Coming soon...

Blog is slowly coming back to life, new posts in the works for anyone out there that might still be reading!

Its been awhile...

So its been awhile since I have posted... I have been busy though. My main projects have been Christmas gifts which have been keeping me busy and of course I cant post since someone might see something they are not supposed to. However I can sow you things I am making for Katie since despite her best efforts she has not mastered surfing the internet yet. I got this project from the book Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby. The idea was to make large letters that spell something, for example the child's name. This seemed and easy project and it was. I started by finding a font on the computer that I thought would work, I then printed them out a large as I could. I let Katie pick out the fabrics she liked and cut the letters. To assemble them the book suggests just using a zigzag stitch around on the outside around the edge leaving an opening to stuff them.

Once stuffed just sew them shut, easy. I think they came out good.

Jam

I have been wanting to make some jam for awhile. A little over a week ago I made some strawberry freezer jam that Andrea recommended and had me sample when I was down in LA. That recipe came from here. When in LA I also got some boxes of glass canning jars from my mom. There have been some really good sales on strawberries to I had plenty of those sitting in the refrigerator. Mike however has been talking about picking blackberries and that sounded like fun. The week the three of us headed out to a local regional park and picked a big bowl of berries. That night I made a blackberry pie which went fast and was very yummy. Yesterday I decided to start some jam, blackberry and then strawberry rhubarb based on the recipes in the pectin box. I started with the blackberry yesterday and made the strawberry rhubarb today, the pictures will be of both since I forgot to take many yesterday.

First the berries had to be mashed, I needed five cups.

The set up needed three pans, one boiling with the jars, one boiling with the lids and one for the jam. I used my candy thermometers to make sure the jars and lids were staying at 180 degrees.

The fruit and any lemon juice goes into the pan.

Next the pectin is stirred in and you turn the heat all the way up.

Bring it to a full boil and add the sugar, it takes a lot of sugar!

Return it to a full boil and cook for one minute, you stir constantly through all of this. I noticed at this point I had to turn down the heat a little since it came close to going over with both jams.

After the minute turn off the heat and skim off the foam. The blackberry jam hardly had any, the strawberry had a lot.

Pull a jar from here.

Fill it.

Put the hot lid on it then a band just till there is resistance.

The jar goes back into the water and repeat with the next jar. When you are done put the lid on and gently boil the jars.

They need to cool for 12-24 hours. Here is the finished product.

Blackberry Jam

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (not sure why the solids went to the top here)

We tried the blackberry last night and it was really good. Not too bad for my first try I think.

Crochet Hook Holder

For my Mothers birthday I decided to made her a case to hold her crochet hooks. I used the book Sew What!: Bags by Lexie Barnes. First I selected some fabric.

I did add another print after I took this picture. Now of course I got so into making it that I forgot to take pictures but it cam together pretty well.

Here is the inside of it completed.

The back.

And all folded up.

Green Beans and More

Here is what came out of the garden today. One zucchini, cherry tomatoes, the first yellow pear tomato and a bunch of green beans. We have been getting a fairly steady stream of zucchini and summer squash which I have been cooking up.

Today we finally planted my lemon tree which I received on Mothers Day.

It is in between the fence and the wood deck where there used to be a walking stone. I moved the stone and planted the tree. We plan on redoing the deck so it wont be quiet as close to the tree forever.

The compost bin is doing good and is almost half full. We had a small frog living in it for awhile but I have not been able to find it for the past few days. My other big project has been painting the third guest bedroom. Pictures of that will be coming soon.