Completed Star Quilt

After many hours my star quilt is now completed! I love the way it turned out.
For the machine quilting I stepped away from Stippling and tried my hand at Free Form quilting.
Free Form quilting really brought out the beauty of the quilt. I am so glad I decided to try this type of machine quilting; it wasn't as hard as I had expected it to be.
Each star block has its own style.
The outer white border has stars outlining the entire quilt.
Each time I handle the quilt it makes me want to stop and snuggle under it.

Applique Fun

I recently ordered a new set of applique alphabets for my embroidery machine.The design stitched out wonderfully...And Elizabeth is happy with her new T-shirt.

Storing Wheat

My family loves to eat fresh ground whole wheat bread. When we can, we buy our wheat in 50-pounds bags. In order to keep it fresh and bug free I repackage it in 1-gallon plastic zipper bags; by doing it this way it is easier to handle.After the bags are filled I label them so I don't grab the wrong wheat by mistake.
Next I store the wheat in the freezer until we are ready to use it.
When I am ready to bake bread I simply take out a bag and set it on the counter until it reaches room temperature.

Applesauce and Apple Butter

Wow, I am so amazed at how easy it is to make applesauce! After cooking the apples I drained the juice, which will be turned into more jelly, and put the cooked apples through a fruit strainer attachment that goes to my mixer.

The strainer separates the pulp from the skin and seeds and instantly you have applesauce.
The first half of the apple sauce was turned into apple butter.
The second half was left plain for eating.
I am now very exhausted but I feel so satisfied with all I accomplished today.

Learning About Apples

Last night I made apple juice for the very first time; it was surprisingly easy. This morning I turned the juice into jelly. This was the first time I made apple jelly with fresh apples; in the past I always used store purchased juice.
After making jelly I canned apple wedges for using in pies this winter. This is my first time canning apples.
Thankfully we had this handy peeler which I purchased a couple of years ago at the thrift store. This was the first time we tried it and boy was it a time saver!
Now all I lack is making applesauce.

A is for Apples

A friend of mine called on Sunday to ask me if I wanted some apples. It seems her mom's apple tree was so loaded with fruit the branches were breaking.

Today my friend gave me 4 bags stuffed full of Granny Smith apples in picture perfect condition.
All day tomorrow I will be preserving apples.

Ballet Shoes

Elizabeth loves ballet and Tuesday her class begins once again. She has been looking forward to dance all summer.
I picked up a pair of used shoes last year but didn't realize the bottoms were coming undone.
There was no way they would hold up for class so I decided to repair them.
It took a heavy needle, thick thread, needle-nose pliers and about 2-hours to get them back together.
Once I was finished my fingers were very sore but now she has shoes that will last all year.