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Friday, February 27, 2009

Making a Placket

Plackets confused me terribly. I finally got it and now can make a placket for any garment. My ex. When you use buttons down the back of a dress, a nice little placket is stitched where the skirt top meets under the buttons. Shirt cuffs are another example. Where you button the cuff is where your placket is.

1. This is the back of a dress skirt, not yet attached to the bodice, you do that after. I cut an opening of desired length; 3 in" is usually big enough for my girls. The skirt is inside out. Open the placket cut flat as shown.
2. The width of my plackets are 2", measure the length of the placket and cut a matching strip from your dress fabric.
3. Turn the skirt over on top of the placket, so right sides of the skirt and right sides of the placket can be pinned in place.

4. Take to the sewing machine and with matching dress thread, sew a seam allowance that will be able to catch the middle cut and secure it. Make sure your dress is laying FLAT and the cut will almost be even with the raw edge.
5. Flip over and iron up, make a hem on the strip, and turn over to meet the inside sewing line. I don't give the hem measurement because it may not meet the line you have sewn, that will depend on the seam allowance. Adjust the hem to fit the line. I found it much easier to make my own measurements for my needs, instead of following a pattern guide : )!

Do you see how it is pinned? I keep my left hand under the skirt to grab pins and top stitch this neatly with a matching cotton thread. It comes out much straighter than if I was sewing from the inside.














6. Your placket is finished! Wasn't that simple? We attached the bodice here, and all that we need to do is hem under the lining and slip stitch, then add our pretty pearl buttons.








Monday, February 16, 2009

Love Covers All

Yesterday one of the verses that was given was Proverbs 10:12. I am a KJV lady all the way, it can be a challenge to read at times, but Lord willing (and I think He is), God will continue to help me understand it. I wanted to compare the versions of this verse because it holds so much in one tiny sentence.
Ok, so here we go:

NIV: Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.
NAS: Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.
ESV: Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
KJV: Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Different versions but God calls it and it's black and white. Hatred will stir up strife and dissension.
Dissension is defined in the dictionary as:
A disagreement or difference of opinion, especially when leading to open conflict. Dissension.
Strife is defined in the dictionary as:
bitter conflict or rivalry: bitter and sometimes violent conflict, struggle, or rivalry. Strife.
Don't you love a dictionary. I wonder how many people look up words in their bible so they can have a deeper meaning!
Ok, so it seems the Word is saying that if there is any of this, then hate is involved. We need to ask if we are hating!

LOVE: The dictionary has transitive verbs, and nouns as usage. Some we know won't mean the love spoke of here because it would contradict other scripture, so here is love as a verb and noun as best as I can understand how to love someone who offends:

v. feel tender affection for somebody
n. very strong affection: an intense feeling of tender affection and compassion

We need to ask if we are LOVING!

Now take the last part of each compared verse. I love that they all were different: Wrongs, transgressions, offenses or sins. We don't need to define it, we know what it means.
Romans 3:20: because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Now apply it in your situation. Do you hate? Do you love deeply?
What would cause strife or dissension in your heart? We all have it at one time or another. I asked God last night to help me love a non-believer who has done terrible wrongs to my husband. I'm finding it hard to love this person, finding it easier to hate him, and I asked God to show me how to apply His Love. I'm expecting great things with that prayer, not that the transgressor would be changed, but me. We have this tremendous power to love and overlook, and this power is by the grace of God, do you have this grace and power?

A situation where you treat your brethren with dissension or strife will hold as many times a heartache however. I'm seeing this in circles of people and how sad, sad it is. Brethren hold up the family of Christ. There should be no strife between them, there is a way to work it out. Do you have a situation where you can agree that these verses need to be applied and LOVE needs to cover the wrongs?

The deeper study of this verse was eye opening. May the Lord grant grace and mercy in our situations.

Blessings, Theresa

Thursday, February 12, 2009

February Quilt Block

I almost forgot to post a picture of our quilt block for this month! This month's special technique is shadow applique`. I must say I was very impressed with how it turned out, very soft and pastel in color. It will be fun to see what all of the quilt members do with their blocks!




