Autumn is here (in case you didn't know)

I think I mentioned that I've been busy decluttering, deep cleaning, rearranging, and bringing out the fall decor. Autumn is my very favorite season and it brings out the homemaker in me like nothing else. And, luckily for my family, it brings out the urge to bake like nothing else as well.

Anyway, I've just about finished. The main areas are done. I had taken some pictures to share on a message board (or two) and I thought I'd share them here too. Click Here.

Wanna laugh?

If you have an odd sense of humor (like me!) you might find this incredibly amusing. I don't think it's right for a person to laugh this hard alone so I'm sharing with all of you.

Be sure to click on each album. And there are 3 pages of albums.

Sue is such a bad girl! Hilarious!

Another little quilt and Hitty says "Hi!"

I've finally exhausted my supply of this fabric line so go ahead and sigh in relief. :-)

This little quilt is 23"x23" and is made up of 2" squares.

And now that that's done, I've decided to join Vicki in her quest to Finish What You Have

I've been doing some autumn deep cleaning and rearranging. I've overtaken another hall closet and filled it with sewing stuff (when, oh when, will my sewing room be completed?!?) and I've put away my sewing machine. No more permanent sewing nook in the living room. It just got messy too fast and stayed messy too easily.


While cleaning and putting all that stuff away in its new home I collected all the unfinished projects and corralled them all into my biggest basket. The plan is to devote my efforts to that basket. In it we have:

3 half-finished quilts (at the quilting stage) ONE FINISHED

fabrics set aside for a quilt for Mason (robots and space fabrics!)

a blank EFA doll (body sewn and stuffed)

a collection of granny squares (might just make it a baby blanket and call it done)FINISHED

2 Hitty Club shipments (the dressform kit, dress with bonnet pattern, and her ladderback chair)

a knitted wrap

several tea cozies

3 mini quilts that need embroidery and/or quilting

a crocheted dishcloth FINISHED

and somewhere around here there's a half-finished Annie embroidery that will make it into the basket when I find her.

So that's what I'll be up to in the near future!

My favorite recipes

My favorite cookbook fell to pieces. It had that plastic comb binding and it just totally broke apart. All of the pages are loose.

So, I'm posting my favorite recipes from it so I can throw it away. I really only kept the book because of these recipes anyway. And my computer is in the kitchen so it's very handy to have the recipes online.

PUMPKIN BREAD

3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 15/16oz can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2/3 cup water (or milk)
1 tsp vanilla

I dump in the wet stuff. Then add the dry stuff. Mix until just moistened through. Bake 350. I bake in (1) 13x9 glass casserole dish. Makes 2 loaves as well. Or about 30 muffins. But it bakes more evenly in a casserole dish. Loaves take about an hour. Casserole dish takes 30-ish minutes. I never time it. I just do the toothpick test once I start smelling the bread.

Can add nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, dates, craisins, etc.

CHEESECAKE

2 pkgs cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix together. Pour into graham cracker crust. Bake 350 for 40-ish minutes.

COFFEE CAKE

cream together:

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
3 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
13 oz can evaporated milk

***********************
Spice mixture:

3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
3-4 tablespoons cinnamon

Cream sugar, butter, eggs. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Alternately add milk and flour mixture to creamed ingredients. Layer in a round tube pan: 1/3 batter, 1/2 spice mix, etc....ending with batter. Bake 350 for 1 hour.

BANANA BREAD

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 mashed, ripe bananas
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix everything til just blended. Wet stuff first, then add dry stuff. Bake 325 for 1 hour. Less time if using a glass casserole dish.

Four Seasons Quilt Swap

My package came the other day. :-) I love getting swap mail.

This beauty was made for me by Sheila. And she was so incredibly generous and sent me some extra goodies. I will definitely be using that pattern. And the magazine is wonderful. It's all very much appreciated. Thank you, Sheila!!

I haven't had much time lately for perusing blogs. I miss reading what everyone's up to. But right now I'm in the midst of a big deep cleaning around the house. I'm packing up all the summery stuff and pulling out the autumn decor.

When fall was over last year I packed all my autumn potpourri away in an empty coffee can. I wasn't sure if it would last til this fall but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Well I was pleasantly surprised to find that it not only looks fine, but it also still smells wonderful.

On today's agenda is cleaning up the little sewing area I've squeezed into the living room. It's gotten a bit out of hand and needs to be reeled in a bit.

I'm on a roll...

I can't believe I finished it already. I've been working on this quilt like a woman possessed, but still...



After laundering (because a quilt isn't finished 'til it's washed and fluffy!) it's 29"x29".

And a close-up because I'm very excited about having used (for the first time) a stencil. There's a feather medallion on the larger gold/floral bits.

I still have a bit of this fabric left. It had already been cut up into 2.5" squares so I've stitched up the leftovers into 4-patch blocks to make a little table-topper quilt.



