A New Feature!

A few years ago when I first started blogging, I

tried to add a new post to the blog everyday.  

Now, this was before I had started my own

business and started writing books.  Let's just 

say there was more time in my life to do things

that I could then write about and more time in 

my life to write about those things.

I realize I don't post as often as I would like 

but hopefully once I meet my current deadlines

I will be able to free up some more time to get 

back to blogging more often.

I heard from Vicki T this week and she asked me

if there was a way to subscribe to my blog and get 

new posts by email.  I said I'd try to figure that out

and amazingly, I did and it was quite easy!  I didn't

even have to consult with the American Homestead

IT department (our college age kids)!  

So, if this is a feature you would like, just look at the 

right hand sidebar of the blog and at the top it says:

Follow by Email.  Just click on the little box, type in 

your email and hit submit. When I add a new post to

the blog it will come to you in your email.  

Thanks for the suggestion Vicki T.!

Present Perfect: Family Cookbook

Recently I was having a conversation with a 

friend and fellow cookbook hoarder lover.  She

was getting new shelves for her new house so

she could store her vast cookbook collection. 

(At this point I must admit I have two large 

barrister's bookcases filled with cookbooks.)

I asked my friend if she actually looks in the

cookbooks anymore, she admitted she doesn't.

I asked because I don't either.  Even if I know

a perfect recipe is in a particular book, generally

I'll just find it online and pull it up on my kindle

in the kitchen.

That got me to thinking, what books would I

keep and what books would I let go of.  That is

when I spied a perfect present I received many

years ago.  When I was getting married, my aunts

and cousins made me a family cookbook.  It is filled

with their favorite recipes to help me in my new

married life.  I love to look through this little book

and remember those who wrote in it, it is especially

poignant as the years go by and some of the 

contributors are no longer with us, but their memory

lives on...

The funniest addition to the book came from

my Aunt Jane.  Aunt Jane always threw great

parties.  The photo above is of many of the

cousins at one of her parties.  We were always a 

theatrical family.  That's me, front row on the right.

Here is Aunt Jane's contribution:

These recipes all recorded are

to help you,

Mine is just a friendly word

or two,

Morton, Pepperidge Farm

or Sara Lee,

Put it all together and 

you have me!

Aunt Jane was ahead of her time.  Sandra

Lee of Semi Homemade Fame got a tv show

and book deals for what Aunt Jane had been

doing for years!  Put something on a pretty 

plate and serve it to happy people and who

cares if it was homemade!

This is one cookbook I will never get rid of.

Elle's Kitchen: Linguine with Garlic Scapes

A lovely early summer meal of linguine with

garlic scapes.  What are garlic scapes you may

ask?  They are the flower stems of a garlic bulb.

Garlic growers will remove this stem to produce

a larger bulb.

At our local Saturday morning Farmer's Market

there were many stalls selling scapes.  They seem

to be a hot item this year.  The farmer I bought them

from gave me this easy recipe.  This is the sort of  meal

that I imagine a little old European lady would make for

lunch after foraging in the fields in the early morning.

Ingredients:

Linguine

a handful of garlic scapes, chopped

Butter (I used 3 to 4 tbls.)

grated parmesan cheese

Cook the linguine according to package directions, drain.

Melt the butter in a pan and add scapes, saute for

a few minutes.  Place linguine in a large bowl and

add butter and scapes, add grated parm and toss.

Top with additional parm and serve.

We dined al fresco and with this as our view, it 

made the dinner even better.

Enjoy!

A Grand Time in Grand Haven

Last weekend we packed the suitcases, packed the

cooler, packed the car and headed north to Michigan.

I think Michigan is one of the nicest places to 

spend the summer.  The days are hot but there

is a breeze from all those lakes and the nights

are cool and great for sleeping.  The landscape 

of western Michigan is filled with fruit orchards.

We stopped at Crane's Pie Pantry for lunch.

I love a business that has been around since 1916.

And if you are eating at the pie pantry ~ well,

you have to have pie!

Finally we made it up to Grand Haven and the 

new summer home of our relatives Pat and Jim.

Grand Haven is a quintessential American small

town.  The downtown is thriving with shops and

restaurants.  This Italian provision store has been

in business since 1907.

We had a great time walking around the neighborhood

looking at all of the beautiful homes.

The homes and gardens are so well kept,

this is an area of many Dutch immigrants

and you can see their roots in how nicely 

they keep their properties.

Of course we went to the Saturday morning

Farmer's Market.

In the morning we could run to the bakery

to get treats for breakfast, there was time

for picnicing, going to the beach, doing some

antiquing, finding some local history and most

importantly time to spend with those we love.

At the end of the day we headed to the beach.

It is so nice to watch the sunset in the 

western sky.

You have to stay to watch the lights come on

on the pier.  They are on a catwalk where the

keeper can walk when the lake gets very rough

and it is impossible to walk on the pier.

A grand time!

Thanks Pat & Jim.

