March Progress and April Goals

March was a pretty good month, stitching wise.....8 finishes and a few other WIPs that were worked on.  About 110 hours of stitching, hopefully April will bring more stitching time.

March

WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Oveture II 

In Progress

4 person RR Marguerite’s
Mini Embellishment Project 
French Alphabet Sampler page 3 
April flower of the month
Landon’s Stocking
Valentine Biscornu worked on it

Crazy January Starts

SamSarah fruits  ( 6 of them)
                Lime      finished
                Berry  finished
                Pear  finished
                Kiwi  finished
                Apple  finished
Afternoon in Paris  worked on it
Afternoon in Rome  
Stitch-a-long sampler

Future New starts

Breast Cancer Banner finished
Pacific Heart worked on it
Mini Embellishment 2  worked on it
2 Gingerbread Houses #1 finished
2 Gingerbread Houses #2 finished
Scissor fob
Ornament finishing sample piece
Ladybug pin
A Fall Heart
December Joyful World
Afternoon in New York
Afternoon in London
Candy Corn Heart
Gingerbread Heart
Winds of Grace (6 of them)
Towmater x 2
Lightning McQueen x2
Cupcake ornaments:
                Logan
                Natalie
                Owen
                Peter
                Justin
                Nathan
Spring
Summer
Winter
Crystal Violets
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Carnival
Walking on Water’s Edge
 

March

WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Oveture II 

In Progress

4 person RR Marguerite’s
Mini Embellishment Project 
French Alphabet Sampler page 3 
April flower of the month
Landon’s Stocking
Valentine Biscornu
Pacific Heart
Mini Embellishment 2 

Crazy January Starts

Afternoon in Paris  
Afternoon in Rome  
Stitch-a-long sampler

Future New starts

Scissor fob
Shamrock scissor fob
Ornament finishing sample piece
Ladybug pin
A Fall Heart
December Joyful World
Afternoon in New York
Afternoon in London
Spring Banner
Patriotic Heart
Candy Corn Heart
Gingerbread Heart
Winds of Grace (6 of them)
Towmater x 2
Lightning McQueen x2
Cupcake ornaments:
                Logan
                Natalie
                Owen
                Peter
                Justin
                Nathan
Spring
Summer
Winter
Crystal Violets
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Carnival
Walking on Water’s Edge
 

 

Fin-eeee!

Ta Da!  All done, pressed, and with all the 'seeds' sewn on!

Two Gingerbread Houses Almost Finished

I stitched both of these Gingerbread Houses by Handblessings Designs while I was in Southern Illinois.  I was almost finished on Sunday afternoon, when I ran out of white floss with only 2 stitches left to go!  This design uses Perle Cotton #8....and every shop that carries DMC and is open on Sunday was out of it!  It is quite frustrating!

My Stitching Supervisor

This Satchmo, one of my grand kitties.  He lives in Southern Illinois with my youngest daughter and her family.  Satchmo has always been rather aloof, and only came around after I was in the house for over three days, and then he stayed at arms length.  This visit however, he has not left my side.  He either sits on my lap or on the right arm of the chair I sit in, and carefully observes every movement with the needle.  If he gets bored with that, he sleeps on the ottoman, next to my feet.  

Fresh Apple Finish

This is the 6th finish in the Fresh Market series by SamSarah Designs.  I must now iron the piece and sew on all the 'seeds'.  I dug out the companion piece, the vegetables.  It is all stitched, but I need to locate the buttons that are the 'bugs'.  the I can order frames for them.

Meeting Some New Stitching Friends

I recently drove to Lake Geneva Wisconsin (only a little over an hour away) to have lunch with these lovely ladies.   From the left, Cathy from Canada, her daughter Karen from Wisconsin, Retha from Wyoming, me from Illinois, Maggie from Michigan and Bev from Wisconsin. 

The reason for the lunch was that Retha was visiting her in laws and wanted to meet us in person.  I have know Maggie for years, and have corresponded with Retha for some time, but never met in person.  It was a lovely afternoon full of stitching talk.  Hopefully we can do it again next time Retha comes to the Midwest.

