NYC in July…

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I’m here in the big city to take care of Ted, Jeff’s cat. He and I are getting along very well because I feed him on schedule. He would like to be fed more often but he’s a big guy (18 lbs) and he really should not be snacking. He does not believe that is true 🤣.

I’ve been out in Central Park and in the area west and south of there. I’ve walked many of these streets before but it’s not hard to find something new to notice.

Notice all the pigeons!
Just around the corner of the monument, this guy had zero pigeons. Maybe he smells bad :-).
Between rain showers.

Made to Bethesda Fountain…

I’ve not seen plants in the pool before. Nice!

There were lots of people out and about on Sunday. Lots of people sitting on the grassy areas. I live where just the idea of sitting in grass makes me itch. Chiggers. If you don’t have them where you live, count yourself blessed.

I cannot imagine stilton on grass.
A bench, or a big rock… I would sit there :-).

And then there are the random fun things…

Chris Columbus, perched above the traffic circle that bears his name.
Copper weather vane of a gazelle(?) on top of a maintenance building at the zoo. Notice the bird on its nose.
Conservatory Water pond in Central Park
A Strand Bookstore kiosk outside the park.
Love this giant disco ball that is part of something at Lincoln Center. I do not have tickets so this is the best view I found.

This morning I got to an amazing gluten free bakery, Modern Bread and Bagel. I came home with a slice of cinnamon bread and a bagel. Oh, my, the cinnamon bread is amazing. I’m going to do something with the bagel for dinner.

The icing is not necessary—but it’s good :-).

I will be out and about more through the rest of the week and will post more photos here and on Instagram and FB :-). Right now I have to get back to work!

Grow some Joy with 1/2″ Hexies :-)!

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A few days ago I ran across my box of 1/2″ EPP hexie flowers. I make these when I run out of other hand sewing because they are so cute and easy to sew on the go. Each side of the hex paper is 1/2″. EPP papers come in other sizes to make different sizes of flowers.

And then I looked over and saw my Piece O’ Cake Travel Pouches that were woefully unadorned. What a perfect combo!!!

I decided to stitch these hexie flowers to my red pouch, with a single hex spacer in between. 

It works best to attach and sew one flower at a time. I pressed the flowers to make sure the creases stayed put and removed the basting thread. I used the Quilters Select glue pen. It works better if you hold the flower in place near the cent and fold back one petal at a time. Add glue to the underside of the outer edge of the petal and press it in place. Repeat for all petals and let the glue dry. 

You will still need to add pins because the Yazzii fabric has a finish the glue doesn’t love. I used the 3/4″ Little House applique pins.

I’m still sewing the red pouch but I finished my blue one. Here’s what I learned:

  • The closer the applique is to the top of the pouch, the easier it is to sew.
  • I used my regular applique thread (Superior’s Masterpiece on the bobbin) and an invisible applique stitch. 
  • I hid my stitch between the quilted layers of fabric.
  • You will have to be creative with the way you hold the fabric and you work around the flower. Take your time and focus on sewing the edges down. If it isn’t perfect, that’s OK. It just needs to be sturdy enough to hold up to the wear you give it.

I could add embroidery. I could add felted wool… maybe leaves, or a bee! But I have other hand projects that are calling me with a louder voice so I am going to call these finished (for now), because they are plenty cute as is :-).

Hexie flowers… you should make some and plant them where you need a spot of joy!

Wednesday Giveaway – A Ring for Mary’s Finger!

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Mary Kortegast has been selected by the random number generator to receive this gold wool ring! Pin cushion rings provide a handy place to park your needle or pins as you are sewing. The base that holds the wool ball is made of lovely turned wood. The balls themselves are colorful felted wool that is nice and dense.

I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!

Wednesday Giveaway – Needles!

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Jean F Kearney is the Winner of a pack of assorted size Chenille Needles by Tulip!

Chenille needles have a sharp point and a long eye. They are thick so as to make space in the fabric to pull thicker threads through. These hand-made needles are polished lengthwise to ensure smooth fabric piercing. This assortment offers a good way to try out different needle sizes – 1 #18, 1 #20, 2 #22, and 2 #24. (Click here to see all of our “in-store” needles.)

I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!

Wednesday Giveaway – Protect & Grip!

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We carry several kinds of thimbles in our store – stick-on leather, metal dimples, silicone grippers, even more “traditional” metal thimbles. Diane Zettler, this week’s Winner, will receive the Protect and Grip Thimble, which offers the perfect combination of soft rubber with the safety of a metal thimble cap. The slightly ridged and scalloped design offers breathability, keeping your finger cool. Its excellent elasticity helps the thimble form naturally to your fingertip for a light fit. The ridged and dimpled metal cap holds the needle tip in place and pushes needles in safely.

I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!

Pictures from my trip to Greece…

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I went to the island of Paros on May 23rd to take a 300-hour yoga teacher training class from the Soma Yoga Institute. We stayed at the Okreblue Retreat Center. I did post on Instagram and Facebook, but this is the first chance I’ve had to post anything on my blog because we were busy every day from 6:30AM to 8:00PM. We did have 3 days off and there was time to eat, but mostly, we were super busy every day until June 17.

The dining area was open-air and had a great view. The yoga shalas were big, airy, and well equipped. And here you see me upside-down using two chairs to protect my neck. I’m a big believer in neck protection :-).

I took lots of photos of this road because I liked the look of it and I walked it multiple times a day. Paros is dry and kind of dusty but there were lots of plants growing.

All of the following places were a very short walk from Okreblue. Andrea (my travel companion) and I rented chairs under the umbrellas to celebrate finishing the course.

Greece has cats… so many cats. They are like chickens on Kauai.

Naoussa was the nearest town and it is lovely in the classically Greek way. It was walking distance (about 2 miles). Sometimes we walked but mostly we took a taxi.

Andrea took this photo

Before coming back to Texas, we spent a day in Athens. I went to the Acropolis and it was interesting! The caryatids were my favorites.

And everywhere were small churches… so many…

This is a really short tour that I hope gives you a sense of what I saw :-). I’m glad I went, and I’m happy to be home. I learned so much that I can’t wait to use when I teach yoga :-).