Mittens For My Grandson

Made from a sweater I bought at a Thrift Store in Franklin, TN - If you didn't know these were made from a sweater you couldn't tell! Should be big enough to get him thru another year or two. The cuffs were a leeetle challenging to attach.

Mittens , Smittens, Up-Cycled Sweaters to Mittens - Whatever You Want To Call Them!!!

Out Of Daylight

I hope I can post pictures SOON, but cannot tonight as I have run out of natural light! But! I have made a Spring Wreath for my front door. From little mini-tulips! I showed Prince Charming my inspiration photograph & he said I nailed it! I love It M

Triple Irish Chain Progress

I made many more blocks than I need. I had originally going to make the quilt 9 blocks by 11 blocks, however, thats too BIG. So it is now 7 blocks by 9 blocks. I don't have a pattern - so getting the Seminole border on it is going to be a challenge. I have made 2 quilts with that border treatment - but I no longer have that book! Heavy sigh....we'll see how f

ar I get!!

Sewing 01/01/2015

Great way to start off the new year I suppose. I have 3 dogs all together. Bourbon I bring to work, and he's a house dog. The other 2 are ourside dogs. They are Briscoe & Brandy. When I refer to the "big dogs" I'm referring to Briscoe & Brandy. Really Brandy isn't bigger than Bourbon but that's just how we refer to them! Regardless of the weather or the season I bring the big dogs into the basement every night. I kennel them in a chain link fence "kennel" that is roughly 4 feet wide X 8 feet long. I bring them in some time between 8 & 10 PM depending on what time I'm going to sleep or how tired I am or how bad the weather is...whatever....last week one of the big dogs had some nasty accident - this doesn't happen often & it was likely my fault anyway becasue I gave them people food leftovers. Anyway - the blanket was soiled to the point I wasn't going to clean it. Nasty. Wasn't gonna put it in my washer was more like it!! I was having a bit of heartache over the big dogs laying on the cold hard cement. So I put the dog heating pad in there. Well it's hard plastic. They wouldn't get on it. Prince Charming suggested making some big pillows & fill them with cedar chips. So that's what we did. I bought a drop cloth from Lowe's and cut it in half & made 2 big pillows. I used my industrial walking needle Juki. Sewed thru that drop like it was quilting cotton! And I folded the edges on at least 2 sides twice & with the hem that was already there - i sewed thru about 8 layers! Filled them with the cedar chips & then sewed the last side shut. Prince Charming had to hold the bag/pillow while I sewed THAT side. I let Briscoe in early becasue it was so stinking cold! He didn't complain once & sacked out on the new "bed".

this next picture is of Brandy. She is our "hunter". No kidding. Not encouraged, but good at it nonetheless! She killed a possum Tuesday night. Well, I THOUGHT it was dead. It wasn't. I made her drop it at the gate - and she was anxious to find it the next morning. But it must have been playing .....um....POSSUM!!! because it got up & left in the night! Brandy was not happy bout that. She's just a mutt dog we rescued from the pound about 5 years ago. Pretty smart dog - kills a lot of little animals. Squirrels, possums (this is now her 3rd possum), 2 skunks last year (without getting sprayed), a ground hog. And she's hunting birds now too. She is not animal aggressive to dogs or cats. Just won't let anything else in HER yard!

I sure don't know what I'm doing wrong - i put in spaces between my paragraphs & sentences & when i hit publish? They disappear! TTYL Sam

White Chocolate Banana Pudding - No Pictures

WHITE CHOCOLATE BANANA PUDDING – THIS MAKES A LOT! A WHOLE LOT! INGREDIENTS: 3 BOXES (3.3 OUNCES EACH) INSTANT WHITE CHOCOLATE PUDDING 1 CAN (14 OUNCES) SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK 1 PACKAGE (8 OUNCES) CREAM CHEESE – SOFTENED 2 ½ CUPS MILK DIVIDED (1 ½ & 1 RESPECTIVELY) 1 CONTAINER (16 OUNCES) FROZEN WHIPPED TOPPING 2 BOXES (3.4 OUNCES EACH) INSTANT VANILLA PUDDING 1 CUP (8 OUNCES) SOUR CREAM 2 CUPS HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM 6 MEDIUM BANANAS – THE RIPER THE BETTER – THINLY SLICED (I USED ABOUT 8) 1 BOX (12 OUNCES) VANILLA WAFERS – (I USED 2 BOXES OF THE MINI TYPE) 1. IN A VERY LARGE BOWL COMBINE THE SOFTENED CREAM CHEESE, WHITE CHOCOLATE PUDDING, SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK AND 1 ½ CUPS OF MILK, AND THE WHIPPED TOPPING. BEAT UNTIL SMOOTH. SET ASIDE. 2. IN A LARGE BOWL COMBINE THE 2 BOXES OF VANILLA PUDDING, THE SOUR CREAM, AND THE HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM. BEAT UNTIL SMOOTH 3. LAYER THE VANILLA WAFERS , BANANAS AND THEN THE WHITE CHOCOLATE MIXED STUFF, MORE BANANAS, THEN THE VANILLA MIXED STUFF, TOP WITH MORE VANILLA WAFERS. 4. CHILL IMMEDIATELY. KEEP CHILLED *** ON THE LAST BATCH THAT I MADE, I FORGOT THE HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM. I ADDED A 3RD BOX OF VANILLA PUDDING & ANOTHER CUP OF MILK & IT WAS FINE! IF YOU PUT THIS IN A TRIFLE DISH YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE LAYERS LOOK REALLY PRETTY – I PUT IT ALL IN 2 ALUMINUM PANS. LAYERS DON’T REALLY MATTER EITHER – BUT YOU HAVE TO COVER UP THE BANANAS OR THEY BROWN REALLY BAD. ALSO – I FOUND IT EASIER TO “SPREAD” THE PUDDING MIXTURES AFTER PUTTING THEM INTO A LARGE ZIP LOCK BAG & CUTTING OFF A TIP & SQUEEZING IT OUT. IT’S NOT HARD, BUT THE BANANAS STICK TO THE PUDDING WHEN YOU’RE TYRING TO “SPREAD” THE PUDDING – IF YOU PIPE IT IN THEN THERE IS VERY LITTLE SPREADING TO DO. THIS IS A VERY POPULAR RECIPE. IT GOES FAST. EVERYONE HAS LOVED IT!

