Missy's Homemaking Adventures

Hand Quilting the Bird House Quilt

2012-02-15T20:11:00.000-06:00

I had my first quilting bee on Saturday! Only four of us came since the only loom we could afford was so small, 2 ft by 4 ft. Maybe one day our church will be able to get a bigger one. Pam, Skye, Miss Debra and I spent almost three hours sewing on the quilt. You can tell I was there to work since I had my braids and bandana on.
Miss Debra has been hand quilting her whole life and offered to teach us. We have to hand quilt the middle since I cannot fit the whole king size quilt in my machine. I recorded Miss Debra while she was explaining the tools needed for hand quilting. Miss Debra is such a fun lady and it is me talking in the background asking her questions. I am not an expert at videography but there is still a lot of good info here. It looks like the videos are popping up at the bottom of the blog, I'm still trying to get used to the new blogger interface.

She suggests using wax to keep your thread from getting knotted when hand sewing and of course a thimble. I used my antique thimble from this post http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/antique-quilts-and-thimble.html I also used my green rubber thimble, Miss Debra used a leather thimble. Watch the video below to hear how she uses her thimble and to see what it looks like.

Here is a picture of my thimbles, I've written a previous post about my antique thimble (the silver one with red flowers), it fits my skinny fingers with long fingernails perfect! Those short cheap ones that come in kits never fit my fingers. I got the rubber green one from a quilt shop and it does not work if you are trying to press a needle through heavy material but works fine for quilting. In fact I was quilting with the green thimble under the quilt and the antique thimble over the quilt. I kept taking them off and stabbing myself too! LOL

Pam's stitches were so tiny and precise

Whereas my stitches were horrible!

When we met on Thursday at Miss Debra's daughter's house who also knows how to hand quilt, Skye and Joeann put me to shame with their beautiful hand stitches! LOL

Miss Debra says the goal is to have 20 stitches per inch but she usually does about 10? I did maybe 3-4 per inch! But I can only get better right? The second video shows how to do the hand stitching.

This is a running stitch, but as you can see my stitches were too far apart and for a newbie like me, my stitches were better when I went up and down in the material. I also found I was able to hide my knots in the batting easier when I scraped my fingernails on it while slowly pulling it up through the bottom quilt, this is to ensure you don't have a knotty bottom quilt.

These were just some hints on hand quilting until I learn more and when I have more time to spend on a quilt I would love to hand quilt a whole quilt, but a couple of weeks is not enough time. For the most information watch the videos from the expert herself. Whoops, I forgot she told me to make sure ya'll knew she was not an expert! LOL The deadline I set for myself is February 24 when we will hopefully have our last quilting bee to sew all the buttons on the bird houses.

I found some good information here on hand quilting also: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/02/ask-bonnie.html I think I want one of those personal looms.

Happy quilting ya'll!
Missy
More posts of the quilt are here:
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/birdhouse-quilt-progress.html
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/birdhouse-quilt-update-2.html
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-have-had-terrible-day-want-to-hear.html
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/02/birdhouse-quilt-update-4the-back.html
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/02/birdhouse-quilt-update-5basting.html

Birdhouse Quilt Update 5/basting

2012-02-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

We rushed on Thursday to get the bottom and top of the quilt finished http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/02/birdhouse-quilt-update-4the-back.html
We needed to get it basted on Friday so we could start the hand quilting on Saturday. Our deadline is February 28, Marie's surprise 50th birthday party is March 1st. I know this is a terrible picture of me. My mom was in town that day and I had been gone since 7 that morning and we were meeting at 7:30 at church to do the basting. I was literally gone from 7 am to 9:30 pm that day!

Here is a better picture of the back of the quilt. It's huge! We laid it on tables because we thought it would help save our backs and knees from crawling on the floor.

First I took the back and layed it upside down on the table. I used painters tape to tape it to the table keeping it as smooth and taut as possible.

Daniel walked in as Kristi and I were laying out the batting on top of the quilt back and we recruited his help for the moment. He was embarrassed about me taking a picture of him "sewing". The batting was not quite wide enough so Skye cut and sewed it together to make it big enough. You want the batting to be bigger all around than the quilt top. You will trim it after you quilt. Also, if you are using cotton batting, it is a good idea to wash it first in case it shrinks.

You need to start the basting in the middle of the quilt and smooth out as you go. This will prevent lumps and tuckers in your quilt when you quilt. The only problem is that neither Kristi nor I wanted to crawl on the tables to reach the middle. Ashleigh walked in and got recruited for that job.

Valerie took over after she left.

Kristi and I were smoothing and basting on opposite ends from each other. I use special bent quilting safety pins for my basting. The big ones.

Go ahead and buy the big bag or several small bags because you will need them all! We ran out and had to use straight pins and I kept stabbing myself as I was smoothing the top down.
When we finished basting it, we took the tape off rolled each end to each other and put it on the quilting loom ready for the next day. I'll have another blog post about the hand quilting.
Here is another post about the quilt http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/birdhouse-quilt-update-2.html
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/birdhouse-quilt-progress.html
I'm going to my friend Joeann's house to do some more hand quilting on Tuesday. Have a great day ya'll!
Missy

Birdhouse Quilt Update #4/The back

2012-02-12T20:45:00.001-06:00

We are in the final stages of the birdhouse quilt. My friend Cara embroidered a block for us to put on the quilt. It says: Quilted With Love by your Kingdom Sisters, Feb. 2012. The name of our church is Kingdom Baptist Church. I had also joined a challenge over at Amy's Creative Side http://amyscreativeside.com/category/challenge-week/ to finish one thing this week, my goal was to finish this back. I had also said I would get the rust off of my treadle, but that did not happen.

Since Skye took the top home to finish (remember that post? http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-have-had-terrible-day-want-to-hear.html ) after my car accident, I needed to finish the quilt bottom. We bought some pretty birdhouse material, but it was expensive and we did not have enough for a king size quilt. Lauren took the long piece from the back and sewed the two pieces side to side to make it wider. I took the scraps and cut 18 inch squares. I cut them again and then sewed the mixed pieces together, sewed them to the top and cut off the excess.

I took the leftover blocks from the front and sewed a strip for the bottom because I needed about another 5 inches. I used lots of scraps. Which I sewed on wrong and had to rip the seam out.

I cut a little more than six inches off and then sewed it in between the two pieces.

I wish I had done the same for top of the quilt because we added a part of the middle from the front of the quilt since we will have to cut off a couple of inches from the top.

Here is the other side of the quilt. I made it too big, I figured out the measurements the day of my car accident when I was really stressed, but I would rather have it too big than too small.

Of course Tiger helped me put the cover on the bed.

Muffin helped me to measure it.

And Pippi helped me with the sewing.

See, I had lots of help with the back! LOL

Your quilt back should always be bigger than your quilt top by at least 3-4 inches and you then trim it after quilting.
I did all this in less than a week while dealing with insurance coverage, car coverage, car repairs, a whip lashed back and two chiropractor appointments! LOL
Friday we basted and Saturday we learned how to hand quilt, I blog about that in the next two posts. though!
Skye sent me a picture of the finished quilt top too!

Have a great day ya'll!
Missy
See more posts about this quilt here:
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/birdhouse-quilt-progress.html

Texas Gone Crazy Quilt

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Last week I checked out this book at the library. It is Very Easy Crazy Patchwork by Betty Barnden.

I fell in love with this book and I cannot wait to try it out! It has great pictures and instructions for machine and hand quilting. It also has several projects and different types of crazy patchwork. If you are interested in this kind of thing I definitely recommend this book!

On Friday at my quilt block of the month demo, the Quilter's Guild of Arlington were showcasing a crazy patchwork quilt. I took pictures to share with you, they are on my camera phone so sorry they aren't better.

I could not get the whole quilt in the picture, sorry.

I love this fan. She said everyone did a block and then they sewed them together.

Add caption

Look at the cute little spider.

Can you see the amazing details that were added?

Isn't this a fun quilt? Not to mention all the little details that were added!

For more information on how you can get this quilt, go to www.QGOA.org It is called "Mama's Crazy Quilt"

Quilter's Guild of Arlington is having the 2012 Annual Festival of Quilts "Texas Gone Crazy" May 11 and 12, 2012. I am going to try to go, sounds like fun! Visit their website for more information!

Missy

My Quilt Block of the month and tips I've learned.

2012-02-07T16:13:00.001-06:00

I have not mentioned this much, but with everything else going on I am also doing a quilt block of the month. Each quilt block is different. I started it in October. I paid $7 for my first block (the material and patterns) then when I bring each block in, I get a new block kit for free. I ended up paying $40 for the acrylic pattern pieces, which I was not expecting. So make sure you know ALL the details first! LOL I guess they use these pieces every year and after a while you don't have to buy them anymore. My first block turned out fine, I'll have to show you a picture later, but blocks Nov. and Dec. did not turn out very well. I need to redo them. Here are some things I have learned as a newbie, some things I learned in my one quilting class.
I take a picture at the quilt shop during the demo I go to every month.

The above pictures are the pictures I took in class, aren't they nice? two days after posting this, I realized that I sewed my corners backwards! LOL

Then I look at the picture and lay out my pieces. This helps me understand the pattern better.

You need to use a scant 1/4 inch seam or your block will not turn out. A quarter inch foot came with my new machine - I love it! Otherwise you need to mark 1/4 on your machine using a ruler. I had mine marked with tape but my seams were not right which is why my blocks did not turn out. I'll have to remember to take a picture of the correct way to do that.

You do not back stitch when quilting, instead leave a little tail between each piece. This was "chain stitched" where you sew several pieces at one time, it saves on thread and time. In the third picture you can see where I began my chain stitch with a piece of scrap fabric. This keeps your machine from eating your material. I also saw on a video today where she used her seam ripper to hold corners down before they go through the feed dogs. This also keeps those "dogs" from "eating " your material. LOL (I know corny, just indulge me and smile)

As I sew each piece, I lay it back in order.

You HAVE to press each seam the way your pattern specifies after each seam stitching. If you want a nice quilt, you cannot be lazy!

You can see I still have a lot of practicing to do on my sewing. I really like how you make individual blocks that you then sew together to form one big block.
Here it is, the finished block!

Here it is the finished block in all of it's misshapen glory! I have not trimmed it yet. I'm waiting until I finish all of them to make sure they are all the same size. I can only get better, right?
I will start making this a monthly thing as I learn new things from these quilt blocks.

Happy quilting!
Missy

White Vibrating Shuttle Sewing Machine

2012-02-06T21:15:00.001-06:00

I went to that junk shop where I got my treadle. For more info on that go here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/treadle-sewing-machine-and-winner.html
I had seen a green sewing machine cabinet that I wanted to use for my Janome, at $25 that is cheaper than buying a new ugly plastic one.

I had just seen a peek since there was something sitting on top of it.
I opened it up and looked at it and it was a White number 8 electrical sewing machine.

It was pretty filthy, I wanted you to see the metal underneath the machine.

This is the inside of the door on the cabinet, see the place for the threads? There are also two little shelves.

I found this manual for a white number 8 vibrating shuttle, and the owner of the shop gave it to me because we thought it was the manual for my machine.

I started looking through the manual and it is for a treadle that looks just like my machine, they both say white number 8, but the designs are different. My machine is also a vibrating shuttle.

I called the Viking 1-800 # I got here:

http://www.treadleon.net/whitesm/whites.html

This is a great article on White treadle machines from treadleon.net, a great resource for treadle and hand cranked sewing machines. The serial number is 1833719, according to the operator it was manufactured in 1934 in Cleveland, OH. According to another serial number list it is from 1928, from the style and stuff that makes more sense. That is the only info she had. So we do not know if it was originally a hand powered machine that was later converted or if it was made new as electric.

I still love this cabinet, so I have two people warring inside me right now. On the one hand I love antiques and I don't want to mess with it unless it is to refurbish it(although the chord is so old it is scary) or do I go ahead and gut it and make it into the much needed sewing machine cabinet I need for my Janome so that I get it off the kitchen table? What do you think? Please comment and let me have your opinion or any information about this machine.

Oh, here is another great article on the history of White sewing machines

http://www.ismacs.net/white/white.html

Torn between between history and necessity,

Missy

What a terrible day!

2012-02-03T21:32:00.001-06:00

I have had a terrible day! Want to hear about it?

Well, I feel like talking about it. Today was a very full day. I had to leave at 7am to take my husband to work 30 minutes away so that I could have the car. He works in Burleson and my quilt block of the month demo is in Burleson. This afternoon, I had to meet with my friends to sew on the birdhouse quilt. This was my plans!

It started before we even left the house. My kitten Pippi, ate a hole in one of my favorite socks. (I know, very weird! I think she's part chihuaha sometimes)

Right after we left I realized that I forgot my bag that had rows from the quilt that we needed to sew on today. That was the first strike of the day.

I dropped my husband off at work and was on my way to Wal-Mart to hang out until 9:00 when the quilt shop opened. At 8am this morning I was driving along minding my own business when out of nowhere from the right I see a blur of white coming straight at me and before I had a chance to hit the horn and warn him that I was there I felt a horrific jolt and my car started spinning to the left. In just a split second, I was in the turning lane facing the other side of the street and the white car was in the lane of opposing traffic facing me! I was dazed and did not know what to do so I grabbed my phone and called 911. We both just sat there stunned for a moment and then I pulled my car into a parking lot, didn't even have to turn since I was already facing the parking lot.

What happened is that it was raining and the car in front of the guy stopped quickly and I was in his blind spot so he didn't see me when he swerved into my lane to avoid the other car. He was really nice though and very concerned about me.

My friend Skye picked me up from my husband's work place to take me to the church for our Sewing circle. We had to run by my house to pick up the fabric I forgot, we were 45 min. late. I had planned on finishing the top and the bottom of the quilt today. We had another problem, since we had so many people working on it, not every row was the exact same length, which means that not every sash lined up. To be honest after being on the phone all day with insurance adjuster, car rentals and more - I could not handle one more problem to solve. I just turned the whole top over to Skye and told her to fix it any way she wanted to. I just started working on the back, it was a lot easier to figure out. We never did finish, I took the quilt back to finish at home because my ride to Enterprise was ready to leave. After getting the rental car I got home after 6. I have just spent the rest of the evening sitting in my big, green comfy chair catching up on the internet.

To end the day, the band on my watch broke and I stepped in cat throw up. I just started laughing and crying at the same time while my husband just looked at me as if I was going crazy.

But "rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice"

Tomorrow will be a great day!

The good news is "it could always be worse!" That was my favorite book as a kid! LOL

Have a great day ya'll!

Missy

This should make you smile!

This is my Tiger as a kitten.

3-tiered Skirt

2012-01-31T19:13:00.000-06:00

I was looking at my clothes and realized I never shared my tiered skirt I made last year. It was a pretty easy skirt to make, my husband found the material on clearance at Wal-Mart as a kit for chair pads.

I really should make another and do a tutorial for ya'll. Is that something ya'll would be interested in?

Are you wondering yet where we were? LOL

We were at Dinosaur World in Glen Rose, TX. That's the day I found my Franklin. Which BTW, is a Franklin Vibrating Shuttle. http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/treadle-sewing-machine-and-winner.html

It's a great place for photos, otherwise not worth it in my opinion. Kids would probably enjoy it.

It was the only cold day we have had, today was in the 70s in TX!

Job 41:1 ¶ Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord [which] thou lettest down?
Ps 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
Ps 104:26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
Isa 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Dinosaurs are even in the Bible!

We went to the Creation Science museum which was just down the street, and it was a lot better!

My husband refused to put his head in the dinosaur's mouth so I had to do it! LOL
Overall the best part of the day was the junk shop. I am going to drive all the way back to the junk shop on Saturday to see if they have any more sewing machine cabinets left so that I can get one for my Janome. Wanna go with me?

Here's a better picture of my skirt.
Happy hunting!
Missy

Surviving Off Grid Documentary

2012-01-30T17:50:00.000-06:00

Can you imagine living without having to ask for anything from utility companies, grocery stores and supplying everything you need yourself? Well, it can be done!
Have you heard of the book Surviving Off-Off-Grid by Michael Bunker? It is a really good book and if you are an Amazon Prime member you can get it free on Amazon for your kindle right now. Don't have a kindle? That's ok, you can download a free kindle app either onto your phone or computer. If you are like me and am not a prime member, don't worry, you can still get an ebook for only $6.99. Of course it is also available in paperback too.
Even better than that, how would you like to see a documentary done on the book? I have a good friend who is trying to raise the support to film a documentary on it.
This is the first film of it's kind, wouldn't it be awesome to be on the ground floor of such a great documentary?
"Our goal is to produce a 60 minute documentary DVD based on the Amazon.com bestseller Surviving Off Off-Grid: Decolonizing the Industrial Mind by Michael Bunker. The documentary will include interviews with the author as well as other well known individuals in the agrarian lifestyle community. This film will be distinguished from others in the genre by exploring the concept of living off off-grid. Whereas many folks in the survivalist community discuss escaping the electrical grid by creating one’s own personal grid with solar or wind power, this project will explain the concept of living without an electrical grid at all. This idea revolutionizes the concept of survival from being able to merely survive until everything goes back to "normal", to actually learning to thrive without using electricity, and other modern "necessities".
In addition, the documentary will describe how civilizations throughout history have declined when they left their agrarian roots and engaged in over specialization and urbanization. The similarities between these historical civilizations and the modern industrialized Western world will be explored, with an emphasis on warning of the consequences that occur when a society leaves its agrarian traditions.
Writers, producers, and directors have already been identified. The cooperation of the author of the book in promoting this project through his network has been secured. The only thing this project needs to go forward is funding. More information about the book on which the documentary will be based can be found at the off off-grid website: http://www.offoffgrid.com/
The documentary project has an aggressive schedule and is targeted to be completed by the summer of 2012."
If you would like to be a supporter go here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/offoffgridmovie/surviving-off-off-grid-decolonizing-the-industrial
There are all kinds of neat things you can get if you help to back this film.
Be sure to pray about it and see if this is something God might have you do!

