happy new year

We'll be going to bed soon since the movie is almost over... Everyone was watching the new Narnia movie that Jeffrey got for Christmas. It would have been watched Christmas day but it got lost. When it was found 2 days ago and watched the last 10 minutes didn't work! So today we exchanged it for a new one and it is being watched again with the last 10 minutes intact, we hope!

I thought I'd share our goodies with you. Enjoy some good eating;
Elizabeth made bread to put smokies in; a Christmas morning tradition that we missed this year. Then I made a pan of sweet potato fries so we had a vegetable.

It's hard to believe but those are jalapeno poppers. I love them. Unfortunately I can only eat them if I make them. I am meticulous about getting every seed and every smidgen of pith (the white stuff) out of them. I also try to chose the largest and bluntest tip peppers I can find (I've heard those are the mildest). Andrew even ate one and declared them very good. I ate about 6, well really closer to a dozen, and 1 of them had a mild bit of heat to it but not enough to cause me to start coughing.
Our sweet plate;


My favorite chocolate butter cookie with melted chocolate chips on top, peppermint truffles, balsamic truffles, and date dingbats. The kids also had a root beer float. Everyone had plenty to eat. 

notes: The white chocolate peppermint truffles were LOVED by the kids. I didn't really care for them; too sweet. The balsamic truffles were very good. The date dingbats were an experiment to make something for Angela that were wheat free. They didn't stay together very well (but I didn't really follow the recipe amounts very well either-I substituted rice chex for the rice krispies too) so I pressed them into a small cookie sheet and poured a can of sweetened condensed milk on top; then they stuck together but were VERY sweet. So 2 a day would be enough for anyone. 

Hope ya'll had a great holiday and will wake refreshed and ready to start a new year tomorrow. Personally I wish there were a few more days in 2008. 

auto-sketch

I feel like the electronic world has passed me by. I'm trying to get the hang of Auto-sketch so I can design quilting patterns for my long arm.... let's just say I'm writing a blog instead of beating my head against a wall! It is aptly named; the tutorials are certainly sketchy. 

stash report

It's been 2 weeks; I wonder why I haven't had time to report. Cooking for Christmas. Wrapping for Christmas. Playing games with my children. Not having computer time on our shared computer all contributed to a limited number of postings.

I finished several gifts. Three tablecloths (1 for me) and 1 for my Mother and sister(6 yards).10 tiny book ornaments (less than .12 yard)

3 heating pads filled with lentils and with washable covers (1.5 yards).
1 wall hanging for an exchange(1/2 yard).
2 chair cushion covers for my Mother(1 yard).

my dust ruffle (9 yards). And 10? new gift bags; all the red and green with gold plaid plus some of the others (3 yards).

• input-0.0 yards!
• output-21.12 yards

I SHOULD have saved this report for 2009 since I'll start a cumulative yards report then. 

snowflakes

Do you remember my bedroom? I blogged a photo here. We could play a game...what is different in this photo from the last photo...okay we won't play the game (party pooper) I'll tell you that I made a dust ruffle that coordinates with the quilt and moved a pillow from the couch to the bed AND moved the foot locker (just for the picture though).

Hey, do you see what I see?

Look closer over on my dresser.

There do you see it? The snowflake bracelet!

Not that one ....that's my new one; Look on the jewelry tree.

BINGO!

I've been looking for it for weeks! I wore them BOTH today.

random

Does anyone recognize this child? We found a memory card in our living room but can't figure out who it belongs to. If you know this boy maybe the memory card is yours.

That was a totally random post. After posting I realized I didn't even mention our lovely Christmas. Our boys are old enough to help and went to bed early 'cause they were 'tired'. I had most everything done by 10; then realized I could redo the stockings or make a few more bags for the couple of stocking stuffers that I had lost and then found. Since doing the stocking thing meant going downstairs I opted to make 8 more bags. Truly making bags is faster than wrapping although as I got tired my skills decreased (one ended up with the seam on the outside)  the last couple didn't have a hemmed top, just a torn edge and they were fine. Some I closed with pipe cleaner; some with a torn strip of fabric and a bow of another torn strip. although 2 of them I actually sewed shut; they took a bit longer to open!

