Finish up Friday, April 27, An Apron

Once again, I have a little finish.  I have had a very busy week at work.  My shortest day was 12 hours.  Today I was off and wanted to sew but those dust bunnies HAD to be tamed.  They had formed a union and were demanding benefits!

I went over to my MIL's three different times.  I weeded one of her flower beds and patiently waded through all the others looking for stuff she knew was there.  She is doing pretty well with her at home dialysis but not where she wants to be.  As much as I wanted to sew I just couldn't tell her I didn't have time today.  So......

This is it.

I made an apron this morning before I started cleaning.

Here is a less artsy, clearer picture of it.

I was trying to make it look better since it is such a paltry finish.  It is a free Darlene Zimmerman pattern provided by my BOM group.  We are all supposed to make aprons this month.  I modified this one.  It called for 5 panels and I did 7.  I did a rolled hem all the way around each panel because I don't like raw edges.  I added to the length of the ties because I like to tie aprons in the front.  I also made the waist band wider and added innerfacing to stiffen it.

I have plans for three others that won't upload right now for some reason.  So I guess I will end today's post with a list of where I am linking up.  Be sure to check out some of the other posts.

Crazy Mom Quilts
Amy Lou Who Sews
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Find a Friend Friday

Winners are #7 and #11

My random number generator tells me #s 7 and 4 won but 4 did not reply so now 11 has won.  Checking my reply list (and giving people with links a second number) I find that is Shifra G and Sallie......Both no-reply posters.  I think I know who Sallie is and will try emailing her.  If I don't hear from Shifra by in the morning I will generate another number.  Since I redrew the new winner is Rosemary!  Congratulations Rosemary!

Thanks for all of your great stories!

Mary

ETA:  I heard back from Sallie and she was the Sallie comment.  So, I have that winner.  Now, if Shifra doesn't contact me by Saturday morning I will redraw.

Thanks!

Update: Giveaway deadline 4/26/12

Hi, all!  Very busy week for me at work.  Today I was the only one there trying to do what 4 people normally do.  ANYWAY...when I posted my giveaway  I somehow screwed up the date.  I am working 12 hrs a day all this week.  I will not draw until Friday.  If you are a new follower, please join my give away.

To all of my new followers: Welcome!  And, thank you!

I have worked a little be on some aprons this week.  I hope to finish one or two to post on Friday and my give away.  I will mail it Friday or Saturday for sure.

Keep Stitchin' and Stirrin'!

Mary

Finish It Up Friday, April 20

It is 7:20 p.m. on Friday and I just finished what I wanted to have done for last week.  I am calling it Butterfly Garden.

I made this for my manager's first granddaughter.  As you can see, I am a bit after the fact.  I used a Twirl charm pack by Me and My sister for Moda.  The outer border and binding are fabrics from that same line.  I have two of the charm packs and until I got this together I did not realize the pack I used did NOT have the border fabric in it.  It did have 43 squares in it.  I am thinking someone might have swapped some out.

I used bits of flannel I already had for the backing.

The butterflies in the corners are all slightly different but all done with variegated threads.

I did not intend to quilt over the butterflies but.... I worked nights last night.  I had this loaded on the frame and the first pass done.  I went down and started the second one this morning and forgot to stop for the butterfly.  It turned out far better than I expected (or I would have ripped it out).

Lucy is a Leap Day baby.

My youngest had a teacher in second grade whose birthday was Leap Day.  He decided that would be super cool and kept asking me why I didn't wait another day to have him - his birthday is February 28.  It took a year or so to convince him it was impossible because he was NOT born in a leap year.  I was NOT carrying that child 21 months! 

I quilted this with some yellow thread from Connecting Threads.  It is kind of linty but I find I do just fine if I am vigilant about cleaning my machine and oil it.  I used some Superior Threads Bottom Line for the bobbin.  That is REALLY nice thread.  For fun I took both of them to work last night and looked at them under the microscope.  You can really see that the Bottom Line has ZERO lint.

 This is the densest quilting I have ever done and I am not sure I am a fan.

I am apprehensive about this quilt because Mom is an artist.  I mean a serious, studied art, does beautiful miniature paintings that look like post cards, artist.  What was I thinking?  Hopefully, that she appreciates the effort and the color!  I am not pleased with the binding but am not motivated enough tonight to redo it.  I have to work on prom dresses and dance costumes this weekend...I don't even have daughters!