How I Felt Wool

I view my treasure hunting for wool or as I call

it, woolgathering to be as much fun as making the

projects.  I feel the same way about it as I do about 

antiquing, I never look in the pristine glass cases

filled with antiques, I love the hunt through the

boxes of old junk.  It is the same with wool, I can

(and sometimes do) buy beautiful already felted

wool but I LOVE to find it and felt it myself.  I 

look at thrift stores and garage sales for wool 

garments. I try to buy things for $1 or less unless

the wool is really something special.

I like to buy 100% wool items but will buy

a blend as long as the wool content is at least

80%.  I try to buy coats, jackets or long skirts,

I stay away from pants because generally they

are not the right type of wool.  I don't buy 

worsted wool.  What is worsted wool?  It is called

worsted wool because of the way it is made.  In 

the carding process, only the longest threads are

used to make the yarn and this makes for a much

thinner fabric when woven.  It is often used for 

suits and pants and some skirts, especially pleated

ones since worsted wool holds a pleat well.  For 

my purposes to use wool for applique, worsted wool 

is not a good choice since it ravels even after the

felting process.  The more you feel woolens, the 

better you will be able to feel the difference between 

a regular wool yarn and a worsted yarn used to 

weave the fabric.

When I get my purchases home, I cut it up

outdoors if the weather permits.  To felt wool

it is necessary to remove the seams and all 

sewing threads since the threads can cause

the fabric to not felt correctly.  The photo shows

a skirt, I cut off the waistband and the hem 

including any seam tape.  Then I cut off the 

seams completely, I find it is not necessary to

try to pick open the seams since there are so 

many folds at the seams.  I then open the 

pleats with a seam ripper, then the wool pieces

are ready to be felted.

This photo shows the process a bit more

clearly.  On the right side I am cutting off the 

seam, then I will cut just below the tape on

the hem.  The area that has the interfacing

will differ from garment to garment.  This

interfacing pulled off easily and left no residue

so that area was fine.  If the interfacing would 

not come off easily or if it comes off but leaves

pieces of the adhesive on the wool, then I would

just cut that area off completely.

Jackets are harder to deal with but I do use them 

because they have such gorgeous colors.  First I cut

off the cuff, then I cut the sleeve off at the shoulder.

I pull the wool part away from the jacket, leaving the

lining attached to the bodice.

This photo shows the 2 pieces of the sleeve with

the seams removed.  The interfacing on this came

away easily, if it hadn't I would have cut it off.  Then

I used the same process to cut away the back pieces

and the side piece.

You can see the front piece has a heavy

interfacing and since it did not pull away 

easily, I discarded the front sections.  I 

did cut off the pocket fronts.

So here is the amount of wool I got from a

99 cent wool jacket.  Two pockets, two back

pieces, two side pieces and the four pieces 

from the sleeves.

Divide the wool pieces by color taking care with

reds especially since they can bleed and turn

everything pink.  Then wash in hot water with

a cold rinse with detergent.  Dry at the hottest

setting.  NOTE:  Be sure to clean your lint trap

since cut-up wool will give off a lot of lint.

This is what a wool piece looks like when it 

comes out of the dryer.  I like it to look neat

so I quickly press it and trim the edges.

This is what the wool looks like after

felting, pressing and trimming.

I stack the pieces on top of each other and

then roll it, I find it gets less wrinkles this way.

And there you have it!

This may not be for everyone and if it isn't there 

are many beautiful felted wools for sale.  If this 

is your type of thing ~ then give it a try!

Pump Up the Patterns

As a pattern designer for the Quilt/Craft industry, 

I design for all skill levels.  My felt patterns with

 embroidery use about five common embroidery

 stitches.  I want my patterns to appeal to all age 

and skill levels.  That said, if you happen to be a 

person that likes to put your own spin on a piece,

 I say go for it!  That's what I would do!

Recently I heard from Lee from Two Thimbles

Quilt Shop in Bellingham, WA.  Lee's shop was

hosting a class to teach my felt ornament patterns.

 The shop has a talented stitcher, Suz, who put her own

spin on my patterns, she changed sizes, tried new

embroidery stitches and added buttons and beads.

They were beautiful.

Look at this gorgeous present, it is better 

than candy or cookies (and less fattening).

I would love to get a present like this.  Imagine

this gift for a grown child celebrating their first

Christmas in their own apartment or for a couple

that has just married and are celebrating their

first Christmas as a married couple.  I can also

imagine making these ornaments for one's

grandkids each year so by the time they leave

home they have their own collection of ornaments

and what a great memory of their Grandma in the

future.

This is a photo taken of the class, so many

busy hands creating art.  Someone is using one

of the felt ornaments to embellish a stocking.

I wish I could be there to join in the fun.

Now let's zoom in on the photo from above and a

confession from me.  I spotted that tabletopper in

the photo and thought WOW, that is fabulous, I

wonder who designed that, hmmm, it looks so 

familiar.  That's when it hit me ~ I designed it!

It is my Grand Isle pattern made with a combo

of batik fabric and felt.  Love it!

And here is a photo sent to me from Little

Scrap Quilt Shop in Kokomo, IN ~ they used

my Petaluma pattern and made it from cotton

fabric and made it into a wallhanging.  Great idea!

Keep those creative juices flowing and keep

on stitchin'.