I’ve been sewing since I was pretty young. I remember sewing with my mom and grandma, starting around the age of 7. I also remember mending my own clothes with my mom’s sewing machine in middle school. When we had to make duffle bags in Home Ec class, in middle school, the teacher was impressed that I already knew how to do it. Sewing was just part of everyday life. When I went to college I took my aunt’s old sewing machine with me. It was a turquoise Singer that my cousin’s wife has now. I did a few projects here and there and made a few quilts.

Once I got married, I upgraded. We went to Sears and I bought a great little Kenmore machine. We lived in an apartment and I would sew in a cabinet that also housed our computer. I made several quilts during that time. My queen size leaf quilt was one that I was really proud of, at the time. That Kenmore machine lasted quite a few years and then I was ready for something that did a little more.

Next, I upgraded to a Brother with a built in embroidery module. I knew absolutely nothing about embroidery. I didn’t even know that I was supposed to use stabilizer. It was an awesome machine, at the time. I made my kids Disney sweatshirts and I loved putting redwork designs on flour sack towels. This embroidery machine was one that you’d buy a cartridge of embroidery designs and insert that into the machine. It had a few built-in Disney stitches, but it couldn’t do much more than that.

My kids showed an interest in sewing, probably because I was always making something. They both wanted to learn to sew and so did my niece. Part of me wanted to teach them on my machine, but the other part of me wanted to teach them on a machine that was super simple and basic. I ended up buying a second Brother machine that had a few basic stitches and had a slider that would make the machine go from turtle speed to rabbit speed, and everything in between. My kids learned to sew on both of my Brother machines because, of course, they didn’t want to be patient and wait for the other one to finish what they were working on. In the long run, I sold my Brother with machine embroidery because the embroidery portion was outdated, but I kept the the other Brother machine. Just a few months ago, my daughter found some clothes at the thrift store and wanted to make alterations. I walked her through everything, but she did all of the sewing and hemming herself.

About 2 years ago my sewing, quilting, and embroidery life took a big twist. I’d always loved my Brother machines, but my Local Quilt Shop (Quilting Mayhem, in Snohomish) sold Bernina machines. I started doing some research about Bernina and really loved what I was reading about them. A larger machine, with more throat space, and more capabilities was sounding like my next step. I was also thinking that by buying from my Local Quilt Shop (LQS), I would be able to take classes to learn the machine and I wouldn’t be floundering as much as I was with my previous embroidery machine. I decided to do it. I bought the 770qe with embroidery module. It was not the MOST expensive one in the store. At the time, they actually had one with crystals on it. It was a mid-price range machine, but it was still pretty pricey in my opinion. I will say that I’ve used it just about every day since I bought it, with the exception of times when I’m crazy-busy, on vacation, or sick. It brings me so much happiness to sit and sew. It can be relaxing, when I need to just make half square triangles or it can be challenging when I’m ready to take on a new quilt or a new machine embroidery technique. I’ve taken two classes at my LQS and a few classes from Bernina educators. I’m amazed at what this machine can do.

Next up, came an amazing gift from a friend. A friend texted and said that she knew I already had a machine, but her dad had been gifted a Brother Quilt Club machine and she wanted to know if I could use it. Ummmm… I didn’t need to think longer than 5 seconds on that! I knew the Quilt Club machines were true work horses. If you are familiar with the single stitch Juki machines, these are similar. Right now, I have my Bernina living downstairs with all of my fabric and machine embroidery things. and my Brother living upstairs in my son’s old room/my new hobby room. This is the perfect spot to hide away and sew when my husband is working from home, downstairs.

Here are the two Brother machines, side by side, so you can see the size difference between a typical starter machine and something like the Brother Quilt Club machine.

Next on the wish list is a mid-arm or long arm machine, but I know it’s going to be a while before that happens. We have a wedding, college, and (at some point) a car or two to buy. Until then, I’ll just be sewing very patiently on one of my current machines.

Happy sewing!

