name placques

I love these mosaics my sister, Lynn, has made. She's going to add some mosaics to my Etsy shop soon. I love everything she has made so far. I can totally take credit for these. When I was making decorations for our first daughters wedding I did birdhouses for the center of the tables. A couple I mosaiced and talked to Lynn about it and we looked at web sites together and she took off with ideas and the artistic talent to pull them off.

One time I flew to Colorado with my suitcase full of broken dishes wrapped in my clothes. BAD idea! They broke more and I had shards mixed in with my clothes. Next time I'll wrap them in bags first.

Whenever a dish gets broken at our house we say, 'yeah! we can give these to Lynn and she'll make something wonderful out of it.'

cupcakes (again)

I made the cupcakes today for a Halloween Party. Instead of the egg sacks I tinted the cream cheese mixture orange. If you want the recipe look at it earlier in my blog. I added the powdered sugar so I would know which cupcakes were made with a different chocolate. I was trying a taste test for 2 different cocoa's. I couldn't tell the difference, although Andrew said the Cacao di Pernigoti tasted better than the Ghiradelli cocoa. since I can't tell the difference I don't think I'll be running out to the mall for more any time soon.

cupcakes

Apologies to anyone who may have tried the cupcake recipe. The salt in the directions is wrong..or was wrong I fixed it. The cream cheese mixture gets only 1/4 teaspoon salt, not 7 times that!

misc.

I did it! I found a pattern for a knitted felted mitten for a child last week in Knit It! Felt It! by Bobbie Matela. Then this morning I finished one of the mittens. I'll post before and after felting pictures when I get the other one done. I'd love to go felt this right now but I may need to refer to it to make the next one. The thing is big! It is actually a bit too big for me and it is supposed to fit a 3 year old? We'll see the magic of felting soon.
We played stump the mom again. 'Why do your ears make wax?'
and random bits of information; 'Most of the United States Presidents have been left handed. President Bush is right handed.' This is not true. We have had 43 presidents 7 of them were left handed. (Although the current President Bush is right handed.)
I played 'good Mom' yesterday and took lunch to Andrew (10). He has been buying his lunch since he started school, for many reasons. One is that I thought it would be good to expose them to other food. They RARELY (Dad doesn't cook and grandparents and other relatives live FAR away) have anything except Mom's cooking. Another is that I was just too lazy, and really the food was okay. NOT! The cheese pizza was very bad...okay it actually had real cheese on it and it wasn't greasy, it wasn't really bad so much as boring and didn't taste very good... where was the garlic?, the herbs? So Andrew made a loaf of whole wheat bread last night (in the bread machine and only 1 cup of wheat flour but they can't stand to eat store bought) and I helped him make a lunch this morning. I can put the 'good mom' hat on again! He'll actually eat the lunch that we fixed; (still boring food but he likes it) peanut butter and honey on whole wheat, chips, an apple-a pink lady, his favorite. So if I put in a homemade cupcake tomorrow do I get to put a good mom hat on top of my other good mom hat? So how many good mom hats should I balance?
Does that remind you of a silly children's book? What's the name of it? Caps for Sale? I don't think that is the one I'm thinking of ... could there be another? Hetty's 100 Hats yes there are. Now here is a list of many hat books, but I couldn't pick out the one I'm thinking of from their list, but I found many that I remembered and some that I'd like to read.

halloween pajamas

In my previous life (as a young mother instead of an old mother) I LOVED making costumes for my 4 young children. But because money was tight I justified spending money on














those costumes by making them do double duty as pajamas all winter. Some of those pajamas got a real work out. The first time I made 2 little clown costumes out of red and white striped and polka dotted flannel. Those pajamas are practically worn out. The cutest was the white quilted fabric I made an astronaut's overalls out of. Brian wore them until his torso got too long, then his younger sister wore them, then a young cousin wore them... (the pumpkin was never pajamas-the fabric was a gift, and not all costumes ended up being p.j.'s).
Now as an old mother my last 2 have the advantage of a couple boxes of costumes but have the disadvantage of having a mother who really doesn't want to make any more costumes. Occasionally I break down; this year I made some brown 'boots' for Andrew so he could be Link with the green sweats he purchased. A couple years age he wanted to be a spider and I made that costume (as a costume, not pajamas-I DID NOT want to kiss a spider good-night every night for months!) This year Jeffrey (12) will be the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera wearing his band uniform tuxedo pants, shirt, cummerbund, and the cape I made in 1989 for his brother to be a magician.

