Friday Night Sew In

I participated in my very first Friday Night Sew In last night. Ok, well, I cheated just a little bit and sewed in the late afternoon, not the night, but I think that still counts. :) It was a mommy and son night since daddy was working and sis was at a sleepover. I just couldn't bring myself to spend the entire evening in the sewing room.

I did manage to get quite a bit done, though. I cut 1/2 of the strips into their 1 1/2 inch strips and got 21 squares all put together. I used a technique I learned at my quilting class called chaining, I believe so I was able to do more than one square at a time. I'm not sure if I can explain it correctly, but basically what you do, is start with a scap piece of fabric that you sew through and then a bit beyond that, making a chain of thread. You then slip your next piece of what you're working on under the foot, and sew that together. Again, you sew beyond the end of the piece, creating another chain between the pieces. This technique joins all the pieces together in one long strip which you can make as long as you like. I stopped at 6 each time, so I didn't get too far ahead of myself if/when I made a mistake.

After you're done chaining together the pieces, you cut the thread and press it open. Then back to the sewing machine to add the next strip. Once all the strips are added, you have a completed square!

As you can see, I'm still working on getting everything straight. My edges don't always meet. But that's what practice is for, right? This quilt is really challenging my measuring preciseness (is that even a word?) and my 1/4 inch seam, which is what I was looking to do.


Today's Update

We're going shopping today! Hubby is working, so the kids and I are going to the mall to get a first day of school outfit for both of them. We don't spend a ton of money on back to school clothes. It's still warm straight through September, so going out and buying them a bunch of sweaters and jeans just doesn't make any sense to me. We'll buy those when we need to. They each get a new outfit for the first day and then whatever supplies they actually need; paper, pencils, binders, that sort of thing.

Tonight, if we're home in time, we're having

Stove Top One Dish Chicken Bake With Vegetables

1 cup hot water
1 pkg Stuffing Mix
1 chicken breast, cut into squares
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 cups frozen mixed veggies, thawed and drained

Preheat oven to 400. Add hot water to stuffing mix, stir until moistened. Set aside. Place chicken in baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream, cheese and vegetables. Spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing. Bake 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

I'll prepare everything this morning before we go. If we're back in time to cook this, which I'm sure we will be, I'll finish it up when we get home. If not, there are lots of leftovers and we can have this for tomorrow's supper.

I'd love to get the rest of the strips cut today, but I'm not sure if I will or not. But, there's always tomorrow, right? :)

Have a fantastic day!