A Late Christmas Finish...

...or perhaps an early finish for next Christmas!  I stitched this one quite awhile ago, but couldn't find my doubled sided tape.  Just found it, so I finished up this sucker!

Fresh Kiwi Finish

Today I finished the stitches on Fresh Kiwi, which is part of the Farmer's Market Series by SamSarah Designs.  Only one more to go and the series is finish!

Last Thursday I took the first of my three Nancy Cucci classes that were my birthday gift to myself.  The first one was the Heart Banner, and a portion of the cost went to Breast Cancer research.  I finally had a chance to finish this one last evening.  Nancy's designs are always fun to stitch.  She uses some challenging stitches and lots of beads and textures.      This is the third of Nancy's Banners that I have stitched.  I need to actually do some finishing so that I can display them......

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

An Early Morning

 Since retirement, I rarely get up before the crack of 8 or 9 or even 10 am.  But today, I got up at 6:30!  I had to be in Crystal Lake for a class with Nancy Cucci by 8 am.  Thanks to all the people that forgot how to drive when there is snow on the sidewalk, I was a little late, but I got there!

 This is my piece at the end of the class (5 and 1/2 hours of class).  I am quite pleased with the progress!

The class was called Pacific Heart and was pilot class for Nancy.  She will be teaching this at the national seminar this summer, and we were the group that got to be her 'test run', we get to stitch the project and make sure there are no errors in the chart, etc.  We only found two very minor type-oes so far.  It is a lovely project, and all of Nancy's designs are a joy to stitch.

Another Cheesecake

This weekend's baking is a Double Decker Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake.  It's a recipe I clipped from Bon Appetite Magazine at least 15 years ago, if not longer.  It is still available on line if you google the title. 

When I was going through recipes the other day, I realized how much I like this cheesecake (well, I never met a cheesecake I didn't like) and wondered why I don't make it very often. 

I baked it last night, and brought it to German School today, and there isn't a crumb left!  Between the teachers and volunteers, they just devoured it!   I will have to make it again real soon.

Fresh Berry Finish

I finished the stitching on Fresh Berry!  now I have 3 of the six parts done!  Buttons will be attached when all 6 pieces are stitched.

Baking Again

 Twins!  Well, almost.  My oldest daughter hasn't used her Kitchenaid Mixer since she got it 11 years ago as a wedding shower gift, so she decided to find it a new home.  I had been wanting to either upgrade my own basic Kitchenaid to a larger model or get a second one, and so the Artesian Kitchenaid found it's way to my house!  Now I can mix and bake twice as fast with out having to stop and wash the bowl and beater constantly.

 Here we have Bienenstich ( Bee Sting Cake).  I always thought this was really hard to make, but it really wasn't.  My taste testers really enjoyed it, they didn't leave a crumb!

I also made Almond Streusel Cherry Cheesecake Bars, ( a Betty Crocker recipe) which were also a big hit. 

Fresh Lime Finish

I finished the Fresh Line chart, which is part 2 of the Farmer's Market series by SamSarah Designs.  It was fun to stitch, and I am looking forward to finish the rest of this series soon.

February Progress, March Goals

February is a short month, so not as much stitching time, but I do feel like I got some things accomplished.  5 finishes, 2 other pieces worked on.  1 finish was a new start. 

February

WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Oveture II 

In Progress

4 person RR Marguerite’s
Mini Embellishment Project 
French Alphabet Sampler page 3 
April flower of the month
Small bargello ball  finished
Landon’s Stocking
Jen’s sled finished

Crazy January Starts

November Joyful World finished
SamSarah fruits  ( 6 of them)
                Melon finished
                Lime     
                Berry 
                Pear 
                Kiwi 
                Apple 
Afternoon in Paris
Afternoon in Rome  
Stitch-a-long sampler worked on it

