Elmo Quilt

I made 2 quilts for Christmas, one for each of my boys. It was my first quilting project. The only thing I am disappointed in is that I didn't flatten and smooth the fabric and batting enough when pinning. So there was a little bunching here and there. Nothing noticable to the average person, but frustrating for perfectionist me!

Euan loves 2 things right now. Cows and "Melmo"! I couldn't find any Elmo only fabric, and I really wanted a life size Elmo blanket. I drew a 3 foot sized Elmo on the red fabric with pencil, using googled images as my inspiration. I used a triple stitch setting (for boldness) and followed my pencil lines. This was Elmo's basic shape. Some lines went jagged, some went a stitch too far, but this totally worked for me. Elmo is fuzzy, so it looked perfect!

I cut out other colored fabric for the eyes, nose and mouth and did an applique technique. But after being washed, Elmo's eyes bled through a little and are now a faded red. Maybe for future projects, double up on the white and prewash the red fabric.

I am so proud of my quilt, even with the mishaps. I was pleasantly surprised with how adorable Elmo turned out! It's better than I had planned!

Cars Quilt

A Christmas present for Ethan. My first attempt at making a quilt. I got the basic instructions here. However.... I did the traditional binding, tedious hand stitiching! I bought the fabric for the front, and used an unused Cars flat sheet for the backing. It wasn't complete by Christmas, just the binding left to complete. But I wrapped it up anyway and finsihed it the next day. Ethan loves it!

Homemade Bread

I have a copy of this recipe out of a book. I got it from a friend, so I don't know the name of the cookbook. I thought it was a Willams-Sonoma book, but the bottom says The Amish Cook...so your guess is as good as mine I guess! I LOVE this bread. It usually only lasts one day!

Ingredients

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)

1/2 cup plus 2 cups warm water or milk

1 heaping tablespoon lard or shortening

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

7-8 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. In a large bowl (or your stand mixer) combine lard, sugar salt, and the remaining 2 cups of water.

2. Stir in the dissolved yeast and enough flour to make a soft, elastic dough that doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. Cover with a loose piece of cheesecloth or plastic wrap and let rise till double (about 1 1/4 hours) in a warm, draft free place.

3. Punch the dough down, and divide it into 2 balls. Form 2 loaves in greased loaf pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise again until double (45-60 minutes).

4. Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 45 minutes. The bread will sound hollow when it's done. After removing the bread from the oven, brush the top with butter. This will make for a softer crust.