New Etsy Listing--Kinder Mat

My niece, Stacy, of Stacy Burkhart Photography has been such a sweetheart about helping me to attract customers to my Etsy shop.  When she asked me a few days ago whether I could make a kinder mat for her son, Seth, who starts kindergarten this fall, I gladly agreed to make one for him.  She's a great photographer and has taken photos for me on several occasions, so this is a little way to return the favor.

Isn't Seth a cutie?  He's so ready for kindergarten.  But he needs a mat cover.  When they came for lunch last Sunday, we took him into the studio and let him pick out his own fabric for the cover.  His favorite color is green.....can you tell?  


He wanted this plaid but there was just a small piece of it and I don't think I can get more, so we had to choose another color.  He finally decided on solid green.  Since the two colors work so well together, I decided to applique his name on the front using the plaid.  She tells me he loves it.

My plan now is to make more of these and offer them in my Etsy shop. I'd like to have them available in a couple of ways: as custom orders in which customers can choose their own color(s), prints, closure and as ready-made covers that customers can simply purchase and have delivered in a few days.


Seth's cover is quite plain because that's what he wanted but I am aware that most youngsters today, especially girls, prefer the louder, brighter colors and prints available today, so I'll have to make a few in hot pink, purples, oranges, yellow and so on.

Of course, while out shopping today, I picked up a few yards.  Afterall, I mostly buy half yards and fat quarters these days, and there's no way I'm going to make a mat cover with a fat quarter!


What small projects have you been making lately?  

If you're new to my blog, go to the anniversary post to find out about my giveaway planned for June 22.  Only one week left!  All you have to do is become a follower and leave a comment.  Every comment you leave increases your chances of winning!

Tomatoed

This morning my in-laws did a wonderful thing for us.  They came really early, really really early and picked vegetables for us.  Peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers the whole bit.  I had picked the okra yesterday afternoon late, so that's the only thing they didn't do.  Then, get this, wonderful folks that they are they took the peas home and shelled them.  Then, they delivered the peas to us, and mom-in-law helped me to clean and cut the okra.  We bagged the okra and peas and put them in the freezer, but that still left peppers and tomatoes.  No, I mean TOMATOES.   A bushel maybe.  Lots.  No really, lots and lots.


What to do with lots and lots of tomatoes?  Here's my deal: I canned them.  Well, I canned what I could.  First I had to peel them because the peelings are definitely not something I care for after cooking.  To do that I boiled water in a medium sized pan and dropped 'maters in.  A few seconds later they come out and the peelings slide off.  Core and quarter them and drop into a bowl for later when everything's peeled.  After that I chopped them using a cutter that my parents used to cut okra and green onions back when they were still truck farming.

The photo here shows a side view of the cutter.  There's a handle in the upper left corner that, when pulled down, moves the "fingers" down and forward.  The veggies are put right on top the blades (the dark lines in the center of the picture) and the fingers force the veggies through the blades, effectively slicing them into one-quarter inch pieces.  Tomatoes zip through in nothing flat.  So cutting a big bowl of peeled tomatoes doesn't take long.  Then I add onions, peppers and garlic and stirred it all together.  Stuff into hot pints add 1/2 teaspoon of margarita salt (I happen to have that already) and fill with the juice from the sliced tomatoes.  Put hot lids and rings on and drop into a hot water bath.  They need to be in the boiling water for about 10 minutes.  Then remove to a towel on the counter to cool and look at what beautiful seasoning we have.

Twelve pints of seasoning tomatoes, ready for gravies, stews, spaghetti sauce, okra gumbo, soups, and so much more.  There's just enough salt to help preserve them and add to the flavoring without having to worry about high blood pressure.  The onions, peppers and garlic will certainly enhance anything that the tomatoes will go into.  We could eat them as they are, sort of like salsa, but I really canned these to use in my cooking.  It's a wonderful secret ingredient and because they are in jars, I can use any amount and store the rest in the fridge.  In the past I have frozen the seasoning in ice trays then popped them into zipper bags to use, but there's no space in the freezer for them and I really like the fresh flavor of canned veggies.

How about this: all twelve jars sealed!  Yea!  When I canned the pickles and relish, two pints didn't seal.  So this is an improvement.