Linking up with Friday Finishes at

Amy Lou Who: Sew & Tell
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Richard Quilts


Be sure to check out everyones finishes.  And, please, leave some comments.  Everyone appreciates them so.

Keep stitchin'!

Mary

Spring!

I have another sign of spring.  Yet another migraine.  No sewing and no cooking.  This is some of what is blooming in my yard.

Pork Rub and Kuchen (coffee cake)

I didn't post anything last week.  I will remedy that with two recipes today.  Not much in the way of pictures, though.

My husband's family is of German decent.  A popular recipe in his family is kuchen, as his Tante Ida called it, or coffee cake like the rest of the family says.  I have tweaked the recipe slightly so that is goes together with less mess.  It is a big recipe but keeps and freezes well.

Ingredients:

4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
4 eggs

3/4 cup milk


Topping:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 sticks of butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350°F

The family method was to dump all the ingredients in a bowl and mix.  I have a lovely Kitchen Aid mixer that will handle this task but it makes a mess.  I cream together the shortening and sugar. Then add the eggs until well mixed.  You can then alternate milk and dry ingredients or add the milk and then all the dry ingredients.  it is a very stiff dough for a cake.  Spread into a greased cookie sheet/jelly roll pan.

For topping mix the sugar and butter together until will blended.  Add flour and blend just until mixed.  Spread over top of cake batter.  Bake for 30 minutes.

When serving this cake we always cut strips about an inch wide and cut three pieces from a width.  This makes dunking it into coffee or milk easier.  My husband's Granny made one every Saturday morning. I only do it if the kids are coming home to help us eat it!

My other recipe is one I made up from trial and error.  My husband got a smoker and we kept trying different rubs.  Finally, we like this one.  We like it so well I keep it in the cabinet in a shaker.

Isn't this fancy?  This is actually the second one.  The first one said, "Mom's Pork Rub" and one of my sons took it home.  It says pork but we use it on poultry, too.  It is good on chops that are being grilled.

Mary's Pork Rub

2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons white pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon dried mustard
1 tablespoon dried garlic
1/4 cup paprika

Mix well and store in an air tight container.

Recently I smoked a pork shoulder.  I pat the rub down all over the surface and wrap it in plastic wrap.

I then refrigerate it for 8 to 24 hours.  This one was smoked for 6 hours or so. You can oven roast it.  Slower is better.  Try about 300°F until it is falling apart.  If using a smoker, put the fat side up.

Hope you can use one of these recipes.  I am going to link up with Tuesdays at the Table.

Keep Stirrin'!

Mary

How did you learn to sew?

Hello, all!  Hope your day is good.  First thing is I want to say, "Thank You, Lord."  Yesterday I went to the oncologist and everything is good for another three months!  I am told I need to treat this form of cancer as a chronic disease since it has a such a high recurrence rate but it sure is nice hear, "Everything looks good!" from the doctor instead of, "We better do another scan just to make sure."  I really think I should glow in the dark.  Okay, enough whining there, Mary.  Bottom line is, everything is good!


Kellie, over at Craft Nurse Quilts, is having a giveaway because she reached 10 followers.  She is a sweetheart and I think she needs more followers.  Hop on over and check her out. She wants to know how people learned to sew.  I am kind of curious about that, too.  So, I am going to steal her idea.  I am going to have a giveaway myself.  Same rules as Kellie.  Post a response to this post for one chance to win.  Post a link back to your blog mentioning this giveaway AND telling your story of how you learned to sew in your post for a second chance.

UPDATED: This is one of my giveaways.  The other is a surprise but will be Christmas themed.

 This is a 24 strip jelly roll from Connecting Threads called Harvest Time.  It is prettier than the picture shows, I think.  I will also throw in a spool of CT thread for you to try.

If you have read my blog you know I love to "talk".  So, here is my story.  When I was a small child (preschool) I had a teddy bear that got pretty beat up.  I wasn't much on dolls but I loved Teddy.  I suspect Teddy was pretty cheap, thus all the holes he developed.  We moved a lot and based upon where we were living when I remember this I had to be 4 years old.  My mom got tired and of fixing Teddy and handed me a needle and a thread and told me to do it myself.

I sat down in this little rocker.

I took my little bear and started stitching.  That was the first of many repairs.  I could never figure out how to effectively tie off the thread and sometimes struggle with that today.  I still have Teddy.  He is very sad looking.

Several years ago I removed all of his stuffing and I thought all of my repairs.  My plan was to repair and re-stuff him and then dress him to hide his mange.  This morning I found this repair remained.

