Blogs are like Garage Sales

I love Garage Sales!  I could spend hours poring thru someone else's junk, but I absolutely HATE to have a garage sale of my own.  I also love to read other people's blogs!  I've come to realize I don't really like doing any of my own posts.  My life is so boring - surely if I am not enthused enough to write about it, no one else wants to read about it...

I've learned that I am a Project Person.  I like big projects - I like to break down a big project into its various steps and figure out the best way to complete each step, then work each step.  Then put it away and move to the next Project.  I don't like the "same old same old".  That works great if you're a Project Manager, but if you have those everyday tasks that must be completed, well, everyday, it's not such a good thing.  As I read on someone else's blog . . . I'm a good Starter.  Not such a good Finisher.  At this stage of my life I don't think I am going to change that.   Oh well. 

I got an IPhone which has contributed to my blogging delinquency. I can't blog on the phone (I need a keyboard) and opening up the laptop is just too much work (remember when a laptop was a convenient luxury??). 

All of that to say that perhaps regular blogging isn't my cup of tea.    My sister Kathy pointed out that I had "dreadfully neglected" my blog. So I have set a goal to do 2-4 posts a month.  Surely I can keep up with that.
We decided to move - again.  We have come to the conclusion that we don't like suburban living.  This house is nice enough and it was certainly easy to have a builder complete all the work for us.  We only had to pick colors and finishes.  But that's really boring.  Remember I like projects, so I like having a not-so-perfect house that needs an update here and there.  So the house is up for sale and we've made an offer on a farm in Arkansas, in the Ozarks. 

Why the Ozarks?  A lot of reasons, not the least of which is the cost of living - we can get a whole lot more for our money there in terms of real estate and housing.  Also, the climate.  We would like to experience something other HEAT.  I'd like to see leaves turn colors in the fall, snow, a chance to wear sweaters and coats, a summer that isn't so brutal that we could actually go outside during the day.

The Ozark farm consists of 32 acres, about half of which is pasture and half wooded.  There are two large gardens, barns, sheds, etc., in place already.  A young Mennonite family lives there now and they raise all their own food in those gardens.  I am dreaming of the wood cook stove I've always wanted, and milk goats. 

Surely moving to the Ozarks will provide a lot of fodder for future blog posts. 

We went to Branson on a vacation earlier this month, which I will do a short post on, as well as two trips to Arkansas since Christmas. 

I have completed a lot of sewing projects since I last posted.  I've been making clothes for myself, various children's clothing, and purses.  Pinterest has provided a wealth of ideas.  I find that I don't get good pics of the projects I complete, which makes no sense.  I have umpteen professional photo backdrops and all the necessary gear and editing software... but all that stuff has to be taken out and set up before I can use it.  It's just so much work! I see that I need to add "photo studio" to my wish list.  Marc says I need a building in which to put all my crafty stuff, and I think I must agree.  If it was big enough I could have everything out, set up and ready to use.  

I've done some photography for a few people/groups (family and paying clients), which I really enjoy doing.  I upgraded my Photoshop before Christmas which has made editing SOOOOOO much easier.  I had Version TWO - yes I did say TWO.  The newest update is ELEVEN.  The newer software has so many more user friendly features. It's like a different program.
I will end this post with a few pics from Easter.  


Rylan will still pose with the Easter Bunny

Willow in the Bluebonnets

the Vacante family



Willow's First Haircut!



Marc, me and Caroline



Homemade Granola and Granola Bites

Granola Bites



I like Granola, but I'm pretty particular about what's in it.  I don't like raisins in it but I do like pecans.  I also don't like those little puffed rice thingys that are in some granolas.  It's really hard to find a store-bought granola that I like that's priced well.  After much research and experimentation I found a basic recipe that I like.  Each time I make it I add different "extras" depending on what I have on hand.

The original recipe I found came from Hillbilly Housewife.  It's called Honey Granola. You can read her recipe here.  She has tons of other recipes too, including recipes using your homemade granola. 

I noticed when looking at the ingredients in the storebought granolas I like that they use Brown Rice Syrup, so I ordered some from Country Life Natural Foods.  I used it in my granola today and replaced most of the honey called for with the brown rice syrup. 

