New Doll Pattern ~~~Anya is her name!

I apologize for such a long time in between posts but life gets in the way. I'm always sooooo busy everyday all day long. It makes me wonder how did I manage to get all this done when I had a full time job outside the home too!!!?
Anyway I just finished her last week. Here's Anya my newest Raggedy Doll Pattern. Available in PDF download form   Click here for the PDF
Also available in mailed paper pattern form actually on sale right now Click Here for Paper Pattern 
I don't have her listed at all my venues just yet, only at the two links here in this post.
I'm off to try and finish another pattern real soon I hope. I don't know, now that we are in Christmas Season it's time to decorate the house and make all the gifts for family, friends, and neighbors. So thinking in terms of reality I'll be surprised at myself if I get another one done before the first of the year. But it is the time of year for miracles......
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Season to all!

My Helper!

I got out the fabric, opened up the pattern, set the instructions down on top of the fabric, turned around to get the scissors and this is what I see when I turn back around!!

This is Pebbles, she loves to help me!! She sometimes lays behind the sewing machine and puts her paws in there when I'm sewing!! What a clown!

No wonder it's taking me so long to get these costumes done!

International Quilt Market
Houston 2012*

October 27-29, 2012
George R. Brown Convention Center
Houston, Texas
*Trade show only. Not open to the general public.
Hours:
Sat., Oct. 27 - 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 28 - 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Mon., Oct. 29 - 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Ticket prices:
Buyer Admission $25 advance/$30 on-site with proper credentials

October Already!!

Ok Aug. & Sept. flew by so fast I don't remember seeing them!! Wow! It's October. So after I froze some wonderful Colorado peaches-----by the way THE BEST peaches I have ever had!---- I made peach butter from some California peaches. This is all that is left of that. It was very good. I sent some to my Mom in Maine to enjoy. 
The kids are back in school. We've celebrated the daughter in laws birthday and our 2 daughter's birthday's. The end of Sept. starts the frenzy of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays,and craft shows that I host and participate in for the year! It ends Jan. 4th with #1 grandson's birthday. Then just a few celebrations the rest of the year.Whew!

Ahhh, the fruits of summer.......Blueberry Jam--practically seedless. I strain out as much of the seeds as I can when I make my jams. I just don't like the seeds. I will be making Strawberry jam this weekend, and most likely Blackberry after that.

We went to the play Wicked the other night for one daughter's birthday. What an excellent show----really enjoyed it. That was the first play I had been to. I may have to see more. The daughter saw online that there will be a movie of the same out in 2014.

Canning or Freezing Peaches, That is the question

Canning or freezing 16lbs. of peaches? Freezing won out for this batch. I bought a case of Colorado Peaches. I made a peach pie and we've eaten several. Yesterday I spent a good hour and a half blanching and freezing the rest. I have 8 Quarts in the freezer. I must say these were the best peaches I can remember eating. They have our vote for getting 2 cases next time!! I'm getting another case in Sept. but these are coming from Calif. I'll be making peach jam out of those.

I've been busy sewing school clothes for my niece. And as usual trying to organize all my supplies and fabric. It's a never ending process! Years ago when I first started collecting fabric----now I used to sew most of what I collected back then ------ I was working at a fabric store and I couldn't turn down the good buys. 3/4yd. and less on the bolt was put in a box under the cutting table and at the end of the day we could buy whatever pieces we wanted for 10-25 cents each. Needless to say I started collecting a lot of fabrics. At that time I was mainly sewing my kids clothes and things around the house like draperies, pillows, table runners, placemats and the like. It was after the kids hit Jr. High and wanted store bought clothes that I started crafting and quilting more. I started an organized fabric log. It was quite handy and at that time I only had about a dozen containers full of fabric. I gave up on the fabric log once the containers doubled in size. But it was a great idea while I kept it up. I wanted to share a link to someone who has done the same and created a printable for y'all if you'd like to try your hand at organizing. My log sheets were very similar.

http://www.sewweekly.com/2011/11/fabric-swatch-notebook-printable/

Hi all. Sorry for so long between posts. I keep quite busy and sometimes find it hard to make time to get on here. Right now I'm on the hunt for an apron I cut out over a month ago. I set aside to sew later and now I can't find it!! Yes, I have that much in the way of fabric and supplies! 

