Mitten Ornie Pattern

Visit the disdressed Blog at http://disdressed.blogspot.com/2006/12/at-last-mitten-ornament-pattern.html to find the pattern for the mitten ornies.

They are so fast & easy to make....great to stick a $ in for a little gift.

Country Cooking Recipe

Good punch recipes are hard to find.....

Here is one that I use in the fall

& get compliments every time.

This is a great Fall Punch
(half this recipe for a small batch).
12 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed)
12 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate (thawed)
4 cups white grape juice
2 liters 7-Up
Ice

When Is Toilet Paper Not TP?

When is not TP?

When it's a PUMPKIN!!!

Even though I still want to hide in thoughts of summer,
I can't deny that signs of fall are popping up everywhere. It is time for me to pull down the 4th of July banner from my door & put up autumn fare inside & out. Here is the cutest little & easy idea to make up in a flash! You only need 1 roll of TP, 1 FQ & 1 F8th.......you'll soon have a whole pumpkin patch!
http://documents.scribd.com/docs/z1qns03xf4vd09bagxp.pdf

Look here for a tutorial.

Tea Towels Like Grandma's

Long before the terrycloth, mass-produced kitchen towels that now flood the market, were Grandma's soft cotton towels......the one-of-a-kind work cloths made lovingly by her own hands. That was back when kitchens smelled of warm sugar cookies, hot apple pies, freshly baked bread & lots of real soap & starch. How easily modern women have replaced Grandma's old-kitchen values with pre-packaged whatever.......& stamped terrycloth.

The time has come to take back Grandma's individuality, country charm & joy of homemaking! Let's start by making a few of these homey towels that color our kitchens with love!

I have prepared a tutorial for you at: http://documents.scribd.com/docs/yhrq0i829leqvnqjoad.pdf I would love to see pics of what you create....send those to jdahmen@ckt.net, & I will post them to the blog.

Show us your aprons, please.

We want to see aprons that you have made.....send pics to jdahmen@ckt.net .
Catch my drip.....lol.......?

Grandma's Apron is back!

What goes around comes around, & I am smitten with that old "apron fever." What a homey, nostalgic & comforting thing to make with all of those repo prints that I love & hoard so much.
I want to wear them, give them, decorate with them & learn about their history! I want to catch a glimpse of the pioneer spirit that inspired them....I want to touch the lives of the children who were nurtured by them...I want to feel the hearts of the women whose tears were wiped by them. NOTHING makes a country kitchen warmer than a bevy of aprons!

GRANDMA'S APRON
The principle use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a holder for removing hot pans from the oven; it was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken-coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those old aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids; and when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling-wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, it was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out on the porch and waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields for dinner.
It will be a long time before anyone invents something that will replace that old-time apron that served so many purposes. ...Author Unknown

Magical FQ Pattern for Slow Turtlles

Simple projects that look impressive always captivate me.

This magical bag pattern can be found at http://quiltsmart.com/ Each bag is made from 2 FQs & 1 piece of iron on interfacing. The pattern comes with 2 sheets of interfacing, preprinted for simple construction. The website says that the first bag takes 30 min. to make but after that, the next bags take only 17 min. each...in theory, I should be able to make 4 of these cuties during "Days of Our Lives" each afternoon...it probably still takes me 30 min. each even after making these 4 for the 4th of July, but if I would pull the plug, I could probably do it in 15 (but then that is the story of the days of my life.....HAaaaaaa)!

The pattern with the 2 sheets sells for $12.95, & I debated buying it for that price. My daughter talked me into it, because I picked it up so many times. What I found out is that the genius of this pattern is priceless....I would never have come up with it on my own.......& it is one of those addictive projects that gives back much more joy than the $s given.


The website sells additional printed interfacing sheets for $3.50 each, but you know me.....I started using plain, iron on interfacing of similar weight. The quilt shop in Derby, KS had 2 Halloween themed bags made for display, & how cute they were! I made the ones pictured above for July 4th.....carried one for a purse & gave the other 3 as holiday gifts.


I have at least a doz. cut out & ready to make in all seasons & holidays.......let's see....that should take 204 min........but will be more like 360+ min. for me...... I am not one to hurry...lol!

Can You Can It?

You can always can it! Grandma did.