Check out this great pot that my dad gave me a while back.  It's my mom's old pressure cooker. I bet it's filled with stories.  My mom canned for a family of ten using this pot.  It's so old that it uses the old system of nuts and bolts to hold the lid down.  To open it when the lid is closed tight, I have to pry the lid off with a hammer.  Tapping lightly on the part that the bolts fit into also works but either system takes time and muscle.  Oh, let's not forget the muscle required to lift that heavy pot.  I will not attempt to move it unless it's completely empty.  That means hauling water in pitchers to fill it.  But, it's perfectly okay.  Using it reminds me of how hard my mom was willing to work to help provide for us.



How about you?  Have you canned any fruits or veggies?  Tell us about it.  Don't forget that leaving a comment will also give you an extra chance to win the  anniversary giveaway!  Read about it here.  The winner gets both giveaway gifts: the fleur de lis appliques and the $44 Etsy shop giveaway.  The winner will be chosen on June 22.

First Anniversary!

Yea!  Whoopee!  I'm in a celebratory mood--
let's count blessings:
1. first, of course, God
2. my darling soul mate is safely recovering from surgery, napping nicely in his little hospital bed, and assured a pretty good night of morphine induced, pain-free dreaming
3. our beautiful sons have babies of their own and are happy, well-adjusted, functioning members of society (with wives to encourage all that good stuff)
4. our sweet grand-bebes spoil Grammy and Poppa as much as we spoil them.
5. one fabulous studio sits four steps from my back door
6. finally, it's one year today, June 15, that I opened my Etsy shop.  


It's rather hard to believe all the life lessons, sorrows, and milestones we've experienced in that one year, and though it was especially difficult at times, I am grateful that I had both my quilting and the Etsy shop to serve as diversions during mom's lengthy illness and eventual death.   

I am especially grateful to the many Etsians and bloggers who were around to answer my questions, give advice, and listen to my ramblings in that year.  


Thank you for being such a wonderful group of mentors, friends and listeners.  And a another thank you to those who recommended, purchased items or "hearted" the shop.  You will never really know how much you helped me as I grieved the loss of my darling mother and tried to pick up the pieces of my shattered life.
Okay, so now, let's celebrate!  Let's make it a real celebration!  There's already a giveaway going on, but really, that's not enough of a giveaway to celebrate an anniversary.  I say let's make it worthy of an anniversary.  Tonight I have 44 followers--sounds like a good number to me, so let's use it to celebrate.  The winner of the giveaway posted here will also receive 44 dollars of Fleur de Lis gifts.  The choice is yours.  To choose your gift I will email you a special coupon code (good for one time) that will take $44 off your Fleur de Lis Quilts purchase.  


Eligibility is quite simple:
Follow this blog and leave a comment on this post.  Yea, you have to do both because I love followers and I love comments.  Yes, I do read every single one and appreciate every single one.   In other words, I want to hear from you!
To keep things simple, let's just leave the rules alone--same date for drawing, etc.  The only thing different is that now you get more freebies!  



Now, that's a celebration!

Treasured Top

whole quilt top

First off a great big, huge, THANK YOU to GiveAwayMommy for such a nice feature article about me in her blog.  You can find her and the article by clicking here.

Talk about tattered.....a couple of holes near one edge

Some time ago, while going through fabrics that my mom gave me, I discovered this tattered, piece of a quilt top.  It's a top that must be quite old as it looks like it's been around forever.


When my older sister, Angie, came for a visit a few weeks later, I showed her the quilt piece.  She instantly said it came from Ma-ma.  Our grandmother on mom's side of the family.  She loved to sew and play with fabric and there's no doubt that Ma-ma made this quilt top.

Close inspection revealed that the top is entirely hand pieced.  That makes me believe that the only way to quilt it is by hand.  So, for 
the next few days, this will be one of my projects.  My husband is having surgery in the morning and I must keep myself busy while sitting with him at the hospital or I'll go crazy.

Can't wait to figure out how old these fabrics are.

That said, I've picked out a book, prepared the quilt top for hand quilting, and found a magazine.  All of those plus the computer and a few low cal snacks will go into my busy bag.

