Small Window Quilt

 

 

This is a covering for a window in the front door of my son's rental home.  He was using a plastic grocery bag to cover up the window, so I told him I would make a little quilt.   I couldn't think of anything "manly" looking and so ended up using some old jeans and plaid clothing, along with this Scripture fabric I found at Walmart.  I forgot to measure the finished quilt, but it is approximately 13X13 inches.  This was literally "sewing by the seat of the pants"!  Ha! 

 

Ticker Tape Placemat

This is my Ticker Tape placemat inspired by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.   It has actually just been used as a mat to place my iron on when I am working at my large sewing table, never even been washed yet, though it is over a year old.

I used the legs of worn out blue jeans and sewed three pieces together to make the top for it, so it truly is a scrappy top.   I intend to make more in the future.  Thanks, Amanda Jean!  I never would have thought of using tiny scraps in this fashion.

Tapioca Pudding

I LOVE tapioca pudding, but gave it up when I could no longer eat dairy. Then early this year I found a great tapioca recipe by Alton Brown that I could modify AND the best part about it was that it was cooked in a slow cooker with practically NO effort on my part.

So here is my modified recipe.


Soak one-half cup tapioca pearls in two cups of water for several hours or overnight.
Drain any excess water.

Into a 2 quart slow cooker, add: tapioca, one and one-third cup hemp milk and a pinch of salt. Cook on LOW for 2 hours, stirring once or twice.  Serve warm or chilled.

Batik Diamonds Lap Quilt

I love this quilt! I made it from a kit for my friend Chris, who watched over my son for two summers of internships during college when he was far from home... AND even hosted my husband and I when we had to come fix the SUV that broke down on my son's drive out there the second summer.

I thought she deserved something special for her wonderful hospitality and kindness.

It is backed with Cuddle Bubble because I love the softness of it and I wanted it to be a really warm quilt.

Summer Purse

Recently finished making this colorful, small, lightweight purse from some of my favorite batiks. Love it! The pattern is called Lily Pocket Purse from LazyGirlDesigns. This is the front view.









It has a small outside pocket that is just perfect for keys.



















I attached the handle on the outside, as handles tend to wear out faster than the body of the purse itself. So I can change out the handle if needed, without tearing apart the purse.


I think I will make at least one more.

Buckwheat Cereal

As my bio says, I am gluten intolerant...double-gene gluten intolerant in fact. And based on that, the dietician told me I might as well consider myself as having Celiac disease. So I gave up all the gluten grains and dairy foods over four years ago. It didn't help my skin all that much. At the beginning of 2011, I finally decided to try eliminating ALL grains, as advised by Loren Cordain, PhD., author of "The Paleo Diet". He advises this for anyone suffering from any of the 200+ autoimmune diseases...and it has seemed to help.

When I want something grain-like, I cook buckwheat, which is not "wheat" and is not even a grain. It is a fruit.

I buy whole organic white buckwheat and grind it in a blender so it cooks faster. To cook it, boil one cup of water, then add one third cup buckwheat and cook til thickened,... only a couple of minutes. I add vegan margarine, local honey and occasionally, Lydia's Organics sprouted cinnamon cereal for crunch, (which is mostly seeds, but does contain a small amount of quinoa). Satisfies my simple carb cravings wonderfully!

If you would like to know more about "The Paleo Diet", go to http://thepaleodiet.com

Ouch!

I fell HARD on my knees today, and it wasn't in prayer. In fact, I did a face plant on hard flagstone and cement.

Two days ago I ran out of honey. And since honey is my sweetener of choice, I made a trip to my local honey company in the next town down the highway. And since I was in that town, I also had to visit my favorite quilting store. I bought a fat quarter of a gorgeous rainbow batik with a leaf print on it. Over the last two days I decided I needed some yardage of this beautiful fabric, so I braved the 60+mph westerly headwinds buffeting my vehicle to go back to the store.

I usually park in back of the store because it is easier to find a space and walk down the gravel driveway to the back door, but I had just the slightest concern that the store might not be open on Memorial Day, so I parked in front of the store, actually one store down from the entrance to the quilt fabric shop.

As I walked toward the shop, I had my eye on the storefront, looking for the OPEN sign,...and completely missed the step from the curbside sidewalk level to the store level sidewalk. In other words, it is a two tiered sidewalk, with alternating step area and garden spaces every so many feet going down the block. It was like a trip wire. I just went down before I knew what hit me. Came down so hard on my left knee, that I couldn't immediately move, from the pain. I did a survey of the damage. Two knuckles were skinned, my upper lip had barely touched the sidewalk and my knee hurt like hell, but I didn't think anything was broken.

Two ladies walking into the same store witnessed the whole thing and came to my aid. The store owner brought me a bag of ice for my knee and wet paper towels for my knuckles, while I sat in a wooden chair just inside the entrance. Fortunately, I had brought the fat quarter of the fabric I wanted with me, so I asked the store owner to find it for me and cut the yardage.

Unbelievably, a lady who was in the store while I was being ministered to, walked out the door and fell down the step, kind of...she mainly stumbled but managed to stay on her feet. She came back in the store to tell everyone!

As I was writing this, I realized how lucky I was not to have broken teeth, or busted open my lip, broken a bone, etc., etc. Thank you, GOD!

The Royal Wedding

Like a couple billion people, I watched Will and Kate marry today and wish them many happy years together. Loved every minute of it. Kate's Dress was exquisite and loved Pippa's dress. Carol Middleton's dress and coat was so elegant. The Queen looked lovely in her daffodil yellow outfit and I pray I can have skin THAT smooth at eighty-five!

I had never heard the term fascinator for a hat before, but the name fits. There were a few that were fascinatingly hideous. And a few awful dresses, worn by the same hideous hat wearers. I won't mention names, I'm sure you know who they are.

The entire ceremony was romantic and beautiful. Will and Kate seemed so happy.

I laughed when the Happy Couple was driving from the Palace in the Aston Martin. I'm sure each of my three sons, in the same position, would have said, "Honey, look, the bobbies have cleared out the people. Let's do some donuts around Queen Victoria's fountain while we have the chance!"

You think I'm kidding?

Anyway, it was a beautiful, wonderful wedding that I don't think I'll see the likes of again in my lifetime. Many thanks to all the hard working people who made it all happen so flawlessly for the world to enjoy.