Living the Good Life and Scrappy Quilts

Every once in a while we are reminded of how GOOD most people are.  The recent wind and storms blew a piece of the siding off the peak of my house, and deposited it on my deck.  I don’t have a ladder long enough to reach for one of my kids to nail it back up, so I called my homeowner’s insurance, and they only cover inside repairs.  My oldest daughter suggested I contact my home insurance company and ask them for a referral, which I did.  The representative called almost immediately and set up an appointment to come and give me an estimate.  He took a look at what needed to be done, and told me it was an easy fix and there would be no charge… just tell my agent they did a good job.  Well, we have had rain and the roof was wet and steep and slippery, so he could not do it himself with his expandable ladder, but is sending a couple of guys out with a longer ladder… still, no charge.  I was amazed that they were doing it for no charge… it costs them to drive over here and spend their time.  The young man even gave me a hug when I expressed my gratitude!  Another plus… they are a contractor for home improvements of all kinds, and I asked if they do plumbing, also.  I have been wanting to install an outdoor faucet on my deck so I can plant some herbs and a few flowers in pots on the deck.  I am no longer physically able to haul the water to water them from my kitchen, and the only outdoor faucet is on the front of the house.  He said if I have exposed pipes in my basement for the water line, it is an easy job to tap in and run pipe to hook up a faucet outside, and to just call them when I am ready to do it.  My heart is singing!!!  In case any of you live in the Cincinnati area, the company is Hays and Sons Contracting.  I’m so glad they were recommended to me. 

Speaking of good people… my children and grandchildren came a few weeks ago and re-surfaced my deck with some kind of goop that seals all the cracks and gives it a nice finish.  The photo to the right shows my "new" deck with a lovely view of the woods that edge my yard.  They also gave all the railings a new coat of stain,and after a few days to allow for curing, my grandkids came and brought the deck furniture back up.  Then last Thursday my daughters and the Michigan son came over and were out admiring the deck, and my oldest daughter took the cushions off the swivel chairs and tossed them down into the driveway, saying they were getting dry rot and not safe to sit on anymore.  I admit the squirrels and birds have been pecking at the backs, pulling bits off to make their nests, but the fronts were still fine and very comfortable.  I was not happy with her, but sometimes it just isn’t worth the battle… I figured after they left, I’d go get them and put them back on.  But… now for the rest of the story.  She went to her car and brought back brand spanking new cushions that match this house much better than the ones I’d moved from Minnesota did.  My Michigan son brought a fluffy cushion for the glider that matches, and now my deck is looking beautiful again.  I truly am blessed!  My children got a good laugh about seeing me glare when they threw out the old cushions... before I knew they had bought me replacements for Mother's Day!

When the estimator came through my house, it was pretty hard for him not to notice the quilt blocks he had to step over on the floor.  I am making  blocks from some of the scraps left over from other quilt projects.  On one of my online quilt groups, Stashbusters, one of the members posted a link to a pattern for the Twinkler quilt block… a 6” scrappy friendship star.  While I didn’t formally “join” the group of people making the quilt, I couldn’t resist making some sample blocks with some of my scraps.  I now have THREE go-to patterns for using my quilting scraps.  The other two have been posted on prior blogs here, but I’m linking them again for the newcomers who might not have read the older blogs.   Here is the link for the Twinkler tutorial: http://www.claudiasquiltshoppe.com/ShortnScrappy7Twinklers.htm

This pattern uses 2-1/2” squares for the 9 patches, four of which have a

1-1/2” square sewn diagonally across one corner.  Here is a photo of 15 blocks I finished yesterday.  I didn’t use plaids as were done in the tutorial, but just left over 2-1/2” squares from prior quilting projects.  I try to keep my leftovers in Ziploc bags:  2-1/2” squares, 2-1/2” strips, 2” srips, and 1-1/2” strips.  I also have a bin of 5” strips and squares for charm quilts.   

Another of my favorite scrap blocks is the Split 9-Patch.  That was featured on one of my prior blogs:   http://www.diamonnaturals.blogspot.com/2012/06/life-is-ongoing-lesson-split-9-patch.html 
 

It also makes a 6” finished block, and is a great way to use up all those leftover pieces from other projects.  One half of the block is light and the other half is dark, and this pattern works best if there is a good definition between light and dark, as in the Twinklers pattern.  I put the same square in the center of each block to unify them, but it isn't necessary to do that.