I also replaced the butter with Coconut Oil in my recipe today.  This is the first time I've ever bought it and have been using it in various recipes.  It's expensive, but supposedly healthier than other fats. 

So here is the recipe for the Granola I made today:

My Homemade Granola

3 Cups dry Oatmeal (I use quick)

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil

1/2 Cup Brown Rice Syrup

2 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 tsp. Maple Flavoring

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 Cup Pecans

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (raw)

Measured the coconut oil in a glass measuring cup and melt in the microwave.  Add the brown rice syrup and flavorings to oil and mix well.  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients then add the liquids; mix well.  Pour out onto a baking sheet (I use a large stoneware pan).  Cook at 350 deg. for about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven, allow to cool.

I noticed that the granola seemed to clump together more so with the brown rice syrup than it does with the honey, which I like.  It turned out delicious.

I usually put flax seeds in my granola, but somehow managed to forget it this time, even though it was sitting right on the counter.

I like to eat granola on top of plain Greek Yogurt.  It's one of my favorite breakfast foods.

I also like Granola Bars.  If you read the ingredient list on most of them, there's all kinds of stuff you can't pronounce and tons of sugar.  I like a chewy granola bar.  Stephanie found this recipe for No Bake Energy Bites which is very much like a chewy granola bar, but in a smaller bite size version (Since I found this recipe I see that they've added lots more combinations to the website!).  The basic recipe on that site uses ingredients that most people have on hand.  I tweaked it to utilize what I like and I like my recipe a lot.  Even my husband, who is wary of "natural" (i.e., "tree bark") likes these for a quick snack.  The original recipe calls for peanut butter.  I've made them with peanut butter and I like them, but I have a lot of sunflower seeds, so I use those instead.  Here's the recipe I made today:

Granola Bites

1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds*

1/2 cup toasted flax seeds

Process the toasted seeds in a food process until a fine meal forms. 

Combine seed meal with:

1 cup dry oatmeal

1/2 cup mini-carob chips*

2/3 cup Dried Cranberries*

1/3 Cup Brown Rice Syrup*

1 tsp. vanilla

* ingredients are from Country Life Natural Foods

Mix well.  Use a small scoop/melon baller to form balls.  Makes about 30 1" balls.  That sounds like a lot, but they go pretty quick - they're really good!

I mixed my ground seeds while they were still pretty hot from the toasting process so my carob chips melted, which I actually like a lot.  This way, the carob flavor is mixed throughout.

I've made variations of this recipe many times, changing it up depending on what I have on hand.  As long as you keep the wet/dry ratios about the same, you can use whatever you want.

If you make Granola Bites right after making Homemade Granola, you can just use the same bowl and utensils.  No need to dirty up anything else.  Plus they have a lot of ingredients in common, so it's all out on the counter anyway.

I could have toasted my seeds in my stoneware pan in the oven, but I'm notorious for leaving stuff on/in the stove and getting involved in other things and burning stuff.  So I like to toast nuts in the popcorn cooker.  It constantly stirs them so there are no scorched spots.



Homemade Granola Toasting in the Oven


















Toasting Seeds



My Charm Square Twirly Skirt Pattern - Coming Soon!

Journey in her Charm Square Twirly Skirt



I do love Charm Squares!  I like the fact that I don't have to measure, cut or coordinate prints/colors.  I like the fact that I can get one or more cuts of each fabric in a collection without having to hunt it down, buy it separately and cut it myself.  Charm Squares are the perfect size for so many things, like table runners.  They go together so quickly.  I made a cute table runner for Liz last Christmas out of charm squares, with red sashing in between the rows of squares.  It was super fast and easy.  One pack had enough squares for two large or four small (like the one I made for Liz) table runners.

I found an adorable collection of Charm Squares called Wee Woodland by Moda that features cute woodland animals, flowers and alphabets in contemporary fall colors.  I bought two sets for about $9 each.  I knew I would make Journey something for fall out of them when I first saw them. 

In addition to being in love with Charm Squares I am in love with Patchwork.  [Throwback to the 70's perhaps??  No doubt.]  Last Easter I made a peasant style dress for Journey that had a patchwork skirt.  I had to hunt for the fabrics that coordinated, and cut, piece, etc.  A lot of work!  Charm Squares, while a little on the expensive side, are the answer.