And you know how I love the backs of quilts? Well this one is *the best*! I used linen for the backing fabric and with as densely quilted as it is (and probably the cotton batting helped too) it came out super quilty-puffy after laundering. I'm giddy over it.



My Four Seasons Swap quilt came!!! I love it! I'll have pictures tomorrow. :-D

I think I'll be deep cleaning and bringing out the fall decor tomorrow. Can't wait!

One project finished, another begun

I know, I just showed this the other day. And it was finished then. But I added a little to it and now it's really finished. Notice that little quilty swirl just above Annie's head. That spot was bothering me. It just needed *something*. NOW it's finished.





The back is completely finished now as well. Label added. Hanging sleeve stitched on. Totally done. It'll be in the mail tomorrow.

Onto the next project...

My plan was to work on quilting the scrappy memorial quilt I'm working on with friends. But my friend, Gwen, was over the other day and took it home with her so she could stitch on it some more. (I think she's hooked on quilting!)



And, well, you know I can't be without a project. So yesterday I whipped up a quilt top from the rest of the charm pack (and a bit of yardage). It's 30"x30". I started quilting last night. And this morning, when I would normally have gone back to bed (after my husband leaves for work), I picked it up and stitched some more.

I think I might be needing a little nap today.

I haven't decided what will become of this little quilt once it's finished. My first thought was to put it up in my Etsy shop. But then I wouldn't be sure that no one wants it (if no one wants it) until fall is about passed. And then it would be too late for me to enjoy it (this year, at least) if I decide to keep it. So I'm thoroughly confused about what to do with it.

Plus I doubt it's possible to price something like that competitively yet fairly for the time it takes to hand-quilt. Hmmmm...it would look lovely on the table I have where the entry and hallway meet.

Hmmm...it's 9:45 and already that nap is looking like a good idea.

My swap quilt

I finished the quilt for the Four Season's Quilt Swap. It's 15" square. I promise, it really is square despite the wonkiness of the picture. Bad camera angle, lazy photographer. You know how it goes. :-)

The quilting proved to be a bit of a challenge. I quilted in the ditch. And it turned out to be a little difficult at the intersection of 8 points. I had to abandon my plan of even, tiny stitches early on as I encountered a bunch of bulk ever inch and a half.

Other than that, I'm pleased with the outcome.



I just have to make the label, which will go in the big blank spot in the center of the back. Then it'll be ready to mail off to its new home.

(See, it really is square)

Autumn Annie Embroidery Pattern

Here ya go. Just right-click to save and then print and trace onto your fabric.

It's also available as a .pdf over there on my sidebar.

Enjoy!

Goodness! A whole week?!

Will you forgive me if I tell you it's because homeschooling is kicking my butt this year? I had forgotten how labor intensive first grade can be for the person teaching. And I've found keeping two children on task is quite the challenge.

It seems that by the time we've finished schoolwork and I've gotten a bit of housework done, it's already time to make dinner.

And then there isn't much time left for crafting. I have managed to complete two doll garlands this week.

This one was a custom order. It represents a friend's daughters.


And this one is mine, mine, all MINE!


I've finished piecing the top for my Four Seasons Quilt Swap quilt. I drew what I'm going to embroider on it today. Embroidering is this weekend's task. I'll have pictures soon. And a fall embroidery pattern to share, too!

Have a great weekend! (It's cool and fallish here...heaven!)

Finished!

Just popping in to say (phew!) all the little doll garlands are finally finished and listed in my Etsy shop. Well, they're almost all listed. There's one that's mine, mine, all mine! No pictures of that one yet, though.

Next on the agenda is some more work on the mini-quilt I'm making for the Four Seasons quilt swap. But first I'm going to try to get to bed early and sleep off some of this head cold that's been hanging on all week.

And more playing with dolls

And now you get to see what I've been planning to do with these little people. Cute, huh?

I admit I've gotten carried away. I was originally intending to make just one little Annie garland for myself. But when cute happens it's hard to stop! Ah well, the Etsy shop could use some variety!



I've also finished a couple Andys (with itty-bitty newspaper hats!) to go with Raggedy Ann. And a few Garden Gnomes. They just need their red hats and I get to make more Gnome-kabobs.

Playing with dolls

A few days ago I came across a box filled with little 4.5" blank doll bodies. It was a sad sight and I decided it was time these little people get a chance to be. They had been in that box a while. More than a year. I stuck them in there after my failed attempt.

It seems all they needed to attain cuteness was a neck and some wrists. I have some fun ideas for these girlies!

And, as you can see, there are a few more left to finish. I have the perfect plan for them!

Still, the next time I get the urge to make some itty-bitty dolls I won't be taking any "shortcuts". I'll just make the bodies myself. It would be much less work.

These bodies were too pale. So I dyed them. They're stuffing holes were closed up with glue. Non-waterproof glue, apparently. So I had to stitch 5 holes on each (each limb and one on the body). I know I could make some wee little bodies much more efficiently, and glue-less-ly, than that!

I can't wait to get them all finished!!