I suspect that is a later repair because the thread matches and I didn't care about that when I was little.  I liked the look of red and blue stitches on him.

Sewing on Teddy was probably not the best learning tool.  It taught me to hate hand work.  Hand is a four letter word, you know!  I think I was 7 or so when I had pestered Mom enough she let me use her machine.  The way this worked was I set down in front of it with fabric and she said, "Don't sew over your fingers."  She then took a glass of tea and went to the other room.  I would holler in and ask her stuff and she would holler back.  She did explain to me what the markings on patterns meant.

By the time I was 8 I was making doll clothes and some of my own clothes.  I remember I made the same doll dress probably 20 times or more out of Mom's scraps.  I made every variation of it.  It was a good learning tool because it had gathering and a lined bodice.  I got much better by the end!

I lived in a town where people were kind of judgmental.  My mother was divorced in the 70s and that was ugly.  I learned not to admit I or my mother had made my clothes.  When I was 12 my mom remarried and I switched schools to another small town.  Imagine my surprise when one of the cheerleaders said one day, "Mary, I have dress just like that one that my mom made.  Did your mom make that?"  I told her no but I had and to please not tell anyone. She was amazed and couldn't understand why.  When I explained it she started pointing out other people and telling me, "But their moms made theirs. If I could sew like you I would be telling everyone."  So, thanks to a cheerleader cheering me on I learned it was okay that I could sew.

I have sewn everything from doll clothes to wedding dresses, straight curtains to double ruffled pricillas with matching bed spreads and most things in between.  About 5 years ago I started quilting out of boredom.  I wasn't thrilled with the process but as I got into it I am enjoying it more and more.

When I bought my embroidery machine in 2004 I made my mom a wall hanging for her new house.  It was the first time she had had a sewing room.  She did it in pastels.  I tried to practice a lot of things on this wall hanging and I didn't know about a walking foot.  It is pretty bad but here it is.

It is amazing to me that I did great work on clothes but couldn't get that right.  Different skill sets.  I could do better now but I keep it as a reminder of all that I have learned.  I still try to avoid handwork at all costs and thus have learned how to do a ton of stuff CORRECTLY on my machines.  But I can finally admit I can do handwork.  I just don't like it!  I have done cross stitch, counted cross stitch, and most other embroidery.  I can crochet and do lace net darning.  Those are all different than sewing by hand.  At least for me!

How about you? How did you learn to sew?  What do you sew?  Do you do handwork?  Other needle work? The drawing will be announced on April 24.

Keep Stitchin'!

Mary

Saturday's Simmering and Another Sewing Machine

Hello, all.  I didn't expect to post this weekend.  I did get stuff done for FIUF but just couldn't get myself to write the post.  I have a couple of chronic illnesses that some times win the battle but never the war.  Yesterday was a day they were winning the battle.  So....that is life.  On to more interesting things.

I have a lot of stuff simmering in my mind today.  I got my BOM blocks done.  Sort of. 

You will notice no two are alike.  I only needed four but I kept trying to get it right.  I really don't like the instructions for this.  We will see how they look with all the others but they may be redone.

I also got the other pin cushion done.

If this looks familiar it is because I made one in February.  Then I get to my BOM meeting last month and we are supposed to make one for the class.  I obviously used the scraps from this month's block.  I didn't like how big the other one was and thought maybe it would look like a flower if I made it from brighter fabrics and smaller.  No such luck.  My sister says it is still ugly.  Sigh....guess SHE won't be getting it for Christmas.

I also completed the top for the baby quilt I was working on.  I don't seem to have any pictures of it with the embroidery but I put on the corners but here is the butterfly I did on three of the corners.

Two of them are in variegated blue instead of pink and have green in the wings.  I like how they look.  I will post the completed quilt after I am finished quilting it.  Maybe THAT will be next weeks FIUF.

I don't think I have posted about this.  Last winter I bought a several sewing machines.  Among them were a Singer 99K.  It looked terrible when I got it.  The cord was nearly rotted off.  The buyer had assured me he had tested it.  Once I saw it, I had to wonder about his sanity doing that.  The case was in pieces.  I am still not clear how they got it in the box "together".  She was missing the slide to cover the bobbin.  I bought her for the attachments and for parts.  My husband took one look and had other ideas.

One evening while I was at work he rewired it.  As he worked on my FW one Sunday afternoon, I cleaned on the 99K.  He then waxed it.  I had ordered some replacement parts.  We had her running.  She needed a new base.  He built her one.

