Featherstone Quiltworks

is having a special bag for a customer’s quilt.  I get them from Cleaner’s Supply, a drycleaning supplier.  They are bags the cleaners would send home with a blanket or comforter in them.  The bags come out to something less than a dollar each, and come in several different sizes.  Most of the time, I use the 15x18x9 size.

COMF15     Blanket Bag           15″ x 18″ x 9″

COMF20     Comforter Bag     20″ x 20″ x 8″

Several customers re-use the bags when they bring another quilt back to me.  Of course, because they are mostly plastic, they shouldn’t be used for quilt storage, but they do help provide a safe trip home for the quilt that you’ve worked so hard to help create.

I read one time of a customer’s quilt that was sent home in a white garbage-type bag; hubby saw it sitting by the door, threw it out.  Can’t say whether it was true or not, but sending a quilt home in some type of clear bag always seemed like a good idea to me after that!

–Sue

I’d like to be, but somehow I just don’t fit that mold.  (I would also like to look just like Sandra Bullock, but that isn’t happening either.)

My friend Pam B. can out-Martha Martha.  Earlier in my life I would have aspired to be more Martha-like — no, make that more Pam-like (I like Pam).  Now, not so much (on being more Martha-like.  I still like Pam). 

Our house looks lived in, and I have time to sew and play.  Play and sew.  Lunch and play.  Sew and lunch.  Shop and lunch.  Sew and shop — oh, the possibilities are endless.

I’m off track from where I wanted to go this morning though.  I am in awe of Judy Laquidara who writes books, does customer quilts, designs and shares the pattern instructions she writes (no small feat, let me tell you), is now a keeper of chickens, cans yummy goods, freezes, bakes – okay, THAT’S where I was going today.

(Jim, if you’re still reading this, there’s ice cream in the freezer.  Help yourself.  You don’t need to read the rest of this post.)  Judy recently blogged about the wheat she buys and grinds into flour and then bakes into whole-wheat bread that looks to die for.  From there, a discussion on whether or not to wash your wheat first and why Judy does it ensued.  (Read Judy’s post here for the answers.) 

I think about things like this a lot while I’m taking frozen bread dough out of the freezer to thaw overnight on the counter.  But, see, I have things to do!  (See paragraph 3.)

While picking up a pizza from Woodland Take & Bake a couple of weeks ago, my aunt and I (no, I don’t even cook much for company) noticed a “U Bake” store a couple of doors down.  The store has every kind of dough, pie, pasta — whatever you can freeze — ready to take home and either store in the freezer or prepare.

This morning I made the cinnamon rolls (with the cream-cheese frosting they also have available).  Okay, NOW I get to post a baked-goods picture like Judy!!!

Well, I have to go get my second cup of coffee.  And please, nobody needs to point out that I will never look more like Sandra Bullock eating this kind of breakfast!

Sue

I have at least (?) teapots in my kitchen.  I love teapots.  Tea is okay; teapots are fabulous.  My drink of choice?  I REALLY love coffee.  I blame genetics.  My dad had to have his coffee, black, keep the cup full, and don’t try any of that decaf stuff on him!

My Aunt Bert (my dad’s baby sister) was here for a few days earlier this month.  There must really be a coffee gene, because it turns out Bert and I both have Keurig coffee brewers in our kitchens.  She introduced me to McDonald’s iced coffee with half vanilla/half hazelnut for flavoring.  Delicious!

After she left, I got an e-mail from Dunn Brothers (you know you’re a coffee fiend when you get e-mail from coffee places) extolling the virtues of cold press coffee, and it included a link to a recipe.  I couldn’t resist, even though it takes an exhorbitant amount of coffee (remember, Dunn Brothers is in the business of selling coffee!).  Well, the result is an iced coffee with such good coffee flavor, not a bit of bitterness — so smooth & refreshing, I would lick the glass if I could!   (I never claimed to be classy.)

So you can find the Cold Press Coffee recipe here.  I read in another recipe that you could “steep” the coffee in water for 12 hours, so I did it a little bit more than that as a compromise.

Also, the straining is a little bit messy because the coffee filters clog up and need to be changed.  I filtered it twice.  I’ve been serving it over ice, a splash of flavored syrup (Target carries it next to the coffee), and a big splash of half & half (the glass in the photo got a really BIG splash of half & half).  You can also serve it over ice alone, and I’m sure it would be extra-special tasting coffee if you heated up a cup.

The recipe makes a gallon; I made a half gallon, because I didn’t know if it would be fit to drink.  Next time I’m making a gallon!  Yummy.  Carol (my local partner in coffee), you  need to stop over for a glass!

–Sue