Busy, busy, busy

Yes lately I've been so busy I can believe how many things I can accomplish without frustration. first of all, since I saw Ayumi's fabric basket tutorial I decided to make one and here it is:

Then I share the tutorial with my sister in California and she decided to make two for herself.

then Alana's and Grace's armorie was so messy that I decided to make some bigger baskets for their undies and socks and here is the before and after:

After taking my time with this baskets I finally finish and then to the next project that is still in progress now, they are Christmas tags for my Christmas tree. I am making one set for my sister and one for me.

And squeezed in between all this, it is harvesting time at the garden. We got our first peaches ripe, so DH and girls help me to bottle about 26 quarts. Yesterday we pic some pears too, good thing they need to ripe.

Besides all this I am preparing my stitches for my angel. Maybe that is why I am so exhausted today?

Happy stitching!

Erika

PS. you may want to know how the Etsy car seat covers turn ah, here is a pic

My first sale on Etsy!

I am so happy! I had my very first sale on my Etsy store! I started the 12th of this month and I did not know how it would do. I am very happy. I will add a link to the store on the side of the blog. Check it out you may find something good there.

Cheers.

Erika

Halloween Witch done!

I finish my Halloween witch last night. I think the fabric help the stitchery to pop!

Happy stitching!

Erika

Fabric Shopping

With the excuse of " I do not have pastels for my angel swap projects." I decided to go an look for some cute fabric and I found this adorable stack. I hope ____ will like it too! Sorry I cannot reveal my swapper's name :)

Yesterday I decided to go and buy some fabric for my witch doll I am making Totally inspired by Aldas' project. I had the doll myself but I did not know what to do with it. I hope I can finished today or tomorrow and show how it ended up. I found the new moda line Chic or Treat by Arrin Turnmire I think is perfect for my project

Happy sewing!

Erika

More strawberries

As you know I love strawberries, I made this bags to store those grocery bags that sometimes overwhelm us.
By the way, Yesterday we finally finished weeding the strawberry patch! yay for that!

Finally done!

After almost tree months of stitching with just no too much time I finally finish "A mother's pockets" form Cinderberry Stitches. It was featured on the Australian Homespun magazine No. 59 Vol.9 No.4. I just felt in love with this project, Natalie is really talented and I love all her patterns.

ABC's of Homemakig

I found this ABC's of Home Making on Ricksfarmwife I thought it will be fun to answer it.

The ABC's of Homemaking

Aprons--y/n If y, what does your fav. look like? Yes, I love Aprons my favorite ones are the ones I just made at the beginning of the month. they are retro and make you look great!

Baking--Favorite thing to bake? Anything, I like to bake a lot, Bread is one of my favorite things to bake.

Clothes line? Yes! Love it! Clothes smell so wonderful and fresh and I love the crunchy feeling of the towels It seems like they dry you better!

Donuts--Have you ever made them? Yes

Everyday--One homemaking thing you do every day?Just one thing?! cooking, cleaning playroom, and seems like Laundry everyday, maybe every other day but it surely looks like daily.

Freezer--Do you have a separate deep freeze? Yes, and I love it. I can freeze all my gardening harvest when I do not feel like canning.

Garbage Disposer? Well no but I have the green version, a compost pile.

Handbook--What is your favorite homemaking resource? No, the Internet helps a lot and a lot of recipe books

Ironing--Love it or Hate it? Or hate it but love the results? I love the results I do not particularly hate it but I do not mind.

Junk Drawer--y/n? Where is it? I do, in my kitchen

Kitchen--color and decorating scheme. the color is ivory or off white and the theme is Americana with strawberries

Love--what is your favorite part of homemaking? Having my house clean and looking pretty.

Mop--y/n? Yes

Nylons--wash by hand or in the washing machine? definitely by hand.

Oven--do you use the window or open the oven to check? No over window :(

Pizza--What do you put on yours? Pepperoni, cheese is a must but basically whatever I have on hand.

Quiet--What do you during the day when you get a quiet moment? some stitchery and check email.

Recipe Card Box--y/n? What does it look like? I have a note book recipe book where I collect all my favorite recipes at the beginning I left a few pages for indexing. I have it for more than 10 years now. and still has some space. It is decorated with a cross stitch embroidery of an old vintage kitchen.

Style of house--What style is your house? it's a house! 70's style

Tablecloth. I have a plastic tablecloth if you can say because I have a table runner under it and I want to show it but I also have "manitas" (Little Hands) aka Grace and Alana which are pretty much very messy.

Under the kitchen sink--organized or toxic wasteland? Semi-organized. I need to go back and organize better

Vacuum--How many times per week? I should do it every day but I d it every other day.

Wash--How many loads of laundry do you do per week? About 8 loads.