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The Pacific Northwest garden can be a challenge sometimes. We tend to get a lot of rain in the spring and early summer. Hello… we are known for that in the Seattle area! But, this summer has been a garden dream come true for Pacific Northwest gardeners! It hasn’t been too hot, but we’ve had a lot of sun!

When we first moved into our house, almost 20 years ago, There were two big maple trees and this brick “roundy-round” as I call it. There was nothing in it, but it was the sunniest part of the yard. I decided that half of this area would be perennials that were well known to be good in Pacific Northwest gardens. The other half would be our veggies and herbs. As the trees have gotten taller, over the years, this area has gotten a bit shady. I’ve had to get creative with planters, placed around the yard.

I’ve recently added two raised bins, just for strawberries. I was searching for 2 different varieties of berries that grow well in the Pacific Northwest garden and discovered Ozark and typical Juneberring. They are both amazing. There is nothing like a berry that is red all the way through, as they are meant to be. I don’t grow enough to make jam. I still have to buy flats from the local farmer’s markets, but I get enough to snack on.

Basil is my absolute favorite herb, but it does not like our wet Pacific Northwest gardens. I ALWAYS plant it too soon. Then, it rots and withers away, forcing me to replant. Once the warm and dry weather sets in, my basil always does great. I devote another raised bin just to basil. I make my own pesto and we use basil in a lot of dinner recipes.

Is there anything that goes better with basil than tomatoes? I think not! Honestly, I only have three tomato plants each year, so I grow enough tomatoes to eat while I’m out watering. Once in a while, I might share with my family, but I don’t think any of them love tomatoes as much as I do anyway.

There are lots of other areas around my yard that come to life in the summer. This area used to be shaded by the neighbors trees, but they recently had them removed, making for a great flower cutting garden!

I’m not sure why the hydrangeas in my backyard are slow to bloom this year, but they are finally starting. I just counted and I have 15 hydrangea plants in my front and backyards. I guess I’m pretty fond of them!

Happy Pacific Northwest gardening!

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Hey, friends! I have a fun new crafty gardening project for you today. I made some Calendula Salve and I’ll share the recipe with you.

First off, you need some Calendula flowers. I bought some seeds online during our quarantine and planted them in my small garden. They are doing well, but no flowers yet.

Fortunately, my son got a job as a loader at Flower World. I’ve been spending a bit more time there lately (hello discount!) and they had a few Calendulas in stock.

Once the plants have bloomed, pick the flowers. I cut the stem down to the next piece of plant growth, but then cut the stems off of the flowers to dry. I bought a dehydrator this year for my herbs and it works perfectly for this project too. I put the flowers in the dehydrator on the lowest heat possible, for several days. You really want your flower petals to be dry for this project so they don’t rot in the oil. That would make some really gross Calendula Salve.

In this next picture, you can really see the difference between the dry flowers and the freshly picked flowers. Once the flowers were dry, I picked off all of the petals and put them into a Mason canning jar and filled it up with olive oil. I let that sit for about 2 weeks.

After the two weeks were up, I strained the olive oil, discarding the petals.

In a double boiler, I melted one ounce of beeswax with 1 cup of Calendula infused olive oil. I let it cool a tiny bit and then added 40 drops of orange essential oil. I was planning on using lemon essential oil, but came across my orange oil first and decided to try it. Then, all you have to do is pour it into the little tins and let it set up. I’ve been using this on my hands lately. I wash my hands so much (because… Coronavirus) that they are really dry. I’ve read that this salve is great for cuts and scrapes. The Calendula adds a healing property. So there it is, folks. I hope you’ll give it a try. It was really easy and I’m happy to be able to put these flowers from my garden to good use.

Calendula Salve:

1 ounce of beeswax

1 cup of Calendula infused olive oil

40 drops of your favorite essential oil

Happy gardening!

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Now that my kids are older (my son turns 17 tomorrow and my daughter is 13), I’ve taken back a little time for myself.  They are off doing their own things, spending LOTS of time at sports practices, plenty of time chilling in their rooms, and a good chunk of time doing homework.  Sadly, when they have spare time they don’t usually say, “Hey, mom, do you want to play a board game?”  Nope, those days are gone.

