Creating the Yum

For about a week my daughter has been wanting to make chocolate cake.  As I don't buy things of that nature, I didn't even have the supplies on hand.  Now in this house if I'm going to make chocolate cake, I'm going to make it the way we love.  Black Forest Cake otherwise known as Schwarzwälderkirschtorte.  Old friends of ours once told us it's a Southern German Recipe, but I'm not certain, perhaps you know a detail or two about this cake.  If so I'd love to hear from you.

This cake is three layers of chocolate, whipped cream, and of course cherries.  It's to tall to allow the cake taker lid seal it up so I end up sharing between 1/4 and 1/2 of it with the neighbors.  After all you can't let something this good go to waste.  Are you wishing you were one of my neighbors yet?

I know, I didn't do the best job on my icing, and hopefully the above photo shows why, just look at those layers!  I ran out of my whipped cream so when I was frosting that top part instead of doing one little Rosette at a time I zoomed to the finish hoping I had enough left to dam up the cherries on the top.

Recipe shared upon request.

Textile Medium Update - Review Part 1

Not one to sacrifice a project to a product I know nothing about, I tried my Fabric Medium by Americana before subjecting DH's art work to it.  The results where not at all what I'd hoped.

After three days of drying a heat set and one hand washing.

I scanned the image so that you could really see the color change between the painted and the unpainted areas.  From this scan alone I would be thrilled with the results.  But what you don't see is that the side painted with Textile Medium feels like vinyl there is no better way to explain it.  Also look along the edge of the black on the left had side.  See how the fabric was changed simply by having the paint on it? 

Another troublesome issue that you can't see but I can is that the colors have all taken on a yellowish hue.  The medium appears white in the bottle, so I am uncertain if this problem is that the colored pencils ran a bit as the medium was applied or just what.

Original, attempts made to use different pressures and angles to see overall results.  All colors are Prismacolor.

The original post said to apply lightly which I found completely impossible with the Americana brand.  Firstly it pooled on the surface and then soaked in drenching all areas it touched.  I am hoping by diluting the Fabric Medium it will reduce all of my issues.  As each step takes a while, it will be around a week before you'll be able to see a follow up on my dilution samples.

Right after painting with Medium.

Color tinged mess left behind under the fabric, all attempts to apply thinly failed with this product.

As far as clean up, this product cleans up in hot water and a bit of soap and for my table a bit of elbow grease so at least that was okay.  I wouldn't leave it though as that first washing of the sample did not change the feel of the painted sample at all.

This was an update to my Textile Medium Gives New Life to Old WIP post click the link to read.  To see any images bigger simply click on them.  Some will even allow you to zoom on the resulting image after that simply by clicking it again when the magnifing glass appears with a plus sign.

Thank Heavens Your Home!

Have you had enough of the birds in my area?  Luckily for me I'm still thrilled to have visitors.  Today's passerby was a Male Rose Breasted Grosbeak, and what a beauty he his!  Thanks again to the Migration Research Foundation, I know he is fully mature as was the Indigo Bunting was yesterday, both being over 2 years of age.

This handsome Grosbeak is a member of the Cardinal family, if you can believe that one. I think it's rather interesting that he is somehow tied to Lady Bird. Male Rose Breasted Grosbeaks have been traveling past my bird feeder each year since 2006 that I know of. Until today I only knew them as "bleeding heart birds", as my Florida bird Guide did not mention them at all (trust me I'd gone through it page by page multiple times).

In fact I was even concerned when I first saw one, because as you can see that red breast on that black and white body might be cause for concern. Wonderfully that is not the case and is merely the way this handsome bird looks.

No sign of yesterday’s migrator, but what a joy to see this one. These migrating birds are so hungry; they don't care one bit about other birds stopping for a snack. I guess that makes them like us at a rest stop.

This little guy is a regular happily taking a bit of seed and baiting his woodpecker holes with bugs.  I normally see him hanging on the edge of the bird feeder though, so to see him right side up was a real switch.

A Day of Rest ~ Indigo Style ~

Just the other day I saw a painted Bunting. It swooped down low to the feeder early in the morning, and then spying a cat soared back up into the sky, it was only here for a second and gone so fast my fingers were still reaching for my book to confirm.

That reminded me of a year or two ago that an Indigo Bunting stopped by for a Migratory visit before heading off into the stars. Yes I said stars. Indigo Buntings navigate by the stars! Who knew, certainly not me.

