turkey feathers

Sister Mabel to the Rescue

This is what we were up to this afternoon.   Not only was it a cracking good time, but a lip-smacking one too.  And I must say, a bit of a relief because things have been rather somber around here since we got the news that the Mister's younger brother died quite unexpectedly in his bed over the weekend.  Quite a shock.  So as we deal with that, and try and carry on as best we can, keeping everyone busy helps.  Ginger filled bags with our homemade carmel-corn for her party friends and the trick-or-treaters that will come by on Halloween night.  (We left out the nuts in case of allergies, but normally we add them.)   I've already eaten way too much of this.  It's just too good.  The recipe is as old as the hills and one that's still my favorite:~~~~Sister Mabel's Carmel CornPrepare ahead of time at least 6 quarts of popped corn, that's about 1-1/4 cups uncooked kernels.  Line up several ungreased, sheet-cake pans on the counter and fill them with the popped corn, just up to the sides.  Use additional pans or cookie sheets if you have extra popcorn.Reserve 1 teaspoon baking soda in a small dish.Combine the following ingredients in a large heavy stock-pot or saucepan:

• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 teas. salt
• 1/4 teas. Cream of Tartar
• 1 cup roasted peanuts or sliced almonds
• gourmet coarse sea salt

Bring ingredients to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a long-handled wooden spoon, until it reaches 260 degrees on a candy thermometer or hardball stage.  (I always just guess here, cooking about 15-20 minutes until bubbly, but not burnt.)  Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda.  Mixture will "puff up" rapidly; keep stirring quickly and thoroughly for about 3 or 4 minutes.  Be very careful when handling this hot sugar mixture, this is probably not a good job for children helpers.  Use a soup ladle to transfer the mixture to the popped corn; pouring it evenly in rows, rather than puddles.  Work quickly as the caramelized sugar will begin to stiffen up in the pot within 5 minutes.   Add the nuts.  Using a plastic spatula, lightly fold the mixture and nuts into the popcorn.  Don't worry if it isn't all coated, some of it will melt down into the bottom of the pan and become soft enough to work with again as it cooks in the oven (200 degrees for one hour).  Fold 2-3 times during this time.  Remove from oven, and fold/mix one more time; sprinkle with the coarse salt.  Let cool about 5 minutes before handling. 

So we're all set now thanks to Sister Mabel.  We've got the small "spooky" bags for trick-or-treaters, BIG BAGS for the parent escorts, the munchie bowls for the candy givers, and of course, plenty of organic chocolate to go around too. 

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone!  I'll be taking some time away from the blog until next week.  Thanks for all the sweetness and light, it's very much appreciated.

Maple Leaf Quilt :: Done!

At last, I finally got this finished and it's been added to the FWYH photo pool.  I meant to have it ready to share first thing this morning but I've had no time to sit down, let alone try and doctor dozens of bad photos.  The light in the entry-hall is just marginally adequate and only at a certain time of the day.  A time, apparently, that came and went before I got around to picking up my camera.  I did my best given the circumstances.  Here's the scope of it anyway.  I still can't believe it.  It's done!  And all's well.  No one will ever be the wiser about that teensy binding snafu of mine either.  It's just "our little secret" now.  {wink}

More bad pictures here. 

FAQ Friday

Gee guys, thanks for all the cozy pillow talk.  And all the PB orders!  I'm so up to my eyeballs with stuff to do around here but will get them out as quickly as possible cuz I know you're all eager to get stitching on your projects.  I'm still really excited about the patchwork pillow too for some reason.  Maybe it's because I'm finally doing something with all these charms and strips instead of just admiring them.  Or maybe it's because it's just so super quick and easy; here's proof of that . . . just look what momma pajama did yesterday!  (Great tip Paula about omitting the side-strips to fit a smaller pillow form too.)

OK, I have lots of new patchwork pillow ideas to ponder over now, in fact I'm in a tizzy (a supremely good one) but it will all have to wait a tad longer while I finish up the patiently waiting Maple Leaf Quilt.  The much anticipated b&w plaid binding arrived yesterday (hurray!) so now I'm ready to race to the finish line with it.  Just need to fill in that goofy little gap and I'm done.  Will try and get some good pictures this weekend and post them on Monday. 

Before I forget, Teresa wanted to know what I used for the sashing between the leaf blocks.  It's actually a printed fabric that I cut in narrow strips.  The fabric is older, like from the 80's I think, and is long gone except what I have in this quilt.  I used another stripe print for the outer border as well, just in case you were wonderin'. 

Since it's Friday, time for another FAQ update before I dash off to clean the floors.  (Can you tell I'm procrastinating here?)

{This is where you will find answers to questions concerning my projects, patterns, and other things you may wonder about. I regret that I'm not always able to answer each of your questions individually, after all, there's only so much a busy mama can do, and besides many times I'm asked the same questions, so this forum just seems to make the most sense.  Feel free to ask questions in the comment box or email them to me and I will address a few here when I have time. Before asking a question though check here first to see if it's already been answered. T.Y.}

Q.  About those charm packs and jelly rolls, do you wash them first? ~Natalie

A.   Normally, I wash fabrics I'm going to handle a lot, but these are small and ready-to-use so I don't pre-wash them.  But if I ever need to...I 'd probably do a quick swish-and-soak in the sink with a little dish liquid and let them air-dry on a folded towel to prevent any fraying edges and shrinkage.

