And I Haven’t Even Started Yet

On Friday Bonnie Hunter posted the first step for her Celtic Solstice mystery and I have yet to cut the first strip.  This would be because I have been pulled from the studio every day this weekend.  I would be starting tomorrow but I will be out Christmas shopping with my daughter, a Christmas tradition we enjoy even when we can’t find much that we like.

I did, however, get a couple of things done.


This is the start of a new project.  It all started because I like soup and because I found a tutorial, which I can’t seem to find again, that I understood.  In the tutorial we were to cut 10” squares of batting and fabric to make the Microwave Hot Bowl Pads.  But as I read about it it seemed it was going to be a lot of quilting on a DSM, something I am really not good at.  So above you see a piece of fabric lying on just batting.  Set up this way I quilted enough fabric to make 1/2 of the 4 bowls.  Then I repeated it with the second piece of fabric.  Oh, the batting is held on my frame with magnets: worked GREAT!

 And here is the underside, cut to 10” and you can faintly see the cross marks and a circle in the middle.











Each piece of batting was paired with a piece of fabric and then I sewed around the circle.  I decided to sew twice so it was firmly set.  Then darts were sewn at each of the quarter lines.











Two pieces are sewn together, right sides together leaving about a 3 1/2” opening.  Then the fabric sides are pulled out and all the corners are poked until they are as sharp as they can be with two pieces of fabric and two pieces of batting in them.   This part is not easy but if we don’t want to burn our fingers we really need those two battings.  In this picture I have the clamps holding the edges tight so I can top stitch the opening closed.





And here I go around the edge with a 1/4” edging.














OK, so here it is, done.  But see how flat it looks. 







But see how it cradles the bowl.  Now I can put soup in the bowl, the bowl in the pad and put both in the microwave.  Then when the soup is hot I can just reach in and take both out together without fiddling with a pot holder or burning my fingers.  I am pleased.












I did finish one of my so called Christmas socks and have begun the second one.  I had put these aside to finish a couple of others so I really have to knit fast now to have them for Christmas.  I chose that as my deadline because the yarn has a metallic thread in it making it more festive than the other yarns I have.










I said we will be Christmas shopping but in reality I have almost all my shopping done.  Tomorrow morning, before DD gets here I will be pulling all of the gifts out, checking them off of my Christmas list, and preparing for the dreaded wrapping marathon.  I love shopping for or making gifts for my family but I really dislike wrapping presents.  So I hope to have that all done by Wednesday.

And lastly, this week DH and I are going to see
The Trans Siberian Orchestra.  This is our season for GREAT music.  And from the look of this picture it is going to be quite spectacular. 

But because of this “going” thing, I better get in the studio and get busy cutting and sewing because Bonnie will be posting Step 2 on Friday and I want to be ready.

Wish me luck and have yourself a Great Week.   Gari