Raspberry Cordial

Do you remember back in September when I went raspberry pickin' with my wonderful friend Adrienne.  I took one of those quarts of raspberries we picked and made a batch of raspberry cordial. 

I really don't think I have ever tasted a cordial before, but I've seen the cute little glasses at antique stores and such before.  I would love to find some with a chicken or a bee on them!  

 When I found a recipe for making cordial with different types of fruit I was intrigued.  I mean, come on, fruit, vodka and sugar syrup, what's not to love!  I first soaked the berries in vodka for about 30 days.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it, cause the berries turned white and were a perfect Halloween decoration.  It looked like a bunch of little brains floating in red liquid! 

 After straining out the berries I added a sugar syrup and that had to sit for 6 months!  Finally it is here and the bottling is done!   I did take a taste as I was bottling and it was not bad at all! My labels weren't the greatest but I was trying to be a little frugal and used some shipping label stickers that I had on hand. 

 I can't wait to give a bottle to Adrienne!  If not for her this raspberry adventure would not have happened. Maybe tonight I'll drizzle some over ice cream!


 

New iron

I am so excited about my new (used) Digital Simplicity quik press!

I got it on eBay for $25.  Shipping was $35, but still, $60 total for something that cost $300 brand new. I just could not pass it up. It is in very good condition.  This was sold sold by a sewing/vacuum store that got it as a trade in when someone was buying a new sewing machine.

My friend Terri has been letting me use her iron whenever I needed.  It has been a great time saver when I'm trying to fuse Pellon fleece to fabric. What took 15-20 minutes with my regular iron takes five minutes with the press! Yeah, definitely worth $25.00.

The only drawback is, I will miss visiting with Terri when I went to her house to work. Wait a minute..hold the phone.. this iron could travel across town very easily!  Terri you let me know whenever you want some company...have iron will travel! 

Farm Bag Peek

Here is a peak at the new Farm Bag I've been putting together.  I found this great embroidery that I am putting in place of 4 squares on the side of the chubby charmer bag. The embroidery is from Embroidery Library and takes about 4 hours to stitch out all 70,000 stitches!  There are 44 thread changes using 22 thread colors. I really like the way it turned out so far. I think I have enough farm fabric to make 7 bags total, so be looking for them on my Etsy site in a couple weeks!

Yarrrn Matey!

I just wanted to show ye 'tis new embroidery I used on me dopp kit bags.  It be a extra ugly skull 'n knittin' needles.  It be an applique that was extra ruckas to stitch.

 So get yours this day at me Etsy shop or A Grand Skein in alger heights (Grand Rapids, MI).

Scurvy pirate translation provided by postlikeapirate.com

Fabric Storage

I was talking with a friend about fabric storage and decided I would share mine with you.  First I want to tell you about his wonderful book I found about a year ago called Organizing Solutions for Every Quilter by Carolyn Woods.  She is one of those amazing people that love to organize and do it for a living. So if you've got cash to burn just hire someone to do it for you!  Otherwise check out this book, you will love the organizing techniques and storage ideas.

First I'll show you my scrap storage, I tried to crop out all my other junk on the shelves!  These are boxes of iced tea I found at a store that fit on my shelf very well.  I could fit 7 across the shelf.  I covered them in fabric contact paper that I have had for years and thought it was a perfect way to use it!  Then I decided how I wanted to divide the different colors between 7 boxes and made laminated labels for them.  I have red and pink, orange and yellow, green, blue, black and purple and gray, brown, white and cream. 

This system has really helped.  I used to have everything in one big tub and now I find myself using my scraps more because its easier to find the color I need.

 

 My fabric yardage is wrapped on mini bolts I made out of foam core board cut to the height of my shelf.  Then my fat quarters are stored in drawers in a plastic unit.  So far this has been a great way for me to store my fabric in the space I have.  How do you store your fabric?

Wizard of Oz bags

I have been sewing my little heart out to get all these Wizard of Oz bags done. I am glad to be done!  This is the end of my Wizard of Oz fabric stash so this should be it for my Wizard of Oz bags. Once these are gone, no more.  So come get them while you can!

 This picture just shows a sample of them I have a total of 12 done.

I also have to share a tragic story with you.  I have been working on my sleeves for my sweater for weeks now.  I mean weeks that feel like months!  One of my fellow knitters noticed that they seemed very long and I should be done, so I sat with an instructor and found out I had been doing them wrong!  I was only increasing on one side instead of both sides.  So I had to take it all apart and wind my yarn into new balls and start all over.  I just said, it was a nice practice exercise for me, and then I went home and cried!  I will let you know, weeks and weeks from now, when I get them done correctly.