Candy Corn Quilt

I hope that you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend.  How nice that it stretched into the long President's weekend.

Not so nice for us here though.  We had an uninvited guest - the stomach flu.  So all of our planned treats for Friday evening were set aside for another time.

My poor honey got it first, on Friday night no less, and so while he slept most of Saturday, Max, (my younger son) and I had a Lord of the Rings movie marathon and I worked on some quilts.

 This Candy Corn quilt was one that I had started about three Halloweens ago.  The pattern came as an insert in a quilting magazine and their idea was to have the quilt be a two sided table runner- one side with the candy corn motif, and the other with a slight modification to make Christmas trees.  Both were adorable.  But I knew me, so I didn't attempt to do two sides.  For one thing, I am still a novice at machine quilting and have never had the courage to try a wavy, roving pattern.  So far, I have stuck to straight lines.  There would be no way to line the trees and candy corn up.  I also thought it would be cute to make the Christmas trees in a single row, in a wall hanger instead.

I went right to work on the candy corn pattern and did finish the top for that Halloween.

Bot then another Halloween came and went, and it sat unfinished.  (In my defense, I did get married at the beginning the month, and was slightly preoccupied with all the wedding preparations)

Before Halloween 2013, I layered the top with batting and a backing and began machine quilting it.  I went around the candy corn pieces, and stitched-in-the-ditch around each of the center blocks.  For the border, I decided to do a diamond pattern.  It was moving along nicely, but when I didn't have the chance to finish it and have it out for Halloween, it was put aside to make time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas crafts that were soon to follow.

Until this weekend!  It was the first quilt I tackled during our marathon. I completed the diamond pattern and put the binding on.  (Then I moved on to two more quilts - you'll see them later this week.)

This Halloween I look forward to finding the perfect spot to hang it up.  With or without Max photo-bombing it.

"Gather Hearts" Stitching

Yay! Another project crossed off the UFO list and added to the Project Gallery!

I started this stitching about two years ago when I saw it in the March 2012 issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework.  I liked the bright green and pink combination and the use of memory thread, which I've never tried before.

I met Phil shortly afterwards.  We like to watch movies at night and stitching is the perfect craft to do in front of the TV.  My step-daughter used to watch me working on it and wanted to learn how to stitch too.  When I showed her some of my other UFO's she asked why I didn't just finish one before starting something new.  I think I chortled.  (If you're a crafty lady, you probably just did too).

When I finished the actual stitching, I kinda chickened out of doing the memory thread for awhile.  It was actually much easier than I thought.  You simply shape the thread the way you want, pull through the fabric where it starts and ends, and then couch along the thread, using a similar color.

I wanted to frame it in the hot pink color and was lucky enough to find a frame on sale at Michael's.

Since this was the piece that caught Brooke's eye and made her want to stitch, it's going to go in her room.

And I'm working on that whole idea of finishing a project before starting a new one.

Yeah, right. ;)

Happy Crafting!

A Martha Moment

Before I tell my Martha story, I want to congratulate Ann Barton for winning the Valentine's Day Ribbon Wreath. I hope you enjoy it, Ann!

On Monday, I had a Martha moment.  Not Martha Stewart, although I've had those moments too, but Martha from the Bible.  Do you remember her story? Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus were all particularly good friends of Jesus.  When they found out that he was visiting for dinner, Martha set off into a flurry of preparations.  When Jesus arrived, she continued to rush about taking care of the guests, while Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to him teach.  Martha became increasingly frustrated and finally said, "Lord, tell Mary to come help me!" Jesus' gentle reply was, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, one thing is needful.  Mary has chosen the good portion which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41)

So here's my Martha moment:

My day started off by my younger son slipping on the ice and banging his elbow pretty hard.  He couldn't feel his arm or wiggle his fingers so off to the MASH (a local Urgent care) we went.   After x-rays on both arms (to compare) the doctor said that she thought Max had broken his elbow and we made an appointment to go to the orthopedist.  I gave him a dose of ibuprofen and took him to school with his arm in a sling, since there really wasn't anything else we could do then.  (As it turns out, the orthopedist said that it's not broken, just banged up pretty hard - but growth plates don't show up in x-rays very well, so it's better to be cautious)

Then I headed to the church for my one day of office hours.  When I finally had the chance to sit down at my desk and get to work, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. My job as the Coordinator of Educational Ministries had started out at 20 hours a week, but a year and a half ago, we dropped it back to 10 hours,  for several reasons.  What I was feeling on Monday was that the decrease in hours wasn't allowing me to do the job the way it should be done - putting the time into it that it deserves.  In the two or three hours I had left in my office day I had to plan for a bake sale, plan a lesson for Sunday (after the bake sale) and prepare for our mini-Vacation Bible School (we do that the week of February break) which is focused on the story of Esther this year.  Pile onto all of that that I was concerned for Max's arm.

