We're Making Maple Syrup!

Whohohohoooo!  Can't think of a better way to spend the weekend!

Happy Moment #49: Maple Tree Sap

A Friday ritual with Soulemama.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary, happy moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments too.

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”

~Omar Khayyam

A Must See Giveaway!

Orange you glad you came by today?

Well, you will be once you I tell you about the generous and exciting fabric giveaway over at the lovely DukeSaysSewWhat.  Kris is the master quilter behind the scenes, but for me it's the lovely Duke that steals the show most of the time.  It's he just the cutest thing?   And he makes a darn good quilting assistant if I may say so!

You already know I'm a sucker for cute dogs.  Yup.  Sucker!

Ok, so now to tempt you with the fabrics.... *waving a fat quarter in front of your nose*.... the coordinated oranges get me everytime.  Seriously my favorite color and also the color for 2012!  Love it!!  Umm, yes please.  Kris, let me send you my shipping address *wink, wink* 

And how cute is it that you even get the felt basket and little strawberry pin cushion.  Totally fantastic!

I'm starting to realize that I probably should just be keeping this to myself.... but what else are quilting buddies for.  I mean we all love us some fabrics and meeting other fabric-o-holics is a nice bonus, right?

Here is the link to the giveaway one more time.  I hope your are off to a great start to your day and that if you happen to win you share a fat quarter or two with me -- I'm not picky! ;)

Mail Call!! {Name Swap Quilt}

I got a package all the way from Australia!!

Cute peppery polka dots... what could it be... hurry open it already!

I restrained... and opened the card first.  And then it hit me... duh!  This must be from the Name Game Quilt Swap that I joined over at Samelia's Mum!

Isn't the picture on the card just amazing?  There was a beautiful message inside from my secret partner... who I now know to be Cassie from Cassthecoolest!

Squee... so I couldn't wait a moment later.  I took the hanging from the plastic baggy... and began to unfold it and wow!!  Just wow!! 

The pleating, prairie points, sun shape, and orange are just so me me me!!  I can't wait to hang it on my wall!

Cassie, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to make something handmade for me.  It warms my sewing room and will make me smile often!! 

A Tree Tapping Good Time

I'd like to remind you that we live more or less in the forest. Living in the forest means there are a lot of trees. Now, some of those trees are maple trees.  And maple trees are where maple syrup comes from...

...see where I'm going with this? 

A note before we continue... I have never done this before.  I am under the direct supervision of the Mister who did this growing up.  This whole process is totally amazing to me.  And I am seriously worse than a little kid running around checking all my buckets and their progress.  Crazy!

If you would rather read about professionals doing it and a more serious how to... this is a pretty good read.

Ok, so it all started with getting our buckets, spouts, hooks, and lids ready.

The Mister was so smart to mark a bunch of maples with a small dot of spray paint last fall, so that this time of year when their are no leaves we can still tell the maples from the oaks. 

Each of the trees got a small hole drilled into them.

Then you insert the spout and tap it in gently.  And at this step some of the trees quickly started leaking sap.  So dang exciting!

The buckets have a small hole that is used to rest them on the hook under the spout.  Then you cover the bucket with a lid and wait. 

And yes, of course, the dogs were snooping around trying to figure out if we were doing anything that resulted in food for them.  (Isn't Sammy getting big?)

We put up a total of 14 buckets and I just adore the look of them around the property!!  It all feels so farm-like! 

And no, I have no idea how much syrup we will be making.  I think you need something like 40 gallons of sap to boil down yielding about 1 gallon of syrup.  I told the Mister that I would be clam happy with enough for one breakfast.  Ha!

It's pretty cool to have a purpose outside this time of year as one can constantly fiddle with and check the sap levels in the bucket.  I also found out quickly that I adore the calming effect of listening to the steady drip drop sounds of the sap methodically filling the bucket. 



Nature is amazing!  I feel so in tune with my primitive self and maple sugaring is nurturing my need of getting my hands in the dirt to be more self sufficient.  We'll see if I still feel that way after we boil down the first batch of sap. 

...to be continued!

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And thank you for all the well wishes after my wisdom teeth removal.  All four are out.  I have made it to day three of recovery and I'm feeling pretty good.  The next step is getting back to normal food.... and I think I'm well on my way!

Good Tea Bag Wisdom

Just a quick doodle inspired from a tea bag tag... I'm a bit quiet on this end after having my wisdom teeth out and I'm still recovering.  Wishing you a lovely weekend!

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edited to add... here is a .jpg that you could more easily download and print for yourself if you like!

Rock on!

Wednesday Work in Progress: Leap Day!

I didn't get a ton of sewing done, but I did enjoy some time here and there working on my projects.  And I also took a landscrape quilt class!

--NEW--

{The Lake}: Landscape Quilt

I took a class through my quilting guild this past weekend with an amazing instructor (Tamar Drucker) and learned the finer points of putting together a realistic landscape quilt.  Surprisingly, the realism part of this was a struggle for me.  I am learning that I am more comfortable in the abstract realm... but man 'o man is it cool when you can look at a quilt and really recognize the person or place.  Once I focused on being exact and fussy over my shapes and placement I really started to enjoy the process!

