too much sewing going on. I think all the travel and karate build up and painting my basement burned me out, and all I've felt like doing lately is curling up with a book. My regular readers know that cozy mysteries are my books of choice. I finished the second Leann Sweeney, Cats in Trouble book, The Cat, The Professor and The Poison. Enjoyed it!


I have another Arlene Sachitano to read, but they really aren't my favorite, even with quilts involved, so I'm sitting on that one for a while. Instead, I picked up Farm Fresh Murder by Paige Shelton, the first of the Farmer's Market Mysteries. Enjoyed it!


Now I'm reading one of Maggie Sefton's Knitting Mysteries, Dyer Consequences. There's a certain formula that works for me:

• female protagonist


• making it on her own with a home business or crafting business


• character development! I don't just want to know what they do, I want to know why and how they feel about it and what scares them and what their sense of humor is like! (I think that's why I don't like Arlene Sachitano's books - there isn't much character development)

Anyway, I forced myself down into my sewing room and started working on some Christmas presents. One is for my sister who periodically reads this, so I can't share a photo, but I also worked on some stocking stuffers. I was thinking of making snap shut change purses, and I probably still will, but I also found a tutorial for a travel tissue case. I started with one for myself, since I hate when the plastic wrap crinkles up in my purse and then the tissues appear dirty.


Oh my goodness! If this wasn't THE EASIEST THING I have EVER made! Even with the boxed corners, which, I think, makes it look much more finished (and cute!). It took so little time that I made two more while timing myself. 18 minutes from start to finish to make a pair! No way!

So I made 5 more - IN 35 MINUTES!!!

Folks, if you are looking for a quick stocking stuffer that uses up scraps and takes practically no time to make, look no further! I followed the tutorial found here. Tonight, I'm going to change my thread and make some light colored ones (I had black thread in the machine, so these were all with dark fabrics). I'm addicted! I'm almost hoping people get the sniffles so I can offer them some tissues!

Are you dressing up for Halloween? I'm going to be a nun. Not sure I can pull that off, because I sure as heck am not a saint, but I'm gonna try! And I need to hang up Jason's Halloween Quilt. Remember this, his first quilt from two years ago?

I added it to the Quilting Gallery Weekly Theme Quilt Contest. Take a peek, and if you vote for him and he wins, I promise that HE will get the fabric winnings! He is already letting me know that he needs to build his stash! Love it!

I did it!

I cried when Master Clements tied the belt around my waist. I think one of the best feelings in the world is when you surprise yourself with your own tenacity, when you do something that you never really thought you could do. Thank you all for supporting me on my Black Belt journey.

And my UKE was wearing his double pot holder from the time he opened it until the time I left the gym. I think he liked his gift.

I robbed a squirrel!

OK, so not really. But I did make "acorns" this morning to put in my kids' lunchboxes as a treat and to bring in to the office. Yummy! I got the idea from an email from the Cotton Patch Quilt Shop yesterday - did anyone else see that? I had to run out after work and get the necessary supplies because I couldn't get them off my mind!


That sugar has kept me going today because I stayed up late finishing my gift for my UKE, a reversible apron to go with the double potholder I made for him over the weekend. I'm going to add 3 cookbooks that I don't use and call it good. Here's one side:

And some detailing of the other side, which exactly the same except the fabric placement is reversed:

And here's one of my good sport co-workers modeling it for me since I wasn't sure how it would fit a 6 foot tall man (being a 5 foot tall woman myself). He is holding my "oh so hot!" candy dish. :)


I hope he likes it. But even more, I hope I do OK on this test tomorrow. Please send "kick butt!" thoughts my way tomorrow at 10 AM EST. Hopefully my next post will start,

"Hi, I'm Erin - I'm a black belt in karate - Hutchinson."

Pictures, video links, and the future Miss America!!!

The only sewing I did yesterday was sewing the binding on a hot pad that I may or may not include with my UKE gift on Saturday - it doesn't look as good as I had hoped. Other than that, it was a 13 hour day away from the house - a full day at work, arranging to have my furnace and fireplace serviced, a visit to the library, flu shots for the kids, two karate classes, a quick drive thru at KFC for dinner, and then a Board Meeting. Ugh! Can you say "exhausted"?

So no pretty quilting photos, but I realized that I haven't yet shared photos from my trip to Latin America. There aren't many because I didn't take a camera, just my phone, and the memory got used up pretty quickly.

First stop, Mexico City. While walking down a street, I came across these wings - I was wondering where I had left these!

I visited El Castillo de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Castle). It was hard to get a photo of the outside of the castle because it was up on a hill and surrounded by foliage. But inside, wow! There were several carriages: (reminds me of Cinderella)

Beautiful artwork - and I'm not just talking about the painting - that frame is wood inlaid with miniature pieces of artwork!

Lots of stained glass, including an entire hall - this is one of about 8 or 10 scenes down that hallway.

The view from the castle over the city - Mexico City never ceases to amaze me - it is SO BIG!!!

Another day I went to El Centro Historico to pick up some trinkets for the kids and some co-workers from the street vendors. There were several street performances going on.


Next stop, Costa Rica! Here's the view from the balcony of my hotel room, looking out over a putting green with the city San Jose in the distance.