For a fall outfit I knew I wanted to make a "twirly" skirt out of this Woodland collection.  I searched the world wide web but could not find a twirly skirt pattern that utilized charm squares.  What to do?  Create it myself.  I figured if I wanted such a pattern, there was bound to be someone else out there who also wanted it, so I created a pattern for it.

My Charm Square Twirly Skirt Pattern is a tiered skirt utilizing precut charm squares which are pieced together.  In addition to the skirt pattern I am including a pattern and instructions for creating a coordinating "bib" embellishment on a purchased t-shirt. 

I will have the pattern ready after Christmas.  Now, who is interested in testing it out for me??



Twirl Journey!



Woo-Hoo! My First Pattern is Finished!

Over a year ago I designed a Clothespin Bag because I couldn't find one in stores and I really enjoyed line drying my laundry.  I did find a pattern, but it was way too expensive for my tastes.  I thought about what would work best for me and designed my Clothespin Bag.  I decided I would make one for sisters Dana and Mary since they line dry laundry occasionally as well.  I used some fabric given to me by my friend Mary as she was de-stashing.  It was  a heavy blue and white plaid twill.  I used red foldover braid to encase the raw edges.  They turned out really nice. 

I knew that if I had found a need, others probably had as well.  So I decided to write up a pattern for my Clothespin Bag. 

My sister Kathy tested it out for me and will be posting pictures on her blog soon.

I have listed it for sale HERE on Etsy.  It's a PDF file which can be printed at home.  I LOVE paper patterns, but I'm not planning to go into the business of printing patterns, that's for sure.  There are some other patterns on Etsy, but in my opinion are just too expensive.  I mean you're line drying your laundry to save money right?

Here's a pic of two of the finished items I made up to take pics while I prepared the pattern:

The red one is made from a vintage tablecloth, with the foldover red braid and (hard to see in this pic) red gingham lining.  The other is pink twill (again donated by my friend Mary)  and features Ric Rac trim and an applique made from a vintage embroidered pillowcase. 

The name Caroline's Cottage is a company name I came up with about 13 years ago.  I wanted something homey sounding and Caroline is my middle daughter's name.  I made and sold candles back then.  Unfortunately the name is not available on Etsy (I'm a relative newcomer to the Etsy scene).

I have another pattern in the works which I will finish sometime after the holidays.  It's a children's skirt and top, which unbelievably I searched for on the internet to buy, and couldn't find so I had to design it myself.  Stay tuned for that one - I'll need test sewers for that one too!

Tips for Embroidering or Appliqueing on Knit T-Shirts



Finished T-Shirt

One of the best sites for general embroidery designs and tutorials on how to do just about everything there is to do on an embroidery machine is emblibrary.com.  I've done a lot of embroidery and applique on t-shirts, which can be tricky, but still make mistakes and need to go back to the basics.  Most of the time any problems I encounter are due to operator error. 

I always make sure to prewash and dry the t-shirt and any applique fabrics and then press.  Never use fabric softener because this can interfere with some fusibles. 

Selection of stabilizer is very important.  I like Floriani no-show mesh stabilizer for t-shirts.  It is fusible which I really like.  It's a cut-away type so whatever you don't trim away stays in place.  This is important because it will continue to stabilize the fabric/applique during wear and laundering.  After I fuse on that stabilizer, I add either a fusible tear away or I'll use a wash-away sticky stabilizer.  I choose the fusible tear away if the shirt is a larger size or if I'm only stitching on a portion of a shirt (in a smaller hoop).  If I'm working on a onesie or small t-shirt I use the sticky stabilizer, press the shirt in place and pin outside of the stitching area.  It's just too hard to try to hoop a small item. 

I also use wash-away film type stabilizer as a topper when satin stitching (not during the applique process).

Some of the stabilizers I use

After I launder the applique fabrics, I press well and then apply a fusible webbing.  I like Heat N Bond Lite.  It fuses well but does not gunk up the needle.  Steam-a-Seam  - even their "lite" products - will gunk up the needle - it does not work for me at all.  It's great for fusing things but don't use it in machine embroidery! Take my word for it.  Some designs have so much stitching that a fusible webbing may not be necessary but I think it's a good idea to use this in children's clothing.