Just wanted to update everyone that I had to retire my green homespun with the red hearts fabric that I use to make the scented coasters. My distributors tell me it is discontinued and I can not find even a little piece anywhere. So I am posting a picture of the fabric replacing it. As you can see it is a tan and black with tiny red hearts. A bit different than the other but still a great homespun all the same.

Hi to all out in blog land. I just finished my newest pattern just in time for the upcoming Halloween season. It's June, and that means the Halloween fabrics are starting to arrive at your local quilt shops. This pattern is available in paper form and PDF form at all of my venues. Check it out and tell me what you think. I'd love to hear from y'all.

My garden is going well. Have been enjoying tomatoes everyday now for a couple of weeks. There is nothing better than a fresh picked tomato! I have some zucchini ready to harvest. The green beans are getting some flowers.

Well now that I have the pattern all done it's time to make some dinner for me and my mister. Then relax with a good book. Until next time.

Shabby Chic Like Primitive Prairie Flowers

Here is my newest set of Primitive Prairie Flowers that I've made. These are for sale in an auction over at ebay.There is a set of 6 handcrafted shabby chic like flower ornies, primly stained. I will have more on auction as I get them made. Here's the link: 

New Pattern~~ Primitive Prairie Flowers

I finally finished 1 of the 3 new patterns I started back in January! I've been making these and selling them finished over the years and now I've turned them into a pattern so y'all can make your own. That's actually how a lot of my patterns have come to be. They are scribbles on note papers from items I've been creating and selling for years. It's just finding the time to gather my little notes and write them into patterns! I find it hard to believe that life gets in the way so much so that it took this long to complete this one! So far this is the picture on the cover but I'm sure that will change as I make new ones for gifts or to sell.This set is actually a birthday gift for a friend tomorrow. I know she is busy tonight so she won't be reading my blog and see them early!

 I keep forgetting to post the picture of one of the broccoflower plants right before I cut some and cooked them! It was quite sweet and tender. I planted 17 and only 6 survived the birds that munched on them when they were tiny. I thought I had bugs eating them at night till one morning while washing dishes looking out the window I saw a bird biting pieces off the leaves! My husband and I built a netted cover from netted tulle and pvc pipe that totally covered the 6 plants that were still ok so the hungry birds couldn't get to them. Then we got a little smarter and draped netted tulle over the whole garden to keep the birds out when we did our spring planting. We don't have a large garden. It is 4' deep about 28' long. It's at the back of our yard, raised about 2'  like a flower bed but a very large flower bed considering it's 4' deep. I do my best to plant as many veggies as possible in there.  This spring we scaled down to using half the garden while the Mister levels out an area of the backyard and puts down block pavers to cover it because it doesn't grow grass very well in that area. So we planted 1 zucchini plant, 2 tomato plants one was a cherry tomato, several pole beans, radishes, onions, and carrots. We have strawberries growing in a huge planter. Learned awhile back the dog loved to eat the strawberries. I thought critters were eating them. I'd see them growing then a day or 2 later they'd be gone. One day I found out it was my own furry critter Abby our Australian shepherd. So with them in a huge planter she can't get to them.

Time to get back to making more Prairie Flowers. I'm on  a roll now so I don't want to spoil the momentum.

Sugar Spout

I apologize for so long in between posts. To my defense I can only say life gets in the way sometimes of everything I'd like to do! Here's a little something I did this morning.
Such nice weather outside I like to spend the day outside but I  must get back to cleaning and organizing my sewing/craft space so I can function in there. I get so involved in creating patterns I don't see the mess I am creating in the room as well!

The Blonde doll Hair

Here is the blonde doll hair hanging out on the line drying. The temps were not too cold. I guess in the 60's while it was drying. It took it a few days to dry.

And here it is ready for sale. I should have it in my  Ebay  store later today, and on my website next week sometime. This is 3 ply thick curly wool/mohair. Sells for $9.95,  free shipping within the U.S. This is the 4th color I have finished so far. More colors to come as I get them done.