Birdhouse Quilt Update 2!

2012-01-30T14:30:00.002-06:00

First, I wanted to show you that I got my Janomes!!

The one on the right is my old one that I have been borrowing, my friend said that I could keep it! So excited because this will be the one I take to sewing circle and classes. It will also be nice for when I am working on two projects at one time, not to mention friends can come over and sew and not have to bring their machines. The one in the middle is the one I'm keeping, it is computerized. I have been so busy I haven't had a chance to sit down and play with it. The one on the left is the one I'm giving to my friend Marie. She is the one we are making the quilt for. I took her machine out and was sewing on it, it is very nice too. I am almost done with mt first UFO challenge for the year. I did not realize she was picking different numbers and just started with the first on my list.

Last week I had to cut the sashing for the quilt blocks.

I used my bias ruler which is 2 1/2 inches wide to measure the sashes. I cut over 90!

I laid a king size quilt of mine on the floor to keep the pieces clean and to guide us in the size. We put 10 blocks across and 10 blocks down. We had several ladies help quilt over 100 blocks!!!

I think that block placement was the most time consuming, and most difficult part of the evening. Can't you tell by the look on our faces? We didn't want too much of one print or color next to each other.

We had fun trying to decide where all the block pieces should go. We were throwing blocks across the quilt to each other.

Chrystal is helping decide where to put the blocks

Kristi tried to hide behind her quilt blocks she was sewing together. She is using her daughter's Hello Kitty Janome, it is a great beginner sewing machine.

Here is Pam sewing a row of quilt blocks together.

We are not exactly sure how Lauren managed to sew her pieces like that! LOL
My friend Skye was also there helping to sew and cut.

.

This section will be in the middle of the quilt, I just sent it home with Cara to applique more birds like the one above.

This section will go to the left of the middle section. It will have another one to the right.
We sewed 10 rows which ended up being 90 inches, I miscalculated, they were supposed to be 100 inches. Hmmm, gonna have to rethink this. The blocks had to be cut down to 8 inches and I forgot to add in the seam allowance! LOL That's ok, I laid one across my bed and it hung over by a couple of inches on each side. Friday we are going to sew the rows together, then add a 2 1/2 inch border the same material as the sashing. We will then add a 4 1/2 border of a real pretty yellow and blue flowers.
We will have one group working on that and the second group working on the back since it will have to be pieced some too.
We are almost finished!! Our deadline is March 1! For more previous posts on this quilt go here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/birdhouse-quilt-progress.html
Happy quilting!
Missy

Essential oil bag tutorial

2012-01-27T10:57:00.000-06:00

I have been super busy! In between working/organizing the bird house quilt, cleaning my new treadle sewing machine, researchine my treadle, blogging, trying to clean my house and everything else a house wife has to do (who says homemakers don't do anything all day?) I made a bag for my friend Cara to put her essential oils in. Cara is a good friend of mine and is full of knowledge about essential oils. I try to learn all there is to know, but then can't remember it, so I just call Cara when I need her help. Here is her blog http://e-oils.blogspot.com/ it is a great place to get information about essential oils and how to use them. A lot cheaper and with no side effects than traditional medicine. You can also buy oils from her website here http://stores.mybutterflyoils.com/StoreFront.bok
About a month ago she showed me a picture of a carrier and asked me if I could make one. I looked everywhere and could not find a tute on making one (grant it though, I'm a terrible internet researcher!) so I decided to try to make one myself. I made a lot of mistakes, but I now know what to do differently next time. I'm going to make myself a small one to carry in my purse. (if I can ever find the time!)

Be sure to read the entire tutorial before starting to sew! I forgot to take pictures at first, sorry. I found about 5 different patterns to use together. You can use as many or as little prints as you want, but I really like black, red and white. I took my two main pieces for the front and back and cut them 12x15 1/2 inches. These measurements are for the size I wanted, but you can make it any size you want. First add a lining, more info on that farther on down.
The picture above is the pocket, I took the two main pieces and folded it in thirds. I wanted the middle section for the oils and the bottom section for two pockets and nothing on the top section. I measured across the material and added about an extra 1/4 in. I made the pocket 5x12 1/4 inches. I then sewed them right sides together and left an opening to turn it.

I left the opening at the bottom and then sewed it down. I then attached it to the bottom of the inside fabric and sewed up the middle to make two pockets. Don't worry about a little (little is the key word here) overlap, it will not be seen when the inside and outside fabric is sewn together. I did make the pocket about a 1/4 inch shorter then the fold because I wanted the red contrasting fabric between the two blacks and the bag needed room to fold over. This pocket is for band-aids, tweezers, oil guides, etc. Next time I think I will add Velcro to the pockets to keep things from falling out.

Next, I wanted the middle section a contrasting fabric also. This section is to fold over the oils in the middle before closing the bag up.

Here is a picture of what it will looked like finished with oils in it. I cut the middle the width I wanted then laid it down until it overlapped to decide how long to cut it. I cut this strip 5 x 25 inches. You will need to cut two pieces.

(Please do not look at my tacky chipped fingernail polish! How embarrassing!) I sewed the two pieces together wrong sides and then turned them and ironed the edges down before I sewed it together. When I sewed it onto the inside fabric I sewed around the entire length to give it a more finished look.

This part I will change next time. I sewed two pieces of felt under the middle strip to give cushion to the oils. Next time I will cut an inner lining for the entire bag (felt, flannel, batting, anything will work). Be sure to sew the lining to the inside fabric BEFORE sewing anything else on. I then sewed the middle part on top of the felt.

I used elastic to hold the bottles in. I made the top row for regular size bottles and the bottom row for small bottles. Notice the two different sized elastics? I also made a bigger size at the end for the carrier oil or spray bottle.

I did make some of the elastic too loose. Next time I will mark each piece where I want it to go. I zig-zagged the edges of elastic then using a straight stitch , sewed up each piece using one strip of elastic for each row. I just sewed along the bottom or top of the elastic until I got to the next part that I needed to sew up. You can do that if your thread blends in with your material.
Remember that all of this is being sewn to the right side of the inside fabric only. You don't want all those sewing marks seen on the other side.

Next you need to decide where you want your elastic. You will want one piece on the inside and one piece on the outside, use a ruler to help guide and make sure it is straight. Leave enough room at the top to be able to sew your two pieces together. I would recommend at least a half inch.

It is really hard to pin down Velcro so I used washable glue stick to hold it in place until I sewed it down.

When you sew down the Velcro, I would recommend using white thread, the black looks awful!! Here it is almost finished.

If you are going to add any outside decorations, sew them on now before sewing the inside and outside fabrics together. I added a ribbon. Leave enough room for the sewing, I would say about 1/2 an inch from the edge.

I then put the right sides of the two main pieces together, make sure your Velcro is on the right ends! I started sewing around the edges, starting and stopping at the middle sections since I did not want to sew down the middle flaps. I then turned it wrong side out and ironed down the edges folded under. Cara did mention it would be nice to have a ribbon so she could fold the bag one more time to put in her purse. I would add those now to the middle of the backside of the black middle section. Now sew around the entire bag.

Here is the back of the folded bag, with oils in the bag.

And here is your finished bag, filled with oils and ready to go with you! Ready for any emergency you might have!
Happy sewing!
Missy

2012-01-25T13:41:00.000-06:00

I'm having internet problems for the past couple of days. When I click to either open or close a webpage my internet stops working on me. Whether I am looking at a blog or trying to open a FB link from my mail - does not bother. It is taking me forever to get anything done, and I have a terrific tutorial to post for you, but I can't download any pictures!
While we are waiting on my husband to fix my computer (he's working overtime right now) I wanted to let you know that I finally bit the bullet and am on pinterest now. I still haven't quite figured out what happens when I follow people yet though. I'm still learning.
This is the best way I think of to describe pinterest.
Remember years ago when we would cut recipes, home decorating ideas, fashion ideas, crafts and stuff from magazines and then sort them into folders? Well I think this is the same thing, but instead of paper and scissors we find something we like on the internet and "pin" it onto a "board". The pinning is the scissors and glue and the board is the folder! Talking about using less clutter! In fact I am making a dress similar to an idea I pinned to one of my boards right now!
Please follow me, I'm pinning apron tutorials (did you notice that page of mine is gone?) I'm pinning them now instead. I'm also pinning recipes I want to try and sewing and quilt tips, ideas and patterns. Not to mention ideas for my new house in MO. I just started a board for treadles also that I will be pinning resources and pictures to.
You are welcome to follow me!

Have a great day and if anyone has any ideas on how to fix my internet I am open to suggesetions I have internet explorer and I'm afraid I have a virus.

Missy

Antique Quilts and a thimble

2012-01-24T19:02:00.000-06:00

I found this thimble at the American Country Mall I was at Saturday when I bought my treadle sewing machine. I found it in a sewing box and was not interested in the sewing box and asked how much for just the thimble. She said I could have it. I'm not sure if I was more excited about my thimble or my treadle! LOL I had to make myself take it off my finger for church Sunday!

You can the seam where it is joined together at the back. Don't you love the pretty red flowers? The best part is that it fits my skinny fingers and is tall enough for my fingernail! Those short, stubby, fat thimbles you buy nowadays never fit and so I never use them. I'll use this one all the time!

Look at all of the pretty antique quilts they had there.

This next one is very unusual. You can see it laying to the right on top of the other quilts.

Here is a better view. I wish I knew the story behind this quilt!

It looks like someone either drew or painted birds on this quilt. I had to take a picture of the penguin. There was also an owl and a flamingo!

Here is the booth where I found my treadle sewing machine.

They also had a Singer, the next one was from Sears, and I'm not sure about the other two. Next payday I'm going to see if maybe we can buy one of these other sewing machines so I can have a place for my Janome. Even though my treadle has the best cabinet I plan on fixing it so I can use it.

Here is a spool holder, but only small ones fit in it. It is sitting on top of a green sewing machine cabinet.

I love the color!

Isn't this lamp adorable? I'm kind of an odd person, I love craft/sewing rooms that are full of color and fun, yet I love the antiques too! I would never paint an antique. I'll have to find a way to blend the two when we move to MO next year and I get my sewing room.
For those who were wondering about my machine yesterday, I got an answer on details about my machine.
Thank you for window shopping with me today!
Missy

"What a beautiful sewing machine and cabinet. Your machine is a Franklin Vibrating Shuttle with 'Scarab Decal' manufactured by the Domestic Sewing Machine Company for Sears, Roebuck & Co. around 1914 or so. It was based on Singer's very succ...essful and popular model 27. It was a considerably lower priced alternative although nearly identical in quality, design and construction to the Singer machine except for the hand wheel and the decal set. The cabinet is original to the machine. Enjoy your beatiful find!!"

I was so exciting about getting this ifnormation!

Treadle Sewing Machine and a winner!

2012-01-23T07:30:00.005-06:00

My husband and I had a date day on Saturday. We went to Glen Rose, TX to use some groupon tickets to Dinosaur World. It was pretty boring (more on that in another post) but we stopped at a junk/antique store called American Country Mall. While there my husband was like "Missy, come here! It is a treadle sewing machine!"
But first, let me tell you who the winner of the apron is! Congratulations Kim, she shared the giveaway on FB!

All we could see was the cabinet and it was covered with a lot of stuff! I asked the cashier (owner?) if she could help me look at it. I didn't have the money for it, even though $75 was a pretty good price.

Here it is at the store. I could not tell what kind of machine it was because it was so dirty. The belt broke while she was showing it to me. It was pretty filthy and I even found a wasp nest (with baby wasps!)on it when I got it home. The lady could tell how much I wanted it and said I could have it for $25! Sold!!!

My husband had to take the two pieces apart to get it in the car. This is what the underside looks like. (It's upside down) Of course my cats had to investigate everything! I'm glad they didn't get stung by one of the wasps!

Here is the foot pedal where you would pump it to make it work. No electricty needed! Can you see how filthy it is? (Please ignore the messy house!)

Here is the backside of the machine. Once I cleaned all the dirt off I saw it was a Franklin! I'm thinking it is between 80-100 years old!

I wiped it with water and then polished it with olive oil, doesn't it look a lot better? The emblems are all worn down it has been used so much, can you imagine the stories it can tell about all the clothes, quilts, wedding dresses and baby gowns it has made? I'd rather have a machine with history than one that has been stuck in a corner and never used.

This is the shuttle casing and shuttle which is the same as our modern day bobbin. As you can see in the above picture the plate covering where I think the shuttle goes is missing. (You can see the "hole" better in one of the pictures below) Someone stole it from the store, isn't that terrible?

I even found the manual in one of the drawers! Unfortunately the top half is disentragting, my husband is going to copy as much of it as he can for me. I can't find a date or serial number or model number anywhere. My husband is going to fix the belt and a few minor flaws in the cabinet for me. Until my husband fixes it, I think I will use the cabinet for my Janome and get it off the table! LOL

It is really easy to pull the machine in and out of the cabinet!

I'll leave you with some pictures of the machine and tomorrow I have some more pictures from the Antique mall to show you! In this picture I pulled a screw out and was looking at the bottom (which I realized I forgot to clean)

Here is where the shuttle goes.

This is a measurement guide for thread and needle size.

This is the front, kind of rusted.

Here is the other side, the hand crank.

I am not sure what this piece does, anybody know? Update: This is a bobbin winder!

Update!!! Someone gave me the information I needed! Here it is:

I'll keep you updated as I learn more about the machine! (Yes this does mean I know have three machines, but I will put them all to good use!)

Missy

Last day to enter the giveaway

2012-01-22T07:59:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to remind ya'll that today is the last day to enter to win an apron, I will draw the names tomorrow!
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-sewing-machine.html
Only five people have entered, so you have a good chance of winning!
Good Luck,
Missy

I won another giveaway

2012-01-20T07:33:00.001-06:00

The Lord has really blessed me this week! First I found these really fun polka dotted socks on clearance for $1.75 at Target. (I love fun socks) Who couldn't not smile looking at these socks right?
I just found out that I won another giveaway over at Sewn with Grace. http://www.sewnwithgrace.com/2012/01/birthday-giveaway-weekday-3.html I love this blog she is such a sweet Christian young lady who is celebrating her birthday this week by having giveaways. I won her collection of vintage sheets, can't wait to get them and decide what to make with them. I also won the book Not Your Grandmother's Quilt. I love books!
I also won a book on FB called How to live without Electricity and Love it from The Morris Tribe http://www.themorristribe.com/2012/01/16/homestead-barn-hop-45/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheMorrisTribe+%28The+Morris+Tribe%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo
A few weeks ago I won One Yard Wonders another sewing book from Ikat Bag http://www.ikatbag.com/
My husband also found me a pattern to make Cabbage Patch dolls on Amazon. I had always wanted a handmade one, now I can make them myself!
Of course, you all remember that I won two sewing machines and a mystery bag from Janome.com .
The Lord has really been blessing me!
Of course now I just have to wait for all of my blessings to arrive in the mail! Everytime the mailman comes I'm out the door or listening for his special knock (Yes, I know my mailman's knock! LOL)
Don't forget about my giveaway for an apron! Not many people have signed up so it should be easy to win!
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-sewing-machine.html
I also got a new free ipod nano, can't figure it out though! LOL I won an ipod nano about ten years ago at work and my husband registered it, and we got sent a new one last week because of a defect in the old one. Of course we had to send the old one back. This is one is about the size of a half dollar.
Sometimes people don't really think about certain verses, my favorite verse is:
Ps 34:8 "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
Even if I had not won these wonderful prizes, I would still be blessed because the Lord has forgiven me of my sins and I am on my to Heaven. I have been blessed by a wonderful husband who loves me and my Lord. I also have been blessed by a wonderful church full of Godly friends who serve the Lord with me.
Be sure to trust God in all things you do today and you will also be blessed by Him.
Missy

Weight Loss Success Story.... in the making

2012-01-19T11:06:00.001-06:00

I have a dear friend at church who has lost over 50 pounds! She puts my feeble attempts to shame, especially since I haven't been doing anything lately. She was gracious enough to share her testimony with us.

Weight loss success story….in the making

My dear friend Missy asked me if I would write my testimony in regards to losing weight as we hit this New Year and so many of us make weight loss a resolution…a resolution that for many of us tends to fall by the weigh-side(pun intended) within weeks of the New Year.