As expected the grandkids were hyper but fun to have. I tried a new breakfast recipe...I'll post it later. 

Since Reed is here but visiting his in-laws we decided to postpone our Bethlehem dinner until Saturday when they could be here.

Now I've got to get our simple dinner of smoked turkey, rolls, and such on so we can graze on healthier food for the evening.

Hope you took time to remember the Savior; I tired but didn't do it often enough or long enough. This evening will be another opportunity to reflect with the kids. 

Merry Christmas

new styles

Ya'll have noticed the reappearance of the 'baby doll pajama top' top I'm sure. I have looked at some in the stores and decided that wasn't the look for me. I mentioned Sunday a friend that is expecting her fourth baby and Roger said, 'There's a lot of babies expected in the ward now; she's one of a group.' There are no other babies expected that I know of; there are only lots of women wearing maternity style tops sooo ... Roger thought they were .... another reason to NOT jump on the new style bandwagon.

Christmas

With everyone home I have little time on the computer. We just don't have enough computers. Our computer geek son came to visit with his family; 2 of our grandsons. Roger and Reed spent several hours at Fry's (electronic super-store) yesterday. Then they tore into our 2 'old' computers; 1 was not working at all; 1 we've been using but had a few problems. Both computers are up and have internet service; yeah! no more boys on our computer. Also meant the living room had to be rearranged a bit to make room for another computer AND the tree.


This is one of my favorite ornaments; my Mother gave one to each of my older children so they left when they left home; I got to keep Brian's. I keep thinking I'll make some for myself but haven't managed to fit it in in 20 years.

Sunday I had a 'cool idea' 1 hour before church. I rushed and made 6 of these little ornament memory books for each on my students in my Primary class (similar to Sunday School). During class I had them write in important things that happened to them this year. THEN I decided to make some using felted wool for each of my grandchildren. I hope it will become a cherished ornament.

I decided to have each one have a letter for MERRY CHRISTMAS. Tyler is 4 so I made him 5 books. James is 2 but needed 3. Austin and Carter each got an M. (The books are constructed but I used up all my small jingle bells on the church kids so won't finish until I find some more.)


This is still my favorite crocheted snowflake; I crocheted it for our second Christmas, 1977.
This is my son and grandson on our walk; our effort to get me to walk a mile a day... does it count if it takes an hour to walk that mile?


I missed my stash report this week...I did some sewing but I'll group it together next week.

Have a Merry Christmas.

it's here, it's here

No pictures yet since we're so tired. But my auto-pilot system for my Innova was installed today! I have a lot to learn but it is pretty amazing. 

candy canes

I try to get my children involved in Christmas; one way is to find an ornament or craft they can do. Last week I saw this cute felted candy cane in blogland  and decided to make it my ornament of the year. (I try to make an ornament for our tree every year.....doesn't always happen and sometimes I buy an ornament too.) I managed to get Andrew and Roger to help. There's hope that Jeffrey will see the cuteness and Want to be involved but he has had HOMEWORK to deal with.

The good and the bad:

• That wool roving I bought at a thrift store 3 years ago is getting used.
•  I had to buy some red wool roving that came in a package of 6 different colors....what to do with purple roving?

After making a few I experimented with using red yarn; it worked just fine. Then I did a red cane with white stripe; which worked VERY well; but I have more white than red...

So if you're interested in felting, or cute, unbreakable, lightweight- doesn't weigh the branch down- ornaments; this is the one for you. 

It was difficult for an 11 year old to wrap the pipe cleaner but the felting process evens it out alot and his turned out great. 56 year olds are more precise and Roger's has a very precise evenly spaced stripe.

