Thinning, Harvesting, and Repotting Herbs - It's Spring!

Spring has just about played out for the year. I’ve been so busy sewing masks that I hadn't realized the flowerbed was overrun!

I’m a terribly negligent gardener, so if an herb survived the winter at my place, you know it’s easy to grow!

The winners...thyme and chocolate mint! They smell amazing and they're so pretty too!

I had so much that I had to repot a bunch in miscellaneous pots around the porch. How thrifty too 'cause I was just about to go buy something to put in the pots. How cool is that?

My neighbor, Glenn, gave me an itty bitty bay leaf tree in the fall. He bought two in the hopes that one of us could keep ours alive through the winter. I have to say that I baby this little tree! It didn’t grow a speck for months! But the moment the spring sunshine kicked in, it exploded too. So excited about that tree! Bay leaves are awesome!

So what are your favorite herbs to grow? I need to plant a couple more before it gets too hot.

Hope you're enjoying the great outdoors this week!

Donna :)

Sewing Fabric Face Masks for Vulnerable Family and Friends

What a month! It's hard to believe that we are all 'holed up', hopefully safely, in our homes for the foreseeable future. At first, to be honest, I was kinda depressed. I had been watching the virus devastate Italy long before most Americans were really concerned.

The reason is that I've been working on my art degree for the last four years, and learning sculpting (like my father) from Mike Kirby at The Sculpture Workshopin Houston. One of the last goals for my degree was to make an art trip to Italy. So my friend Chris and I purchased our tickets in August of last year. It's hard to imagine that that trip is canceled now, but how my heart goes out to everyone there! Chris and I have been praying for them since Day 1. But we also were trying to figure out whether or not our month long stay in Florence, Rome, and Venice was really a wash or not. It was. We are hoping to get credits for our tickets.

At first I did what I'm sure most of you did--stock up! I probably started a bit sooner than most of you due to keeping a watchful eye on Italy in early February. Eventually, my husband Tim came home and set up a home office. He's been working in Houston for the last seven years, but all of a sudden he's home again. Yay!

My youngest son got activated in the Texas Army National Guard. He's helping direct traffic at Huntsville Memorial Hospital where they are testing about 250 people a day. He can't come home and doesn't want to out of concern for us. So I was missing him too! I was really at loose ends at that point.

I don't know why it took so long, but eventually it occurred to me that I should sew some fabric masks. I knew I ought to--not that many people are super 'in' to sewing, but I am certainly one of them! :) At first, I just thought I'd help with the MakeMasks2020.org movement. But before sewing for them, I offered to make some fabric masks for the most vulnerable friends in our church at Koinonia and extended family in need. I got a lot of takers on that offer. It made me so happy to offer that peace of mind to my dear church family.

On Saturday, I made eight masks using the pattern suggested by MakeMasks2020.  A friend donated two bags of quilt scraps, and another friend donated probably 30 spools of ribbon! Sewing ties (since the elastic is gone) doubled the time it takes for me to make one of these.

What started out as a 'whim' turned into a totally unexpected opportunity to bless others in need. When the President and the CDC said, "Ok--wear masks." most people didn't have one.

After posting some photos on Instagram and Facebook--I ended up with 56 orders! Friends, neighbors, and family started messaging me asking if I could make a few for them. I am even making a couple of masks for my good blogging friend Gloria and her mom. She's an amazing artist and a kind woman caring for her elderly mother.

by GloriaV

Isn't it funny how the Lord just directs you.. even when you have no idea what you are called to do to contribute during a crisis? So I sewed 20 masks today and delivered four. I bought a postage scale and set up an account with stamps.com, so I don't have to go to the post office to ship stuff and bought 30 envelopes. Hopefully I'll be shipping out my first 'orders' this Friday!

We can't do much against this virus but stay home--and that's huge! And we can pray and encourage each other online.  But for me, it was time to sew! I feel so glad to be able to do my part for the elderly, friends with asthma and serious lung issues, family with vulnerable children, a friend undergoing chemo, and friends with diabetes.

The MakeMask2020.org project's purpose is to sew fabric masks and send them to companies who have N95 masks in stock, but don't really need medical grade masks. We sew fabric masks for them so they can send their medical grade masks to local hospitals. What a great idea!  After I send mine to my friends, I'll start sewing for them.I delivered four masks today and mostly finished another 15! Tomorrow I'll keep working. I've made about 20 total and have about 40 to go!

If you are interested in sewing for them, please check out their site! Or maybe, like me, you have friends and family who suddenly find themselves needing a mask, but can't buy one. Either way, it's a great way to bless others in this difficult time. Let me know if you decide to jump on the sewing bandwagon this month!

