Nothing and A GIVEAWAY

I have been off of work for 2 weeks now and I feel as if I am getting nothing done! I don't like to clean when Lar is around and he seems to be around ALL the time! (One of my goals while I am off is/was to house clean.) He has to work on our car at the garage but complains that it's too hot; which it has been, but I am tempted to say TURN ALOT OF FANS ON. Am I a bad person for this?????
I did manage to finish a whole quilt! OK, so it is a Mini Quilt, but it is finished! I started it in Jan. (see ‘WHEW’ post from 1/31.) I just now finished it because the name of this mini is ‘Flurry’ and I just couldn’t work on anything to do with snow, cold, or winter! I put it to the side and since the temperatures were upper 80's I finished it.
I wanted an original quilting design so I drew one up. The problem I had was transferring it so I could see and sew it. I started with the design and tried to trace it with a Frixion pen and Dritz tracing paper. That didn't work because the pen kept tearing the design paper and the tracing paper underneath was smudging the fabric.

 I had to use a bodkin  because it was the only thing I had with a ‘ball tip’ on it. I put a square ruler on top of the design so I could rest the palm of my hand on it to stop the smudging. All this seemed to work because I was able to see most of the design after removing the papers. I did have to mark a few places that I could not see the traced design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know now I need LOTS and LOTS of practice to do free motion quilting! Even though the lines were on the fabric there was quite a bit of operator error, but I’m fine with it because it still looks pretty darn good (my opinion) and I know I will get better with practice.

Where was this:  

before I started? That’s right, in storage with all my other tools! I got it out of storage along with this:

to start my next quilting design….practice makes perfect (or close to it).

While I was working on the quilt (and a few other things) I finished listening to ‘Rooms’ by Lauren Oliver and ‘The First Wife’ by Erica Spindler. These were both very good.

I am now listening to Book One of ‘The Maze of Bones’ written by Rick Riordan.

 So far it seems a little farfetched.  What old bitty is going to let a pair of young children live with an aupair while she lives on the other side of the city? The story moves rather fast which I like but I am unable to figure out the plot as I could in ‘The First Wife’.

While I was at Jo-Ann’s the other day I saw a piece of fabric on the mannequin that would be perfect for my Jellie. It was the last piece the store had so I asked the manager if she would sell it to me. She said she couldn’t so I settled for this:

I also picked this up for a sundress:

Jellie Loves Mini Mouse!
Oh my, I forgot something and had to go back to Jo-Ann’s the next day….(as if I hate to go to Jo-Ann's). I again asked for the piece of fabric on the mannequin but to a different sales lady. She stepped over to it, removed the pins and now I have the fabric. The sales lady said ‘Now I just need to put something else there.’ I think the manager was just too lazy to deal with having to do work.

I like this piece soooo much better!

Now all I have to get from my son is her measurements….

I signed up for 2 webinars. The first one I didn’t care for.
I got prepared for the second webinar. This one was given by
Margaret Moorehead: http://virtualsewingguild.net

 

(See my snack, homemade tapioca pudding, pen and paper, iced tea, and what’s that?!? Oh, it’s my medicine, DiSaronno, now I am ready!) This webinar was one of the best one’s I've watched. I did order the design CD’s and am looking forward to showing you the end results.

I am also following and doing 'School Bell Has Rung' given by

Karen Walker: http://chezstitches.blogspot.com. 

Even though we are on week 5 it is so easy and you can catch up in a flash!
Hopefully it will help me with my free motion quilting, it's one of the reasons I am doing it. Also she has so many tips and tricks!

Now for the giveaway:

If you have been following me, you know my birthday is the 24^th.   To celebrate I will be giving one lucky person their choice of a pendant or a pair of earrings made by me. Because I love a surprise I cannot show you the finished pieces because it would not be a surprise to you. To win you must follow me and leave a comment. You must ALSO tell me is if you want the pendant or earrings and if you want sterling silver or 14kgf.

To obtain extra entries: for every follower of yours that starts following me (and tells me who they were following), and does the same in the comments, you get an extra entry for everyone who follows me.

I will pick the winner on May 24th (my birthday) at 11pm est., so you all have until then to follow me, get your followers to follow me, and to get your comments to me!

When we go to our local deli we always pick up lemon cookies. To me they are very expensive, around $1.00 a cookie. This recipes was in our paper and I decided to try is. (The Williamsport Sun Gazette stating this recipe comes from the 'All Italian Cookbook' published by Mater Dolorosa Church.) The cookies turned out better then the deli and cost much less! They are a nice summer treat and very easy to make.

Ricotta Cookies

Ingredients:

2 stick butter, melted	4 cups flour
2 eggs	1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups sugar	1 tsp. salt
2 lemons rinds	2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup ricotta (heaping)

Mix butter, sugar, eggs, rinds, and ricotta (1 whole 15 oz. container) until creamy. Add in the vanilla. (I used 1 ½ tsp. vanilla and ½ tsp. almond extract, I like the taste. If you do this you MUST BE CAREFULL to tell this because some people have nut allergies.) Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Drop on greased cookie sheet by teaspoonful. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Icing:

Mix:
2 lbs. powdered sugar, lemon juice, and a little milk to dissolve the powdered sugar.
Dip cooled cookies into icing and allow icing to harden.

Enjoy!

Have a great week!
D.G. L