Posting will be iffy...

I am trying to close my studio, so posting will be next to not till April.

I will try to post pictures of what little I will be working on like this:

I started this when I got my 730...5 years ago... with this book:

 

to help teach me how to use my machine:

 

 I finally finished it TODAY! I must ask if this has happened to you...

DUH maybe I should have read those instructions on quilting more closely....

I made this also this week. I call it a floor throw.

 

You sew the left over cutting together you get from trimming your quilts that have the batting and backing. I just sewed it to muslin and now I have another mat. (floor throw)

 

Tues. was doughnut day. I made these:

because I didn't get these till Fri. after D day:

 

Homemade Krispy Kremes

 

 Ingredients

 3 tablespoons milk

 3 tablespoons boiling water

 1 teaspoon dry active yeast

 8 ounces all-purpose flour (a little under 2 cups, I recommend you measure and weigh. See my note above)

 1 1/2 ounces sugar (about 3 tablespoons)

 1 egg

 1 ounce butter, cold to room temperature

 1 dash salt

 oil

 

 Glaze

 1/3 cup butter

 2 cups confectioners' sugar

 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

 4 tablespoons hot water (or as needed)

 

 Directions

 In a large measuring jug, combine the milk and boiling water. Add a teaspoon of the sugar and the yeast.  Stir it gently, then leave it in a warm place for the yeast to activate (aka foam).

 In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, the rest of the sugar, and the salt.  Cut in the butter using your fingers or a pastry blender, until it resembles crumbs.

 Add the egg (give it a quick beat) and yeast mixture to the flour mix, and mix into a smooth dough.  This usually takes about 5 minutes of mixing.

 Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured counter and knead for about 5 to 10 minutes—it should feel springy and little bubbles should form under the surface.  Place it back in the bowl, cover with a cloth or plastic wrap, and let rise for about an hour until double in size.

 Once risen, place the dough onto the counter and cut it into 4 pieces.  One piece at a time, stretch it into a long rope about an inch to an inch and a half wide.  Cut strips about an inch long, ball ‘em up with your hands, and place them on a baking tray or wire rack to wait.

 Cover the doughnuts holes with a cloth to rise while you heat the oil to 375°F.

 Place the doughnuts into the oil and fry until golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes.  Be sure to fry only a few at a time so they don’t overcrowd and stick together.

 Drain on a paper towel or wire rack over a cloth, before glazing them.  Be sure to glaze them warm, or else they won’t get that delicious coverage!

 

 courtesy www.food .com and Now Your Cook'in

 (sorry everything is so spaced, I am having trouble setting this post up...must have pressed on the wrong button again)

Have a great week.

D.G. L

 

 

 

HOW SMALL

Is too small?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see I save just about every piece of wool I cut away, (not that I’m a hoarder or anything/thank goodness for that show it has really helped). The project I am working on is the

OOM by AtticHeirlooms: www.attic-heirlooms.com. Notice the coat color, I knew that stray (last post) would come in useful somewhere!

 

I did not get too much done this week. It is just too cold and all I want to do is lay under a blanket when I get home from work. This cold is really hurting my hand and I am finding it difficult to hold needles or cut fabric.
*A word of advice: if you break your hand and the doctor says you need a cast do not say “No I have to use a hammer to get the job done”…just get the cast and figure out a way to use your hand with the cast on!

I promised this Temple I would finish this on schedule.

I am finally finished with last year’s ornaments!!!

The Last Of Them

I put a friend’s hearts in the kiln with the ornaments and remembered them Heart Day morning! I called and she came to get her hearts while I was working on the lamp. It is almost like all my lamp making knowledge escaped me because I am having great difficulty putting the lamp back together...
I am now this far:

 



Our dance party was canceled due to snow so I made a big pot of turchicken noodle soup for Heart Day. Lar and I spent a nice quiet day together, he on his computer and me catching up on my shows I do not get to watch during the week.

 

Buttermilk Basin's BOM#2 is ready: http://buttermilkbasin.blogspot.com.

 

I want to thank all that are following me, either before or from the GYB.

Because of GYB I am a winner! I can’t wait to see what I won from:

Nanette, http://stitchandsow-homeandgarden.blogspot.com.