 

Most of the time I use muslin for the backs of my quilts, and I cut the excess into whatever size strips I can, so I have a Ziploc bag of 4-1/2” squares, also, as that is a size I use for several of my favorite quilt patterns, including this one, the last of my favorite scrap blocks, the Scrappy Snowball, and here is the link to that quilt on my blog:

http://www.diamonnaturals.blogspot.com/2012/03/springtime-and-scrappy-snowball-quilt.html
I have joined blocks made up of sixteen 2-1/2” squares, set 4 across and 4 rows down (two blocks shown in the photo above).  This is the best pattern to use up ANY colors, including the medium tones.  The “snowball” squares are comprised of fouir 4-1/2” muslin squares with a 2-1/2” square sewn diagonally on two opposite corners, then put together so that the centers are all white and the prints come together to form triangles on each side of the “snowball” when the blocks are put together.  The photo shows one square with the diagonal corners attached, and also what it looks like with the four squares together.  These are joined alternately to form the pattern. 

Here is the photo of the first one I completed, the one on my former blog, after it was bordered and quilted.  It was a Christmas gift to my granddaughter, Ava, a year ago.

It was a beautiful day in Cincinnati… sunshine for most of the day with a heavy downpour to water the gardens this afternoon.  My siding is back in place, and I have discovered a great contractor that I can call on when I need anything done.  That’s a major plus, when you are a widow and have lost your “Mr. Fix-It”!  If you still have yours, give him lots of hugs and his favorite foods… he’s worth his weight in gold! 

 

 

How much are you worth?

What are the things you value?  What things do you cherish in your life?  For most of us, the things we list would be intangibles… such as love, family, friends, good health… and those are all valuable.  But seldom do we think of ourselves in that light.  There are perhaps a few who place themselves as a priority above everyone else, whose only concern is what they want or need, to the exclusion of everyone else.  That is the other extreme, and like the first group, it leaves much to be desired.  Age figures into the equation, as well.  When we are children, we are mainly concerned with our own needs, but somewhere along the way to growing up, we begin to think less of our needs and begin to see the needs of others.  Is it part of maturing, or the way we are raised to see?  We learn to be compassionate, caring beings.  When we have serious relationships and begin having children, most of us place our children as our priority, but there comes a time when we need to pull back and let our children test their own “land legs”.  A minister friend once said that we Americans spend too much time preparing the road for our children when we should be preparing our children for the road. 

I think of my grandmother, who had a linen closet filled with beautiful handwork that she “saved” and never used.  After she passed away, those lovely cherished items were relegated to a cardboard box in basement storage waiting to be distributed or donated.  How sad that no one ever was able to enjoy the things she so lovingly created.  Perhaps it grew out of the poverty of depression years, but some of us still “save” our good things.  We don’t use our “good china” and silverware tarnishes in the chest.   I was thinking these thoughts the other day, when I pulled out a tea towel from the drawer, and saw that it was getting holes it in from wear and laundering.  It was one I’d embroidered for my hope chest (does anyone remember having a hope chest?) and actually “saved” the set for probably twenty years before actually using them.  Now, thirty years later, they are wearing out.  The little Dutch girls still are busy with their task for that day of the week, but the towels are disintegrating around them.  I enjoyed embroidering them, and I have enjoyed using them.  I am worth it!  I wish my grandmother had felt her worth and could have enjoyed the sensation of her pretty pillowcase under her head. 

The gifts my grandmother gave me… teaching me to crochet and embroider, I am now passing on to my own grandchildren.  All of them, boys and girls, have learned to embroider skillfully, and I tell them some day they may be sitting with their grandchildren, teaching them things my grandmother taught me, and telling them stories about times they spent with me.  They look at me and smile, because life seems eternal to them now.  They can’t imagine a time when I won’t be in their lives.  They are learning to sew on a machine… simple things, but they feel a sense of pride in their creations.  They don’t realize it at this point, but the time we share is the most valuable commodity I have to give them.  Grandparents have time and patience to listen.  My youngest granddaughter is five, and she rarely shuts up!  She follows me from room to room, talking.  One time my son asked her why she never stops talking, and she said it is because she has so many things to say!  She is a delight!!! 