Here it is another Sunday. This is one of my busiest work days. I try to get all my online stuff ready for the week to come, make any changes to my online venues, and such. But it is quite beautiful outside today. I'd say high 60's slight wind. Our mock orange tree is blooming and smells heavenly. It is attracting the usual bees and wasps but also we have quite a few butterflies too. I might have to take a very LONG break from my usual routine today. Perhaps I will plant some more veggies in the garden or just linger a little longer while hanging the laundry out to dry. Here is a picture of the mock orange.

And here is a close up of a butterfly on there. I LOVE this tree. It's a shame it is only in bloom March and April though.

Working on my spinning wheel

I had a very nice Monday. The weather was quite nice in the mid 70's. I put a little bit of fabric and crafting supplies away, got 3 loads of laundry done, caught up with my sister on the phone, then after dinner spent the evening working on my spinning wheel. It is almost as relaxing as cutting wood with my saws----not quite, but almost. Now I must go feed my addiction to words with friends! My older brother and I have 11 games going with eachother at one time! I have to get to those before I go to bed.We love the competition!

Look at that beautiful piece of furniture. I bought it unfinished and my wonderful husband stained it and put it together for me. I love what it lends to the look of our livingroom. As you can see I was working on blonde doll hair in a wool/mohair blend.

Happy Saturday

Well I figured since I had made one toilet seat cover I would make another for the master bathroom while it was still fresh in my mind. I only had small pieces of the matching fabrics left that I used for the valance. I had gotten ambitious years ago and cut it all into quilt pieces thinking I would someday make a quilt for the bed to match. After all I had made a matching valance over our bedroom window besides the shower curtain. I found the pieces all cut and half sewn into quilt blocks but no pattern in sight to know what I had been sewing. Oh the story of my life! The best plans, I get started, then life gets in the way. At least I had all the pieces together tucked in a plastic shoebox waiting to be finished. So I guess that bed quilt will probably never get finished since I used the center squares that were supposed to go in the stars and made the toilet seat cover. I got smart and drew a pattern and instructions up while I was making the second one. In case I decide to change the colors in either bathroom in the future. Here's the second one. Just goes to show you how life gets in the way...I still have yet to finish the pattern and samples of the priarie flowers I was working on a couple weeks ago! I have to admit it felt really good to make something for me and our house for a change.

Next I wanted to share a really good tasting recipe I got from the Nate Berkus show. As I removed the pan from the oven it turned out looking pretty ugly, glad they didn't taste as bad as they looked! Recipe link follows. Pecan Butterscotch Bars   Scroll down and it's the 4th recipe on the page. Mine looked like theirs only in the center square. I'll show you a picture.

                  Mine was a flop in looks but not in flavor.

Update

Ok it has been 9 days since I put the lettuce in the jars. One of the 2 darker ones---the green leaf or the romaine is not holding up. The Iceberg is great. I noticed there are a few of the darker greens that are turning dark and mushy even in the vacuumed sealed jars. Only sparsley so far. I ate salad yesterday for lunch and dinner and I had to take out about 8 little pieces that were turning of the dark greens. Next time i will do the romaine and green leaf lettuces separately to determine how long each one will last. I've had fresh salad now for a week whenever I've wanted without the dreaded work of preparing it each time. So all in all I am very happy with this experiment.On to another note....

I spent the day yesterday making  a toilet seat cover to match the valance over the shower curtain I had made a few years ago. I came across that same fabric while cleaning and had enough for that and towel accents and a small runner for the tank top. I quilted the fabric before I cut it out. I laid the fabric on the lid and cut around it. Then I cut some un-quilted fabric strips on the bias, made a 5/8" hem. Inserted 1/4" elastic, then sewed this right sides together to the quilted seat cover. I finished by making a small piece of double fold bias out of matching fabric and covered all across the back near the hinges of the seat where I inserted the elastic. Turned out great, I was quite pleased with it. What do you think? Thanks. Have a good week.