As my computer booted up, I turned on Pandora on my iPad and selected the "Newsboys" station that I had created there.  The first song that came up was the live version of "Blessed Be Your Name" which happened to be the song that I asked my Youth Group to sing at the wedding when I married Phil. (If you don't know the Newsboys, go look them up - they are awesome!)  Before the song was over, I was feeling much better and pretty soon I was gathering ideas about our lesson for Sunday.

Our theme for this year's curriculum is "Why Me, Lord? Why not Me?", the inspiration coming from a poster that lists people in the Bible and why  they might not have been "right" for their job.  For example, Moses stuttered, Jeremiah was too young, Martha worried about everything, and Lazarus was dead.

Our story for Sunday is about Martha, and as I fleshed out my lesson, it hit me.

I was Martha.

I had been rushing around worrying about how I was going to get everything done, missing what has most important.

We've all done it when we've had earthly visitors.  If you were like me, you had some people over to watch the big game on Sunday (That was my Martha Stewart moment for the week - making sure I had equal amounts of food colored orange and green  for the teams). I spent so much time getting the food out and talking with guests, that I didn't really watch the game, although that may have made this particular Super Bowl a bit less painful.

One of the activities  I plan on doing with the kids on Sunday is filling a bottle with popcorn kernels, representing all of the things that we do that keep us busy.  Then we're going to try to shove something big in the bottle (like a ball) representing God.  The ball won't fit when the bottle is already filled up, but if we put the ball in the bottle first and then fill it up with the other stuff, we are making sure that God is first and that he touches everything that we do.

I hope the message gets to the kids.

I hope that I really get it too, that I can remind myself that it doesn't really matter how much we bake on Saturday morning and sell on Sunday afternoon - what matters is that the kids learn how to provide for others and the joy that accompanies that.

It doesn't matter how many kids come to our VBS about Queen Esther, but that the kids who do come learn - about God's love and protection, about a girl who saved her people from annihilation, about Purim, ancient festival still celebrated by Jews today.

While Jesus wasn't really scolding Martha for her efforts in hospitality (which was a BIG DEAL in those days) he was pointing out that sometimes it is better to sit with our loved ones, and soak them in.

To remember what really matters.

Valentine's Day Wreath Give Away

I know what you're thinking: another ribbon wreath?! Well in this case, it's three more ribbon wreaths.  I wasn't kidding when I said I had A LOT of ribbon in the Crafting Oasis and that I would rather use it up than have it sit in a bucket.  

When I first started sorting through ribbon for the Back to school wreath, I earmarked different sets of ribbons for different projects.  This set of blue, white, and brown was perfect for a wintery wreath. 

 All I bought were these three spools so I had a few thicker ribbons to help balance out the thinner ones. Plus, I needed a dark blue as an "anchor"  

Here's the result, hanging on our kitchen door. 

When it comes to Valentine's Day ribbon, I had even more stashed away (all right, I admit, I may have purchased one or two more earlier this month - just to round things out!)

I had enough to make one wreath for me... 

and one for one of you! 

That's right! Since I have two wreaths, I will be giving one away to one my blog readers.  To be eligible, all you have to do is comment on this post, or if you don't have a Google account that will let you, you can also comment on the pin of the Valentine's Day wreath on Pinterest on my "Things from My Blog" board. All comments made by 11 PM on Wednesday January 29th, 2014 will be eligible (I'll have one of my kids pull the name from a hat - literally).  I'll announce the winner on Wednesday night, and then we'll figure out a way to get it to you.

I can't wait to see who the lucky winner will be!

A Scarf for Vince

For the past few weeks I have been dealing with a bad back.  At first, I blamed the dog, because it only hurt at night when I was sleeping, but would be fine once I got up and started moving around.  But a few weeks ago, it was bothering me all the time.  Then the pain went down my right leg and at one point, my calf was hard as a rock.  After ruling out a blood clot, I went to at PT who has me working on exercises to help alleviate the culprit, a pinched nerve.  His first tip helped me with driving, so that I didn't feel like crying.

