I did a strange thing today, I painted lol. A friend is coming over tomorrow to paint and I haven't touched a brush in a while so I thought I'd get my hand in motion.

I have been needing a bag or something to put my new project of knitting in. I have these sachels with a company name on them, the perfect victim.


Here is the sachel in the first stage. I have blocked out the name and sort of blocked in a design...



Then I sort of put in some more stuff...


Then I finished up and will add some more finishing touches tomorrow. I used acrylics and extender. The design is folk roses.

It's 40 degrees in Longwood, Florida and that means it's colder than a witches tit for us. Anyway it's great weather to be knitting. I am fairly new at knitting, a rank beginner. I spied this "heartbeat" pattern over at Melody's blog and just had to have a go at it. If it has instructions, I'm game. So I ordered the pattern. This is what I've done so far. I think it took me about 4 days but not constant knitting.


http://www.justonemorerow.com/9/206.htm?553

That is the front or back. Now I have to do another one just like it for the front or back, then the sides and the little sleeves. It's not hard at all. I got a bit confused at first but after reading a couple times, I got it. It's the modular knitting style and I like to knit that way. I find it enjoyable. As you can see the bottom is not square and it's meant to be that way. It just softly rounds of at the bottom and the middle goes up a bit. Very stylish I think.

I haven't invested in any fancy yarns as yet. I need to get my feet wet first. I just go to Joann's or Walmart and buy the baby sport or some sort of yarn in that catagory. It's good enough for now and its has to be yarn for the Florida weather. I can't let this hobby grow too big as my painting is my biggest hobby. It takes up a whole wall in my garage from floor to ceiling with wood pieces to paint. Then there is the quilting part, major hobby number 2 and that takes up several chest of drawers and one closet and half the studio with the long arm. Then there is the ribbon and regular embroidery but that is kinda small. A few ceramics lol. I do crochet too. So far I have a tall cabinet, one basket and one short tub filled with yarn. Life is wonderful isn't it.....

I just made myself a gigantic cup of cinnamon tea. I use the real tea. My sister brings it to me from England. I brew it in a small pot with a cinnamon stick and it's just enough to fill this cup hubby gave me for Christmas .....I love chickens. He also got me a set of canisters that are just lovely French chickens

The cold weather brings out my cooking spirit. I have been saving a recipe some time now and I have been dying to make it. It is a flan recipe. It is called "Flan Napolitana." I remember eating this flan once and it was not like other flans, it was a bit different and soooo good. Well some time ago a someone posted it to a chat board and it sure sounded like the one I've been dreaming of. It calls for 1 can condensed milk, 1 can evaporated milk, 5 eggs, 1 block of cream cheese. vanilla and 4 tbl sugar. A double boiler is needed. Put the 4 tbls of sugar in a pot and cook until caramelized and pour into the double boiler or a corning bowl and set aside. Beat the softened cheese with the condensed, evap. and eggs, add vanilla. Pour into the bowl or doulble boiler with the sugar. Cover the bowl or DB with foil. Now lower the bowl into the pot with water and boil for 45 minutes. Take care that the water doesn't rise above the bowl, use med. heat to boil. Here it is and it is the one and is delicious....I show it in the back in the pot. I put a plate on the foil and I did cover the pot. Just keep an eye on it...

Then I cooked a piece of sirloin tip roast and a 6 bean stew. I mix all kinds of beans together and cooked them... and some seasoned rice.

Then I mixed up some yeast bread, actually I called them buns with coconut milk. Here is a pic of that coconut milk in the can. It is so nice and thick. It will make the bun delicious, they are still rising.





In the meantime. I thought I'd show you how to load a quilt on the longarm. First the top of the quilt is thrown right side up over the machine. Then the top center is marked and pinned to the center of the fist roller canvas. Then it is rolled up on the roller and let to hang loose for now.



Then the quilt back is then thrown over the machine wrong side up and the top is centered and pinned to the center of the second roller, then rolled up part way. The bottom of the backing is then pinned to the take up roller and the batting goes on top of that and pinned together with the backing.


Then the second roller with the backing is rolled up and the batting is pushed between the two bars in the front to hang free. The backup roller now has the backing and batting pinned to it and the top of the quilt is then floated on top and pinned temporarily and a line is sewed accross with the long arm. Everthing gets rolled up in place again, the side clips are put on both sides. The side clips hold the batting and the backing, never the top. The top is just pinned on the sides to the back and batting.
Oh the coconut milk buns are done and here they are....

I finished quilting the dog quilt, just need to bind now. See how rich it looks once it's quilted? It seems to gain demension.






Another view...



