I love stitching these little gifts!
I traced the pattern from a little book called Embroidery pour le Jardinier by Sylvie Blondeau that my son gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago.
I used Kaffe Fassett fabric on the backs.
Quick and pretty!
We spent some time staying with Mr. C’s parents when we were in Whitehorse a couple of weeks ago and they have a bread making machine. I was instantly bitten by the “gotta have it” bug. You know the one…that bug that tells you you need this, that or the other thing? I know you know what I’m talking about, lol!
It happens to me a lot. For instance, my friend Cynde got a Janome Memorycraft 7700 last month. Man o Man, was I ever bitten hard! I thought I was going to die if I didn’t have one, too! Well, I didn’t die. And the urge to spend $2000 faded away pretty quickly, thank god!
But that bread making machine….man, wouldn’t that be nice? And then I remembered the last time I had a bread machine.
I am going to stop right here and give kudos to Black & Decker because their machine survived ME! Or, my meddling with it, to be more exact. I could not, for the life of me, leave that machine alone to do it’s business! I was in there every chance I got, taking the dough out to give it extra kneading by hand, adjusting the water:flour ratio, nipping and tucking and generally making a nuisance of myself. That machine probably cursed the day it was bought and delivered to my house, lol!
That’s because I’m a bread maker. Ask anybody who makes bread from scratch and they’ll probably tell you a similar story. Bread making machines are great. Unless you’re a bread maker yourself. In which case, they become shear frustration-making machines!
So this morning, after reminding myself that that I AM a bread maker and don’t need to buy one, I set about making some. First I fed the sourdough starter. I divided it and put half back in the fridge for another day.
Then I fed it again and set half aside to ferment for a couple of days. This will make an awesome loaf of authentic tangy sourdough bread probably on Thursday or Friday.
I added yeast to the rest and mixed up a batch of faux-sourdough. Two freshly kneaded and shaped loaves are rising as I type. 
Mr. C and I will be fighting over the heel ends of the loaf at dinner. Good thing a loaf has two heels, eh?
My sourdough even has a genealogy. It’s an interesting story. Read it here! It came over the Chilkoot Pass in the late 1800s with the Christiansen family. It came to me from Millie Jones. Thanks, Millie! We’re sure enjoying it!
To feed your starter, mix 2 cups of warm water with 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp sugar. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Lumps are okay. Store in a glass jar in the fridge.
Enjoy!
Well, what can I say?
It was Valentine’s Day and for the very first time I was going to a Big Band dance as a general audience member and not as the bari player! A gal needs a new dress for such a monumental occasion, don’t you agree? I mean…I held down the bottom end for what…17+ years… and never heard ‘em out front! Not once! Calls for a new dress, don’t ‘cha think?
And reason #2 (as if I need a reason #2 to sew a dress): the Big Band is in Whitehorse, duh! Which meant that I was going home back to my beloved Yukon for a whole week! In February! Whoot whoot!
I had a fabulous time! My in-laws were there. My sisters-in-law & brother-in-law was there, my niece was there. My number-one-son was there. My girlfriends were there!
Yes, these photos are taken on the deck of our little cabin in the woods at Fox Lake. In the Yukon! On a very balmy day, I might add! Excuse the wrinkles…suitcase, you know. And while I do have an antique iron at the cabin and can heat it up on the wood stove, I don’t have an ironing board there anymore. (note to Whitehorse friends…if you see a cheep ironing board at the Sally Ann, grab for me!)
Why yet another version of the vintage New Look 6510 shift dress? Because I only decided to sew the dress the day my flight left. Yup! You read that right. I woke up in the morning and said to myself, “Nita, you have 3 hours. You should sew a Valentine’s Day dress.” And of course the only dress I have ever sewn is this one, and I knew I could do it fast.
I didn’t have enough fabric to cut the dress as one piece. So I split it at the “adjust length here” line. In retrospect, that was the wrong place. I should have split it at the natural waist. Because when I wear a belt, it sits up on the bottom of my ribcage. Not the most comfortable spot to wear a belt…
And because I am Thrifty Retirement Girl (♫ insert super-heroine music ♫)… guess what? The dress .25. YES!!! I made this dress for twenty-five cents. Out of three pillowcases. Yes, pillowcases. From the thrift store. Ha Ha!