Praying for you and yours!

Happy Homemaking!
Donna

Grandmother's Garden Postage Stamp Quilt - The Project of Four Generations - Finished At Last!

Dear Blogging Friends,

It's been a long time since I posted, but today is such a special day, I just had to share it with you!  Yesterday I made the last quilting stitch on a quilt I've shared with you several times in the last eight years. I am celebrating! :)

Ten years ago, my dear grandmother, Dola, passed away. In her cedar chest, I found a vintage quilt top made of flour sacks.

 After much discussion with my Aunt (Grandma's daughter-in-law), we realized that it was Dola's mother, Grandma Pherigo, who must have pieced it.  There is no doubt that the fabric is old flour sacks. It is far too aged and retro in style to be anything else.

Grandma Wood was not a big 'quilter' though she quilted as well as most women do. However, according to my Aunt Joan, Grandma Pherigo was an avid quilter.  So the mystery of who pieced this exquisite quilt was finally solved just last month!  I felt incredibly honored to be the one to add the border and hand-quilt this family treasure.

Quilts like this are very unusual and quite rare. They are called postage stamp quilts because every piece was no bigger than a postage stamp. I'm sure you can tell these pieces are even smaller than that. Each hexagon is made of six tiny triangles!

I'm certain this quilt was meant to be her 'masterpiece' quilt.  Women often worked hard in a spirit of friendly competition to make a quilt with as many pieces as possible.  I've yet to see a quilt anywhere with this many pieces --around 7,000+ or to see them pieced, by hand, so accurately.

I was extremely busy homeschooling 5 kids at the time of my Grandmother's passing, but I agreed to quilt this for my Aunt so it would be quilted by someone 'in the family' but warned her it could take awhile. Yipes--it took ten years!

Year after year, I've quilted--bit by bit--and finally it is done! I'm meeting my Aunt on her way to her sister's home to hand it off to her. All I have to do is make the signature block telling the story of this special quilt to hand-applique to the back.

I used the needle-turn applique method to stitch the delicate top to a muslin border to attempt to square it up a bit since it came out a bit wider on one end than on the other.  For the border, I decided to make my own template and carry out the flower garden pattern I'd been quilting over and over since it only showed on the back.

My Aunt promised that she will leave it to me one day but I'm happy to hand off this treasure to her tomorrow.

What a blessing it was to find out she had ordered me a sewing machine that has quilting and piecing stitches and a long quilting plate as a 'thank you' for my years of labor! I can even do free-motion quilting with it!  I can't wait to share all the fun I've been having with my new machine with you. :) PS. It's a great price too!

If you've never quilted, don't be afraid to start! I learned at my local quilt store and the six weeks of lessons I took were worth every penny!  In case you are interested, here's the book I'm sending to my daughter to help her learn to quilt too. Your First Quilt Book (or it should be!) 

Remember~You're never too old to learn something new!

Hope your day is special and that you are inspired to try quilting some day too.

Happy Homemaking!
Donna

It's Time to Expand--Join Me in My First Hive Inspection ~Video!

 It's hard to believe that my bees are doing so well!  I did a hive inspection early this past week and was thrilled to find frames filled with capped honey, lots of bees, capped brood and a busy queen. It's only the beginning of August and they have already used up almost every frame. I knew it was time to do something. Either we had to add a 2nd hive so they could make honey for me to extract or we needed to split the hive and give them both empty frames.

We sure don't want them to swarm due to lack of growing room!

Sadly, I think my hive near the house got robbed. One minute I had a seemingly healthy hive, and the next day--they were all gone and the hive is absolutely empty--picked clean. We are afraid the local wasp population overpowered them. We have a lot of wasps around here.

However, the hive I installed in Montgomery at the womens' home is thriving!

That's one great advantage of having two bee hives your first year--having a back up hive. Sometimes things just go wrong. I'm pretty sure my queen wasn't very productive at the home hive and to be honest it never seemed like that hive was thriving.



So my bee mentor, Bill, wants me to order a couple of extra queens, and we are going to split the hive at Montgomery into two new ones.

He has 14 hives all thriving and is going to donate bees to me to use in my abandoned hive near the house and we will add a new queen to it. He said we have plenty of time for them to get established before winter.

I have never done anything so fascinating in my life as to raise bees. Lots of prayer and feeding the hive with sugar water has insured that one of my hives has prospered. If we didn't want to expand, Bill says we could harvest about 60 pounds of honey by this fall and still leave plenty for them to live on for the winter.

