Back to the Blog

I sure have had a hard time getting things posted on my blog. In my defense my life has been hectic and it is just settling down. 2 weddings and now a job layoff (my husband is now officially unemployed after 28 years at the same company but that is another story), last week my mom was here but now things are pretty much back to normal. I got to spend one whole day at the sewing machine and part of every other day this week and I am much calmer now.

Tonight for dinner I made up a new way to cook chicken and everyone liked it and my husband suggested I post it on my blog so here goes:

Linda's Last Minute Chicken

Put Chicken in a baking dish - whatever pieces you have, I used a whole one that I cut up
Squeeze one lemon over the top
Press some garlic and rub it around - you can use as much or as little as you like
Drizzle a bit of honey
Splash on a little soy sauce
Bake covered for one hour at 375 and then remove cover so it can brown a bit

That's it, we also had pan fried potato slices, sauted Swiss Chard (from our garden) and a fruit salad from the friut that was in the fridge. Good dinner, easy to make and it used what we had.

Easter Fun

We had an egg hunt and photo taking with all the grandchildren on Saturday because of everyone's schedules and it was a good thing since it started raining last night and hasn't stopped since then.
Our egg hunt was in the front yard where our new vegetable garden is so they were just like Peter Rabbit in the cabbage patch. I think they all had fun and they sure caught on quick to what was going on. We just hid plastic eggs and did not even fill them (do you think we can get away with that next year?)

We did take the two little ones that are staying at our house to the park after church today for more pictures. We took along our miniature park bench so they could sit and be dry but of course Shannon did not stay seated for long.

My how time flies

I can't believe the wedding is in 4 days! The wedding dress just needs a little embellishing and the little girls dresses are all done. I decided to wear something I already own so I don't have to worry about my clothing. My parents, oldest daughter, second son and 2 grand babies arrive tomorrow so I am cleaning house and shopping in prep for that. I have a few things to purchase and then I am ready.

Sarah spent the weekend baking and decorating cookies for the wedding favors- she worked at a cookie store and really enjoys the cookies so she thought it would be a good remembrance of her.
We are also going to put cookies on the top of the grooms cake. As a side note we had never heard of grooms cake until we moved to Texas. The grooms cakes we have seen are chocolate and are decorated with something that reminds you of the groom so this cake will have boots and a Texas cookie on it. Our first one had a chocolate directors slate and the next one was chocolate covered strawberries. We haven't figured out the last one yet.

Too Many Projects

We are in the final countdown for wedding number 1 and I realized I probably have too many things going on. I am making the dress for the bride, the granddaughters and myself. I am making and sending the invitations. I also have my Double Delight Quilt ready for quilting, I am learning to smock, and crazy quilt and I just bought a book about how to knit socks. What I really want to be doing is my quilt so that has to go on the back burner as my reward when everything else is done. And if that is not enough my Bee from my quilt guild is responsible for designing and constructing our raffle quilt which we intend to have ready to display in July. I am working on that also.

I did finish my first smocked dress - this one for the baby. I am working on one for her big sister too but I do the smocking while I am watching tv in the evenings. The dresses for the girls are all in various stages of completion and my outfit is almost done. The wedding dress was on hold until I could pin (literally) down the bride for a final fitting. It is now ready for the finishing touches.

I have decided I will work each project through to completion instead of jumping around so now I will go up to my sewing room and finish a little girls dress.

What's all that White Stuff

No it is not snowing - I am just buried in white fabric. The dress is coming along but the farther I get the more fabric I have to move around. I attached the lining so now there are 2 layers of dress, fortunately no train. The biggest amount of white is the petticoat. I bought bridal netting to make it full and I had yards to gather for the bottom tier, I thought I would go crazy trying to keep it under control. I got all that attached and I have decided I need to add another tier so I will go to JoAnn today and buy 4 more yards of netting - can't wait to start gathering again!

Wedding Dress Blues

I guess I was feeling a little overconfident with the wedding dress. I basted all of the interlining pieces to the dress and then basted all of the parts together and had her try it on and found that the weight of the dress is pulling everything down. The pattern has you put in a limited amount of boning but I realized that would not cut it so I slept on it and pulled out my reference books and today I took apart the sections a little at a time so I could add boning to the interlining. I said I would work until 11:00 and then take a break. I finished all of the boning at 10:54! After an hour or so I will go back and put in the zipper.

If it needs more support then I will put more boning in the lining. I feel good about my decisions so far, she will be here for a fitting tomorrow night. I also want to have the lining put together and the slip made - we shall see how much I actually get done. I am pretty much committed to finishing the gown before I work on anything else because the machine is all set up and I recovered my ironing board and I don't want to get any gunk or color that might transfer to the white satin. I really, really want to be working on a quilt and finishing my jacket so this is my motivation.

Wedding festivities begin

All of those pins added to my stash came in handy this morning as I cut out my daughters wedding dress. Yes, I am making "The Dress". Originally she had said, "Mom, I don't want you to be offended but I am going to buy my dress." I said okay that is a load off my plate - then I sat back and waited. After a shopping trip she found a dress she liked but it wasn't in the price range she had set (what a surprise) and it wasn't exactly right so we went and looked at patterns and she drew a picture of what she wants and I started putting pieces together and today I cut it out.

I was concerned about all of that white fabric and all the dog hair my pet leaves around and my husband suggested going over to the church to cut it out. Brilliant! The tables are adjustable and I could put 2 together, the room is big and empty and there is no dog hair. So early this morning I cut out the dress. I still have to do the lining but I didn't get enough fabric for that yet. I really like sewing wedding dresses for my girls - this will be my third- I find it to be a wonderful labor of love and I am looking forward to the experience, I always learn a lot in the process.