Not so for me, weight loss is not my resolution but for right now in my life it’s my journey and my number 3 priority behind serving the Lord and caring for my family.

I thought a great way to tell this story is to tell it with pictures. I have a long history of being overweight, not as a child or teen but right at the time I hit college with an unlimited meal card…I won’t bother to go into the history of what I did and didn’t do to lose weight during the last 24 years…..yes, that’s TWENTY FOUR years of being overweight/obese/fat, whatever the word you like that’s the most comfortable for you. This journey really starts in March of 2011. In a nutshell, I was done being fat. I was done not feeling comfortable in my skin, done not feeling comfortable in my clothes, done with the size of clothes I owned, done being the biggest in the room, done feeling so self conscious of how I looked, done with the mixed message I was sending out to the world. You see, I am very health conscious and for several years I have had a very good diet, all natural/organic, no processed junk, no msg, high fructose corn syrup, minimal to no cane sugar…natural foods, natural healing yada yada yada….yet I am fat. All the knowledge I have of health did not match up with my lifestyle and my healthy diet….while my diet was quite healthy, obviously I was getting too much of a good thing and I was not exercising consistently. In a nutshell I was a glutton and slothful, in plain English I was greedy and lazy…both of which are sins. I praise the Lord for a pastor who will preach the whole Word of God, when is the last time you went to church and your pastor preached on being a glutton? Out of the biblical knowledge came conviction for me for how I was living and what I had done to my temple. I also praise the Lord my surfeiting(overeating) did not cause me physical detriment, but the weight I was carrying, physical problems were inevitable. So on March 28, 2011 I started to track my food and exercise on a site online as well as an app on my iphone called Sparkpeople and I haven’t looked back since.

So, on with the picture show(please know that I modestly adorn myself with dresses and skirts but I do exercise privately at home with workout shirts and pants and I do run outside with leggings but with a running skirt over top for modesty)

This is me in March 2011!!

These are progress pictures as I diligently have exercised my body and exercised portion control.

I’ve even started training to run a 5K race, my kids help me out too!

And today I am 63 pounds lighter!!!

How am I doing this you ask? I am tracking my food, exercising portion control, exercising at least 5-6 days per week and most importantly, I am making no excuses. I eat right and exercise; I do not deny myself any food, other than food I just don’t eat because of health or religious reasons. I make the choice daily to do this. During this journey I have realized that I DO have the choice to be healthy or NOT. I still have more weight to lose but I am confident I will reach my ideal weight by this summer, hence the title of my testimony “…success story in the making” It may be cliché but if I can do it, anybody can.

Thank you Clarissa for sharing such an amazing story with us!
God bless you!
Missy

Spincah Alfredo Pizza

2012-01-18T19:04:00.002-06:00

I love homemade pizza. I do not like a dry or overcooked or under flavored pizza. There are different sauces you can make for a pizza. This would be called a white pizza and is very easy to make. All the recipes I used came from my church's healthy cookbook, you can get information on how to order the cookbook here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/11/cooking-kingdom-style.html
I used Renee's Alfredo recipe from her chicken Alfredo recipe, my whole wheat pizza crust which the original recipe came from Everyday Living magazine, and my spinach Alfredo pizza which the original recipe came from Pampered Chef. My recipes were altered some to make them mine own.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
This recipe makes two pizza crusts so I had made one pizza for church and one for supper after church.
1 1/2 cups warm water (115)
2 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T palm sugar or other healthy sugar
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

Place water in a large bowl and sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Don't put too much yeast or it will rise too much like in the picture above. Brush another large bowl with extra oil. In bowl with yeast, whisk sugar, oil and salt. Stir in flours with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms. Transfer to oiled bowl and brush top of bowl with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about one hour. Turn dough onto a well floured surface. With floured hands knead until smooth about 15 seconds. For added flavor you may sprinkle the pan with garlic powder before putting the crust in the pan.

I like to use my roller from my cake decorating supplies to roll the dough right onto my pizza stone.

I used my fingers to crimp up the sides.

I then used a fork to poke holes in the crust to keep it from puffing up too much.
Bake the crust for ten minutes at 425 before adding the toppings.

Easy Alfredo Sauce
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup Parmesan cheese

In a saucepan melt cream cheese, milk and Parmesan cheese. I added several shakes of pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning. Cook on low heat until melted and thick, you may need to add some more cheese, either mozzarella or Parmesan.

Spinach Alfredo Pizza
6 slices turkey bacon
1 package organic, fresh baby spinach leaves (about 8 cups) I cheated and used frozen last time.
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 oz grated Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup packed)
1 cup Alfredo sauce
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 425. Slice bacon into 1/4 inch pieces (I just cut it with scissors) and cook in pan over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels. Saute spinach and garlic in pan in bacon grease until wilted. Grate Parmesan cheese, set aside. Finely chop half of the bacon, add bacon and black pepper to Alfredo sauce and mix well.

Spread Alfredo sauce on the top of the crust. Then add the spinach. Add bacon on top of spinach. Top the pizza with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Bake about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown. Remove from oven to cooling rack.

For the second pizza, we just used a can of Muir Glen organic pizza sauce, turkey bacon and topped with Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.

Don't forget that the apron giveaway closes on Monday!
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-sewing-machine.html

Get out a good board game and have a great family night eating your pizza!
Missy

New Cape

2012-01-17T20:52:00.000-06:00

My friend Lynn liked my cape so much that she asked me to make one for her. I did add pockets to the front, I also used regular fabric for the outside of the cape and fleece for the lining.
If you have not seen my cape it is here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/12/i-wore-flannel-sheet-to-church-today.html
Have you entered the giveaway for an apron? The giveaway is open until Monday.
Go here for the giveaway:
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-sewing-machine.html
My friend Marie is coming over tomorrow so I have to make sure all of the quilt pieces are put away, I also need to finish quilting my pieces.
Have a great day ya'll!
Missy

New Sewing Machine

2012-01-16T10:09:00.001-06:00

I would just like to say that I love my Janome Sewing Machine I have been using, but it is not mine. Someone let me borrow it over a year ago.
I got home from church last night and started yelling "I won it, I can't believe I won it" just over and over again. My poor husband is like "what?" "Are you sure you won?" "Don't tell anybody in case you are wrong" LOL He couldn't believe it either. I have a little cupcake shaped piggy bank where I was saving up for a new Janome. Now that money can go towards our new house this year.
Janome was having a friend to friend facebook challenge. Everyday they had a new article on their website at Janome.com until they reached 20,000 likes on FB. Everyday I would leave a comment to enter. I would pray every time I left a comment also. Well, I won! Not one machine but two! My friend Marie said that when she retires she would like to learn to sew but did not have a sewing machine, I told her to pray that I win and I would give her one if I did! I also won a mystery bag full of books, patterns and I think material, I'm not sure what all is in the bag.
It was just announced today that I won so I have not received my package yet, but I can't wait! I have never won anything big before! This just proves that God does answer prayer!

In celebration of winning, I will have an apron giveaway. Only US residents please though.

I will be giving away an apron that looks just like this one. To enter just leave a comment below, but you need to be a follower either through blogger or Google Friend Connect. You need to leave an email address so I can let you know if you win. If you mention this giveaway on Facebook or your blog, let me know is a separate comment and I will enter your name again. I will draw a winner next Monday on January 23.

If you want to make your own apron like this, here is a tutorial:
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2010/07/napkin-aprons-tutorial.html

Good luck on winning!

Monday, 16 January 2012 05:00
Here is what they said on their website:
We Hit Our Goal Thanks to YOU!
We made it to 20, 000 Likes! on Facebook late Friday the 13th, which turned out to be a very lucky day for one lucky winner!

We started just five weeks ago with a goal to grow our Janome community. And, late on Friday the 13th, we saw our Likes! on Facebook roll over the 20,000... and they've continued to climb!

Our random winner, drawn from the thousands of comments logged between 12/12/11 and 1/13/12, was Missy Shay from Mansfield, Texas. Missy wins: TWO great Janome Pink Ribbon machines plus a giant mystery bag full of patterns, books, fabric, notions and more from our featured Janome friends. She tells us she'll be sharing the prize with her good friend, Marie.

We hope you enjoyed getting to meet some of our Janome friends; we've certainly enjoyed finding out a bit more about all of you. The comments posted on the articles since 12/12/11 were truly wonderful. We laughed, we cried, we were bowled over by the LOVE for Janome.

We plan to continue bringing you news of what folks are doing in the world of sewing and craft: both the celebrities and the "regular" sewing enthusiasts like YOU. That is the goal of growing the Janome community: to draw inspiration from those around us and use it to jump start our own creativity.

Thank you for being a part of the Janome community and helping us grow!"

Have a great day!
Missy

Birdhouse Quilt Progress

2012-01-13T18:42:00.000-06:00

Remember in my UFO list from here http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/12/ufo-2012-list.html the birdhouse quilt I am working on? It is a surprise for a friend at church for her 50th birthday. All the ladies in my church are helping. Some have donated money, some material and a few are helping with the sewing. I could not find a pattern, so I am making it up as we go and praying that it looks the same way quilted that it looks in my head. Remember that I had my first (and only) class in October and have only made a wall hanging from a clear pattern. This has been a learning process for me and several of my friends.
It is going to be a bird house quilt. Here are a few of the finished birdhouses.

We are going to sew buttons on for the doors (holes) as part of the quilting process.
Here are some unfinished ones I need to sew.

We also have 5 sets of two blocks with three different sized birdhouses.

Here is Chrystal measuring the tall one she sewed together, is is 20 in tall. The rest of the blocks are 8 1/2 inches. Once I add the sashing it will be 10 inches. I think! LOL
We are also making 4 patch blocks.

If I counted correctly, we have 40 birdhouse blocks and 60 4 patch blocks and 10 separate different sized birdhouses.
We are going to put sashing between all of the blocks. This is the color I chose.

I have not done much sewing, I have ten blocks to sew together. Most of my time has been cutting, sorting, and delegating. I will get mine sewn this weekend though.
We also will have appliqued birds and a block of embroidery done by my friend Cara.
I can't wait to show you the finished quilt! Please pray that everything turns out great!
Happy Quilting,
Missy

Updates

2012-01-11T15:28:00.000-06:00

I just spent hours updating my pages from the right side tabs. What a lot of work, and I still have a lot more cake pictures to add! I also realized that I do not have pictures of all the skirts and jumpers I have sewn! I need to take some pictures and add them to the things I've sewn page. Be sure to take a minute and check them out! Here is a corny poem I wrote about aprons that I thought I would share.

APRONS
Some are very long,
others can be quite short,
there's not a right or a wrong!

Some cover only your skirt,
with or without pockets,
others even cover your shirt!

Aprons are a must for the cook,
housekeeper, mother and teacher,
some are worn for a stylish look!

Something to protect your clothes,
some are light or heavy,
some are made with lots of bows!

A piece of cloth with a string,
that is an apron,
a very useful thing!

Quilting/Sewing Supplies I like

2012-01-10T11:14:00.000-06:00

As ya'll know, I took a quilting class back in October. Let me go back a couple of months though. In August, for my Anniversary, I told my husband I wanted a rotary cutter and mat.

This is the rotary cutter I bought. I really liked the handle. It would be great if I had a tall cutting table which is recommended to keep from getting back aches. I do not have one though, instead I use my dining room table as I am sure many people do. With this cutter, the blade only comes out on one side. Next time we have some extra money I am going to get one with a straight handle so that when I am leaning over I can cut from the top of the blade, which I cannot do with this one. Next time I will buy one with a straight handle like this one:

Of course everyone will have their own opinion on what to get. For your first one, I would recommend a 45 mm blade. They have smaller and larger ones, but this is the most common size. It is what I have. I use it for cutting out patterns and quilt blocks. It is so quick and you don't have to worry about your material shifting around.

You need a self-healing cutting mat to use with your rotary cutter. If you get a hard kind it will dull your blade. But if you don't buy a mat it will ruin your table. I have 2 mats. The 18 x 24 is a great size to carry to sewing circle and classes. As you can see in the above picture I also bought the biggest mat I could afford to keep at home. The bigger mat gives you plenty of room to cut your material without having to worry about accidentally cutting off the mat.
If you are quilting, I highly recommend that you buy a quilting ruler. The rest of the post are things my quilting teacher recommended to me.

You need a ruler that is at least 6 inches by 24 inches. The cheapest place I found these is at Wal-Mart or at Michaels with a coupon. They were very expensive at Joanns and Hobby Lobby. This ruler will help you cut strips, blocks and everything else. If you aren't able to buy anything else, these are the first three things I recommend. The mat, rotary cutter and big ruler.
I also have the tiny ruler to help me get that quarter inch seam on my quilting projects.
The other ruler is a Bias ruler. It is 2 1/2 inches wide which is perfect for apron ties, ruffles, and strips for quilts.

When I went looking for a fabric marker, I was not sure what to get. I found this disappearing ink marker pen, and I love it! The ink disappears after a while so you don't have to wash your item again to get the marks off. I recommend that every seamstress gets one. I hate the chalk because it is always breaking.
Did you know you can use a washable glue stick to baste your items on without pinning? Cool huh?

If you are quilting, you NEED quilting needles so that you don't have big holes in your project.

My little scissors are great to keep by machine for snipping threads and stuff.

I also recommend these curved safety pins for quilting. My husband saw them and asked my why all my safety pins were broken - LOL. The curves make it easier to baste your quilts. You will need several packages to start with.
This is just a short list of things to get you started. You can most of it at Wal-Mart or your local fabric/craft supply store. Don't forget coupons! Of course you need several different colors of thread, black, white, brown, blue, red to name a few. I keep thread in stock at all times, there is nothing worse than a great outfit that has been sewn with the wrong color of thread. After all it is the little things that count!
Have fun sewing, I know I will!
Missy

Quick Cake Decorating

2012-01-09T11:56:00.000-06:00

My friend Clarrisa's birthday was last week. I wanted to make her, her favorite cake but I did not have very much time this weekend. I told you what my Friday was like in my last post, http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/whoops.html . Saturday was pretty busy too, payday weekends are always like this! She wanted my honey whole-wheat pound cake http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2010/05/honey-whole-wheat-pound-cake.html with real buttercream made with palm sugar.
I baked the cake late Saturday night and let it cool overnight. Sunday before church I grabbed the buttercream I had leftover from her twins' cake http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/12/twins-birthday-cake.html to decorate the cake with. I had about 30 minutes to get this cake decorated!
I grabbed the "white" buttercream(it is tan from the thot not powdered sugar I used) and added a tad (it glopped in there and made it way too soft)bit of milk to thin it out.
First I put the blue frosting in the middle.

I admit that I was in a hurry and did not level the cake. That has always been a bad shortcut of mine.

I used a tip 3 and piped squiggles on the edge of the cake.

I added another layer of squiggles and did this all the way to the center. Do you see the crater from the icing sagging because it was too soft? Lesson learned, next time put the milk in another container BEFORE pouring it in your icing!

This will give you a quick, simple, pretty cake. Notice I put a towel down on the table before decorating? The reason is two-fold. First it makes clean up a lot easier, I just throw the towel in the wash. 2. I did not have to pick up my cutting mat and quilting rulers before I started.
If you like this concept but want to make it fancier. Use two different colors and put roses on top. Here are some I made years ago when I was still new to this.

It looks like I used a tip 5 here instead of a tip 3 here.

I miss making roses, the next birthday cake I make will have roses!
Go make yourself a an easy cake!
Missy

Whoops

2012-01-07T09:28:00.000-06:00

Remember how I was using my baker's rack as my desk in my dining room. I had a "duh" moment. I moved it out and put my desk in here. I have it all set up now to do my blogging, writing my Sunday School material, facebooking, bill paying and everything else I need to do. Last year I found my green chair on clearance at Target for $10! You can even see my xylophone set up at the edge of my desk in my dining room reminding me to practice. I'm not very good yet! I had the bulletin board and grabbed some nail polish and painted the edge orange and used some colored paper I had for the background. My kitchen is yellow and green with splashes of orange. I used orange because that is what I have.

