Monkey Business

Monkeys know to peel a banana from the bottom so that it won't have those annoying strings. Evidently, they do not like those either!

Bananas connected at the stem ripen faster! Pull them apart when you get them home from shopping. To ripen even faster, close bananas in a paper sack...the gases they release will speed up the process.

The inside of the banana peel is soothing on skin rashes. Jungle natives have known this for years!

Peel a banana, wrap it in foil & freeze. Eat it frozen as a substitute for ice cream....not too bad!

Good Way to Use Charm Packs

Jana's Charm Pack Totes
(18 sq charms per tote...5-inch is example-size.)
Use 1/4-in. seam, joining sqs into 6 rows of 3 blocks ec. Join rows to form rectangle ....press.
Use rectangle as pattern for batting, stabilizer & lining. Sandwich together...saving lining out.
Quilt as desired.
Cut 2 strips, approx. 2 1/2-in. x 22-in. Cut 2 (1-inch) strips for batting..... Construct 2 handles.
Place quilted rectangle face up. Mark middle of 1 long edge (this marks top-edge of tote).
Position straps with loop resting on right-side of rectangle, pointing downward, which is opposite of picture showing handle pointing upward....Pin in place at desired points.
Optional: Dropping down approx. 1/8-in. +, pin rick rack across top of bag over strap ends.
Lay lining face down on right-side of rectangle. Secure by pinning. Stitch across top catching all edges. Allow maximum of rick rack to show on finished tote ...making certain all edges of layers have been caught in seam.
Open with right sides facing up. Total will measure double original rectangle ...1/2 being lining & 1/2 being tote.
Fold sides of purse & lining together with right sides facing. Pin, encasing handles still pointing downward. Sew across the ends & sides of lining & bag, leaving opening in lining for turning.
Turn, making corners crisp......tuck lining into bag & top stich top-edge, to avoid rolling.
Slip Stitch opening closed......add embellishments, snap or velcro for closure.

Note: This tote is flat, but bottom of bag & lining can be mitered defining bottom of finished tote.

Size Does Not Matter Anymore!

Quilting in 2008 is different from the way yesterday's Grandmas quilted ...making quilts for cover ...the fire was banked or the heat was turned down low at night, & the thick quilts were piled on so high that it was an effort to turn over...."I know, because this was the way that I was raised in West Texas." Quilts of "yesteryear" were batted with cotton wadding, worn-out quilts, ragged clothing beyond patching & the heavier the results, the better. All resources were recycled. What an effort the old quilts must have been to wash & hang on a line!

Size mattered then....a quilt had to be big enough to cover the bed & at least 3 kids & thick enough to make a palet....lol! There was none of this lap quilt, nap quilt, table quilt business ... nobody had time to sit or sleep during the day, & dollies were the proper things for tables. One thing has stayed the same though....the love, attention, dreams of hope & the great friendships made while piecing our lives together stitch by stitch.

The batting may be lighter & the purpose not so serious, but women from both eras pour & poured hearts, minds, & spirits into the quilts of the day, filling homes with warmth of one sort or another.

We can learn a lot of life from the determined women who quilted tirelessly to settle this country, but how independent we quilters have become.....any size, any color, few rules, no thought to survival ... we don't even recycle ... we just play & size does not matter anymore. We have become liberated quilters, still looking back to tradition, but leaping foward in abandon.....oh what fun it is to be a quilter in 2008!

Quickie Challenge

HURRY! Valentine's Day is almost here!

Make a Valentine ........ could be as simple as a card ..... any media or method ..... just something to give on Valentine's Day...... send pic to jdahmen@ckt.net & it will be posted on the blog.

Pillowcase Challenge Through March

BarbP Keep making pillowcases, Girls
.....you'll be so happy in Nov. when you have a stockpile....hey, use a pillowcase for wrapping!
Jana Diane

Country Cooking Recipe

Crockpot Macaroni & Cheese

8 oz pkg macaroni, cooked & drained 2 tablespoons oil 1 can evaporated milk 1 1/2 cups milk 1 tsp salt 3 cups Velveeta Cheese, diced 1/4 cup butter, melted

Toss cooked macaroni in oil. Add all remaining ingredients & stir well. Pour into a lightly greased Crockpot. Cover & cook on low 4 hours. Stir occasionally.

