Norma Whaley and Joyce Weeks Quilt Show

Norma Whaley and Joyce Weeks came to our Alpine Quillt group meeting in November and I had to share with you some of their quilts! They also work with Leslie Isom, but she was at one of her grandchildren's basketball games so was unable to attend. You can see more of their work and purchase patterns if you see something you love (and how could you not) at www.geoffsmompatterns.com I came away from quilt meeting wanting to make about 10 new quilts! I've always loved their work and their style. I wish I could put them in my pocket and take them shopping...their eyes and fabric taste at least. They are gifted women and super nice too boot! Btw, if you go to their website, you'll see a quilt called, "Survivor's" and it's the one currently on my design wall right now.

A close up of one of the blocks in the above quilt and then she used this block again on the quilt after that.

These next two quilts were flimsy's and are part of a seasonal set they are putting together. So cute that I had to share so you could drool along with me.

Sewing Room ReDo

I have wanted to re-do my sewing room for years now. Part of the problem of my coveting a new look to my room, is I am friends with Nedra of Cactus Needle fame and Rae Ann of Cutie Pinwheel. Have you ever seen their sewing rooms?! Over the top, neat as a pin and I am living in a pig stye! How much of a pig stye I didn't fully understand until I started to clean out the dump I was in. These are a few 'before' photos. I had already started to clean the room out so I could strip the wallpaper before I remembered that I should take some photos. You can see that I have these beautiful shelves that are stuffed to the gills.

Below is the room redone! I love it so much. I've already begun to sew a couple of aprons for Gwen at Aprons for Alzheimer's. One of the things I discovered about myself in this cleansing process, is that I have about 15 started and unfinished projects! My Dog Kennel group calls them P-I-G-S, "projects in grocery sacks". I'd never heard of that before, but I have plenty and could probably win some sort of award if I began to work on those and finish something. I think it needs to be my 2012 goal!

The design wall has a yellow frame that the nice boys at Home Depot made for me. I just haven't got the right tools to hang it yet, but it will add to the cuteness.

The torquoise wall is super charming and cheerful when you walk in. Rae Ann and I have been on a few shopping sprees at antique stores and those items are on the small shelf. She'll be happy to discover there's more shopping to do because there are empty spaces on the shelf I hung above the window.

I found this little rocker at someone's home for $50 and then I covered it with a quilt and a pillow from Ikea. It's really comfy and fun to have a place to sit in here. I've never had that before. Also, bought the little dresser on the left the same height as the legs that were on the cutting table and I replaced the legs with the dresser to hold lots of those PIGS we discussed earlier.

This is the view from my sewing table. I can watch old English movies and have a basket full of backs for quilts and a mirror for when I sew clothing and need to do fittings.

This is the shelves all cleaned up and cute storage containers. I have three shelves of Civil War prints...must slow down on those! Those wire drawers on the left hold all the fat quarters and are a bit messy, but my philosophy was I just needed Nedra or Rae Ann to stop by and in about an hour they'd be cute and organized. My daughter said I had to put curtains over the front of them because she thought there was altogether too much shelf...so the bottom photo is the little curtains over that section. I'll see which way I like it best. Maybe I'd rather see the mess and get to the fabrics easier...we'll see. I love my cute sewing chair from JoAnn's on a half price sale. This room makes me smile from ear to ear!!

Dog Kennel Luncheon and Quilt Show

Girls...I've joined the Dog Kennel Quilt Guild and they are super fun! This little gal on the right in the photo's name is Amanda and she and I have only been members of the group for 1 month...so technically, we are 'puppies' rather than dogs and we worked on the food committee together! We arrived at 7 a.m. on Friday to hang quilts and put up tables and get ready for all the people who come to enjoy lunch, watch a fun trunk show (I'll post that tomorrow...and I'll post Rae Ann's new quilt, but I'm waiting for her to post it first). I spent the entire day before making salads and desserts to bring to the luncheon as they were worried that they wouldn't have enough food.