But since I know Miss Dottie wants to have several hives, he feels it's best we just split the hives and let the bees put their energies into building solid colonies and plenty of honey for food before cool weather hits. Here in Houston, that will be a while! We are in a drought and temperatures are in the 98-100 range every day.



Still, I'm just counting my blessings today! What a great first year as a new beekeeper! If you would like to learn more just click here. I list what all I had to do to get started and where to get supplies. Plan now and you could order your batch this winter. :)

Happy Homemaking!
Donna

How to Find the Time, Space, and Money to Sew

 In my opinion, sewing is the most useful hobby you will ever pursue. I truly feel everyone should learn to sew, but many people don't feel it's economical or feasible for various reasons.

It's a shame that so few people get to enjoy the pleasure and the benefits of sewing. So many things in our home can be sewn rather than purchased!  Think about all of the items in your home that can be or are made of fabric--bedding, furniture covers, pillows, tablecloths, curtains, clothing, purses, tote bags, toys, journals, gift items and much more!

One of these was denim blue and the other hot pink corduroy. I used old curtains to recover them. It only took 3 hours!

Think of the sense of accomplishment you would feel if you could make all these things yourself! You  would not be left to the mercy of stuff-mart's limited selections or a department store's prices.

Not only can sewing help you provide for the needs of your home more inexpensively, but you can add that special 'touch' that uniquely represents your decorating style. This is something that you simply cannot buy in a store. Anything you make yourself is probably going to be of better quality construction and fabric.

I get one of these four responses every single time I mention how wonderful it is to sew...

1. It's too expensive. People say that by the time you pay for fabric and a pattern, you could have purchased the same item several times over on clearance. 
2. They don't have enough time.
3. They don't have enough space.
4. Their sewing machine doesn't work well. The bobbin is messed up or it skips a stitch.

I used to say the same exact thing every time I saw my sister's five girls in new dresses that she had sewn herself. Ditto for her pillow shams, curtains, tablecloths, couch pillows etc. She sewed for herself, for my children, for friends and on and on.  

Rather than run to the store, she ran to the sewing machine!  

All I could think of was the $16.00 patterns and $6.00/yard fabric plus $1.73 for thread, $1.24 for zipper, and the .65 cents for buttons. In my mind, every dress, pair of pants, or shirt would cost a minimum of $32.00 plus tax! If you are thinking that, then I hope this article will give you a new perspective on the art and feasibility of sewing. 

Can't Afford to Sew? Think again!

Stocking Up on Clearance Fabric

My daughter and I sew regularly We're always planning ahead for the next clothing or household item needed (like seasonal items, gifts, or a party dress).  We have the same mindset when buying cloth and patterns that many of you do when you buy clothes.

 The first secret to budget friendly sewing is to stock up while patterns are on sale and the seasonal cloth is on clearance.  

Every fall, winter, spring, or summer, seasonal fabric is put on sale at local fabric stores.  It's at exactly the same time that clothes go on sale.  We buy our fabric for $1.00 to $3.00 a yard.  A summer blouse need not cost any more than $3.00 if you have a couple of stylish patterns on hand (purchased at a $1.00 each on sale).

We stock up on fabric once every season--stuff that we like...for skirts, blouses, capris, or just because we love it! Not a whole lot but a few yards of good solid basics--summer cotton prints and twills, knits, denims, khaki, and guazy or silky stuff for nice skirts.  Then we store it in a cubby hole shelf divided by fabric type, until needed. (My sister used an old dresser for the same purpose.) A tower drawer organizer works too.

Don't overstock--keep good fabric not stuff you know you won't use! And don't forget to sign up for emails or newsletters from your closest fabric stores. I save my coupons every month just in case I have a sudden fabric need. That's at least 40% off! (Love the new barcodes for online coupons on mobile apps!)

Mother-Daughter aprons made from a $3.00 skirt at the thrift store.

Fabric from Re-fashioning

We also save old dresses, curtains, jeans, shirts, tablecloths etc. rather than throw them out, and sort them according to fabric type once we are tired of them in their current form. Later, we 're-fashion' them. Thrift stores sell fabric, clothes, and tablecloths and throws very cheap...lots of great fabric!

We save our scraps to make small gift items..hair scrunchies, yo-yo's for embellishments, tote bags, fabric bows for gifts, journal covers, drawstring gift bags etc. (appliques too!)--not to mention for the time honored scrap quilt for the last bits!

 Cheap or Practically Free Patterns 

 We also stock up  on patterns that are stylish but simple. They cover the basics...blouses with variations, skirts, and capris or shorts, and a dress or two. We spent $14.00 total one summer and got seven patterns each (with lots of options) and have been sewing for the last few years off of these.  

