Saturday, June 30, 2012

Christmas in July

Like so many other crafty people, I like to make stuff to give to family and friends during the holidays. However, a lot of times I wait to the last minute to get my act together and don’t shop for that special pattern or kit until the last minute. Well, if you are like me, I am here to help you avoid the last minute holiday rush and put some crafty stuff on sale now giving you time to get the work done. Starting July 1 all the patterns and kits in the Toys, Decor, & Kits section of Goofing Off will be 30% off. That’s right, 30% off. No coupon codes, no passwords, just 30% off. I’ll do the markdown, you just save money. Too cool. Here’s a few things that will be on sale:

Christmas Stocking Kit Feltworks by Dimensions 18 inch - 46 cm long Complete   $17.50    BUY

Christmas Stocking Kit Feltworks by Dimensions 18 inch - 46 cm long Complete

Vintage 1964 Barbie's Wedding Gown Sewing Pattern McCall's 7428  $20 BUY

Vintage 1964 Barbie's Wedding Gown Sewing Pattern McCall's 7428

Vintage Crewel Embroidery Kit Owl Mates Pillow Kit  $9.90 BUY
Vintage Crewel Embroidery Kit Owl Mates Pillow Kit
So, check out the section. I’m listing more so there’s a lot more to see. Don’t wait ‘til the last minute because the very thing you love just might be gone. Remember the cool kite pattern? OK, enough said about that.

So, Merry Christmas, in July, that is.
Post by Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff
MissEileen vintage
Goofingoff Etsy Judaic fabrics, sewing patterns
GoofingOff Artfire Sewing patterns, plus size patterns
Metal Woods N Water unusual stuff and metal work

Friday, June 29, 2012

Dinosaurs!

Just listed this adorable dinosaur pattern today.

Flatbed-021  $12.00  BUY

I’m the kind of person who researches everything. I need to. Got this need to know. Keeps me up at night. So I looked up the dinosaurs. Had to know what to call them. They are a brontosaurus, a Monoclonius (that’s the guy with the horn on its head), and a Barney (really, a not-too ferocious tyrannosaurus).

This pattern is one of the cute patterns that’s 30% off during the Christmas in July sale that starts July 1 and ends the 23rd.

Post by Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff

MissEileen vintage
Goofingoff Etsy Judaic fabrics, sewing patterns
GoofingOff Artfire Sewing patterns, plus size patterns
Metal Woods N Water unusual stuff and metal work

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Eleanora’s Quilt Shop: Cross City, FL’s Newest Addition

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The other day when I stopped in one of my favorite haunts I heard the ladies talking about a new shop opening across the street. “It’s going to be a quilt shop” my friend said. “She’s going to sell her quilts.” Well, that was all I needed to hear. My interest was piqued. I had to see the quilts. Eleanora finally opened her shop this week and what a treat for the eyes it is. Her work is wonderful! Here are a few examples of her work:

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Many of her quilts are traditional pieced patterns and machine quilted. I love her choice of colors. She said she loves the idea of recycling fabrics into quilts. She has a hard time throwing away good fabric (I know the feeling) and makes doll quilts with smaller scraps.

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This is a pattern block I hadn’t seen before, The Dahlia. I love it!

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How about this little guy on a baby quilt? She has quite a few beautiful baby quilts. She also has handmade dolls, potholders, and ornaments, too. Everything is reasonably priced with most of the small things, like dolls and ornaments under $10, some under $5. Imagine a handmade doll under $10! Well made, too.

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She’s also a member of the Dixieland Quilters. They meet every Tuesday (I work every Tuesday, darn) and turn out some awesome stuff. She takes special orders, too.

If you’re in our neck of the woods, North Central Florida, be sure to check out her shop. Check out the quilt shop in Trenton, FL, too, when you have a chance. We are becoming a to-go place for quilts.

To get hold of Eleanora, call 352-542-9438 or 352-356-1970. Tell her you heard about her from GoofingOff. Thanks.

Post by Eileen Patterson

MissEileen aka GoofingOff

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Free Teddy Bear Cross Stitch Pattern

I uncovered this cute little teddy bear cross stitch pattern in my stash yesterday. I’m not much of a cross stitcher but I know a lot of people are and he is just too cute to throw away. The bear was first published in McCall’s magazine back in 1988. The bear pattern was designed by Marsha Evans Moore and is from her book “The Teddy Bear Book.”  It is shown on guest towels but I’m thinking it would be cute on a baby blanket or on a onsie (sp?), or maybe even a tote. Maybe use gingham for the fabric instead of aida cloth (or whatever you like to cross stitch on). The sky’s the limit. Here he is.

Flatbed

Bears-and-hearts design for hand towels.

Materials: One 20” x 30” cotton or cotton-linen blend blue-and-white windowpane check dish towel; embroidery floss (before you begin, separate six-strand embroidery floss, and use four strands) 1 skein each brown and red floss, 1 yard each blue and black floss, embroidery hoop and needle.

To center hearts on windowpane check, figure out if the spacing between the motifs needs to be adjusted to fit your piece of fabric.

1. Start with brown floss one thread above border, about 2” from the 20” end of towel, with the right foot of the bear on the left. Continue stitching bear according to chart below.

2. Stitch the second bear to the right of the first one.

3. With the red floss, embroider hearts on either side of the bears.

4. Following features diagram, below, embroider eyes and nose on each bear with black floss, using satin stitch, and mouth with red floss, also in satin stitch.

