Lest you think I created this marvelous quilt, let me tell you, I did not. I found a new blog–a new door to all sorts of marvelous quilting folk art goodness. I am trying so hard not to pee my pants right now!!! Here is the link so you can visit too Lazy Gal Winter Quilts
I am very excited about the tutorial on how to make letters. here.
But it is almost 11pm and…well I have to go to bed or someone will be unhappy. sigh. tomorrow I will explore this lovely lovely goodness.
This is made by Lilly Bean for Mahar dry Goods So I saw it yesterday and now I am debating because
I was going to make felt paper dolls for my girls for Christmas. But this is amazing. Here is another lovely I found amazing Are you drooling yet?
Friday was my quilt guild’s fall retreat. I learned some great new techniques for quilting, it was so exciting. I learned a new way to paper piece from a book called “Painless Paperpiecing”. If you are the kind of person who loves the idea of paperpiecing, but want to tear your hair out when you actually try it, I really reccomend this book. I also learned how to make this:
It is an Ozark Patchwork Ball. It is beautiful, fun to make, and mindless enough that you can watch a movie at the same time. The Perfect Craft!!
I also learned how to make a quilt-as -you -go table runner. It is also lovely, and I will post a pic as soon as it is done, which should be in another hour or two. I just love beautiful, QUICK projects!!!
**Edit: I found instructions online for how to make the quilt ball.
Try make-stuff
Here is a nice picture of one where they got ornamental pins and put them on the outside of the fabric.
Actually, I don’t think the Make-stuff instructions are clear enough, though they have a couple of helpful diagrams. I will work up a tutorial as soon as I can.
Here is a really great tutorial to make a potholder using the same technique. potholder
Okay, for Prairie Hen Day, It was my turn to make lunch. I chose pizza. The other HENS said I needed to blog the recipe, so here goes.
Here is my crust recipe, I don’t think it is the best ever, but it is simple. This is for 1 large pizza:
1 cup warm water
1 TBS active dry yeast
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 – 3 cups flour (use the lower amount if you can manage it, it makes for a crispier crust)
1. Mix the ingrediants in the order called for and knead by hand or in your mixer (luckeeeey) for five minutes.
2. Allow to rise for 1/2 an hour (or if you are starving, skip this step, I usually do–but it does taste better the other way.)
While the dough is rising, make the sauce. This is a great sauce recipe. You must bear in mind that the *SECRET* to making great pizza at home is to spread the sauce thinnly. But I get ahead of myself
1. Put a small sauce pan on medium heat.
2. Swirl 1-2 TBS olive oil in the pan.
3. Add 1 crushed garlic clove and 1 tsp dry basil
4. Stir around for a bit and let it get smelling good.
5. Pour in 1 small (8oz) can of tomato sauce
6. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
Okay now take your pizza pan and greaze it with shortening. If you have it, sprinkle corn meal over the pan.
Roll out the dough. I roll mine out right in the pan. Or you can roll it out on a floured surface and transfer it. It will shrink back as you roll. be patient, work bit by bit, and just keep rolling it. Roll it past the edges of the pan a bit so when it shrinks, it will be pan size.
Spread on the sauce (thinly, remember. You should be able to see the dough through the sauce. This is pizza, not soup) If you are only making one pizza, you may have some sauce left over. Use it to dip your crusts in later while you are eating.
Now is the fun part. Put on the toppings you like. I like to put any meat first. That keeps it down in the sauce and makes everything very ju-ic-y.
preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Now, two options.
1–either leave the cheese off and bake your pizza for 7-10 minutes, pull it out, add cheese and bake for 3-5 min more
or
2–put the cheese on and bake for 10-12 minutes, watching that the cheese does not burn.
If you like your crust very crispy, you made a thick crust pizza, or if your oven bakes hot, I recomment #1 so that the crust gets enough cooking time and the cheese doesn’t get too much.
I bought the pattern for this cutie from Ana Paula
She has some free patterns too, and they are all marvelous. The most marvelous part is that they are easy. I am not exactly great at crochet. The last pattern I tried was supposed to be doll booties, but they turned out to be flat oval coasters. So, if I can do it, you can do it.
