Shenandoah

Ran away to the mountains this weekend. Spent some nice time with Husband and our friends Tyler and Gentri. We camped in Shenandoah National Park; the colors and the smell of fall in the air were amazing and I am wishing we could go back right this minute.

New Fall BTR Swap!

To all interested swappers... I've posted on the Bend the Rules Sewing Swap blog to begin a new swap. Please visit and weigh in!

http://btrsswap.blogspot.com

Corsage Shirt

What can you create with two knit shirts and half an hour?

This really is an easy cheater project; start with a shirt you like, buy another (the bigger the better... more fabric to work with), cut circles, and sew. See how easy that was?

I used two different sizes of circles, 2.5 in. and 3 in. I cut about 15 of each. Stack a small and a large circle, crimp/fold to give it a bit of texture (see below), and sew about 1/2 inch across the center (don't forget to reverse at the beginning and end!). Placement is totally up to you. Before I began attaching flowers I put on my keeper shirt and marked a nice start and end location with pins (you can see one below, too). Continue stacking circles, folding, and sewing until the corsage has reached your desired size and fullness.

I love the way this turned out and am thinking about other takes on this idea... how great would a grey shirt with a multi-hued grey corsage look for fall? Gah! Another project!

Accidental Mixed Berry Apple Butter

Canning has become my new obsession. The happiest moment of my day yesterday was when Husband found pint canning jars on the clearance rack of Target and picked them up without even batting an eye. What a man!

A few weeks ago I set out to make apple butter; gathered necessary supplies, purchased Gala apples from the farmers market, de-cluttered the kitchen to make room for all my canning stuff. Ehh... did I mention I did this all one morning before work? So, there I was, in all my canning glory, counting minutes until I had to be at work. All was going well; the apples were simmering, the sugar and spices were mixed, the jars were steaming in the dishwasher.

It was going to be easy peasy... until I realized that I was short on apples and definitely not short on sugar. Lesson learned... measure your fruit BEFORE mixing it with the sugar. Since I didn't set out to make apple flavored candy that morning, I did what I could to spare my mixture. First I spooned out the excess sugar. Then I remembered the berries that had taken up residence in my freezer. I quickly got them defrosted and pureed, mixed them in with my apple/sugar/spice mixture and had the most incredible 'Accidental Mixed Berry Apple Butter'. YUM! I will definitely try to recreate this one in the future.

How do you serve your apple butter? So far we've had it on toast, graham crackers, and waffles. Mom has suggested on ham. Any other suggestions??

Hamburger Dills

You might remember Stephanie, the friend for whom I made this quilt. Steph is a fabulous gift giver and I cannot wait to blog and blog and blog about this one. A few weeks ago an entire home canning set found its way to my house. What a fabulous bday gift! CANNING! and PRESERVING! Seriously. Husband might have shaken his head a few times at me, but when the word 'pickles' was uttered he was on board.

Here it all is; canning salt, vinegar, dill, cucumbers, lids, bands, peppercorns, jars.

Cucumbers (from the Farmer's Market) sliced and ready to go.

The canning set-up; left front is brine, left back is lids simmering, right side is the canner (big, isn't it??).

The finished product. Give me 4-6 weeks and then I'll let you know how they turned out. Recipe is from the Ball Blue Book.

Felt iPod Touch Case

Last weekend I became the owner of a brand new iPod Touch. Husband bought a MacBook Pro, I received the iPod as part of the deal. Immediately I knew it would need a case. The metal back attracts fingerprints and the iPod slips right out of my hands; I am a klutz and would be needing some protection from myself! I spent a whooping $0.29 on some blue felt, pulled out my embroidery box, and went to work.


I love the way the 'free motion embroidery' on the medallion turned out. The case is held closed by a strip of elastic sewn onto the front panel. Headphones go in one side and iPod goes in the other. Simple enough. Did I mention the felt is reincarnated plastic soda bottles? Goodbye Diet Pepsi, hello Pedro the Lion.

Unrelated note... do you see my lack of album art? It was all lost when transferring music from one computer to another long ago. Makes Cover Flow pretty sad. One of the downfalls of not having internet at home, I suppose.

Richmond VA

Husband and I spent 4th of July weekend in Richmond, VA. Nice little town and an overall nice getaway. The fireworks display claimed to be the only show in the country to have fireworks, live music, and cannons to perform the 1812 Overture (which is Russian, by the way. Go figure...).

We had a great time and every moment of that weekend made me so happy to be married to this man. I don't think that there is anyone else with whom I would want to spend the good times and bad times. We got word that his 'Oma' (grandmother) had died during our vacation. It was upsetting news, but she's off to see Jesus now; no longer dealing with cancer and old age. We worry about Opa; how her death will affect him. Many times we remarked to each other, 'You are not allowed to die'.

So, today, on our 3rd anniversary I just thought I'd tell you all (and him) how much Andy means to me and how greatful I am for such a wonderful partner. Below are some of my favorite photos from the weekend in Richmond.

During the car-ride there. Horrendous traffic with a smile on his face.

Winking at yours truly before the fireworks started.

My happy husband. He's got a very happy wife. Happy anniversary, babe!