Heat N Bond Lite

After pressing the t-shirt I mark the placement of the design with a wash away marker.  I find the center of the neckline and mark to the bottom of the shirt and make another line from one underarm seam to the other.  Then I hoop the shirt, making sure it's all lined up.

My large embroidery hoop is a little on the loose side, which is one of the reasons I use two layers of stabilizer (the mesh and the tear away).  I also like to use a screwdriver to tighten it up after hand tightening.  Maybe one day I'll splurge and get a Snap Hoop and elminate all this work. 



For a large t-shirt, I pull the back up and over the top of the hoop.  There's really no easy way to pin the excess fabric out of the way during stitching, so I just move it around as I go.  I could use sticky stabilizer on the larger t-shirts, but the shirt will be more stable if it's hooped.



 This picture shows a portion of the applique, just after it's been tacked down. 

After this tack down, I remove the hoop from the machine and cut away the excess fabric.  This is where the fusible webbing comes in. I use my Clover mini-iron to set the fusible webbing in place. By doing it at this step I avoid over-pressing the satin stitches.

In order to press in the hoop I made a pressing pad that fits the stitch area of my largest hoop.  I used ironing board fabric (teflon coated I think) on the pressing side and a quilting fabric on the other side.  In between is Insul-Brite fleece.  It's basically like a large potholder.  I added a coordinating ribbon tab so that I can hang the pad near my machine.  I can slip the pad under the hoop while it's still on the machine and press.  This saves a lot of time.

Fall Themed Monogrammed Kitchen Towel

I had this really cute applique design from Applique Planet, (which primarily sells applique designs geared towards children) and after making a t-shirt for Rylan with this same design I decided I needed one for my kitchen.  Their appliques are really detailed and stitch out perfectly.  I especially love the heavy top stitching on top of the satin stitch. 

Due to the extra applique fabric, embroidery thread and stabilizers, the embroidered side of the towel is heavier than the other, which can cause it to slip off of towel racks, which is extremely annoying in the kitchen.  To prevent this, I now add weight to the other side of the towel by adding a little extra fabric or interfacing to the band at the lower edge.  It's tucked into the wrong side of the band so it doesn't show but it serves to balance out the weight.

These pictures were taken after I'd used the towel and washed and dried it.  I didn't use fusible webbing on the applique fabric and even though I prewashed all fabrics, you can see that it still puckered a little after laundering.

I survived the International Quilt Festival

My friend Beth goes to the International Quilt Festival every year with the local quilt shop group.  She'd told me how much she enjoyed it, but I never went cause I'm really not "into" quilts.  Last year she told me about all the STUFF (patterns, fabric, etc.) she bought and of course that got me interested.  So I decided to go this year.

The local quilt store, Lonestar Quiltworks, puts together a trip each year.  They provide chartered buses (two this year, which were completely full) which leave the parking lot around 8:00 a.m.  The Shop owner and her employees go along and provide a "goodie" bag, light breakfast, snacks, drinks, and a boxed meal at the end of the day. It was nice not having to drive, fight the Houston traffic, then find and pay for a parking space and schlep all our stuff back to the vehicle at the end of the long day. We were able to get out right at the door. In the goodie bag was our wrist band, which was our ticket. So we didn't have to wait in any lines either.

I have a tendency to be late (surprised?) so since Beth was picking me up, I had everything I could possibly need laid out the night before.  I was dressed and ready to go a little early.  Beth was early as well (funny how we can't get to work on time but we can leave for something like a quilt festival early!).  We stopped for coffee and got to the bus by 7:15.  We got some really good seats.  I sat down, got comfortable, got my phone out to check emails and such and exclaimed "OMG - I forgot my glasses!!".  It was too late to run back and get them.  I think getting out of the house early threw me completely off.

When I got to the festival, the very first booth had "cheater" reading glasses, which I promptly purchased.  They're the same glasses I got in the Target dollar bins, only I paid $23 for these....  Taking them off (to walk) and putting them on when I wanted to read something got old fast and made me dizzy so I was a tad queasy all afternoon. 

