Pin It Weekly #239

Just pins this week. . .

Happy Easter!

Easter Dress?

When we were children, mom would make Easter dresses for us. Keep in mind that she had eight, all girls, so there were many dresses to sew. Truthfully, I can't remember whether there were new dresses every year or not, mostly I remember the idea of Easter dresses. 

Perhaps it was the only time we even got new clothes. My memory gets rather fuzzy somewhere along there and it's possible that the talk was new dresses but really they were new to us...as in handed down from an older or bigger sibling. 

Anyway, it seems that even now I should be getting a new dress around Easter. Handed-down? Why, yes, please. Especially since it means I won't have to go shopping. I loathe shopping, especially for clothes. I decided to sew one using whatever I had on hand. I found some nice linen and a couple of patterns I liked. There would be only a few minor problems: I didn't like the thin straps of the dress pattern (there were no other options), and I really liked a top pattern but a top is not a dress. 

So I decided to combine the two and make one dress. Hopefully one that fit since neither pattern was the correct size. Have I mentioned that the patterns were way too small for my body? No? Hmmm. 

I know, right!? Who does this? But I wouldn't be wasting fabric as I could toss it all in the scrap bin and make a quilt. See? THAT is how my brain works. So I got going on Saturday around noon, with the kids coming for supper Saturday evening. Let's just say I couldn't see the pressure for the idea. Don't cha love an idea?

The idea worked. Quite well, surprisingly. By Sunday evening I had a dress. Not a completed dress since I've decided to wash it before hemming. Who cares at this point if it's another day or three since I haven't worn it yet?  

I did put it on and it covers my body without showing my bra straps or much of my skin. (Can you believe I'm modest? Good. Because I'm not.) But clothes should cover your body. Otherwise what's the point? Go live in a nudest colony so the rest of us are not distracted by your perfect beauty, wrinkles, tatoos, rolls, whatever. Some of us have ADHD. 

Oops, I digress, back to the dress. I'm perfectly happy with it, except it needs a belt or a waistline of some sort, but it's basically D-O-N-E, complete. If it's finished on Easter Sunday, doesn't that make it an Easter dress? 

Linking up with

My Quilt Infatuation

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Crazy Mom Quilts 

Easter Pockin'

In central Louisiana, especially in Avoyelles Parish where we live, there's a tradition that involves knocking, or as many say "pocking" eggs.   Basically it involves several people, each with boiled and dyed eggs in their possession, who compete to break the eggs of their opponents.   Everyone is supposed to begin with the same number of eggs, but we're not big on rules around here.

Everyone is an opponent.  The last one with an unbroken egg is the winner. Another way to win is to keep track of how many eggs one of your eggs breaks.  Everyone is on the honor system, but it's relatively easy to keep track of those who claim to be in the running for winner--all it takes is a quick look at how many unbroken eggs a person has.  

Richard and I knocking against each other.

I was doing quite well with a pink egg, which had broken three other eggs, but I set it down on an end table and it rolled away onto the ceramic tile.  The tile won that round!

Poppa put himself in charge of handing out the eggs.  

(Make note of this.)  

It's really lots of fun.  We're not a very competitive family, but Easter seems to bring out the best in us.  

Jenny's surprise after Stacey crushes her winning egg.

It's important to keep your eggs organized.  Ma-ma (Rich's mom) is just a bit OCD about her eggs.

Papa knocks eggs with everyone....a couple of times.  He goes through a dozen eggs in just a few minutes.

 Sometimes we get so excited, we just have to grab someone to hug tightly.  If it happens to be "my best cousin," well, so much the better.

 And the winner is......

Poppa. 


Somehow he managed to end up with the oddly shaped, heavy-on-the-shell, deformed egg.  It probably has nothing to do with his being in charge of handing out the eggs.  

On a side note, there are a couple of towns in our parish that have egg knocking contests.  The rules are strict and the competition is fierce!  