 So today about 9:45am when that beautiful bird alighted my bird feeder I was in awe. I had the camera out of the bag a quick as I could manage (I am getting faster) and started snapping. That tired hungry little boy ate for about 20 minutes before stopping to sun himself. He paid no heed to the other birds, and went back and fourth from the bath to the feeder for about 45 minutes! I even snuck out the other door when it was time to pick up dd from school so as not to disturb him.   

As it turns out he wasn't here when we arrived home, but before she had finished her lunch he had taken up his perch at the feeder again. He's here on and off, mostly seemed to sleep, both in the sunny areas and in the shade. No wonder he's sleeping, as I mentioned they migrate at night. I learned that at this wonderful site.

Before I learned of his nocturnal habits I learned that this little boy is beyond his second year, as told by the blue gracing all the way down his wings to their very tips.  Perhaps even this little gentleman has visited us before.  My information on age determination comes from the Migration Research Foundation.

So determined to hang out here that when this family of House Sparrows came up screaming and begging, he went right on with what he was doing. As the males migrate ahead of the females any of his own screaming brood will follow him in a week or two. As both the females and juveniles are plain it’s possible I wont even notice them.

 This is the female house sparrow feeding her two little ones.

Even when I banged around the kitchen a bit, this little Indigo Bunting paid no attention to me. What a wonderful visitor. Because truly a visitor is all he is. We live in his North bound migration path, so a day like today is truly special.

This one is my favorite picture from today.

Lady Bird Update:  Yesterday Lady Bird visited alone, as well as many made by male Cardinals, perhaps someone has eggs?

Textile Medium Gives life to Old WIP

It all started two years ago when my husband took all of my white fabric and drew Disney characters on it.  More than once I ran out of white fabric because he would make off with it.  I'd intended to make a baby quilt using the drawings, but I set the project out of my mind when our color swatch sample started fading after repeated washings.

Two days ago I read Testing Shadows over at 365 days of free motion quilting, in that post she mentions Textile Medium being used to set colored pencil marks into fabric.  SERIOUSLY!?!?!   What is that and where can I get some?!?!  So then in comes an email from Lynn over at Nebraska Views who tells me about Sandra and the two posts she created:  A New Discovery and Colored Pencil Applique Tutorial in the later I learn all about Textile Medium and where to look for it.  AWESOME!  Aren't our fellow bloggers great!

This morning while running errands I was right next to Michael's.  I thought I've give them a shot after all worst case they don't have it and I buy it for $6 post shipping on ebay.  Sure enough they have it.  Granted it's not the brand Sandra talked about, but I think it will be just fine. 

Do you have a project that you put away like that?  It took me two years to find the $2.46 answer, but I did, and I'm certain the answer will come to you too.  Perhaps it's time to go through that old box and refresh your mind; perhaps you already know the answer. Pst! It's okay if the answer is to give it to a friend to finish.

Cats Together and my 4 year old with a SNAKE?

Do your pets cozy up to each other?  Mine don't.  I've been trying to take a photo of Sunny and Tiny together for MONTHS for the Cat blocks I still have from that block challenge.  It's my intention to capture the photograph and then have it custom printed on fabric to be the centerpoint of that quilt. 

So today the first oppertunity presented itself.  Here's what I get.  My first thought is that I could use the Magic Wand in Photoshop to loop the two cats and slide them together, but that sort of looses something and misses the point.  I do have photos of them together, Tiny was a wee kitten then, and one year old Sunny adored on her. 

Yesterday afternoon the Spring was in the air.  Okay not really.  What really happened is that my knee was bothering me and I've found soaking up a bit of sunshine somehow really helps ease the ache, so Jessica and I went outside.  As I was out there anyway I went ahead and did a bit of transplanting.  Right away I found a little snake under one of my potted plants.  Rob of course comes right up and picks it up.  The surprising part was that Jessica held the snake too.  In fact I spent over an hour trying to tell her to let it go, but nope, she kept holding it.  Poor little thing must have slithered as far as it could away from our property in hopes of never being caught again!

Healthy Lady Bird

Is it better not to know? Last night I felt that way as I took these close ups of Lady Bird. Normally she sits in the bird feeder so I can't see or show you how I know she only has one foot. But last night she helped herself to a nice long drink at the birdbath so I was able to take these. 

See how she sits here at the birdbath?  Aside from her slight expected wobbliness, I can always recognize her by her leg as it sticks out down and behind her.

In the above photo it's clear Lady Bird's leg is missing from just above her knee. While that said it is also clear that her stump no matter when or how it happened is completely and fully healed. So while it is a bit sad to know more, it's also good that she does not have any lingering problems. Just take a second look at that top photograph; her feathers are in great condition this year.