 

Tues is doughnut day. I used to help my mother make hundreds of doughnuts at her restaurant and of course I had to make sure they were all right (by eating the first half dozen)…

This year I am making doughnuts today, Sunday, because I will not have time to make them Tues. morning before work. I am also trying a new recipe and if it turns out I will share on next post.

As I mentioned it is cold here and the little critters were not growing so Lar suggested the heating pad…

(see them peeking out, little do they know they are not hiding very well...I will find them...)

 

I had to make this at work  Monday and found this to be sooo easy and it was wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fluff:

2 cups egg whites, room temp

Beat till very stiff. About 5 minutes.

Add:

2 cups light corn syrup

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

Mix until well blended.

Enjoy! I know I did!!!

Have a great week.

D.G. L

 

Leave Me Alone!

I just can't get anything done from week to week.
Or do I just need to be left alone to do MY things??? I'm guessing this is the answer.....

It doesn’t seem as if I got anything done this week. I get a little annoyed with myself when I plan my week out; what projects I want to work on or finishes  (OPAM: http://tagalongteddies.blogspot.com), and even more annoyed when I have to stop and go somewhere I wasn’t planning on!

 

Monday was our anniversary and we were going to go out to eat. I thought dance class (Lar and I take ballroom dance lessons with other couples, then once a month we have a ‘party’) would be canceled because of the big snow storm forecasted, we could go eat and I could get home into my sewing room…but noooo, not enough snow to cancel. I overslept taking a nap which I rarely do, and we didn’t go out to eat. We went to dance and afterward went to MacD’s to eat at 9:30pm....ot like I have to get up early for work…..

 

Tues. we went to Cracker Barrel for our anniversary. It's very special to us because it its where I met Lar (in TN).  Just everything about that morning was so like Kismet!

Wed. I was able to start stitching my first BOM by Buttermilk Basin: http://buttermilkbasin.blogspot.com.

All the wool but the black and cream of the lamb; yes I shrank those myself, is hand dyed. I got on a dying kick last year; see past post, and now have boxes of the stuff I need to use up. It will probably last until I finish all the projects I want to do because I still have more to dye.

 

I am working on a mini by Gudrun Erla:  https://auribuzz.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/aurifil-2015-designer-of-the-month-gudrun-erla (previous post). It took only 5 hours to sew together! That’s what I like - fast and easy! Hopefully I will show the end result soon as I have the idea for the quilting to work out.

 

Thurs. I straightened up the sewing room so I could get a lot done beginning Fri. and the weekend. Again NOOOO. We went to see ‘American Sniper’ with Lar's sister. War movies are not my thing. I have never watched ‘Platoon’ or any movie like that, it’s just too close to home. I had a brother that served and came back totally different, Lar’s brother was killed 2 weeks before he was to come home before Christmas, and I  have a lot of friends that are not the same.

It's just too bad I could not take my stitching along. The beginning 15-20 minutes and the last 10-15 minutes of the movie were really all they had to show, the rest of the film they could have left on the editing floor in my opinion.

Needless to say I did not get in my room Fri. night.

 

Today is Sat. I went to the studio for a little while. Got a little more work done on the lamp, which should already be finished, it is taking me way too long! I had to stop at noon because I had to go to a viewing. That was the end of my work week at the studio.

Last week

This week

And I gave my landlord notice???  Probably because it will MAKE me finish and pack,

what do you think???

 

I took these babies out of the kiln today:

Not sure yet if these are what I want to make as my ornament of the year. I keep thinking yes,

'The Lamb of God', but I have other ideas too. I will just have to think some more on it.

 

 

Look what was washed  with my whites! I put it in the wash basket so I would wash it with the jeans to shrink it. (took me 2 days to do 3 loads because of having to stop after starting....

again leave me alone!)

 

And such a pretty shade of red wool it is. You can not tell because of poor lighting.

And nothing turned pink? Must have been the bleach I used. Or was it the…

:a cup of white vinegar  added to the wash to help relieve even more static (see foil balls in previous post) but be careful, if you use too much in the darks I’ve noticed it can fade them.

Oh who are we kidding…I never use a measuring cup so it’s because I put too much in the wash…

dang, I must be more careful with that…

Have a great week.

D.G. L