Wore out

I am so tired no pictures. Maybe tomorrow. I have been outside all day yesterday and today. Yesterday it was mowing and trimming three yards. Today it was planting tomato plants and bell pepper plants. I cleaned up a couple flower beds and planted some seeds. The weather was awful today was 88*F and heat index was 90*F. Yesterday was worse. You blink your eye lids and you were sweating. But they are in the garden for the duration now. In about 60 days maybe we will have vegetables to eat. I have had my shower and ready for bed and it isn't even 7pm yet. Needless to say the A/C is running and there goes my electric bill. Chris

Baking tips

With every ones budgets being compromised in the last year or so I came across a neat tip. Buy a store brand cake mix. Yes I said store brand. I like the Kroger cake mixes. I use to help a lady make occasion cakes for orders. She swore by the Kroger cake mixes and they are nice in texture and taste.

Since then I have learned this trick. you can see the butter laying in the picture. Use 1 stick or half a cup of softened butter instead of the oil to make the cake. Yes I said instead of oil. Use the eggs and water as directed. I take the dry mix and place it in the bowel and run the mixer through the dry mix. This adds air or like sifting to the mix so it produces more volume. Then use room temp eggs. This used egg whites. Add the softened butter and the water and mix until light and fluffy. I bake the cake at 25*F less than what the box directions tell you to. Check the cake for doneness at the first time it recommends on the box. Don't over bake. That is why cakes dry out. The cake has a wonderful taste and it also is a light texture. I am not sure about using margarine for the butter substitute. The butter leaves it lighter in texture. The cake is a firm texture so it will layer better without cracking also. You can do this with the butter for all cake mixes instead of the oil. I just use the best priced cake I could find. This box cake costs about 88 cents where I live. Try it you will love it. Chris

Happy Mother's Day and signs of Spring

New Birdhouse

Crab Apples in bloom

Lilacs in bloom. Have a Wonderful Day

No Direction, No Focus

I'm Bad! Pictures say a lot don't they?? I have this bad habit of dumping what is in my hands and not getting back to cleaning it up. I sit in this chair if you can't tell and I have been doing hand work. Well my table is running over with crap. Yes I use it all, but I am ashamed to say it is working. NOT!!!!

Today before I can go out and mow I have to get to this mess and straighten it up. I really need a schedule to make sure I manage my time better. Like that is ever going to happen.LOL

This is just one surface in the sewing room. When we get company which isn't very often I close the door. Most of my family just ignore it. They are use to the sewing room in chaos.
I am ashamed because I don't have any little kids to make messes just me. I don't work someplace else and I don't have any animals to distract me. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to organization. My mother has offered to come and help, but she would throw everything out. Can't waste any fabric. Frustrations are getting in my way of being a better person. I would come and help you clean, but when it comes to my mess I have to do it myself one of these days. Chris

We have cold weather

We have frost and more to come tomorrow. But I have plants we started from seed that need to get in the ground. I am afraid I will have to bring tomato cages inside at this rate. This is Bell Peppers and Cherry and slicing tomatoes. They are getting so tall we have tied them twice to support them.
I was a bad girl and didn't get a lot done yesterday. Well I take that back three loads of laundry some shopping and some cleaning. No sewing though. I spent most of the day on the internet. Started out with looking at a website with historic info on a proment individual from my home town.

Which ended up looking for info on relatives and finding out a lot of history on my family that I didn't know about. This is from My Mother's family. My Dad's family is hard to find. They were farmers and kept to themselves. My Mother's Family had been in the US since before 1790. My Dad's Grandfather was born in Denmark and came post Civil War time. I found out the cause of death for some of the family members and had never heard of this disease. Cholera Infantum is a childhood disease of the intestines and many times led to death in infants because of lack of knowing how to take care of it. It still happens but not as often because of more medical knowledge as to how to treat.

I also sat and I shouldn't have done that, but I looked through old quilting magazines. My niece is interested in getting some quilts from her old aunt. I was looking for some patterns I thought she might like. I sent a couple to her Mother to look at. They will be pieced and can be made in between the hand work.

Today I have to cook a meal. I have eaten leftovers for two days. Not sure what I will fix. I also need to mow the yard again. With all the rain in the last two months every third day we have to mow. They announced 10 inches in the last two months. Almost 4 inches more than normal for my little part of the US. Flooding here is better, but it is all going down stream and the poor people in Cairo, Illinois are suffering. Well about out of coffee in my coffee cup. Need to get something done. Have a Good day. Chris

Golly Two posts in one morning

Ok I worked this morning between washer loads of clothes. I got the trimming done and the facing turn to the back. I trimmed the excess off the back and left some of the turn under to protect the pivot points.

On to the spikey piece. The same thing I trimmed the facing piece to grade the seam and then turned under the facing.

With trimming some of the facing off the back you leave less bulk to have to quilt through.

I layered the pieces seeing in reverse. Closest to you on top of the next piece until the flower is complete. Then applique the whole flower onto the block.

Many times they tell you to sew down the farthest piece away from you, but I am trying to assemble the flowers before they are appliqued down. This all needs pressing which I will do after I assemble the top and the major handling is complete. Two more to make and then on to the trapunto pieces. Still not sure of the borders of the rest of the overall look of the quilt. I can sit and daydream while stitching away. Chris

Garment making techniques

If you aren't or haven't been a garment maker you will maybe not understand the idea without seeing what I did. This is an applique shape with a freezer paper shape ironed onto the back of the applique fabric. I then added a lining or facing to the other side. I stitched around the applique shape with very small stitches. Like 1.0 or 18 stitches per inch. This makes a better seam. After taking the freezer paper shape off of the stitched piece I then trim the shape seam allowance down to about 1/8 of and inch. Then I layer or take the lining fabric and cut back even smaller. It is called Grading the Seam. It makes the lining pull to the back better for your shape. It was used a lot in collar making on shirts and blouses in garment making.

This is the stitching around the shape. As you can see the peaks and valleys are quite sharp so the lining or facing is the best way to catch all the threads so they don't fray out.

You can see the small stitches so that the threads are captured and not going to fray. Hopefully this takes some of the fear out of very sharp peaks and valleys in stitching. The seam will be graded on this also and then the lining will be trimmed from the back and the turning will happen. Pressing the lining after the turning will make the shape ready to be appliqued down.
Any questions email me or leave a comment and I will try and answer questions.
Chris