halloween

I've planned on posting a picture of my Halloween quilt and it's getting close to the end of the time when posting Halloween pictures is appropriate. I actually would not have normally made a 'Halloween' quilt. I love my pumpkin quilt but we could call that a fall quilt. I think we have to be careful and not make Halloween an important holiday, it isn't, it is just fun. The quilt was actually a store sample to sell my Christmas pattern for other holidays. I didn't buy any fabric for the quilt top. The post cards were being sold at our quilt shop and they wanted a sample of them made into a quilt. I no longer sell that pattern there since they can no longer get the postcards. So I get to hang the quilt in my home, even though I'd like to do some more quilting on it. I don't put it up until about 1 week before Oct. 31. (Because I LOVE seeing my pumpkin quilt more too). I've just looked around and took photos of my other Halloweeny spots.

This is a bag I made out of my 6 year old's drawing (that was 23 years ago!). These are just some fun bobble-head papermache things I found after Halloween a couple of years ago. FUN.

cupcakes

I made my first sale! Thank-you Cindy. I do wonder why someone in Washington state wants a Texas flag. I'm sure she has a good reason.
A friend was trying to come up with 'spooky treats' for Halloween; my suggestion was to serve 'Devil's Food Cake Cupcakes' isn't that spooky enough? So she asked me to make a couple dozen. These are so good we're always happy to have an excuse to make them. Maybe I can say that the blob of white is a spider egg sack and stick a plastic spider ring in them.

BLACK-BOTTOM CUPCAKES
(or spider sack cupcakes)
Cook’s Country April/May 2007 pg. 27
MAKES 24
Do not substitute regular chocolate chips for the miniature chips. Regular chips are much heavier and will sink to the bottom of the cupcakes.
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ¾ cups sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tablespoons plus ¾ cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 1/3 cups water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, ½ cup sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt in medium bowl until smooth, about 30 seconds. Beat in egg whites and 2 tablespoons sour cream until combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and set aside.
3. Whisk remaining sugar, remaining salt, flour, cocoa. and baking soda in large bowl. Make well in center, add remaining sour cream, water, butter, and vanilla and whisk until just combined. Divide batter evenly among 24 cupcake liners and top each batter with 1 rounded tablespoon cream cheese mixture. Bake until tops of cupcakes just begin to crack, 23 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes in tins for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. (Cupcakes can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 2 days)

my shop

I did it! I've been thinking of opening an 'etsy shop' for a couple of months. So I opened it today with just my patterns. It's here; I'll be adding some things and include my sister's mosaics soon.

mosaics by lynn

My sister Lynn does these amazing mosaics. I gather dishes from thrift stores and garage sales even my own kitchen and tote them to her every chance I get. The red, white, and blue angel is made from some of my broken dishes. She loves making them and would like to make a living doing this but meanwhile she has a day job. I love getting gifts from her, they are usually mosaics. I have 2 angels and my street number plaque.

knitting mittens

Yikes! I admire my grandmother even more since trying to knit small mittens. I gave up on the idea of knitting them extra large and felting them. The swatch I knit did not shrink the same in both directions. I tried to rewrite the directions but decided that maybe, just maybe, I should attempt to follow a pattern, instead of writing my own, first. I did some of the ribbing but ripped it out and decided to do a sample ribbing in larger yarn and bigger needles to see if I'm doing it right. But my larger needles are being used right now with a less than successful dishrag (I followed my own muse and it has a few problems!) I knit a few rows each morning while I'm direction traffic in the living room. (i.e. Did you remember to brush your teeth, go make your bed, did you put your homework in your backpack, do you need lunch money? put the milk away etc. etc. etc.)

baby names

Since I have a daughter that has a problem (what to name her unborn child) I read this information about choosing names with interest. Here is dd with her 20th birthday quilt in her college apartment. Her favorite color is_____ ? (Yeah, you guessed right; it's green) I had purchased green for this quilt for years (I've found that having a child choose a piece of fabric for some mythical future quilt for them makes for happier children in the fabric store.) I had even cut the strips out the year before when I'd gotten concerned about the massive amounts of green that I had accumulated and decided I needed to KNOW if I had enough or not. I had enough. I still have a stack of sewn strips/cut into squares. Guess what I'm using for her baby's quilt? And I made her a great scripture tote out of some of it too. She should post a picture of it in her blog (hint, hint.) I used the same method I use for my trip around the world quilts, alternating dark green and light greens. I was a good mom; not only was the quilt a surprise she actually received it ON her birthday and it has a coordinated pillow case/quilt case and I put 20 lovely green crystals on it with my gem setter (I had to have an excuse for buying it since I love rhinestones so much).