My children are grown now, and I learn things from them quite regularly.  My youngest son recently made some baking powder biscuits that were the most beautiful biscuits I’ve ever seen!  I told him I’ve been on a quest my whole life to make biscuits from “scratch” that rose that beautifully.  He gave me his recipe, and the only thing that was different is that he used bread flour, because that was the flour that was handy when he was making them.  I have made the biscuits, and they rose, as his had.  I won’t say I can die now that I have made a perfect biscuit, because that would be tempting fate at my age!  But I will say that those biscuits deserved some superb jam!  My sister made some delicious cherry jam that she brought for me during one visit… it was the best jam I’d ever had (well, one of the best, at least) and I thought she’d picked the cherries and made it the old-fashioned way.  She hadn’t.  It was made with rhubarb, cherry pie filling, and jello.  Here are the recipes.

Buttermilk Biscuits:

2 cups bread flour (I haven’t tried making them with half all-purpose flour yet)
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Place all dry ingredients in a food processor and blend for a pulse or two. 
Cut up one stick (1/2 cup) salted butter into small pieces and add it to the dry ingredients in the food processor.  Pulse a few times until the butter is integrated evenly into the mixture.  It will not be lumpy, but will be like a dry texture.  If you process it too much, it will be a lump.  Pour mixture into a bowl and add 1 cup buttermilk.  Buttermilk will separate somewhat, so be sure to shake the container before measuring.  It’s a fairly wet mixture, and flours vary… if it is too dry, add a bit more buttermilk.  Stir with a table fork just until the flour is all incorporated.  Then I kneaded it in the bowl, turning it over on itself as I kneaded it, five or six times.  Don’t over-knead or over-mix or the biscuits will not be as light and tender. Sprinkle a bit of flour on a board or counter and put the dough on the floured surface.  Pat it into a circular shape, and about 3/4” to 1” thick.  Cut into shapes.  You can use a glass that has been floured for your biscuit cutter, if you don’t have a cutter.  Place them on an ungreased baking sheet and bake them at 450 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your oven.  They should be golden brown on top and bottom.  Son Donavon made sausage gravy to go on his biscuits, but I made a batch of cherry jam for mine.

Cherry Refrigerator Jam:

3 cups fresh rhubarb, finely cut
½ cup water
Bring the rhubarb/water mixture to a boil in a fairly large pot, turn down to simmer, cover and cook until rhubarb is tender. 
Add a scant 3 cups granulated sugar, stirring until dissolved.  Add 1 can cherry pie filling, stirring well.  Cook for 8 minutes.  I mashed the mixture with a potato masher to break the cherries up somewhat, but still have large chunks of cherries.  The mixture should be very hot but not quite boiling.  Add 2 packages of cherry jello and stir until well dissolved.  Pour into jelly jars and cover.  Let cool, then refrigerate.  This makes a bit more than three pints of jam. 

Bake some beautiful buttermilk biscuits, split a couple if they are small, and top them with a bit of butter and cherry jam.  Get out a pretty china plate to eat them on, and pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea in that lovely cup you save for company.  YOU are worth it! 

 

 

Snack Mat and April Showers

April, 2014, is one week old today, and April showers are in full force, with thunder and lightning in abundance.  One of the things I like best about living in Cincinnati is that we seldom have a day that doesn’t give us sunlight at some point, but today will be the exception, I think.  The temperature is in the mid-50’s, and the grass is green.  Perhaps the rain will bring some early blooms, which often occur in March in this part of the country.   It’s a good day to stay inside and sew!

I recently bought a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2… my first Pfaff purchase.  I’ve always been a Viking woman, and perhaps coming from Minnesota, that was appropriate.  This is my first experience with the Pfaff IDT walking foot system, and I have to say that it is an excellent design!  I have sewn blocks for a couple of quilt tops since I got it a few weeks ago… I had to become familiar with my new toy, after all.  All the while I was sewing the tops, I was thinking about the basket of flimsies I have waiting to be quilted. 

My excursions into the world of machine quilting have been less than thrilling… and I am not being modest!  Now, as I stitched,  I was harboring dreams of becoming a fantastic quilter, able to make the most graceful feathers and perfectly even stitches on my domestic machine, now that I had this beauty at my disposal.  After the 2^nd top was finished, I decided to make a snack mat and have a small project to quilt, as my first quilting task with this machine.  I worked out an easy design, inspired by the 10 minute table runners, cut the fabric and batting, and sewed it together.  I was ready to quilt.

