Friday, May 28, 2021

I Like Thursday # 97 ~ On Friday


The first rose of summer always makes my heart happy.

Not only is it beautiful; it is hope itself.

This bush is covered with buds,

the promise of more beauty to come.

All it needs is water and sun and a little care.

I am thankful.

It is Friday, so I am late joining my friends,

I Like Thursday Bloggers @ Not Afraid of Color

to share the small joys of life. 

I tried several times yesterday to post, but blogger was being difficult.

I have had some issues today, too, so I hope this will appear on my blog today.


My driveway is bordered by a wall of pink rhododendrons.

They are at peak bloom and the pale new shoots are starting to add new growth.

In a week of two they when they are past bloom, they will need a trim

so we can park our car.


My purple clematis is also blooming.

It has a spot of winter kill this year but the new vines will grow over this area

 and will bloom later in the summer. 

All I have to do is water and wait.

I have been busy in my garden.

It has been hot and dry, but two days ago we had a soaking rain.

The forecast is for more rain this weekend, which may interrupt our

outdoor plans, but the rain is needed.


I have had a new critter in my yard this week,

No, this is not my Maestro.

This kitty is a stray, a very hungry and lost looking baby cat.

Kitty is about 7-9 months old as she looks much like my Maestro did at that age.

She is very friendly and purry and sweet.

I have been feeding her and she has been reported on one of those Lost and Found Pet sites online by another concerned neighbor, but kitty is still out there, day and night in all weather, including the heavy thunderstorms.

Kitty wants to come in, but I have three indoor cats.

Three cats is my number. 

Nutmeg is very territorial and would not likely accept her anyway.

We are planning to take her to a no-kill shelter and see so they can see if she has a micro-chip and reunite her with her owner, or if not, to find her a forever home.



Favorite Freebie of the Week

Brooke's Blossoms Medallion QAL @ Cranky Kangaroo 


Isn't this lovely?

It is all FPP  (Foundation Paper Pieced) and there are other free patterns on her blog.

I do not think I will be sewing this as I have so many projects already in the works
but I shall enjoy following along. 


Here is my new summer reading!

After I posted two weeks ago that I enjoyed watching this show,
my online friend, Dorian, sent me the loan of this books.
Thank you, my friend.


I hope everyone has had a Happy, Healthy and Safe

Memorial Day Weekend. 



Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Stitch Sew & Show ~ Week 20

 


Welcome to Stitch Sew & Show ~ Week 20

I have been outside working in the yard lately

 and need to go out and water when I finish this post.

It is 90 degress F here and we have no rain in many days. I will sit and stitch or read as a move the hose from rose to rose and garden to garden.  

It will take two hours or more. 

My sewing machine has been idle.

Yesterday, I started a Tuesday To-Do List 

to help get my sewing projects done.


Goal #2 was to find fabric and decide on my project for 

the  Fairy Tales Blog Hop

Here is my fabric and peeking out behind it is a UFO.

This fairy fabric was never a part of the original plan 

but I think it will play together in perfect harmony.

Looking forward to stitching and sewing this one! 

Goal #2 Done! 


I am enjoying seeing all the beautiful quilts 

and stitches in this linky party every week. 

Please share and brighten my day.


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Tuesday To-Do List ~ Week # 1



This fabric has been sitting in my sewing area since last week and has not been cut.

I have been busy with other things.

I have been busy with life.

I have not been sewing and I am missing my sewing time.

I need to sew as it brings me joy and fills my creative soul.

I am trying something new to help me "get things done."

I am Linking Up Today with 

To-Do Tuesday @ Chrisknits


My List This Week:


1) Make new covers for the cushions for my outdoor swing.


2) Pick a project for the Fairy Tales Blog Hop and get started.



3) Make more blocks for my A-Z Quilt started Here


I am going to be keeping my lists short and focused only on my stitching and sewing.

I hope to have these small goal accomplished by next Tuesday.

Wish me luck !

 

Thursday, May 20, 2021

I Like Thursday # 96 ~ Lilacs and Pink Sugar


 My Rhododendrons are blooming ~ big and beautiful! 


My Lily of the Valley is blooming ~ small and white.


The view from my swing today while I enjoyed my morning coffee

 were these flats of petunias  purchased for my baskets and boxes. 


As it is Thursday I am joining my friends,

I Like Thursday Bloggers @ Not Afraid of Color

to appreciate the small joys of life. 

In this post yesterday,

I mentioned that we had to take Katniss to the vet for stitches and a lion cut. 