Then here is a garland tutorial for Angela. If I had a place to put this I'd be tempted to make one for myself.

dessert update

In my post of a couple days ago I pondered which dessert to take to a church dinner. The pear pastry turned out sooo good. When there are brownies and pear pastry sitting on a plate which do you think your child would choose first? I was surprised when mine choose the pear pastry! It's that good. My first bite I thought this isn't so great but before I finished the square I was converted. I thought at first to substitute apples for the pears, I'm so glad I didn't.

jack-o-lantern

This is the coolest site. You get to carve a pumpkin and then it lights up and makes scary sounds! Notice that it was put together by a cub scout pack.

Grandma's quilts

Dare I say it? Yes I will! This one of my favorites quilts...did you notice me wimping out? I couldn't say, 'This is my favorite quilt.' I was planning to. The stars are hand pieced and many of them are fussy cut. So Beautiful! My Mother decided to make a quilt for each of their grandchildren and this is one of them. It will actually become my Ds12's quilt. She is keeping them until they are all finished and then she may hold on to them for many years beyond. The children DO need to be mature enough to take care of their quilts and Grandma's walls will be very bare when she gives the 23 quilts away.

halloween

I went hunting for some Halloween fun and found these games on line; The first one is for the younger children dressing up a doll for Halloween. This next one is a simple game of collecting apples. This one is kind of a spooky hangman but fun. This is a matching game. There are some pretty spooky games out there but these are pretty harmless and fun. Now if only my kids had time to play them.
Our ds12 is in junior high band and they have something every night for the rest of the week. Why would they put their concert the same week as the high school football game they have, I mean get to play at?
I just got a call to remind me of a dessert that I signed up to bring; oh it must have been a month ago. It gives me an excuse to make these or maybe this. I love everything I've ever had with that cream cheese stuff in it, and really I ought to make something that isn't chocolate and take advantage of the fruit before winter sets in. I think I talked myself into the pear thing.

anemones

Did you know that sea anemones are ticklish? If you tickle them they will release their hold. That's according to my 10 year old. The above link is the only reference I could find that referred to tickling a sea anemone and they said it would open if tickled. Ignorant as I am about sea anemones I didn't know they 'opened.'

Over the weekend ds10 broke his glasses, with a little help from his brother. This pair had lasted more than a year so it was time to get his eyes checked anyway. He needed a new Rx and it's going to take 2 weeks for the glasses to come in so we decided he could get started with contacts. He's excited! On the way to the store he told me that he wanted contacts but I thought he was too young. An hour later he was older. I think he looks odd without his glasses.

halloween

My girls and I were talking on the phone and browsing the web and saw a cool Halloween garland after we hung up I found this, a downloadable file with the Halloween alphabet. way cool.

chili and cornbread

Today I decided to go overboard again. Our ward social tonight was a chili cook-off. I ALWAYS make my own chili, that way I know that there is something there that is not too spicy for my taste buds. Last year we ran out of chili and pie and corn bread. This year I made a double batch of chili, 2 batches of cornbread and pumpkin cheesecake (an EASY recipe) with A.'s help. Unfortunately we thought it started an hour later than it did. So I brought home chili, cheesecake and cornbread! The cheesecake is not on dh diet or mine, although A. loves it, J won't even taste it. The boys wouldn't even taste the chili, but that could be because there were about 16 pies to choose from, dh can't eat tomatoes for a couple more months. So I get to eat a LOT of chili. The corn bread is so good that we won't complain about having that in the freezer to eat. If you want the recipe leave me a note and I can send you the sinfully rich cornbread recipe or/and the cheesecake recipe.

