Knee Highs and Apple Pies

I was out of commission for a little over a week, and didn't go outside much.  Restless inside the house, I turned to a stack of projects to keep me busy until I was up and around again.

First, I finished the embroidered quilt square project...the embroidery part, that is.   

Pretty cute, right?  The rooster is my favorite! 

I decided to go ahead and sew the squares together with some random cotton fabric squares from my stash.  It really didn't take very long to iron and cut them.  Stitching them into strips wasn't as scary as I'd thought it might be...

I felt pretty victorious when I stitched all the strips together.  Sure, I still need to put the quilt batting inside and sew on the backing, but it's almost a little quilt! 

I finished a pair of vintage baby almost-knee socks. 

The pattern is from 1912 and has a nice open weave, although it's harder to see when the socks aren't being stretched by a little leg.

 My FAVORITE project, though, is this Carl Larsson-inspired cross stitch pattern.  I love the shapes and the bold colors.  I am absolutely flying through it.

I'm about a third of the way done.  The original pattern is meant to be an upper curtain panel, but I'm sure I'm going to just frame mine.  I'm enjoying it so much!

Yesterday I was finally feeling like my old self again.  Todd has been taking such good care of me - taking care of meals, doing the laundry and dishes, and helping with my business orders (and surprising me with the soundtrack to Grease 2...score!) - so I decided to thank him with his favorite pie.  Now, I have a standard apple pie recipe, but it calls for quite a bit of butter and sugar.  It's delicious, but I wanted to try a different recipe.  I made my usual pie crust but chose an apple pie recipe that called for a sweet crumble instead of a top crust.

I added a cup of oatmeal to the crumble because I can't imagine a crumble without it, but here's the original recipe. 

I made the mistake of really packing the crumb on the top, instead of sprinkling it.  It formed a pretty solid crust.  It was really good, but next time I think I'll wait until 15 minutes before the pie is done before sprinkling - not packing - it on.

This version is definitely Todd-approved, though!

Have a great week!

Fabric Scraps and Brawny Chaps

Other areas of the country might be experiencing the first whiff of fall, but here in South Carolina, it was 95 degrees yesterday.  It's been hot, hot, hot, with little rain, so I just haven't felt like going outside much.  Instead, I focused on some indoor crafting.

My quilt strips have been cut...

...and I've started the process of sewing pieces that will become part of larger squares together.

I've heard that the cutting is the most tedious part, and that whipping the pieces together on the machine will take no time at all.  We'll see!

I did a quick dollhouse project, because I feel like the dollhouse has been absolutely languishing, unloved, in our game room.  I found some embroidery floss that matched the tiny recliner I made earlier this year...

I tied a knot at the end of the 3 strands and braided it tightly, with the knotted end held securely under my KitchenAid mixer.  Once braided, I coated a piece of fabric with glue and carefully wound the braided thread in concentric circles.

Once dried, I cut out the braid (the fabric below comes along; it gives it stability) and placed it in front of the chair.  Voila!  A five-minute rag rug.

Although I haven't been knitting much, I did finish a pair of blue striped socks for myself:

I've also been taking a hand embroidery class on Craftsy.  I was finally able to master french knots and move beyond a running stitch.  First I embroidered a little hedgehog for Todd using the back stitch and scatter stitch:

Then, some farm animals using chain stitch and french knots:

I added the rosemary to the pig square because I thought it looked a little plain.  That is the fern stitch, I believe!

Even though my sugar intake has been pretty minimal, I've been doing a lot of baking.  These pumpkin cupcakes might be my favorite ever, thanks to the addition of a handful of cinnamon chips to the batter and marshmallow fluff to the frosting...

I made Star Wars-themed sugar cookies for our Star Wars-loving nephew recently, but plain sugar cookies are so boring.  I ended up making cookie sandwiches by filling them with a simple vanilla buttercream and adding sprinkles around the edges.  They were SO tasty!

I also made my favorite cream cheese/coconut banana bread.  Didn't last long around here.

I don't just make sweets.  I made naan a week or so ago, which is my new favorite for homemade pizza.  The dough is made the same...the mix, the rise, and shaping into balls for a second rise.

But you cook them on the griddle at a very high temperature, just like homemade tortillas.

So good.

Not too much going on outside the house.  Todd (my brawny chap!) is slowly chopping up and stacking the massive amounts of wood that now litter our yard:

A newborn fawn (another one!) died behind our house last week...

 ...but most of the fawns around here are growing and thriving.

I'm mainly keeping an eye out for cooler temperatures.  Hopefully by October we'll at least be in the 70s!

Have a great week! 

Giving a Woof at "Paw"ley's Island

We went to Pawley's Island last week to see some family staying there.  While I prefer the rocky beaches of the west coast, a nice sand beach is pretty nice!

Of course, I always enjoy watching the birds.  These ruddy turnstones (love the name!) picked around in the moss for food.

This willet is looking for a meal, too.

 

I wonder if he's the one making all these holes in the sand?

 

Sanderlings were everywhere, too.  They breed only on the high Arctic tundra, so have quite a migration!

This sandpiper joined the fray.

The birds I was most excited about, however, were the pelicans.  They flew right over the water...

Or in formation, right over our heads.

So beautiful!

Especially in flight.

Of course, there were plenty of "paws" at Pawley's Island.  I love watching dogs frisk in the water!

Some just watched from afar but enjoyed it just the same!

When the tide came in, it came right up to the stairs on our rented beach house. 

Then the moon came out...

Ahhh!  It was good to see the ocean again!