Pins and Needles

Fantastic Sewing Buddies

Sewing is wonderful and a great way to keep your mind off of things that would tend to be over whelming. With my oldest son getting ready to leave the U.S. and deploy to Iraq for his second tour of duty sewing has become a great way to feel like I am moving forward and accomplishing something. I have started to make pin cushions they are quick and easy and before you know it your finished. I am getting together a few of them to offer here and on my Etsy. shop.
These little tightly filled pincushions are fantastic to put with the latest hand sewn quilt squares or in your basket of sewing. I can't tell you how important they really are. I usually take my sewing down to the family room and then sit and watch TV with the rest of the brude. I have gotten in the habit of not taking any pincushion and this time when I pick up my sewing I got a pin stuck in my thumb for the trouble. Just a little effort on my part to collect the proper tools of sewing and I could have avoided the human pincushion issue. Looking at these little things I suddenly thought wow what great little gifts these would be placed in a basket with jars of home made jam and bread. How fantastic to give as gifts to neighbors and to fellow sewing friends. With the way that the economy has reached and touched each of us gifts like those I have just mentioned would be welcomed. Not only are these types of gifts easy to make and inexpensive done with scraps of material readily available to any sewing enthusiast or quilter but the fact that you thought enough of the person to give something handmade well, I for one would welcome gifts like that.

Jams and Jellies
Out side of the studio I have started to get cooking literally by fixing some jams for this winter. When we had returned home to the Mountains and found my home literally over grown I also found that the black berry's had started to take over on one side of the house. With out having the hart to remove them completely I started to trim them and wait for the fruit to come. It came and came in the bunches. I picked and picked and then finally made some jam the other day. (I have posted some snaps of the jams on my Photo Blog you may want to subscribe to that to see just what comes out of a day) When through making the jam which was soooo easy I might add I poured 1/8" wax to seal it and then when cooled I poured another 1/8" and tipped the jar to make sure the edges sealed up. There is a fantastic web site that will give you everything that you need to know for an easy project that can double as a fun time in the kitchen with the kids and as gift giving for Birthdays or Christmas that is coming up. I think that this project took me about 1 hour to do. So the next time you have some black berry bushes in your yard you may want to think twice about removing them. But remember also that when you see those special deals on fruit at Wal-Mart or Sams you may want to purchase a little extra to make into jams and jellies. You can store them and then you will never be caught with out a special gift.


Brown Irish Soda Bread! This is another great gift and easy to make! Think of this bread as one of the best ones to pop into your mouth with loads of butter. Great with soups and fatntastic alone as well this makes a good filler gift. By that I mean you can place this in your basket of goodies to give your host or hostess or a welcome to your new home or for any day that you want to turn into a special rememberance. Coupled with some Irish butter (avilable now at most grocers) with a jar of Jam from your summer harvest this will make a great gift. Hope that you have enjoyed my little bits of thought this week !