I have a really bad case of jar fever. I applique, piece, fussy-cut, paper piece & machine embroidery them on everything....

draw , trace , cut, find free patterns on the Internet....

put them on potholders, quilts, post cards, tea towels, table runners....

refrigerator magnets, purses, & clothes.

There's just something about jars that makes me see !!!!

Country Cooking Recipe

ONE STEWEDCHICKEN

FEEDS A CROWD

1 8oz pkg stuffing prepared by pkg directions.

Spread into greased, 13x9 dish & top with a deboned, chopped, stewed, chick'n.

Melt 1/2 cup butter & blend in 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 teasp salt & dash pepper.

Add 4 cups cool chick'n broth (may be liquid from stewed chicken) & cook while stiring until thickened.

Stir a small amount into 3 slightly beaten eggs & return this to hot mixture.

Pour over chick'n.

Bake 325 for aprox 45 min or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Let stand 5min. Cut & serve.

Gravy or a sauce can be used if wanted.

Add a garden salad &/or veggie....great meal for 6-8 servings.

A Few Truths about Sewing
Fusible interfacings always fuse to the iron.
If you need 6 buttons, you will find 5 in your button box.
Whenever the construction process is going well, the bobbin thread runs out.

A lost needle will be found by son, husband or brother-in-law, while walking around barefoot.
Pinking shears get dull just by looking at them.
Matching edges don't.
As ye sew, so shall ye rip .

FQ Pillowcases Coming in....

Dorcas

Fat Quarter Challenge

Raise your hand if you love to buy Fat Quarters..... not only do I love to buy them, but I am drawn to them... not only am I drawn to them, but I don't want to cut into one after I get it home! I collect them, sort them, show them, arrange them...rearrange them, dream about projects, & think, "Someday, when I have enough I will make something...." I may buy a FQ just because it reminds me of someone..... dh would like these, daughter would like this pile, I can't live without this stack, these remind of Ma on Little House on the Prairie, etc., etc., etc. I never run out of reasons to justify buying FQs or clever ways to organize them... my dh & girls even put them in my stocking...lol! I have FQ Fever so bad that sometimes, I even make my own FQs! I know that may be hard to believe, but it is so true! I confess. I count & multiply Fat Quarters like a fabric Queen Midas. "Only will I use them if I can find a project worthy." I think I have found such a pattern at the Quiltershome Magazine site! It is too good not to share. Follow this link & scroll 1/2-way down the page & find a cute, cute, free Fat Quarter pillowcase pattern..... it takes 4 FQs to make one pillowcase. http://quiltershomemag.com/freepattern/ I challenge you... make one, send a pic to me at jdahmen@ckt.net & I will post it on the blog with your first name.

You must promise to only use FQs from your stash......HAaaaaaaaa! Who will know!

Clothesline Communication Obsolete

Modern technology has created numerous moral dilemmas....... for instance, communication started getting way too invasive when telephones became commonplace in American homes. Everyone started asking outright, "What are you doing?" The art of lying immediately took hold!
I don't know about you, but if I'm sitting on the couch watching Gone with the Wind for the umpteenth time in my pajamas & eating chocolate ice cream out of the carton, that question just rubs me the wrong way..... what am I to do? Do I lie, try to make it sound better than it is, tell the truth, jump up & get busy, so that reality changes....? There in lies the social dilemma.
Did you know that the modern washer & dryer set has caused the most invasive confusion? It has rendered backyard clotheslines obsolete. Nosey neighbors, private eyes & mother-in-laws can no longer be in the know quietly.....they now have to ask............

At one time, the activity of a household could be judged, with some accuracy, by what was hanging on the clothesline .....what a family's activities were, what the head of the household did for a living, how many kids were on board, etc., etc......it was all hung out to dry for the world to see! A line of drying clothes was a damp array that told of occupations, hobbies, children, shopping habits (you know, fancy panties or plain...) , troubles & joys. (It was even used by the Underground Railroad to post hidden messages.) Well, all of that is gone forever.....it has been replaced with My Space, My Page, My Blog, My Internet Diary..... if technology is so advanced, why can't there be a virtual, holographic clothesline projected into each & every backyard...... we could all just program in messages for the neighborhood without ever leaving our keyboards! We could start rumors, sway opinions, stretch the facts....oh wait, we can still do that......never mind!