Wind Storm 2011

I know that people have had worse natural disasters than this, but we got winds in our county that hit 100+ mph. Everyone had some damage but others' really lost alot. One of the things that impressed me was the mobilization of each neighborhood in helping neighbors cut down trees and hauling it away. The next lesson I took away was the fact that we are NEVER prepared for this kind of thing. We lost power for 12 hours and my kids were without power for over 24 hours. We have flashlights and a fireplace so we were warm and could see a little. But I know that I need more in the way of emergency goods to keep us going. You would see yards like this over and over. We just lost a fence and felt lucky.

It looks like they lost half of the house!

Anyone who had vinyl privacy fences ended up with this.

This was just one of the hundreds of trees lost. This had been a HUGE tree in their front yard. It's kinda hard to tell, but this root system is bigger than my Sonata.

At the Walmart

One of several semis down on the Frontage Rd along I-15 - you should have seen the freeway!

There is an family at the bottom of my street who has lived here for probably 60 years. Their blue spruce is a county landmark because for years they climb up this 30 footer and string Christmas lights on it. You can see it for miles. It didn't survive this storm. They have a sign on it now to ask not to cut it. They plan on cutting it up and giving pieces away to children, grand children and great grand children.

Newest Project

I have always wanted to make a grandmothers flower garden quilt but the thought of all those little hexies that have to be hand pieced has always stopped me cold. Until now. I found this pattern at a shop in Coeur D' Alene Idaho and bought the fabrics from them and the barnwood frame online when I got home.

I didn't mind making it this way - as a wall hanging, but would really dread making a large quilt.

Welcome Neighbor

New neighbors just moved in and I wanted to bring something over when we introduced ourselves but I wanted to offer something other than a plate of cookies. I found these address pages on http://www.iloveitallwithmonikawright.blogspot.com/ Go to August 23 2010 for the downloadable pages. They inspired me to make this little address book (it's a 6x6 ring binder by Bo Bunny)

Since I made the tabs too small for labels I had to number them and create a table of contents. You could remedy this easily by making your tabs bigger and typing the labels on the computer and then

adhering them to your tabs.


I put places of interest I thought might be helpful to someone from out of the area, such as restaurants, good repairmen, unique shopping, etc.
Really fun~!

Home Again

We needed additional seating for the dreaded formal living room and I found these last week at a shop in Salt Lake called Home Again. I LOVE this store. They take old stuff and re-purpose it for a new life.
(by the way, I call it the 'dreaded' formal living room cuz the only time it's ever used is if I want to take a phone call away from the tv, or someone special drops in). It's pretty much a useless room.--useless, but pretty.

Ozzy

When I worked at Quilters Haven in Bountiful, we participated in a Shop Hop and our theme was Wizard of Oz. I made this little Toto to be made into kits. He now sits in my sewing room. And now for the piece de resistance...

One of the shop's customers makes sock monkeys, but this ain't yor ordinary monkey...

Cutest Dorothy ever made and she's mine!! (You can't really tell by this picture, but she has ruby red sneakers.)

BAG-O-STUFF

I wanted to make a large bag that I could take with me when I am scrounging for quilt stuff. This one was really fun to make but fell a little short in the technical areas. I didn't plan it correctly and so the edges all around don't have any allowances for seaming. It still works, though and is certainly BIG enough!
Inside pocket. I used a left over square to fancy up the pocket.

Foaming Hand Soap Recipe

If you hang onto one of those foaming hand soap dispensers, you can make your own when it's finally empty...

HOMEMADE FOAMING HAND SOAP
Pour 1 T liquid hand soap into empty foaming soap dispenser (depending on the size of your dispenser, you can add a little more soap)
Fill the rest of the dispenser with warm water (leave a little space at the top)
Screw on the led and shake.
Pump the dispenser a few times to get the foaming started.

New Roof!

We have been getting ALOT of rain this spring and our 30 year old roof had finally had it. I know that something as boring as a roof shouldn't make me so happy --but it does. The new one is black and the old one was brown.

We're Not In Kansas Anymore!

Shop Hop has begun and our theme is... Wizard of Oz. If you look real close at the picture above, you will see a twister has come through Utah and...
landed the shop on top of a witch!

Of course, Dorothy was there

and Glinda

Isn't that just the cutest quilt???!! - one of Barbara Jones' newest.

There were 'Lollipop' fat quarters for sale.

Flying Monkeys for sale. --notice her ruby red slippers! (These are sooo much less scary than the ones in the movie -- they scared me more than the witch when I was a little kid)

This picture doesn't do this quilt justice. It is made with Moda's Antique Fair line.

This is just one of those quilts that inspire everyone who sees it. Those are yo-yo's. All 689 of them.

Kits available - but you still have to make all those yo yo's.