I have changed to the new blogger. It's so much faster and has so many more perks. I haven't had time to read all the perks yet. Here is another view.

Oh boy, I'm quilting away on the dog quilt. Here it is all loaded up and a close- up of the stitches...I do free hand quilting...





Here is another set of close-ups. The green fabric is one of the fabrics that I painted with fabric paint.

Ok, I didn't use the crazy quilt for the borders on the dog quilt. I have other ideas for that one. I decided it needed to be more crazy.



I made new strips. I tore many 4 1/2 inch stips the lenght of whatever fabric I picked and then cut those into different lenghts and threw them in a bin and just picked and sewed. Once I had a piece long enough for one side, I sewed it on. I have three rows on so far. The first row is a piano key border all even stips. All the other ones will be any size.....I like it already.

Oh look what I found! I was rummaging in my bins and found this lovely wedding promise quilt that I had started to make about five years ago. Instead of appliquéing it, I decided to paint the hearts and then add some fru fru. I don't know what yet but I'm thinking. The hearts have lovely saying like: With this ring I thee wed, unlock love with key, etc. etc..There were nine blocks but I only did six and heaven know where the other three are. I wish I had the pattern now. I would paint the other three. I think I got rid of it lol. The fabric I used to paint the hearts on has some round swirls on it and it really adds to the block.....I used fabric paint.




Well back to rummaging to see what I can find to finish this quilt. I kinda like it now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL.

It's good to be back to blogging and New Year's Eve is a great time to start.

I started to sew again the day after Christmas. I decided to sew the scraps. You know? The scraps you save from sewing all those quits? Yeh, I save mine in a large plastic drawer. It's called, making new fabric out of old lol. I put a big sheet on the bed and dumped all the saved scraps on it, what a mess...

Next, I set up the ironing board and just started pressing a bunch of anything, no plan or nothing.

Then I just started to sew any which way. Here is a piece...



And here is another piece...

Here is a bunch of scraps sewed together. They are a bit crooked but I'm going to cut it into strips anyway and put the strips around a large picture block, which I will show you later.

Ok here is the picture block...I am going to build a quilt around this block...so I have to use more than just the crazy strips..



This is the companion fabric. I'm making this quilt for my son. He always like those gambling dogs. lol

Hi Everyone, just popped in to say hello. I will return soon. Just getting some things ready to paint and sew and I'll be back to normal in no time lol.

In the meantime I am cooking up a storm..Here is a huge pot of meat sauce. I will will making ravioli and knoces and lasanga, so I''ll need lots of sauce. I also made a "Tres Leches" cake and it is yummy. At the moment it is still soaking in the milks.

I then made the ravioli and some pasta (all home made now) and after I made 6 ravioli, I decided, nope! I'm not doing all this when lasanga taste the same and less work hahahaha....anyway we ate all the pasta before I could take a pic.
Here is a pic of the Panettone...

And that little rude Teddy dog. He belongs to my son and is visiting and he wants to beat everyone up immediately...so we have him in Teddy care...which is a fenced off area that he can't get out of, in my studio...so now he just glares at the other dogs through the fence....lol

I told my son that Teddy Care can be expensive lol....well more cooking will go on tomorrow. I hope to make an apple strusel from my German side of the family and something I have always associated with Christmas. If I have time I will also try some lebkuchen....

Trick or Treat Everyone? Well it's been a while since I've visited my blog. I have been so busy with my ebay stuff. I thought I'd cook a witches brew and post it for halloween and keep in touch so you wont' thing I got lost or anything. I have had the painting bug bite me real hard lately and pretty soon you will be seeing some stuff, promise. I might even show technique as I'm painting along...just don't give up on me yet.

Anyway, here is the witches brew. Here is an 8 pound roasting hen all cut up, seasoned and browned real nice. Add tons of onions and garlic. Then I strain this recardo (seasoning) and keep adding water to the recardo and straining it and adding the liquid to the chicken in the pot. I simmer it for one hour...then cut up a very large tomaoe and add that and cook another 30 minutes. It is still cooking right now. I will have to taste it to make sure it is ready as I have not cooked this dish since the last witches convention some 15 years ago ahahhahahaha....I will then make my homemade tortillas to go with it and yum yum...oh the dish is called, "Renello Negro"..."Black Dinner" so fitting for halloween hahahaha

The Black Dinner whooooooooooo

This is the seasoning. It comes from Yucatan.

I can be as stubborned as all-get-out when I'm ready lol. I insist on having my jars of jam up. I had to reboot to do this and there is not a darn thing wrong with my computer, it's brand new. Here is what blogger tells me when I try to do another post when they don't upload my pics.