(The snowman in the background I made in 1984- I know because I date each ornament- just to make me feel old. Haven't figured out how to date the candy canes yet.)

beanie tree

I have been putting together a beanie baby tree for about 9 years. I'm a purist now; there are only TY babies on it. For the first couple years I had to fill in with a few no-name toys. (Shocking I'm sure.) I would have never collected so many if M.D.Anderson Hospital hadn't given them to each child every time we turned around the 18 months Brian was visiting the hospital. They had a Christmas party where we played Bingo and guess what the prizes were. Then each patient and sibling were given age-appropriate gifts with a beanie on the package instead of a bow. Then when we visited Santa they were given ____guess what? a beanie. Then there were other parties... and more beanies.

Could you make up stories about the position of these animals? I see an armadillo attacking/hugging? an eagle.

Do you need a tutorial?

supplies:

•  tomato cage and 
• chicken wire
•  spray painted green with a
•  soda bottle lid on top; wrapped a 
• set of tiny rice lights around; put in a
•  large flower pot that has
•  rocks in it to weight it down. 
• Pipe cleaners were used to attach the 'babies.' Putting it together took about 1 1/2 hours last night; I was surprised it took so long since I was enjoying it so much.

for tyler

I finally, after a week, looked at some blog posts and saw tours of Christmas houses... so thought I'd post a picture of our tree.























Lovely isn't it?

Wait, look it's not decorated BUT there is a gift under the tree!

Who's it to? Let's get closer...

There's no name, so sad.

Let's turn it over.

Looking forward to seeing you, Ty.

thrift store

Saturday I noticed my favorite thrift store had their clearance stuff for .99; so I ran in. I found a red wool skirt I thought might even fit.   $.99. I bought it.

It fit and I found the original tags from the store still attached; $65. 

I wore a white linen $.99 blouse ( that I bought 2 years ago, at the same thrift store, and only worn as a swimsuit cover-up), with it, a Christmas sweater purchased after Christmas about 15 years ago and my angel bracelet. I thought I looked pretty good; and festive; I certainly felt frugal.

fudge

Everyone was in bed before 9! Except me. I decided to make fudge. The recipe is here. 

Problems:

• started and realized I had no marshmallow cream
• waited till midnight to get some at WalMart (I TRY to keep the Sabbath Day holy partly by not shopping)
• while pouring the fudge into pan I dropped the pan
• luckily it landed on the counter
• made a mess
• too hot to touch; ask me how I know
• left the mess to finish pouring; rested pan against my white shirt; no longer white; lots of fudge on it!
• realized I left out the salt, the vanilla, and the nuts
• added the nuts to the top and then tried to smash them in; the fudge is still hot enough to burn; ask me how I know.
• Now I can clean the mess off the counter and hide all the evidence; otherwise I'll have to make another batch before Christmas.
• I'll be sick if I lick the pan by myself though.... want to come over and help?

stash report

• in 3/4 of a yard
• out 1.5 yards finished projects
• gifted yardage to ____ 6 yards

Since my goal is to never have more come in that goes out I'm doing fine.  Unfortunately I can see the day when I buy a bolt of fabric... and I will be in the red.

In the works;

• dust ruffle; is taking yards and yards of fabric; cut, seamed, pressed and ready to hem.
• Noah's Ark quilt ready to be bound.
• First long-arm exercise ready to be bound; the binding is cut.
• Trip around the World to be pieced.

I could really have some yards go out next week!

card

I found a use for scraps of long-arm quilting; cards. I made this very quickly so I could give them to the 6 eight year olds I teach at church today. Then as they sang the songs we're learning they got to put stickers on the tree.  I got 2 of the boys that haven't tried to sing at all since I started teaching them 5 weeks ago to sing! 

lost braclet

Last year I had an idea; a bracelet for Christmas that I could wear with blue jeans. I made a beautiful bracelet and wore it often. I've worn it once this season and then lost it. I have hunted it (in between folding fabric of course) and have not found it.