Warning:  Shameless bragging here. That base is built from lumber he sawed and milled himself from around the farm.  The surface is oak and the sides and drawer fronts are walnut.   If you look closely at the surface you can see he inlaid a walnut pinstripe when he joined the boards.  Her base is longer to the left than a typical 99 but after seeing my FW and 301 he felt I needed that space to work.  Not one to waste anything, he added drawers to each end.

The drawer on the right is perfect for bobbins, screw drivers and a pack or two of needles.  Since we are both such tightwads so frugal, I had some leftover fleece binding from making neck gators for some bikers.  We glued that to the underneath edge to raise it up enough that the drawers pull out without binding and it does not scratch the table.

I have been waiting to receive the Singer belt.  I could get an orange/red one with no problem but I wanted black.  Should be here Monday or Tuesday.

Okay, one last simmer.  I am thinking of doing a large, single block quilt.  I have seen them as stars but I am thinking of doing a Jacob's Ladder.  Each section of the 9 patch would 17.5".  So, it would still need borders to make it bed size.  My only reservation is that each section is bigger than the space on my quilting machine.  I am a little concerned about my ability to quilt it in a way that would really pop.

I am going to link up with Find a Friend Friday at Sew Many Ways.   She has been to the Machine Quilting Expo and has some beautiful photos today.  Be sure to check out her blog. It is amazing.  Hopefully, you (and I) will find a friend!

Keep stitchin' and stirrin'!

Mary

3 on Thursday - Spring Must-Haves

Cole over at All the Small Stuff is having a Linky Party for 3 on Thursday.  This weeks topic is Spring Must-Haves.

I meant to write this post earlier but here I am doing it last minute, as usual.

The first thing that came to mind for me was garden plants.  I am a sucker for herbs.  Love them and always buy too many.  My other must have is impatiens.  If I had the time, I would plant thousands.  I generally stop somewhere around a hundred.  So, I am counting plants as ONE.

The second thing I always seem to want is a cheese cake.  I don't mean the heavy, baked, New York Style.  I mean the fluffy, Jello, Milnot variety of my childhood.  They are so good and I haven't had one yet this spring!

The third thing is a pedicure.  I don't do them at all during the winter but when I break out the sandals I want my toes painted.  This is hilarious because I had never had my toe nails painted until a 5 year old did it for me about 12 years ago.  Now I pay for a couple of pedis a summer.  None yet this year.  I stubbed my toe and split the nail.  Waiting on that to heal first!

Okay, what are you signs of spring?  Hop on over to Cole's and see what everyone else is buzzing about.

Mary

WIP Wednesday - Just Barely!

Hello, all!  I planned to post a WIP today but just about didn't get the posting for the WIP.

Here is my BOM:

It is a work in progress!  I was just sitting in the living room (while my husband watched the Military Channel) and turning all 28 or these.  By Friday I should have the actual blocks done.  I am also working on another pin cushion in that mess.

On a side note, isn't Emma beautiful?  She is my 1936 Featherweight.  I am using her for this project.

I also pressed these today:

They are from a box of sewing items I bought long ago at an auction. I used to buy up the odds and ends boxes that no one wanted because I couldn't afford the boxes with the good stuff!  I am still using the ricrac and zippers these little ol' ladies had collected.   It is amazing how similar these fabrics are to many I have in my stash now.  They are very thin, though.  I can also say the quilter wasn't any better than me at the Dresden plate.

This is this month's "practice" for my BOM.  I did a full Dresden but my BOM is 4 quarters. It will make sense when you see it.  I tried to talk myself into hand stitching them to the background fabric since the FW doesn't zig zag but I don't think I have the time now.  The meeting is Monday and I have to work on weekend and go to the onco on Monday. So, they are probably going to be appliqued on a modern machine.

This is my final WIP I worked on today:

I think I am going to add a border in this fabric:

And I plan to embroider butterflies on the white.  I will be putting the baby's name and birth date in one corner.

I am going to link up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.   Be sure to go check everyone else out.  Tell us, what are you working on today?

Better get back to turning sections.

Keep stitchin'!

Mary

What is on my bed(s) today

Bonnie Hunter is having a linking party for what quilt is on your bed? I give away pretty much everything I make. So, what is on my beds are quilts made for me or that I inherited. 

This is my bed.

I am not positive but I think that is a LeMoyne star.  It was hand pieced and hand quilted by my husband's great aunt, Tante Ida, in the 1940s.  My mattress is 12" or 13" thick.  So, getting any vintage quilt to over it is a stretch but Tante Ida's is a generous quilt by the standards of the day.

