Sewing Sunday Day

After mass and walking the goats I went into the sewing room to finish some of the many projects I have started along the way. Our sewing group jokes about how many projects we start and never finish. This month I plan on working on as many as I can to complete them.  

The bonus to it all was I cleaned the room as I went. 

Placemats from scraps that I couldn't part with were first up.

I used the quilt-as-you-go method and they are reversible.

Then I found parts to place-mats I made last year for Day of the Dead. 

I found some pieces but others were missing others. 

I found the pattern I made from a costume pattern. This was sheer luck. I was folding fabric to make room to cut on the cutting table when I found it.  Thank goodness, I could make a couple more and finish another project. 

I like the way they turned out. 

I did make a lunch of ham and cheese...uh, skulls.. to match the sewing. We had a good laugh and a good lunch. (yes, I hide them from the grandkids...well, except one).

Later Dude came in with these woven bags and asked it I wanted them. Heck yeah!

I plan on making dog beds with them. 

My day was approved by the farm cats.

I still have alot of half completed WIP (works in progress).  I plan on chipping away at them all each day. 

peace, health and happiness

Saturday Sewing Get Together and Polka Fest

A fun Saturday.  It was time again to meet with our sewing bee...  our sewing group gets together once a month. We live all over but once we find out what day we are meeting, no drive seems to be too far to meet. 

We gather to sew, knit, crochet ...share stories of what we are doing, how our families are, and eat.  The person hosting makes the main dish and we bring the sides and desserts. I brought zucchini au gratin. 

Then it is show and tell time! These ladies are at all levels and skills.

Susan showed some great place-mats. So much fun. 

Mary has the top finished to her wedding ring.

Plus Mary showed off her hexie quilt. We watched her throughout the year sewing each one of those hexagons by hand. Luckily, she let me try my hand at a few so I could learn to sew them too. 

Susan has a fun village of these cute little houses. She was adding a roof to this one. 

Daisy was making pin cushion favors. These just look so handy.

Judy was our beautiful host and was knitting a sweater for her first great-grandbaby that is coming soon.

Susan was finishing up this fun Halloween wall hanging.

Alethea was learning to sew a jelly roll quilt.

Diane was cross stitching.

This is my jelly roll and machine ready to be transformed into place-mates.

It was a fun day of creativity and laughter.

I got home in time to nap and then head to the Polka Fest. Ymmm sausage and sauerkraut with wonderfully homemade noodles. 

Then time to dance! Polka Time!

I snapped this picture of this very handsome young man. 

There weren't as many people there as last year since the Cajun Boil was going on across the street at the American Legion. (of course, we stopped over there too! ) Small towns know how to have a good time. 

Tomorrow is mass and resting. 

Hope you are doing well where you are. 

peace, health and happiness!

Busy Morning

I had alot to get done this morning so we could travel two hours away to see a granddaughter's volleyball game later in the day... you only live once, right?

So I got the canning gear out and got the jars to boiling. 

Next up, I needed to shred our zucchinis. It was cold and foggy this morning and only 32 degrees. Our furnace was turned on to take the chill out of the air. It hasn't been used for 6 months and it was not happy. At first we thought someone was loudly singing opera in the back mudroom. So, I tiptoed to the back of the house to find the furnace moaning. We turned it off and lit a fire in the wood stove. Thank goodness for preparing for winter.  The repair man came out and gave us the verdict, the furnace was old and dead. Hmmm. do we buy a log splitter or a new furnace? A lot to think about in the next few days. 

Anywhooo, I was glad I picked the zucchini the night before just in cased it froze. 

I picked six of them and they needed to be taken care of. 

So I shred it all to freeze. 

I was getting ready to make split pea soup so I threw a cup of zuc in it. Good stuff. 

Throw in the crock pot... 

a package of split peas

a couple of ham hocks

3 chopped carrots

2 chopped celery

a chopped small onion

3 chopped garlic cloves

a cup of shredded zucchini

5 cups of chicken broth 

a bay leaf

salt and pepper

Add all the ingredients, stir, set at 8hours and forget about it. 

Back to the zucchini....

I ended up with 25 - one cup bags to go into the freezer of zucchini.  These will go into breads, soups, chilis, eggs, whatever might sound good at the time.

Next up I wanted to try a new recipe I found at Canning Granny.  It is her Thai Dipping Sauce and it turned out fantastic! I was able to use some of the garlic we grew this year.

You can find the recipe HERE

You start with apple cider vinegar and sugar. 

Adding chopped garlic and 1/2 cup of hot pepper flakes... ohmy she did a great job writing this recipe. I LOVE it !  You can use it for spring rolls, egg rolls, rice, over fried cabbage, salads... the sky is the limit with this sauce.  

After canning and cleaning the kitchen we head to the volleyball game two hours away. 

We returned from our trip at 11pm dog-tired. It was great to have a hot crock of split pea soup ready for us! 

peace, health and happiness!