If we need something specific, now, we buy the $1.99  IT'S SO EASY  patterns from Simplicity...

or something along those lines. You don't get as many options, but you do get a cheap pattern for what you need, when you need it.  Also, thrift stores sell patterns too at great prices I might add!

The two blouses at the bottom were copies of the blouse at the top purchased from a department store.

And if you are really tight on funds, check out my post on how to make a pattern from a favorite blouse or skirt, without ripping it apart! That costs nothing but the paper you trace the pieces onto!

Cheap Sewing Machine

Craig's List to the Rescue!  Thrift stores are also great! You can't imagine how cheaply I once bought a great ewing machine for $35.00 plus had eight additional feet..gatherer, hemming, blind stitch etc. Sewing machines are almost universally cheap on Craig's list.  And thrift stores are overrun with perfectly useable sewing machines.

You don't need an expensive machine--mine cost under $150.00.  A basic Singer sewing machine  with a few specialty feet has served all of my sewing needs perfectly from clothes, to upholstery covers, to curtains, and quilting.

I've used a basic Singer for years.  I sewed ball gowns, wedding dresses, convention booth tablecloths, furniture covers, dress pants, worship banners and quilts...using nothing but a basic, plain Jane machine.  You need to be able to sew a straight stitch, zig-zag and a button hole. You need a zipper foot. You need heavy needles for leather and denim, light needles for satin or light knit, and medium size needles for cotton etc.  You can monogram and applique with a zig-zag stitch. Almost any machine will do what you need!

Number One FIX for a 'broken' Sewing Machine

I am not a sewing machine repair person, but I have almost NEVER found a sewing machine that I couldn't fix!  I once taught 14 girls and moms how to sew. At least six of their machines weren't working well.  What was wrong?  Simple, the bobbin thread had gotten jammed up underneath or the machine was incorrectly threaded.  Whenever I have a problem, even with my own machine....

The first thing I do is re-thread it! Most of the time, this is the only problem.

This is especially true if the thread is breaking or the wheel won't turn.  Often, the bobbin case get's jammed with bunched up thread. Pull the whole thing out, pull out all the loose threads inside. Re-thread the bobbin and re-thread the spool of thread on the top. Then see if it doesn't fix the problem.  Also, make sure the tension is set on 5 or the middle and that the stitch witdth is set on 3.  Then oil your machine in all the holes.  So far, only one machine out of the 18 machines of my friends that I have looked at, could not be fixed doing these things.

But Donna, I don't have TIME to sew!  Okay, if you have babies or toddlers, I understand. It was hard for me to and to be honest I didn't do a lot of sewing. But I do know that my sister did find time even while all five of her girls were aged baby to 11yr. old.

I'm swamped too! With several volunteer projects going and two college age boys at home, plus a website to run, there is constant demand. But I used some of that time I would have spent on a movie, or surfing the web to sew. When Hubby and the boys are goofing around watching youtube videos or playing computer games, I can get out the sewing machine and sew! Even an hour's worth of work will allow me to make some real progress!

In Confessions of an Organized Homemaker, (my absolute favorite homemaking book of all time!), Denise Schofield said,

The biggest part of any job is the  get ready time and the put away and clean up time which is the key to finding time to sew!  

I didn't manage to find time to sew, until I made a permanent place to do it.  The best sewing table is a small two to four drawer DESK--again, from Craig's list! I paid $20.00 for my sewing 'desk'. The file cabinet is full of patterns--and that is all the patterns I need--only current trendy ones, plus patterns for curtains, other home furnishings and baby gift items or clothes.  The top left drawer is for the current sewing project ( so you can put it away when you aren't working on it.) The other two to three drawers on the left are for scissors, thread, buttons, stitch witchery, notions, interfacing, bobbins and other sewing items. Use drawer dividers!

If you use a regular desk for sewing, all can be out of sight but convenient...

not too tempting to little hands or distracting, regardless of what room you put the desk in.  Make a nice fabric cover for the machine so it doesn't distract from the room. Dining rooms are the best place for sewing--because you have a table right there for working on! Bedrooms work great too, just get a a Cardboard Pattern Sewing Cutting Board-36"X60"that covers the whole bed for under $6.00!

Tuck it under the bed when you are through cutting out the pieces. Put the pieces in the drawer and it's all out of sight for the evening.   Remember, though, that if you can leave part of your project out on the desk, it will help you want to keep working on it too!  If you have to get out your sewing machine and put it on the table and pull out the sewing box from the closet, and hunt for a good pair of scissors, and go buy cloth and a pattern--at full price--you will never have the time, money or space to sew!

Pick Easy Patterns--They take less time! 