Remember packing a busy bag for your children when getting ready for vacation?  I always included stuff for myself in the busy bag because I'm the one in the family with bad ADD gene.  :-)

some must be feed sacks....they have a very rough texture

I'm OCD enough that I've prioritized my projects.  The most important is quilting the old quilt top.  That doesn't mean that it's the first thing I do, though.  It really only means it's the one I'll feel most guilty about if I don't get some of it done.

I've wanted time to work on this quilt since its discovery.  Now that I'll have to be still and quiet, I figure I'll try to get some of it quilted.  Here are a few more close-ups of the quilt top with pins in it all ready to go.

Isn't it interesting how she put the diamonds together?
Not really always matching.

The top is not big enough to do much with, but I think I can get t table topper from the center section.  The plan is to quilt as much as I can to stabilize the fabrics, then to use the fabrics on the outer edge to repair/replace any pieces that are torn or too fragile.

For the backing I've chosen a piece of light yellow cotton that was in mom's stash.  This way the finished topper will include something from both of the women who influenced my sewing and quilting: Ma-ma and Momma.

Showing part of the backing I've chosen.....
light yellow cotton from my mom.

Alright, now for the question of the day:
Have you discovered an old quilt or part of an old quilt?  What is it's story?  What did you do to preserve it?  Leave a comment for an extra chance to win the fleur de lis applique and click here to go to the original post.  Remember that you must be a follower to be eligible to win.

Back from Break

My wonderful husband decided a while back that I simply did not have enough space.  Actually, I've figured out that he's worried I'll get the itch to move.  Of our three sons, two live an hour away in Lafayette.  But I'm really quite happy here.  I'm moving back to a school nearer home where I taught for many years, I have my studio, a pretty garden (well before the drought, that is), and now the goats and chickens.
A home.
A home that I love, where I can be my silly or serious or whatever mood I'm in home.

Of course, I had enough sense not to tell him all that before he started adding on to the studio, but really, things were very crowded.  Funny how we start out with all this space, and in no time the same amount of space is just not working any more.

I tried sewing through the construction, but it was just too messy once the wall between the two spaces came down.  The dust was unbearable, and I found myself cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning.  Sweeping, dusting, shaking stuff out....nothing will get rid of that dust.  Not getting rain during the construction time didn't help any, believe me.

Finally, we're almost done.  I say almost because there's still lots of painting to do and the floors are rough concrete.   I've almost been convinced to paint now that the concrete paint available is much better than that we used many years ago in another project.  Plus, I can choose my colors and have them mixed.  Once I've finished the walls, I'll make the decision of what I'll do with the floor.

But, in the meantime, I can get back to my sewing.  I've got two quilts started, both for my sister's grandchildren.  Of course there are gobs of ideas in my head, but I'm forcing myself to wait till these are finished to start another big project.

Question of the day: How many works in progress do you generally have going at the same time?  Leave a comment to be earn extra chances to win the giveaway.  You can also click here to leave a comment on the original giveaway post and you must be a follower to be eligible.

In Memory of Momma

Last Saturday would have been my mom's birthday, but since she passed away in November, it was a bit hard to come up with an idea to honor her life.  Then Sunday it finally hit me....she loved flowers and our church needs flowers to decorate the altar.  Good combination, I figured.  I'd pick up some flowers and arrange them in a nice bouquet to donate to church.  I found this tin on clearance for $6 at Hobby Lobby and knew I had the perfect container.

A little floral foam to hold the flowers in the container.

 A bored granddaughter to take pictures.

 And a couple piles of silk flowers.

I picked these up at Hobby Lobby, too.  (not on clearance)

These white and gold flowers are some that I used for arrangements for mom and dad's 50th anniversary party a few years ago.  She would love that I saved money and used her flowers.

Hmm, getting close to what I envisioned.

 The feathers in the bouquet match beautifully with the tin.

 Can't go wrong with lilies.  They give height to the bouquet and the deep, dark purple gives it drama.

 I really love peonies, probably because they won't grow here.  It's way too hot in the summer.

 Even the back of the bouquet looks pretty good.

 Couple of more pics and we're done.

I bet you thought I'd forgotten about the question of the day, huh?  No way!  It must have something to do with flowers.....what is your favorite?  Type, color, whatever.  Just leave a comment so you can get extra chances to win the giveaway.  Don't forget to follow this blog, it's the only way to be eligible.  Well, do leave a comment with your email address so I know you want in!