Future New starts

Valentine Biscornu worked on it
Perforated paper ornament (2)
Large Bargello ball finished
Scissor fob
Ornament finishing sample piece
Ladybug pin
A Fall Heart
December Joyful World
Afternoon in New York
Afternoon in London
Candy Corn Heart
Gingerbread Heart
Winds of Grace (6 of them)
Towmater x 2
Lightning McQueen x2
Cupcake ornaments:
                Logan
                Natalie
                Owen
                Peter
                Justin
               Nathan
spring
Summer
Winter
Crystal Violets
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Carnival
Walking on Water’s Edge

March

WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Oveture II 

In Progress

4 person RR Marguerite’s
Mini Embellishment Project 
French Alphabet Sampler page 3 
April flower of the month
Landon’s Stocking

Crazy January Starts

SamSarah fruits  ( 6 of them)
                Lime     
                Berry 
                Pear 
                Kiwi 
                Apple 
Afternoon in Paris
Afternoon in Rome  
Stitch-a-long sampler

Future New starts

Valentine Biscornu
Perforated paper ornament (2)
Scissor fob
Ornament finishing sample piece
Ladybug pin
A Fall Heart
December Joyful World
Afternoon in New York
Afternoon in London
Candy Corn Heart
Gingerbread Heart
Winds of Grace (6 of them)
Towmater x 2
Lightning McQueen x2
Cupcake ornaments:
                Logan
                Natalie
                Owen
                Peter
                Justin
                Nathan
Spring
Summer
Winter
Crystal Violets
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Carnival
Walking on Water’s Edge

 

Faschings Krapfen

Where I come from, Faschings Krapfen (Carnival Donuts)  are made up until Ash Wednesday, as a special treat.  They are fried, and like a yeast donut, but they are not sweet.  They are either rolled in sugar when they come out of the fryer or dusted with powdered sugar, depending on the region.  They can also be topped with jam.  In Vienna and Berlin, they are filled with jelly or cream. 

 Legend has it that it is the creation of Cäcilie Krapf, a Viennese cook at the court, who is apparently responsible for its name.

I know someone is bound to ask me for the recipe, and since I have it handy, here it is:

1 package dry yeast

5 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 whole eggs
½ cup whole milk
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons brandy
¼ teaspoon salt
 
1.     Mix together dry yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar and ½ cup milk that has been warmed
2.    Mix all of the ingredients together with a wooden cooking spoon until nice and smooth.  Let the dough rest for about 2 hours.
3.    After resting, flour surface, pour out dough and gently flatten out with fingers.
4.    Dust top with flour
5.    Cut into pieces
6.    Fry in hot corn oil

 

 

This Weekend's Baking Adventures

 Today we explored monkey breads!  First up is an Apple Pie Monkey Bread.  It turned out great!

Then next offering is Orange Vanilla Monkey Bread.  I must confess that this is not the first time I made this recipe )(courtesy of the Pioneer Woman) and the first attempt was prettier but I didn't take a picture of that one.

Never the less, both tasted great, and the taste testers finished them off, and didn't leave a crumb.

November Finish

I know, I am a bit behind, but I finally got back to the Joyful World Stitching-a-long, and finished up November.  On to December!

Fresh Melons

I completed the stitching on Fresh Melons recently.  This is the first of SamSarah Designs Farmer's Market series.  I will add the buttons when all six pieces are finished.

Finally, Something Finished!

 Well, the stitching is finished!  This is going to be a 2 inch Bargello Ball once it is ornamentified.    I taught this project at our ANG Guild this past week, and will teach the construction in a few months, so I didn't want to confuse people, so I didn't 'finish' the piece, I just completed the stitching.  This one is done on 22 count mono canvas, and I used some Kreinik fine braid and some Rainbow Gallery Sparkle Rays. 

For the 3 inch Bargello Ball, I used Fyre Works instead of Kreinik and also used Sparkle Rays.  This one is stitched on 18 count mono canvas. 

They both sparkle a lot more, the pictures don't do them justice.  I will also be teaching this project for our EGA guild in a few months.