We started with our own picture; you may reconize this as the lake near my house.  We learned how to enlarge it, section off the quilt in to various parts, and then create templates to make each piece. 

With my handy box of scraps and an open mind I set off to creating my lake in fabrics and had a blast!  I got about half way through in the class and really look forward to picking this project up again this weekend!  And with a bit more practice under my belt I think I will be ready to try making an art quilt of the dogs... won't that be something!

--IN PROGRESS--

Name Game Swap - due March 15th

No progress on this one last week, but I need to get moving on it!

{At Sunrise}: Confetti Quilt

My newish confetti style quilt of the sunrise I see during the winter from my sewing table is coming along nicely!  I have all the little scraps cut and in place.  I covered the whole thing with tulle, and started quilting it to hold those pieces in place.

This is the biggest confetti quilt I have made to date, so I had to come up with a way to creating sections or squares as a way to stabilize areas so I could maneuver the quilt without having to worry about all the pieces moving.  And guess what?  It worked really well!

I just love the texture of these quilts once I lay on a bunch of thread!  They feel bumpy, ridgy, rough, lumpy -- sounds funny, but it's a real treat under your fingers.  I have used red, pink, yellow, orange, blue, and purple thread so far in addition to the cream that I used to stabilize everything.

I am nearly ready to call the background complete and begin on the detail of the trees.  I find this process so rewarding and relaxing and am enjoying each stitch!!  This is one of those pieces that has been a true joy to create!

--ON PAUSE-- 

Spinning Starlets {English Paper Piecing} -- a.k.a. I've reached a new level of crazy!

I will pick this up again once my quilt show pieces are d-o-n-e; only 6 weeks to go!  Following along with the Block Party at Selfsewn; creating Rose Stars.  You can read about my overall experience with English Paper Piecing!

Laughing Leaves with Frieda Anderson

More of the project can be seen here.  Can't wait to roll up my sleeves and dig back in!  You can also check out what I learned about using fusible in an art quilt!

{Your're My Sunshine}: Bottled Rainbows {ticker tape quilt-along}

Still no deadline for this one.  The way things are going, maybe I pick this up once my show pieces are done?

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 5
New Projects: 1 (lake landscape quilt)

Finished Projects: 0
Total WiP's: 6

 

Ten Snaps: A Little of This, and a Little of That

My focus lately has been all over the place.  A little of this and a little of that with a bunch of sewing mixed in.  So, with that in mind I thought it would be fun to dump ten snaps from my camera to see what I've been doing. 

A little puppy watching.  She did have her eyes closed... but somehow she always knows when I'm stalking her with the camera.

I have to laugh at my clean desk photo because it sure doesn't look like this today.

We have been soaking in as much outdoor time and sunshine as possible.  And Sammy is still trying to eat every stick in the yard.

On a walk I saw this little bit of moss and rocks and it makes me think this is the perfect quilt background for the mushroom scene I have brewing in my head.

Walks and hikes with the dogs have just been glorious!

The lake melts all my stresses away.  And it's so funny to see it this time of year with no ice. 

We woke up last week to this... winter appearing from no where.  And honestly... we loved it! 

Snow isn't always fun to drive in, but it sure makes for a pretty drive... doesn't it?

Spring fever is nibbling at me in a serious way.  With the warmer than normal weather I am just dying to get my hands in some dirt.  Little plants and flowers are doing their best to do to hold me over a bit longer as I just have to remember that gardening is just around the corner!

And this is Sammy again.  Looking at all these photos I remember that she really has been the primary focus of my attention of late.  You see, she is in the rebellious phase of things which is fine, but I forgot how much work it is. 

And yes there are days where I feel like a broken record... no bite, give me that shoe, no jumping, leave it, slow down, stop barking, don't pull on Katie's collar, enough water, you have to pee... again?  My little white squishy dog.  She is really shaping up to be a fantastic pup, but she is sure testing me along the way!

Hope you are off to a brilliant start to the week!

Happy Moment #48: Tracks in the Snow

A Friday ritual with Soulemama.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary, happy moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments too.

 

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”

~Omar Khayyam

Homemade Dog Biscuits

I made homemade dog biscuits. 

It was so easy.

And the dogs went totally ga-ga for them which makes me feel even better about doing it!

(They may not look so ga-ga here, but I took this after telling them that they have a wait a few more minutes for the cookies to cool off from the oven.  The waiting might have killed them.)

I used a dog bone cookie cutter, but also has a little fun and made their first name letters. 

K is for Katie.

S is for Sammy.

Once the cookies were cooled enough... off to the cookie jar they went. 

And yes of course my assistances had to help with the quality testing. 

I just love Katie's big smile on the right... and Sammy always look so darn serious. 

I originally saw the recipie at Suzy Sitcom and have since made about 6 batches.  I make them two at a time and have put the extra cookies that don't fit in the jar in the freezer.  I also switched out the pumpkin for banana + a water in one batch and it worked out well.  I also intend to try acorn squash in place of pumpkin.  I bet that will work too! 

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Happy baking!