WIP Wednesday--Will The Projects Ever Be Complete?

My intent over this next week is to complete all of the cross magnets that I have magnet strips for, and to fill in all the squares for my baby blocks.  I want these done so I can use up the growing amount of yarn in this bag next to me for making the granny squares.

Monday I experienced my first work day at Quilt Guild.  We are making walker bags to be given to a cancer group.  They are going to auction off the bags to raise money for patients.  In the first photo is a group of some of the women working.  The second photo is what I have accomplished so far.  I brought home materials to make 4 of the bags.  So far I only have the first 2 steps done, so if nothing else I will do those steps  on all 4 bags then get instructions in person on how to move on.  Reminding me of high school sewing class days....asking step by step for instructions on following a sewing pattern!

Oh gosh...I only made it in to my craft room to sew twice in the last week.  Neither time was for very long.  I really wanted to have this quilt done before the end of the month...can I do it?

 I am in the process of finishing up what will be my last set of hot pads and matching coasters....for now.  I do want to use up more of the yarn already out of my stash for the granny squares.

 We met again for sewing club at church.  I'm having a lot of fun with the every week instead of just once a month.  We even had someone new join us, and hopefully she will continue to come...as well as a couple others.  We are meeting again next week as we work on finishing up quilts already started.  I had my daughter take a picture of us all working to tie this quilt top. (If you are wondering about the beds and things in the background, we host a bike hostel in our church)

 Here is my progress on the toothbrush rug.  It's not going to end up near the size I had hoped for, but I should have it finished before my post here next week.  I am going to probably not start my next one until I get some other projects done.

 Last but not least---day 32 of the Granny Square a Day 2012 challenge.  I almost have 2 rows done now!  I'm excited as each day it gets a little larger.  It's laying across our king size bed.

 

Hopefully I will have some progress on the scrappy quilt next week as well.  In the meantime, I am hooking up with the following blogs:
 

Frugal Friday Link Up--5 Uses for Milk

Welcome to Friday!
This week for me has been mostly a crafting week.  I am working on getting through my yarn stash as well as my plastic canvas stash.  I'm also working on quilting and things.  I do not want to, or need to, buy anymore craft supplies until I use up what I have!  This could take 2 or 3 years, maybe more, so I am in good shape on getting things made.

I just finished reading through a book that I want to share with you.  It's called Self-Sufficiency.  It's a complete guide to baking, carpentry, crafts, organic gardening, preserving your harvest, raising animals and more!
It's published by Skyhorse publishing, Inc and the ISBN is 978-1-60239-999-0

This is a very large hard back book, consisting of 458 pages.  There are loads of photos and illustrations to teach you how to live sustainably, live simply, and live independently.  
I'm in love with this book!  I have the link to it on amazon below.

There are 3 other books in the series--Back to Basics, Homesteading, and Simpler Living.  I intend to add all of them to my collection and really get serious about all of this!

Self-Sufficiency: A Complete Guide to Baking, Carpentry, Crafts, Organic Gardening, Preserving Your Harvest, Raising Animals, and More! (The Self-Sufficiency Series)





Now I want to move on to sharing from the 99 Cent Solutions book. This week I am sharing 5 uses for milk.
1. Shave your face. Use milk i place of shaving foam. Warm full fat milk and pat it onto your skin. While shaving continue to pat more milk on to keep your skin wet. For men this is probably just an emergency fix, but for us women and shaving our legs, we may never go back!

2. Relieve a child's itchy skin. Mix powdered milk with just enough warm water to make the thickness of heavy cream. Add a tiny pinch of salt and spread it over the affected skin. It's milk enough that you can reapply it as often as necessary to bring relief, just rinse off the previous application and slather on a new one.

3. Take a milk bath! Cleopatra did it, so why not? Milk moisturizes and softens the skin. Pour 2 or 3 cups of milk into the bath as the water runs. You can also use one cup of powdered milk. You can even add a little scented bath oil if you wish. Soak for at least 10 minutes for best results.

4. Sweeten fish and corn. To avoid the wateriness you usually get when thawing fish, place the unwrapped block in a shallow dish of milk to thaw. It will taste fresher when it's cooked. Add 1 cup of milk to the pot of boiling water for corn on the cob and you will get sweeter corn.

5. Have a milk massage. Add a few drops of essential oils to a little milk and spread it over your skin or use it in a bath. Make the solution up fresh when you need it. This will avoid the greasy feeling of the carrier oil.

WIP Wednesday--Finally A Couple Days of Sewing

Whew!  The holidays are over and the craziness of trying to get gifts done and such.  I feel like it had been forever since I got to sit down in front of my sewing machine.
I finally got in a couple days of making it in for some sewing.

I was able to get 2 rows and part of a row done on my flower print quilt.  I had hoped I could have it done by Friday for the TGIFF post, but there is just no way.

 This is how far I am so far on the quilt top for sewing club at church:

 I am working through my yarn and plastic canvas stash by making double thick crocheted hotpads and matching coasters.  This will be a work as I can project......I really am ready to delve into making rugs while I sit and do things on the computer instead.  I'm sure I will bounce back and forth as usual.

 Pretty short report for this week but I am about to run out the door and run a couple of errands.  As soon as I get home I really want to get in to my sewing machine!

I am linking up with the following blogs: