Banana Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

I cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup butter

1 egg

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2-3)

1 3/4 cups quick cooking oats

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

 

Directions

In a bowl combine the first 6 ingredients; beat in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg, bananas and oats; mix well . Stir in cranberries and walnuts.

Drop by generous teaspoons onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

 

I baked cookies for the first time in at least 25 years. These were definitely worth waiting for. They’re just as good after they are a couple days old as they are hot from the oven.

Of course they also freeze well if you have any left to freeze!

Small World Quilt Story!

This year I donated a piece of my art to the Fiber 5K Run For Cancer.
Anyone anywhere in this whole country could have won this piece.
Imagine my surprise when my friend Peggy who lives in the same community I do was the winner of it.
Peggy was the very first quilter I met here and I consider myself lucky to call her a friend.
I am so happy she won this.
In case you haven’t heard, we raised over $5000 in 7 hours this year for the American Cancer Society. This is an addition to the $250,000 we have already raised through our various fiber fund raisers.
It is one of my favorite charities that I support.

Activity Night With Our No Hat Group

We used to be Red Hats but we did not like wearing the hats so now we are the No Hats!

The project which I facilitated was dyeing silk scarves with Color Hue Dyes.

I had everything ready for them and it only took 30 minutes for everyone to finish their scarves.

Each one was so perfect for the person who created it.

Everyone is modeling their own scarf here.

After we finished our scarves we had an appetizer buffet and drinks. The food is always so good. These ladies have great recipes.

Mary is already looking forward to our next activity night which only happens once ever year or two!

It’s Quilted!

I took this picture so that the quilting would show well. Some areas do not show the quilting in the picture. It is not quite this pronounced in real life.

Rather than quilting to enhance the texture of the shibori, on this piece I quilted to enhance the shapes created by the piecing.

It still needs to be blocked, faced, casing added and signed.

I’ve been  pleased with this each step of the way so far.

Are Those OLD Procion Dyes Still Good?

I have often heard people say that the shelf life of dye powders are about 6 months. I have used dye that was as old as 30 years and have only had weak results with one or two jars of dye, and they were the 30 plus year old ones.

A friend gave me a lot of old Procion dyes she got from another friend.

She tested one on cotton and it didn’t work, but we were quite sure they would work on silk.
I had a lot of silk to dye so I was happy to have them.
We had no idea how old they were or what type of conditions they had been kept in.

The first thing  I did was to contact Carol Soderlund and ask her the easiest way to test the dyes on cotton to see if they would work for it too. Carol shared her easy method with me and she is sharing it on her post today.

Carol responded with instructions on how to test the dyes. You can see her method and results by going to her post at:
http://www.carolsoderlund.com/color-2/testing-1-2-3/


Some of the dyes I was given were pure dyes but most were mixed dyes.
These photos shows all the results – both pure and mixed.


I was not concerned about using them in formulas where an exact color match was desired.
I had no samples from the past of these dyes to compare them to as most were mixed colors I had never used.
I do a lot of Shibori dyeing and “by the seat of your pants” dyeing.
I had great results with the first batch I tried.
My samples are not evenly dyed as I left them alone overnight and did not stir. This was perfectly fine for my intended uses as I just wanted to know if the dyes would work.
The great results continues with almost every one.

The last one, Strong Orange,  was a complete bust……and it was the one and only one my friend had tested.

This is what Strong  Orange should look like. These are pieces of cotton fabric and silk scarves I dyed with my own strong orange dye last year. The dye was about 20 years old.

I accidentally used 10 times as much dye powder as I should have on this one. I have a feeling if I had used the correct amount it would have been far too pale.
Why did most of them work, yet the last two were less than successful?
I can only guess. They ones that didn’t work well could have been kept in a different place. They could have come from a suppliers batch that had a problem. I don’t know what else could have made the difference, but maybe someone else can offer an explanation.
When I want to do dyeing of exact colors as I learned from Carol I will test my older pure dyes and if they don’t match my original samples I’ll order fresh dye.
But for much of the work I do, I will be using these dyes and thanking my friends who thought to pass them on.
In conclusion I’d like to suggest that if you have old dyes try Carol’s method of testing and you may be pleasantly surprised at the results.
If they don’t work on cotton, you may want to use them as an acid dye on silk.
AND, don’t listen to anyone who tells you the shelf life of these dyes is 6 months, or any other amount of time!
TEST them yourself and you could save a lot of money as well as prevent throwing away something that still has a useful life.
Post number 1313

Fingerless Mittens

For the longest time I couldn’t figure out why anyone would want a pair of these.

Fast forward to the Polar Vortex and life in the frozen tundra.

I knew I had to knit a pair of these and quick. I started wearing one of them as soon as I got the first done.

I wore them even though I hadn’t woven in the loose ends. Yesterday I wove in the ends and they are done.

Can you believe I actually have worn them in Florida? Yes, I have.

So now I am on to knitting another pair that will stay in Florida- a lovely teal in the same shade as my new Blue Fish Juxta Wrap.

I had a ball of sock yarn that wasn’t enough for a pair of socks. It just happened to weigh in as the amount I need for a pair of these.

We are in for some chilly weather these next two weeks in Florida so I’d better hurry and finish these.

444,444

At 4:02 on January 20, 2014 I have my 444,444th visitor on my blog.

Your know how much I love numbers and this is the first time I’ve every caught a number with 6 digits all the same!

Lots of similar number with the date, time and posts!

Only 555,555 more views to hit 999,999!!!!!!

and then the speedometer will turn over.

Free Form Curved Top Finished

I posted this group of fabrics a few days ago, along with some others. These are the ones I chose to work with.
I have been envisioning doing something with this group for months and it finally happened.
I spent about 3 days piecing this.
It is the type of thing I can do only so much with  and then find it necessary to walk away and come back another day with new eyes.
Like most things I create with my hand dyed fabric I was working with a limited amount of each fabric.
I’m pleased with it and will start quilting it later today.

When It Is Cold I Turn On The Iron!

I found a lot of 4 inch squares in my scrap bin.

I know I didn’t cut them myself.

If I am not mistaken my granddaughters that I called the “Glamour Girls” decided to each make a quilt and use some of the same fabrics.

They picked fabrics, cut squares and that’s as far as they got. That was at least 10 years ago!

I have a feeling that this is not all of them. I expect to find more of them somewhere!

I fused all of these to Wonder Under and they will be the some of the seeds friends can use to create a fused work of art.

This picture shows the two of them in Eagle River when the family used to vacation there. I would guess they were about 7 years old. We did stamping on T shirts as a rainy day project that year and they made their T shirts as similar as possible.

In this picture, taken in my studio,  they are much younger. When the family was together you could always find the two of them doing something together.

They used to write stories with pen names and create the characters which were usually young women who had interesting lives.

I don’t think I have any of those to share anymore and they are probably happy I don’t!

Little Luscious Leftovers

When I am done piecing a project and have little pieces of fabric that are too small to do piecing with this is what I do.

I place them on a sheet of Wonder Under. I cover it with a sheet of the Wonder Under release paper I have left from another project so the exposed parts of the Wonder Under don’t stick to my iron.  Then I fuse them with my iron.

And what do I do with these small pieces? I do cut them out so there is no WU hanging off the edges.

I may make a fused composition myself, but for the most part I stockpile them for friends to make a composition when they visit me. House guests have done some great pieces, as have students in classes I have taught. My stockpile is low right now so it is a good time to make more components for friends to use.

I also will be fusing some larger pieces so others can cut shapes they desire to use.

I have a stock of bases made up for others to work on.

It’s always fun to see the designs people come up with, especially the ones who don’t think they are creative.

University Of Wisconsin Scarf!

I started this scarf before Christmas and thought I could finish it for a Christmas gift for my granddaughter who is a graduate student at Madison.

I certainly underestimated the time it would require to knit this.

I have been working steadily on it every day and if you look at the size of the balls of yarn you can see I am nearing the finish line.

It is really much longer than it appears in the picture as it gains length when used as a scarf.

The yarn is a really wonderful slightly sparkly yarn from The Yarn Lady….my very favorite yarn shop. She carries only the best quality yarns,

I am thinking I will have it finished in the next few days.

There’s nothing like Red and White to make a statement.

I hope she likes it.

The last thing I knit for her was Packer Green and Gold in 1997.

That was a long time ago!

A Busy Productive Day!

The first thing I did when I got up was to put 8 pounds of beef in the crock pot to make Italian beef.

Before I knew it, it was time to run a 5K Race. Yes, it was the one I talked about earlier this week….the Fiber 5K to Fight Cancer.

This is one of my favorite charities and I have supported this in one way of another since it began about 9 years ago.

And what a race it was!!!!! We made it to the finish line and closed it out with over $5400 donated in less than 7 hours.

Being in the house while the Italian Beef cooks is pure torture as it smells so good and I can’t touch it until it is done and fork tender.

I was able to leave to go to Quilt Group for about 2 1/2 hours.

The aroma when I came home was heaven.

Now what was I going to do with this much beef? It wasn’t all for me.

Around 5 I took a container full and buns to friends of mine for their dinner today. It’s even better the second day if that is possible.

Around 6:30 another friend asked if he was too late to stop and take some home for he and his son. No problem and he was here within 15 minutes on his way home from work.

While I was shredding it and putting it in the container for them he busied himself with the cut offs from the quilt I was making.

This is the composition he created but didn’t finish!

It is good work and it may be because he is an artist who supports himself with his work.

One of these days he and his family will be able to create some quilts with some of my fabric that is ready to fuse.

So many of my friends have enjoyed doing this and I am excited to see he and his family will create.

The evening ended with an email from a good friend who lives in the same small community I do.

She won the piece of art I donated to the 5K run. The chances of that happening are small, since it could have been won by any donor throughout the country or more.

Even though I was tired….good tired…..it still took me a while to wind down and fall asleep after a day like that.

New Work In Progress

I was having a hard time deciding what to do first. I pulled fabrics for 3 small quilts and I also have yarn for 3 sweaters and one pair of socks on the priority To Do list.

These fabrics talked loudest to me as they have been in my head to use together for months.

I started sewing this close to midnight last night while I was drying some fabric to dye.

 

Part of what you see is sewn together and other pieces are just being auditioned to possibly use.

Stay tuned as this piece develops.

Where Do I Begin?

I am putting together some groups of hand dyed fabrics to do some compositions with.

Most of these fabrics are left from larger compositions.

The compositions I will be doing with these fabrics will be very freely composed as I work.

Having a group of fabrics that work together is a starting point.

It does not mean I will not add or subtract fabrics from this group.

I am anxious to get started on these pieces.

Honey, I’m Home!

I’ve actually been here almost 48 hours now.

I had a great on time flight and feel fortunate as I know many were delayed with flights this past weekend.

I had dinner on the way home from the airport and took a little detour so I could see The Villages newest square, Brownwood.

It has a western theme and I’ll go back again to see it more thoroughly.

I am pretty well settled in and the last package I sent myself arrived today – two days earlier than I expected. Thanks USPS!

I’ve done some knitting and I’m trying to decide what next!

Fiber 5K To Fight Cancer Will Be Here In 4 More Days!

 

Mark your calendar for January 15, 2014 and join me as I run the Fiber 5K to Fight Cancer. OK, I won't actually be jogging around a race course. But I will be joining the fun as Fiberart For A Cause's virtual race kicks off with a goal of donating $5000 directly to the American Cancer Society.
Generous Prize Sponsors for drawings means there will be many winners at the 1K ($1000) mark, 2K ($2000) mark, etc., plus a Grand Prize drawing when we cross the Finish Line.

According to Race Director, Virginia Spiegel, "Fiberart For A Cause likes to have fun while raising money to fight cancer, so, of course, there are going to be more "race" details revealed as January 15 draws closer. 100% of donations are given directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause. Fiberart For A Cause has already donated more than $230,000 to the American Cancer Society thanks to the generosity of fiber artists and patrons."

 

I don’t think there is anyone who has not been affected by this disease.

I have supported this since the first post card fund raiser and it seems each and every time we raise funds someone else I know is fighting the fight.

 

I know we are making progress against this disease as I just received a message from a young man tonight who has been fighting the fight for over 3 years and although he has been through a lot of challenges I expect him to win the fight and kick Cancer’s butt.

 

I’ve been the “Official Cheerleader” to make and surpass our goals and I hope we kick it up and notch and raise far more than our 5K goal!

 

This year I am donating an 8 1/2” x 11” piece of my Fiber Art. I hope YOU are the winner.

For more information about how you can participate check this link: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/Fiber5K2014.html

There are some great prizes this year, more than ever before.  There will be prize drawings when we reach $1000 and for each subsequent $1,000 and also a grand prize drawing when we reach our goal of $5000.

All money raised goes directly to the American Cancer Society.

Another Finish!

My youngest grandson asked me to knit a scarf for him to go with his red, white and black winter jacket.

(He’s at the age now where it is hard to get him to relax when I take a picture of him)

I caught him off guard in this picture and this is a more realistic picture of him.

He loved the scarf and I got a great big hug!

Christmas Eve On New Years Eve!

I have been behind on my blog posts due to a lot of things. We were busy around the New Year….FUN busy.

Greg and Julie and the family was here for 3 days which was actually less than 48 hours after subtracting travel time.

We had our Christmas Eve Pizza Fondue party and gift giving on New Years Eve.

After we ran out of our Italian bread to dip, we got out the pretzel bread and used the rest of it on that….cleaned out fondue pot!

Of course after that we all assembled in “The Parlor” and did the annual gift exchange/ family memorabilia distribution.

Greg wore the Santa Claus shirt as it is tradition….a shirt I made maybe 25 years ago that is still in perfect like new condition.,

Here he is studying his Christopher Radko Christmas watermelon ornament he received.

Julie is showing off her beautiful abalone necklace that my friend Peggy made.

 

 

A picture of me with the grandchildren.

Blake was clowning around with the Fish shaped barbecue mitts he received pretending they were slippers!

We had a Ho Ho Ho contest and Stephanie was the winner of the Jolliest award!

Jessica loves anything cupcake. She is showing us her cupcake coin purse!

Two of Nicholas’ favorites – his Gator apron to wear when he hosts another pizza party and his golf set that comes apart and fits in a small case.

Jared is wearing Grandpa’s Santo Domingo Heishi beads and holding one of his favorite things he used to spend hours with ever time he visited… a set of golfer Matryoshka dolls!

It’s always fun to have the family for our Christmas celebrations. It would be even more fun if they all were available at the same time!

I’m Getting Ready To Run A 5K Race

You are welcome to join me as I participate in this race that benefits one of my favorite charities, The American Cancer Society.

Fiber Art For A Cause has raised over $230,000 dollars with our previous projects and with your help we hope to add at least another $5000 to that total.
No running shoes required!
With each donation of $20 or more you have a chance to win some great prizes. This year we have more prizes than every before and you could be a winner of a prize, or the Grand Prize!

I am donating this piece of my art I and one lucky “runner” will win it.
I hope you will join me "on the track" on January 15.
Stay tuned for more information on how to participate along with a list of the prizes you could win.

Last Call For Kwik Sew Patterns on eBay……………

I found time today to list more patterns, etc on eBay and I’ll still be doing more listings for a few more hours tonight.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Kwik+Sew+Polar+Fleece&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

This link will take you to all the Polar Fleece patterns I have listed.

This link will take you to the over 200 patterns I have listed:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/queenoffabric/m.html?_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

 

As I said yesterday I realized I had time to do some 3 day Buy It Now listings. I’ve concentrated on warm styles as those are most desirable right now for most of the country.

You have 3 days to make make your purchase and after that they will be gone until summer or never?????

More eBay Listings Before I Wrap It Up For The Winter

I listed a lot of patterns, books, etc on eBay last week and figured that would be it until summer. I sold a lot but I still have a lot available.

I realized that people are looking for patterns for warm clothing with the temperatures we’ve been having.

I decided the easiest way to get those patterns to those who want to sew for the cold weather is to list things with a Buy It Now and a 3 day listing period so they can buy the without waiting a week to see if their bid won.

Although I just started doing this a couple hours ago, things are already selling and they will be shipped ASAP.

I just realized I still had time to list more Kwik Sew patterns on eBay today. They are all brand new and are the ones printed on the heavy paper. I am concentrating on listing patterns for cold weather....patterns for Polar Fleece, robes, ...pajamas, etc. I'm also listing Donner Designs ski wear patterns, some Erickson patterns and some others. All the listings are Buy It Now so you don't have to wait a week to see if your bid was the high bid. The listing period is ONLY 3 DAYS so don't wait or someone else will buy them of they'll be gone after 3 days. There are patterns for men, women and children. You can find them at:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/queenoffabric/m.html?_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

The pictures of the patterns I’ve posted were all available at the time I posted this to my blog.