Mini Cheesecakes

I made some of these mini cheesecakes for Christmas this year. Aren't they cute?

The recipe makes WAAAY too many!  Next year I will make half or one third as many.

The cherry on top is from a can of cherry pie filling.

Baking in the oven.

Have a great Monday!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Winter Solstice

There are longer days ahead and a new year on the horizon...

Today I am quilting swirls in hopes of finishing one more quilt this year.

I'm three fourths of the way done.  My sewing room is a "no whining" zone, but gosh these swirls sure do take a long time....  It'll be worth it though.

Crocheted Hats Progress

Here are some of the hats I taught myself to crochet, so far.

These are for my youngest grandson.  As you can see, they are 3 different sizes.  I don't know if any of them will fit!  I'll see him Sunday, so we will be trying on hats.

I made this one for my 6 year old grandson.  Again, don't know if it will fit!  Its all a learning process!

I am so pleased to be able to crochet something during this cold weather season.   It will be even nicer if the hats fit and are put to good use!

Ironing Boards and Boiling Water

I just couldn't take using this ironing board cover another minute! You can't say I didn't get the full use out of it before replacing it.  Trust me, this was not a result of ironing clothes.  At least 95% of it was from pressing little fabric scraps that became quilts.

Before:

After:  AAAHHH.  That is SO much better!

Its amazing how I keep using something that is obviously dirty and ragged, because the damage happened so gradually.  Then one day it hits me!  For less than $10.00 I can make this thing nice again.

While thinking about this I compared it to my life.  What bad habits have I gotten used to because they happened so gradually?   Remember the story about the frog being cooked in boiling water?  He was put in the water while the water was still cool.  The water temperature rose slowly and he didn't notice until it was too late and he was cooked!  AACK!

A Little Christmas in the Kitchen.

 I am using the appliqued table runner that I made last weekend on the counter in the kitchen. I think its truly "country" looking. All of the fabrics were in my stash and scraps.

I love the chicken basket that we found in a thrift store.    It holds my cloth Christmas napkins in this picture. 

On My Sewing Table This Morning

I've been doing some small quilts this week that involve applique. I don't do much applique, but for this miniature Scottie Dog quilt and the Christmas table runner, I was able to use raw edge, fused applique.

It was so easy and I think turned out cute.  I haven't finished the binding on the table runner yet.  I worked on it for a few minutes this morning before work, but will finish it tonight, hopefully.

The table runner is reversible.

I used old shirt buttons for the eyes on the dogs.

Happy Friday!

Soup Bowl Koozies - Gift Idea

One of the quilt shops we visited on our recent mountain trip gave me a free pattern for soup bowl koozies.   All you need are two 10 1/2 inch squares of fabric and a 10 inch square of quilt batting.  Add some darts and a couple of straight quilting lines and its done.

Your soup bowl fits down in it while being microwaved.  Then you can easily pick the hot bowl up using the koozie, and in my case, take  it to the couch to eat in front of the tv.  The koozie protects your hands from the heat of the bowl while you eat the soup.  Even if you aren't microwaving the soup and are just getting it out of a pot on the stove or crock pot, the koozie would make eating a hot bowl of soup more pleasant.... and cozy!  They are completely washable and dryable, so any spills would be no problem.

I made these three as gifts to take my coworkers as a thank you gift for covering for me while on vacation.

These are easy to make and would make nice Christmas gifts, especially if a bowl was included with them.  I found THIS YOU TUBE VIDEO if you want to make some.   If I were still buying teacher's gifts, these would definitely be on the list.  I plan to make a few more for some of the people on my list.

Some Primitive Farm House Decor

I've always loved old windows used in home décor.   This one is hanging over the bed in the guest room.

This one has hydrangeas painted on it and is sitting on the right side of the mantle in the living room. I'm going to look for some tall purple silk hydrangeas to go into the pitcher.

This little ladder is for displaying small quilts.  Too bad the two top ones are Christmas gifts because I like the way they look on there.  I'll have to get busy making some more miniature quilts!

The Stained Glass Window

We found this little vintage stained glass window in a shop in the Tennessee mountains.
 

I have too many plants!!!!!

When we asked about the history of the window, the shop owners said it came from a church in Rehobeth, Delaware.  I love having a piece of a church in our farm house.

I also love the fall leaves outside the window in this picture.

It adds such a "homey" special touch to the dining room, especially in the afternoon when the sun shines in on that side of the house.

It just occurred to me that doing Bible study at the dining room table with the sun coming in through an old church stained glass window would be a very good thing.

Dish Towel Crafting

I bought a couple of good quality dish towels with a simple Christmas embroidery design already on them. Then I embroidered Walt and Eli's name above the design.