Q.  What is an FWYH?  I am in the dark on this one!  ~Anne

A.   Sorry Anne, I sometimes forget how many new folks drop in here and wonder what in the world I'm talking about.  Anyway, I started a "Finish What You Have" (FWYH) "campaign" last year (in June 2006) that involves digging out your old quilts, knitting, sewing, and other projects that have sat too long.  I invited others to join me in the quest to tackle UFO's (Un-Finished Objects) and started a Flickr group, that I just noticed has grown to 125 members--yay!---where we can share our finished projects and stories to inspire each other to reach the "finish line"; hence the cute flag-waving banner courtesy of  Justine's talented "other half ".   You can read some of my original posts about it over here, and another here.  Anyone is free to join and share their progress, and, I just extended the invitation to include seven additional languages, which I think will be interesting and also fun to see what others are making (and hopefully finishing) elsewhere.

Q.  Please, would you share how you do your refried beans [from this post]...I prefer to make them from scratch, but they never seem to taste as good as the canned ones.  Thanks!!  ~Mariah

A.  I always cook my beans in a crockpot:  Rinse 2 cups dry pinto beans to remove any rocks and dirt.  Beans will double in quantity once they are cooked, so don't overfill your pot.  Cover with boiling water until there's about 3 inches of water above the beans.  Set the crockpot on high and cook for several hours.  Stir them occasionally.  (I sometimes start the beans before I go to bed at night, and cook them on low.)  When they are soft and tender, you can eat them as is, or mash them with a potato masher.  Add a little butter and sea salt, which improves the texture and flavor quite a bit, and a dash of Tabasco sauce (more or less to taste).

Q.  My daughter is interested in making a dollhouse bakery & we were wondering what kit you used to make yours.  ~Diane

A.  We ordered our dollhouse kit from this online source.  I shared more information about how we converted the house to a bakery in this post here.  (There are additional posts and pictures under the Dollhouse Bakery category in the left sidebar too.)

~That's it for now...time to get back to work!~

Cozy Up

Still stalking the mailbox, waiting for the black & white plaid bias binding to arrive so I can finish my MLQ (ahem!) properly.  I really appreciated all the funny and commiserating comments that were left here and don't feel quite so silly now!  Thanks you guys.  It helps to laugh at yourself sometimes.   I may just have a finished quilt to show you (that I can be proud of ) in a future post after all. 

Skipping ahead now...I'm always looking for ways to bring embroidery into my projects.   So with that in mind, I designed this patchwork pillow cover using charm-squares, jolly-packs, and jelly-roll strips from moda; some I found here.  I love having these entire sets of colorful fabrics at my fingertips to play around with.   I don't even mind the cost, which really isn't all that much, considering the convenience and time saved.  Doing the embroidery takes long enough, so saving any extra steps really streamlines the process.  I was as happy as a lark too when everything went together so perfectly, even my corners matched up all neat and tidy.  Note to self:  Must make more pillow-covers for other seasons and holidays, maybe even a gift or two.  Or a quilt!  All that sounds pretty ambitious doesn't it?  Indeed it does.  But as I was making this pillow, I jotted down the measurements and made a few notes to refer back to for future reference so the next one should go together even faster.   I'm adding a page for it here too, so anyone who wants to can give it a whirl.  (if you make one please let me know how it turns out OK?) 

Ahhh...all finished.  And just in time for the arrival yesterday of my new love-seat for the library nook. I couldn't be happier about that little bit of happenstance either.   

In A Bind

It was all going so well.  (Even despite the afore mentioned crazy electrical interruption.)  I've done dumb things before. . . but nothing quite like this.  The good news is, I finished all the machine quilting on the MLQ quilt, and it went smoothly.  Turned out pretty nice too, nicer than I thought it would.  I'm not a big fan of machine-quilting, but it's growing on me.  And since things were going SO well, and not wanting to lose my momentum, after all, this IS a 10+ year-old FWYH project, I foolishly decided to throw all caution to the wind with the final step:: the binding.   

Yes, I confess,  I went ahead and sewed on the black plaid bias binding I'd purchased earlier this year, knowing full-well that it was going to be 4" too short.  My thinking was,  I would leave the ends undone and just pick up another package the next time I went into town, then piece it together.   No big deal.  Long story short; four stores and a wasted afternoon later, no matching binding was to be found anywhere in my vicinity.  EEgads, where did it all go? I remember seeing it a lot this spring and summer, in other colors too.   Got home, searched online, the Wright's website didn't even have it cataloged.   Somehow though, I stumbled onto an ebay store and found it in abundance.  Whew!  Happy ending.  It's on its way now as I write.  But I'll know better next time.  Lesson learned.

Warm Fuzzies

Spotted on a walk through the woods. Lovely leg-warmers hand-knitted by daughter Grace, for her sister Ginger.

Belly rubs.