So, how do I spend my time?  I really love to cook.  I enjoy looking through cookbooks, Pinterest, and blogs to find new recipes.  If I can cook with ingredients grown in my own garden, this makes me even happier.  As much as I love to cook, I must confess something.  There are days when I ask myself, “WHY, oh why, do my children want to eat 3 times a day EVERY single day?”  I try not to use too much processed food as I’m cooking, so that makes things a bit time consuming, but I have a hard time keeping every meal on the healthy side.  I really love cheese, and cooking with butter and cream just makes things taste better.  It’s a work in progress to find healthy meal options, but I’m trying. (If I don’t try hard enough, my naturopath gently reminds me at every appointment.)

I’ve always loved to bake.  Cookies and bread tend to be my favorites.  Lately, I’ve tried to change things up and try whole wheat breads or flourless cookies.  When my kids were younger, we’d have Cookie Friday.  Our district dismisses early each Friday and I’d always have cookies ready for the kids when they got home from school.  There would usually be a handful of friends and neighbors and sometimes a cousin or two.  Those were the good old days.  Now the kids just hurry home so they can take naps.  Ah, teenagers.

Sometimes (most times) I really wish I lived in a sunnier location so I could happily enjoy my garden day in and day out.  To say that I love to be outside is an understatement.

Most of my edible garden space consists of herbs and veggies that don’t require full sun.  My neighbor’s trees have grown so tall that they shade my veggie garden.  I’m barely able to produce tomatoes any more, so I’ve just given up on things that needs tons of sun.

My basil and mini tomatoes have been moved to a plant stand on the deck.  The deck gets a good amount of afternoon sunshine and the heat reflects from the house onto the plants. Basil is probably my favorite thing to grow and we eat a lot of pesto in the summer time.

I have my fair share of perennials in the center of my yard.  I love that I don’t have to replant them every year.  Every few years, I get to divide them.  Score!  Free plants!

The best part about gardening is the end of the day.  I love the “golden hour” in my yard.  After spending the day getting my hands dirty, I absolutely love putting my feet up and enjoying the view.  I do miss the days of the kids playing on the swingset or jumping on the trampoline, but there is also something incredibly relaxing about the quiet of the backyard.

Sewing and quilting are my winter hobbies.  When I can’t spend time outside because of the relentless rain, my sewing room is my happy place.

My mom taught me to sew when I was about 7 years old and I insisted that both of my kids learn to sew.  I make all of my own home decor items.  I love making curtains, valances, pillows, and quilts.  I love the personal touch handmade items have on a home.  I’ve even been designing my own quilt patterns with a quilting program for the computer.

I’ve had to start changing pillows and quilts out seasonally because I’m running out of space. I’ve started putting zippers into my pillow covers so they are each to wash and change out frequently.

This was one of my favorite projects.  When my daughter was younger she picked out a fabric line that she thought was pretty.  I bought the fabrics and she chose a pattern that she liked.  We painted her room a color that coordinated and her new room was born.

I love looking through blogs and seeing cohesive quilts that all have the same feel, but I can’t seem to stick with one theme.  I love vintage/scrappy, French General, warm and cozy, and also whatever is new and trendy.  As much as I like the cohesion, I also like to try new things when it comes to quilting.

I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to photography.  I love trying new things with my camera.  My favorite subjects are my own kids and my YoungLife kids.  My YL kids are Juniors in high school and I feel so lucky that they’ve allowed me to follow them around with a camera on my neck, capturing memories of Summer camp and school dances.

Of course, these two have my whole heart and they know to always pack “picture clothes” every time we go to the farm or the beach.

How about you, friends?  What’s your hobby?

I’m sharing a few of my favorite photography items that are sold through Amazon.  I’m part of the Amazon Affiliates program and if you choose to purchase through Amazon, I get a teensy-tiny portion of the sale.

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