Next are the quilts in one of my upstairs bedrooms.  These were made by my own and my husband's maternal grandmothers.

 His Granny made this in preparation for his eventual marriage.  She gave it to us when we married 29 years ago. It was on our bed off and on through the years and now is on this bed. I had never seen prairie points prior to this but she used them on every quilt she did.

The other bed in the room has this quilt.

My grandmother made me that Trip around the world when I graduated from college 22 years ago.  It was on our bed for almost 8 solid years.  The fabrics are actually fabrics I gave her from my own sewing.  I did not quilt at the time.  It is hand pieced and hand quilted.

 Those grey looking pieces are actually a faded navy blue with white polka dots I had an Easter dress from in 1987.  The turquoise was a maternity dress.  The red and white polka dots (and vice versa) were the bumper pads for my sons' crib and cradle.

The flower basket quilt at the foot of the bed is one she made, too. It was for my mom and I inherited it.

Finally, one I made.

This is made from flannel. It wasn't going to be as big as I wanted and I was running out of fabric (and money).  So, I added borders with stuff I already had.  I really wish I had made a different choice than the blue but my son loves it.  He teared up when I gave it to him.  I think he was 17 at the time.  I made and quilted this on my Janome 6600.  I did not know flannel was supposed to be difficult to work with.  I didn't know HSTs were either. I just drew out something that would use the fabric I had and waded in.

Be sure to go over to Bonnie's and check out the other quilts.  I am almost ashamed to link mine after seeing theirs but....I did anyway!

Today I am running my MIL to dialysis and going to the eye doctor myself.  I worked last night. That will probably be all I accomplish.

Keep stitchin'!

Mary

My Little Chicken to Finish a Busy Week

Okay, so this is my finish this week.

She is a project for my BOM club.   It was the first time I have done foundation piecing.  It would be good for some things but not for my favorite block - the log cabin.

I had hoped to have a couple other things completed today and make this post tonight.  BUT....The UPS man brought these.

And these:

So, instead of sewing, we planted 28 trees, 10 lavenders and a single switch grass.  That job is done!  They were all in the ground within five hours of arrival on our doorstep.

Now I have bathed and my husband wants homemade pizza for supper.  I am working tonight.  So, no sewing.  But, I did get these done this week:

All the blocks for my disappearing 4-Patch

The top for the Making Change:

I also worked on my BOM stuff.  I can't stand the yellow.  So, I am changing it to orange.  As usual, I didn't get everything I wanted done but I did okay.  Oh!  I took a couple classes on my HQ16 this week.  Can't wait to try what I learned.

I am linking up with Richard, Crazy Mom Quilts, The Fabric Addict and Amy Lou Who this week.  Be sure to check out the finishes everyone else have!  I have to say that the one The Fabric Addict posted is my favorite!

Keep Stitchin'

Mary

p.s.  Edited to add.... my son and DIL came home this weekend.  She saw my chicken and really liked it.  I said I didn't and she said, "I'll take her.  I don't have a pin cushion."  Since it was her idea I am going to assume she wasn't just being sweet and give the darn thing to her.  Yay me!  I did my project and I don't have to waste it or keep it!  Thank you MJ

WIP Wednesday: Disappearing 4-Patch

It is Wednesday.  I go back to work on nights Friday.  I had such grand plans but....as usual, life interferes.

So, here is today's WIP

I was trying to work on these Disappearing 4-patches.  They are pieced in the Twirl  collection by Me and My Sister for Moda.  I didn't realize there was black in the collection. I am using them for a quilt for a baby girl.  I just can't leave the black.

So, here are all the blocks I am using:

I have 6 more 4-patches to make disappear.  

I am going to sash them with leftovers from the Making Change quilt.  I finished that top Monday.  It should have gone on the quilting machine last night but I am a clumsy oaf.

It was supposed to rain here today and tomorrow.  I thought I would make good use of my time and wash the cars yesterday when it was sunny.  I did that with reasonable success.  Then I tripped and fell and messed up my left hand.  If you look too closely at the D4Ps above you will see they aren't quite right.  That is because I can't hold a ruler down firmly with my left hand.  Grrrr....

This too shall pass.  When it does I will set these blocks and then turn the entire thing on point and add white triangles to the corners to make it a decent size.  I have a couple of the greens from the collection to potentially use as a border and binding.

What are you working on today?  I am linking up with Freshly Pieced.  Be sure to go check out the other WIPs.  They are truly inspiring.