piano

I would be remiss if I did not mention the great concert A (ds10) and I went to Friday night. I had a couple options. J (ds12) and dh went to the temple. I would be home with just one super easy child. I could (and this is what my lazy self wanted to do)#1. stay home and do nothing/ give child a book and he's be HAPPY! #2 take child to a fall festival with a Halloween haunted house, but not too scary, at the local YMCA said child would be HAPPY! or #3 take child to be culturally enriched to a piano concert promoted by the local piano teachers guild. Said child would be OKAY with that choice. He readily got his suit back on (He thought it cool that on the only day he wore his suit to school, he got to put it back on--he had a job interview at school) and we went to the concert. I was very pleased for the first hour. The last composer Samuel Barber's Sonata for Piano, Op.26 was not my 'cup of tea', it really didn't sound much like music to me. We both really enjoyed Mozart's Sonata in D major, KV576 Allegro, Adagio and Allegretto. After the concert we went to Cracker Barrel for a chocolate cobbler. A. was a great date and I was a good mom. (I feel like I should have a good mom doll and a bad mom doll just like fifi, a blog I read sometimes.)

being grandma

Years ago 2 friends asked me to teach/help them make quilts for their first grandchildren so they could be their ideal 'grandma'. Well, making quilts doesn't cut it for me. I NEED TO KNIT. Mittens. For my grandchildren. (My Grandma knitted therefore I must knit.) Admittedly I tried to make mittens for a nephew about 16 years ago and one thumb was longer than the other. It never made much sense to knit for my own kids since we have lived in south Texas almost their whole lives. I've knit about 3 dish rags since then. Sooo I found a library book with some cute mittens and went shopping for yarn. It is apparent that they only want experienced yarn buyers buying yarn. What is worsted weight? What does that #4 in the yarn mean? When my pattern calls for 3 oz weight what does that mean? So I bought some yarn, navy, no one could go wrong with that nice safe color and it will contrast nicely with the snow. Then I started knitting a sample gauge. Navy is the wrong color, I can't see the yarn on my nice dark navy needles! I NEED one of these. A cool floor lamp with a magnifying glass in the center of a round light.My Mother uses one similar for quilting but she didn't need one until she was years older than I am. Can I justify this purchase so that I can knit 2 pair of mittens? Or should I just go buy a lighter color of yarn? (You and I both KNOW that if I don't KNIT these mittens my grandsons in Idaho will probably have frozen fingers before the winter is over;).

stump me

A few months ago a friend told us that he and his kids play a game in the car called 'stump the dad'. The idea is to ask Dad questions that he won't be able to answer. He told us that he hadn't been stumped yet! His kids are 10 and 7. Well, I am a dunce. I am stumped daily. 'Why are piggy banks called piggy banks and not froggy banks or elephant banks?' is actually the only one I remember being asked today.
Then the same child, DS10, tells me that lightning is 1/2 inch wide. Is this true? I have never even wondered how wide lightning is. Where do you find this out? Do random facts just float around and only 10 year olds have the correct antennae to pick it up?

gambling

This is not Wednesday but I was too late to do this last Wednesday and so I'm just anticipating being busy next week and I haven't learned how to adjust my date and time to blog ahead. I think this WFMW is a really great idea so here's my contribution:

I am not promoting real gambling... but I read a book a couple of years ago about Teaching Children Music. (Actually I don't think I read the book I read the chapter pertaining to practising.) I took what I read and adapted it a bit and it worked! It is 'the gambling' method of getting your kids to work.
We've been employing the same method to get the boy's to keep their room clean and it has been 14 days with a clean room!
So, are you dying to know what I'm doing? I took 42 (21 @--and my last 42 envelopes) envelopes and distributed coupons (worth money and/or candy) in the envelopes 1-4 in each. EVERY evening we go over what they have done and if they have fulfilled the criteria they can choose an envelope. For some reason not knowing what the reward is is a bigger incentive than knowing that they will get x number of rewards per job. Potentially they can get 3 envelopes each night. 1 for their room being clean and bed made ALL day (no making it and then getting in it-Mom gets to enjoy the made beds all day). 1 for getting all their assignments from school turned in. Then finally 1 for leaving the bathroom clean after use. Ds10. is doing very well. Ds12 is struggling with it, but the room is staying clean. After 2 weeks it is still working. Ds10 has used some of his coupons to buy an extra treat from me. The rest were turned into cash; .12 each and they do the multiplying and refilling the envelopes, there are 40 coupons for each child. Ds12 elected to keep the coupons until the next payday (I think he didn't want his younger brother to know how few he had, this week he's working harder.) They helped design the coupons; The last set said 'good job' but this set says 'something' with a place for their name. This way they can open their envelope and say, 'I got something!' It was their idea, I would have said HOT DOG! or 'Sweet!' or 'Way to go!