 I struggled to attach that little free motion sensormatic foot, which I have to admit is a feat in itself.  I’m no stranger to snap-on feet, and usually they are superbly easy to change, but this one is too small for my little sausage fingers to manipulate easily.  I finally got it attached and lowered the IDT device, securing it to the foot.  I was confident… but just in case, I had ordered a spring-type free motion foot for quilting, if the little sensormatic foot didn’t accomplish the feat. The e-bay seller assured me it would work on my machine.  I adjusted my settings and lowered the feed dogs, put on my quilting gloves, and put my foot on the pedal.  It skipped large areas of stitching, broke thread.  I rethreaded, adjusted the tension and pivot height (this machine thinks of everything!) and tried again with the same result.  Finally I took off the sensormatic free motion foot and installed the spring-type foot.  The only change was that now I was breaking needles, as well.  However, this machine came with a handy tool that makes changing the needle extremely easy.  That was something I hadn’t had occasion to try yet… until now.

The manual didn’t give me many details on settings, etc., for free motion quilting, so I turned to Google for assistance.  Watching a video on this machine, I found out the IDT system is NOT supposed to be engaged for free motion quilting.  I made up another practice “sandwich”, struggled some more to attach the foot AND now the ankle, as well, and was ready to test it.  It worked!  It actually worked!!! 

You can call this a mug rug or a snack mat, or a small quilt… your choice.  I call mine a snack mat, and it's about 9-1/2" square.  Here is how I made mine: 

Cut a background piece 12” square.  The edges will wrap around forming your “binding”.
Cut a contrasting piece 8” square.  This will be in the center of your snack mat.
Cut a piece of scrap batting into a 9” square.

Fold the background and contrasting piece in half to find the center of each piece.  Mark that by pinching the fabric to form a crease or using a pin, if you prefer.  See photo at right.


Centering the contrast piece on the background matching creases on each, right sides together, stitch ¼” seam on both sides. Turn right side out.  You now have a tube, and have about 1” of the background fabric showing on each side of the contrasting piece. See photo below.

Press well, with steam.  Insert the piece of batting into the center, between the two pieces, making sure approximately the same amount of batting shows at the top and bottom of the contrasting piece. 
Fold the corners of the background piece in to meet the batting, forming a small triangle on each corner, as shown in the photo, above right.  Press under ¼” seam allowance on each raw edge.  Fold the two ends down over the center contrasting piece, and they will automatically form neat, mitered corners.  Pin at the corners and center of the edges to secure for sewing. 
If your machine does decorative stitches, you can attach both ends with a decorative stitch… no need to stitch it down separately first.  I used a decorative stitch all the way around, removing pins as I came to them.  After completing the stitching, I returned to a straight stitch and sewed the mitered corners down.

You can use a straight stitch to sew corner to corner, or any way you like, if you don’t want to do free motion quilting.  However, this is a great little project to practice free motion quilting on.  I did not use a pattern for mine; I quilted diagonally across the snack mat, then did a freehand tear drop in each space, and echoed that inside the first one.  I was so carried away, I decided to do 3 teardrops in each corner.  It went well until it started skipping stitches on the last corner.  I do not know what went wrong… but for 5 minutes, my stitches were even, whether I sewed slow or fast, or moved the fabric slow or fast.  This machine really DOES make a difference!  Or there was an angel on my shoulder guiding the whole process, and perhaps she gave up when I got to the last corner! 

 

Friends Sandra and Priss have the same machine I bought… and it is going to be fun exchanging ideas and tips with them.  Priss and I got our machines the same day, and we were burning the phone lines between Minnesota and Ohio, as we encountered problems that were operator error-related, or discovered new things we could do with our new machine.  I'll make a few more snack mats and then I will graduate to quilting actual quilt!  Life is good, even if it is gloomy outside!

Coddled Eggs and Ham... Plus a Ten-Minute Table Runner

I just finally watched the rest of the opening ceremony for the Olympics.  It was hard for me to watch… I got very emotional.  The idea of all those countries… all those people, young and old… coming together in one mind, with peace and love as their common ground… just overwhelmed me and I could only watch a little at a time.  Seeing the history of Russia portrayed so beautifully and artistically was very moving.  I stopped watching the Olympics quite a few years ago, because it saddened me to see children fail, when many had trained most of their lives to compete in the Games. They couldn’t all be winners, but when they didn’t win, they were devastated!  I abhored the idea of the competition becoming more important than the love of their sport and the joy of participating in it.

Perhaps this year, since it was in Russia, it brought a more personal connection for me. I grew up hearing that my mother’s grandfather was a tailor to Czar Nicholas, and her grandmother was a handmaiden to the Empress Alexandra, his wife.  So my Finnish great-grandparents were basically servants to royalty, it seemed, which may actually have been an honor to be one of the chosen.  I would like to know more about their experiences now, as an adult, but there is no one alive to ask.  Then came the revolution.  Out of that chaos came beauty… lovely music, breathtaking architecture, some of our most famous ballet dancers, and artists in words and paint whose works are still cherished and revered.  The opening ceremony certainly was a tribute to their rich heritage.  The joy and anticipation of all the athletes as they marched into the arena was magnificent to behold.  It was a fantastic show! 

