Wow, have I been gone that long???

I started to post this on my Facebook page but decided it really should be something to post on my blog. Oh yeah, I have a blog. Sorry I have been away too long. No excuses, just had my attention on other things, but I am back!

 

An average day in Mesa, AZ is bright, hot and sunny,  but today it is over cast and raining. Oh how I love a raining day! A perfect day to sew!

I spend most of my time sewing for other people, but today I  am sewing for my own pleasure. I took out a UFO I started back in 2007. ( oh stop with the gasps, 2007 wasn't that long ago!!!) For those of you who never heard the term UFO it means Unfinished Objects. To my delight I still love the fabric for this quilt as much today as I did back in 2007 when I purchased it.
As I took the blocks out of the box I had them stored in, I noticed how funky my seams and pressing were. My first thought was to rip them out and start over, but I heard my Mom's voice say "Frances don't you dear!!" So I put the seam ripper down and continued forward.
I am not sure when I became so anal about my seams and how I press but for those of you I have lectured over the years about slowing down, taking your time, accurate 1/4 inch seams and pressing, I will let you look at the first half of my quilt and yes I will even let you rib me about it.
I am excited to get this quilt complete, it is no longer going to be the quilt for my bed as originally planned but I am sure I will find a nice place for it in my home.
I did list this on my blog as one of my UFO's, it is called Remember When.
I will post my progress and pictures.
So I am going to turn the music back on and get back to my sewing!

Helping out a future star!

Next week my son will be graduating from ASU and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Broadcasting.

He has had so many great opportunities and is really living his dream.

Through out the past 4 years he had to complete many projects in the broadcasting field, including editing, scripting, filming, and in front of the camera as well.

One of his friends, Alex, asked me if she could interview me for one of her projects and of course I said yes.

I never saw the finished project until today, I was a bit nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I was thrilled when I watch the piece, I was amazed at how professional it turned out.

Here is the link to her project.

http://youtu.be/sujmwibOBlI

Thanks Alex, I am looking forward to watching your bright future.

About time!

A while back I promised to share pictures of the Roman Shades I was working on for my kitchen windows.

I saw this great tutorial on Pintrest on how you can take a cheap plastic blind and make a fast and easy Roman Shade. Of course the girl made it look so easy, and it really was....if you start out with the right type of fabric!

She had used a cute tablecloth she found at Target and cut it to make two shades. Easy right???

So I went to Target and found a curtain on clearance, only 9.99 and in my color, score, so I thought. I couldn't wait to get started, I cut the curtain in half and only had to sew one seam on each piece. Next I layed out the shades and remove that plastic blinds that I didn't need. I took fabric glue just like the tutorial and glue my fabric to my 8 blind slats. Easy right. I let it dry for several hours and turn it over to find the glue had bleed through. My fabric choice was too thin.

Back to square one!

I went to every fabric store, home store, Target, looking for a heavy fabric, tablecloth, or curtain that would work. I was getting very discouraged.

In the mean time my husband sent me to Lowes to pick up something he needed for a project and I was passing the window treatment isle I thought, what the heck I'll check it out. Can you believe I found what I was looking for!

I purchased one panel and one valance and hurried home to start my Roman Shades once again.

Love the look!

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

I had enough fabric left over to cover my two counter stools.

I am thrilled with the outcome, and can't get over how they changed the feel of my kitchen.



Get it almost done!

Well, today is the second installment of the "Get Em Done!" linkys party.

I was so sure I would have my daughter Amanda's quilt completed. So close!

Long story, short, I had it loaded on my longarm, started quilting and had to remove it from the machine.  (That's another story for another post.)

 However, it is back on the machine and I am excited to get it completed.

Take a minute and read some of my older post and you will see just a few of my distractions this past month. Never a dull moment, that's for sure.





Happy Cinnamon Rolls.

I have had several request for my cinnamon rolls recipe so I decided it would just be easier to post it here.

Now I have to say, I have tried many  different recipes and I have found this one to be the easiest.

I am not sure where I got this particular recipe, it is either from Foodtv.com or Tastykitchen.com, both favorites of mine.



1 quart whole milk (4 cups)

1 cup Vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 packages active dry yeast

8 cups (plus 1 cup extra separated) All-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder

1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda

1 Tablespoon Salt

Plenty of Melted Butter

2 cups Sugar ( I mix white and brown)

Lots of Cinnamon

For the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil and sugar over medium heat to just below a boil. Set aside to cool to warm. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit on the milk for about a minute. ( make sure you let it cool to warm)

Add 8 cups of flour, stir until combined and cover with towel and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour.

After 1 hour add baking powder, baking soda and salt and the remaining 1 cup of flour. Stir to combine.

Preheat the oven to 375

Remove half the dough from bowl, place on floured baking surface and roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 30x10.  Very thin.

Now pour about 1 stick of melted butter over the surface of the dough and spread evenly with your fingers. Next I pour 2 cups of the mixed sugars and sprinkle with lots of cinnamon. Spread evenly around dough. ( I like lots of cinnamon but you can add more or less depending on your taste.  If you like it real gooey add more butter and sugar.)

Now roll dough working slowly and keeping it tight. Once you have it in a log cut in half.  I then take a sharp knife and cut 6- 1/2 inch slices and place them in a buttered baking dish. Do not over crowd the sliced rolls.

Once you have finished doing this with all of the dough, cover sliced rolls and let rest for 20 minutes.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes till golden brown.

Now you can either serve them with soften butter or make a glaze.



I make a glaze with a stick of soften butter and several cups of powdered sugar, I just keep adding it until I have the consistency I like and than I add a Tablespoon of Vanilla.

We have a long history of cinnamon rolls in our family, my Mom made the best!

I have tried her recipe and mine never taste as good as hers did, so I decided to find my own recipe and I really like this one. 

 I think she would approve!



What's on your bed?

Are you like me, you go to one blog and there is a link to another blog so you click on that link and then there is another and before you know it you have spent an hour blog hopping.

Well, today I did just that! The blog I ended up on had a linkys party going on and her theme was What's on your bed. How fun was it to see all the beautiful quilts people had on there beds.

I went ahead and added a picture of my bed and I encourage you to do the same.

Here is the link, http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/04/whats-on-your-bed.html

Be sure to check out her site and add you quilt too!



Bonnet Oh Bonnet!

My daughter, Amanda, asked me if I could make her a bonnet for Frontier Day they were having at her school.  For once it wasn't the night before and it was also something I thought would be quick and fairly easy to make.

Instead of buying a pattern I would probably only use once I decided I would Google free bonnet patterns, to my surprise there were several free patterns.  After looking through them, I picked the one I thought would be the fastest to make. The women who shared the pattern said the instructions were for a small bonnet. Knowing my daughter has a big head I added several inches to the pattern. Once I got started I realized how easy this pattern was and agreed to make one more for Amanda's BFF, Abbie. Abbie's I made a few inches smaller than Amanda's because I knew she had a smaller head.

Happy with days accomplishments, I took the bonnets to school to give to the girls. They were so happy to have matching bonnets they put them on right away. Well to say the least, they were huge!!!  I decided the smaller one would work for Amanda and I would make Abbie another one. So what started out a a quick bonnet project ended up being a 3 bonnet project.

I also made Amanda a quick skirt and apron to go with her bonnet.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

Now, can I get back to quilting.....please!