Is there any other kind of day that is much better than Quilt With a Friend Day?
Martha is on a mission to have this patriotic version of Hearts of Hope ready for gifting this weekend to a special recipient currently in the military.
Of course I welcome the chatting and quilt play time!
I also love some of the simple variations she made along the way of creating her own Hearts of Hope quilt.
Quilt top before loading.
Where I used alternating squares of each color in the narrow pieced inner border - she simply saved the trimmings from her blue string pages that became the heart tops, cut those to width and made a narrow string border from them. Brilliant! And no waste that way. Well done!
Martha - Patiently pinning in.
She learned some things while we were doing this - we used a zig-zag stitch to piece some batting scraps together to make the batting big enough. I always love the frugal satisfaction of a good "franken-batting!"
We also stay-stitched around the outside edge of the quilt top to keep all of those seams from popping open during the quilting process.
String blocks can be stretchy due to the bias and the stay stitching also keeps seams from flipping, and minimizes stretch.
Hot off the machine!
We used the Blue Star panto from urbanelementz.com on this one. The gold/straw colored thread was just the right touch to accent across those blues and not shout too loudly against the neutrals.
Blue stripe for a binding win!
Knowing Martha, she's likely half-finished with stitching down that binding by hand already. She is speedy!
How are you coming along with your own Hearts of Hope quilt? I'm still seeing quilts being finished left and right - blocks being worked on. There is no deadline, so please keep sharing!
More Mother's Day!
This arrived - thank you Amazon! Ordered by the Hubster - he evidently thinks we need a food saver.
I've used it a couple of times so far - things like saving and freezing half of the double-batch of taco meat, and dividing chicken wings and porch chops up into smaller packages for cooking for two.
I need more ideas. What and how do you use your food saver? Tell me your favorite tips and tricks -
I had to clear a space on the counter for it as storage in my little cabin is limited, and I know if I don't keep it out, I won't go drag it out of storage to use it.
Share with me how to get the best use out of this gift that I didn't know that I needed!
I really don't want this to end up in the closet AKA the appliance graveyard.
Today is RETREAT DAY for the Muddy Creek Misfits! YAY!
Housekeeper Susan arrived bright and early yesterday to start her two-day cleaning routine from top to bottom, bottom to top.
I got to show her the beast of a sideboard, and the convenient spring on the bedroom #5 door that now will stay shut without having to latch it from the inside.
The weather looks lovely today so on my agenda is sprucing up the back porch for outside dining and relaxing. The gals should start pulling in after 3pm.
We have openings!
The upcoming Quilters of the Night retreat hosted by Joanne Hubbard has a couple available openings for their group retreat coming up May 25 -May 30, 2022.
Yes - this is over Memorial Day weekend!
Please contact Joanne directly at jo9of12@gmail.com for all inquiries as she is the Hostess with the Mostest for this event.
I look forward to welcoming you (and a friend!) to Quiltville Inn in beautiful Mouth of Wilson, Virginia for some Memorial Day quilting, porch sitting and more!
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Sometimes our everyday routine moments become our happiest memories.
I am cherishing the everyday routine of it all!
My goal today is to find joy and pleasure in absolutely ordinary things.
Like making 12 beds, and fixing up the back porch in anticipation of much quilty fun ahead -
Enjoy your Wednesday, everyone!
We have had our food saver for over 10 years. It is used to wrap meat into portions for two. Reseal chip/snack bags. For quick defrost leave in plastic and put in bowl with hot tap water.
ReplyDeleteWe love our Food Saver. We buy big pieces of cheese at Costco and cut them into smaller pieces and vacuum seal them. They never mold that way! When we ate meat we vacuum sealed everything when we brought it home from the store and they never got freezer burn. They have an attachment you can purchase that evacuates the air from canning jars so I store leftover tomato paste and chipotle peppers in a canning jar and vacuum seal them. You can freeze fruit on a cookie sheet until firm and then vacuum seal. You do need to put it in a convenient spot so that you think to use it.
ReplyDeleteWe're retired, and have a large vegetable garden, so we grow and freeze a lot of produce. We use our Food Saver for that, but we also buy family packs of meat, and divide them up into 2-person meal portions for the freezer.
ReplyDeleteWe use our food saver (off brand) a fair amount. Initially we repackage meats to portion size and freeze. Helps keep freezer burn away. My favorite thing is getting the "mason" jar attachment. You can put those huge condiment things in jars and suck all the air out and keep them in the fridge. Feta Cheese, Grated cheeses, and marinated mushrooms are 3 things we do routinely. We've done home made cranberry sauce (not actually water bath canned). Hope those help with your uses! Marcia
ReplyDeleteWhen I was making LOTS of masks for everyone, I "foodsavered" them. It made them easier to mail, stiff not squishy. My daughter uses it for camping/hiking. Dry socks are a must!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I put the final binding stitches on Grassy Creek and posted it on the internet. WOW I was overwhelmed with the compliments, and I smile everytime I look at it (on my bed). For all the compliments on pattern and color I made reference to Quiltville and Bonnie Hunter. Thank you for the pattern and the time you spend making these beautiful quilts.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a food saver is a very useful tool.