X's--Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off? I try to. Is the best way to feel I have accomplish something even though at the end of the day it does not look like you did that much (Two little helpers)

Yard--y/n? Who does what? Yes and lots of it. I do 50% and 50%.

ZZZ's--what is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed? Clean kitchen sink and check burners lock doors.

Salem Days

This past week we had our town's festivities "Salem Days" and it was great, we did not go to many of the activities but we manage to be at the quilt show and the parade plus other activities here are some pics.

Alana Loves Horses!

Quilt Show!

These are my table runners

Have a Great week!

Erika

Aprons

I love Aprons!
I've been looking for a pattern for a few months and I found this in my local store, It is kind of retro, but still fun and with lots of personality. I really wanted to find something that made me feel pretty doing the house chores in stead of a maid. you know what I mean? At least if somebody knocks on the door they are not going to notice I don't have make up LOL. So I first made this green one.
He estado buscando patrones desde hace algunos meses y encontre este en la tienda. Es un poco retro pero tiene mucha personalidad. Realmente queria encontrar algo que me hiciera sentir bonita aun cuando estubiese haciendo las labores del hogar y no sentirme como una trabajadora domestica creo que me entienden verdad? bueno almens creo que si alguen toca la puerta no se fijaran primero que no estoy arreglada ja ja ja. asi es que primero hice este delantal en verde.

And last night I finished this black one. since I took this picture it really was hard to keep it right sorry.

Y ayer en la noche termine este negro. Yo tome la foto y fue algo dificil tomarla sola y mantenerla enfocada lo siento.

Cheers!

Erika

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Since we have a lot of zucchinis from the garden. I have been looking on my recipe book for some recipes to use this wonderful vegetable. A couple of years ago a friend gave me the recipe for this delicious cake. You won't regret trying it.

Ingredients:
2 ½ c Flour
½ c cocoa
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¾ c soft butter of margarine
2 c sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c shredded zucchini
½ c milk
1 c chopped nuts

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, set aside. Beat butter and sugar until smooth, Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one, add vanilla and zucchini. Alternately stir in dry ingredients and milk. Add nuts.
Pour into greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake at 350˚ F, (180˚C) for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool. Drizzle glaze over cake.

Glaze
1 c powdered sugar
1 ½ - 2 Tbsp milk
½ tsp vanilla
Mix well; add milk until smooth.

Enjoy
Erika

Grandma's soup

One of my best memories of visiting my grandma Gracia during the summer was to enjoy her cooking. It was nothing fancy but she is a wonderful cook. I enjoyed all her food, and one of those recipes I learn stay with me and I now make it. I do not know what it's called I guess she called garden soup, but she lives in an apartment building in the middle of Mexico City, I am not sure. I found myself calling it Grandma's Garden Soup because I have all ingredients in my garden.


Ingredients:
2 slices of bacon finely chopped
1/2 medium onion
2 Tbs butter
1 clove of garlic
salt
pepper
2 1/2 cups of chopped zucchini (about 3 medium or 2 large ones)
2 medium tomatoes chopped
3/4 cup of corn

1 cube chicken broth

On a sauce pan fry bacon, onion, and garlic. Add the butter to help the vegetables to cook. add salt and pepper. When the onion and garlic are translucent add the zuchinni tomatoes and corn. add chichen broth cube. Let it cook on low for 10 minutes.

It serves about 4
Enjoy!

Erika

Uno de mis mejores recuerdos que tengo al visitar a mi abuelita Gracia durante de los veranos era el disfrutar de su comida. No es que fuese muy laboriosa pero ella cocina muy bien tiene muy buen sazón. Disfruto mucho de su comida y la extraño pero uno de sus mejores recetas la sigo conservando. La aprendí viéndola cocinar y a veces ayudando. No se bien como la llamaba creo que es sopa jardinera pero no estoy segura para mi así se llama pues casi todos los ingredientes los tengo en mi jardín.

Ingredientes:
2 pedazos de tocino picado
½ cebolla mediana picada finamente
2 cucharadas de mantequilla
1 diente de ajo bien picado o exprimido
Sal
Pimienta
2 ½ tazas de calabacita bien picada (mas o menos 3 medianas o 2 largas)
2 jitomates medianos picados
¾ de taza de granos de maíz
1 cubo de consomé de pollo

En una olla poner a freír el tocino con la cebolla y el ajo, agregar la mantequilla para que la cebolla y el ajo se sofrían bien. Agregar sal y pimienta. Cuando estas estén transparentes agregar el resto de las verduras, agregar el consomé de pollo. Déjelo cocinar a lumbre baja por 10 minutos.
Sirve más o menos 4 porciones.
Disfrútenlo

Erika