AMANDA'S BASKETS: ANOTHER TRIP TO PENNSYLVANIA & BACKGROUND DONE FOR THE WEAVING PROJECT

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

ANOTHER TRIP TO PENNSYLVANIA & BACKGROUND DONE FOR THE WEAVING PROJECT

Went back to Pennsylvania today...it was dark, cloudy, rainy and windy. Once the storms past, though, it was warm and sunny. Things had blossomed out a bit, especially on Staten Island. PA had some bright spots but I think they need at least a week of warm weather before everything pops. I did catch a photo of this tree...

Even in the overcast, it was spectacular.

So, remember that I was going to work on another new project? I was debating about quilting the background before adding the weaving. I decided to quilt. Here's what it looks like, up close...

I just did a meandering stitch. One day I am going to have to try a more patterned stitch. I use the quilting gloves to move the fabric. I also have found that quilting is easier with a motion slider underneath...on the sewing machine itself.

I use Supreme Slider (Note: I have no affiliation with this company.) and find that it really speeds up my quilting and allows greater control. To be honest, I won't try quilting without it...much too hard.

Tomorrow, I will be pulling fabric and yarn and other stuff for the weaving. And maybe I will even start the weaving.

I did something a bit stupid yesterday. It was the first day that I was able to do some of my exercise regiments. I did one in the morning and it felt so good that I did one in the afternoon...dumb. I now realize that I should have eased back into exercising, not going in full bore. My back and hips are rebelling! You'd think at my age I would know better...guess not.

Well, that's if for today...
Thanks for dropping by...
Talk to you later...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?