I’ve spoken before about being a diabetic, and having problems with wheat and grains raising my blood glucose to levels higher than they should be.  The one food I’ve found that my body seems to “like” is eggs!  Eggs are not my favorite food, however.  I eat them scrambled, fried, boiled, poached… and the other day I remembered that when I was a young child, I learned in 4-H to make baked eggs.  The baked eggs were made in a muffin tin, and a bit of whipping cream was poured over the eggs and they were baked until they were set.  It gave me an idea for another way to cook my eggs: coddled. 

Coddled Eggs and Ham:

Put about a teaspoon of butter into a small frying pan and lightly cook a
slice or two of ham to warm it through until it just begins to brown a bit. I cover my pan.  Remove the ham from the pan.  Crack an egg or two into the pan with the ham drippings, salt and pepper them lightly, and drizzle about a Tablespoon or two of whipping cream over the eggs, as shown below on the right.  Cover tightly and cook over LOW heat until

the eggs set up, just a few minutes.  If you have a glass cover, you can see the progress of your “coddling”.  The eggs will be very tender and the yolks soft, with no crusty parts on the edges or bottom, and the cream will form a light sauce with the butter drippings to flavor the eggs.

They slipped out of the pan and onto my plate smoothly.  A bowl of fresh fruit will round out your brunch… and if you can eat grains, you can add toast, as well.  It was a delightful alternative to the usual eggs.   

One of my quilting friends, Deb, is making 10-Minute Table Runners for her sister… one for every month, choosing colors that coordinate with the seasons.  She shared her pattern with me, and it is easy enough that a child could make one.

  

Ten-Minute Reversible Table Runner:

Choose a fabric for your background, preferably something you love that blends with your décor, and a coordinating fabric for the center of your table runner.  You will need about ½ yard of the main fabric, or 18”, and about 12” or 1/3 yard of the contrasting fabric, both cut the width of the fabric, which is usually 42” to 44”.  These widths are not carved in stone, and if you want a wider table runner you would make the pieces wider, or narrower, if you want a narrower table runner.  It all depends on how big the table is that you are using your runner on.  Deb made hers a bit narrower, for her sister’s table. 

With right sides together and using a ¼” seam, sew the center strip to the background strip along both long edges, so you will have a long tube.  Press the seams toward the darker fabric.  Turn the tube right side out, and center your coordinating strip so that about the same amount of the background fabric shows on each  side of the center strip, as shown on the right.  Press your runner well, and take it to your cutting mat and cut off the selvedge on both ends so your ends are both straight and even, and the selvedge is removed.  Fold your table runner in half the long way, with your background fabric on the “inside” of your fold.  Sew ¼” from the raw edge, shown on the left.  
Repeat with the other end of your runner.  Photo on the right shows how the sewn end looks when it is folded down. Turn the seam to the inside, so that the end forms a triangle across your center strip.  Press well.  It can be hand stitched or machine stitched, see photo below left.  
You can use a decorative stitch to attach the triangular ends to the table runner, and edge stitch all around it.  Your table runner is reversible, so decorative stitching would be pretty on both sides if you use a thread that contrasts or coordinates with the fabrics.  My background fabric is a batik with metallic gold accents; there is no identification along the selvedge, and the contrasting fabric is a gold leaf design from Bernatex.  The decorative thread I chose is rayon in a copper color, and it has a sheen that almost looks metallic.

There is no batting in this runner, but it could have batting inserted and it can be quilted in the design of your choice.  Another idea would be to do a patchwork design instead of the contrasting center strip, but that would take longer than ten minutes!  You can make placemats to match or coordinate with your table runner, with napkins to complete the set.  It would make a lovely gift, and like Deb, you could coordinate them with a holiday or as a seasonal gift.  I seldom keep the items I make, but this one looks beautiful in my dining room, so it has found a home!

