Sewing Machine Surprises!

  When I purchased my sewing machine, I made sure the machine could do everything I might want to do and a bit more. Three or more weeks later, I discover yet another facet to my sewing machine's deep nature . . . it makes lace!

When I was browsing for embroidery patterns to download, I kept running across some that were prefaced with FSL and wondered what that meant but put it to the back of my mind as I was on a quest for a particular design and all the ones shown with FSL didn't appeal to me. The reason they didn't appeal to me is that they were too delicate and didn't seem to be workable for my needs and, besides, I still didn't know what FSL meant.

I finally discovered what FSL meant and you can see the results in the picture - Free Standing Lace. You can actually make lace on the sewing machine. I'm practicing on something doable like bookmarks. The way it works, is that you purchase something that pretty much looks and feels like heavy plastic wrap. Instead of putting fabric in your embroidery hoop for the sewing machine, you use this stuff. Then, with ordinary embroidery thread, you make the FSL pattern of your choice. When it is completed, cut away the excess 'plastic wrap' and then rinse off the newly-made bookmark with warm water to dissolve the product between the smaller holes and designs of the project.

It wasn't an easy start as it took some time finding the sewing machine needle that would cope with this without breaking the thread. I tried eight bookmarks and ended up with the ones shown - not too bad an average! I'm still amazed to hold a piece of lacework in my hands and know it is nothing but thread!

Catholics that don't represent real Catholics . . .

Although I'm looking forward to Pope Francis officially becoming Pope next week, there is one or two major flies in the proverbial ointment. The president is sending representatives from the United States to attend this historical event. He is not, however, in any sense of the word sending real Catholics representing the Catholics in the United States. It was with some horror that I heard that Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden were part of the group attending.

Now, I know that we must not judge the hearts of other people but their outward words and actions more than bring into play what is actually in their hearts and it is not Catholic in the sense of the Commandments or rules of the Church. In fact, both of them have been quite open on their views on abortion and contraception which is totally against Catholic teaching.

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/03/15/pro-abortion-catholic-nancy-pelosi-to-attend-pope-francis-inaugural/

I will still be watching the televised event from Rome but can only imagine the saints and relics housed in and around Rome wondering what the world has come  to since they suffered and died to protect what these two tear apart so easily.

The 'eyes' have it!

While I was going about my chores, this morning, I noticed I was being supervised by our cat, Marcella.

She has developed a new trick. Whenever she can't find us or wants to play, you can hear hear meowing as she wanders around the house. When she finds one of us, she always has a toy in her mouth which she drops at our feet and then look expectant. Today, I realized how much she relies on us. I had gone to pick up my son from college. When we opened the backdoor, the toy was resting on the doormat. Marcella had obviously either gotten bored or lonely while we were gone.

An Afternoon of Work?

 My husband said that unless I work on my sewing machine every day and not with just straight sewing, I'm not getting my money's worth. Oh, darn, I had to spend the time trying out new embroidery patterns I downloaded this morning. The suffering I'm going through!

I enjoyed the 'practice' as they were small patterns and only took about 30 minutes each depending on how many thread changes I had to make for the colors. I've found the main thing is to be very, VERY careful when threading the machine and always start with a new needle.

I do have plans for the completed ones with visions of new and improved tote bags and quilts dancing through my head. I also learned to multitask today . . . While the machine was doing it's work, I did necessary hand sewing on projects that were neglected with the invasion of the new machine.

We have a Pope!

So, I was sitting down to watch some stupid show on television while I ate my lunch today. I happened to turn the television on to Fox News and they were watching the chimney over the Sistine Chapel, again, waiting to 'see' the latest vote. I decided to stay on and watch, too. Suddenly, GRAY smoke started out, not black so there was a momentary pause when it rapidly turned puffy and WHITE - we have a Pope!

Naturally, these final announcements take time so it was almost another hour before we found out WHO was our new Pope. At that point, we only knew the vote had been taken and approved. This was the first time I was in on the process from the announcement until the new Pope actually appeared. I have to say that from what I saw, heard, and have read about our new Pope Francis I, it seems we have gotten ourselves a strong, conservative Pontiff in Rome. Already, there are murmurs about his stance on certain controversial topics but it only shows he is making people who would harm the Church a bit nervous.

His first words were to pray for Pope Benedict and before his blessing to the world, he asked for our prayers for him. I'm praying he is a 'young' 76 year old and has the time to make a real difference in our Church and the world. I can only imagine the celebrations going on in Argentina at the news.

Cookie Break! Lemon-Apricot Pecan Bars!

Too many serious topics to think about so I'm thinking about cookies this morning. I like the combination of a short crust with lemony apricot topping . . . these cookies fit the bill quite nicely. I also like a one-pan baking especially when I have more than baking chores to do.

Lemon-Apricot Pecan Bars

1/3 cup brown sugar (dark or light is fine)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, diced and cold
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and either cut the butter in with two knives, a pastry cutter, or use your fingers to reduce the mixture to the size of coarse breadcrumbs. Press the mixture evenly into a vegetable oil sprayed 8x8" baking pan. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack. Leave the oven on for the next step.

3/4 cup dried and chopped apricots
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
grated zest of one lemon
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Place the apricots, water, and juice in a pot and simmer for about 10 minutes or until fruit is soft. Strain the liquid but save the liquid.

Return the apricots to the pot and add the lemon zest, sugar, cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the saved cooking liquid. Cook for about a minute. Remove from heat and let mixture cool for about 15 minutes before spreading the topping over the crust. Bake for another 15-20 minutes. Cool thoroughly before cutting into bars.

A nice touch is to melt some chocolate chips and drizzle over the cookies before they are completely cool. Another method is to melt enough to glaze the whole top of the bars. Again, it must be cooled before cutting especially with the addition of the chocolate.

Three Votes and No Pope . . . Yet!

Like the majority of the world, I was glued to the television yesterday awaiting the first sign that the cardinals had cast their votes. As is general news now, the first vote earned black smoke meaning no new pope elected - yet! This morning, two more rounds of black smoke so the suspense is still in place.

Yes, I have my favorites for the new pope but know that the final result will be God's Will not mine although I'm prone to sending up suggestions! It has been fun, amusing, and interesting to read the secular reports on the process and the wishes for people in what they look for in a new pope. Noticed a lot of modern nuns saying they wanted a pope who gave them a bigger voice in the church. Makes you wonder how the Bible would have been written if the Blessed Mother made such demands of her Son?

Read an article that said that unless the Church 'changes its ways', meaning go with the sinful flow of the world, it will gradually lose it's membership and authority. Uh, it's been over 2,000 years and we continue to grow. I think a lot of people like the idea of a religion but not the rules that prohibit them from the sins of the world like abortion, contraceptives, etc. If you want to be in the 'club', follow the guidelines of the 'club' or find/found your own religion. The Ten Commandments aren't all that controversial!

Meanwhile, we wait and you can be sure my radio will be tuned in all day in hopes of being there when the awaited announcement is made.