The plan of attack was to visit the vendor section first, then go view the quilts.  This worked great for me, cause I really didn't want to look at the quilts.  From 9:00 a.m. till about 1 we went up and down the vendor aisles, shopping.  I spent all the cash I brought on aisle TWO.  Every vendor had the Square payment processors which made it convenient to continue shopping . . .

We walked about 10 miles to the lunch area and and had a show and tell of our purchases thus far.  At this point I was getting tired.  We'd walked for about 4 hours straight.  But we pushed on.  The picture above shows us heading back to the vendor area.  At the very top of this picture you see a sign that says "1900".  This indicates the aisle number. I think we'd already passed some aisles when I snapped this pic. This is aisle 19!!!  You can see that the signs go practically as far as the eye can see.  After the vendor aisles there are the quilts on display, they're numbered A-whatever.  These aisles are HUGE and feature vendor after vendor.  I simply didn't have time to see them all.  We left at 6:00 p.m.  I could have spent two days easily in the vendor area.

Some of my favorite booths included one called 8th State, from South Carolina.  I didn't get a pic, but their booth was full of vintage buttons and trims.  Everything was displayed so imaginatively too - like vintage buttons on vintage BINGO cards!  And little bitty scraps of trim wound around wooden thread spools.  I do love Ric Rac so of course I gravitated to that area.   I found some Ric Rac the color of Butternut Squash, which I have NEVER seen before.  I was prepared to buy up a bunch of it when I noticed the price - $4.50 per yard!!  I just bought one yard.  It will be just enough to embellish a table runner.  She said it was from the 1960's.  Some of the Ric Rac was on metal spools.  This probably came from some dress maker shop or factory. 

Another absolutely adorable booth was Just 4 Fun, in which I purchased more Ric Rac.  They had a cute "tree" on which they had their Jumbo Ric Rac displayed, which immediately caught my eye.  They had an unusual aqua color, which matched another purchase, so I bought 5 yards.  It will embellish Journey and Willow's Christmas Dresses (more about that later).

Another cute booth which caught my eye was Lollipops.  They make bindings out of cute prints and have them wound up on a stick like lollipops.  They have lots of other stuff too.  There was a beautiful quilt on display, but I didn't get a picture of it.  It featured machine embroidered redwork in white blocks.  The redwork was vintage-y looking Christmas schenes.  The quilt featured Moda "Blitzen" fabrics.  I have been looking for a red/aqua combination and this was it!  I bought a jelly roll.  I will be making Christmas Dresses for Journey and Willow and maybe a table runner or other project out of this, along with some coordinating yardage.

Another cute booth was Sew It Up.  I've seen their ads in Sew Beautiful Magazine, but had never looked at their website.  There was SO much to see in their booth, I was overwhelmed!  The ladies who were working were so helpful and had some great tips and ideas.  I bought a really cool ruffle knit to make some leggings (not for me of course!).

One cute idea was a pair of jeans that they'd cut off the legs to make shorts, then put some of this ruffle fabric around the raw edges, then sewed a wider strip of the ruffle fabric on top of the shorts to make a tiered skirt effect.  It was cute, and a good idea, since little girls would still have on shorts but it looks like a skirt.  Their booth had tons of patterns, fabrics, trims, etc., as well as lots of finished items for ideas.  Here's a look:

Another booth I liked was Violette Field Threads. 

They have some patterns I'd looked at online already.  One of those, the Emmeline halter dress (shown below), was on my to-do list for Journey.  I already have a multi-color chevron out of which I plan to make it.  They didn't have all their patterns for sale, I think because a lot of them are e-patterns only.  But I was able to get a price break when I bought three, which was nice. 

At 6 we boarded the bus and stopped a little later for our box lunch.  We got home at 9:00 p.m. (Beth 30 minutes after that cause she had to drive home).  I wish I could have spent more time in some of the booths!  There was just too much to see in one day.  There were sewing machine manufacturers with every model they offer, but I didn't have time to even look.  There were scads of booths full of all manner of sewing gadgetry but I simply didn't have time!  Next year . . .