As I am making this table runner, I wonder how many families sit down to eat together anymore.  I seldom eat in my kitchen when I am home alone, and when we all are gathered, some sit at the tables and some sit with a TV tray in front of the game or whatever else can’t be missed on television!  My oldest daughter and son-in-law were here for dinner a few weeks ago, and my son-in-law commented it was the first time we’d sat around the kitchen table.  Usually, we sit in the dining room and the children sit in the kitchen, and often we eat in front of the television... a very bad habit to form!  I remember that we always ate Sunday dinner in the dining room with the good china and silverware when my children were small.  I never wanted them to sit as a guest at someone’s table and proclaim, “I have two forks… is someone missing a fork?”  And, after all, who is more worthy of using the good china than the people we love most in the world? 

So many of the customs and traditions we grew up with have slipped into oblivion.  My older grandchildren know when they set the table at my house, it means with ALL the silverware, but the younger children often ask, “Do we need spoons?”  Maybe that isn’t such a bad thing, because often we never use anything but our fork!  Perhaps we need to stop the busy-ness or monotony once in a while and remember what brought us to this place in time.  Traditions connect us with the past and create a bridge to the future.  Life moves too fast and has less meaning, it seems.  The world does not seem as safe as it did when my children were growing up in a small Midwest town, where they could hop on their bikes and go out with an ice cream bucket looped on the handlebars looking for berries, or set off with a B-B gun for a day of target practice in the woods on the edge of town.  We have lost something valuable, and I wonder if it will ever be experienced or recognized by future generations, in this age of electronic gadgets.  I have seen so many changes in my 71 years… I wonder also what will come next.  As Bob Dylan says so eloquently in song… The times, they are a’changing!

I think you have created a monster, Deb!  I am off now to make another table runner for my kitchen table.  I have started one in another beautiful batik fabric for a gift, because it won't really match in my home... but it is my favorite of all three!  Unless there is  fancy stitching or patchwork, these runners really don't take much more than ten minutes to make!

 

Christmas Traditions

Every Christmas while my children were growing up, we created ornaments together.  Sometimes the children made ornaments in school, in the lower elementary grades, and sometimes I purchased ornaments, as well.  Each child got one or more ornaments each year decorating their gifts, and by the time they were grown, they had accumulated an assortment of ornaments to decorate their own Christmas tree.  When I decorate my tree, Christmas music is playing softly, usually harps and/or flutes, which I love.  And as I carefully pick each ornament out of the box and hang it, I am reminded of the person that gave it to me.  There is a sequin-embroidered owl that Bertha made, a quartet of little musicians from Switzerland, bought by Merle and Bertha on one of their trips many years ago.  There is a macramé mouse that Ann made, a bird perched on a feeder with bird seed inside that Elaine made, and crocheted snowflakes and prettily starched bells from Dawn, all purchased at our church bazaars. There are jointed porcelain teddy bears, Santas, and carousel horses, a roly-poly blue velour teddy bear that my sister, Doreen, made, and a stuffed cross from my sister, Sherri.  There are ornaments my grandchildren have chosen for me... a blown glass penguin from Quentin, because we enjoyed watching Happy Feet together, and a beautiful blown glass angel from Ava.  There is an angel made of shells from Donavon and Alyssa, purchased when they went to Hawaii.  There is an assortment of angels gifted to me by friends, many of whom are no longer alive.  Decorating my tree is an emotional experience, and I often weep as I remember the loved ones who once were such an important part of my life. 

The Christmas decorating has become too difficult for me to do alone now, and my granddaughters, Laenie and Maddie, come to help.  Laenie has decorated my tree with me the last couple of years, and she loves the ornaments and hears their stories as we pull them out.  She has asked if she can inherit my ornaments someday, and it warms my heart that they are that meaningful to her.  This year, Maddie did it by herself, but she enjoyed looking at each one and hearing their story.  The ornament Donavon made when he was in kindergarten
with his photo glued onto a fluted gold-colored ash tray hangs next to the photo ornament his son made me several years ago, when he was about the same age.  This year, we added a blue ball with “reindeer” thumb prints Griffin made, a pine cone skier made by Gabriella, and a “Santa” handprint from my one-year-old great-granddaughter, Leola.  These ornaments are all precious gifts, and treasured above anything they could buy me.  Everyone got a stocking snowman ornament from me this year, which I blogged about last time. 

Perhaps someday when they are decorating their trees, my family will select the ornaments I made them, one by one, and remember the warmth of Christmases past.  Many times when my children were small, we had little in the way of material gifts, but there was always an abundance of love, and that is what Christmas is all about… the greatest gift.  This year, I requested no gifts… it’s stressful to buy for someone who buys what they need for themselves.  Instead, I told them the most valuable gift they can give me is their time. 