Needless to say, having a pinched nerve has really cramped my crafting style.  Quilting is too much like driving to be comfortable, so that's out for now.  I am so far behind in scrapbooking it's not funny, but that will have to wait for a bit too.  So in looking at my UFO's I focused on some knitting that was in my bag.

I learned how to knit a few years ago.  The only thing I can make are scarves, so I have quite a few. I like trying different stitches so at least they don't all look  the same.

My stepson, Vince loves the color red, so when I had a skein of red yarn leftover from a different scarf, I knew it was for him. It's a nice thick yarn.  I used 13 needles and knitted it with the rib stitch, (knit two, purl two) which I like because it looks like the garter stitch, but doesn't roll up on the edges.

Here's the finished project: I know it's not at all fancy, but it's going to keep one little boy very warm in our Western NY winters! And it's a UFO that's finished :)

What projects are you working on to stay warm?

Cardinal Stitching

Many of my projects during the fall and holiday season used up supplies that I had stockpiled in the Crafting Oasis, which is great.  Yet one of the reasons I started the 40 by 41 challenge was to finish up those UFOs (UnFinished Objects).  Today, I can cross a UFO off the list!

I have always loved the Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine.  Two years ago, the Christmas issue had many wonderful projects, but I liked the one on the cover, a cardinal sitting on a branch of holly.  My mom liked cardinals, and I had originally planned on giving the stitching to her.  She had some little cardinal knick-knacks that she put out in the winter months after Christmas. I think there is something appealing about the bright red when everything outside is so white, and I think she did too.  I thought is would be a nice addition to the grouping.

Mom passed away shortly after I started the stitching though.  I asked my Dad if I could have those few cardinal knick-knacks, and I have since added a few more.

After two years of picking up the piece, putting it down, starting a new project or two,  and then picking it back up again, I finally put the finishing stitches in it just this week.

I had found a square black frame at the after-Christmas sales, and decided that I would make a mat with red paper from my vast scrapbooking paper collection.










I used the "picture" that came with the frame as the template to cut the square from my new mat. Using the red mat as a guide, I stretched the stitching over a piece of cardboard (from scrapbooking packaging, so I think it should be safe to use) It took a few tries, and little bit more trimming to get the cardinal centered and stretched within the opening.

Then I layered the whole thing inside the frame and viola!











Now it sits with the other cardinals.  I have the beginnings of a flock!

Peppermintys

I hope that you have had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy start to the New Year!

We had a wonderful holiday season, and clearly a very busy one since I have been neglectful of my blog.  Poor blog.  :(

But now that I have time to breathe deeply, and even sit down, I am back to work on my 40 by 41 projects.  You'll see a completed project later this week.

First, though, I meant to share with you one of my favorite recipes that I invented when I found myself in need of a quick cookie. 

Here's the story: Several years ago, I was baking for a Cookie Walk at church.  We were told that we had to bring in four dozen cookies. I ran out of a key ingredient at ten at night and when you are a single mother and you run out of an ingredient at ten at night you are OUT.  Rather than be short on the amount of cookies, I looked around to see what else I had.  I found a roll of sugar cookie dough and a box of candy canes.

Put the two together and you get Peppermintys!


First thing is to smash the candy canes.  For a regular sized roll, I use about eight candy canes.  I put them in a plastic baggie and use a meat tenderizer to smash them (a great stress reliever if the holiday hype is getting to you).  You want to have some small chunks, not just smithereens (like I might if making Peppermint Bark). Put the smashed canes in a bowl.

I always use Pillsbury sugar cookie dough.  Set the oven to 350 as directed.  Slice the cookie dough and then roll into a ball.

 Roll in the smashed canes.

Place on parchment paper on cookie sheets.   I use parchment when baking.  I find it makes clean up a lot easier, and I can slide one sheet off the pan onto the counter to cool, and slide a prepared parchment right back on the pan, so it keeps things moving quickly



Bake for about 10 minutes.

The cookies are done when they are slightly browned around the edges.  They come out puffy but the candy canes melt in the oven and then harden into a thin, crispy cookie.







So the next time you find yourself in a pinch for Christmas cookies, make some Peppermintys.  They're quick, easy, and oooooohhh so good!