I hope you had a wonderful, blessed Easter, also.

Sunday Quilt Inspiratation: Pastels

Happy late Easter everyone.  By this time, all the eggs are eaten, the baskets emptied, and masses prayed.  In honor of Easter I thought I'd use pastel colors. They remind me of the dresses we wore as little girls.  Nothing fancy or lacy, just cotton fabrics in spring calico prints.  Momma made a dress for each of us to wear to Easter mass.  

My favorite was purple flowers, but there were always lots of options.  

While I was looking for pictures of vintage calicoes, I found this picture of yo-yos.  Of course, they remind me of vintage calico quilts.

And that takes us to more modern quilts. 

Join me tomorrow for Modern Monday.  See you then!

Mary

Easter Fun

This is a post from 2012 but I thought you might like to know how to get these beautifully dyed eggs, so I'm reposting.

We managed to have a couple of days of fun for our Easter vacation.  Although we go back to school tomorrow and face state testing this week, I was able to forget the stress of work for a few days.  All three sons and their families visited on and off over the weekend.  

As I write this, the local news is reporting the egg knocking competitions in our parish.  The children did get an opportunity to go to the Cottonport Egg Knocking on the Bayou for the egg hunt.  When they returned, we took naps then woke to our own egg fun.  We dyed about seven dozen yard eggs.  

The little girls really had fun with egg dying.  Jenny brought a kit that the grandchildren used to dye their eggs.  I, however, dye way too many eggs to play with dying one at a time.  Instead, I've perfected my own egg dying technique, which I really like because I'm able to get brilliant, rich colors.  

To dye eggs, I first place a towel in the bottom of a large gumbo or stock pot.  Carefully putting the eggs in the bottom of the pot, I add hot tap water to cover the eggs and turn the stove on high.  Once the water comes to a boil, I turn the heat down to keep the eggs from moving around.  When the eggs are cooked, I move the entire pot out to a table on the lawn where I've already put some large glass bowls, Wilton food dye, and vinegar.  The recipe of one/eighth cup vinegar, 1/8 teaspoon food dye, and hot water to cover the eggs in the bowl seems to work very well.  I like to dissolve the food dye in the vinegar with about one cup of water before adding the eggs.  I use the hot water from the pot because the eggs and water are the same temperature and the eggs are less likely to crack.  

Note that most of my bowls are deep rather than wide, so that I can put in four or five eggs without having to add a great deal of water.  I also gently stir the eggs so that they are evenly dyed.  When the eggs are dyed to my satisfaction, or I simply get tired of waiting, I put them on the table to dry.  I've found that placing them in the crack between the boards is especially useful since the eggs don't roll around and the space allows for faster drying.  I also like to store the eggs in a carton because they are less likely to break or hit against each other.  

Why all this egg dyeing?  Because knocking, or pocking as many people say, is a tradition in central Louisiana that is fun.  I love that the elderly people enjoy it so much.  When our children were young, we spent most of our Easter Sunday visiting from house to house, Easter eggs in tow, so we could "pock" eggs.  This photo is of my grandmother, who died 20 years ago.  She is on the porch at my parents' house with both hands full of colored eggs, apparently going to pock with someone.  That smile is the reason I still dye eggs.  I think of her every time I dye eggs.  The tradition of dyeing and knocking eggs runs deep in both mine and Richard's families. 

Pin It Wednesday #61

Happy middle of the week before our Easter break.  I'm excited to have a few days off.  I have tons of paperwork and grading to do, but I might be able to get some quilting done, too.  I hope so, at least, I'm sure missing getting a few stitches in.

Aren't these appliqued flowers just gorgeous?

Look at these applique pieces!  Love the trees.

Happy little birdies these are!  

Can you tell that I love flowers?  Well, there is that, but also I am definitely into the spring season.  The weather may not be cooperating 100% but it's beautiful enough to want to be out there in the cool sunshine.  
Mary