Spring Friendship Festival

this is so pretty and I thought Christie would enjoy it.

Spoiled Bumblebee

isn't this fun. Remember Dad trying to learn this on the oiano.

soup

Imagine my surprise when I went to make this soup and it wasn't already in the computer. I have really made an effort the last 2 years to type in every recipe I use as I use it. This is so I can gradually decrease my collection of cards and books. So here are 2 recipes; one of them I've been cooking for years and is one of my kids favorites. The other, Corn Soup, is my all-time favorite soup! I love it. I even made it without a victorio strainer so I know it can be done. It is sooo worth it. Really. Make an extra batch and freeze it. Serve it with the cheese and chilis. R. has a victorio strainer so he has no excuse not to make it. I want to hear a report. lol


FRESH CORN SOUP
From ‘The Essential Cuisines of Mexico’ by Diana Kennedy
‘This is, in our opinion one of the great soups of the world…’
4 cups corn kernels (about 1 ½ lbs.) fresh or frozen
1 cup water
4 T. butter
3 ½ cups milk or light chicken stock
½ teaspoon salt
2 poblano chiles, charred, peeled and seeded, then dices and briefly fried in a little oil
6 T.crumbled queso fresco
6 small tortilla, cut into small squares, fried until crisp in oil
If you are using frozen corn, measure it frozen and then let it defrost.
Blend the corn with water at high speed until you have a smooth puree. Put the puree through the medium disk of a food mill or coarse strainer.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan but do not let it get too hot. Add the corn puree and let it cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring all the time.
Add the milk or stock and salt to the mixture and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring it from time to time to avoid sticking. It will thicken slightly.
Put about ½ tablespoon of diced chile and 1 tablespoon crumbled cheese into each bowl. Pour the soup over them and top with the crisp tortilla squares to serve.

PEA SOUP PLUS
I think this came from a Better Homes and Gardens about 1970. I was trying recipes in High School and we loved this. When Grandma, my mother, came to visit she would make this soup because my kids liked it.
1 3-pound pork butt, ham or bacon
1 16-ounce quick cooking split peas (2 cups)
1 ½ cups thinly sliced carrots
1 small onion, chopped
1 ½ cups thinly sliced celery
½ teaspoon peppercorns
½ teaspoon whole allspice
1 bay leaf
salt
2 quarts water
About 2 hours before serving;
In Dutch oven or large kettle over high heat, heat pork butt, split peas, carrots, celery and water to boiling. Meanwhile make bouquet garni; tie the peppercorns, allspice, and bayleaf in a cheesecloth bag; add to pea mixture. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 1 hour and 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Or until meat is tender. Discard bouquet garni. Add salt to taste. To serve, remove pork from soup and let stand 10 minutes; cut in slices to serve with soup. Makes 8 servings.

velour couch pillows

I do tend to go overboard; this is no surprise to some of you. Years ago I took J. shopping for a new shirt, he was only about 2. He really fell in love with the feel of a little pink velour shirt. I did not buy it for him but since then I have tried to give him things with the same feel. No shirts for him to wear but I found a soft stripped shirt at the thrift store and made him a pillow for his bed. Then I found a gold one and made one to go on the couch, and since it was so plain I added an S to the middle and a fringe on the edge. I had a green one on the couch for awhile but discovered that it didn't hold it's shape very well, so I took it apart and added piping; it's my favorite 'to feel' pillow. Are you following me? Yesterday the thrift store had all their sale items marked down to $1.00 so I bought 5 velour items. Today I sat down and picked the tags out of them, and cut a sample of fabric to take to the store with me and measured so I would know what size pillow forms to get (I had a couple items purchased last year also). I HAVE ENOUGH VELOUR FOR 21! 21! PILLOWS! I really have to get an ETSY shop. Put your 2 cents in and try to talk me into making one for you. I have pale pink, rose, lime green, red, plumy red, brown, bright velvety navy, burgundy, dark cottony navy, teal, black, cranberry plaid, and a blue/green/black plaid. The sizes will be as small as 7 inches to 18--but probably 16, I think the 18 in velour would be too big.
If I did an ETSy shop I'd need to do generic words on them. I really like the letter. The pale pink could be 'cute' or 'princess' although that is a bit long, how about 'pink'? or 'love' or 'baby'?