The day after Christmas, Donavon mowed my lawn with a bagging mower, and Griffin and Maddie bagged the leaves.  It’s a good thing we had warm weather then, in the 50s and 60s… today I woke up to 35 degrees and about 4” of snow on the ground.  The weatherman tells us we will drop to single digits in the next week.  Hopefully that cold weather will not last long! 
 

I wish for you a wonderful year, filled with the thrill of new experiences and the ability to see and appreciate the world we live in with a child’s sense of wonder.  Happy 2014! 

Snowman Ornaments

I picked up my repaired Janome sewing machine a few days ago.  There was a one-day sale at Hancock’s on a sewing table the same day, at about half the regular price.  It has a cut-out for a machine that can be raised or lowered.  I was excited to have the table for my machines, as the folding table I’d been using was not heavy enough and it vibrated a lot when I sewed… especially when I was sewing pedal to the metal, which is my speed of choice!  We measured the machine, measured the opening, and there was plenty of space for my Janome.  The Opal is a few inches longer, so I was confident that would fit, as well.  I called my son to stop by on his way home from work to carry the heavy box in for me, which he did, and I anxiously unpacked it… no assembly required, the box promised.  Well, we had measured length and width, but did not measure depth!  My Janome sunk about an inch below the table top.  I looked around my house for something that could bring it up to the correct height, and spotted a cardboard bolt with fabric on it.  Perfect height!  Again, I measured and cut one end off so it would fit lengthwise.  But there is gap on the back side of the machine.  I think it will still work okay.   I plugged the machine in, turned it on, sewed the final seam on a quilt top… and it began to chirp.  It chirped just a bit at first, then worked itself into a frenzy, a constant barrage of chirping!  Clearly, it did not want to sew!  The machine is obviously not fixed.  I will return it to the shop and have them leave it turned on for a while so it can chirp its little tune for the repairman. 

So, the Opal was returned to service.  It wasn’t too long for the opening on the table… there was barely enough room lengthwise (I measured again!) but it would fit.  However, it is almost ½” too wide and will not fit in the opening. I tipped it one way, then the other (have you ever tried bringing a box spring up a narrow, curved staircase?)… and it just will not fit.  I am extremely disappointed, to say the least.  I can still use it with the cut-out portion up, but then it will be higher, which is one of the reasons I wanted the table with the recessed opening for the machines.  It is sturdier than the folding table I had been using, so I think I’ll like it better than what I had before.   Some days, it’s like taking one step forward and two back!

 I have told the saga of my iron and the sewing machine.  Now I have added my printer to the list of necessary equipment that has failed!  It flashes angrily at me, saying the printer’s ink pads have reached the end of their service life.  I contacted Epson, and they said it would not be cost-effective to replace them, as it isn’t something most people are able to do without a technician.  They also said that there is a preset number from the factory, and when a person has printed that many pages, they will get an error message… but they could send me a “fix” for that in an e-mail (how ridiculous is that… a preset stop point!).  I was told to follow the instructions and it would reset the count, but it would not fix the ink pad problem, and the quality of my printing would be affected until I replaced the pads.  I did as I was told, and when I tried to run the program to override the count, I got another error message!  An error message for an error message… so I bit the bullet and purchased another printer just like it so I can still use the ink cartridges I have purchased. 

I also got a new ironing board cover, and after more contortions of pulling and stretching, finally got it installed on the ironing board, so I can now press with better results.  While I was at Walmart getting the ironing board cover, I bought some infant crew socks to make these Snowman ornaments.  They are adorable, and easy to make… I have at least 20 to make, and I did seven of them tonight.  They are simple enough to make that even children can help, making it a fun family project. 

Snowman Ornament: 

Infant sock, size 6-18 month is the size I used.
Cut off sock at heel line, see photo.
This doesn’t have to be perfect, so don’t stress out over it.  Thread a needle and double the thread with a good, big knot.  Hand stitch around the cut edge of the sock with a running stitch.  Pull stitches tightly and stitch across the gathered stitches a couple of times, to close opening completely.

Stuff the stocking with poly fill.  Using a sturdy string or strong cotton yarn, tie tightly about a third of the way down from the gathered edge.  This is the head of your snowman.  Stuff the body portion more fully.  Using a double thread again, stitch around the bottom “hem” of the stocking, using a running stitch.  Pull stitches tightly.  Again, stitch across several times to secure the gathers and completely close the opening.  Your snowman is finished and ready to be dressed and embellished. 