 Katniss is feeling much better and healing well.  

Here she is perched on top of the boxes holding my new kitchen cabinets where she is eluding me as I try to put the cone back on after I took it off for her to enjoy her dinner.  "Come to Mommy, Katniss!"

Mr. Scrapatch will, hopefully, find time to install the cabinets and sink soon.

Yesterday, she kept working the cone off but today she is being more tolerant

... as long as Mommy gives her ears lots of extra scratches.

Kitty and I have not gotten much sewing done,

 but, hopefully, my quilty kitty helper and I will be sewing again soon.

Last Thursday 

I posted that I was making Lilac Sugar and promised an update as to how this turned out.  Mixed review.


The flowers turned brown and the sugar was clumpy from the moisture it absorbed from the petals. I did not find this look appetizing, so I sifted out the flowers.

Here is the sifted lilac sugar.

It tastes different from regular sugar,  a bit sweeter.  

Although it does not smell strongly of lilacs, the scent is pleasant. 

I decided to make a Lilac Sugar Cake.

I used a recipe that I have had for over 50 years for Cottage Pudding.  It is a cake, not what we in the USA call "pudding."  I believe it may be traditional in the UK for dessert to be called called "pudding." 

My cottage pudding cake recipe does not have extract or other flavoring. This recipe makes a buttery one-layer  9" or 10" cake. 


Cottage Pudding Cake

Sift together in large bowl:

2 and 1/2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

... and set aside.

In a large glass measuring cup:

Melt 1 and 1/2 cups butter

Add: 

2 eggs, well-beaten

1 cup of milk

and mix well.

Stir together with sifted dry ingredients just until well combined.

Batter will be thick.

Spread in buttered 9 inch baking tin.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  If not done, reduce heat to 325 degrees and check every 5 minutes. Test with toothpick.  It is done when there are only a few crumbs sticking to the toothpick.  

Serve warm or at room temperature.

This makes one 9 inch layer cake

Traditionally, it is served  out of the oven with a warm vanilla sauce.

It is a nice and moist, fine crumbed cake with a slightly thicker crust than usual cakes which reminds me of scones.  Indeed, I have served wedges of this warm cake as I would scones. 

I have over the years added an extra half cup of flour and patted out the dough and cut circles for sweet biscuits or round scones.

Mixed Grain: substitute oatmeal or whole wheat pastry flour for part of the flour.

Take care not to overbake, or it may turn dry. 

Over the years I have made many variations of this cake:

Serve warm with a Lemon Curd Sauce:  Make your own or heat a jar of lemon curd mixed with 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. 

Strawberry Shortcake:  Serve warm with fresh berries and cream.  Sometimes I split the pieces of cake and spread with butter and serve  with the berries. 

Strawberry Cream Cake:  When cool, split into two even layers and spread whipped cream and berries between layers and dollop cream and more berries on top.

Berry Cake:  Add a cup of blueberries or raspberries or cranberries (or a mixture of these berries) for a tasty treat. 

Cinnamon Crumb Coffeecake:  Blend 1/3 cup butter and 1 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to form moist crumbs.  Sprinkle over top of batter before baking.  Bake as directed.  If I dribble a thin vanilla glaze over this warm from the oven, it is Mr. Scrapatch's favorite coffeecake. 

Almond Cake:  Add 1/2 of ground almonds and 1 teaspoon of almond extract to the batter and ice with a thin glaze made with powdered sugar, almond extract and milk.  Then sprinkle the icing with sliced almonds.

Poppy Seed Cake:  Soak 1/2 cup of poppy seeds in the milk for an hour before adding.  Add lemon extract, if you like lemon poppy seed. 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake:  Melt 1/2 cup butter in baking tin and sprinkle with 1 cup brown sugar and arrange pineapple slices and cherries.  Spread batter on top and bake as directed. Turn out on heavy plate while still warm. Serve warm or cold.

Boston Cream Pie: Spilt cake into two even layers and fill with vanilla custard and top with chocolate icing.

Jam Sandwich:  Split cake into two even layers and spread bottom layer with 1 cup of strawberry or seedless raspberry jam.  Place top layer and dust top of cake generously with 10X powdered sugar.

The possibilities are endless. 

"Lilac Sugar Cake" 

For this cake, I substituted the sifted lilac sugar for regular sugar.

At the last minute, I decided to add a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

for additional flavor.

Then I glazed the warm cake with a lemon icing, 

made from 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/3 cup lemon juice.

