DONNA POSTER NEWSLETTER
AUG./SEPT ‘06
ELIAD WATCH: It’s true--our little Eliad is advanced for his age---he’s already reached the “terrible twos’ and he’s not even two yet!! It’s been forty-five years since we had a two year old around the house and we’ve forgotten a lot. I thought, gee, he can go up and down stairs himself, feed himself, etc.---life will be much easier now.” Ha!!! He can also reach more things, too! I was sure I had kid proofed my sewing room so I wasn’t paying a lot of attention the other day when he dumped a dish of water on the floor. While I was busy cleaning that up he was giving our dog, Corky, my spools of thread and she had chewed up about thirty dollars worth of Guterman thread before I caught them! Boy, those two are fast!!! He’s also cuter than ever and we always crack up when he points at Corky and says, with great authority, “tay!”
ANOTHER BLESSED EVENT: Last month. A robin built her nest on the ledge of the decorative window above our front door. We had a lot of fun watching her hatch and raise her four little robins. She didn’t mind us coming and going while she was hatching but when she had her babies she became more protective. We were allowed to go to the car but if we hung around too long she would “buzz” the top of her heads!!!
QUILT ODYSSEY: I taught at Quilt Odyssey in Hershey a few weeks ago---great show!!! It’s in a wonderful facility, great classrooms and classes, fine exhibits and lots of great stuff to buy. If you ever get to Quilt Odyssey, be sure to go to the “show and tell” on Saturday evening. You will need a class registration slip to get in and over four hundred students show up!! Norma Campell and Mimi Dietrich host the program and they are hysterical! Missy (who puts on the show) throws fat quarters into the audience and all the teachers are invited to have their students show what they did in class! Besides being an hour of fun it’s a great way to decide what classes you want to sign-up for next year.
One of the routines they did this year was, “You know you’re a quilter if----”. I really cracked up when they said, “If you watch the bedroom scenes on a soap opera to see what quilts are on the bed.” We watch Little House On The Prairie every night and I very carefully to make note of the quilts on the beds!!!
NEW TOOLS: I found some great new tools. I’ll tell you all about them in the next newsletter because I want to include pictures. One of the things I found that I want to try is called Locker Hooking. I bought the book written by Kathleen Carpenter. The models in the booth were really neat and would make great place mats, table runners and rugs. Plus, it looks relatively easy compared with traditional rug hooking. I’ll let you know how I like it.
SUSAN BETZ WROTE: “I was watching you on Simply Quilts and at the end of the show a viewer asked, “can ties be used in quilting?” You mentioned that the Foldy Stuff method was a wonderful way to use them. My wonderful husband had passed away two years before and I still had his ties. So, for Christmas I made three large squares (Foldy Log Cabin) and had them framed. The ladies that did the framing and customers in the store thought it was the most beautiful idea. Needless to say, there wasn’t a dry eye when these were presented Christmas day to my children. Thank you so much for this spectacular gift that my family will have for generations.”
Answer: Thank you so much for letting me know you used Foldy Stuff to preserve your memories. Over the years I’ve had several people use my patterns for this purpose and I so appreciate their telling me about it.
NOTE: For hints on using ties with the Foldy Stuff, click onto “Foldy Stuff Ideas link at the bottom of----donnaposter.com.----
ANOTHER GOOD IDEA: Eleanor Dyson gave me a great idea in one of my classes. She and some friends were trying out the Foldy Stuff and wondered how to use all those odd blocks. They just added an extra row, sewed a zipper between the two of them, then sewed the two blocks together to make a small bag! Great idea Eleanor---thanks.
MORE HINTS: Did you know that running your thread through a dryer sheet (used, of course!) can help keep your sewing thread from twisting.
Match thread for hand applique to the patch, not the background.
A rubber band wrapped around the thimble can help pull the needle through when quilting.
Rolls of shelf paper are super for designing or making long quilting and/or border patterns.
Mr. Donna here---IT’S CHILI TIME: OK, it’s ripe tomato season and I promised my all time great recipe for CHILI. This is the time of year to make this dish unless you live in an area where you can get vine ripened tomatoes all year. We are going to take many ingredients, put them together and finish with a taste that is distinct from any of the ingredients. It’s not going to taste like onions, or peppers, or chili powder, or anything else, but will have its own distinct flavor. It can be eaten as is, or used to flavor other foods. Start this recipe early in the day.
Get together the following:
2 tsp butter
3 lb. Regular ground 85-15% hamburger. Put your diet book away quickly.
Try to get the brownish looking hamburger that you normally would not
take--it’s better aged.
28 oz can of Mexican style or Contadina brand diced tomatoes
5 lg vine ripened tomatoes. Pick the ones that are almost too ripe to slice
3 lg mushrooms sliced and diced
2 large size green bell peppers cut into ½” pieces
1 jalapeno pepper minced or pureed with some water in a blender
2 lg onions cut into ½” pieces
2 Tbsp regular chili powder. Stay away from the hot stuff, the jalapeno
pepper will do that for us.
2 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tsp minced garlic
2 cans of chicken broth
1 sm can jalapeno style chili beans Optional: Texas is where I learned to
make chili (where else). Texas chili does not contain beans. However, I like
to put a small can of jalapeno style chili beans into mine; gives it a little
more body.
Here’s what to do:
Melt the butter in a large sauce pan.
Brown the meat in such a way that half is seared and half is not seared, and the fat is not cooked out of the meat. If the meat starts to stick, lower the heat and add some chicken broth. Add all the ingredients to the pot, stir together prior to heating.
Cook for at least five hours, seven would be better. (that‘s why you started early in the day). No cheating here, I‘ll know it if you do. Use a very low heat at first so there is no burning at the bottom of the pot, then slowly increase the heat until the boil is reached. It may take two hours to do this. Lower the heat and simmer. Stir often. Stirring often is important. It is also important that no burning take place at the bottom of the pot as that would introduce a flavor we do not want.
You might want to try pureeing about four cups of the mixture after about four hours of cooking and then return it to the pot. I like to do that. Serve with wine and garlic bread and prepare yourself for compliments. You don’t even have to tell them about me.
I know this is strange, and I can not give you the why of it, but the flavor is enhanced if I cool the contents of the pot, leave it overnight in the frige and reheat the amount I want to eat the following day. Maybe someone can give me an answer.
Gotta go now----just finished my first quilt for Eliad and it’s so cute we are going to make a pattern of it! It will be called---what else?---Eliads Quilt!!!
This letter ended up as an Aug/Sept letter. Boy, life does get crowded sometimes. Talk to you again next month.
Donna