halloween/fall pillow

Yep, another pillow. This one did not take 30 years of thinking to make. Only about 3 weeks. One night a week ago I couldn't sleep (awake until 4 a.m.) so got up and sewed the black pillow. I had bought the fabric and pillow form earlier for just this project. Then it took awhile because I thought I might have a scrap of Halloween fabric to use for the pillow's mini-skirt. (I never wore one in high school and didn't even realize there was a deep down desire for one; now I have one.) When I finally found my stash of Halloween fabric it was all in a small zip lock bag with nothing large enough to use. I did not want to piece or applique anything, I wanted something fast and easy. So when I delivered my 4 dozen patterns the quilt shop ordered I bought 1/4 yard of this happy pumpkin fabric (the pumpkins will work or Halloween AND Thanksgiving!). I had planned on the 'skirt' being more like a sleeve but due to the directionality of the print and my pocketbook (I would have needed to buy another 4 inches of fabric!) I came up with this (I wanted 4 ties instead of 2 but this is all the fabric I had.) How do you take a bright orange rickrack and change it to go with the muted orange of the fabric? Take a dollop of brown paint, dilute it with water, drop in the rickrack, squeeze it several times, rinse it a bit since it is too dark, dry it, iron it and apply. It almost took longer to write about it than it did to make it.

knots

Roger went to a Boy Scouts of America training last weekend for rock climbing. One of the thing he is working on is better skill at tying certain knots. I think he knew the knots since he has been rock climbing many times but he's trying to get faster and have them more fixed in his brain. Anyway he found this way cool web site that shows an animated knot being tied. I even think it's cool and A. is over the moon. He had already started tying knots for fun and had checked out a library book about knots and how to tie them.

silk velvet pillow

Have you ever had a project in mind and you needed to think about it for awhile? This pillow is one of mine. In high school (that's, oh, about 30 years ago) my home ec teacher had a big box of fabric samples. I got a few of them, actually quite of few, but my favorites were the upholstery samples of silk velvet. Every couple of years I would come across them and wonder what I should do with them, but mostly I was just happy to pet them. They were silky and shiny and demanded something special be made out of them. About 3 years ago I dug them out and pieced the center part of this pillow. NOT easy sewing. Then a month ago I started looking for the border fabric and finally settled on a forest green cordless corduroy. TODAY I finished it! It almost glows sitting on the corner of the couch. The colors are all in my tapestry couch. (The couch that is almost worn out and needs to be replaced, but now I'll need to get something that will go with my 30-years-to-make-pillow! )

fading quilt

A couple months ago I visited my Texas Flag Quilt at the local Quilt Shop and was shocked at the fading in some of the blue and red logs. It was only exposed to florescent light, no sunlight. Today I went and 'borrowed' it back so I could clean it and paint some of the color back in. Here is a picture of it after washing. Then after the painting. Well, that didn't work very well. I can't tell a difference in the photos, unless I enlarge them. In real life the 'after' (which is the first photo) looks better. I blocked off each log I wanted to paint with masking tape and with a very dry brush stippled some of the appropriate color on. Analyzing the faded prints I thought would show me that the cheaper cottons faded and the quilt shop ones didn't. More of the cheap ones faded but some of the quilt shop ones also faded. This red is the worst of the reds and it is a quilt shop fabric. :(

dinasaur quilt!

This is a quilt A (then 8) and I worked on for about a week. Then I just took over (with his approval) and pieced it. I got it quilted within a reasonable amount of time after my sister sent me a drawing of the leaf that 'little foot' found in the movie; 'The Land Before Time'. By the time I got the binding cut I'd misplaced the quilt. So I put the binding away (?) and figured the quilt would show up. Later I found the quilt but couldn't find the binding (actually since I wasn't in a hurry I didn't LOOK very hard). Finally I found both at the same time and sewed the bonding on.
I'm including 2 photos so you get a good idea of the size in comparison
to a body. I haven't washed it or labeled it yet....so I guess it isn't really finished..hah! it is Labeled.. I get tired of forgetting everything. But it is labeled poorly, just written on a label and not embroidered.

music!

