Monday Sewing!

This is my finished BOM for February. 

 

I changed my house up a bit from Cindy's, I wanted a different roof line.










Lookie in the window, there's a bit of Dr. Seuss there :-}                                                                      


My sweet honey has some work this morning, and then he is going to his classes from 1pm to 10pm, what a long day! (yesterday was his birthday, too)

But, me? I have a day home from school, thank you Mr. Presidents! 

I sent Larry off with two packed lunches, and a piece of his birthday PIE. . .

there is chicken slow cooking and already smelling yum. . . 

. . .and this is waiting on the frame! Happy Sewing Day!

 







"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:36-40)

Hats for the School Christmas Musical!

 Sewing is always occurring, but projects are in various stages. Is that normal? Well, it seems to be for me!

 

These sweet hats were a project for the K, first, and second graders at my school. They are part of a penguin costume. Can you believe that 70 hats were made in one week?

Caught solid color fleece on a one day sale, great deal at $2.49 a yard! 
The "accent" prints were $6 bucks. After I figured out the first 2 hat measurements, there was two days of cutting the pieces.

These would be a quick and easy gift! I worked with 3 or 4 you tube videos, and then made my hats using these guides:

Main body of hat was cut 11 inches by 24 inches, the 24 inches are the stretch.  I was able to make 6 hats from one yard. 

Accent/brim piece is 6 inches by 24, again the long side being the stretchy side.

 

I took them to my Monday night quilting class, and did a quick demo for the class. Then my friend Debbie helped to sew the pieces into "tubes", both the body and the accent/brim parts...

 

 (we left about 2 1/2 inch opening on one end for the fringe, 

I liked that better so there wasn't a stiff piece of the pom pom)

and Kathy cut the threads and stacked the pieces so I could get it all back home. "I get by with a little help from my friends ~" sing along...

 It was fun to put the colors together! The mix I was going for was bold contrasts...made me think of Dr. Seuss....

  Here is the assembly. Fold the 6 inch accent in half, with the seam on the inside. Pin it to the wrong side -seam side- of the body part. Sew around to attach.

  This shows the accent flipped up, but not turned to the right side yet.

  This shows the accent/brim turned up, and now the seam you just made is hidden! I gave them a little steam at this point, half heat, the fleece will melt on cotton setting!

The fringe is cut at 2 to 3 inches, a little wider than 1/4 inch. Nothing like quilting, fleece is so forgiving!

I didn't take a picture from this point, but you need to take a big gathering stitch -1 inch stitches- just below the cut fringe. If you use a big needle and double thread, you can draw it up and tie it tight. 

The last step is to take 2 pieces of the front fringe, cross them over and then tie them in the back, bundling the fringe into the pom pom. This is where you might be glad you you cut the fringe more toward the 3 inches, cuz' those shorter fringe pieces barely reach around ~


Hey, let me know if you try these. I hope it is easy enough to understand!

These are some of my kiddos with their hat of choice. 
I usually take their picture and frame it for a Christmas gift to their folks. Some of the pictures didn't show the pom pom top, so this is just a few of the photos ~

Thank you to my praying friends. Larry came through the surgery well, and is on the mend. His Papa is coming for Christmas! We are hoping he feels great by then ~


I'll leave you with a picture and a link of what we had around here this past week, mm-mm, Sour Cream Cranberry Coffee Cake ~

"Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all."
 II Thessalonians 3 : 16

Mug Parade on Easy Street 4 ~

 

 This was a productive weekend. 

We have all these Christmas mugs done,

 Larry's work- I love it!

~ Lydia's Hello Kitty is sure a cute one ~

 Jerry's had some fun too; kinda mosaic lookin'

  

