Wisdom from the Movie "Captain January" (1936)

Capt. Nazro: Star can read writing and write reading better than any six year old on this coast.
Capt. January: Any six year old? Why, there ain't no seven or eight year old that knows as much as Star. I've been learning her from the two best books there is, The Bible and Bowditch.
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: Bowditch? A book on navigation? Fine reading for a child of six!
Capt. Nazro: Any objections to The Bible?
Capt. January: There ain't no better reading in the world than The Bible and Bowditch. They both learn you to steer a straight course.

Thank you to IMBD for this post.

Brief Update and Request from Ann Palizzi

See Stacy and Tony Palizzi's blog here.

Just for Happy Sake: A New Soul Walking

(Thank you, N.)

Better Health Through Blogging

I know it is good for me. For an article about the possible health benefits of blogging, read this.

(Thank you, C.)
Thank you to this photographer for the illustration.

Heirloom Bedspread Update

I got the heirloom bedspread cut into squares, put them back together like a free-form jigsaw, and have begun to sew together the patchwork quilt top. I though you might like a peek.

Encouraging News Regarding Food Storage

Have your efforts at food storage looked sort of like this squirrel's?



New Findings for Longer-Term Food Storage
Link here.

"Findings of recent scientific studies conducted by a team of researchers at Brigham Young University show that properly packaged, low-moisture foods stored at room temperature or cooler (75°F/24°C or lower) remain nutritious and edible much longer than previously thought. The studies, which are the first of their kind, increase the estimated shelf life for many products to 30 years or more (see chart for new estimates of shelf life). Previous estimates of longevity were based on "best-if-used-by" recommendations and experience. Though not studied, sugar, salt, baking soda (essential for soaking beans), and vitamin C in tablet form also store well long-term. Some basic foods do need more frequent rotation, such as vegetable oil every 1 to 2 years.

"While there is a decline in nutritional quality and taste over time, depending on the original quality of food and how it was processed, packaged, and stored, the studies show that even after being stored long-term, the food will help sustain life in an emergency.

"For tips on how to best preserve longer-term food storage products, see Longer-Term Supply."

Food	New "Life Sustaining" Shelf-Life Estimates (In Years)
Wheat	30+
White rice	30+
Pinto beans	30
Apple slices	30
Macaroni	30
Rolled oats	30
Potato flakes	30

For Today's Nature-loving Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday!

| View | Upload your own

Thank you to this photographer.

Carpe Freakin' Deum !

Happy Birthday to our twins. Seize the birthdays!

The Quotable Bugs Bunny

I always think of this when my brain goes awry. Gotta keep laughing.

Reader is Down. Help, Superman!

Our Google Reader is down, and I am in serious withdrawal.

Calling on C-Master's Degree-H, a.k.a. Super(computer)Man! You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others. Please help us!

And congratulations on your academic success! You really are a superhero!


Thanks to Whurley for the picture.

Vintage Style Quilt

Thank you to this post at thesmallobject.com for thepattern idea.

Better Breakfast: Oatmeal with Flaxseed

Oatmeal with Flaxseed

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon sugar
milk

In a small saucepan, combine oats, flaxseed meal, salt and water. Stirring occasionally, bring this mixture to a boil over high heat. Turn off the stove, put a lid on the saucepan, and leave the oatmeal bubbling on the turned off burner for 1/2 hour while you read blogs. After 1/2 hour, remove the saucepan from the stove and stir one tablespoon sugar into the oatmeal. Serve with milk. (This recipe makes two servings, or a very hearty breakfast for one.)

(Thank you to this photographer for the cereal killer.)

Recycled Jeans Wrap Skirt Tutorial: Part One of Three

This is a picture I lifted from the LLBean website. I made a wrap skirt which really does look much like this, minus the belt loops (and the tanned legs). Here is how you can make one, too.

First, gather up three pairs of old jeans. They will need to be close to your own size, or larger, to be sure you have sufficient fabric. The next step, I am sorry to tell you, is to measure the circumference of your waist, at the place where you would like the waist of your skirt to sit. If this depresses you, as it always does me, just remember that in a few hours you will have a cute new skirt to wear. This should cheer you up.

Multiply this waist measurement by one-and-a-half. Yes, it just got worse, but hang in there. Because you will be wrapping this skirt around, it will be double thickness in the back, so it needs to have fabric for the back, the front, and the back again. Make a note of this number, as well as your waist measurement, for later calculations.
Cut off the pant legs, and trim all the seams away. Set up your iron and press the twelve pieces of fabric which result. (You can see from the picture that I did the pressing later, but I learned better.)
Cut the trimmed pant legs into twelve wedges. You can do this with a straight edge and scissors if you don't have rotary stuff for cutting. The narrow end of each wedge should measure one inch more than one-twelfth the total number (waist measurement times one-and-a-half) you got above. The other end of each wedge should be as wide as possible. They need not match in bottom width, nor in length. You can even fudge a bit on the width of the top of the wedge a little, as I did, having some a little wider and others a little bit narrow. Wrap skirts are very forgiving.
Here are five of twelve wedges. Using all twelve wedges, sew these one to another with one-half-inch seams, keeping them evenly aligned at the narrow ends, like a fan. (See tutorial number two for a view of the results of following this step.)