We had some booths set up for people to sell their wares and we had all those canopies to set up early in the morning too.Rae Ann worked Lori Holt's booth all day because Lori had somewhere else important to be and Rae Ann volunteered to set up and man the booth all day for her. She made her super cute apron the night before and it has little dogs on it.This is the quilt that was the raffle quilt! Many of us made a couple of blocks for it. The photo doesn't do it justice. Cathy Udall brought a cute bed to display this cute quilt on and I made this Kaffe quilt and love it!

More cute quilts to show you. Mine is the circles in the middle.

Sprouted Banana Nut Bread

If you want to make sprouted wheat flour, you first soak the wheat, sprout the wheat, dry the wheat, then grind the wheat into flour. (see photo above for the drying process) It sounds more time consuming than it is. It's actually very easy and quite simple. It just takes a little planning. The benefit of this is the same as eating the sprouts. When the wheat is sprouted, it pre-digests much of the gluten and people who have struggled with gluten allergies for years, can now eat wheat again! It's been wonderful for our family...no stomach aches. When I went thru menopause, I have had to watch every carbohydrate that went into my mouth, but since I started to do this, I can eat all I want and have even lost a couple of pounds. The sprout causes the wheat to be more of a protein than a carb. This is the best idea ever!! Remember that when you are starting to think the above stated process is too arduous...trust me...it's worth it!

This is the banana nut bread that I cut up and served to my quilt group earlier this week. So many loved it and asked for the recipe, so I'll post it below.

Grandpa loves graham crackers and he can eat a box in a sitting. I decided to try and make him a healthier choice in a graham cracker. These are really yummy and use no refined sugar and turned out super crispy. At first I thought they were too crispy, but I can't leave them alone, they are so good! Kind of makes you happy Fall is coming and you can sip a cup of tea and dip a cookie if you feel like a little treat.

Banana Bread or Muffins

2 c. mashed bananas (about 6 small bananas)

1/2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c. butter or coconut oil, softened (I used half and half)

2 c. sprouted soft white wheat flour

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. sea salt

1/2 t. cinnamon (I used Pampered Chefs cinnamon blend)

1 c. dehydrated cane juice

1/2 c. slivered almonds

1/2 c. raisins

In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas and add remaining wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Pour dry ingredients into the banana mixture and blend. Then add the nuts and raisins. Pour into buttered muffin pans or 2 loaf pans and bake at 350. Muffins will take about 25 minutes and loaves will take 50 minutes.

Sprouted Pumpernickel Bread

Lately, I've been doing a lot of sprouting. I've made some of the best food I've ever put in my mouth from this cookbook. It's by Jillayne Clements and Michelle Stewart and I highly recommend getting it in your personal library. I had no idea these women were from Utah and so gifted and talented when I ordered the book online. But it has become my new favorite cookbook. I have never made any of the main dishes in the book as that isn't what I bought it for. But I have made the best flourless cinnamon rolls I've ever tasted, banana nut bread (recipe coming as I served it at my quilt groups trunk show on Tuesday), graham crackers, and now have made flourless pumpernickel bread and it is addicting. I love that everything is whole grain, no yeast, no refined sugars and good sources of fat. i.e. I use coconut oil in about everything that's called for any kind of fat.

This is sprouted rye. The photo below is sprouted spelt. What you need to know is you can sprout in about anything. The above sprouter was $2 at the DI. Everyone has a colandar and it's probably the easiest thing to sprout in and you can sprout in canning jars. Just use a piece of cheese cloth to cover the opening and drain the sprouts. Soak your sprouts overnight in clean water. Drain, put a reasonable amount into the container you're going to sprout in. Put in an area in your kitchen you won't forget to water and cover with a dish towel. Water before you go to bed that night and drain. In the morning, you should have a small white tail on the seed. You can see that in the photos here and below. What you may be wondering, is what are the benefits of sprouting the grain first. Well, first of all there are more nutrients...it's simply better for you. But for those of you who struggle with a sensitivity to gluten, many people find they can eat wheat again because much of the gluten is pre-digested in the sprouting process. May not work for everyone, but it sure has worked for our family.