Now Walt has a bib that covers him up really well when eating.  I used some stretchy knit fabric that I found in the remnant bin at Joann's for the neck.  It pulls over his head easily.  I considered cutting down the width of the towel, but his Mom was happy to have lots of coverage for his shoulders.  After all, that's the main purpose of a bib.

Eli is still too young for a big bib, but he's a big spitter upper, so I left his as is, to be used as a burp cloth.

The bib and burp cloth can be used all winter since the design isn't too Christmasy.

Small Town America - The Famous Hamburger Joint

It seems to me that there is a legendary hamburger joint or "grill" in every area of the rural South.  In North Carolina, I know of several.  They are usually small places, with a limited amount of seating space.  The menu is very limited and is only written on a board on the wall.  The burgers are hand patted out.  You won't find any low fat meat or whole wheat buns. 

If you want to eat during the lunch time rush, there will be a line waiting to get a place to sit, or to get a take out order.  Its a little chaotic!  You need cash, because they don't usually take debit or credit cards.   New customers may be sent to the ATM down the street, if they thought they could pay with plastic.  No wonder people on their lunch hour prefer drive through restaurants!

The waitress may be cute, but wears very tight clothes, has big hair, lots of makeup and big earrings.  She is so busy, that you won't get any special service.  Your burger and fries may be tossed on your table as she runs by.   On the other hand, she may be a little old lady wearing black reebok tennis shoes and a cotton smock.

There may be a counter where people can sit in swivel chairs, watch their food being made, and then eat it.  There are usually booths, or maybe some tables with red checked plastic table cloths.

There are napkins in those spring loaded metal dispensers.  They are thin and you will need lots of them to wipe the stuff off your face that oozes out of the hamburger bun.

The fries are served in a red plaid paper basket.  Then you squeeze ketchup from a red plastic squeeze bottle.

Hubby and I just got back home from a little road trip and we ate at 2 such places.  One was the Snappy Lunch in Mount Airy, NC, which is a famous place to eat because its the town Mayberry was modeled after on the Andy Griffith Show.  We ate the famous pork chop sandwich, but could have had a burger.  The second place was Johnsons in Siler City on Highway 64.  Both of these gave us a taste of real small town America!

Now back to our previously scheduled healthy eating plan!

Eli's Bear Ear Hat

Here is my second crocheted baby hat. I'm definitely still learning, but making some progress.

 

Did you know buying and looking at yarn can be just as much fun and addictive as fabric?  Me neither, but now I know!

You can find the pattern and a video for the above hat HERE at Crochet Hooks You.

Cool Weather Pass Times

Every year about this time the knitting and crocheting bug bites me. It just seems so cozy to sit inside our warm house, making cozy items from yarn. The only problem with that is that I'm not all that good at crocheting and do not know how to knit at all! Knitting is on my bucket list, however.

I have a few skeins of yarn and several crochet hooks.  I got to thinking that if only I had somebody to teach me I could get better at crocheting.  Then it occurred to me that with You Tube, I could have lots of instructors!  So, on Sunday afternoon, I watched THIS YOU TUBE VIDEO and made this little hat as a practice and learning project.  It has lots of mistakes in it, but I was so happy to actually make something with yarn!  I had to watch the video over and over and pause it a lot.  But, once I got it, it was easy.  I am planning to make another bigger hat using the soft yellow yarn in the picture.   I would also love to make little bear ears to put on it.  There are several videos with bear ear instructions.  Eli would be so adorable with a bear ear hat on his little head!  

Its newborn size and my little Eli, who is now 3 1/2 months old, surely has grown too much for a newborn hat to fit his head.  But that's ok.  I love it.  Maybe I can put it on a doll's head? 

I think its cute with the bottom edge turned up into a cuff too.

I wonder how many of my readers crochet.  How did you learn to crochet?  My crochet story involves the Granny Square which was very popular in the 70s.  A friend taught me to make a basic granny square in 1976.  I didn't know what to do with the granny square, so I just kept making it bigger and bigger until it was afghan size.  My friend advised me to always keep my first crochet project, so sure enough that great big granny square afghan is stored in my 1970s Lane hope chest.

Maybe I'll pull that first project out some time and show it here on my blog. 

I would love to hear any stories of your first crocheting or knitting projects and how you learned.

A Natural Fall Centerpiece

My hubby brought home various kinds of pumpkins and gourds and I made this little Fall arrangement from them.. The runner is one I made a couple of years ago.

 

The pumpkins and gourds are real, but the leaves are not!

I hope you are enjoying the Fall.  Its always my favorite time of year. 

Have a great Fall day!