Here are the curtains and tablecloth I made last year for my dining room. I still have not made my chair cushions though, they are going to be yellow. Maybe after I finish this birdhouse quilt. I picked up my mouse pad and arm rest at a yard sale for $1 and they match perfect! To read more about my curtains and tablecloth go here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-life.html
Yesterday was a busy day for me. I left at 7 to take my husband to work. He works 30 minutes away and since we only have one car, I will stay in town to do all my grocery shopping. I had a hamburger at lunch. Whoops, should have had a salad - I had gone four days doing totally raw. I'll continue with my raw for at least two meals though.
We got home after five and went to church at 6:30 to sew. I cut 23 more birdhouse blocks, taught my sewing teacher and a two tweens how to properly iron, sew and cut for quilting. We had an assembly line going and got all 23 rooftops sewn! This quilt is for a friend and a few friends are helping me sew it. Today I need to "square up" (make even) the quilt blocks that are finished and cut the frames for 100 blocks! I'll get a few done at least so people can start sewing them on.
I can't wait to show you the quilt when it is done, I hope it turns out the way I am "seeing" it in my head.
Have a great weekend everyone, I am going to chop up an apple and sprinkle some cinnamon on it for breakfast. Did you know that cinnamon is very good you?
God bless,
Missy

Drinking Water

2012-01-05T08:13:00.000-06:00

I do not have a real recipe to share with you today. I tried a recipe for cauliflower mash last night, it was so gross I could not eat it. I HATE wasting food and will usually finish eating stuff, even if I don't like it - but I could not eat that! So I ate half a cucumber for supper instead! LOL It's still in my fridge because I don't want to throw all that food away! (OK, I admit I'm a little obsessive about waste not want not).
Let's talk about water. Every morning when I get up I have a glass of water before eating breakfast. I've always had cold water but have recently learned that room temperature water is actually better.
Here is an article I found on that.
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5606231_drink-warm-water-morning_.html
I also recommend putting a slice of lemon in your water to help detoxify your system. The lemon and water helps to cleanse out your system. Here is an excellent article I found on why lemon water.
http://lajollamom.com/2011/01/drink-warm-lemon-water-in-the-morning/
I often joke that this is my morning cup of coffee, although I have never liked coffee, this is definitely a lot healthier than jolting your body with caffeine first thing in the morning. I never have trouble waking up in the morning either, so be sure to try it out!
Whatever you do, please do NOT drink your tap water! I fill glass jugs with filtered water from the store and several of my friends use a Berkey. You would not believe what all is added in your tap water, including recycled urine. SO gross! I can't wait to move to the country and have well water, I'll buy me a Berkey, but at least the water will be fresh. They add fluoride to the water which is poisonous http://www.naturalnews.com/030952_CDC_fluoride.html It actually causes deaths! Here are several articles that tell about all the stuff they add to our drinking water. http://www.naturalnews.com/drinking_water.html If you care about your health, check it out. They add psych drugs like Prozac in your water too.
Be sure to get you some filtered water or spring water and have a glass with lemon every morning before you start your day. You'll feel a lot better if you do!

Raw Avocado Soup

2012-01-04T12:45:00.001-06:00

I really wanted something Mexican for supper last night but I am still eating raw foods, 2 days down and 8 to go!
I put a whole avocado (minus the peel of course) in my blender with one garlic clove (I could have even used 2), a sliver of fresh red pepper, (It was almost too hot to handle), a dash of taco seasoning or chili powder and a dash of cumin and salt. I also squeezed half a lemon in it. I blended this with 3/4 cup of water until soupy. (Is that a word?)
I added a whole plum tomato (any kind will work), and about 1/4 of an onion and threw it into the blender just to chop and blend a little.

It was delicious, it would be great with some cilantro if I had some, you can even use it as a salad dressing!
I ate it dipping celery stalks in it. 3 celery stalks dipped in my soup filled me up for supper last night. For dessert I had one of my raw carob peanut butter balls. (Just one! LOL) http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/raw-carob-peanut-butter-balls.html

Are you still getting hungry? Raw nuts are great for filling you up, don't eat more than a handful at a time though because they are full of fat, which is what makes you feel full. I also have a snack twice a day of either an apple, pear, orange, carrots, nuts, etc. Be careful if you are juicing your fruits instead of eating them, because they have "more carbs" that way. I read in the South Beach Diet book once that when you eat your fruit your digestive system has to work harder to digest the carbs, therefore you do not retain as many carbs, whereas if you juice it, your digestive system does not have to do as much work and more carbs are retained. I'm not cutting out carbs, but too many carbs are not good for you either.
Here is a quote I found "Fruit juices are in general a sugar-rich product. The manufacturers take the fiber rich fruit, leave behind all the fiber, and all you get are the fruit sugars and colors.
Sad to say, the carb counts on many fruit juices are similar to that of regular Coke, which has 30g carbs per 8oz glass! In addition, the acids are known to eat away at your teeth, causing them to decay more quickly.
All in all, it's far better to eat the raw fruit, to get its full fiber and nutrition."
Think about all the pulp that is left behind when you juice, I bet that is a lot of vitamins and fiber that your body needs! Now don't get me wrong, I love juice and it is a quick way to get the vitamins you need, I'm saying just don't give up eating your fruits and veggies too.
Today for lunch, I am going to chop up another plum tomato and add some frozen corn, thawed to room temperature and cover liberally with my avocado soup and maybe add another garlic clove since garlic is so good for you!
For a true raw food fast, you have to eliminate all dairy products (sour cream, cheese, milk, mayonnaise, etc.) for your body to detox. I am doing only raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The only sweeteners I am allowing myself is a tiny bit of honey or agave nectar. No palm sugar even! I am drinking lots of herbal teas and water also. Payday, I am going to get some grape juice also.

I hope this information helps, I'll give you another recipe and some more tips tomorrow!
Missy

Raw, Carob Peanut Butter Balls

2012-01-03T08:12:00.000-06:00

I know this is a terrible picture, but I was being lazy and did not want to dirty another plate after rolling the balls in the carob powder. Why did I make these you ask? As I told ya'll yesterday http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2012/01/raw-food-fast.html I am on a raw food fast for ten days. Well, yesterday all I could think about was the fruitcake in my cabinet and how badly I wanted a piece, so I knew I needed something sweet to eat - but it had to be raw!

To be honest, I really didn't measure, because like I said, I was having a lazy day and did not want to wash more dishes! LOL
About 2 cups of nut butter (I used peanut butter)
2 tablespoons of carob powder
2 tablespoons of currants or raisins (I am still out of raisins)
4 tablespoons or more of chopped dates
two handfuls of roughly chopped (big pieces) pecans or any nut
big spoonful of honey (over a tablespoon)
a teaspoon of vanilla (optional)
Mix thoroughly with spoon.
Of course you can pick and choose what ingredients to add according to what you have in your cabinets. The dates are great for adding sweetness and the nuts are for crunch. My philosophy is that everything is better with with nuts! LOL
Roll in a ball and then roll in carob powder. If I had some cinnamon I would have mixed the carob and cinnamon together to roll the balls in. I love carob and cinnamon together! I plopped my balls on the carob before rolling into balls so they would not stick as bad. These would also be awesome rolled in coconut!
Enjoy because it is a lot healthier to eat these when you get a sugar craving than that piece of fruitcake! Just make sure you only eat a couple because they are full of calories and fat, so you will have to hide the plate away in the fridge before you eat them all. At least that is what I had to do!
Hope you enjoy!
Missy

Raw Food Fast

2012-01-02T20:21:00.000-06:00

I am doing a ten day raw food fast. Several ladies in my church does this every new year. It is a great way to cleanse your body and your soul.
2Ch 20:3 "And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah."
Es 4:16 "Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish."
I am going to eat nothing but raw food for ten days, no dairy or meat. I will be taking this time to pray also. I know some of you are probably saying "this should be a private matter". As you can tell from these verses, it is common in the Bible for several people to fast as a group.
Mt 6:16 "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
Mt 6:18 "That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."
I beleive these apply to people who are talking about it to "show off", which I am not. I am just sharing my testimony.
A fast does not have to be giving up all food, you can fast from anything. It can be a certain food, all sugar, it can even be a fast from blogging! LOL
Here is a great article on why to eat raw food. http://jillshomeremedies.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-years-resolutions-raw-foods.html
I am also going to start exercising tomorrow and I need to lose 20 pounds. I am at 158 right now and want to be down to 135/140.
I'll be sharing recipes that I find also. Here is my first recipe, I got the base recipe from the link above.

Raw Carrot Salad
Grate about 4-5 carrots
throw in a handful of currants (they were cheaper than the raisins)
A handful of raw sunflower seeds
Chop up about 4 florets of broccoli
throw in some poppy seeds
a dollop of agave nectar
Unfortunately I was out of cinnamon, I would highly recommend some
Instead I sprinkled on ground ginger, ground cloves and ground nutmeg
The juice of one lemon
Olive oil

Tomorrow, I will be sharing a recipe for raw carob peanut butter balls. Do ya'll have any good raw recipes to share?

Enjoy!
Missy

Laundry Tip

2012-01-01T20:45:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to jump in and give ya'll a great laundry tip! I was babysitting a kitten (the orange cat) about a month older than my Pippi (the calico)who is 8 months old. When Mac wasn't trying to climb my tree, Mac and Pippi had been playing pretty rough this week and Friday night Pippi got him across his eye. Scared us half to death because his eye was just full of blood! He was calmer than my husband and I - LOL.
I grabbed a towel and poured some collodial silver on it and held it over his eye to stop the bleeding while my husband held him. He meowed so pitifully at me! Turns out it was just his eyelid she got (did I mention there was something bloody hanging from his eye?) He's fine now and at home, I have since trimmed all of my cats nails, just in case.
Well, Saturday I found blood spots on a white curtain - right before we were leaving to go to church for our New Year's Eve service. I grabbed peroxide and poured it on the spot, rinsed it off and poured more peroxide on it and then left. When I got home I grabbed it to throw in the wash before the stain could set in more, but all of the blood was gone! So the next time you have blood just pour peroxide on it!
Wanna know how to easily trim your cat's paws? I don't declaw my cats anymore because did you know that they amputate the entire toe and some cats have trouble walking afterward? My vet told me just to use regular nail clippers, that they work better than the fancy ones for cats. Hold your cats paws often to get them used to you holding their paws. When they are asleep (Pippi is so hyper, that is the only time she is still enough), gently get a paw and extend the claw out, only clip the tip, making sure you do not go up too far and get the quick. They are usually too impatient for me to do the front and back paws at the same time, so it is usually a two day process.
I hope these tips help,
Happy New Year!
Missy

Purse to match my Cape

2011-12-28T21:30:00.000-06:00

I went to the zoo today and knew it would be a perfect day to wear my new cape and hat since it was supposed to be 60° today . Remember the one I made a couple of weeks ago? http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/12/i-wore-flannel-sheet-to-church-today.html . It was a gorgeous day! I wanted a matching purse and since I had some fabric leftover I decided to make one last night.
Since I had used all the blue from the sheet, I needed to find some more blue. I found some old valances in my stash that was perfect!

I really had no idea what I was doing, but I will try to give you an idea how I made my purse. First I used a crock pot lid to give me the rounded bottom. I then cut straight up the sides. I also used this same pattern for a heavy interfacing and the blue for the lining.

I put a pocket all the way across, I wish I had pulled it down a little though since it ended up being right at the top. I put another blue pocket underneath this one to give a layered (or graduated) pocket. I wish I had sewn up the middle because when I put the pleat in the front it made this pocket stick out too much. I'm going to hand stitch it down. Sew this on just the blue and interfacing so your stitches don't show on the outside.
I forgot to take anymore pictures, sorry.
I also put two pockets the sizes of my camera and phone on the other side.

I have some little pockets on my camera pocket because I used the "holes" from where the curtain rod would have gone and had them on the top rather then sewing another hem down for the top of the pocket.

Here is a picture of the inside of my purse.

After I had sewn on the pockets, I put a pleat in the middle of the bag on both sides and then rolled down towards the front to give myself a blue trim. Sew along the trim.
Sew the two sides together right sides together. Clip the edges to make it easier to turn. You should probably zig zag stitch or serge it, but I didn't.
I turned it inside out and sewed the straps on. I made the straps too long, but they cover my messy seams!
If you have any questions, leave me your email add. and I will try to answer them!
So, I made a hat, cape and purse out of one queen size flat sheet and one valance for the sum of $1! I still need to add navy blue pockets to my cape(and inside pockets for my gloves)and some sort of snap to my purse, but I like it!

Wanna see what I did at the zoo?

I rode a camel! Please ignore my boots!

The camel also tried to eat my ruffle! LOL She was very friendly!

I petted a goat.

I tried to pet a giraffe.

And my husband fed the birds. This bird was so funny because he kept trying to get in my husband's coat. I saw him steal a nut out of one lady's purse!

Happy new year ya'll!

Missy

I finally finished my first official quilt!

2011-12-27T18:30:00.000-06:00

I finally finished my first quilt! It is a small quilt I started in my quilting class back in October. I had everything done but the border. We didn't have time (and I brought the wrong material) to do the border in class, so she sat down with me and explained how to do it, even gave me a book. The only problem is that my ADD brain can't learn stuff like that from a book. I have to see it. So of course I messed up on it! I didn't fold it in half to begin with and could not figure out what to do after I folded it over to the other side. So the back side is kind of wonky.

I even added three tabs in the back on top in case my stepmom wanted to use it as a wall hanging instead.
I found a video yesterday that shows how to put a border on a quilt, looks so easy!
Here it is:

I consider this my first quilt, since I had it mostly finished before the rag quilt. LOL I was going to add a pink border, but decided to go with the green that matched my squares.

On another note - look what my husband got me for Christmas!

He got me a new camera! Now I can actually see the pictures I'm trying to take since the view screen had gone out on my other camera!
I hope ya'll had a merry Christmas!

Missy

Lots of thread

2011-12-22T09:47:00.001-06:00

My husband wanted me to sew him a pair of pajamas for Christmas. I have not had the time to make them yet though. I was really stressing about it, and finally decided that I would much rather have a clean house for Christmas then sew something else. I let him know last night and he was fine with it. I will get them made though and they will look a lot better since I won't be rushing them. I did pay a friend to make a pair of crocheted slippers for him though. I started them last year and gave up.
Does anyone else have a tendency to put off housework while sewing? My house is a mess since I was trying to finish up Christmas gifts.
Today I HAVE to finish cutting 8 blocks for a quilt since half of them are going to my friend for her to sew on the quilt we are working on together.
I also need to get my lesson together for my children's class at church tonight. The only thing I have done on that so far is printed out the memory verse. I also bought two packs of foam snowflakes. I am going to put their names on them and let them decorate them with glitter then I'll put them up on a bulletin board.
After I finish that stuff I think it would be a good idea to finish my laundry and get it hung up. Right now I have a pile on my couch.
Then I should probably make supper for my husband, I'm thinking of some sort of taco pie thingy. I'm not sure. I have some healthy corn tortillas and hamburger meat.
Of course church is tonight (my church is small and we have church services at odd times LOL)
Tomorrow I'm babysitting one of Muffin's and Tiger's nephews. Did I mention that half the cats in my church are related? LOL
I also need (want) to make a White Christmas Pie. http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2010/12/white-christmas-pie.html I love this pie! If you like coconut pie, you'll love this!
My step mom said she had some extra thread she was going to send in my Christmas box which came yesterday. I opened the box and underneath the presents look what I found!

Wow! How awesome is that? Yes, I do excited about thread! LOL 80 spools of thread and 6 serger threads! What a blessing, I won't have to buy thread for quite a while! Praise the Lord! There are even old wooden spools. I love those! When we move and I get my sewing room I have some things I want to do with those. I still need more though, but I have about a year to collect them.
Sorry about the lack of useful information today, but I just had to share! I will slow down tomorrow, just need to finish cleaning the house. We are opening our presents on Saturday since we have church Sunday morning. I'll put the turkey on before we leave and ask the cats to keep it an eye on it for me.

Do you think she'll be much help? Yeah, me neither!
Have a Merry Christmas and be sure to remember that everything does not have to be perfect, the important thing is to remember it is all about Christ, not us and gifts.
Missy

UFO 2012 List

2011-12-21T12:15:00.001-06:00

What is an UFO you ask? No it is not one of those alien flying ships. It stands for "un-finished object" This seems to be a common term in blogland that I have never heard of before. It's a good idea to keep track of all the projects you have laying around waiting to be finished.
Patchwork Times is having a challenge, kind of like a new years resolution of goals you want to finish this year. I'm not much of a one for resolutions, but I'm going to jump in so that ya'll can hold me accountable. You can join in here: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/12/20/2012-ufo-challenge-participants-list-of-projects/ I think it is supposed to be just quilting projects, but there is no way I'll have time to make 12 quilts this year, so I am including 7 (instead of 12) specific UFOs to finish!
1. I have a birdhouse quilt that some friends are helping me make. That will be the first UFO to finish!

The major blocks are cut out and sorted and been passed out to my friends who like to quilt.

2. I am making a scrap quilt for my husband. It is the rail fence pattern. Here is the quilt: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-husband-wants-quilt.html Mine is going to be in browns, blue and greens. I've started cutting strips.

3. I bought a beautiful panel that has cats in a garden that I am going to quilt. It shouldn't take long to do, I just need to put a back and binding on it. I might put a block border around it to make it bigger. I bought it at a thrift store for like 50 cents. This if for me, noone else. :)
4. I have a pile of plaid flannels that I am going to make into a rag quilt for my uncle to brighten up his nursing home room. I have until August to finish this one.
5. I bought the material this past summer to make this skirt. http://blog.sewserendipity.com/2011/05/summer-of-no-pants-skirt-tutorial-from.html
I bought some beautiful teal and celery green material and cannot wait to make it! I was all set to make it in July when I broke my wrist and I've never finished it.
6. I have a pretty off white curtain with ruffles that I've been waiting to make into this dress since this spring.
http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/2011/04/jcrew-inspired-dress-tutorial.html
7. I just bought this pattern http://www.sewserendipity.com/product_info.php?products_id=149
And I have the material from the quilt I just made, it has roses, pink and yellow. Very similar to this dress. I'll make my dress longer with a higher neckline though.

