Monday, December 3, 2012

First Sunday in Advent

Traditionally that is when we get our Christmas stuff up. I also put away our everyday table linens and put out the Christmas stuff. Now that one leads to a little controversy in my home: first there is the issue of the Advent wreath it self- just try finding one purple candle let one 3, the pink on is usually not so hard, THEN try finding a white pillar candle that doesn't smell.  This year the local Catholic store had some sets in stock but the white pillar came from Wal-Mart. AFTER loads of sniffing and sneezing I chose one that is called clean laundry and has a fairly mellow scent (not what  my generic detergent smells like!)
Now we move onto the dishes- I put away my everyday dishes and move into a Christmas set. They too can be hard to find- I like a traditional pattern, unfortunately my first set was a pretty pattern of red cardinals, holly leaves and berries with a gold trim. I bought it from the Dollar Store. The complaints from the males in the family were immediate and heartfelt" we can't put these in the microwave" ( don't even ask how they found out- I heard it in great detail, I am just lucky I have  a microwave and a house still!) and the bowls are shallow with a brim so somehow the cereal didn't taste right. Okay, I promised that I would look for a new set that was also affordable, had no metallic trim and did have traditional cereal bowls. Not so easy in that I am not a fan of Frosty, or elves etc. The Christmas tree designs were okay but kind of plain and ugly to me- except for the ones that we couldn't afford. Finally I have a set found in the thrift shop- the bowls are not as good but they can live with them! Heather on the other hand understands that the beauty of a nice dish should trump all other considerations, but since she is away at college I am outnumbered.My table - Hector couldn't care less by the wayMy candles

Monday, November 19, 2012

Buttonholes

Talking with some fellow sewists lately- they hated doing zippers and preferred buttons! Honestly I don't know why- a zipper is so easy- a few pins two rows of stitching and DONE. In my experience no matter how often you practice a buttonhole on a scrap of fabric to exactly duplicate your garment it will come out perfectly on the practice piece but once you switch to your actual garment at least one of those suckers is going to act up and become a tangled mess that is so hard to fix and at that point the outfit is finished so not at a place that you can even do much about it easily. One of my friends sort agreed- only she hates all non quilt related sewing so avoids buttons or zippers entirely.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

I envy organized people!

My sewing room is out of control AGAIN.- So even though I have two sewing projects for clients and two for myself, that's not even counting my "Projects in  Planning" list, I need to take some time to clean and corral wayward material and notions and yarn. I think I am a "Maxine" but really aspire to "Martha Stewart". Fellow Maxines tell me that we are more creative than the Marthas of the world- but I doubt it when one spends time looking for the buttons that I know I saw last week- when they weren't needed!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Peaches everywhere!

I just put the 35th lid on my peach jam, peaches courtesy of a Friend's tree- next week I will do about 6 or 12 jars of strawberry jam before the strawberry man a mile down the road finishes up his stand for the year and plows his bushes down. Since I am allergic to strawberries I sure won't go overboard, making just enough to keep the troops happy! next week I also need to make my grapefruit jelly for the year- probably about 30 or 40 jars.  In case any one wonders about the over abundance of jams/jellies- they make great gifts and I can't remember when I last bought any for the house hold. I am going to try making small batches of jams and jellies in my bread machine- it has a jam cycle which I tried with mangoes. it makes about 4-6 jars at a time, simple and good.