Hiding Fabric

While I was going through some old magazines and organizing articles I had marked for future projects, I came across an article on hiding your fabric. This particular article had a progression of hiding fabric which I found quite amusing and thought I'd share.

The article is titled 50 Ways To Hide Your Fabric and is written by Cindy L. Weyers, published in the May/June 2004 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting. 

1. Leave fabric in your car. You are probably the only one who cleans it out anyway.
2. When you no longer have room for passengers, move fabric to trunk.
3. When trunk no longer closes, bring fabric into the house, but be sure all bags are sealed. Never bring in a bag with a quilt shop logo. It's a dead giveaway.
4. Get a fabric cupboard with doors that lock. Store fabric inside.
5. When fabric cupboard is full, pack more in, have a friend lean on the door, then lock. Open cautiously to avoid a fabric explosion.
6. Hide fabric in closet behind and in shoes. Men never look at women's shoes unless shapely legs are in them.
7. Hide fabric behind clothes on closet shelves.
8. Use fabric as shelf liner in closets. He won't notice.
9. Put false bottoms in clothes hampers. No one digs deeply in them except you!
10. Lay fabric on dryer as folded clothing.
11. Store it in rubber tub. Mark as women's clothes.
12. Store in plain sight, possibly as a dresser scarf. Say it's a new style.
13. Hang as a shower curtain. He won't know the difference.
14. Use as a curtain for a window on the shady side of the house.
15. Place between sheet and comforter on the bed for extra warmth.
16. Repeat with teenager's beds, but fabric may need to be washed frequently.
17. Layer under cushion on sofa. Explain it's needed because some remote control-punching, chip-munching, sweating couch potato is squishing the cushions. His mind will turn to processing these comments, and he won't remember the fabric is even there.
18. Use as a tablecloth.
19. Use smaller pieces as place mats.
20. Put in closed box under sink marked "Cleaning Supplies." That should keep him out.
21. Fill another box and mark as "Feminine Supplies." For men, worse than cleaning supplies.
22. Fill your cedar chest.
23. Store in bottom half of the china cupboard.
24. Use a divider between plates in china cupboard.
25. Use as a drawer liner.

Do any of these sound familiar? For me, I have a large wardrobe closet that I use for storing fabric. It works great because it can hold A LOT of fabric. Another good place for me is to hang yardages of fabric on a hanger and hang it in the hallway coat closet. My husband never goes in there as he prefers to just toss his coat wherever it lands. 

I'll share more of these in another post. In the meantime, where do you hide your fabric?

Charity

One of my friends' church is sponsoring a young woman who is homeless and pregnant. I don't know her story on how she got to where she is today, but do know she needs all the support she can get to learn how to cope with her current situation and the strength to make the necessary changes to bring herself to a better place... and Hope.

A group of women in the church put on a baby shower for her and I was asked if I wanted to contribute anything. So, I began working as I had one week before the shower.

I think the heirloom stitched footprints are perfect for a baby gift. Don't you?

I just love the pink and brown color combination. I'm going to have to buy more of these prints as I'm sure there will be another request for a baby gift.

Although I know there are many people who give of themselves for others, I believe those who knit, sew, and quilt are some of the most generous and thoughtful people I've ever met. 

Do you have a favorite charity you contribute to?

Birthday Swap Block - Blackford's Beauty

I have another Birthday Swap block to share today.

This block is called Blackford's Beauty and is for my friend Mary. Mary's request was for any 12" block in a purple and green palette which are two of her favorite colors. This is such a fun color combination. Above is my version of the block. I really like how this one turned out and think I'm going to be making more of this block. For me, this is a more challenging block because there are a lot of pieces requiring a lot of seams to be matched.

This block was found at the Quilters Cache site. Are you familiar with Marcia Hohn's site? It is a great site with tons of free block patterns as well as reference tools. If you haven't browsed her site, please click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page where there are several useful links to choose from.

So tell me, what have you done lately?

Homemade Granola

I love granola but I have to be careful because most granola contains coconut and I'm allergic to coconut. So I make my own, which is probably better for me since I can control the amount of fat and sugar I add to it.

Dena's Granola

4 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3 cups raw nuts (I use a combination of almonds, pecans, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds)
1/2 Tbsp wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup honey (I use local flavored honey)
1/3 cup brown rice syrup (found in the natural health food section at the store)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups dried fruit (I like cranberries, apricots, raisins, and figs)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees with oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Spray two baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray. I line my baking sheets with parchment paper because it is easier to scoop the granola into a container after it bakes and has cooled down.

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, oil, honey, brown rice syrup, and brown sugar. Stir well to dissolve brown sugar. Combine liquids with dry ingredients and stir well making sure the dry ingredients are well coated.

Divide the granola evenly onto the two baking sheets and bake for about 35 - 40 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like your granola. I like mine a light golden brown because I find it is too crunchy after it cools.  I stir mine about every 10 minutes to ensure it browns evenly.

Remove the granola from the oven and place onto cooling racks. Using my hands, I stir the granola periodically as it cools to keep it from sticking. Once it is cooled, place into an air tight container (I use ziploc bags) and store in the refrigerator. Mine doesn't last very long, but it will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of months.

A note about brown rice syrup... This has a mild sweetness and is an excellent substitute for sugar because it it doesn't cause your blood sugar level to spike and it is allergen free.

We use ours in yogurt, as a topping on ice cream, and as a breakfast cereal. Hope you like my version of Granola.

Birthday Swap - Twist Block

I thought I'd share another one of the blocks I made for the Birthday Swap I participated in last year.

This block was made from my friend Diane who chose the Twist Block featured on the Delaware Quilts site. This is a great site which features several free BOM patterns. The Twist Block was an easy block to assemble and I like the color palette of red, white, and blue which Diane selected for her block. I finished this block about a year ago and I'm disappointed I have not yet delivered it to my friend. Although I could mail it to her, I would rather deliver it in person since I haven't seen her for so long.

So what have you been working on?