Strawberry Pie

My break included time to make a fresh strawberry pie.

frozen unbaked pie crust (Pillsbury regular is good)
quart of fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup hot water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons strawberry gelatin

Bake crust as directed; mix cornstarch with hot water until dissolved; add sugar; heat until it gets thick and pretty clear.  Add gelatin, mix well.  Arrange berries (small ones whole, large cut in half) in pie crust; pour sugar mixture over top.  Chill.  Can add a squirt of whipped cream on each serving.

One down, one to go

Today's goal is to get two baby quilt tops made.  I just finished one, using my favorite pattern (you can find it free if you google National Quilting Day March 2008). Time for a lunch break and a walk at the park.  After the break I'll start on the second one.  These are so easy and cute.

QOV

I just finished the quilting on this Quilt of Valor quilt.  A group of girl scouts in Pennsylvania made it for a project.  It is really pretty.  I did loops and stars.  I think I am finally getting a bit better on doing stars.
I had a rough time starting.  My thread kept breaking.  After changing the needle (twice), re-threading (~5 times), removing and replacing the tension, and changing the bobbin case, I finally read where dry thread could cause this.  Opened up a new spool of thread and I was back in business!

Catch of the day

See the hook on the right?  Notice it doesn't have a sharp point?  The reason is, the point went into Jim's thumb.  Yeah, ouch is right.  It was in his right thumb, the one on the hand he uses with his cane.  I was in the sewing room last night and got a call from the boat garage.  I had to help him get out of the boat.  Luckily, Dr. Harp, I mean Chester, his fishing buddy from Kentucky was close.  We took the pliers, wire cutters, warm soapy cloth, neosporin, and a band aid down to the lake to find Dr. Harp, to do his surgery.  He pushed it on through the skin, then clipped off the little sharp hook, and then pulled the remainder back out.  Jim was brave.  I was proud of him.

Easter Dinner Early

I decided to cook our Easter dinner this evening.  It is a bit easier to cook on Saturday and eat leftovers after church on Sunday.  It will only be us and my mom for Easter dinner. We love to eat on our screened porch and it turned into a beautiful evening!  The birds are really singing .  Hope all of you have a very blessed Easter and ponder what the resurrection of Jesus Christ means in your life.

Quilting

I finished the quilting on this one.  It is one my friend and I made for a co-worker's daughter.  I used the Lithe pantograph.  The quilt is really pretty and uses some of Kaffe Fasset's fabric line.

It is finally here!

It finally came.....it's white, sporty, leather interior, heated seats, ipod connection via the navigation system, hands free phone link.  It is my dream car.  Instead of my "mid-life-crises" car, I am calling it my "menopause" car...lol. 

That smell.......

that smell.....I recognize it.....it is the smell of a new car.....uhmmm.........more later with a picture!!

Busy Weekend

The kids were here for a short visit.  They got here Friday evening, got to eat with us last night and Elijah preached at Grace church this morning.  I so enjoyed their visit.  I got a picture of them before they left.  Aren't they so cute!

I am treating them to a beach vacation with me in June and we all are so excited!  It will just be three nights.  I've been unable to get the "girls" to commit to a beach vacation and it turned out that Elijah and Katie are going to have a few days off so it worked out great. I'll take my sewing, read my books, and they can do whatever they want.  I love my son and DIL so much! Jim can't do the beach (because of his polio disability - walking in sand is almost impossible), and he plans to fish that week anyway, so it works out for all of us.I am looking forward to getting away from work and getting to enjoy the beach.

I also got some sewing done this weekend. Made labels for two quilts, finished my March Civil War BOM, and finished quilting a baby quilt. I am really unhappy with the baby quilt.  It just didn't turn out as well as I hoped.  I am going to make a different one for my boss's new baby.  This will go to someone else.

Beautiful Saturday!

What a gorgeous morning we have here in east Tennessee.  Finally finished removing and re-stitching a row of quilting.  I had trouble with the bottom thread and didn't notice until after I'd done the row. The sunlight this morning really shows off the quilting.  Finished the binding on this quilt also.  I used a technique from Anka's Treasures blog.  It does allow for faster binding. This quilt is 72 x 72 and I bound it in an hour and a half.

This is the best thimble ever!  Pricey, at $8.95 at quilt shops, but well worth it.

Eat your greens

I was the pickiest eater as a child.  Really.  I think I grew up on cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, and chocolate milk. In my forties, something changed.  I started cooking more, trying new foods, and really enjoying food.  Sounds kind of wierd, but true.  I made up a recipe tonight that I thought was fabulous.  I really like raw spinach.  It is so healthy and yummy. I've been experimenting with creamed spinach.  Here it is and it sure is good!

thick pat of butter
~ 1/4 cup water
bag of fresh spinach
~ 1/4 cup of cream cheese
~ 1/4 tsp of minced garlic
~ 1 to 2 Tablespoons of cream or half and half
salt and pepper
good sprinkle of parmesean cheese

melt the butter and throw in the spinach and the water on top.  Cover until the spinach starts to wilt.  Add the cream cheese, garlic, salt and pepper.  Stir until evenly mixed.  Add the cream and parmesean. Stir well until spinach is cooked down.  Don't cook it too much or it will get like mush.

Yummy.  Would go well with any meat or pasta. This would serve 2-3, unless one of them is me, then it only serves one!

Machine Quilting

Worked on these two today.

Finished

After I put the borders on. Love me some batiks!

And then got the final borders on the blue/gold sunflower. It is prettier in person than in this picture.

Retreat Results

Here is a picture of the projects I worked on at the retreat.  Completed one baby quilt (pink) and only have some borders to do on the other three projects.  My favorite is the batik.  I had a great time and hope to attend many more future quilter's retreats.

Quilting Retreat

First day at the retreat.  Lots of work getting done!!