Thanks to Rocks in My Dryer for the cool broccoli instrument. If you look at the other possibilities your kids will laugh! A carrot slide flute and carrot pan pipes. There's even a vegetable orchestra.

tux

J. came home from school excited about his new uniform for band and put it all on(he even combed his hair).Then A. took this picture so his sisters could see him all dressed up. (He has tux pants and cummerbund also). You also see his new trumpet! Last year he actually played a cornet which is smaller than a trumpet.

Here is 'Frankie' a pattern I got at Quilt Festival 15? years ago. I cut out 2 and got 1 made. I like him although you can hardly call him handsome. The paper cutting is also not original and it was a pain to make. The original had more of the house showing. This sits with a jack-o-lantern on Grandma's sewing machine in the fron entry. (A. got to use the tri-pod to take this shot)

Caramel apples

What did we do wrong? Jonathon apples are great with caramel. Right after dipping they looked great but later they looked like this. All the caramel slid off! After this shot I picked up the caramel and pushed it onto the apple and put it in the fridge.

My masterpiece

This is my best quilt...so far. The blue and yellow was made for our daughter's wedding. (We have a deal with the kids...I don't start a quilt for them until AFTER I recover from putting on the wedding AND I have 5 years to get it finished. After all I may get interrupted to make a baby quilt or 2. I only took 3 years to get this one done.) The baskets were done during a year of 'Saturday Sampler' at the local quilt shop. Then I played with ideas for settings so that I got 13 12-inch blocks to be queen size quilt. (There are 13 basket blocks and 12 alternating blocks, the reverse could be done too.) I hired someone to do all the background machine quilting then I did my own machine quilting in each block customizing to fit the bride and groom and adding lots of hearts.
The red, green and black is a Trip Around The World. One that was beset with mistakes. I cut a bunch of the strips at 2 1/2" instead of 3 1/2" so then I got to redesign the quilt. It was also made with 'stash' fabric so I used one of the fabric to the last 1/4 inch. Everything had to be cut lengthwise so the snowmen in one of the fabrics would be right side up. I didn't even like it when I got the first quarter done and since I was busy with a very ill child a 2 year old and infant, (not to mention the other healthy, busy, helpful 3 children) so I put it away for about 5 years. I finally finished it and really do like it now.
Notice the Halloween one to the right of the 'Trip' one, it was made using copies of Halloween postcards put onto fabric and has the same setting as my 'Victorian Santa' that are on my sidebar. I like it better than the 'Santa' one because there is a 'postcard' in every spot instead of alternating.

halloween

Here is a small bag i made a few years ago. It is basically worthless but cute. It isn't big enough to work as a trick or treat bag...maybe it could be used on a pillow. Now it hangs from the newel post by the front door.
A. wrote down his interests on a 'resume' (he's 10) for school. His interests are: 'reading, watching other people play video games.' How sad is that? So, I have made him my photographer. He took this shot and the one of the bats from yesterday (and a bunch of others that need to be redone) but we'll see if he continues to enjoy taking pictures.
i bought the stuff to try my version of this recipe:http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/chile-con-queso-revved-up.pdf I have not made this before, but my version uses no J.peppers, regular sausage, and MILD rotell tomatoes. Everything I have ever tasted using regular rotell tomatoes has been tooooo spicy for me. Roger is going to a rock-climbing boy scout training meeting this week end so we are splurging and eating something with 4 legs! Pork.

halloween is coming

These 2 mummies look out the kitchen window at all the trick-or-treaters! They have gotten pretty stiff waiting there for weeks. Something to do with those long thin scraps of fabric. These were made from a Woman's Day? article of years ago I made most of them as a craft project on a road trip with our kids. Uses tongue depressor, popsicle sticks, google eyes, glue, and a bit of paint. One nice thing about them; they don't make constant noise! One year I made 25 of them for a class party.