I sprinkled on a little pink and purple sugar

and set a few of my last lilac flowers in the center

for the photo. 

Very tasty.  

The cake did not taste lemon or lilac, 

but it did have a different and distinct flavor.

The lemon glaze added a nice tangy note. 

If you do not like lemon, you may want to use vanilla extract

in the cake and the glaze or just leave it plain.

I am not sure if I will make lilac sugar again next year.

If I do I may use it the second day when the flowers are still purple. 

While evening started to fall and we were enjoying cake, this visitor came and landed on the rose trellis outside our open back door. This little mourning dove sits there frequently looking in at us.

May the rest of your Thursday be a happy one!


Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Stitch Sew & Show ~ Week 19

 


Stitch Sew & Show ~ Week 19


On my cutting table today is this blue stripe outdoor fabric 

to make new covers for my swing cushions.

I bought this fabric

Blue Stripe Outdoor Fabric from Fabric.com 

while is was recently on sale.

Yesterday my day was taken up by an emergency trip to vet for Katniss.

Kitty is home and healing. She is sporting a new lion cut and a few stitches ... and a neck cone to keep her from pulling on her stitches ... which were needed when she got a laceration on her skin after pulling out a matted knot of fur. Katniss is getting older and her skin is thin and sensitive. The only way to keep knots out of her fur is it get her a lion cut every few months.  As this must be done by a vet and she must be sedated, this is an expensive endeavor for us.  The neck cone is not slowing her down at all. Katniss is a leaper and and climber and a very active cat who is smart enough to get the cone off every several times a day. 

Kitty care is the order of the day for a week or two. 

Hopefully I will get some sewing done today.


I do have a finish to show this week.

This is my new book and tablet tote which I made and posted for the 


Born To Be Wild Blog Hop 

and posted yesterday.

I took this along with me to sit in the car outside the vet

which still has all its Covid-19 protocols in place. 

I love these monthly blog hops as they give me the incentive to get creative

and make something off my "To-Do" list.



The next blog hop is

Fairy Tales Blog Hop @ MooseStash Quilting

Joan has also posted the blog hop schedule for the rest of the year.

Some fun blog hops coming up.


Thanks to all who join in the fun!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Born to Be Wild Blog Hop ~ My Day




Today is my "Born to Be Wild' Blog Hop Day!

 
I sewed a Book Cover Tote.

I am sew happy with this project! 


When I found this fat quarter Here when I was spring cleaning this year,

I knew it would be perfect for the 



While I was thinking about what to sew, the following song from 1982,



kept playing on repeat in my head.
This tune is way too catchy.

After much deliberation and too many replays in my mind,
 my quilty muse and I decided to make a quilted book cover tote.

I based my book cover tote on the following tutorial: 




I gathered my fabrics.


I found a piece of soft minky tiger stripe fabric for the inside of the tote.


Then I quilted the layers.


The carry handles needed to be attached next.

I used nylon web to sew the the handles that I had left from my 


Instead of a ribbon, I used a scrap strip of the fat quarter,
folded in half lengthwise and sewed on two sides,
to make the book marker and turned it inside out with a pressing tool. 


I decided to add an inner pocket across the bottom of the tote
 for my phone or wallet.
I had a long piece left of the fat quarter that was perfect for this
and lined it with a piece of the tiger strip minky.


This pocket and the book marker was stay stitched before adding the 
two sleeves for the book cover.


Here is my book cover tote assembled.
I added a line of top stitching 1/8" around the outer edge before binding.


I chose a colorful diagonal stripe for the binding fabric.
I machined sewed the outside.


I hand stitched the binding to the inside of the cover.


The extra inner pocket needed to be added before the sleeves for the book so that these items would not break the binding of the book.

This addition to the original design in the tutorial is very handy.


I made the tote large enough to accommodate
 a hardcover book or my iPad. 


I used my smallest scrap from the fat quarter to make a pen holder.


I am really enjoying my new book cover tote. 

 


Please visit all my blog hop friends today,

May 18th


 


MooseStashQuilting


Selina Quilts


For The Love Of Geese


Elizabeth Coughlin Designs


Quilt Schmilt


Life in the Scrapatch (you are here)


Sewing Up My Fabric




Thanks to


Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt


for organizing this fun blog hop.






I keep my new book cover tote handy to grab and go.


This has become my new preferred tote that I carry everywhere.


I also tuck my keys in the extra pockets.


A book tote has been on my list for some time,


but I needed this blog hop to get it done.



These blog hops are sew fun and inspiring!