This is Spring! NOT!

AAgghhh! Can you believe it!

For four consecutive weeks now we have been experiencing the last gasp of winter! It warms then a freak cold front comes through, and we experience a hard freeze.

 Warms~freeze    Warms~freeze  Warms~freeze  

Snow today 2 inches accumulation then another hard freeze, down to 22 tonight, this is number four! Our poor flowering trees, peonies, and garden!

So today I am baking, Pumpkin Streusel Muffins and Gingerbread Biscotti. My sewing machine is at the shop getting a tune-up, much needed as I have neglected this annual clean up. The place I usually take it too closed over a year ago and I had tried another about 70 miles away last fall but they were not able to get my machine in for months and I needed it for Christmas sewing. So I decided to part with it (temporarily) last Friday. It's hard--- I just love knowing it's waiting for me in the sewing room. Now a large dusty empty hole in the sewing table looks so forlorn {big pouty lip here}! I could get out the serger I inherited from my grandmother and see if I can teach myself how to use it. That's a strong possibility as I really want the use of this machine, I'm just a bit cowardly!

 So... more coffee a warm pumpkin muffin and then...and then........

Meet my granddaughter!

Katelyn Marie
Born 4/3/2013 7:36AM
8lbs.   21 inches

I'M A GRANDMA!!!!!

JUST GOT THE CALL ABOUT A HALF HOUR AGO!

 

KATELYN MARIE

8 LBS

BORN AT 7:36 AM

APRIL 3, 2013



Breakfast chocolate!?!

My two favorites!

Dark chocolate has really inched out milk chocolate over the years. My taste has changed, more refined or matured or maybe more intense is what satisfies my taste buds.

 Dark chocolate has that intense flavor!

The Lindt dark chocolate with chili is spice and just a little sweet! I break off just a small piece and place it on my tongue, letting the warmth of my mouth slowly melt the piece enjoying the chocolaty goodness then comes the heat as I rub it around in my mouth and swallow!

The Manoa chocolate is from our February vacation to Hawaii! If you look closely at the chocolate bars you will see three flavors, Sea Salt, Hawaiian Chili Pepper, and Breakfast Bar!!

Breakfast Bar isn't that a kick!! Just what this post menopausal woman needs to start her day!!

The bar contains coffee beans, Coffee + Chocolate = a perfect marriage!

Manoa Chocolate Hawaii is a bean-to-bar chocolate company on Oahu, located at Grass Shack Industries LLC, Kailua, HI so keeping a supply of this chocolate on hand will be a bit tricky. More trips to Hawaii or have The#1Son and daughter-in-law D send a care package at proper intervals to keep my addiction in check! ;)

 

Well I have a project on the front burner today so time to put the breakfast bar to task and get busy!

I hope to post pictures of the project tomorrow! Wish me luck!!

 

Bath towels for baby!

I had fun this weekend sewing and especially detailing the hooded newborn bath towels

for my "soon to be born"granddaughter!

I spoke with DD recently and asked her what was needed to care for the new baby, she said hooded bath towels and I said "Done"! I went to the Dollar General and bought a couple of colorful (the photo was taken on a cloudy day under the dining room light so not accurate color), one aqua bath towel & washcloth, and one lime green towel & washcloth for just under $10. Cut each towel in half and each washcloth on the diagonal to make the hood. The bath towel is more of a rectangle and not a square like I usually do, but since it is for a newborn it will be a good size for several months as the baby grows. Then I'll make more!!!! I had such an enjoyable time looking through my trim bins and finding all kinds of detail ideas. As I was sewing each one "it" was my favorite!! So it makes it hard to pick a favorite, but when the little yellow duck motif came together That became my favorite!

I made the duck applique with fusible web and doubled the fabric to give it more stability and depth of color. It reminds me of "Ernie's (from Sesame Street) Rubber Ducky" that DD had for a bath tub toy when she was a baby! So I think that influenced my choice as the favorite design detail.


I have added close up photos of each towel below. Which one is your favorite?

My favorite! Bias tape waves, sewn with decorative stiches and the cute duck applique!

 

Fabric with a Hawaiian sarong motif to give the towel a tropical look!
Note the pins~ I ran out of lime green thread and have to wait till I get to
 town on Tuesday to pick up more.
 

A short piece of red and white checked bias tape that has been in my bin drawer for years!
(I've been saving it for just the right project! ;-) and this was it!) Aqua rick rack that matched
perfectly and white bias tape sewn with a decorative flower stitch!



Pink rick rack with light pink bias tape trim stitched with a decorative heart stitch!


 

 

Almost Spring (7 days to go)

Almost a Grandma too!! 20 days till DD's due date of April 2nd!

Today will feel like we are on our way to Spring.. 57 degrees! 71 degrees Thursday and wait for it..... 77 degrees on Friday!!! I'll get to open windows and let the breeze blow through! It feels so alive to have windows open!! TheManWhoHoldsMyHeart purchased seed potatoes on Monday and some Nasturtium flower seeds on Tuesday. While in Hawaii, yes we were just there last month (February 14-20)! It was wonderful to getaway, but so difficult to come back to over a foot of snow!!! aagguh!
But while there our daughter-in-law D, married to #1Son, served us a fresh greens salad with a single nasturtium blossom, from her flower pot garden! It was so pretty, edible and had a subtle peppery taste. D is really into box gardening and garnishing salads with edible flowers! So I want to give my greens salad that same pretty edible touch!!!! We had great lettuce from our garden last year so with the fresh greens, and other garden additions I want to also garnish with Nasturtium blossoms!

I leave you today with a few of the 80 pictures from our Hawaii vaca! Aloha!

Cute little tetrahedron bags!

 

Sweet treat little bags!

 I love sewing up a few of these from time to time. Picking out the ribbon and the coordinating zipper are so fun and then seeing the outcome is satisfying. But, adding the finishing details are my favorite!! I keep a bead tackle box (the green metal tackle box is from my college art classes) with misc. jewelry pieces and beads collected from years of crafting, to give these little bags just the right finishing touch on the zipper pull! My one quandary with these little bags is the shape, sometimes I get a perfect little triangle bag and sometimes it's well... NOT! I wish I could figure out if it's the ribbon width? or the length? that causes such a variable??? I check and double check, but then my brain starts to hurt, so I just go with the resulting shape. Not perfect but still a cute bag, (sort of like me, lol) ((I see you smiling....... TheManWhoHoldsMyHeart))

 

http://www.craftpassion.com/2011/07/zip-itself-coin-purse-tutorial.html

 

The above link is for the tutorial for making the little tetrahedron bag. Give it a try or just have a look, but be warned they are addictive.