Glass Etching Tutorial

Glass Etching (No Cricut Method!)

Materials: Glass Dish – Anchor Hocking in this demo 8 X 8 inches
Etching Cream
Exacto Knife
Contact Paper
Paint Brush – Or a foam brush – I used a Q-Tip in this demo
Blue Painters Tape
Sharpie
Popsicle Stick – or other tool to rub with…
Printed desired font. Don’t’ do anything vulgar – this stuff is permanent!

I use this etching cream. I bought it off eBay over many years ago. And it is a brown color. The color of the etching cream is not relevant. This is a pint. I will never EVER use it all. Everything I have read, including the warning label, says to wear gloves & eye protection. I figure if it is stored in PLASTIC it cannot be all that bad….however, Use good judgment & follow the manufacturer’s directions. I will not be held responsible for idiocy.

Exacto Knife. Nice sharp blade. It will cut fingers. I know this. Contact paper. I have & use CLEAR contact paper because #1 it is easy to trace on & #2 it’s what I had on hand. Pretty sure that this stuff that I am using is older than the etching cream because I bought it when the kids were covering books in High School & my youngest child is now 28….so this stuff has a pretty long shelf life.
 

Make sure that your WORDS are going to fit on the bottom OUTSIDE of the pan you are etching. See my example above. My example was a Christmas gift for my niece. She is young & I wanted something cutsie for her.

In order to get the words readable on the OUTSIDE of the bottom of the pan, you must trace the words BACKWARDS. Place your paper face down on the light box & tape. I used painters tape because it comes off with no residue. Cut a piece of contact paper larger than your paper & tape the contact paper on top of your printed paper. Make SURE that the shiny side is UP & facing YOU.

Here you see how I have meticulously (yah right) traced the outline of the words on my paper. Do not waste your time filling in the letters.

In this picture, I am showing you the BOTTOM of the glass pan.


Peel the paper OFF the contact paper & place the contact paper ON the pan. Sticky side ON THE GLASS.

In this picture, you can see that I have peeled the paper off & stuck the contact paper on the bottom of the pan. As you can see, it is still backwards. But only if you are looking at it from the backside, it’s right side up when you are looking at the pan from the top!


See? (below pic) Right Side Up!

 

Now, make sure you have GOOD lighting & take that super sharp exacto knife & start cutting out the letters. Go slow. Small strokes allow you to cut the teeny tiny pieces out. Use the tip of the knife to remove the contact paper.

Once you have all the letters cut out – use your popsicle stick to sort of BURNISH, or rub, all the edges of the letters down. If you skip this step, you will regret it. Most pans have lettering on the bottom & you have to make sure you are stuck well. If all the edges are not stuck down good on the glass the etching cream will seep under the contact paper & your letters will be blurred. THEN you will think 2 things: #1 Sam does not know what she’s talking about or #2 Your supplies are cruddy. However, you will not blame yourself!

Now comes the FUN part! Take your etching cream & smear it all over the glass in the areas where you removed the contact paper. It does not take much. As you can see, I was pretty liberal, but in truth, that is probably too much. After you have completed the ABOVE step.

Walk away from this project. Let it sit about 15 minutes.

Longer is better. Less is not.

Just LEAVE IT ALONE.

After about 15 to 20 minutes. Take it to the sink & wash it off with hot water. If you left the etching cream on to dry overnight, you have a LOT of washing to do! Once it is dried, it is really hard to get off. So? Do not let it sit overnight! Once the cream is all washed off, peel the contact paper off & wash with soap & water.

In addition, here is the finished product! (I could not get a good picture without the flash….sorry)

Another view of the finished product! I still have a big pan to do before Saturday. Good Luck & I would really like to see what you come up with!!

 

Sam

Long Lost Blogger

Not really, but I HAVE been busy!! I entered 5 quilts in a local quilt show. Well - ALL the quilts were provided by the guild I am a member of. The guild members AND the public voted. It's been a while - like 6 years....since I have won anything (but you know you have to participate to win....) but guess what???? I won 2 ribbons! 1st place for machine pieced> machine quilted - Ocean Waves Quilt 2nd place for machine pieced & machine appliqued - Ryan's Butterflies. I will post photos soon - but it might be this weekend, as by the time I get home there is NO natural light! So excited taht I won! Surprised too as there is a lot of tough competition from my guild members you know!

& machine quilted - Ocean Waves Quilt 2nd place for machine pieced & machine appliqued - Ryan's Butterflies. I will post photos soon - but it might be this weekend, as by the time I get home there is NO natural light! So excited taht I won! Surprised too as there is a lot of tough competition from my guild members you know! M

This Is All I Have Been Doing Lately!

Another Doll Dress

It is so fun to sew something SWEET & GIRLLY !!! And dolls don't complain!

This is a really old pattern I have had for over 20+ years as I made dresses for my youngest daughter from this pattern & doll dresses to match! and she will be 29 this coming Tuesday. I had to enlarge the pattern, as it was originally designed for the 18" American Girl Dolls. (which by the way...I restrung one with great success! Thank You "youtube"!!) M