I just love this quilt. It's called Red Cross and we are selling kits for Shop Hop.

The bike. If you look closely you will see Toto in the basket.

The scarecrow who couldn't scare any birds.

30 Minute Cinnamon Rolls

These take a little longer than their name would imply, but they are pretty quick and very easy.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 C. warm water
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 C. oil
3 T. yeast (I used 4 packs)
1/2 T. salt
5 1/4 C. flour
2 eggs

Filling:
1 1/2 T. cinnamon (more, if desired)
1/3 c. soft butter
1 C. brown sugar

Frosting:
1 8oz. pkg cream cheese
1/4 c. butter
1 1/4 -1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
dash of salt
milk if needed

Directions:
Mix water, sugar, oil, yeast, 2 cups of flour, eggs together in bowl and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Then add salt and remaining flour. Put the dough in a ball and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Roll it out into a rectangle shape, approx 1 inch thick. Spread the soft butter over the entire piece of dough. Then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over top of butter. Roll up into a tight tube. Slice off pieces. The thicker the slice, the bigger the roll. Place on a greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Let sit 15 minutes...

Getting ready!!!

Bake in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Until lightly browned. Take out of the oven and frost while still warm...

Pretty, uh?

Frosting:

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and salt. Cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until desired thichness. If you want it more like a glaze, you can add a little milk. Spread over top of warm rolls.

(I really don't care for cream cheese frosting, so I omit the cream cheese and use one cube of soft butter instead and add a little milk.)

Sugar Scrub

I hosted a luncheon yesterday. We finally got a break in the Seattle type weather and were able to sit outside. It was a beautiful day spent with some of my best friends.

The party favors were this Gardeners Sugar Scrub. Very easy to make and pretty to give. (Thanks Marta for the idea)

Gardeners Sugar Scrub:
3 C. White Sugar
1 c. mineral oil (add more if you think it's too dry)
10 drops essential oil for fragrance

Makes: 6 1/2 pint jars
This is a great idea for gardeners-it makes your hands silky soft and doesn't sting like salt scrubs.

Spring is FINALLY Here....I Think!

We have had such a long winter this year -but I think it's finaly behind us. I went to my favorite nursery yesterday and bought some pretty plants. Here is some of the 'fruits of my labors'... This is a table I bought last fall at Ikea. You have to put it together, but it was very easy - although I needed it to be red.
Pretty cute as a red table.

Here are the plants I bought for some pots for the deck.

You guessed it, the pot!

I copied the colors from an ready made pot they had at the nursery.

Now, I guess I have to go weed the front yard, yecch!

Happy Easter Nests

I made these 'nests' for the grandchildren and they loved them! I use the same recipe for Krispie Treats except I use Chinese egg noodles instead of Rice Krispies. Since they really don't have much of a taste to them, they do really well for nests.

German Chocolate Cookies

We have a local bakery here called Parsons which makes the BEST chocolate cookie--ever!!! In fact, if you don't get there by 2 pm, they're alllll gone! This is my attempt to come a little close in duplicating these gems...Start with a German chocolate cake mix and add 2 eggs, 1/2 c. shortening, 1/2 c. softened butter.
Mix well -- it will be thick.



I used the largest scoop I have -- the one on the left. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, drop batter and bake at 375 for 14 mins. (adjust time if you use a smaller scoop)



Oops what happened to that half cookie at the top?


Now, for the toppings...

Using a can of coconut/pecan frosting (or your own homemade version), place a dollop on each cookie. Then put a generous spoonful of chocolate fudge on top of that. So wonderfully messy!



I used the following recipe for the fudge...(but you could use Mrs. Richardson's fudge ice cream topping or a fudge frosting recipe)

Melt and cook the following together:

1 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. butter

**3c. powdered sugar**

1 13oz. can evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk)

Stir constantly and cook until thickness of hot fudge - around 10-15 mins.

Add 2 tsp. vanilla. Cool in the refrigerator.

**If making this recipe for an ice cream topping use only 2 cups powdered sugar - I added one more to make it thicker for these cookies.**

Yummy

I Can See Clearly Now

The house is 30 years old and was in desperate need of new windows. The big bay in the living room had 'sprung a leak' -the seal had broken so it looked like the windows were filthy because of the moisture in between the double panes. They probably don't change anything for you, but for us, they make a HUGE difference. I still need to re-hang the blinds and curtains. I don't want to!! I changed the style here. The old one was one large window and I thought 2 would give the room more character. The old kitchen window would slide to the side and had no grids.

This is the old sewing room - now guest room. I had the grids placed only in the top half of the hung windows and a narrow grid in the middle of the bay.

The office.

This was not an inexpensive project, but to me, it was worth every dollar, and we'll save a little in our heating and electric bills.