That is all the projects for now, it doesn't count the matching capes I want to make for my sister and niece, and I'll probably make one for my mom too. Remember the one I just made for myself? http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/12/i-wore-flannel-sheet-to-church-today.html

Have a Merry Christmas ya'll!
Missy

Fudge Recipes

2011-12-20T19:23:00.000-06:00

All the men in my family got the same thing for Christmas. What do you get a guy who has everything? Fudge of course! Can't go wrong with that, unless it is for my husband who does not like fudge. I've never made fudge before so I needed to find some recipes. The only thing is, I was running way behind and did not have much time to make it. Let me tell you warn you though, it is not healthy! I will be sharing a healthy recipe later. It will be after Christmas probably unless someone needs it before?

I found this recipe http://www.apinchofjoy.com/2011/11/best-easy-gift-fudge/ . It is cooked in the microwave and is delicious! I used 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips and 1 cup of milk chocolate chips. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla after heating it through. You don't want to add the vanilla before cooking or it will dissipate.
For the peppermint fudge I took a bag of red candy melts (You can buy them at the craft stores) and added a couple of drops of peppermint, melted them in the microwave, and poured it over the top of the fudge. I then sprinkled broken bits of candy cane on top. Just remember that the candy melts dry hard which is why the pieces look funky.

I also made peanut butter fudge. So good! I found the recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/peanut-butter-fudge-recipe/index.html Alton Brown had another winner! Be sure to watch the video too, he has some good hints. It is also cooked in the microwave. These would be good rolled in balls and dipped in chocolate. My fudge was not thick like he said. I had to measure the powdered sugar and used two cups which should be one pound. I cut it a couple of hours later and it was still very soft, I thought I had messed it up, but today it is perfect!
I once made a hamburger cake and used candy melts to make the french fries. Next time I'll use peanut butter fudge because it is the right color and easy to manipulate.

I really should make another hamburger cake sometime! I made this one for my brother in law years ago. My cakes look a lot better when I don't have to use healthy ingredients! LOL
Have a Merry Christmas Ya'll!
Aren't you thankful God sent his only Son as a newborn babe to die on the cross for us? The best Christmas gift ever!
Missy

I wore a flannel sheet to church today!

2011-12-18T20:11:00.000-06:00

Look what I made from a flannel sheet! Jennifer from Seamingly Smitten asked for pattern testers for her new ruffled collar cape. Check out some of the ones other people made! http://seaminglysmitten.blogspot.com/2011/12/womens-sewing-pattern-on-sale-now.html My pictures did not turn out very well though. I need a new camera for Christmas! LOL

I originally bought this expensive material not realizing that it was not wide enough and my husband told me I had to wait until payday to buy more.

I went to a thrift store and found a queen sized flannel sheet for a dollar! I also cut down a dog's coat for Boots, my old cat because he is always cold, but since he is old he is smart enough to figure out how to take it off! I used the blue band from the top of the sheet for my ruffle and the band on my hat for contrast. I also made a matching hat!

Pippi was a big help with the measuring. (Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?)

For the hat, I traced around another beret I already had, and then put in a gather stitch.

I measured the blue band around my head and then with right sides together from the outside of the hat I stitched the band on.

I then folded the band in and stitched it on. Make sure you don't have a big lump like mine, it broke my needle! You can find better tutorials online, but this is how I made mine.

I used the sheet for the lining also. It was actually quite warm! Again, please ignore the awful pictures, I didn't have time for much makeup this morning since I was finishing up my cape before church. Did I mention how easy and quick this pattern is? She also has them in children's sizes too, and since it is an instant download you can make a couple for quick Christmas presents!
Check out her blog here: http://seaminglysmitten.blogspot.com/2011/12/womens-sewing-pattern-on-sale-now.html

Merry Christmas ya'll!
Missy

Apron Pictures

2011-12-17T11:25:00.000-06:00

Over two years ago I cut out the material for this apron, and put it away because I got busy. I've never done an apron like this one before. I finally sewed it together a few weeks ago in November in time to have my pictures made. I messed up on it though and need to fix a few things. First, don't wear a ruffly shirt underneath unless you want to look very lumpy on top! LOL Second, I need to undo my ruffles and pull them down evenly, so if you make one of these make sure your ruffles are even from the front, not the top like I did. Thirdly, I need to cross the straps in the back to keep them from falling off my shoulder. I haven't made the button holes yet, because I lost the instruction manual on my machine and cannot remember how. :)
I'm thinking of having a friend embroidery Missy's Whimsical Creations on the front, but I'm not sure if that would be too much? What do you think?
I would like to thank my friend Siouxsie for taking my pictures, even though my apron was messed up.
These are a couple of other pictures she took for me.

My husband did not want to get his picture taken this year and for some weird reason I let him get away with it! I'm going to try to take a picture of him playing his bass at church though.

I also wanted to thank my friend Rebecca for helping me with the design elements on my blog, she is a blessing! I used to babysit her, boy do I feel old sometimes!

Don't forget that you can sign up to receive my blog posts in your emails now if you don't have blogger!

Merry Christmas ya'll!

Missy

TX Tech Rag Quilt is finished!

2011-12-15T18:20:00.000-06:00

I finished my sister's Christmas present! I know I am cutting it close, especially since I have to mail it Saturday. PTL it does not have far to go! I meant to have it finished last week but when my friend passed it away I lost a week of sewing, I just was not in the mood.

My mom sent me this Texas Tech material this past summer to make her nursing scrubs, but she lost her job right after I got it. My family lives in Lubbock, they are big Tech fans of course. My sister's husband is a professor there, so she has an extra dose of loyalty going there. I told my mom I could make my sister a quilt for Christmas with it. The next step was deciding which black and white material to use.

After I cut the blocks in 6 inch squares I laid them on the floor to decide which design to go with. This was one of my options.

I then took an old red fleece blanket and cut it in squares, it went behind the black and white polka dots so that the red from the fleece and the red from the Tech material gave me red on every other square. I also took another old black fleece blanket and some fleece I got at a thrift store for the rest of my squares.

This is the pattern I decided to go with. I did not have much of the big diamonds or the fleur de lis. They came out of a quilt kit my husband had bought for me on clearance. I like the way it broke up the pattern, those two patterns came out to being the same amount as the other patterns.

After I decided on my design, I picked up each row and numbered them with a straight pin through each pile to keep them in order.

I sewed one row at a time and put my numbers back on each row to keep them in order. After spending an hour deciding on my order I didn't want them messed up! LOL

I then sewed my rows together. Remember if you want to sew a rag quilt that you need to sew the pieces together wrong sides together and with 1/2 inch seams.

I really like sewing machine pictures! LOL

This is what it looked like after I snipped my seams and before I washed it. It took me all day snipping those seams! I definitely want a pair of snippers before I make another. (I've mentioned this to my husband several times, do you think he will get the hint and buy me a pair for Christmas?)

It even made a really cool design on the back!

Here's the quilt close up. See the red flannel sticking through? Do you think my sister will like it?
Have a Merry Christmas!
Missy

Aprons!

2011-12-13T15:47:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to share some links to some free apron patterns:
http://time-warp-wife.blogspot.com/2011/12/191-free-apron-patterns-and-titus-2sday.html

Here are some cute apron patterns and aprons you can buy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mariemadelinestudio?section_id=5361116

Here are some more cute aprons:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/RetroRevivalBiz?section_id=6493572

I hope you enjoy!
Missy

Twins' Birthday Cake

2011-12-11T20:51:00.000-06:00

All Smiles!

Here's a picture of me serving my cake today at church. Do you see the ugly plastic gloves? LOL

Aaliyah and Aaric turned 15 today. She wanted two fondant figures of her and her twin brother. I started out with molding rice krispies treats into the shape of their body. I used a thick straw through each body to hold everything together and stick in the cake. I didn't have any brown food coloring, so I took some almond bark, melted it, added some corn syrup, and added it to my fondant to make black skin.

I think making clothes out of fabric is a lot easier than fondant! I can't make hands, so I needed to figure out a way to hide their hands. Aaliyah likes ponchos so I used one to hide her hands. I wasn't sure how to make his hair, so I took a new sponge and dipped it into black food coloring and then sponged it onto his head.

To hide Aaric's hands, I had him hold the fondant 15 that I made using a mold.

Aaliyah wanted half the cake pink and the other half blue. I made the candy figures from gumpaste molds I got from here: http://www.decoratethecake.com/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=SiliconeMolds&Sub=107&isThumbs=Yes&Thumbs=100

The odd colors are from the thot not powdered sugar I made. You can get the directions here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/02/powdered-sugar-made-from-palm-sugar.html I just used a basic buttercream recipe and added salt to cut the sweetness and some almond extract which gave it a bit of a maple taste.

I made a 1/4 sheet cake and to help it to cook in the middle I greased a biscuit cutter and put it in the middle to act as a heat conduit.

Here is a close up of Aaliyah on the cake, she is surrounded by cupcakes.

Here is a close up of Aaric. I didn't mean to make their noses so big!

I had a lot of fun making this cake, even though it took me five hours to make the fondant figures!

I hope you enjoyed my cake!
Missy

Spiced Pumpkin Custard Pie

2011-12-05T20:01:00.000-06:00

I am more of a cake baker then a pie maker, therefore my pie does not look great. I wanted to pipe whipping cream on it to make it prettier, but my husband wouldn't let me and said I was too busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I found this recipe in Taste of Home and changed up the sugar. The recipe was from Charlene Chambers. I loved the crust, but my husband wasn't a fan - it was super easy too!

Crust
3/4 cup chopped pecans toasted
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour (I used half wheat and half all-purpose)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
7 Tbsp shortening
2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp ice water

Filling
2 eggs
3/4 cup palm sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 can(12 oz) evaporated milk

1. Chop the pecans (I used my chopper but you can use a food processor to make it fine). In a large bowl, combine the pecans, flour, ginger and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Press dough onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased pie pan. I would recommend a deep dish 9 inch or 10 inch. Isn't that crust easy? You could even use gluten free flour if you wanted, but I would add a tsp of guar gum also if you do.

2. For filling, in a mixer, beat the eggs, sugar spices and salt until smooth. Beat in pumpkin. Gradually beat in the milk. (I used raw milk) Pour into crust.

3. I recommend placing it on a cookie sheet in case it spills like mine did. I learned that trick a few years ago. Bake at 400° for 40-45 minutes or until a knife you inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. I recommend cooking it the day before and chilling it. I had a friend who always served hers warm, never liked it that way. She wouldn't refrigerate them either and they would mold. GROSS!

Also make sure you don't put the big bag of shelled pecans on the stove on the back burner where they will cook. Luckily only a few were burnt, but I still have not gotten the burnt plastic off my burner yet. :)

Let me tell you about my bad sewing day. I'm making a cape, but the cute, expensive material I bought is not wide enough and I cannot afford to buy more of it. I also just sewed two rows of my sister's rag quilt backwards, so now I need to sit down and rip the seams out. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Enjoy your pumpkin pie!
Missy

A passing

2011-11-30T09:44:00.000-06:00

I have several posts running around in my head for ya'll, but a dear friend at church has passed away. Miss Diane was one of the older ladies in my church. Tit 2:3 "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;"
Miss diane was very quiet and shy, she was not the type of person who would come up to you and strike up a conversation. I liked to sit with her during lunch and talk to her because when she smiled, her whole face would light up. She reminded me a lot of my grandmother with her soft giggle. I loved her dearly and she will be sorely missed. Her daughter, Marie, and I are good friends. Marie just lost her younger brother a couple of months ago also and was very close to her mom. I know her heart is aching right now, but she will see her mother again in Heaven. Col 1:5 "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;"
You see, both Marie and Miss Diane have asked the Lord into their hearts so both of them will be in Heaven with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Marie will still miss her mother of course, and will still be sad, but she has the assurance that her mother is rejoicing with the angels in Heaven now. Please join me in prayers as she now has to plan her mother's funeral and her coming days without a very dear woman.
I would like to leave you with a passage from scripture:
"12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
I Corinthians 2:12-14
Sincerely,
Missy

Cooking Kingdom Style

2011-11-29T11:10:00.001-06:00

Our church has a healthy cookbook that we are selling. We have recipes from green berry smoothies, barley coffee, lemonade, mango salsa, spinach dip, cheese puffs, tortilla chips, cream of broccoli soup, sweet potato salad, Waldorf salad, greens, refrigerator pickles, coleslaw, mac and cheese, gravy, tatziki sauce, gyros, grilled sandwiches, chicken, beef, stuffing, sweet and sour chicken, egg rolls, quiches, meat loaf, greek chicken, pizzas, casseroles, breads, whole wheat pizza dough, doughnuts, crepes, cakes, pies,mint carob cake, carrot cake, cheesecake, mighty fine cake, carob no bake cookies, chewy noels, oatmeal raisin cookies, butter almond toffee, caramel popcorn, ice cream, mousse, cream puffs, brownies, granola, sweetened condensed milk, cookies and candy, marshmallows, even baby wipes, lip balm, lotion, cleaners, laundry soap, pet treats and a lot more!!!
All of it is healthier options that taste great! If you have arthritis problems, we even have tomato alternatives! It is 88 pages of good, wholesome recipes. Do you love marshmallows but don't want the sugar and HFCS? We have a recipe for you! We even have pictures of all our ladies in our kitchens included.
If you would like a cookbook send a check or money order for $10.00 plus $4.00 s/h per book to:

Cooking Kingdom Style

700 Cordes Dr.

Venus, TX 76084

http://www.kingdombaptist.org/

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have!

Cheesecake Class

2011-11-28T21:15:00.000-06:00

I taught the last class in the baking series for three of the young ladies at my church. We learned how to make cheesecake and apple pie. I will share my cheesecake recipe with you. It is very simple to make.
Please excuse the picture quality, I had to use my cell phone to take pictures and then I get so busy teaching that I forget to take the pictures!
I did a bit more hands off this week because I wanted to make sure the girls could read the recipes.

Crust
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (or any cookies will do)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 T Palm Sugar (or any sugar, but I would not recommend honey or agave nectar)

Heat Oven to 325°. Reduce temperature to 300° if using a dark or glass pan.
Butter 9x13 pan or 10" spring form pan or 2-8" spring form pans. If you use a 9X13 - line it with aluminum foil so you can pull the cheesecake out. Mix crumbs, butter and 2 T palm sugar (melt sugar and butter together before adding to crumbs). Press into bottom of pan.

Filling

4 packages cream cheese (I found it's cheapest to buy from Costco when buying this many) softened
2 tsp vanilla, divided
1 c and 2 T palm sugar
1 16 oz. container sour cream, divided
4 eggs

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup palm sugar and 1 tsp vanilla in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add 1 cup sour cream and mix well. Add eggs 1 at a time beaten on low speed after each just until blended. Do not over mix the eggs. Pour over the crust.
(I told the girls not to over mix and to beat on low - as soon as I walked off one of the girls got impatient and over beat the mixture, hence the cracks in the cheesecake! LOL)
Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost done.

Topping

Mix 1 cup sour cream, 2 T sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Carefully spread over the cheesecake. Start on the outside and slowly come inside. Bake 10 more minutes. Cool completely then refrigerate at least 4 hours, covered to keep moist.

I have put blueberries and strawberries on top for a baby shower before.

Cheesecake Tips To Avoid Cracking

*Avoid over beating after adding the eggs-beat on low just until blended. Gently fold in by by hand any additional ingredients.
*Don't over bake. When done the edges should be puffed; the center set but still soft. The center will firm upon cooling.
*Finally, cool your cheesecake on a rack at room temperature for 1 hour before refrigerating.

I'll tell ya'll about the apple pie tomorrow!

Missy

Thanksgiving Day 2011

2011-11-25T21:27:00.000-06:00

I had so much fun hosting my friends for Thanksgiving this year. I forgot to take a picture of everyone sitting at the table though. I wanted an elegant table, but my husband said we did not have any money to spend on stuff like that this year.

I was able to "dress" my table with only spending .70 cents for the cinnamon sticks! The sunflowers were left over from old-fashioned Sunday at church last year, the bird nests left over from a baby shower http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/03/his-eye-is-on-sparrow-baby-shower.html , the pine cones were bought last year, tablecloth and napkins bought on clearance from Target one year. The silver was Chris's grandmother's , I was so happy when the family offered it to us after she passed away. I have loved using them for special dinners. This was my first time to use my china. My uncle gave me his set since my aunt had passed away a few years ago. It was a wedding present to them. They got married the year my mom was pregnant with me. I love family "heirlooms", they are so special.
God provides the little things. I bought my goblets at Dollar Tree in PA many years ago. One got broke a couple of years ago and I have not been able to find any replacements, they are quite unusual. This left me with only five and on a whim I looked at the Dollar Tree again to see if they might have any (doubtful). I walked in and they had a whole display right in front of the door! What a blessing! I bought three to give myself a set of eight!
Chrystal's kids had to sit on a quilt on the floor for their lunch and Susan's teenager sat at the desk which is in the LR. I think the poor kid was very bored! LOL

For some reason my turkey was still frozen in the morning! Maybe my fridge was too cold, I don't know but next year it will be in a water bath the night before! We finally took it out and cut off pieces and stuck those back in the oven and finished cooking the turkey while we ate. It was a tight squeeze having 6 adults in my dining room, but it was still a lot of fun!

