Amazing

 

how the chapters in our lives change.

It has been what seems like a long time since I posted. I will not try to bore you with all the things that I have been up to, hopefully just a semi quick recap.

Easter came and went. Was upset we didn’t get to go to church because Lar was sick and wasn’t having company to use this:



I finally closed the shop last Sunday and moved just a few things to the house:

Organ was there (haha)

Before I started shampooing the carpet at the shop (because I had to wait till 1:30 to pick up the shampooer) my friend and I went to see the ‘Dear Jane’s’ exhibit at the local Taber Museum in Williamsport. This group of women (one of which is a local designer Judith Youngman) started by getting together and quilting much like my BS group! I was able to get so much inspiration from these ladies. The cradle in the picture is dated 1850.

so we can do this one with the 'scraps'

Think we are starting with this one







 

Woolie



Minis

In cradle.

 

 

 

 



I like the red one at top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So in order last weekend: I went to a quilt show, started shampooing carpet, got up Sun. and finished shampooing carpet, than last minute Lar wanted to go to an Indian artifact speech.

 

 

WHAT no sewing again?!?

 It was very uninteresting because the speaker could not give a comprehensive speech. The only saving grace to this time was afterward we got to go through the Montoursville Museum. I was pleasantly surprised by:

 

I was able to finish the 'Stars and Stripes' quilt that our BS group made ‘kits’ of at our 2011 fall quilt retreat. We went to Verna’s and bought all the fabric to piece the top for 6 ‘kits’. Came back to Mel’s and spent the rest of the day cutting and packaging. I think I am the third one to finish. I quilted this on my home machine and sewed 13 stars in the quilting. I didn't notice until it was finished that when I took a picture that I do not like that bottom piece of fabric. Next time I will try and look through my view finder before I sew it together to see if everything is where it is supposed to be.

Oh well, no one will notice it driving past my house looking in the window going 60mpg.

 

 

When I start my pineapple quilt I am thinking of sewing pineapples in the quilting. What do you all think?

Lar went to the spring Carlisle spring car show and came home with this toy:

See the little red and blue lighter thingy in the left top corner? It's a baby drone.

 

 

 

 

 

 



I have one more week of work before I am off for about 2 months. Since I have literally had no time to clean for a very long time I decided to start my house cleaning. I started with the ‘recipe’ cupboard which took 4 hours! (I didn’t expect that amount of time) I went through all the recipes I had ripped out of magazines, newspapers, hand scribbled ones from friends, etc. and looked at the dates. (Sorry no before picture, still ashamed of what the mess that came out of the cupboard looks like.) I had magazines that were not reopened since I got them from 2002! (Yes I did some cleaning since 2002) I sorted everything making piles of to recycle, to file, and to try.

All came out of cupboard, what a shame.
 
 

 

4 hours later!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did try a ham and pasta recipe I found in the 'to try' pile which I altered a bit because Lar can’t eat garlic or onions:

To the cooked pasta (I used penne) I sautéed ham, tomatoes, peas, basil, lemon juice, and capers. It was so good I will definitely be making this again!

 

Are you tired of your bananas ripening before your ready to eat them? I was tired of freezing my bananas because they ripened so fast and saw this on www.somewhatsimple.com. ‘How to keep bananas fresh.’  I tried it and it does work. If you can’t eat a bunch of bananas when you buy them, break apart and wrap the ‘stem part’ with plastic wrap. The bananas stay longer!

Have a great week!

D.G. L

Happy Easter!

 

 

Wishing you all a Happy Blessed Easter!

D.G. L



Chicken Dinner!

Winner, Winner!

I won 2 fabulous prizes in the Grow Your Blog (which was so much fun.. you should consider doing it next year).
This was hosted by Vickie of  2Bags Full: http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com/

What a wonderful goodie holding caddy from Thearica@crazyquiltingsupplies.com.

And these will definitely come in handy from Nanette from Australia!

 

http://stitchandsow-homeandgarden.blogspot.com.  I was thrilled with this because I know how expensive fabric is from Australia. When I was there years ago I paid around $32.00 a yard!

 

So much has transpired since last posting.
I am still moving.

Notice the not so happy helpers getting a load together for the dump? It is a sin all I threw away. Word of warning: If you are starting a business or have one, do not get things with the thought of ‘someday I will use this to make that’…it never happened in my world and now I am either throwing or giving it away. Have you ever moved hundreds of pieces of glass????

 I went crazy and ordered some thread from Superior. They are discontinuing a thread line and the price was right so I got a few:

Later all I will have to do is move hundreds of spools of thread!!!

This also came in the mail.

 

What a surprise to see my son on the cover of a calendar! (He’s the one on the left.) I am so proud of him!

In between packing to move Lar wanted to go skiing so we went the last day of winter. I was glad he talked me into it because I did have fun.



I was also able to finish 3 table toppers/runners to keep up with my OPAM.

 

I started them last year as a ‘teach’ for our quilt guild. (Remember I had volunteered to be quilt show chair but resigned due to a few not wanting to have the show changed from the way they wanted it run….)

Anyway, I was teaching all 2 members the 'quilt as you go' technique so they could

1. Learn the technique and 2. Donate one project to be sold in our ‘Quilter’s Corner’.

I figure I would just keep these and use them or sell them. I am not donating anything!

This is just a few of the happenings since the last post. I am  still working on moving the studio into storage, still bidding on jobs being very selective as to what I am bidding on, and still working full time. This is leaving very little time to sew. Talk about stress!

Until next post have a great week!

D.G.L

 

Have the hiccups? Bite into a lemon slice or if you don’t have a lemon, drink a spoon of  ‘Real Lemon’ juice. Your hiccups will go away!

 

Do you hear...

what I hear??? Oh no not Christmas, it's close to Easter so it should be Alleluia!

Remember this?:

The lamp I received as a gift eons ago, the lamp that got broken through all the moves I made over those eons, is finished!!! (Again, do you hear???)

 

I also fixed the very first piece I made all by my self after taking the beginner stained glass class. I took the class to learn how to put above lamp together and became a 'glassaholic'!

 



 

 There were 2 broken leaves. Thankfully my sister-in-law didn't like doing stained glass and gave me all her glass 30+ years ago that I kept and I was able to match the original glass.

Notice the bumpy petal...it's upside down!

 

Also you can not tell but there is no glass around the flowers and leaves because I did not know how to fit them in....now I can fit 4 pieces of glass on a dime at one time!

 

Must tell you what Lar just had to do the other day..

The local frozen yogurt shop started carrying Lar's favorite brand of locally made ice cream and they were giving a free scoop to those who signed up on line. So we got in the car:

 

  

ordered at the shop:

 

 

 And no, they are not both mine - one is Lar's. In fact I gave him half of mine...I'm not real big on ice cream:

It was just too cold to enjoy it.

Hopefully I will be able to get some sewing done this week.
I started packing up the studio and have the guys coming next Sat. to help me move stuff to storage so I'm not sure how much sewing I will get to. I found so much junk while packing up!

 
Is it just me or did you already know something I learned this week??
Peppers are male and female!

  While I was chopping them this week, I checked it out and it seems true!

Have a great week.
D.G. L

 

 

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