Saturday, October 7, 2023
What is new with you?
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Knots Quilt
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Life
When you spend a lot of time out of town and you come home, you get hugs and "I missed you," from the grandkids. Adult kids on the other hand tell me that we are out of laundry soap. Of course, a few days before my trip back, the refrigerator went out. This time, it was the compressor. My dog missed me too.
Do you remember how to turn baking soda into washing soda? We are out of washing soda and I need it to make laundry soap (laundry butter, laundry cream, laundry whip...). I will spread baking soda thinly onto a baking sheet and heat for about an hour at 400 degrees. I understand that washing soda is much better to clean with than baking soda. One reason is due to the PH level being higher. Even if you are not a soap maker, it may be worth a try to make some.
This will be the first time in 7 years that we won't be celebrating my youngest granddaughter and my mother's birthday at the same time. Mom passed away in April. Their birthdays were on 9/11. My granddaughter told me she wanted to celebrate Mom's birthday too, even though Mom won't be present. I am not sure what her plans are.
The older I become, the more I realize that many people out there do not have family or are estranged from them. My brother is a senior citizen with no kids or spouse. Since Mom passed away, the only one that will remember him on his birthday is me, unless I remind my sister. When managing property, I found many people far away from family and needing friendship. Thanksgiving is not that far away. Think about inviting others to your table. My late brother invited an older single man, Fuzz, and his male cousin to Thanksgiving dinner. My brother was in his early teens. I think he told my Mom the day of Thanksgiving. This was in the 70's; the cousin even dressed up and wore hippie beads.
Maybe Thanksgiving is on my mind because I am slowly sorting 30+ years of accumulated junk and I found a tub of Thanksgiving decorations. You would think that all of the decorations would be stored together.
What is on your weekend agenda?
I hope you have a great weekend! Dawnie
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Laundry soap
For those that make his or her laundry soap, what do you use do store it in?
I have used a plastic jug-like container. It was OK, but soap got stuck in the handle since it was hollow. I have used mostly quart jars with wide mouths. I was gone for two weeks and I came back to numerous jars mostly empty still on top of the dryer making music every time the dryer went on. I really can't figure out why the complete amount of soap can't be used and the jars rinced out and put away. I was able to pick up 3 big gallon pickle jars at an estate sale about a week ago. I think these will be my new storage containers. The jars are heavier but they contain much more laundry soap.
What do you think?
I found another picture of my Mom holding a fresh baked cherry pie in her vintage kitchen!
Thursday, May 25, 2023
It has been a long time.
It has been so long since I made a blog post. Days turned into weeks, which turned into months, then years. I think the birth of my second grandchild limited most of my blogging. I continued to create, but I didn't display my creations often and my "how-to" blog posts ended. My home life has changed somewhat. My house is still full of family and friends. Unfortunately, it isn't quiet most of the time. The old dogs have passed away and a new rescue chiwennie has taken their place. He is adorable, but he takes his job as a guard dog very seriously. Cage-free chickens still roam the backyard. I am retired now and I no longer need to answer the telephone after the first ring. I may not answer it at all. LOL
Knitting, spinning, crocheting, sewing, quilting, cooking, and soap-making still happen, but a little less of my time is devoted to them.
Recently I've had the loss of my mother. She was such a wonderful lady. A trip to visit her still meant that she would cook your favorite meals and, of course, it would include homemade pie. It is now my turn to make the pies. I will be making them in her vintage kitchen and sharing the recipes with you soon.
Today I completed a baby quilt top. I photographed it outside on the fence. It is not ironed yet, but it looks good enough to view. I purchased pre-cut 30's reproduction prints from a store on Etsy. I asked if they used Accuquilt because I have an Accuquilt die to cut out fabric in the same Tumbler style. They use an Accuquilt professional cutting die. I planned to make a larger quilt where every other piece would be one of the delicate pink pieces I cut. However, I hadn't considered the size difference. I have 200 delicate pink tumbler pieces ready for me to use, but no print fabric pieces since the purchased pre-cut printed tumblers were about an inch smaller. I will be cutting prints from my stash and making another quilt.
This is a lot of work, but worth it!
Thanks for viewing! Dawnie