I was such a dummy, always picking elaborate things to sew...super fancy dresses, skirts with pockets, zippers and buttons! I don't know why! One summer, though, I needed a bunch of clothes fast..for a trip to Hawaii.  I went and bought a simple skirt, capris, shorts and blouse pattern and made several variations of each. With a friend's help surging seams, we made eight clothing items in one day!

The patterns were easy--that was the trick. I taught these girls and their moms to sew using only 2 patterns! One was a Straight Pencil Skirt and the other a tiered skirt . 

  A skirt, shorts, blouse, or capris can easily take less than an hour to make! Try Kwik Sew or It's So Easy. You can certainly make one of these items in the time it takes the family to watch a movie.

Why go to all this trouble? 

Because a nice dress costs at least $15.00 even on sale, fabric gifts made from scraps cost almost nothing, curtains, couch pillows cost a fortune. And store-bought clothes are often low on fabric and not worth the clearance price  you paid for them...flimsy and poorly designed.

Can't Sew? Practice Makes Perfect

If you start with a simple pattern and cheap cloth you can teach yourself to sew. :)  I learned more by practicing than by anything anyone actually taught me. 90% of what I know about sewing I taught myself just by practicing and yes, failing sometimes.

Of course a good teacher is worth the paying if you can afford it. Any fabric store will have teachers and it will be a great investment in a hobby that is more far reaching and practical in it's scope than any that I know of and more rewarding than I can even begin to describe. If you have kids, sign up together!  You'll be glad you did! If you can't afford lessons, at least start with a super easy project like a straight skirt or pillow cover. Then work your way up to more difficult projects. I learned most of what I know by sewing. Patterns are great teaching tools!

If you will set up a permanent place that allows you to put everything out of sight, so that sewing is EASY, you will find both the time and money to sew! I promise!

Happy Homemaking!

Donna  

A New Home Management Chart to Help Busy Ladies Get 'Caught Up' Fast!

 I don't know about you, but I always feel like I'm juggling so many areas at the same time that it's hard to feel like I'm ever 'caught up'.

Supposedly I was 'retired' at least from homeschooling and child-rearing. Umm.. not quite! My daughter said she knew she shouldn't have worried what I was going to do when they all 'grew up'.  I know I wasn't confused about that. Haha! She is impressed with all the fun stuff I have going.

The fact is that I do have more time but I'm still feeding a hubby and two big college boys. "What's for Dinner, Mom?" is normally the burning question on everybody's mind.

Sewing for grandkids, gardening, beekeeping, quilting projects, home repairs, house-cleaning, errands, blogging, bible study, and bills all beg for attention. The fact that I'm also running gardens, chickens and bees for a ministry an hour away just adds to the need for a good plan!

I'm also the Media Director for  Montgomery County Right to Life , so sometimes life can get downright crazy!

My Dear Hubby also mentioned this week that he hoped I could start decluttering/Ebaying to help streamline our storage and bring in a little cash as we'd planned. We have an extra bit of debt (partly due to installing a septic line to the apartment on our land) and want to tackle it the Dave Ramsey way--put every dollar you can earn or save towards it!  We love his approach to getting debt free!

So to help me manage all the varied pursuits in my day, I made a little chart which you can open here and edit if you like.

The idea is to list all the areas you manage in a day on the left and then fill in the highest priority tasks over the course of the next week.

The result is that on any given day you do the highest priority task in each area on your that particular day of the week.  In only one day, your stress level will drop considerably!

Here's what my list for today looked like. You can see that I have tasks related to sewing, the garden, house cleaning, devotions, chickens/bees, blogging, my website management work, cooking, deskwork, finances etc. By the time I was finished, I felt like a new woman!

If Procrastination is a problem for you..

Now there is one little catch. If you're struggling with self-discipline and it's hard to get things done once they are on a list, you might want to read a blog post I wrote about procrastination.

One of the most transforming things I've learned during my two year 'bloggy break' is that procrastination is simply a fear of the unknown or even (yipes!) a bit of good old fashioned laziness.

When I started spending every morning--waaay before the family got up or the phone started ringing--with the Lord, getting my needs met or getting 'happy in the Lord" as George Mueller calls it,  I found  that I really started to grow in this area. I found the strength to quit giving into the temptation to put things off.

What a joy it is now to be able to make myself 'do what I don't want to do".

I do hope this method helps you get some of those monkeys off your back. I feel like it's incredibly efficient. Even if you didn't get it all done in one day, you'd still be taking a more balanced approach to getting caught up.

My old method of just spending the day cleaning, baking, sewing, or gardening, tended to leave a lot of things hanging over my head.  This new approach really seems to help me!

Happy Homemaking!

Donna