It is a great hotel - the Costa Rica Marriott San Jose, and I highly recommend it for anyone stopping in San Jose. If you care to view it, here is a link to a little video of the hotel that I took for the kids on the iPad so they could visualize where I was. Video of My Favorite Hotel

But the hotel wasn't the highlight of the visit to Costa Rica - the zip lines were! On the way to the cloud forest, we stopped at a roadside bodega to get water and use the facilities. Look what was growing right outside the rest rooms - COFFEE!!

The red bean is the ripe one, and if you squeeze it, out pop two little white coffee beans surrounded by what I can only describe as vernix. Ick! I prefer my coffee beans dry and brown, already roasted.

Anyway, I bought a whole CD of photos and videos from our ziplining adventure. A highlight for me (besides NOT DYING!) was the Tarzan Swing high out over a river.
Video of Erin on Tarzan Swing

After about 8 zip lines, I was feeling cocky and even let go for a split second. While going BACKWARDS, no less!
Video of Erin doing backwards zipline

Our 12th zipline was the longest, 550 meters face down over a river - that one ride lasted well over a minute. Here I am coming in for a landing, and grinning like a fool!
Video of Erin doing Superman zipline

Next stop, Guayaquil, Ecuador. I was only there for 14 hours, including getting a night's sleep and giving hour-long presentation at 3 schools, but during my free hour before my next flight, my driver took me to El Parque de las Iguanas - yup, you guessed what that is! Freaky! There were hundreds of them just hanging out and eating lettuce out of people's hands! (NOT my hands!)


Then we went to El Barrio Las Penas, the oldest part of town displaying coastal colonial architechture built onto the side of Santa Ana hill. It has recently been rehabilitated, and it is very cool that each renovated, brightly painted building has a photo of what it looked like before mounted on a plaque on an outside wall! Here I am at the bottom on the only street in the barrio, which is lined with art galleries. (Ignore my cheezy, squinty grin)


And here I am about halfway up - I couldn't go all the way because I didn't want to miss my flight!


In Quito, I didn't do anything very touristy besides visit a museum in the historic center of town and ride the trole (best ride I've ever gotten for 25 cents!). However, I did take a photo of this, Albert Einstein rendered in chocolate - a gift from the Colegio Einstein school, one of the many schools I visited. I ate about half of him, from the feet up, before I started to feel like I was OD'ing on chocolate.


I hope you enjoyed my travelogue! And now, for something TOTALLY random...

one of my favorite students, a top scholarship winner here at W&L and one of the sweetest, most helpful people you could ever hope to meet, is competing in the Miss America pageant. Part of the competition is raising money for The Children's Miracle Network. If even just 25% of my followers donate $5, she'll exceed her fundraising goal. Wanna help me help this phenomenal young woman acheive her dreams while helping enrich the lives of sick and injured children? The link to her personal page is https://www.missamericaforkids.org/m.aspx?i=26093f0+91b7ed373&e=3e44.

I promise you, this impressive young woman is the POLAR OPPOSITE of this poor girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQdhMSEqhfg&feature=player_embedded
(wrong of me to pick on this girl, I know, and I'm probably going straight to hell, but I couldn't resist!)

A Winner, a Bobcat and a Chef!

First of all, congratulations to Angel, commenter #4, whose number was chosen by the Random Number Generator! Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway! I love seeing who is reading my blog, and there is nothing like a giveaway to make people bite the bullet and comment, instead of just lurking silently. (which, by the way, is not meant to be a derisive comment - I am guilty of silently lurking myself!)

Second of all, I am finished traveling for the year - YAY!!! As much as I love to travel, I love being home more. This weekend was a typical one:

- Donald earned his Bobcat Badge at the Cub Scout Pack Meeting on Saturday (a distinction for which you get your face painted - anyone have any spare teeth they can donate to the Hutchinson household? Or better yet, I'll rent my children out to you as Jack-O-Lanterns at a really reasonable rate!)


-He made Rice Krispy treats to bring to the meeting. See his apron? I won that in a blogging giveaway last year from Rebecca at Our Busy Little Bunch. She makes the coolest stuff and is constantly having giveaways - check her out. And see the dogs circling about waiting to scarf up anything he drops? Boy, do they know my son well! (Are dogs allowed to eat marshmallows?)


-The Black Belt Test for Karate is Saturday, October 22. I spent 5 hours at the dojo this weekend in preparation. I'm so nervous, I'm nauseous. And thrilled to pieces that by this time next week, I can say, "I am a Black Belt in karate!" I might just introduce myself that way for a while, "Hi, I'm Erin "I'm a Black Belt in karate" Hutchinson. Nice to meet you!" What do you think, too much?

Anyway, during the test, we get to demonstrate our moves on an UKE, a generous soul who sacrifices his/her body to us for the day, prepared to be thrown about just to make us look good. My UKE is a 6 ft, 20 year old Black Belt, who also fancies himself a chef, a true Renaissance Man. We are supposed to present our UKE with a gift at the conclusion of the test. I am making him some kitchen stuff - an apron, a hot pad and a double potholder. I bought what I hope he will consider "manly" fabrics while I was in WV, and started on the gift this weekend. The double potholder is done, and while not perfect, I really like how it turned out. It is nice and roomy, plenty big enough for his manly hands. I will probably make one for myself. And perhaps for some family members who like to cook.


Now to finish up with the hot pad and the apron. I also hope to make something for Jason to give his UKE, a drawstring backpack made from one of the t-shirts from the dojo. Gotta get cracking - only 5 more days...