How was your Thanksgiving?
Missy

Giveaway for Vison Forum

2011-11-23T09:34:00.000-06:00

Vision forum is having a giveaway over at A Wise Woman Builds Her house.

Have you ever been to the Vision Forum website? They have great christian books and resources, be sure to check them out here:
http://www.visionforum.com/start.aspx
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Missy

Quick Chicken Soft Tacos

2011-11-17T07:50:00.000-06:00

Last night I had some chicken to cook, but we had eaten chicken the night before also. I'm tired of eating the same things all the time (my husband is a very picky eater). I had some tortillas in the fridge so I decided to make chicken soft tacos. Looked up a few recipes online and did not want to spend much time cooking supper. I used to work full time, so I have learned how to cook quick meals. I took a frying pan and cut up some onions and threw them in the hot skillet which I had put a little bit of olive oil in to prevent sticking. Meanwhile, I took my scissors and cut the chicken breast in small, bite-size pieces. Tossed some flour and salt on it and then threw it in another skillet to cook, next time I will only use one skillet and throw it in with the onions since I added them to the onions anyways! I hate doing dishes and am always trying to find ways to use less pots and pans. I put some garlic through my garlic press and threw that in. I didn't add the garlic first because it has a tendency to burn. I sprinkled salt and taco seasoning over it all and continued to cook it until cooked thoroughly. My husband came home and was like "what about the cheese?" Totally forgot the cheese! He shredded some cheddar and mozzarella (his idea) and we threw it all together in the tortillas. It was really good and even my husband liked it! It took less then 30 minutes from start to finish! If you have any veggies, you can always add lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, salsa or sour cream. We liked them plain and I put salsa on everything. I had tried a new brand of salsa and it had molded! Gross!
Hope you enjoy it, I know there are no measurements but I just did it all to taste.
Missy

Cake Decorating Class

2011-11-16T09:42:00.000-06:00

We had our third baking class that I taught to the 3 young ladies from my church. We made carrot cake and regular buttercream using thot not powdered sugar. Boy was that buttercream sweet but good! I let the young ladies choose what design they wanted to do on their cakes. First I taught them how to frost the cake, then do a shell border.

They picked up on the borders very quickly. (please excuse the picture quality, I forgot my camera and had to use my phone.)
They got to pick their own designs, I gave them some suggestions. I showed them how to make their designs and they practiced on plates first. Miracle made a butterfly, Aaliyah learned how to write her name, and Ashleigh made a design from a Wilton instructions book using the shell border. We didn't feel like messing with color so made the cakes mono-chromatic. (At least I think that word means one color! LOL)

I haven't been teaching them in-depth decorating because these were baking classes, but they have been doing a great job! I explained to them not to worry about it being perfect - just have fun! That's a lesson I need to learn!
Each class I have printed off the recipes we used in class and some things I wanted them to study.
The first week was sugar cookies and royal icing and they had to learn about eggs and their structure and use in baking. http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/10/sugar-cookies-class.html The second week was Cupcakes and IMBC and they had to learn the differences between carob and chocolate and how to substitute it and about different flours. http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/10/carob-cupcakes-recipe-and-class.html This week they have to study about different kinds of natural sugars and using them in baking. I'm thinking about doing a blog post about the different kinds of sugar to share with ya'll.
We used the carrot cake recipe from Bob's Red Mill and added a can of pineapple and walnuts.
Next class we will learn how to bake an apple pie and cheesecake - just in time for Thanksgiving! I must admit this will be my first apple pie too! LOL Ahleigh's and Aaliyah's dad has been looking forward to the cheesecake, he loves my cheesecake. LOL
Thanks for listening!
Missy

I Hate Word Verifications

2011-11-14T21:30:00.000-06:00

I would like to apologize. I hate those dumb word verifications. They are a pain in the neck! For over a year I have gone without it on my blog for comments. Unfortunately, I had to enable word verification to prevent spam in my comments. Some of the spam has been for bad sites.
Would whoever sends the spam, stop please? I am not going to click on your link, I'm not that stupid.
I'll leave you with some pictures of my cat, I hate having a post with out pictures! LOL

They love this quilt I got a the pound store in Lubbock. Can you imagine all of the love and care that was put into this quilt just to have someone toss it away?

Please excuse the fact that I did not make my bed!
I'll be posting some things later this week. Have a great day ya'll!
Missy

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

2011-11-14T13:48:00.000-06:00

I love pumpkin spice cupcakes! I first made this recipe last year, here is the link: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2010/12/pumpkin-spice-cake.html

I made them for church and made them "healthier". I was surprised how delicious they turned out with wheat flour!
Here is the revised recipe:
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

1 Can (15 oz.) pumpkin (about 2 cups)
2 Cups sugar (I used palm sugar)
1 Cup vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 Cups flour (I used 1 cup hard white wheat flour and 1 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In large mixing bowl, beat pumpkin, sugar, and oil. Add eggs and mix well. Add the dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, and beat until well blended. Pour into a greased 15" x 10" baking pan, or cupcake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes 15-20 minutes for cupcakes, or until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool

I frosted them with Italian Meringue Buttercream and then sprinkled the tops with cinnamon.
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/08/italian-meringue-buttercream.html

I'll be making a turkey cake next week using this recipe. Can't wait!
Missy

Lactation Cookies?????

2011-11-12T20:27:00.000-06:00

I've seen several recipes for lactation cookies. Since I have not been blessed with children, I did not know what they were. I figured they had something to do with breast feeding. My friend Skye brought some to bible study this week. The ingredients help to fortify the breast milk for the babies. She shared the cookies and they were really good. I'm sure the ingredients would be healthy for any woman. She got the original recipe here: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/08/major-milk-makin-lactation-cookies.html
Here is the recipe with the changes that she made.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 3/4 c. oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 c. crunchy peanut butter
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. flax
3 T yeast
1/3 c. water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup palm sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 c. (12oz) carob chips
1 c. chopped pecans
Directions:

Be sure to check out the website for the rest of the directions!
Enjoy!!

Cranberry/Apple Relish again

2011-11-08T20:58:00.000-06:00

I'll be sharing some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes with you this year.

1Ch 16:34 "O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever." His mercy does endure forever, it was because of His mercy for us that He sent His Son to die for our sins. What a great thing to give thanks to God for!

I wanted to share a recipe from last year that I absolutely love! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Cranberry/Apple Relish
1 bag (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries
2 apples peeled and finely chopped (I used my Pampered Chef Chopper)
2 cups apple cider or juice
2 cups sugar (If using palm sugar do not skimp or it will be sour)
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (I found this in the bulk section at the grocery store)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1. In a 3 qt saucepan, combine cranberries, apples, apple cider and sugar; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add ginger and cloves. Simmer until most of the cranberries have burst, about 30 minutes or more.
2. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar. Serve warm or chilled. If you let it chill for a day or two it will gel up some.
Refrigerate for up to one week or freeze for up to one month.

You can also make yummy turkey salad sandwiches with it!
To make the sandwiches cut up some leftover turkey, add a lot of relish(to cover?) a bar of cream cheese and a big spoonful, about 1/2 cup, of plain yogurt. Mix it all up and serve between bread. I think I'll add pecans next time. It was delicious!
I also used this to make a dip for crackers at New Years last year.

I am going to stock up on fresh cranberries when I find them on sale and put them in my freezer.
I can't wait to make it this year, I'll be grocery shopping friday for my Thanksgiving meal.

Here is an old picture of a Thanksgiving more than 9 years ago, I'm not sure of the actual date. Boots wanted to share our leftover Thanksgiving dinner with us!

Missy

First Turkey Dinner

2011-11-07T14:13:00.001-06:00

This is my husband, Chris and I, in 1995 cooking our first meal for our families, the day before our wedding. I had already moved into our duplex and was getting it ready for Chris to move in after our wedding. We were so skinny and young back then!

I was just thinking about the first turkey my husband and I cooked. We were young and had never cooked a turkey before. One of my older friends had told me to be sure to get the giblets out. I have never liked dealing with raw meat (did I mention I didn't know how to cook when I got married?), the smell and texture and thought of touching a dead animal just really grossed me out. I didn't mind eating it already cooked, I just didn't want to touch it! But you gotta do what you gotta do and I forced myself to cook raw meat so that we could have something to eat. (I know kind of childish, but I still get grossed out sometimes.) :)

This is my mom on the right, and Chris's mom on the left.

Back to the turkey. I told my husband he needed to pull the giblets. He said no way he was going to stick in his hand inside the turkey and I needed to pull it out. Mind you, neither one of us knew what to expect when we stuck our hand in there. This went on for 30 minutes pushing the turkey back and forth. Of course he proved to be the more stubborn one and I had to stick my hand in there and pull it out. I pulled the bag of giblets out and threw them away. Then my husband told me I better make sure nothing else was in there and when I pulled out the neck, I freaked out so bad I dropped the whole thing on the floor! We washed the turkey again and cooked a delicious, moist turkey. It was so worth the experience. My secret for my turkey is using an oven roasting bag. You can buy them at your local store where the aluminum foil and plastic wrap is. You don't have to baste and it does not have to cook as long. I surprised my aunt with how easy this was. I also use a whole stick of butter, sage and garlic and stick a whole onion in the cavity. And of course salt. Pretty simple, but sometimes that is the best kind! Do you have any turkey tips to share? What is your funniest cooking experience?

Always lick the spoon. Did I mention this was also a turkey dinner? Chris and Zeke had to go buy me a roasting pan to cook the turkey in and I am still using that same roasting pan today to cook my turkeys in!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Missy

Sewing Area

2011-11-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

I would love to have a sewing room. Right now that is my dining room. It looks like fabric has exploded all over the place.

What a mess, right?

I do my cutting, sewing and laptop on the kitchen table.
I invited a couple of friends over for dinner. He fixed my dryer in exchange for a dinner of chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. I totally rearranged and cleaned my dining room so we could eat at the table. It looks a lot better now. I moved my bakers rack and set it up as a desk with my laptop on it.

I'm thinking of maybe moving my baker's rack to the office to store my material on, and my desk to the dining room. I'll have to see if my husband will help me with that.

I now have more room on my table for cutting and sewing. I like this better. Of course when I have a cake to decorate this gets put away so that I can make a different kind of mess with frosting and cake.
I want to build a house and have either a loft, or big room with 3 outside walls so that I can have lots of windows. I want half the room to be my sewing/craft room. It will have a special cutting table and my old dining room table for my sewing. Lots of shelves and cabinets. The other half will be my husband's office/library/music room. This way we won't be isolated from each other!
Not to mention a nice big kitchen for all my baking and decorating, but more on that later.
Where do you do your crafts?
Missy

Cherry Cobbler

2011-11-01T13:29:00.001-05:00

For our church's anniversary we had an old-fashioned Sunday where we dressed up old-fashioned and ate old fashioned food. We had a potluck and had chicken dumplings, greens, black eyed peas, cornbread and salad. For dessert we had cobbler, I've never made cobbler before and did not realize how hard it was to find the fruit for a cobbler this time of year. (I could have done apple, but I have an apple crisp in my fridge that I've been eating on.) I decided to do cherry, which ended up costing more then I expected. I'll make sure to use " in season" fruit next time, but I think my healthy cherry cobbler turned out pretty good! I'm thinking next year maybe pie social?
Cherry Cobbler
1 cup kamut flour
1/2 cup organic unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons palm sugar
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
about 6 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened pitted cherries ( I used and 12 oz and 16 oz bag)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. For topping, in a medium bowl stir together flour, the tablespoons sugar (if you are not using the granulated kind, crumble it in with the flour mixture like you do the butter), baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Using your fingers is a quick way to do this.
2. For filling, in a large saucepan combine the cherries, 1 cup sugar, and the cornstarch. Cook over medium heat until cherries juice out, stirring occasionally. Be sure to not have your heat too high and keep an eye on it, I scorched mine and has taken a long time to clean that pan! Continue to cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Keep filling hot.
3. In a small bowl whip together the eggs, milk and agave nectar. Add to flour mixture, do not over mix. Transfer hot filling to a 2-qt square baking dish, unless it is for a crowd, then use a 9x13. Using a spoon or scoop, drop topping into several mounds on top of filling.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Bad Cats!

2011-10-29T20:18:00.000-05:00

Doesn't Tiger look so innocent? Look what he found in the office:

I looked over and he was walking through the living room with this in his mouth and a trail of cats following him! Can we say partners in crime? (Please excuse my clean laundry waiting to be put up!) He found some feather boa and tulle in the office. He also growled at me when I took it away! LOL
I guess Pippi does look mischievous.

Tiger and Muffin taught her a new game, I have to make sure my pin cushion is put up at all times, or she does this:

She pulls all of my pins out! She starts with my double needle, then the safety pins, and finishes with the needles! Praise the Lord she has not hurt herself!
They also like to pull my clean, just ironed material off my dryer rack!

When you have this many cats, you will have mischievousness!

Yes, that's right, you counted six! I blame it all on my friend Ebbye for giving us the last three (the trouble makers!) But I love them all!

Carob Cupcakes Recipe and class

2011-10-28T14:54:00.000-05:00

My young ladies had another baking class on Tuesday. We have added another girl. I think it is very important to teach young ladies how to bake. Ashleigh and Aaliyah picked a chocolate cupcake recipe from the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book. I think it is a ding dong knock off with a marshmallow filling, but the girls do not like marshmallow so we used stabilized whipped cream instead.
When you have a recipe that calls for cocoa but you want to substitute carob powder instead it is 1 part cocoa to 2 1/2 parts carob powder according to the information I found online. I thought that would make too much carob powder, so for 3/4 cup cocoa we substituted 1 1/2 cups carob powder.

Cream-Filled Carob Cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups carob powder or 3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used organic unbleached)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups palm sugar
3 large eggs, room temp.
1 cup sour cream, room temp.
1/4 cup milk (after adding the carob powder the dough was too thick so I added this milk)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, carob powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. (this aerates the flour, if you are using wheat flour be sure to sift instead.)
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

With mixer on low, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and mixing until just incorporated after each. Be sure to not over-mix!
3. Divide the batter evenly among prepared cups, filling each 3/4 way full.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes for regular cupcakes. Jumbo cupcakes 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 5 minutes. Turn out to cool.

4. Transfer filling to large heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, and twist bag to remove excess air before sealing. Snip off one corner of the bag to make a 1/4 inch opening or use tip #8.

We also made Italian Meringue Buttercream, you can get my recipe here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/08/italian-meringue-buttercream.html

Ashleigh got to separate the egg whites for the IMBC.

We made sunflowers from the book What's Up Cupcake?, but we used carob chips for the center instead of Oreo cookies.

We used a leaf tip for the petals. For their first time decorating, they did a great job!

They had a lot of cupcakes to decorate and got bored with the sunflowers after a while so I just let them play for a while.

Here are Ashleigh's cupcakes

Aaliyah's

and Miracle's

Next week we will be learning how to make carrot cake, thot not buttercream and fondant.

Missy

Pumpkin Soup

2011-10-28T08:42:00.000-05:00

I just noticed I have two new friends on GFC! Welcome! I don't know how to tell how many friends I have on my blogger, I am very "slow" in learning computer stuff. I would like to thank Rebecca, a young girl I used to babysit, for helping fix my background.

My friend Marie came over for lunch yesterday and laughed at me for taking a picture of my soup! She never gets on the internet, so I had to show her my blog so she would understand why I take my pictures of my food!
Here is the original recipe, I changed it a little.
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/day-299.html

I made a lot so I could can it, only to find out, after I had it in the water bath canner, that it HAS to be done in a pressure canner! I put them in the freezer after they cooled down.

-4 15 oz cans or 6 cups of pumpkin. I used organic pumpkin puree.
-4 cups vegetable broth, I used one box you can also use chicken broth. Go for the organic, stores like Whole Foods, Central Market and HEB have it for $2! I stock up when I go to one of those stores.
-3 cups water
2 yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

since sweet potatoes are so hard to cut, I used my mandolin slicer and then chopped it.
-3-4 chopped garlic cloves, I used my garlic press
1 T sugar (I used palm)
1 tsp ginger
3 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 chopped onion (optional)
heavy whipping cream

Put it all in the crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hrs (if you don't have that much much time you can cook it on high for one hour to get it started, then turn it to low.
If you have in immersible blender use that (I really want one of these!) I scooped out the chunks and put them in my blender and blended until smooth. Don't put the lid all of the way on the hot liquid, or it might explode, I tilted the middle insert of the lid to let steam escape.

I made a mess, but it sure is delicious. I also have extra made and in my freezer for future lunches! Not to mention how healthy this soup is. With sweet potatoes, pumpkin and garlic - you can't go wrong!
My friend Marie told me that she does not like pumpkin, but after tasting my soup she changed her mind.
I hope you enjoy this much as I do!
Enjoy this cool weather with some soup!
Missy

My husband wants a quilt!