-and only 1 finished mug rug this week-!

 ~~~and,  I've completed Easy Street part 4 Woo-Hoo!!

 

Paper piecing is my way for accuracy. I used my Triangulations CD.

There are 4 more days of school before the Christmas break. Happy!

Oh! Let me share the recipe I've been makin' and takin' these last few weeks, and I've shared the recipe every time. Yum ~

Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

cream together with blender:
 -1 stick butter    -1 cup sugar       
 -2 large eggs    -1 t. almond extract

in another bowl, stir together:
- 2 cups flour        -1 t. baking powder
-1 t.salt            -1 t. baking soda

add to creamed mixture alternately with:
 - 1 cup sour cream

Spoon into a 9 by 13 inch greased baking pan.

Open  

-1 can of whole berry cranberry sauce 

and stir
a bit to break it up. Drop about 9 spoonfuls onto
the batter, and then slightly cover over the sauce with
the batter...really, the batter kinda goes over the
berries by itself while baking.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Cool.

Drizzle with a thick glaze made from:
-1 T. melted butter    -1 cup powdered sugar
-1 t. almond extract      -1 T. hot water

Merry Christmas 2012!

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:13,14

Happy Thanksgiving ~

This is truly a time for the Davis family to be thankful! As Lydia and Jeff are approaching their first anniversary, and my sweet Larry's health is doing so much better than last year, I'm grateful. We have dinner in the works. The house smells like Pumpkin Pie Cake today, yum! The still frozen turkey is thawing. Cornbread stuffin' with my Momma's recipe is happening either later today or early tomorrow. The zucchini is grated for bread, here's the recipe for you:


Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup oil (sometimes I use 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Topping:
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup softened butter

Directions:

1. Grease and flour two 8x4 inch pans.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3.  Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugars together in a large bowl.  Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix well.  Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined.  Pour batter into the prepared pans.
4. Combine topping ingredients, cutting in butter.  Topping can be sprinkled on before baking, or after the first 10 minutes of baking to keep it from sinking.
5. Bake for 40 - 60 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ginny's two quilts for Kaylee were quilted this weekend, one is a dolly quilt made to match Kaylee's, and both are adorable ~

We planned both blankets around the cute paper doll print, which when she bought it a year back, she only got one yard. Much planning around the little amount made us use all but a couple of 4 inch squares!

We chose the coordinates to match prints of the little doll dresses ~

 

 

~ To all the sweet ladies who come visiting via the blog, thank you for your friendship and comments! They bless my heart, and I'm sending back many hugs to you. I'm grateful for you, your creativity and inspiration through your blogs. Happy Thanksgiving, be it your holiday now or on another day ~


Psalm 100: 1-5 
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD He is God: It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. 

Valentine's Day 2011

I'm enjoying a day home, we are out of school for 2 Mondays in February, one for Lincoln's Birthday, and the other is for Washington's Birthday, or President's Day. Either way, I'm home and happy!

My sweetheart Larry is at work. He's feeling much better, has been keeping his weight down, and his energy level is s-l-o-w-ly increasing, bless his heart! This year we will celebrate 35 years married, and I'm glad to have such a love. Our celebration of Valentine's Day will include home cooking, my really thick spaghetti sauce is his favorite, so it's cooking as I type.

Pokey's Really Thick Spaghetti Sauce
I'm not a real measuring person on this recipe, so do as you wish...

in a skillet, brown and stir until cooked and crumbly:

• 1-2 pounds ground beef
• 1 pound Italian sweet sausage, casings removed
• 2 coarsely chopped white onions
• 3-5 stalks chopped celery (I've even added 1 chopped carrot, chopped zucchini, or 1 diced bell pepper)
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon each basil flakes, and oregano

Add all to a large pot. For the sauce ingredients, add all this to the pot:

• 2- 14 ounce cans stewed tomatoes (I crush these in my hands, removing peels and tough tops)
• 2 or 3- 14 ounce cans mushrooms (because we love 'em)
• 2- 24 ounce jars Newman's Own Sockarooni Sauce
  
• more garlic powder, oregano, and basil
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• sometimes I add 4 ounces sliced pepperoni

Cook all to blend the flavors. Serve with a green salad, cooked spaghetti noodles, and garlic bread. The leftovers are great to pack for lunches....

I recently won a sweet mug rug from The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe. You should go meet this gal, she has some serious talent at making these mug rugs, and mine is beautiful! The heart at the top of the post is from this one, too. Always nice to meet a new blogging friend.

I was hoping to work on a finish or two, but that new roll of Amy Butler was calling my name, so here goes....

And because I want to join in a couple more giveaways in the quilting community, go check these out:

• Stash Resolution has a 6 fat quarter bundle of "Delilah". The deadline to enter is Wednesday, February 16, at midnight EST.

• Thearica of Pigtales and Quilts is having a sponsored giveaway from the Quilt Depot. A nice blue shopping bag of goodies is the prize, come see. Date giveaway is 02/20 at noon EST.
• Edited to add: Sew Fun Quilts has a one day giveaway: Red charm squares for Valentine's Day, I'm in for red!
  

That's it for now, I think I'll go back to stitching!