SSSSSSSoooooo I decided I couldn't make another one but I could make a similar one (I certainly don't need 2 snowflake bracelets and I'm sure I'll find it.) so here's the angel bracelet I made this week. Luckily all the Christmas jewelry is already 50-60 % off.  Notice the white beads. THIS I can wear with ANYTHING!

snow

Yes, it snowed in Friendswood last night. Our camera is in the shop so no pictures were taken of the snow and it is almost all gone. 

I just got a call from Roger. It took them 2 1/2 hours to get to work this morning! It's about 35 miles; but there were bridges closed, interstates closed, and the beltway closed. It was a good day to carpool and have someone else drive.

They need to leave work at 3 so they can take 2 1/2 hours to get home and still make the dinner and concert scheduled for tonight. (R.S. dinner that I am missing most of and junior high band concert that I wouldn't miss for anything.  Have I mentioned that Jeffrey loves the trumpet? Jeffrey loves the trumpet and I have to tell him to stop practising at least once a week; usually more often!)

everyday stuff

Today I have ordered a gift for my Dad; I figured out how to listen to Christmas music radio on the computer, killed a misquito in the car this morning, eaten breakfast, taken a child to school and found the child's missing homework. Super MOM. Now I get to long-arm since it has quit raining. Jeffrey is home, not exactly sick but not feeling well, and bugging me to quilt.

long-arm room

this is my before picture....


This is one of the end leg pieces.


I no longer have a master bedroom. When I tell the boys to take stuff upstairs to my room I'll say take it to the long-arm room.... If you click on this photo and enlarge it you can get a glimpse of the quilting.

Do you get an idea of how huge this thing is? (4' 4" X 12 feet!)

The green thing to the left is the first thing I quilted yesterday. Now I'm trying my hand at ruler work and following the lines on the Noah's Ark Quilt. It's soooo much slower than free motion feathers.  

Jeffrey lay on the bed last night to do his homework while I quilted. Andrew did some of his homework laying under the machine. 

before long-arm

Here is our room BEFORE THE LONG-ARM. This morning Roger said, 'I guess you're committed now.' I said, 'I should be committed!' I'm buying myself  WORK!

My kids have been wanting to see our new bed... it has taken months to get the incentive to get the piles cleaned off Dad's night stand but here it is.

web influence

It might be interesting to go around my house and show where the blog world has influenced me... at least in decorating my home... Sorry no time for that right now but I snapped a picture of my new jewelry box. Purchased at Michaels where it is supposed to be a hanging memory frame. I saw where someone had posted about it and so I went and bought one. I love seeing my bling and it makes choosing what to wear and finding it easier. 

stash busting

• in 8 1/2 yards (approximately)
• out 8 1/2 yards

I had my long-arm training class last week; during class we used 4 yards of fabric for our first feathers...I'm sure it can be called finished even though it is not bound. I should date it though and hide it and then compare my work in a couple of weeks.

The next 4 yards was used for a pantograph and I bound it Saturday because of YOU! I couldn't bear to have more come in to my house than went out to report here. As poorly as it is I have it draped on my couch since I did it in gold and red so it works for Christmas.

Oops, I just remembered the 11 feet (3 2/3 yards) of canvas I bought to make headers for the long-arm.  I made 5. (I had to have 3 for today) I have enough velcro for 1 more and one of the ladies I took my long-arm class with will purchase part of what is left. I have enough canvas for 12 headers; I don't think I need that many.  It isn't quilting fabric...so does it count?

My long-arm comes today.

nothing much

Mom, here's a picture of a Grandmother's Flower Garden that I thought you'd like to see.

I'm going to my long-arm training today and tomorrow. It's so lovely that Melissa is still here although I feel bad leaving her. She has an old roommate to visit with today and Roger is taking tomorrow off to be with her.