Blogger Sign In
We found the following errors:
Your browser's cookie functionality is disabled. Please enable JavaScript and cookies in order to use Blogger.
Blogger Help explains how.

As you can see I'm here and I didn't do anything they said except reboot. Well anyway if anyone has this problem please tell me so I don't sweat the small stuff lol..

Let's see now if I can upload the jars of guava jam..


Well, whatdayuknow!! see they would have me go through a lot of crap for nothing lol...here is the jam, all done. As you can see some of them are still upside down and a couple with just a bit of jam but that's because I made three batches and a little get left but I combine those this morning and it's the first jar we are eating.

Jamming...Guavas are in season. Not everybody like that fruit. The smell or the taste. Well I love it! A friend brought three bags of them to me a few days ago and there is no way to eat them fast enough. So jam is the thing. Here they are all washed.

I put on a good show on the tv and set my stuff up, got comfy and started. First I took a teaspoon and just sliced them in half. Take all the centers with the seed out and put them in a sperate bowl.



Next, I have this little grinding mill and I put all the centers in there and keep turning until all the good stuff is pureed out of them. See the nice color?





Then I take the seeds, after I have squeeze everything out of them and put them in a bowl and add just enough water to wash them and then I use that water to chop the outside part of the guava in the blender. Below you see the seed being strained and then both mixed together

And here are the results, 13 pints of guava jam. I make cakes with it, cookies, ice cream topping. jam rolls or just eat it on toast, delish. the method I use is the one where you use the fruit pectin. When it is done cooking, you just pour in the jar and turn upside down for 5 minutes and then up again and let cool and seal. Ok it won't upload the jars. Anyway does this happen to other bloggers? Is there a limit on how pics you can upload?

dee said...
wow Rosy, I'm so impressed-I only know how to do a few things with the computer related to office work and business. I'm still learning and now I need to learn how to up-load pics. I can figure out the whole blog thing-that's easy, but I need help with the camera-to file-to blog thing. Hopefully soon!

Rosy says,
Ok, loading up pics is not too bad. Firstly make a folder in "my documents" for your pictures. Second" hopefully you have a program like Adobe or something like it. Third, the digital camera. Now take all your pics. Turn the camera off and take out the memory card or you can plug the camera right into a port on your computer and download to your folder. The camera comes with a little book that tell you how. For me I just find it easier to take the card out and stick the card into a slot on my new pc or my new printer, now has these slots as well. Before that I had a card reader plugged into my pc and I would stick the card into the reader. Anyway once you have plugged the card in, go to my computer and click on the drive that is the reader. You want one of the removeble drives. Just keep clicking on them until you find the one that shows the file or folder. Click on it and see that it's your photos. Now click the back button to go back to the folder. Once there, right click on the folder and scroll down to "rename" give the folder a name. Now right click again on it and send it to "my documents". Now fire up your program, adobe or whatever. Go to open and go get the folder with your photos that you sent to your documents. Point the mouse on the first photo to highlight it, hold down the shift key and select all the photos and say open. Now they are all in your program. Click on the first photo, click on image at the tool bar and scroll down to size. In the little box that comes up with the size, it will be highlighted already, just type 600 on the keyboard. You are resizing the picture for faster upload. Save the file with a new name or leave the same name. I am working in adobe so I don't know what your program has. Now when you up load to blogger, make sure you check the middle button so your pics are in the middle of you blog. Now you can skip all the above and upload to blogger right from your folder in "my computer" but you will wait! lol....hope that was helpful.

Wow!! I haven't blogged in ages. I'm on an ebay kick right now. I am selling all my excess stuff and having such success. Stuff, stuff, stuff. I'm getting rid of excess stuff. Hubby is worried hahahahha. He is telling me, mind you..."don't sell all you stuff" hahahaha. Can you imagine that coming from a man? Wonders never cease. Well I'm so involve with the listing, bidding, selling and shipping and banking...it's a new thing you know? it will soon end. The quilts and paintings are callin me to come back home hahahhaha...but i'm still having fun...when is money not fun? hahahaha...ok I'll be back soon promise.






I'm thinking of finishing this painted cloth quilt. I think I showed this before. It's one of those embroidery kits for a bed spread. Who is going to do that work I ask you? Right! not me. I have finished half of it I think.

Another part of the spread.

In the meantime I have set up a new computer and printer and stuff. I love technology.

Time for some food....cake that is hahhahaha. I have bit the bullet and bought a new computer. This one is 4 years old and I have trouble posting in blogger and I have a sneaky feeling it's this pc. It needs a good over-hauling. I will just set this pc up with my quilt programs and games for John since it has a nice big drive. Tomorrow I will pick up an all -in - one printer to go with the new pc. Those printers are a dream. I have one already with the other pc. Oh I have 3, I'm a tech freak hahhaha....Anyway on to the food.