Keep Stitchin'!

Mary

Design Wall Monday: True Blue and Making Change

Hello, again!

Since my post this morning I have planted some lettuce and then moved to the sewing room.  I didn't feel like sitting so I worked on cutting all the triangles for a quilt I am calling True Blue.   It will be one of the graduation gifts for my best friend's daughter.  Her younger daughter best described our relationship one day when she told someone, "I don't have any aunts but that is okay because I have Mary and she is like an aunt only better."

The blocks are from an exchange I did last year on Homesteading Today.  They really are all shades of blue.  You know what photography does.  I have them laid out with blocks 2 and 11 in the middle now.  I am debating that.

When I am sewing I am working on my version of the stacked coins.  I think I like how it is turning out.

I think it is modern looking.

You will notice that I switched design walls floors  - see the different carpet?  I don't have enough wall space anywhere for things this big but I do have floor space when I am home alone....like today.


So, that is what is on my wall floor today.  What is on yours?   I am linking up with Judy. Hop on over to Patchwork Times to see more walls.  So much inspiration there.  Really wish I had won that lottery!


Keep Stitchin'!

Mary

Monday's Makings: Peanut Butter Cereal Cookies

Today's recipe will be super easy and most kids love these.  I have one that doesn't.  He doesn't like peanut butter.  Weird.

I first made these using corn flakes from a recipe titled Aunt Ruth's Corn Flake Cookies.  I loved them.  They were a drop cookie.  I took them to work one time and I was informed that they were Special K cookies.  Then my mind began to turn.  I always have Cheerios.  I don't always have corn flakes.  I tried them with corn flakes.  Fantastic!  I tried making them easier by spreading them in a pan.  That was the ticket.  Now we have Cereal Bars.  I still make them as drop cookies for corn flakes, though.

They are still a little warm there and not completely holding their shape but you get the idea.

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 cups cereal of your choice (fresher is better. If the cereal has been open a while, crisp it back up by putting it on a cookie sheet in the oven @ 350°F for a few minutes.)

Grease a 9.5" x 13" cake pan. Mix sugar and syrup in a large sauce pan.  This is a 4 quart but I was only making a partial batch.  None of the kids are here and I really don't need to eat an entire batch.

Over a medium heat, stirring occasionally bring the sugar mixture to a boil.  If you boil it for too long the cookies become harder.  So, just get to a full boil that dissolves the sugar.

Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter.  I generally don't measure the peanut butter.  So, I can tell you if you get too much peanut butter they will not be as firm.

Once the mixture is uniform, stir in the cereal.  If making bar cookies, transfer to the greased pan and let cool.  

The other option is to drop them by spoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper.

You could add mini chocolate chips into these or even frost them after they are cool but we love them just like this.

Now, off to the sewing room.  I plan to be back with a Design Wall post later.

Mary

p.s.  I made these this morning because I wanted them for breakfast.  I know.  Really bad,  but I am the grown up now.

A Sign

This really is a sign.  I haven't told any of my family I have a blog, let alone what it is called.  My MIL called me this morning to ask me how to fix her sweater and if I had any interfacing.  When I took it over to her - they live just through the woods - she gave me this.

Can you see that is says "Made with love" on the bottom?  How ironic.

She gave it to me for my sewing room, which I am thinking about moving.  The room I am in is just under 9' x 12.5'.  This house has three bedrooms upstairs that no one is in most times.  The smallest is my sewing room.  My youngest son will be back home for the summer.  But, he  would not care one bit if I booted him out.  I am not doing that though, I do covet his bedroom.  It is the largest in the house at 12.5' x 18'.  He was in the little room until his brother moved out.

The third bedroom is 12.5' x  15'.  I would gain 75 square feet by moving in there but the lighting is really bad.

Having this new sign seemed like a sign to redecorate for a sewing room but I think I have talked myself out of it.  I want the big room with the southern exposure and all the natural light.  I will make do in my little room for another year or two.

My sign will have to go up in the mean time.  I showed it to my husband and he grinned and said, "I can drill a hole and that and drive a nail for you."

Think again, Bucko!  We have more invested in woodworking tools than sewing machines and that is saying something.  One of us is making a frame.

He owes me.  Remember the doily for his gun safe?

Happy Spring, all!  It is a beautiful day here and I am going to enjoy it by working more on the Making Change quilt from yesterday's post.  Thanks to all that advised me.  I stuck with the original plan.  Pictures to follow this week.

Mary