Ground Hog Day was Saturday.

Trusty Punxsutawney Phil, the weather forecasting groundhog,
demonstrated that there will be another 6 weeks of winter. Bundle up & restock the hot chocolate mix!

Why bother making your own potholders?

Potholders are plentiful & cheap everywhere you look, & they hardly ever wear out from use....so why would anyone want to make a potholder.........the real question is, "Why wouldn't anyone want to make a potholder?" Since homemaking came to be, women have been hungry for easy, frugal ways to express individual personalities & likes, to add color to everyday lives & to mark their territories with hope! What better way than to fill a kitchen workspace with colorful, tiny, quilts.

Making potholders is a great way to exercise a voice in the kitchen & show off creative talents. Customize potholders to match decors, personal tastes, highlight seasons, celebrate holidays or even to make bold statements. Handmade potholders make wonderful gifts as well that will speak through decades of loving use...throw in a cookie mix, a cookie cutter, a wooden spoon, and a simple, practical gift has been born to send any bride into her own kitchen of cooking bliss!

Potholders can be so much more than a generic pad for grabbing a pot handle without getting burned! Make them to learn, relax, bust a stash, stretch the gift budget, stock hope chests, or just to enjoy the sweet rewards of quick success! Potholders are simple to make for advanced sewers & easy enough for the greenest beginners. With only the simplest of materials, a measure of insulation, & a vision, a potholder offers the perfect artist's palette . Whatever the reason, throw away those store-bought hot pads & stock the kitchens of America with unique expressions of life! Scatter those charming little quilts all across the land...

potholder-makers go forth & multiply!

Toilet Paper Quilt

Take fabric scraps & sew them together in an anything goes frenzy, making strips the width of a toilet paper roll. Keep joining them together end-to-end & actually wind this long strip onto an empty toilet paper roll in never-ending fashion.

When the roll of fabric toilet paper gets several inches in diameter, it is ready to use.

Fill as many rolls as you wish.

Cut a square or rectangle of any measurement.....it could even be a small fabric panel.....and use this for the center of your toilet paper quilt. Sew the toilet paper roll strips around the center block log-cabin-style or just frame your center block in the strips. Go around your center as many times as needed to reach a desired size. If you are wanting to end up with a rectangle of a certain length, you will need to add strips to each end as well.

Who says we can't use up those scraps & have fun!

Needles in a Haystack

Buying small items in volume is probably not for me. In fact, there ought to be an item-size-limit placed on small things sold in quantities in the first place. How about, "If it is smaller than a breadbox, the customer can only buy 1." The logic in this..." If the item purchased is too small to find after you get it home, then you only lose 1 instead of a 100!"

To stretch my quilting purse, I bought 80 name-brand machine needles in a matchbox-size container on ebay for X amount of $$.......they arrived in the mail....I used a few & found them to be of good quality.....& then.... the small box disappeared. I have gone through totes, sewing boxes, pockets, scraps....made wild accusations...interrogated family members ....cursed a non-existing thief, all to no avail.

Let's face it....my sewingroom is a haystack, & I am looking for the needles! At any given time, it is a mess.......I am always making the project of the century with plans to organize later. When later comes, I always run across something else I had lost, become distracted & end up sewing again. It is a viscious cycle, & somewhere in the revolution is my bargain-$upply of machine needle$. I will organize my sewingroom & probably find them when I finish the 3-dozen pillowcases I am making for the 2010 family reunion....oh no, I already have 17 Christmas aprons cut out....it will have to be after that........

Experience tells me that the needles will just turn-up someday, & when they do, I have a plan, "They are going in the china cabinet right between Grandpa's watch & my embroidery scissors." Until that day, I am going to borrow $4.00 from the grocery money to buy a little pkg of 5 the next time I go to town." Reflecting on all of this, I now realize that this is what I should have done this in the first place!

Pillowcase Challenge

The response to the Pillowcase Challenge has been surprising! Here are the latest pics to show: Barb Dorcas Mary Ronnie KarenM Diane

Country Cooking Recipe

Apple Dew
2 packages crescent rolls 2 Granny Smith apples 2 cups sugar

2 sticks butter 1 tsp. vanilla 10-oz. Mountain Dew

Peel apples & slice into 8 sections. Separate crescent rolls & roll 1 apple slice in each.