Recycled Jeans Wrap Skirt Tutorial: Part Two of Three

Here are the twelve panels sewn together.
On the right side of the skirt, finish the seams by pressing both edges of the seam allowance on the underside so that they are under the needle, and stitching close to the seam on the top side of the skirt. A finished seam, finished, can be seen on the left. Click on the picture for a closer view.
Finish the right and left edges of the wrap skirt by folding the raw edge under once, then folding it under again, and stitching.
Measure the shortest of the panels then measure each of the other panels, marking off the length to match. (A sliver of soap makes a great marking tool for this step.) Trim the panels along these lines. Finish the hem edge by folding under twice and top stitching, as you did on the skirt edges.

Recycled Jeans Wrap Skirt Tutorial: Part Three of Three

Make a waistband by creating a length of two-and-a-half-inch wide cotton fabric. It's length should be the equivalent of twice the measurement of the circumference of your waist, plus one yard. Heat up your iron and press this strip so that the two raw edges meet in the middle on the wrong side of the fabric. Position this pressed waistband strip along the wrong side of the skirt with raw edges together. Laying out the skirt with wrong side up, the waistband should extend eighteen inches beyond the skirt's left edge, and on the right edge it should extend beyond the skirt edge in a length equal to half your waist measurement plus eighteen inches. (Approximate measurements will do.) Sew the waistband to the skirt along the waistband strip's pressed fold line closest to the edge, with the right side of the waistband against the wrong side of the skirt, as shown above.
Bring the two folded edges of the waistband strip together and top stitch the edges together to finish the end ties.
Continue top stitching as you bring the waistband around from the back, fitting it snugly against the raw edge of the skirt and letting it fold in along the pressed-in line.
Here is the finished skirt. The tie on the right is eighteen inches long. The tie on the left is half your waist circumference plus eighteen inches. The last step is to make nine one-inch buttonholes in the waistband: three buttonholes above the fourth panel from the left, three above the fifth panel from the left and three more above the sixth panel from the left. This way you can continue to wear the skirt as your waistline size changes.

To wear the skirt, you wrap it around yourself, threading the shorter of the ties through a buttonhole, and bringing the longer tie across your waist to tie in a bow with the other.

Ann Palizzi/David Ragsdale Update

Ann Palizzi is in the news again, as David Ragsdale appeared in court today. There are videos and written transcripts of television news broadcasts here and here.

For Mothers of Teenage Girls on Mother's Day

For mothers of teenage girls: Hang in there, it gets better. It gets so, so much better. Meanwhile, rest assured that others understand your challenges, as witnessed here:

Flowers for Mother's Day

These flowers of Paris I picked just for you, Ethan's mommy and Lincoln's mom. You are the best of mothers and that makes this mother very happy!

Happy Mother's Day to you both.

Thank you to this photographer for the French market scene.

Video of My Mother, as a Child, in the Morning

Okay, this is not really my mother as a girl, but it could be. Right name. Right era. Right appearance. Right attitude.

Happy Mother's Day to my Shirley Temple of a mom.

Background NOT Noise

I like to listen to uplifting things as I quilt so I was thrilled to discover this resource today. Maybe you will like it, too.

Thank you to this photographer.

The Back is Pretty, Too!

I turned the heirloom bedspread over today to begin cutting and found this beautiful work of embroidery on the back. These are the backs of the blanket stitches. Aren't they beautiful? I had to look pretty closely to see how Great Great Grandmother ended one colored thread and began another without leaving a trace of the change. You can see how she wove the thread back through existing stitches in the bottom example. The yellow thread, middle photo, is the "messiest" spot on the whole bedspread.

Our Marriage

FarmBoy grows things.
Dallan sews things.

Great Video at The Geek Mom

A genuine geek or not, you are a blog reader. You could be watching television, but instead you are here. That being so, I encourage you to carve out fifteen minutes for this video at The Geek Mom. You will appreciate yourself more after you do.

Thank you to this photographer for the mouse photo.

Taking My Own Advice

Taking my own advice from this post, I pulled back and quieted things down in my dining room this week. Blue wooden chairs, blue plaid seats, a little plate as a reminder.

It's a Cutter--Yikes!

I received from my mother yesterday this muslin appliquéd bedspread, below, made in 1926 by my--get ready--great great grandmother. On the left is the rod-pocket curtain which goes with it. Mom and her cousin who had possession of these agreed that I would best know what to do with these treasures. What an honor for me.

These are not quilts, but single layers of muslin with appliqués cut from floral fabric and affixed by a blanket stitch in various colors of embroidery thread. While the fabrics are in nearly perfect condition, I still think that this heirloom will best be honored by being cut up (scary, I know) and made into a new, smaller quilt suitable for hanging on a wall. In this way, the beautiful hand-stitching will be preserved and displayed.

What will result will be a quilt made by my great great grandmother and I, in a collaborative effort. What an amazing thing.





Stay tuned for updates on this project.

Diane Marie Quilt

A departure from my usual color scheme for Sweet Diane Marie.