Happy Sunday, Fresh Salad Bar

Sunday is one of my busiest days of the week. I work online most all day at my website and my selling venues. I found a new place to sell my patterns and have been working on uploading those. It's called Craftsy, it has all kinds of pdf downloadable patterns. You should check it out.Craftsy
In between my work I take breaks to eat, throw in some laundry and do other chores. Well today I decided to do something with my  vacuum sealer I saw online somewhere. I'm sorry I do not remember who posted the picture but I saw it on Pinterest I believe. (I do a lot of surfing some nights.) My vacuum sealer is one of my favorite appliances in the kitchen. I have had one for about 10-15 years now. Actually wore the first one out and bought a new one a few years ago. 

 I vacuum seal my sugar, flour cornmeal, and oatmeal in 1/2 gallon size jars. All wide mouth jars. The round attachment is for the jars. The jar with the sugar in it has a plastic wide mouth screw on lid so it is not vacuum sealed. That's because I get into that jar almost everyday. And early in the morning when it's tea and coffee time I don't want to have to think about re-sealing the jar.When I use some of the other jars then I re-seal them after I get out the amount I need from the jar.

 Chocolate chips, still good and chocolatey 1 year later. (I've made a lot of sugar cookies this past year not chocolate chip.) They do not turn colors because the air has been removed. Nuts, chips, cereal, candy, cookies, fruits snacks, raisins, pretzels. You name it and I most likely seal it or have tried sealing it. I use the bags to seal meats and put in the freezer they last a good long time, much longer than wrapped in other ways. Hot dogs, I break up the pkg. into serving sizes and seal. Bacon same way. Cheese and lunch meat. As most know lunch meat freezes but I don't like it when it comes from the freezer. leftovers from big pots of soup seal well in bags then into the freezer they go. I have even vacuum sealed produce. Some worked some did not. The mixed greens or spring mix salad didn't do well, I had done it in bags. Well I saw someone had sealed lettuce in jars and thought why not? I seal almost everything else in jars. So I decided to do romaine, iceburg, and green leaf. They all seem to be hardy.  Now I have fresh salad whenever I want. Just open the jar and serve. I have to add the fixin's to it like celery, tomatoes, onions and such after I take it out of the jar because all produce seals and lasts at different rates. The biggest job is done though. I washed and chopped all the lettuce up the and sealed it in the jars. One quart sized jar makes three good sized salads. I've always wished I had a fresh salad bar in my house to eat from everyday. This is the next best thing. And the jars stand up in the vegetable  drawer of the fridge with no problem.

I hope this inspires someone else. Here's wishing everyone a good week.

This will be Primitive Prairie Flowers

Here sets the supplies I'm using for my newest pattern. I've decided to call it Primitive Prairie Flowers. Will post the finished products in a week when I get them done. Providing life doesn't get in the way.

Vanilla milk craving

                                 I've been craving this for over a month now. I finally located it! I used to buy it when my kids were little.

Chocolate Cake?

My all time favorite cake recipe is from the back of the Hershey's Cocoa can. There is nothing better. My sister is the one who told me she made it and really liked it. I had never tried it before and Hershey's Cocoa is a staple in my pantry and always has been. Anyway it is so moist and very easy to make. I had doubts at first because you add 1 cup of boiling water to the batter and the batter is so thin, but it made the best chocolate cake I have ever had! It was so good I do not need to make frosting for it. Let me tell you it really works when you need a chocolate fix too. Well I've been in the mood for a vanilla cake and vanilla milk for a couple weeks now

( that is another story) and I usually make a Hot Milk cake recipe but decided to try the Hershey's recipe without the chocolate to see if it is just as good as the chocolate recipe! It worked! I substituted flour for the cocoa and followed the rest of the recipe exactly. The result was great! Although I have a can of cream cheese frosting standing by, the cake is good without it.

Here's the recipe.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake Altered

2 cups sugar         

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour              

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda                      

1 teaspoon salt                  

2 eggs

1 cup milk            

1/2 cup coconut oil          

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan or 2 nine inch round pans  and I would guess a 13x9 pan would work too, although I have not tried it.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, add eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Stir in boiling water(batter will be very thin). Pour into pans and bake 30-35 mins. until a wooden toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan to wire rack and cool completely before frosting.

