Spinach Madeleine to Dye For!

Well today was the day for me to make the big triple batch of one of our family's favorite Thanksgiving dishes, Spinach Madeleine. Some of it is for my husband who is pet sitting and working this year instead of traveling north to Frisco, some of it is for the church pot-luck tomorrow and 85% of it is for my cousin Carmen's Thanksgiving feast.

I think the recipe orginally came from the famous River Road Recipes cookbook;but, my copy is from a list of family recipes my beloved Aunt Celeste typed up years ago and distributed to everyone.

For part of the recipe you have to drain the spinach and reserve the "liquor" (green spinach water) for adding to the recipe later. When I was doing that step it occured to me that I could probably dye fabric with the leftover spinach liquor that wasn't going into the dish!

Here's the spinach and the reserved liquor.

Here is the fabric added to the spinach liquor. I used plain muslin and PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric to compare the results. PFD fabric is treated so that it takes up the dye more readily.
I added a lot of salt thinking it might help with the dyeing and I boiled it and then let it sit w/ the heat turned off for a few hours.

Here's how it turned out after washing out the spinach remnants and ironing it. The plain musling is on the left and the PFD is on the right. The top fabrics are what they looked like before dyeing. I had no idea PFD fabric would turn out so differently! I did this a while back with the blueberry juice that you are supposed to drain from the canned blueberries that come in the box of muffin mix. I didn't have any PFD fabric then so I just used muslin. It came out very light blue. I have a feeling that if I do it again w/ PFD fabric, I'd get much better results!

By the way, I did finish the triple batch, too. Spinach Madeleine to DYE for!

Etsy Mom Treasury-Read and Write

My Sapphire Dream journal is featured in an Etsy Mom Treasury. You can click on the link below to check out the treasury which includes all kinds of handmade items related to books made by moms who have shops on Etsy. Great place to start holiday shopping!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=22155

Here's my journal that is featured in the treasury. Everything in my shop is 20% off until Christmas!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12024758

Thanks got out to WylesStyle for including me in this awesome treasury. Here's her shop link...
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5230356

Yea EtsyMoms!!!!

Please God help me to stay sober today!

Well this is a prayer I have prayed now daily for over 20 years.

So far its seems to be working for at least 24 hrs at a time (more or less) as I never remember to pray it at the same time each day;but, at some point during the day I say this prayer and I really mean it. I do it becasue early on someone in a meeting told me that they do it and it worked for them and they were sober longer than me so I thought I'd give it a try and it has worked.

Now, it's not been a "Touched By an Angel" type of thing;but, I believe deep down that the Lord is helping me to stay sober on a daily basis. I'm attending a Big Book Study meeting and came across this part that just reaffirms what I already know...

"The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power." p.43

I thank God that I found recovery. I know that I would not be alive today without it.

I would have nothing, I would be nothing and I would be able to do nothing. I would be a miserable, pitiful, sick, sorry soul. If I were to be unfortunate enough to be alive, I would be actively suicidal and terribly depressed and alone.

I know this because that's how it was when I drank. I was miserable and desperately wanted to be put out of my misery.

God heard my paryers. He led me to sobriety. He gave me the tools and the people I needed in my life to help me to fight to stay alive, to be able to speak the truth, to have courage and to not be afraid.

I know now just how fortunate I am. How much I would have missed had I continued to drink to my death. I thank God on a daily basis for this and I never ever want to take it for granted. It is a gift freely given to me and I take it and want it and ask for it daily.

Thank you God for helping me to stay sober today!

Pokey's Fabric

Well, a while back I won a pack of fabric from the Quilting Arts Magazine blog. It is fabric dyed, stamped, painted, etc. by Pokey Bolton, the editor of Quilting Arts Magazine . It arrived last week...



Some are canvas...

Others are types of paper (perhaps release paper and lutradur)...

A group of printed words and sheet music...


A group of swirly fleur des lis type images...

And a sheer shiny fabric (my favorite although it didn't photograph well)...

Very, very cool! I will make something soon using this new special stash and post it here.

I do realize that I have a whole list of projects I said I'd do on this blog that I haven't yet done...

• projects using my embellisher
• quilts using MRI images
• ATC/ACEO's using the remaining parts of the beaded tassle that I disassembled
• and now stuff using Pokey's fabric

AND, of course, there are the presents that I haven't even started like the one for my mom's 65th b-day that was last week. (I'll post pics of that as well at some point)

Hoping to go to less doctors in the near future so that I should have more time...it's been a doctor filled September and October...hoping to not need to go again until the new year! Don't they know that I have fun things to work on????

War of the Worlds Mixed Media Canvas Book

This is the cover of my entry into the ETC (etsy Texas Crafters) design challenge for October.

It is a War of the Worlds themed mixed media canvas book. You will be ablte to vote on Monday October 27th and I will add the link to my blog when it's available. Here is the link to my listing in my etsy shop...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16557008

Here is the link to vote. The list is on the right side and I'm the 3rd from the top(Mixed Media Canvas Book ByBethStudio)...

http://etsytx.blogspot.com/2008/10/october-design-challenge-war-of-worlds.html


My entry is also one of the three prizes as I was sent the original inside album cover image to use in my project. This is a picture of what I started with...

I wish I had thought to take my own picture of the inside album cover spread as it's a little different from the above image as I had none of the words shown above. I just had the picture. I think you'll recognize the parts I used when you look at the inside pages of my book. The words read, "The chances against anything coming from Mars are a million to one but still they come." This is the quote that was printed with the inside album illustration.






And this is the back page...

I got the idea for the canvas book from the article titled Canvas Books A Mixed Media Approach to Preserving Memories in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. It was so much fun to make. It took a lot of time; but, I really got into it and had fun. I hope you like the finished product! I sure would appreciate your vote on Monday! :)

Fabric Postcard Treasury

My Pirate Cove fabric postcard mini-quilt is featured on an Etsy Treasury of fabric postcards.

Here's the link if you'd like to check it out....

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=15003

Quilt Display at Herb and Art Fest

My friend and quilting buddy, Cindy, owns Perks Coffee Bar in Lampasas, TX. This past weekend we had a quilt display in conjunction with the Herb and Art Fest. This is my side of the display board. I put a variety of items that are my favorties throughout the years.











This is one of Cindy's matted pieces titled "Dream".













This is an art doll by Cindy. It is her muse doll and the face is a mirror so when you look at the doll you see yourself...you are your own muse!!! Pretty Cool! Cindy is SO talented and she also sells art quilting supplies at Fatty Corner's Quilts located in the coffee bar. If you are ever in central Texas needing art quilting supplies, go to 3rd Street in Lampasas!









This is "Mom is Wow upside down" again by Cindy. She made this as a gift for her mother-in-law. It says Mom on the front and when you raise it up to see the back it says Wow! (Did I mention that Cindy is very talented?)