ReplyDeleteI use my FoodSaver for items that we won't consume in 60 days. Less than 60 days won't get frostbite in a ziptop freezer bag (and I wash/reuse many times). So, I use it for BIG cooking jobs such as a ham or turkey. I can process single meal portions for the 2 of us. Garden produce: peppers sliced or diced, jalapenos whole for hubsters' enjoyment, shredded zucchini in 2c portions. You've not talked about gardening at all but perhaps you hit Farmer's markets and could stock up this fall enough to get you to next summer? I make huge batches of Ratatouille and try to always freeze 50 quarts to get us to next season. A weekly meal of chili or pasta and this is my sauce base-just needing to be spiced.
ReplyDeleteI do keep mine in my linen closet but mine is much smaller than this appears?
My husband uses ours to seal up circuit boards and other electronic parts to keep them clean and secure.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing I ever did with mine was to make sealed (and dated) packets of my mother's medications so she would only take meds for that day. It worked great but she still picked and chose what she felt like taking.
ReplyDeleteWe also buy meat in larger packs and freeze in portions for two people. Love that. One of my favorite things is to keep brown sugar fresh. I put a what we will use in a small canning jar to store in the kitchen cabinet and seal the remainder of the bag in a seal a meal bag. It feels like a brick when the air is pulled out but when I open it, it breaks up into nice soft brown sugar again. Never have to worry about it getting dried out.
ReplyDeletegreat idea!
DeleteWe have a few of the food saver canisters. They are great for adding self life to fresh fruits and vegetables. Its the air that oxidizes then, so them being in a vacuum environment really helps them last.
ReplyDeleteThoughtful of the Hubster to get you a foodsaver. I got Truffles and plants in my Flowerbeds. I hope to have a beautiful yard to look at. The neighbors who walked by while we were planting commented on the beauty of our Tulips. The flowers are not just for us to enjoy. That makes me happy. It's the little things that do that now that I am older.
ReplyDeleteWe have a food saver with the canning jar sealing attachments. I put Sam size packages of saltines , croutons ,cereal ect in quart canning jars and they stay fresh in the pantry. I also do the same with spices that are bought in bulk.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Food Saver tip...Wait the 20 seconds between seals or you will kill your FS. Don't ask how I know. When I do meat, I always put it in a cheapy zip bag and then the FS bag so juices don't run up into the seal.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of Sous-vide cooking? My husband loves it for preparing tri-tips, filet-minion. It is an excellent and fool-proof way of cooking. You will need something like this as well (https://anovaculinary.com/anova-precision-cooker/). But we love ours and use it all the time.This how it works: Take your meat and add the marianade, rub it in and place in the vacum bag and seal. Place the bag in a pot with warm water and the sous vide cooker. When the meat has the perfect temperature, Ã point through and through, you take it out and sear it. the advantage is that you can keep the meat in the bag at the perfect temperature for a couple hours if needed. Maybe the perfect thing to have at the inn and share if needed with your household.
ReplyDeleteWe often freeze bread to prevent it from going stale. At the end of the week there is no need for a quick run to the store for bread.
ReplyDeleteI have had a food saver for years, I am actually on my second one. I use it mainly for meat. Like when we buy large quantities or 1/2 a beef. If you are packaging anything with liquid, including meat, watch it and when the juices get 1"-1.5" from the seal bar force it into seal mode or it will keep sucking them out and make a mess. I have used mine for many, many things. When we buy 1/2 a beef I get about 1/2 of the hamburger made into patties, yes we eat a lot of hamburgers. When we get them I vacuum pack them in packages of 4 or 6 and they keep fresh much longer...not that they will ever last long term in our house LOL.
ReplyDeleteI cook up ground beef, chilling really well, then food saver it--just add to your sauce (don't even have to thaw) for spaghetti, sloppy Joe, etc. I have also vac sealed dried apples (from the bounty in the fall), and fabric scraps for shipping flat.
ReplyDeleteI just made 5 salads in Mason jars and sealed with the food saver. They stay fresh for days.
ReplyDeleteI freeze lemon juice in ice cube trays, then food saver them and have lemon juice all year long. I also freeze the zest.
ReplyDeleteI do buy meat in bulk for the two of us, so I always break it down. I always precook my hamburger and freeze it in small batches, you can have dinner ready in minutes depending on what it is. Left overs freeze well. We are on our 2nd one.
ReplyDelete