Organizing Fabric

I came across this idea last year on the internet somewhere. I can't remember where exactly I saw it, but filed it away in the back of my head till I could use the idea myself for my collection of fabrics. Here's a picture of the finished mini bolts in the cd wall unit I purchased. As you can see I am only part way in my organization. But you can see what it will look like when completely done. I was so excited to be able to do this! I bought 2 cd wall units from Lowes. I think they were $80 each. Very easy to put together. I then put them in the closet in the sewing/craft room. That way the fabrics will be behind closed doors so the lights can not damage their color.The idea I had seen was mini bolts that were kind of pricey, acid free and they had little notches in their bolts to hold the fabric. I thought of different things to use myself to be less expensive like foam core board, the metal used in signs. None were less expensive till I came across these comic book insert boards. Acid free and one package contains 100 boards for $12! Now that was a deal!

I found I could get as much as 8yds wrapped on one of these. Here's what I do. I lay the fabric out in front of me the folded edge near me and the selvage edge away from me.I fold the selvage edge in towards me about 2"-3"

Then I fold in half towards me again. So now it is about 10 inches wide by however many yards you have. I have even wrapped 1/2 yd. pieces on these boards.

Next lay the mini bolt on the fabric and fold over about 4" then wrap till you get towards the end of your yardage. I then fold the ends in towards eachother to make a point. Then pin it in place making sure to have the pin point tucked into the fabric so there will be no getting stuck when stacking them on going through them on the shelves. I bought floral pins with decorative heads at Wal-Mart. All the other pins I tried to use kept bending. But these seem to do the trick.

I don't know about you but this will be so much better than trying to remember what fabric is in what bin in the shed or the garage when I want to work on some project. I know I will not be able to fit ALL my fabrics on here. I actually wish I could weed them out to only have enough to fill these 2 units. I decided the one will hold all my blending fabrics in all the various colors. The other will hold the floral, football, holiday and themed type fabrics. There was a couple of the mini bolts that I wrapped 5 fabrics on together, just staggered them a little so I could see them all. That way the fabric for one project was all together on the one bolt. I'm sure it will take me months in between real life to get this completely done. But that is ok. I know it will be done eventually and I love what I have done already!

Garden Pests

Some little garden pests have been munching on my broccoflower I am growing! I usually don't have any garden pests when I grow veggies through the winter. Maybe the birds that visit daily are munching on the plants.I was so excited when I found seeds for the broccoflower. I have only seen it in the fresh produce at the grocery stores. Looks kind of like a light green caulifower. It has a sweet flavor to it. I have 17 plants growing. I have to go to the nursery and find an organic way to keep the pests away.

Still cleaning and organizing. Once I get that done maybe I can get a couple of crafty tutorials posted.

Putting away the decorations

 I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a fabulous time ringing in the New Year.We did, and now the lights are coming down and being packed away sanely and separately so they are easy to put up again next December.I have all the tree decorations packed away and the tree is down. The living room has been put back in order and vacuumed. Now I need to tackle putting away the Autumn, Christmas, and Winter Holiday fabrics and pull out the Valentine and St. Paddy's Day fabrics and get some dolls made.I did not find the time to get any dolls made after I made a couple witches. I just got too busy with the craft show preparations and online orders. I did a whopping business with those scented coasters. I also have a lot of supplies that really need to be put away and the craft room needs A LOT of help to get it back in workable order! Whew, what a mess. I'm not the neatest when I am creating.

 Had to have people out here 3 times over the last 3 weeks to get the house heater actually fixed. 3rd time was a charm I guess. It is now working again, I don't have to wear my coat in the house anymore.

We celebrated our oldest grandson's 11th birthday yesterday. He's got about 3-4 inches to go and he's as tall as me, they grow so fast. He'll be going to Jr. High next school year, just doesn't seem possible.

After all that cleaning and putting away we got done today I am ready to pull up a comfy chair and read my latest Annie's Attic Mysteries Book. I am on The Deed in The Attic. I'm so hooked on this series as well as the Elm Creek Quilts series of books too. A new one came out in November and I missed it! That has to go on my wish list.

Here's to all, I hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy New Year.