Black Out

Here's my Friday WIP.   I'm still here making steady progress on the Maple Leaf quilt.  Our blustery weather turned into quite a storm yesterday, and as I was hunkered down at the sewing machine, meditatively putting down rows of quilting, we lost power.  But not completely, only like 90% or something, which caused every electronic device in the house, beloved sewing machine included,  to react.  Things were switching on and off in rapid succession.  The lights dimmed and some were flashing, the computers were beeping, alarms were screeching, lamp timer-dials were spinning like they were possessed and the girls and I were squeaking & hopping around in circles, wondering what to do, what to do.  Fortunately, the Mister (always our knight in shining armor) walked in the back door, home for lunch, amid the chaos, and keeping a calm head, simply threw the main power switch, shutting everything down before every appliance in the house, including his ladies, had a meltdown.  Oh thank goodness.  I guess when this happens, it's called a brown-out" and "it's the mother of all sorts of bad stuff" and can cause power surges that will destroy or damage your electronics, and possibly start a fire.  Read all about it here.  I'd never heard of this before, and thought I'd mention it for others who may not be aware of it either.  (My public service duty.)  Fortunately, we have surge-protectors on all our high dollar appliances (a very good idea in any event)  so no harm was done to tellies and computers, and more importantly, certain $ewing machine$.  Thankfully.   So it was a rather quiet afternoon reading and doing crafts with the kids, and after a couple of hours, power and harmony was restored and I eventually got back to work on this quilt.  Which is coming along quite nicely now, despite that rather crazy interruption.   

Let The Kitchen Dance Begin

We're expecting more Oregon rain and bluster today so we're nestled in.  Good baking weather though, and I've got a nice big apple pie here, made by our friend John, who makes the most amazing pies (he grows his own apples too) and then raffles them off at his own annual MS fund raiser.  His pies are so-o-o good that getting one is like winning the lottery.  At least around here.  And I kid you not, this one weighs just over five pounds; absolutely no skimping here.  And I wish I knew the secret of his crust, it just melts in your mouth.  John is really one of the most generous and kind souls I'm happy to know, and I can't thank him enough for doing all that he does to make the world a better place.

Another generous soul I would like to thank is Susan Branch, for her never-ending source of inspiration and total devotion to all things good.  I finally got my hands on some of her wonderful fabric from the "Martha's Vineyard Watercolor Collection" and made a little applique patch for the apron I made a few weeks ago (using her free download here) from the small patches print.  So cute!  In case you can't read it, it says, "Let The Kitchen Dance Begin", hence the title post.  With fall here, and with it the wet weather, it just seemed appropriate somehow.  There are all kinds of sweet little pictures on this fabric print that can be cut out and used in this way.  I bought big patches too and plan to sew them onto some of the things I make, and use them like quilt labels. 

I'm telling you, the days are just flying by.  In the best way of coarse, as we busy ourselves making things for you.  Thanks again for supporting our efforts in all that we do.  Being able to stay home and make a living this way is such a privilege and a blessing in so many ways.  And we are forever grateful for the fun and friendship that happens along the way too.  xoxox

   

Grace is excitedly filling the dollhouse bakery orders that keep coming in.  I think just about everything is sold out.  Might be a few crumbs left.  If you hurry....  Her lollipop tree was a smash hit.  She wasn't sure if anyone would like them (can you imagine?) so she only made one.  She honestly still can't believe that so many lovely people want to buy her tiny creations.   As her mother, it's heart-warming that you do.  In fact, the whole etsy experience has been empowering for her I think, and has helped her realize that her work has value.  It's been a family affair around here though with all of us pitching in to help her this week.  We hope to have it all shipped before Halloween, which doesn't give us much time, and I've been skidding around in my slippers from one corner of the house to the other.  Not all that different from any other day actually, just skidding off in different locations.  And with that, it's time to skidaddle. . . and eat some pie!

No Tricks Just Treats

The dollhouse bakery is back open for business!  Yes, I'm pleased to tell you that Grace has been at it again, making magic things happen with a pinch of this and a dash of that.  What teensy-tiny marvels these things are.  Some are available right now in her shop.  I'm drooling just looking at them.  And I love her wooden lolli-pop tree!  I almost died when she showed it to me, how cute is that thing?  She only made this one, but is happy to take pre-paid orders.  It comes with 5 assorted lollipops for $15 + s/h.  Email us if you'd like one and we'll send you a Paypal invoice or add it to your order.

And to make all this even MORE fun, we'll be including a miniature Halloween surprise with any and all orders until the end of the month, just a little something specially made by *yours truly*.  I'm such a kid---love getting glue all over my fingers.   (tee hee)

Oh, it looks like we already have a customer, so off we go!  A few more pictures over here.

Just Peachy

Autumn is in the air and we have been busy bees just hunting and gathering all over the place.   The new free-with-purchase transfers are up on my PatternBee website today, along with a few more free print-and-trace ones here.  I'll be adding more to this page as time allows.  In the meantime, I'm helping Grace with a few things---so please check back tomorrow for a shop update!  The dollhouse bakery has been cranking out all kinds of goodies to celebrate the season and I think there's a party going on too.  Lots of eye candy for sure!!