Gotcha!
(this post is dedicated to my friend Cynde who just can’t get over it, lol!)
Every once in awhile my son will ask me how to make a favourite food that he remembers from childhood. Over Christmas he requested my baking powder biscuit recipe. So I did up a quick tutorial for him on my iPad and sent it to him in a message. The pictures aren’t great, but you get the idea.
Today I am making them to go with homemade soup. Maybe you would like to make some too?
2 cups flour
1 rounded Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp sugar
4 rounded Tbsp Shortening
3/4 cup milk.
Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir them up with a fork. Next, add the shortening and cut it into the dry ingredients until it is blended:
Add the milk and stir until it is all mixed together:
Put a bit of flour on the counter:
Put your biscuit dough on the flour and pat into a circle:
Cut out with a biscuit cutter or a water glass:
I usually get nine. I like them to rise up tall , so I cut them thick:
Bake at 400 degrees for approx 20 minutes.
These are so good!! Honestly, you won’t be able to eat just one.
If you want to add a handful of grated cheese and make cheese biscuits, you’ll need to cut back a little bit on the shortening. If you don’t, they’ll be heavy. Something to do with the fat to flour ratio.
Enjoy!
Outside my window… The sky and the lake are both the same colour. Fog obscures the far shore. Everything is shrouded and still.
Ta da! Rick rack to the rescue!
The bag looked kind of small. Would the quilt fit?
The pattern is from The Green Bag Lady. I changed up the pattern a bit…4″ straps instead of 3″ and I used French seams. …And also what it would be like to write a song. My friend Fawn Fritzen, who is an awesome singer, is taking part in FAWM (sort of like NaNoWriMo except it’s February Album Writing Month) where she has to write 15 songs during the month of February. It would be fun to write a song together, except maybe more fun for me than for Fawn, lol! since I have never written a song in my life and can’t sing a note to save it! (did you know that J.D.Robb is actually Nora Roberts? Such a versatile author! And prolific…eee gads, that gal can write!) Here are the momma and daddy elephants:
A peek into my day…because no matter else what I may or may not do today, writing is at the top of the list. 
and this:
with a good dose of this little guy who will need to go for a walk.
What are you doing today?Today is one of those honest, old-fashioned lazy days. The kind we always wish we could have. The kind we imagine we used to have, back in the good old days, whenever those were. Of course, we can’t actually remember any specific lazy Sundays. But they must have existed, right? Because we remember them.
Maybe they don’t happen very often. Maybe that’s why they’re so special. Like today.
Outside my window the snow is falling and everything is covered in drifting white. The wind is ringing the chimes outside the front door. I have a cup of tea at my elbow and Mr. C is snoozing reading on the couch while our fur babies enjoy a group snuggle in front of the fire.
Today I did not get up with any particular agenda in mind. I may spend some time with my latest hand quilting project. This little quilt is so sweet. I’m quilting white-on-white because I want the quilt to look embossed when finished.
If you’re interested in quilting by hand, I’m using 40 weight YLI quilting thread in “natural” and John James size 10 hand quilting needles. I’m also quilting it directly in my hands instead of using a hoop or a frame. I’m also using a product called Thimble Pads on my pushing finger: little sticky leather dots. I love them.
I’m really enjoying quilting directly in my hands this way. I don’t know if I’ll go back to using a hoop after this. My stitches are a bit coarser, but they’ll improve with practice.
Other news: my critiques are all in from my little critique group. I will probably spend some time looking at them. Or maybe not.Maybe I’ll save those for tomorrow, because I know that once I open them I’m going to want to get busy with edits. I won’t be able to help myself. And that sounds like work. Not worthy for such a deliciously lazy day.
Later on my friend Cynde is coming over and we’re going to eat some of the apple cake that I made yesterday (recipe here), drink tea and watch a Craftsy class together.
Oh dear. I’m sorry I disturbed you, Sam!
Today I’m linking in with Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy’s Quilts, and at Lily’s Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet. And that’s all the work I’m going to do.
I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday as much as I am enjoying mine. Are you being lazy, too?