2011-10-25T04:58:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it's kind of dangerous to let my husband look at my craft magazines! I'm taking my first class on quilting and I bought a new magazine. He saw this quilt:

and asked me to make him one. How can I say no? At least it is an easy one for a beginner (I think?????)
It is called Weaving the Rails and the designer is Kathie Holland. We found the it int the magazine "American Patchwork and Quilting"
He likes the antique look of the quilt. I decided I want to do Browns, blues, greens, creams and tans. This way I can use it in my bedroom. I do like the look of this quilt though and hope limiting my colors will still turn out nice? I found some material in my stash, but I'm going to need a lot more! I have found that quilting is very expensive when you consider the cost of the 100% cotton material and batting and thread. My teacher says this is a must! Would anyone else be interested in quilting along with me? I'm no expert, but it should be fun!
Missy

Sugar Cookies Class

2011-10-24T15:55:00.000-05:00

I'm teaching baking classes to a couple of young ladies at my church. Our first lesson was sugar cookies. I used the recipe for no fail sugar cookies from cakecentral.com . I changed a couple of ingredients to make it healthier. http://cakecentral.com/recipes/no-fail-sugar-cookies/print
No Fail Sugar Cookies – NFSC

Ingredients

6 cups flour (I used whole grain pastry flour)

3 tsp. baking powder

2 cups unsalted butter

2 cups sugar (I used palm sugar)
2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)

1 tsp. salt

Instructions

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350
degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe
can make up to 5-dozen cookies.

This recipe was almost too much for a regular kitchen aide, so I would recomend checking the bottom of the dough often.

We used a from scratch recipe for the royal icing. http://www.wilton.com/recipe/print/Egg-White-Royal-Icing-1
Egg White Royal Icing dries hard—so you can make flowers or other decorations in advance. Meringue Powder gives it an extra-stiff texture.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites (room temperature)

4 cups (approximately 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar (I used thot not powdered sugar which leaves it an off white)

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
I also added a tsp of vanilla for better taste

Makes:

2 1/2 cups.

Instructions:

Step 1
Beat all ingredients at high speed for 7 to 10 minutes. Use immediately. Rebeating will not restore texture.

Step 2
Wilton says: *For use only as non-edible decorations which will not come in direct contact with the cake. Wash hands and utensils thoroughly after making recipe.
But I think it is fine to eat.

I just let the girls play around with thr icing since it had been such a long day laerning how to bake and cut out the cookies.
I also taught them how to thin the icing to cover cookie pops.

Tomorrow we are learning cupcakes and IMBC!
Have a great day ya'll!
Missy

Book of Dreams by Davis Bunn

2011-10-19T13:44:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Book of Dreams by Davis Bunn. What a great book! I read it in two days while I was sick and enjoyed it very much! The whole book is on the premise that God speaks to us through His Word and how we need to pay attention to our dreams because God may be speaking to us in our dreams. We need to open our hearts and listen when God speaks to us.

I always knew the banking system was corrupt, but I never understood how until Davis explained it in his book. We need to be aware of what is happening in our banks and how they operate with the politicians. Dr. Elena Burroughs is a psychologist who is just existing in her life after her husband passed away. She was content with how things were, but when she gets a new client - everything changes. She is swept up in the politics of the banks and gets a very old book that helps her understand God, life and dreams better then she could understand on her own.

I would recommend this book to everyone. Even though I usually only read historical fiction, this book is great and will keep you focused to the end!

To read the first chapter, go here:

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Book-of-Dreams/Davis-Bunn/9781416556701/excerpt_with_id/17972

To win a copy of the book read the first chapter and tell me what you think of the book!

For another entry "like" Davis Bunn on facebook and leave me another comment letting me know you "liked" him.

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=hp#!/pages/Davis-Bunn-author/134762129885578

Be sure to leave two separate comments for two entries and leave me your email address so that I can contact you if you win! The contest will end on Saturday, October 22. I will draw the name on Sunday morning!

I have some interview questions to share with you from Davis Bunn about his book!

In Book of Dreams, you revisit a theme from one of your earlier books, The Warning. Why did you write about the crisis in the banking industry?

The Warning, published in 2003, focused on the then-current financial crisis. It was about a man who felt called by God to warn people that financial upheaval was coming, and the difficulties he had in getting his message across. That book was in the top five on the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) best-seller list for 14 months.

The week I started writing Book of Dreams, the news broke that not one single banker responsible for the mortgage crisis and bank crisis had been convicted of a crime. The banking industry came out of this crisis relatively unscathed while 3 million American families lost their homes — that’s almost 15 percent of all homeowners in America. That, to me, is just not right.

The banking industry is all about self-interest and making money. The American banking industry spends $1 million a day lobbying Congress, while the international banking industry spends another million per day lobbying the American political system. With that much money on the table, there’s a potential for huge profits – the banking industry wouldn’t invest that much money for any other reason.

The question became: “What could happen that would stymie this self-absorbed lobbying?”

The answer: An independent commission that would oversee these transactions so there’d be nowhere for these people to hide. I built Book of Dreams around that premise.

Your story explores how God uses dreams and visions to communicate with people. What inspired that idea?

My wife and I did a wonderful Bible study on the book of Daniel, in which we explored how dreams were one component of Daniel’s gift of prophecy.

When I wrote the book, I tried to build in two key components about communicating with God through dreams or visions. The first is humility. Rather than using a vision or dream for one’s own aggrandizement, I believe that the less the person is involved, the more God can shine through.

The second component is, “How does this vision tie in to the scriptures?” When I was in the Middle East, I saw beautiful cryptograms of the Lord’s Prayer. It was so telling to see the Lord’s Prayer in terms of artwork. This inspired the idea of a book written in Aramaic – the language Jesus spoke – with each verse of Lord’s Prayer on one page of the book.

As I drafted the story, I looked at the Lord’s Prayer one verse at a time and that became my prayer time. It took three months to write the book and I did not finish the Lord’s Prayer in three months. It was a beautiful experience for me.

When the character of Elena follows God’s lead, her life takes a different path than the one she planned or expected. Davis, in what ways does your own dependence on God’s leading take you in surprising directions?

It’s remarkable how this question comes up now, because it seems like this entire year has been one of being open to God’s OTHER direction. This has been true both in my creative work and in my walk of service.

Obviously I had no idea what was in store for us when I wrote the Book of Dreams (remember, the story is completed between nine and twelve months before its publication). But this really has been a reflection of what the story has tried to reveal – that sometimes the most important gift is what at first is what we fear.

Change often feels threatening, but so long as we struggle, we can’t see the true divine intention. To arrive at this point, where our prayer becomes one of genuinely seeking God’s call and His illumination, we must first embrace the change that is there in front of us.

Is a sequel for Book of Dreams planned? If so, when can we expect it?

I am this very moment completing the sequel, which is entitled Hidden in Dreams. Howard/Simon and Schuster have this slated for release in July 2012.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website, blog, and interactive discussion group are at www.davisbunn.com

I update my blog at least three times per week. To subscribe to my latest posts via your feed reader or via email, click http://feeds.feedburner.com/DavisBunn

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davis-Bunn-author/134762129885578

Twitter: @davisbunn - http://twitter.com/davisbunn

E-Newsletter: My free e-newsletter always includes a giveaway contest for my latest book. To subscribe, fill out the form at www.davisbunn.com or send a blank e-mail to davisbunn@aweber.com. You’ll receive a confirmation e-mail. Click the link in that e-mail, and you’re all set.

I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!

Missy

Quilting Class

2011-10-17T16:09:00.000-05:00

I am taking a quilting class! This is something that I have wanted to do for years. Our local activities center is offering affordable classes. My teacher, Lori, brought some of the quilts she made. Aren't they gorgeous?

She even quilts beautiful bags.

I love the colors that she uses. Quilting is such an awesome way to be creative.

There are a lot of supplies that I could buy, but I only had to buy a couple of special rulers, the big one and small one. Rulers are very important to ensure accuracy in cutting and sewing. The small ruler is to ensure that my needle on my sewing machine is set exactly on 1/4 inch to make 1/4 inch seams. I also bought special curved safety pins for pinning the layers together and special quilting needles for my machine. The most expensive thing was the batting, which is very expensive!

The above quilt is the first quilt my teacher ever made and it is the same pattern I chose also. I have some blocks sewn but I forgot to take a picture. I'll be finishing my wall hanging tomorrow and can't wait to share pictures with you!
Don't forget to check out my other blog to win Davis Bunn's newest book! The contest ends tomorrow night. bodaciousbookworms.blogspot.com
Missy
Here is one more quilt she has made.

Book giveaway

2011-10-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

I'm having a book giveaway over on my book blog, so be sure to hop on over and enter to win Book of Dreams by Davis Bunn!
bodaciousbookworms.blogspot.com

I've had a pretty busy week and I have a lot to blog about!

Last week an acquaintance passed away. He was the brother and son of very dear friends of mine at church. Our church came out to support them in this tragic time of death. The funeral was on Monday, I helped with the reception following the funeral. I was grateful for the distraction it provided. Praise the Lord he had asked the Lord to come into his heart and to save him from his sins. ""For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:10, 11, 13

Tuesday I had quilting class.

Wednesday I taught a baking class to two young ladies from church.

Thursday I was home and cleaned and rearranged my living room with church that night. (I know weird night to have church LOL)

Friday I helped and fellowshipped with a friend from church.

I have had a busy week, but I promise to download all of my pictures, sort through them and blog about them next week!

Don't forget to enter my book giveaway and have a great weekend ya'll! I'll share a picture of my cats, ya'll don't mind do ya'll?
Missy

I'm kitten sitting Pippi's two brothers. Here is Pippi (the black calico) and Splash and Frosty. She's the only odd ball of the bunch! This also means that I have eight cats running around my house this week! Talk about total chaos on top of the rest of my week, but that's ok, it's been fun.

Chicken and Dumplings

2011-10-08T21:13:00.000-05:00

I love chicken and dumplings! It is the only type of "soup" I can get my husband to eat. My good friend Cara first taught me how to make it about 14 or 15 years ago. Over the years I have adapted it. I have always used Bisquick for my dumplings, but the past couple of years I have been trying to find a healthy, from scratch alternative. I finally found one! My husband bought me a great new book. I'm Just Here For More Food-baking by Alton Brown.

He takes the science behind the ingredients and explains why they work. I would recommend this book to everyone because it is much more then just a cookbook. I used his dumplings recipe with a tad alterations. I hope you enjoy!

Fill your pot (stock pot or dutch oven) with liquid, enough to cover your chicken. I used a box of organic chicken broth ($2 at HEB or Central Market) and the rest water. You can also use canned chicken stock, but it is probably full of msg and a bunch of other unhealthy stuff. You can use either a whole chicken or chicken breasts. I don't measure my spices, just add according to your taste. A couple of bay leaves, 3 cloves of pressed garlic, couple teaspoons of salt, ground sage, thyme and rosemary. Add diced carrots and celery. I make the dumplings while the chicken and vegetables are cooking. Be sure to use a slotted spoon ( I have a flat one I use) or some type of skimmer thingy to get the yuckies from the chicken floating on the top. You can also use a paper towel.
Dumplings
1 cup organic unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sage
Whisk the dry ingredients together to aerate as you combine. If you use wheat flour be sure to sift it together.
Grate 1 1/2 tablespoons of frozen butter into the flour. Add 2 teaspoons lard. You'll want to mix it together the way you would a pie crust. You can use either a pastry cutter or your fingers to make it into a coarse-like texture. Add 1 cup chilled buttermilk ( I used soured milk) and mix thoroughly.

Remove chicken from broth and cut in small pieces.
I used my small scooper to drop the dumplings into the boiling broth. Make sure it is boiling or the dumplings will disintegrate. If you don't have a scooper you can roll the dough into about 12 small balls before dropping it into the broth. Cover and cook for 10 minutes over medium-low heat. You may need to lower the heat if it starts to over boil.

Add the chicken back to the broth to reheat it. Stir it gently in to prevent disintegrating the dumplings. Cook an additional five minutes uncovered.
Enjoy your comfort food!
Missy

Old Wedding Dresses

2011-09-30T10:04:00.001-05:00

My mom and I went to the Texas Tech Museum yesterday, it's a small museum, but it's free! They had wedding and trousseau dresses on display. I thought I would share some pictures with you, did you know white wedding dresses were not popular until Queen Victoria got married in a white dress?

I love the ruffle on this dress!

The pearls down the front on the right are so pretty!

These dresses are from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Most of them are the Gibson girl style.
Can you imagine wearing one of these petticoats to make your behind look big?

They even had some veils I could try on! Of course I couldn't resist!

Can you imagine making all these dresses with a sewing machine like this?

Then of course you would have to vacuum up all those loose threads and pieces of fabric with this vacuum cleaner (about 20 years later).

I hope you enjoyed this blast from the past with me!
Missy

A New Skirt and the Fair

2011-09-27T17:07:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been so quiet on here. I was getting my house clean and in order before I went out of town to see my family in Lubbock. My sister's birthday is Thur. and mine is Fri.. We go to the fair in Lubbock every year I'm in town for my annual visit. My sister went the first time when she was two days old. The first time I went I was a year old. This is not a great picture, I was in the fun house.
I made a new skirt that I wanted to wear to the fair this year.

I bought this denim material back in June and I tried to make it into a pair of culottes.

The material was too heavy and bulky. Pippi likes this material! So I had to take out the inner seams and make it into a skirt, then I made it too big and had to take it in. It took me three months to finally finish this skirt(I only worked on it off and on).
Here is a picture of my niece Johnna and I on the Merry Go Round.

Here is one of the rides my sister and I rode, that's us way up there. We both decided we are getting too old to ride those rides! LOL

We rode the swings and I was very dizzy when we got off!

Here is a picture of my mom and Johnna sharing a corn dog.

Johnna's favorite ride was the canoe.

We like playing with the hats too!

Here is a picture of all of us as we were leaving, we were tired and hot but had a great time!

Johnna fell asleep on the way home.

One of the materials had "patches" on it, so I built on that theme and made more patches on the bottom of the skirt using the rag quilt. I didn't have enough material and added some other denim I had. I added more patches all around to bring the two materials together.
You can see the patches better in this picture even though it is a terrible picture of me. It's kind of hard to take a good picture in a moving barrel.

I won't be home until Monday, my husband stayed home with the cats.
Have a great day ya'll!
Missy

My new mixer!

2011-09-12T21:17:00.000-05:00

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19
As ya'll know, I have been borrowing mixers from my friends. I borrowed the Bosch http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/08/bosch.html which I liked, but there were several things that I did not like. I borrowed two different Kitchen Aids, I wrote a review on one of them, http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/search/label/mixer%20review where I showed you the difference in sizes, The wattage and sizes of the bowls and attachments did not compare to my Cuisinart. They worked fine, but I still prefer my Cuisinart.
My Cuisinart has a seven quart bowl, 1000 watts, and a timer that turns itself off. It also has 12 speeds to give you better control. As you can tell from my previous post, the paddle, whisk and dough hook are also better and bigger. This is probably the closest thing you can get to a professional model for your home.
I got my original mixer over four years ago on Black Friday. I did a price compare at Bed Bath and Beyond, used a coupon and got a free blender attachment all for about $280. It was a great deal! About two years ago I broke the spring on the mixer and would have to hold it down to get the bottom of the bowl. This break was totally my fault though. Then the motor quit in July. I must admit I have used this mixer and put it through the wringer in the years I have owned it. When I bake, it is usually for church so I always double and sometimes triple my recipes.
I was heart broken, how could I ever afford to buy a new mixer? I decided to sell cupcakes one week at church and Twinkies another week to raise money for my new mixer. I paid $15 to send my broken mixer back to the company with a $10 check for return postage. I figured I would have to wait until Black Friday and find another great deal. I knew the Lord would provide, I just did not know how. I never heard back from Cuisinart until today when UPS delivered me a brand new WHITE Cuisinart! What a blessing, I like the white better! Since I had kept all the parts when I sent the mixer back I now have two of everything, even two 7 qt bowls! I had registered my mixer when I first got it, so make sure you always register your products. And remember that God will always provide in some way, you just have to have patience and faith!

All I need now is some of those cool vinyls to decorate my mixer with! I'm thinking either cupcakes or orange, yellow and green flowers to match my curtains! LOL
Missy

Tips for ready to serve meals

2011-09-08T10:25:00.000-05:00

I feel like I always need a picture on my blog posts, since I didn't have any for this one I thought you might like this one of Pippi and Muffin. Aren't they cute?
With fall, school and the holidays coming up we are pretty busy. I thought I would share a couple of interesting blog posts I have found. Unfortunately I couldn't do this first one since my husband hates veggies and soups. She shows how she has one day of meal preparation. She chops up all her veggies and puts them in baggies ready to pop in a crock pot in the morning.
http://mamaandbabylove.blogspot.com/2011/04/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker.html

This next one is ingenious! They are great if you like to have food storage in case of a catastrophe, or your husband loses his job, or if you just want quick meals! I thought they would be great for camping too! She uses freeze dried food - dry milk, veggies, spices and even freeze dried meat! You just pour boiling water over it and you are ready to go!
http://cheftessbakeresse.blogspot.com/search/label/meals%20in%20a%20jar

Something else I have always wanted to try is having meals prepared in cans. My husband doesn't like soups and chili but I don't want to make a whole batch just for my lunches, I get sick of the leftovers after a while. My goal is to eventually get a pressure canner so that I can make my own homemade canned soup! Talk about convenient. What a great gift for a sick friend, a can of homemade chicken noodle soup! Fresh, organic and healthy - no MSGs! Here a couple of articles I found:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/canningconvenfood.htm
http://thisdamecooks.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/canning-vegetable-soup/

If anyone has any other resources they would like to share I would appreciate it!