My new idea for Christmas is that I am going to make up a bunch of homemade toys and then let my kids “shop” for each other. In a couple of years, the kids might be able to make nice things for each other. At this point, the best they could do is string necklaces for each other. (which we might just do…what a great idea…)
So I have been dying to have a wrap dress for months, and then Aunt Lucy sent me a link to this marvelous place
which was lovely, but really like salt on an open wound because she isn’t selling patterns, only kits, and those aren’t available until sometime in November at the soonest. I was quite sure that I would DIE without a gorgeous, girly wrap dress. I googled wrap dress tutorials and didn’t find anything satisfying at all.
So, I found an old bathrobe pattern and made it up with some $1 fabric I have had in the bottom of my stash for a long time. The pattern is basically just rectangles with arm ski’s cut out. I will try to post a drawing of the pieces soon. It would have looked much better with some hot pink bias tape trim, but that would have required a trip to Walmart and delayed my instant gratification. I added a couple of darts in back for a better shape. I had planned to add darts to the front, under the bust, but there wasn’t enough fabric.
**Note: I discovered the hard way that darts should be straight up and down, not at the same angle as the skirt, unless you are trying to make your butt look bigger.
In the end, it looks more like a hospital gown than a girly, sassy dress **sigh** 
I get the urge to sing “Tub, tub, tubby…”
Maybe instant gratification isn’t all it’s cracked up to be….
P.S. Thanks to my DH for showing me how to put a link in my post. He is the bestest.
This is the Pointy Kitty, a free pattern from wee wonderfuls.
I added a couple of links to my blog list. If you like tutorials, check out My Half of the Brain. You will be in tutorial heaven.
Okay, I have struggled my whole life to figure out how to make sugar cookies and cut them out and then transfer them to the cookie sheet with out mangling them. I guess some people are born with this skill, but I was not. Here is the brilliant tip I found in one of my cookbooks yesterday:
1. Turn your cookie sheet upside down. (This is promising already, huh?)
2. Roll out the cookie dough directly on the cookie sheet, which is now upside down. Try to cover the whole bottom of the sheet with dough (so as to create as many delicious cookies at once.) I am all about efficiency here.
3. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as possible.
4. Peel away the between parts and you are ready to put your tray in the oven, with no handling of the actual cookies at all!
I tried this out and it worked beautifully.
Speaking of delicious treats, a new blog that I am really loving is
Check out her section of chocolate blogs. It is delicious enough to satisfy those forbidden cravings I was having.
I am a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant!
I have a fabulous website http://www.marykay.com/RebeccaLesue I put a link at the bottom of this page.
Feel free to visit my website. there are virtual makeovers, lipstick personality tests and so many fun things. There is a whole section on Bridal Makeovers. You can even order things. I have some great gift ideas for the holidays and I do free giftwrap and delivery. And you can hostess a virtual party online!
Here is my Mary Kay story:
About 4 years ago, I was a stay-home mom with 2 kids (now I have 4). I hardly ever left my house because we are a one car family. I admit I had let myself go. My hair went up in a sloppy ponytail every day. I wore big, stained, worn out t-shirts every day, and hadn’t worn makeup much at all since my marriage 4 years previous. One day I was brushing my hair and my son, then 3 years old, came into the bathroom and cried, “Mommy, where are you going?” Now I know that kids do this, but I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, “If all it takes is me brushing my hair and he thinks I am leaving the house, then I have let myself go too far.”
I considered and decided that I wasn’t wearing makeup because I was so unsure of what colors looked right on me, and because the cheap eye-makeup I bought always stung and burned my eyes. I decided I needed some quality makeup and someone to show me how to put it on. So, I went to the mall. I tried talking to the Lancome lady, but she was snobby and rude. So I went to the Clinique counter. I got more help there, and went home with 4 beauty items and $100 on my cc.
A few months later my old college roommate called me. She had just become a Mary Kay Consultant and wanted to give me a free facial. Of course I said yes!! I loved how the skin care made my skin feel. I bought the skin care and started taking care of my face. Soon I realized that I could get all the makeup I needed for my face from Mary Kay for what only 4 things had cost at Clinique. Then she moved away. 5 hours away.
To make a long story short, I decided to become a Mary Kay consultant myself about a year later. I love it! I get to earn extra money for me and my family. I get to earn fabulous prizes. I get out of the house a couple nights a week and talk about something besides diapers and car seats. I have learned to be more organized and am a better wife and mother because of the things I have learned while in Mary Kay. I take care of myself better and feel better and more confident because of it. Best of all, IT”S FUN.
Marvelous Pigs in Satin 