I did a bit of bird research and the longest documented wild cardinal lived to be over 18 years, isn't that something? The common misconception that cardinals only live for a year is actually a skewed number caused by the high baby and adolescent deaths.

Please keep in mind Lady Bird is a wild bird that is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which allows her the freedom to come and go as she pleases. The Migratory Bird Treaty says that the birds on the list shall never be pursued, hunted, taken, captured, killed, sold or possessed. It also protects all things pertaining to, including, eggs, feathers, and nests.

It makes me think a little of the Kalahari Meerkat Project, to watch but never to interfere.

Gift from Heaven Quilt Back 2

A week or three ago I saw on Gwen's blog a quilt back that made me stop and think.  It was indeed scrappy and inspired me to consider doing the same, you can see the back I'm talking about by clicking here.  She tells me those are 12" blocks, but yet it reminded me of my box of squares.   The ones I cut out for Jessica's baby clothes quilt. 

Most of you wont know this but I spent three months cutting up Jessica's baby clothes and making them into 3.5" squares.  Yes three months.  I had FOUR 13-gallon kitchen trash bags full of her baby clothes stashed away, or was it five?  That's how I was able to not only make one quilt, but an entire second top to boot. 

Now that top has been waiting for me to get off my duff and figure out some sort of back so I can get started on the quilting.  After all quilts like these long to be FINISHED!

So today I got out that banished box of squares and started counting.  I have 760 of the afore mentioned squares, and to think I've made at least 3 baby blankets using those fabrics since I worked on the Blessings from Heaven Quilts! (Talk about overkill!)

To piece the entire full size quilt back I would need...  Are you ready for this?  900 squares to make the entire back pieced from the leftover squares, I knew there had to be another answer and here's what I came up with.

This layout uses a mere 512 of those 3.5" squares.  For the center I have selected a newborn picture of Jessica, which I will have custom printed after I jazz around with it a bit in Illustrator.  I think I will adjust two different pictures and have them both printed so that I can select the one I like best.  Does it make you want to go sew or simply wish me luck?

Lady Bird and her Gentleman-bird stopped by for dinner, so I snapped a couple of photos. Not the one of Lady Bird with her crest up like I wanted, but maybe next time.

Sweet Tea and Next Year's Lemons

Here get comfortable and have a glass of tea with me, while I tell you what I went through yesterday for my tea. I drink about a gallon of tea every two days. The doctors tell me this is good because of all the antioxidants in tea. Personally I just like the way it tastes. 

Here's how it goes.

2 Quarts (give or take) of hot water, heated just prior to boiling,
Add 3 family sized tea bags of Luzianne Tea (other tea like Lipton's has less tea in the bag and requires more bags which somehow seems to make the oily tea skin that I HATE)
1 cup of sugar added to the hot water
Stir
After 4 or 5 minutes remove the tea bags. (The box says 3 minutes but I'm usually to busy to get back to it that fast)
I used to fill to the top of my gallon pitcher with ice, but now I save energy by adding cold water
1 entire fresh picked fresh squeezed Meyer Lemon

Now here's where I run into trouble. The Meyer Lemon is the best part of this tea and I started adding it right about the time Rob told me that the tree was wrapping up it's season this year and I'd better hurry up and use what was there. Oh my how refreshing tea is this way!

So now it's been at least two months and I'm still picking lemons off my tree (I love my Lemon tree!) Except now the tree is working on next year's fruit, and is in full bloom, oh joy to the lemons we will have next year.

Do you know what adores citrus blooms? Honey Bees! Having lived on a farm for part of my childhood, I have a very aloof way of dealing with honeybees. I'll leave them alone and they leave me alone. It's a very good relationship this way. Except now... The tree has what I want and it has what they want... So how to grab those Lemons and leave the bees be?

These pictures are pretty aren't they? They smell good too, as just yesterday I told my friend Vicki, there was a beautiful delicate perfume in the air and how thrilled I was not to be allergic so I could enjoy the smell. But do you see that butt? That bee butt? There are really two in this photograph, but who's counting?  This tree is covered with many such butts, and for every bee butt there are 10 buzzing bees in the air. Seriously girls can't you give me just a minute with my tree?

So now that I've told my story, my darling Lady Bird has arrived with her boyfriend I'm going to enjoy their company. Would you believe they visit so often these days - every one here recognizes her on sight?