Summer Reads

As a teacher and librarian, I have the luxury of summer vacation breaks and I love reading.  Generally I choose one really long book to read--1000 pages is a good start--but this summer the grandchildren and I discovered the $1 rack.  Wow, some really good books at a fabulous price is just too good to pass up.  So, the kids picked three or four books each, and I forced myself to stop at about 10.  For about 20 bucks we are all set for the summer....there's nothing like sitting in the A/C with a good book and an ice cold diet Dr. Pepper!

Following are two that I've finished and the one I'm currently reading.  I've included photos and blurbs from Books A Million followed by my personal insights.

In The Night Journey by Kathryn Lasky, "thirteen-year-old Rachel dreads the afternoons she has to spend with her great- grandmother, Nana Sashie.  But when Nana Sashie begins to reminisce about her childhood in Russia, Rachel finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of memories. As the events and characters of Sashie's past come to life, Rachel discovers a distant country and time: a time when Jews were forced to serve in the Czar's armies or were murdered in pogroms, and a time when nine-year-old Sashie devised a wonderful plan to save her family from danger."

The Night Journey plays a bit too much into the hands of children: giving Sashie more abilities than her elders. However the story becomes more and more interesting as Sashie relives her memories.  I was annoyed with the story-in-a-story concept, but I usually am.  I’d have much preferred that Lasky simply tell Sashie’s story without Rachel’s life interrupting.  Those interruptions become farther and farther apart, effectively giving Sashie’s memories more pronounced importance.  That is, until the end.

Other books by Kathryn Lasky: May, Lone Wolf, The Capture, The Hatchling

Inside Out Girl by Tish Cohen is a book about Rachel, "an overprotective single mother of two.  Rachel is acutely aware of the statistical dangers lurking around every corner--which makes her snap decision to aid a stranded motorist wholly uncharacteristic. Len Bean is stuck on the shoulder with Olivia, his relentlessly curious, learning disabled ten-year-old daughter. To the chagrin of Rachel's children, who are about to be linked to the most-mocked girl in school, Rachel and Len begin dating. And when Len receives terrible news, little Olivia needs a hero more than ever.

But the world refuses to be predictable. When personal crisis profoundly alters Rachel's relationship with a wild, very special little girl, this perfectionist mother finds herself drawn into a mystery from her past and toward a new appreciation for her own children's imperfect lives."  Although a little slow at times, the book is an interesting read and allows one into Olivia's world.  I was disappointed that it takes Rachel such a long time to make her ultimate decision, but I assume that is because I'm more impetuous and a bit more radical.   I've been reading a few books about learning disorders lately.  Most of those have been nonfiction but I like reading fictional works in which the author has done great research into the issue. Olivia suffers from nonverbal learning disability, but the symptoms are very much like those of autism, which has become so prevalent today.  As an educator I appreciate being able to see the world from the family's viewpoint.

Other books by Tish Cohen: Townhouse, Little Black Lies, Switch

"Ask for It explains why it's essential to ask and teaches how to ask effectively, in ways that feel comfortable to you as a woman. Whether you currently avoid negotiating like the plague or consider yourself hard-charging and fearless, Babcock and Laschever's compelling stories of real women will help you recognize how much more you deserve--whether it's a raise, that overdue promotion, an exciting new assignment, or even extra help around the house. Their four-phase program, backed by years of research, will show you how to identify what you're really worth, maximize your bargaining power, develop the best strategy for your situation, and manage the reactions and emotions that may arise--on both sides. Guided step-by-step, you'll learn how to draw on the special strengths you bring to the negotiating table to reach agreements that benefit everyone involved."

This one is my current read.  Usually I read short novels in a day or two, not stopping till it's done.  But this is nonfiction and I just can't gobble it in the same way.  It takes a little more time to process and there's no story that makes me hang in to the end.  So far, I really like the anecdotes and the straight-forward approach to self-help.

And now for the question of the day:

What is your favorite genre or type of reading material?  Leave a comment for your extra entry to win the giveaway posted on Wednesday.  Remember you have to follow this blog and leave a comment on the original post...click here for the direct link.  

Happy Quilting,

Mary