Almost Done

My quilt top is finished basted and ready to quilt. I thought I was pretty clever with my piece sorting system making the different patterns well dispersed. Instead I ended up with a whole bunch of "I"s or "H"s, whichever way you want to turn it. I'll figure out how to fix that on the next one. It still turned out pretty nice. Now for the fun part, hand quilting.

Don't mind the wanky coloring, I was having photo processing issues and didn't feel like dealing with it.

The kiddos seem to think it's a tent.

Can I Get a Blue?

This little lovely(okay, it's not so little) is a sampler afghan I've been making for quite some time. I'm almost done except for the fact that on my last blue square I ran out of yarn and I can't find more of it anywhere, urggh. If I ever find the right blue I will finish it and have it for sale at the bazaar. It's made up of 63 squares all done in a different stitch. It was a lot of fun to do and awesome to learn all the stitches. I'll be using them in a whole lot of new projects I've got in my head. Now to find that darned blue. And I just realized that this photo is of the backside of the afghan. Oops, better luck next time.

Work In Progress

This is a little quilt I'm working on for the Bazaar.

Oh yeah, and Kate reminded me that it is called "Jacksonville Celebrates the Arts". So this will be a baby quilt and it's taking forever, the only time I have to work on it is when the kiddos are napping. But it's coming along nicely and I think I will have the top and basting finished today. I'm so excited, this is the first quilt I've done completely on my own without help and it's turning out really nice. I'm finding out that my projects work out a lot better when I plan them our before I start cutting a sewing. It also makes for a lot less wasted fabric. More pictures to come when it's a little more together.

Love

Looks like it’s Syrup

Hi, I’m Kate. I am so glad my awesome sister Sarah had the idea to make this blog. I can’t tell you how many times I have been taught, guided and inspired by my sister. Now this blog gives us both a chance to do the same for the world. They say that the best way to learn is to teach. I think it goes both ways. So maybe as we try new things, you may learn from our success and likely my failures. Well this is my first time blogging ever, so I’m more than a little nervous. Today I also happen to be canning strawberry syrup (or jelly. We’ll see how it turns out.) My friend Shanna, who will be at the Jacksonville celebrates the arts bazaar with us, inspired me with her delicious strawberry freezer jam. Well, I’ve blended the strawberries with my hand blender and I’m about to put it on the stove. The kids are entertained. Thank you Thomas the tank engine. Uh…

strawberries…sugar…corn starch… Here we go!

Ok, I think I’ve got it. 6 cups sugar. 2 TBSP cornstarch. I’m not sure how many cups of strawberries I used but it was 2 lbs. I just mixed all the ingredients in a sauce pan (don’t do that. Mix the sugar and corn starch first. That was heck getting the clumps out.) and cooked on number 6 or 7 on the dial (can you tell that I’m new at this). I continuously stirred it till it just seemed kind of goopy. I ladled it into jars (one at a time) wiped the edges, put on new Kerr lids and bands, sat them in boiling water for about 20 minutes (my mom says 30, I think it depends on the size of the jar) and removed them when the tops were popped up to were I can’t push them down easely. Now this is not the same as they will be later. As they cool they will loosen and eventually pop down and be sealed. I figured this out last month while canning blueberry pie filling. Give them a day to do this before you remove the lids. I like to put a decorative little peace of fabric under the band (above the lid) to give it a classic flair. I’m still not sure if it will be syrup or jelly. Either one could sell at the Jacksonville farmers market. I’m also going to have breakfast shortcakes, chocolate chip cookies, bran muffins, cornbread muffins and banana bread all made from local southern Oregon grain from the butte creek mill in eagle point Or, eggs from stage farm on Hanley road Or, Oregons Umpqua sweet cream butter and honey from Freeburne’s Honey in central point Or.

By the way. It looks like it’s Syrup.

Welcome!

Hi, I'm Sarah. Welcome to our new blog. This blog is dedicated to my sister, Katie, and My adventures in craftiness. And what better way to start off our new blog than to tell you all in blogland about our first big event. We'll be holding a booth at the Jacksonville Oregon arts Bazaar in September. Yay! I'm so excited for this. Our friend Shanna will be joining us. Here's the link to some info on last years bazaar. More info to come on what kind of items you will see there.

Loves to you all.