Place in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Melt butter, add sugar & vanilla; stir well & pour over rolls. Then, pour Mountain Dew over all. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. This recipe is easy & takes 10 minutes to prepare & can be baking while you are eating dinner.

Serve warm with a little ice cream on top!! YUM!!

SueH made a travel-size pillowcase. The small pillows can be purchased at most stores that carry other sizes of bedding pillows.

Country Cooking Recipe

Hot Chocolate Pie

4 envelopes of hot chocolate or 3/4 cup chocolate drink mix

1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch 3 egg yolks (save whites)

2 cups milk

2 Tablespoons butter vanilla (1-2 tsps)

1 baked pie shell (8-9-inch or even a little larger if you want)

3 egg whites for meringue (Use a standard meringue recipe.)

Mix well with slotted spoon or whisk: dry hot chocolate mix, sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks & milk....cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring constantly to avoid scorching the milk.....cook to a light boil & let it thicken up nicely.....remove from heat. Stir in butter & vanilla. Let this cool...it is a great time to get your crust & meringue ready. Put the cooked filling into the baked pie shell.....cover with merinque....return to oven to brown.

Use All of the Crayons in the Box

Retirement....each Monday, a day of beginnings...a fresh start...a week of possibilities before me...I start out by taking stock of what has to be done, needs to be done, & what I actually want to do. The time clock is down, the pressure is off & the chances to change the world have dwindled down to things I can do in my pajamas. Let's face it, "Everyday is Saturday, & I am loving it!"

With coffee in hand, I begin each day by writing the great American novel, painting a Rembrandt, sewing an heirloom....then I move on to taking a break, Days of Our Lives, a leisurely bath, Fox News, reading, computing or whatever else floats my boat! Visions of sugarplums are shattered at mid-afternoon by a thin dh showing signs of hunger, so I throw in a Marie Callendar pot pie, ditch the boxes & play for another hour. Believe me when I say, "A successful retirement hinges on stocking the freezer with the best frozen foods on the market!"

Late afternoon consists of one hour of pickin' & puttin' ....this is a finely-tuned housekeeeping method a wise friend taught me. It consists of power-walking through the house, grabbing stray things on the way by & dropping them off in a better place as I go....cramming a washer-load in, cleaning the floor here & there, dusting a swipe, & finishing off with the most important of all.....making sure there is a snack ready for evening TV.

Of course, I have colored a very simplistic view of what being retired is like at my house, but it's not far off. I have just chosen to use all of the crayons in my box instead of the practical black one. You see, it's all about choices!

More SGF Pillowcases

Amy

Char
Diane

Another Country Cooking Recipe

I love Saturday mornings! Coffee tastes better, pjs are comfier, & it's Rough & Ready on the western channel. I sit around & stitch watching cowboy movies all day. The Spaghetti Westerns are not my personal favorites, but there seem to be plenty of them. Let's face it, "I'll watch anything on a horse, but if it's Robert Duvall that's a plus!"
The best Saturdays at my house are one-pot-meal-days.......here is a recipe that I cook in the winter...try it just once, & you will love it too.

Tex Mex Soup

1/2 lb. ground beef 1 pkg ranch dressing mix, dry 1 pkg taco seasoning mix, dry 2 cups water 3 cans tomatoes, undrained 1 can hominy, undrained 1 can pinto beans, undrained 1 can navy beans, undrained 1 can kidney beans, undrained

Brown ground meat. Add both dry mix pkgs & stir in the water. Dump in all 7 cans! Simmer 20-30 mins. Serve with a pan of cornbread.

The soup is on , & it's time for me to grab the FQs & get to it!

SGF Takes the Challenge

Maxine

Elizabeth

Jana

Candy

#1 Pillowcase

Sue from NY is the 1st to take the pillowcase challenge. She used a pattern from: http://www.mormonchic.com/crafty/pillowcases.asp

Her goal is to use up what she has on hand & this was made from leftover flannel. I say, "It is very pretty for leftovers!" Thank you, Sue...

Grocery Bag

Free Grocery Bag Pattern

http://www.thecreativethimble.com:80/