After you grind up your sprouts in the food processor, you shape it into a loaf. Below I have formed two loaves because I did a double batch. I rose mine on a pizza stone because I wanted to cook the loaves right on it. Now I know what you're thinking...those look like cow patties Judi. Okay, so you're right...they do look like cow patties! But give me a chance before you judge them.

This bread is fabulous and a meal in itself!

The loaf right out of the oven with butter. YUMMY. The next morning I had it toasted with avocado, chopped onion and a slice of rice cheese. Beyond yummy! So filling it satisfied me until late afternoon. If you decide to try your hand at sprouted breads, please let me know...I'd love to hear your story!

Here's the recipe...

Pumpernickel Bread

3 c. fresh, sprouted rye

2 1/2 c. fresh sprouted spelt, kamut or wheat

1 egg

2 T. roasted carob powder

1 T. molasses

3 t. caraway seeds

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. sea salt

Grind spelt and rye sprouts in a food processor until they form a ball of dough. Add egg, carob, molasses, baking soda, sea salt, and 2 t. of the caraway seed. Blend well, then shape into a round loaf and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Sprinkle with remaining caraway seeds and let rise for about 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.

Moving Day

Our 'newborn' moved out last week. She's 18 and off on her own in college. She was convinced she needed EVERYTHING in her room. I was convinced she'd end up sending half of it home!

Did you ever read your children the book called, "The Mitten" by Jan Brett? If you haven't, put it on your immediate things to get list! We read it at least a 100 times as the children were growing up. You'll see how it applies to this moving experience when you read it!!

Mom...this is heavy. Don't stop me for pictures all day as this could get extremely annoying. Scroll down a couple of photos and you'll see what I mean.

"The Muscle". When the boys were growing up, I used to say to them when I needed something done that, "God gave me you boys for muscle and I expect you to use them". They are wonderful sons and are always good to show up when I ask. This one had an enormous leg and foot (couldn't even get a shoe on) from a river rafting wound and a subsequent staff infection and yet he still showed up to help. He did a lot of limping, but kept on working. Even wounded he can out work me.

Remember the irritated face I said was coming a couple of photos ago? This one says, "Mother, enough already. I have things to do and your interrupting and irritating taking these stupid photos." Believe it or not, she really did get all this stuff put away and found a place for it to fit. Her brother made her bed that high as you can see behind her. She is 5'10" and still has to high jump to get on her bed. I have to stand on an upside down trash can to get up there! But a bed that high, makes for great storage space.

This is the sad, sad room without her in it. I miss my baby.

Busy, Busy Easter Weekend

We had so much fun this weekend! All the girls were able to come home for the weekend and we even got our grandbaby for Easter too. She woke Saturday morning to the Easter bunny bringing her a beautiful basket after she and Grandma searched the entire house looking to see if he'd left her something!

Then off we went to the local park to the community Easter Egg Hunt and it's unbelievable how long people work on putting these events together, because honestly it's over in about 5 minutes or less! The park was loaded with children divided up by age groups, but it's difficult for mothers who have more than one child and all different ages to divide the children up. So the children all get muddled together anyway and the older children can really scoop up the eggs quickly. Our own little chick gots lots of candy and even found an egg and was thrilled.

Greg, Jena and Maddox at the park following the big Hunt!

And they're off!!

Grandma, I simply do not have time to stop and get my picture taken when I'm hunting!

Following the Hunt, we went to the Open House of the fire station and they put on a wonderful event for the community. They parked two ladder trucks across the street and strung an American flag across the top and it was a beautiful site to walk under.

Caitlyn and I were kept busy following Maddox around and walking her dog Cash.

The fire station allowed the children to dress up in the fireman's boots and some of their clothes, etc. Jena and Madd had a blast hamming it up for the camera.

Maddox got to squirt the firehose, ride on the ladder truck and an abulance and even got a cookie. It was a fun day!

And finally, after an incredibly busy morning, Carissa got all dressed up and went to the Prom. I took her picture out by the cherry tree in bloom because her dress matched the blooms on the tree and she looked so beautiful. She had a wonderful time and went with a really fun group of other Seniors. Phew, I was glad to get some sleep on Saturday night!