5. With blue floss, stitch loops of bows with lazy daisy stitch. Stitch ends and center of bow with straight stitch.

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Have fun and Happy stitching!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Flag Day +1, 2012 Stars and Stripes Potholder

OK, I’m into it, making pot holders, I mean. I got these patriotic cuties done the other day in time for Flag Day but I am a day late getting them posted. Oops, sorry. Still, this is the Americana season, starting with Memorial Day and going through the summer, so, here they are. Cute, huh?

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Post by Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The Garden: Volunteer Squash

I have a hard time believing my hubby is so anal about the garden. Mr. “leave everything where I dropped it” became “everything has to be in a straight row and in perfect alignment” when it came to the garden. As for me, I love volunteers in the garden, tomatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, all of them. I love the spontaneity of it, like they are all little gifts from God….so here’s a couple of volunteers that miraculously came up in my garden.

DSC_0419 Butternut squash

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Little gifts from above. Blessings from the ground up!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Zinnias in the Garden

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This year the hubby took over the garden and graciously gave me a side to work. While I appreciated his generosity, my subversive, sneaky side took over when I was at the store and spied some zinnia seeds. Amazingly the seeds got on his side of the garden as well as mine (more like in the middle but the poor seeds didn’t know where the boarder was). “They’re not going to be big, are they?” he asked to which I just mumbled some kind of reply.
Well, it turns out I didn’t buy the petite zinnias. Oops. They are pretty, though.
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Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Great Pot Holder Challenge

Knowing oneself is a good thing. I think so, at least. I am one of those kind of people who always needs to be challenged. Don’t know why, I just am. I need to have something to work on, to work towards, to change in my world so I don’t get bored with life. The other day I was reading blogs and came across one where the blogger is making pin cushions…..lots of them. Cool idea. Click here to see her blog, the Selvage Blog, and her shop, Karen Griska Quilts. She inspired me! I thought I need to be challenged to keep my skills sharp, my mind working, my sanity in check, but what to do? I didn’t want to make pin cushions, she’s doing that and she does them so well. I looked at my sewing table (really the sewing desk…the one with the UFO’s….and saw the pot holders I was finishing up and thought, there’s my challenge…..Pot Holders! Not your everyday, run of the mill pot holders but scrappy, unusual, different looking pot holders. Not the kind you’d find in Walmart or Dollar General pot holders, but cool pot holders.

OK, I thought of what the challenge would be now I had to have rules….because I have to have rules. That’s me.

Pot holder challenge rules

The pot holder design got to be my own idea. I can be inspired by others but no copying. No patterns unless they are very vintage (pre 1970).

The pot holder has to be scrappy. I like scrappy. Got lots of scraps.

The pot holder has to be useable. I like to cook and so does the hubby.

That’s the rules. Pretty darn simple rules. Here’s my first set of pot holders.

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I’m not ready to put my pot holders in my shops yet. I need to do a bit more sewing and be happier with the process……however, there’s the first of (hopefully) many pot holders.

Oh, and sorry about the title…a little grandiose.

Post by Eileen Patterson….Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Goofing Off Owls

There’s a reason why I am called GoofingOff…..I am forever goofing off. Even when I am working at something my mind wanders into other territories….goofs off, so to speak. The other day I was sewing and came across a couple of buttons that fit into each other. Looked sort of like eyes. By the time I was done clipping and trimming, I came up with this little guy.

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The owl has the 2 button eyes, pink wings/vest, and a John Deere tractor tie. After all, one must dress for the occasion and this occasion called for a tie, not a clip-on, either. He is a light shade of green because he is an unusual owl….a goofing off owl.

Post by GoofingOff….er, I mean Eileen Patterson.

Monday, June 4, 2012

The Volunteer Garden: Mini Spaghetti Squash

This year our garden is doing pretty good. Yellow squash and zucchini pickin’s are a little low but there’s plenty of eggplant, tomatoes, and broccoli to make me happy. The volunteers are the best of all. What’s a volunteer? It’s a plant that came up without any assistance from you. You didn’t  plant the seed or seedling, it just came up on its own. In our garden, we have volunteer tomatoes, pumpkin, watermelon, and spaghetti squash.

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When the spaghetti squash first came up I thought they were honeydews. The plant, and the fruit, look sort of the same. They didn’t get very big, though, about the size of a large tomato. I baked a few and sure enough, that’s what they are, little spaghetti squash, just right for stir-fry. If you’ve never tried spaghetti squash you should. They are low calorie and sort of like tofu….they take on the flavor of whatever sauce you cook them with. We make a vegetable stir fry with them using soy sauce and oyster flavored sauce that comes out yummy….Cheap, fast, and easy. Served over rice and its a meal.

As for the tomatoes, the volunteer plants are as big as the deliberately planted ones, if not bigger.

I love the volunteers. A little small but hearty and determined to come into this world….and onto my table.

Post by Eileen Patterson.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Photo Tips: Camera in the Tropics

I don't know about you but I love going to the beach.....and I love taking my camera when I do. I get my camera ready, have an extra card, and snap away thinking my photos are going to look as good as those in Conde Naste Traveler (or close at least). When I get home and look at the pictures, reality sets in. I'm not a pro, not even close. Beach pictures have their own problems, an arm's length of them, too sunny, sand reflection, water reflection, and lots of people and the crap they take to the beach.
Well, with scallop season just around the corner and knowing I will take a camera with me to the beach, I found this awesome post from Chris Norberg, the project manager of Hawaii Web Group, with Photoshop tips to make those beach photos as beautiful as you thought they were going to be....or better.
http://digital-photography-school.com/photoshop-tips-for-great-tropical-photos

Remember no matter what, have fun Goofing Off!