bats 2

Here are the bats, made to hang from our kitchen light, that we made a couple years ago. A. took his time designing this shot of them, if you look carefully you can see their eyes. Is this a new phenomena in life? A blog-driven life. So I got some H. decorations up so I would have something to blog about. Does anyone else do this?

teddy's quilt

THIS was a fun easy quilt to make. I made it for my 2 year old son to wrap his teddy in. I actually had big plans for the old fabric book. But since this was for child #5 and #6 was in the oven so to speak I just DID IT. Easy and quick. Every time I look at it I wonder what it would look like with each surrounded with strips and a 9-patch corner square...oh well... another quilt.

halloween

This is not 'cookie cutter' decorations. My favorite of my Halloween decorations. About 1981 I started having my kids paint a pumpkin for our yard. Ideally it would be a pumpkin every year for each kid...but I have 6 kids, you can count and realize that I didn't follow through every year. But we still have some mighty cute pumpkins. Maybe we'll do it this year... The one on the left my oldest son painted and drilled holes and cut out the face and then painted the inside edges of the cuts with yellow paint. My all time favorite is STILL the one on the bottom next to the cut-out one. The artist was about 4 and she hated it for years. the oranges are all different cause we mixed our own colors. The kids really liked being allowed to use my acrylic paints and then they got old enough to cut their own out using our scroll saw.

waffles

Sunday morning I made these;

PUMPKIN WAFFLES
COUNTRY LIVING MAGAZINE
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups milk
1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine egg yolks, milk, and pumpkin; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Stir in melted butter. Set waffle batter aside.
Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form; gently fold into batter.
Bake in a preheated, oiled waffle iron until crisp. Serve with butter, maple syrup, and toasted pecans. Yield: 24 (4-inch) waffles. Virginia Tompkins Lubbock, Texas
The small can of pumpkin has about 2 cups~ so I'll get to make them again soon. I added about 1 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg. Very good. I also tried one with miniature chocolate chips. good; then I made some with chopped pecans in the batter. Excellent! I think they improved with a short stint in the oven. I put a cooling rack on a cookie sheet and kept them warm in the oven, it made them a bit crisper.

dumb things

Another We all do dumb things entry.
Friday I got home from the grocery store about 5:30. I got the chickens ready to go in the oven. Preheated the oven and forgot to put the chicken in the oven! Then when I walked through the kitchen and saw the chickens I put them in. We would still get to eat about 7:30. An hour later I go and check on the chickens in the oven and they are still COLD! I had preheated the wrong oven, and didn't even notice that there was no warm air coming out when I opened the oven door! So I turned the oven up to 400 and moved the chickens to the lower oven. Which meant we would have sandwiches for dinner but wait we are out of bread! Can't even remember what we ate. I think we just ate apples (I know I cut up one jonagold's) and the boy's and I had been shopping at HEB which give samples and I had bought them a doughnut. Oh yes I guess the boy's had doughnuts for supper!

wedding

So someone suggested I blog a little about THE WEDDING I did last year. I was just sitting here wondering what I was doing last yearso I checked my e-mail and copied this here; Liz is getting married Dec. 27 so I am pretty busy trying to get everything done for that. Today I poured 3 of the 45 candles I think I need. I've made candles forever it feels like and still have more to go. Liz's dress is just sitting there waiting for me to work on it. the 4 skirts are also waiting. I have been looking for a dress for me, not fun. Today I looked at Jenny Craig and L.A. Weight Loss to try to figure out how to lose some weight before the wedding. I've added exercise to my life, I still hate it though, and have not lost any weight, even though I'm doing weights 3 times a week and Pilate's 3 times a week.
love, Laurie

I did not loose weight, or join the weight-loss programs, but I kept up the exercise until December and resumed about the middle of January. The candles did not become a hobby. Thank Goodness! I made the candles because we wanted a variety of shades of blue and white/cream candles without an olfactory mix-up (not have a dozen different smells coming off the lit candles). We also did these cool wax hurricanes that are demonstrated here. We used black and white line drawings of Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Then for the Grooms table we did some of the happy couple and of his life. I purchased the taper candles but made lots of pillars in blues and whites with hyacinth scent. The candles on the cake plate were a mock-up to help me decide on the number of candles needed for the centers of the tables. Evidently there are no photos of the finished tables.