My Favorite Designer

I simply adore beautiful fabric, don't you? I can't really remember my first Tanya Whelan fabric, but let me tell you her lovely prints just take my breath away. Have you visited Tanya's blog?

There is an interesting interview with Tanya here.

Tanya will be having a brand new book released in December. It is available from Amazon and also Barnes and Noble has it for pre-order!!

Who is your favorite fabric designer?

Homemade Noodles

It has turned quite cold already in Ohio. We heat with wood so we already have the furnace running. We heat intirely with wood so my husband cuts a lot of firewood on our property. Thankfully we have 20 acres of woods. My granddaughter came over this morning for another sewing session. Doesn't it make teaching someone so much easier when they are so eager to learn?

In getting the morning started, Vanessa sewed two more nine patch blocks for the quilt she is making. I was thrilled to see that she remember each step that she learned last week. After sewing for an hour or so she had completed the two blocks. She now has four blocks finished. Next we worked on making a delightful fabric covered bulletin board for my sewing room.

Now I think she would like one for her room!!

Next we enjoyed a little lunch of mac 'n cheese...can't go wrong with that!! We decided to make some homemade noodles so she could take them home and prepare dinner for her family. Now this little eight year old girl can sew and she can cook and even clean her mess up!! Gotta love that kind of a girl!

Vanessa is mixing  3 eggs up first. She then added 1 1/2 cups of flour.

Vanessa hand cutting her noodles!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

~Mary Ann~

Vanessa Is Learning To Sew

My lovely little granddaughter, Vanessa started her first sewing lesson with me last evening. She had her eighth birthday last month and I gave her a sewing box with all kinds of sewing goodies in it. I also gave her some 4 inch quilting squares in her box too.

She came up to our farm after dinner last night with her sewing box in tow. I decided to let her begin with the quilting squares, sewing them into a nine patch blocks. She completed two blocks last evening. She seems to have a good mind for remembering the correct steps of operating a sewing machine. She also got to iron each piece as she was putting the blocks together.

In this last picture she is holding her sewing box and showing the two blocks she completed. I'm pretty sure she was thrilled with her two blocks and I was sure proud of her efforts!

Sewing on Saturday!

It's been such a lovely day today. I have been busy in the sewing room. I am always cleaning and rearranging to keep everything looking nice. It seems to me it is so much fun sewing in a tidy room. What to do think? I am working on a sweet little ruffled prairie skirt. I am also working on a small quilt. I thought I would share some pictures of the skirt I have been working on.

~Mary Ann~

Lavender in a canning jar????

Several months ago I found a blog post that captured my interest. The posting was about making homemade lavender laundry soap. Ms Chandeen of Designed by Chance showed a nice tutorial about making lavender laundry soap. I decided then and there that I wanted to try this. I gathered up the supplies but decided to wait a little. I happened to have an ample supply of laundry detergent on hand. Today I decided to attempt the recipe! Oh wow, did my kitchen ever smell nice!

This is the ingredients that I used:

(3) four ounce bars of Castile soap
(1) 55 ounce box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
(1) 76 ounce box of 20 Mule Team Borax
(1) half ounce bottle NOW 100% pure lavender oil

I grated the bars of soap in my food processor. I then mixed all ingredients in a large pan. I filled quart canning jars with the mixture. I had the jars on hand, so instead of buying a large jar, I just used the canning jars and divided it up.

I have read various amonts to use per load. I have read anywhere between one tablespoon to one fourth cup per load. Maybe I will start with one eigth cup per load and see how that does.

My next recipe to try is homemade lavender fabric softner. I have found the recipe. Just need to gather the supplies.

Anyone else out there tried their own laundry recipes?

I have been Missing In Action!

Dear Freinds,

I have been missing for way too long! Hope everyone is doing well. I have been sick with a sinus / lung infection for way too long. I still have it and it is wearing on me. I have had it almost a month.

I am working on a baby quilt that I started months ago. I am hand sewing the binding on today, so it should be done very soon. I will be glad to have that project checked off my "to do" list.

Here is a new picture of all my sweet little grandchildren!

Fresh pie.....

Yesterday afternoon I stepped out my kitchen door and picked some oh-so sweet and juicy strawberries. I wanted to make a fresh pie for my dear son and his family who love fresh berries! An hour or so later I delivered this pie to my son's farm just down the road.

Helping Joplin, MO

The sweet Long ladies over at marie-madeline studio are putting together a nice way of helping the folks in Joplin, MO. They have invited us to help in this endevour. You can get all the details over at their website.