An Excuse to Sew

Do you need an excuse to sew?  Do you need a reason to go over to the sewing machine kick back and do a little enjoyable sewing?  Sometimes I do.  I'm never certain why. 

My house is a dusty one, always making more dust, not to mention the two cats that live here, although by far might be those two young ladies that wander around with long blonde hair.  Either way I knew from the moment the keyboard appeared in our home that it needed a cover.  Now I'm not one to go out and pay $20 for one of those stretchy covers, especially as when I make something it nearly always ends up with POCKETS!  What a wonder, joy of joy invention, pockets! 

So I sketched a little sketch, cut a little, and sewed, within about an hour or two, (I'm never quite certain how long it takes I enjoy sitting there so much) out came this! Odd that the color matches that of the couch so well... I currently have 9 pockets on it, and the end ones are perfect for all the wires and extras that a keyboard has, I left all but two of the song book pockets bigger because they always seem to run extra large. The smaller songbook pockets hold the manual and other 8 1/2" X 11 books wonderfully.

The numbers you're seeing on the left corner of the cover are notes I made a couple of months ago about the amount of yardage I had of that cut of fabric, I always use wash away pencils, so those will rise away the first time I wash it.

DD agreed to allow me to cover it for the picture only under the pretext that we take the cover off as soon as the picture was taken. That’s okay as I used the opportunity to explain that the keyboard has to be covered each and every night.

Best Ever

As I look out the window I see Lady Bird Cardinal out for a bit of morning breakfast, do you ever wake up first and simply enjoy the peace and tranquility of the morning?  I do, that is when the rest of the house doesn't beat me to it.

 I hope you had a wonderful Easter Weekend.   We certainly did, complete with my daughter running around saying it was the best day of her entire life.  I hope she has at least a truckload of  "best days" in her future.

This past Christmas I donated Jessica's old baby keyboard to charity, you can see it below complete with her little chair in front of it.  She hadn't played with it for a month or so and I thought it was time.  I was wrong.  I've been educated repeatedly on this fact by my daughter.  It seems the batteries in her gator piano had died and she was waiting for replacements.  So I spent an untold amount of time looking for a replacement keyboard.  One big enough that she could take lessons in the future if she'd like, but most especially big enough that I wont feel the need to give it away!  On Saturday I found this one on craigslist, shopping locally used we were able to get everything we wanted on it (including teaching lights!) with the price tag we would have paid to buy her a mini child's keyboard. We all love it.

Even Sunny got into the fun merrily chasing down a plastic egg. Have you ever tried to take a photo of a cat chasing something? Sunny is so fast he barely moves and the egg was clear across the room!

Newly Made Peach Blouse

Thursday I got out of bed and decided to make a V-Neck shirt.  So off I went to my fabric, and I found leftovers that I had been given back in February that were plenty to make the blouse I had in my mind's-eye.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I didn't use a pattern, instead making it completely from what I saw in my head.  Interestingly enough this works out fairly well for me and each time I have made something this way I have come up with a completely well fitting wearable item, even if it was a bit different than I'd thought it would be at first.

Even when you make up a pattern, you still have to use math, things like how long should something be or how many inches must a neck hole be; if you make something like that to small you'll need to budget in a zipper, buttons, or some other closer, or else how ever will it fit over your head?

This time my biggest bump was that I knew I wanted the neck line to be 9" in the back, but I'd done so much other math trying to think of other ways to achieve the look I was going for I forgot to divide that 9" in half (as the material for the back of the blouse was folded in half!)  So instead of 9" I ended up with 18"!  But a bit more thinking and I added these wide straps to go over my shoulders and hide any bra straps.  

Since I didn't have to redo the neckline I had plenty of length just like I wanted.  I was inspired by the bottom of the hem of the blue shirt Keira Knightley wore in Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End when she goes with Barbosa to talk to Sao Feng.  There's no missing that shirt it's in the first part of the movie, unless of course you're a man and you spent the entire scene watching her legs. 

If you're like anyone at my house, you're been wondering when Disney might gift us with another Pirates of the Caribbean aka Pirates of the Caribbean 4.  Well the good news is that the Disney Movie Making Fairy has been busy and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is slated for release 2011! 

Lady Bird's Close Up

Today I zoomed as close as I dared. Watching her so closely through the LCD screen was something else. While Lady Bird saw me no different than every other time, I could make out so much of her.

This year her feathers are in so much better condition than last year. As cardinals do not line their nests with their own feathers as some parrots do, her beautifully smooth feathers are a delight to see.