Take the part that you cut off and trim foot/toe portion of sock straight across

as shown where the line is drawn in the photo.  It doesn’t have to be perfect… the snowman will not mind! This portion will be the snowman’s hat.  Turn the cut edge up twice, so the raw edge is not exposed, and put it on your snowman’s head.  I tacked the hat around to secure it.  The hat also covers up the gathered edge at the top of your snowman, and folding it up creates a sort of cuff to the stocking cap. 

Cut a piece of fabric of your choice about ½” wide by about 8 or 9 inches long.  Tie this around the snowman’s neck.  I snipped about ¼” into the ends of the scarf to create a fringe effect.  As an alternative, you can use a bulky yarn for the scarf.  For some of the scarves, I braided 3 strands of worsted weight yarn and knotted the ends, and for others I used 2 strands of yarn and knotted the ends.  Glue on plastic eyes, or sew on beads for the eyes.  If you want to spend another minute on your little snowman, you can sew him a bead mouth and put an orange bead on to signify the traditional carrot nose.   Glue or sew on two or three buttons, beads, or glitter gems for buttons down his tummy.  Actually, they look cute without faces and tummy decorations, too.  Knot a length of metallic cord on the top of the hat to hang the ornament on your tree. 

These ornaments are simple to make, a fun family project for children to help with, and not very costly.  A package of 10 pairs of socks costs around $5.00, and makes 20 snowmen.  Here's another view of the snowmen on parade, at the right.  This snowman shown below, with the stars on his tummy is the one my great-grandson, Lucas, liked best!

 

We have no snow on the ground here in Cincinnati, although we’ve had two snowfalls.  The weather has remained warm enough to melt the snow quickly.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that making these snowmen ornaments will not cause the Universe to think I am desiring snow and gift me with a whole lot of the white stuff, which I am NOT desiring! 

 

 

Sisters

Sisters come in all shapes and sizes… some you share parents with, and in that case, you play the hand you are dealt, so I can only hope that you have pulled some lucky cards out of that deck, as I have!  Others are friends that share no blood ties, but who share the most important moments of our lives… the women who are there from day to day, the women who understand what we are experiencing.  They laugh with us, sometimes they even weep with us, but they are always ready to offer advice, a shoulder to cry on, or just to listen when we need to talk things through.  Chance may have put them in our path, but choice has kept them close to us, and we have adopted them as sisters. 

I think some men also share those bonds with other men, but most of the men I’ve known are prone to keeping things to themselves, rather than choosing to talk about it with a friend.  Perhaps that’s why a lot more men than women I know have ulcers!  You know, my friends, that I am speaking in generalities here… there are women who are more reticent and men who are more forthcoming, but I can speak only from my own experiences, which may not be statistically sound. 

Sisters are happy to teach each other the things they know, and are flattered when someone asks for a recipe or a pattern or another slant on an issue.  My dear husband used to say… think outside the box.  But perhaps there is one way of thinking that surpasses even that box with sisters… we think not with our intellect or reason, but from our feeling center. 

And so… with Thanksgiving looming on the horizon… I think of the things I’m thankful for, and my sisters are at the top of the list.  I love my children but they have moved on with their own lives, and I am on the fringe, no longer essential to the daily movement of their lives.  But my sisters have walked the path beside me, whether we are near or far from each other.  We have shared our deepest hopes and dearest dreams… as well as our greatest sorrows.  And throughout every mountain peak or valley, one common thread is apparent:  we care.  We have found a place where we belong in each other’s lives, and perhaps a sense of belonging is one of the most basic needs we experience.  I am thankful for the sisters that have become part of my life.  Our bond is stronger than a physical connection; whatever your geographic location may be, you have taken up permanent residence in my heart! 

I wrote these poems in 1990… and they are still appropriate, perhaps to many of us.

Who Am I?

I am a mirror,

Reflecting colors of fey spirits,
Brushing close enough to touch,
Then drifting softly
Out of sight.

I am a sponge,

Soaking up fond memories
To squeeze alive when loneliness
Comes creeping, quietly,
At night.

I am a broom,

Sweeping out debris
Of fleeting moments spent
Pursuing promises that never seem
To light.

And, sometimes,
I just am.
And it’s alright.

 

 I Am

I am a moan,
The pain that knows forever.
I am a shout,
The joy that life can’t sever.
I am a sigh,
The hope that fears regretting.
I am a tear,
The thought that pleads forgetting.
I am a throb,
The heart that feels no longing.
I am a breath,
The life that craves belonging.