Square Pot Holder

May 31, 2011 ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ 1 Comment

From this book:

This is my all time favorite pot holder pattern. I’ve made these a number of times over the past couple years, I’m spoiled now and I won’t buy ready made pot holders. I’ve become somewhat of a pot holder snob as these have spoiled me!

This is my favorite set so far. How appropriate for a kitchen linen are vegetables? And look at those vibrant, feel good colors. Here’s a shot of the the opposite patchwork style side:

I followed the instructions as written for each pot holder, with these exceptions:

1. I omitted the grommet because I don’t hang my pot holders. I keep them in the drawer next to the stove.

2. I substituted 1 panel of 9″ x 9″ Insul-Bright for the 2 panels of 9″ x 9″ cotton batting and I substitued 2 panels of 4″ x 9″ Insul-Bright for the 2 panels of 4″ x 9″ cotton batting. I find that the Insul-Bright gives just a bit more protection from the heat than does the two layers of cotton batting.

Here’s a close up of the quilted hand covers:

Coupon Clutch

May 23, 2011 ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ 1 Comment

Here it is, the aforementioned project. It was actually complete about a week ago, but our trusty camera quit, so we had to purchase a new one. I LOVE this clutch. It is very roomy inside and easy to thumb through to find my coupons. Here’s a shot of the inside:

And here’s a side shot of the expandable divider pockets (love those!):

The embroidery design I chose is a simple blueberry pattern from a free design CD that was included in a past issue of Creative Machine Embroidery magazine. Here is a close-up of the embroidery:

I can see some future Christmas gifts in the works!

I also have a review of a knit top that I sewed, but I must wait for DH to come home from work tonight to be my photographer.

A New Endeavor

May 11, 2011 ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ 2 Comments

Here’s a sampling of but a few of the coupons I’ve cut in the past few days. Extreme Couponing on TLC fascinates me and I must delve into the world of coupon obsession. Okay, mine won’t be an obsession, but it is really cool to get items for free or for a drastically reduced cost. I don’t aspire to even come anywhere near the savings of the coupon collecting elite on TLC’s Wednesday night show, but I did use 20 coupons when I purchased my groceries this morning.

All these coupons (and the fact that they fell out of the paper clip that secured them while I was shopping, and I had to re-collect them all from the Commissary floor) tells me I must come up with some kind of tote for them. Which leads me to sewing – but of course, doesn’t everything lead to sewing?! Enter the May/June 2011 issue of Creative Machine Embroidery magazine.

Ta-Da! My next sewing project. I already have the fabric selected from my stash and I’m ready to go. I must take care of some personal family business for the next few days, but hopefully I will have my new coupon clutch ready for next week’s grocery shopping trip.

Do you clip coupons? If so, in what do you carry your coupons?