I threw the rest of dried fruit that I found in bags in the frig into a bowl...papaya, pineapple, and some other exotic fruit that I can figure out...golden raisens, walnuts, one stick butter and 4 mashed babanas.


I mixed that up with a mixing spoon that has a hole in it...just kinda stirred it around. Then I added 1/2 a box of brown suger, a squeezed orange and 1/2 squeezed lemon and stirred that around. This is how it looks. This is a quicky. Nothing fancy and ever so tasty and good for you..


I then added 3 cups of flour and some more juice and now it looks this good....and put it in a covection oven to bake for one hour at 350...will post finished cake when done...no icing or anything now....


I have not sewed or painted a lick for awhile now...I've been busy selling stuff on ebay and having a good time lol...but now I have the urge to paint, paint, paint....quilts will have to wait a week...more later....

Cake just done..I have this need to throw some rum over it hahahah..nawww. It is delish...

MY ASS OR YOURS?

Hahahhaha I thought that would get you all going. Ok something different for a change; let me give you the story. Long story short. I went to one of my favorite artist’s blog to read and see and by no fault of my own, to read the comments. Considering that the entire blog was dedicated to this one critic ( who has no name) who fancies herself as??? (asso hollo, I suppose). I just had to read what she wrote. Well she was making some negative comments about the artist’s new way of quilting. One would think that if you didn’t like what a person was doing, one would stay the hell away from that person’s blog true? But I guess she is something like a sex therapist. In more vulgar common language, an "effing know-it-all" that just had to make her negative comments. It was not good critique; it was just plain ignorant, ugly period. Well I proceeded to tell her that she must sit on her can all day with nothing better to do except go to the bathroom now and then and when she does, she probably has to make two trips considering her ass is quite large, one trip wouldn’t carry it all the way the first time. Well I immediately get this hate email from another person who was defending this ignorant first person with no name lol. Long story short…..she told me in not so many words that by the look of my fat face that my ass is probably bigger. Now I have never addressed this second woman with a name, in the first place. ..but she decided to dress me down. I, being the intelligent type as you all know lol, immediately guessed that she was the very same ignorant first person only this time she used a name. So I go back to the blog and read the second person, ( who wrote me the hate email comments) and on that blog, she called me immature and etc. hahahhaa…and then another clone with a name also, chipped in with, “grow up”. Ahhahahahah but if you all saw the other emails I got from the good bloggers, you would die laughing as I am. Well so much for the little excitement. Little does no-name know…how much I love it!!! Ahhahahahaha

Ok on to something else…Yesterday a lovely friend of mine came to visit and brought me these four gourds. She had already painted them red to do Santa’s with. But I guess that’s my job now lol…aren’t friends great? Especially when they come bearing gifts? Oh yes! I wonder if no name has finally made it to the bathroom hahahahhahaha..

Anyway, I am also making my tasty coconut cookie mix too. Here they are all done.

Oh boy did crap happen to me. I have sliced my finger. I was working on a new design a few days ago and I don't know what happened but the blade jumped the ruler and I'm ever so careful always. Well I fixed that real quick. I had no time to mess with blood. I got a wooden iron that I have at least a hundred from my teaching days lol. Here it is...you hold the iron right where your hand should be...you cut, stop..take the pressure of both iron and blade and move the iron up and repeat....hey it worked like clockwork..never again will I cut without my trusty iron..I even have some painted ones...

Ok now for some design work with all those fabrics I spent weeks painting..

.here is the start of some ....I thought I'd do some circles. I joined two piece of fabric together. Then picked out some others for the circles. Later on I refered to them as worlds, they just kinds looke like worlds. Anyway, I cut out size 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 I think. Then I sewed them in. Oh I used the circle ruler that's called."cut a round".



Here they are all sewed in. Oh I sewed two piece of 18 x 45. The half yards that I painted and that would make a 36 x 44 more or less piece. I love the look and I have mixed feelings about cutting it in strips and I should follow my gut. I know it!!



&*%@*^%cuss and cuss&^%$....of course I cut it up and I want to die. I broke my heart..but we must move on....I just couldn't bear to cut that last piece so I left it like that but the rest is &%$..



I will never ever be able to repeat that piece sniff, sniff...damn damn. Ok let's put the freeking strips in...


It has lost that beautiful space deal that was going on. Well it's 2 am and maybe I'll like it tomorrow after I put the borders on.