Missy

How to make a cake by the Little Rascals

2011-09-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

I realize a lot of ya'll aren't as old as I am and might not remember the Little Rascals, but they are so cute. In this video clip they are baking a cake. I must admit I have never had a cake catastrophe this bad! LOL

Here is a link also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO6Ks77oYo4&sns=fb
I love the way they interpret the directions!

Have a great day ya'll!
Missy

Laundry Day

2011-09-02T16:29:00.001-05:00

"....and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean." Numbers 8:7b You would not believe how many times God says this in the Bible. Have you ever realized how important it is to God to be clean? As women, whether we are married or not, we have laundry to do and it won't clean themeselves. We do have stuff that makes it easier, like washing machines and dryers.

My dryer broke about two months ago. July was just one of those months where everything was breaking. My dryer broke, my stand mixer broke, and I even "broke" (fractured) my wrist. My fingers still don't always work right.
My husband rigged up a clothes line for me in the backyard. He found some tent posts, an old metal shelf, and a bird feeder hanger to make my clothesline with.

As you can tell by my grass, we are having a drought in TX and temps reaching 110°. I hadn't bought clothespins yet (My husband brought some home this week after I had to chase one of my slips) so I had just been laying the clothes over the line.

There are pros and cons to using a clothes line versus a dryer.
* The electric bill has been reduced drastically!
* I love the smell of clothes that have dried in the sun.
* Clothes last longer
* The dryer is not making my house hot
* The clothes dry quickly in the TX sun.
* etc.

The cons
* It takes more time
* I'm afraid that if I forget to bring them in one day, this might happen:

Last night when I told my husband at 10:30 I forgot the laundry, he said don't worry about it, but I was afraid the raccoons might get into them. I found this( and the cat) picture on the internet, so obviously my fears had a foundation! Not to mention our "pet" racoon that comes to visit every every evening.

Not a great picture since we took it through our screened window.
More cons:
*weather
*stiff clothes, but wait, I found a way to fix the stiff clothes! Just put a 1/4 cup of baking soda in your wash and it softens your clothes! Even my husband said it works! So yeah!
We are praying about moving, so I don't see any sense in buying a dryer until after we move, but of course I'm still trying to come up with the money for a new mixer and in my opinion that comes first! LOL

Have a great Labor Day Weekend ya'll!
Missy
P.S. I don't know how they got those kittens in those bags, my kittens would never go for that! Although Muffin does like the dryer!

A new book for you!

2011-09-01T07:45:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share a book my Pastor wrote, my husband helped to put it in book format. This is a great book on the history of the King James Bible, be sure to order a copy for yourself!

"The Word, God Will Keep It: The 400 year History of the King James Bible Only Movement."
By Joey Faust

17 chapters. 335 pages.
Did you know that “King James Onlyism” has been the most popular view among Christians for the past 400 years?
This book, filled with hundreds of quotes, takes you on a detailed journey through the past four centuries to behold the vast number of Christians that believed the King James Bible is the infallible, preserved Word of God! Many of these early Christians also warned future generations of the terrible consequences that would arise as a result of forsaking this Holy Bible – consequences that our age has seen come to pass. This book also exposes a web of occultists and false teachers – outside – as well as inside, Christian churches – that have worked to overthrow the faith of multitudes in the King James Bible.

Some of the chapter titles include:
“Conditioning for a One-World Church”
“The Originals-Only Scheme”
“The Necromancy of Westcott and Hort”
“Heretics Behind the ASV”
Etc.

Order online from http://www.fundamentalbooks.com/

Or send $16.00 to:
Fundamental Books
700 Cordes Dr.
Venus, TX 76084

If you want to know the truth, then this is the book you should have!

Spaghetti Sauce

2011-08-29T19:56:00.000-05:00

I know this has nothing to do with baking or sewing, but I have had several friends ask me for my recipe for spaghetti sauce. Rather then write it out one by one, I figured I would put it on my blog and share it that way. Ya'll don't mind do you?
My sauce is different every time I make it. I don't measure anything. The first time I made spaghetti sauce, I made baked spaghetti using Paula Deen's recipe. I have adapted it over the years.

My pot would only hold eight cans of organic tomato sauce. Sometimes I use puree, it doesn't really matter. Next time I would love to use fresh organic tomatoes, but unfortunately I have a black thumb and kill everything I try to grow. Put all the cans in your pot.

I like to use a green bell pepper and either a yellow or red bell pepper. The green one was very big so I only used half since green has such a strong flavor. I used about half a bulb of garlic and a little more then half of that onion. We like lots of garlic but not very much onion. Sometimes I will also roast a garlic while the sauce is cooking and add it also.

Normally I would put it all in the blender with some of the sauce, but my blender is an attachment to my mixer which is at the repair shop right now. I used my chopper instead which got it pretty fine. My husband likes to pretend that there are not any veggies in my sauce, so no chunks allowed.

I really don't measure, but use about a tablespoon of Italian seasoning (I get mine from the bulk section at Central Market or Whole Foods), about a tablespoon of pizza seasoning (we love the all-natural Frontier brand, this was also bought at Whole Foods), depending on the size of the bay leaves 2-4. Remember to take the bay leaves out at the end. About 1-2 teaspoons salt. You don't want to over salt, I did that once. You can always add more salt at the end of your cooking time. A tablespoon of sugar, I use palm sugar.

I love my garlic press! I hate chopping garlic, but my chopper would do a good job also. I usually throw the garlic in the blender with everything else, the blender makes the process a lot faster!

Simmer on low for about three hours, stirring frequently. I used a wooden spoon since my pot has an enamel coating. Don't you just love the green? After about 3 hours (the long cooking process allows all the flavors to meld and you no longer have the tomato taste). Be sure to taste it and see if you need any more seasonings. If you are going to be canning it, add about a tablespoon or so of lemon juice? This was my first time and I guessed, it needs the higher acid content for water bath canning.

My stock pot was too short and small, so I could only can fit three pint size jars. See the mess I made? After I started the water bath canning, I added a pound of hamburger meat.

You need a pressure canner to process meat, which I do not have. I need to cook the meat sauce for another 30 minutes at least, but I cooked it for another hour. I then filled two quart size jars. After they cool down, one will go in the freezer and the other will go in the fridge.

I let them boil for 35 minutes and then pulled them out. The lids started popping as soon as I pulled them out! YEAH!

With the sauce still left in your pot, make a batch of spaghetti for supper that night! Don't forget to add the grated Parmesan cheese on top. Oh, and if you try to serve this much spaghetti to your husband, expect to hear him complain for a bigger portion!

Nursing Cover

2011-08-25T15:09:00.000-05:00

I think a nursing cover is just like an apron that is made for modesty. These are great for mothers who are still nursing. This is my second nursing cover I have made. I made my first one for Skye here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/05/couple-of-things-ive-made.html and she said to make the casing for the boning smaller and use D-Rings for adjustability (probably not a word, but it fits)on the neck tie.
Clarissa wanted to give Ashley a nursing cover for her baby shower (remember the monkey cake?) Ashley had the material, a curtain and a pair of brown scrub pants. Material can be cheap if you think outside of the box and re-purpose things.

I cut the pocket off of the pants and sewed it onto the cover. I sat down and put the cover on and put my hand on my leg to decide where to put the pocket. This way the pocket is convenient while she is nursing.
Have you ever wondered what boning is? Well, I had no idea! It is the thing that makes the cover stick out for the mother to see the baby while nursing.

See how it sticks out on top? (Don't look at my fabric stash, that is what built up while my hand was healing.) Well, boning is what you use to make a corset. It is a piece of plastic wrapped in fabric and you cut it to size. A package is about $5.

This is what the piece I cut off looks like. Be sure to cut a small piece of the plastic off so you can sew up the ends of the fabric, otherwise when you put it through your casing the plastic will come out, and I didn't want to poke Ashley.
I got a new ruffler foot, I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. It was my first project to use it on and the ruffle was longer then what I needed. Instead of cutting it off I wound it up and over the side. I really liked the way this looked and sewed it on. I made the ruffle out of the scrub pants. It took me a minute to make my ruffle!

So easy to make now that I know what I'm doing!
Happy sewing!
Missy

Monkey Cake

2011-08-24T12:43:00.000-05:00

My friend was having a baby shower and I offered to make the cake. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, thinking flavor wise, and she told me she wanted monkeys and did not care what the flavor was. So of course I had to make a banana cake (recipe here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/03/delicious-banana-layer-cake.html ) I doubled the recipe which called for 3 total cups of sugar, but I only had 2 cups of palm sugar left. With the sweet icing it tasted just fine though. Banana cake was firm enough to hold up in a 3-D pan. I also made peanut butter cream cheese frosting (you can find the recipe here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/08/peanut-butter-icing.html ) It really needed more powdered sugar, but I had also run out of thot not sugar. This is why I need plenty of warning when people ask me to bake cakes. My husband and I only have one car and he works 30 minutes away. We have to go to either Ft Worth or Arlington to get palm sugar and my husband hates driving that far after working all day.

I used my Stand up Wilton bear pan. Isn't he cute? You can find the baking and decorating directions at Wilton.com . I cut off his ears and trimmed his legs. Then I covered the 8 inch leftover cake with frosting.

I did not have any sugar left to make white buttercream so I was not able to make any extra decorations. I would have loved for the monkey to be holding a baby bottle or something, oh well!
I did put some frosting inside the bear before I put the middle of the cake from the heating element back inside to give the monkey more frosting.

I made a tail, ears, and legs from rice krispie treats. The tail did fall down, but still looked okay.

I started off with one toothpick, but next ended up adding more toothpicks later when they started to fall. So I would put 1 toothpick on each end, and then after sticking them in the cake, add a toothpick from the front and one from the back where they "crisscross", this will help them to stay put. I knew I was cutting the cake and could pull out all the toothpicks. These are the ears! Be sure to put the ears on the side of his face to look like a monkey.

I then added the legs. I used a tip 16 and made stars all over the monkey. When I made the belly, inside the ears, and face the frosting did not firm up enough for me to smooth over with my finger like buttercream does. I had used a tip 12 to put the "light colored" frosting on. Oh well, I ended up using my tiny spatula to smooth it the best I could.

Here is his backside, I was told the tail looked like a turkey neck when I pulled it off! LOL

The funniest part of the cake was when I started cutting it. I had put a dowel rod down the middle of the cake and another smaller one in his belly to keep him upright and from sliding. I first cut off his head to lay on the side and start cutting. Of course all the little girls were standing around me, watching. When I did this the dowel rod was sticking out of his neck and one of the little girls from my Sunday School class said "His skeleton is sticking out!" So I looked at her and said "of course he has a skeleton, he would fall over if he didn't have something holding him up just like you do!" :)
The frosting was soft and held up pretty good in the 110° weather we have been having, but his hip fell off so I grabbed a couple of bananas and put them on the sides to hide it. I later stuck a strawberry in front of his foot where it started to fall. Everyone thought it was just part of his decorations! LOL
Have a great day ya'll!
Missy

Peanut butter Icing

2011-08-23T14:32:00.000-05:00

I made some peanu butter cream cheese icing, it was delicious!

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat on medium high speed until creamy:
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup shortening

Add and beat until creamy:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup smooth peanut butter (I had used almond butter and it had tiny pieces of nuts that kept getting stuck in my tips, very annoying!)

Add all at once and beat at low speed until smooth:
4 cups sifted powdered thot not sugar (you can get the recipe here: http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/02/powdered-sugar-made-from-palm-sugar.html )

Continue to beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
If it is too thick add a tablespoon of milk until you get the right consistency, if it is not thick enough for decorating, just keep adding powdered sugar until it is thick enough.

I ran out of palm sugar and did not have anymore to add, I wish I had of.

Enjoy,
Missy

Healthy Twinkies

2011-08-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

I made healthy "Twinkies" last week. My husband had bought me a canoe pan a while ago.

You can buy one here: http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-3964-Cream-Canoe-Decorating/dp/B0009R59QY

As you can see, this is where I got the shape for the Twinkies. I also made some in regular cupcake pans. I made a healthy version using hard white wheat flour. I found another recipe here that I might try next time. http://www.simplemathbakery.com/blog/2010/02/05/homemade-twinkies

Healthy Twinkies

Preheat the oven to 350°

Have all ingredients at room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat at high speed until fluffy:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups palm sugar

Add slowly and beat on medium speed until fluffy:

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a bowl, sift together:

2 1/2 cups hard wheat white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

At low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture alternately with:

3/4 cup milk (do not ever use low fat milk to bake with, the fat makes the baked goods taste better)

Fill each mold or liner three-quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden. The tops should spring back when lightly pressed. Cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before removing the cupcakes from their pans or before turning the cakes out of their pans.

Since the canoe pan only makes 8 at a time, I made some of them in the cupcake pan.

You can't have Twinkies without filling! You can fill them with anything, but I filled them with whipped cream. I was out of palm sugar so I sweetened the whipped cream with agave nectar. I usually use Knox gelatin to stabilize it, but I was out so I used guar gum and it worked great! You can use a bag, but I used the plastic thing that came with my pan, the whipping cream doesn't melt in my hands this way.

You have to have three spots of whipped cream for the classic look! As you can tell, I made a mess! I like to put a towel down when I decorate cakes, it makes clean up a lot easier!

I took them to church and the snack size baggies were the perfect fit for the Twinkies! I hope you enjoy!
Missy

Cheesecake Twinkie Bars

2011-08-17T14:12:00.000-05:00

I forgot to take a picture before I tried it, but they were delicious. I made some gluten free "Twinkie" cupcakes, but they looked funny even though they tasted delicious. I needed a dessert for church on Sunday but I did not want to spend a lot of time on it since I had been baking Twinkies all day. So I grabbed 2-3 tablespoons of butter and threw it into a glass pan and threw that into an oven preheated to 350°. I let the butter melt in the pan this way.

After the butter was melted I crumbled several of the cupcakes into the bottom of the pan. You can use any kind of cake or cookie for this. If you want a thin crust, just cover the bottom of the pan, if want a thicker portion of cake, then add more. I'll share my healthy Twinkies recipe next week.

Cheesecake Bars
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup palm sugar (you can substitute any kind of sugar)
6 egg yolks (I had some left over, feel free to use 3 eggs instead)
1 tsp pure vanilla

Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a bowl until smooth; add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Pour over crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into squares before serving. Feel free to add berries over the top.

This is how it looks before baking. It makes a firm cheesecake, which is perfect for picking up and eating with your fingers.
Enjoy,
Missy

Missy's Homemaking Adventures

Hand Quilting the Bird House Quilt

Birdhouse Quilt Update 5/basting

Birdhouse Quilt Update #4/The back

Texas Gone Crazy Quilt

My Quilt Block of the month and tips I've learned.

White Vibrating Shuttle Sewing Machine

What a terrible day!

3-tiered Skirt

Surviving Off Grid Documentary

Birdhouse Quilt Update 2!

Essential oil bag tutorial

Pinterest

Antique Quilts and a thimble

Treadle Sewing Machine and a winner!

Last day to enter the giveaway

I won another giveaway

Weight Loss Success Story.... in the making

Spincah Alfredo Pizza

New Cape

New Sewing Machine

Birdhouse Quilt Progress

Updates

Quilting/Sewing Supplies I like

Quick Cake Decorating

Whoops

Drinking Water

Raw Avocado Soup

Raw, Carob Peanut Butter Balls

Raw Food Fast

Laundry Tip

Purse to match my Cape

I finally finished my first official quilt!

Lots of thread

UFO 2012 List

Fudge Recipes

I wore a flannel sheet to church today!

Apron Pictures

TX Tech Rag Quilt is finished!

Aprons!

Twins' Birthday Cake

Spiced Pumpkin Custard Pie

A passing

Cooking Kingdom Style

Cheesecake Class

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Giveaway for Vison Forum

Quick Chicken Soft Tacos

Cake Decorating Class

I Hate Word Verifications

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Lactation Cookies?????

Cranberry/Apple Relish again

First Turkey Dinner

Sewing Area

Cherry Cobbler

Bad Cats!

Carob Cupcakes Recipe and class

Pumpkin Soup

My husband wants a quilt!

Sugar Cookies Class

Book of Dreams by Davis Bunn

Quilting Class

Book giveaway

Chicken and Dumplings

Old Wedding Dresses

A New Skirt and the Fair

My new mixer!

Tips for ready to serve meals

How to make a cake by the Little Rascals

Laundry Day

A new book for you!

Spaghetti Sauce

Nursing Cover

Monkey Cake

Peanut butter Icing

Healthy Twinkies

Cheesecake Twinkie Bars