Hope everyone is having blessed day! Jessica

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Banana Bread

I made banana bread for breakfast this morning.. thought I would take pictures and share the recipe! This is one of our favorites :)

In the Bosch mixer with the cookie paddle attachment combine:

1 cup softened butter
2 1/2 cups sugar

Beat until light and fluffy. Add 4 large eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl dissolve 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda in 1 cup of sour cream. Add to the butter and egg mixture, beating well again. Add:

3 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
Mix until well combined. Add:
1 1/2 tsp. Real Salt (sea salt)
6 cups freshly ground soft wheat (pastry) flour

Mix well. ~If you want to make this recipe with white all-purpose flour, then only add 3 1/2 cups. When using soft wheat flour, if the flour has just been milled, you will need to use the full 6 cups. This is because flour when freshly milled tends to have a lot of air in it.. as opposed to flour that has had time to sit and deflate! If the flour has been sitting for more than a day, then I would start out with 5 cups, and then if the batter does not seem stiff enough, then add one more cup.~
Divide batter evenly between two greased loaf pans. We normally sprinkle chocolate chips on top of ours! Sprinkle about 1/3-1/2 cup chocolate chips on top of each loaf. Use a butter knife to poke the chips slightly down into the batter. Top each with 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Bread is done when knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Enjoy!


The battery in the camera died before I could take a picture after it was baked.. :)

Blessings, ~*~Jessica~*~

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Homeschool Freebie of the Day!

Joyous Home is the featured freebie of the day on Jim Erskine's website The Homeschool Freebie of the Day. Only for today our ebook, Let's Make Old Fashioned Candy!, is for you to download for free :)

Per Jim: "Today’s resource is this great little “how to” guide for creating both some yummy homemade candy AND some fun memories with your kids. Seasons At Home Magazine provides this short, sweet and simple guide to creating four kinds of old fashioned candies: Homemade Lollipops, Old Fashioned Molasses Twists, Gum Drops and Marshmallows! As they say in this guide, “Candy making can be so much fun, and needs only basic supplies normally found in your kitchen.” Full of photos and easy recipes, this will be a big hit in a lot of homes on those cold winter days when you need some fun “inside” projects with your kids."

So stop by and pick up your free ebook!

Many blessings, Theresa and Jessica

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Fresh Ground Flour or White?

In cleaning out some files, I came across some information in a file and I'm sure I got it off of one of the agriculture sites, and I'm not happy I can't reference the source! It's great info on why we mill our own grains.


The part that really makes me thankful for my mill is knowing what they do to 'make' white flour. (Last paragraph) They put chlorine in the flour to "hasten" the whitening process. Good grief..!

Our taste buds (not to mention our stomachs) have become so accustomed to grain flour, white flour only takes like rubber to us. Now, adding a cup or two to french bread IS good!
I know some folks cannot afford mills. It is worth saving for, put away a little here, you'll never regret it.




Fresh or Fake?


New techniques were developed that allowed the bran to be separated from the wheat kernel in order to produce cleaner, whiter, and finer textured flour. Chilled rollers, constructed of porcelain or iron, were used to grind the wheat so that heat did not build up. Because the nutrient-rich bran and germ are removed when producing white flour, it is often enriched with vitamins and minerals to replace the missing nutrients.

The use of steel grinding equipment for milling wheat is a common procedure for mills that produce large volumes of flour (known as steel-ground flour) for commercial use and retail sales. The wheat germ and bran are separated from the remaining portion of the kernel automatically, but are returned to the flour later in the milling process to produce the whole-wheat flour. Small quantities of bran and germ may be lost during the process, however when wheat is milled with the traditional method of cold grinding between heavy millstones, no part of the wheat kernel is lost or separated. Many people regard stone ground wheat flour as the most flavorful and nutritious.

Many types of wheat flour are available in bleached and unbleached varieties. Wheat flour becomes white (actually off-white) naturally through oxidation, which in earlier times was the method used by flour millers to create white flour. This eventually became impractical because of the time and space required for large quantities of flour to oxidize naturally so chemical bleaching was developed, which hastens the whitening process. The chemicals used for bleaching flour (usually chlorine, which evaporates after it is added to the flour) act as a preservative so that the flour will not develop an off flavor or spoil after a short period. The chemicals also prevent dough from becoming discolored and provide more consistent results when baking, however the chemicals affect the gluten strength of the flour, therefore bread makers often prefer unbleached flour.




(We use the Nutrimill, the one we sell and recommend)




Blessings, Theresa

Friday, February 6, 2009

Divisions Are Not Always Bad...

This morning my thoughts took me to Romans 2:17-29. In short Paul says: Are you confident that you yourself are guide to the blind? A corrector of the foolish? A teacher of the immature? Then with a slam, do you teach yourself? Ouch. When I read that verse, I sometimes think of the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz, "Yes, some people without brains to an awful lot of talking, don't they?"
I'm confident of one thing right now; I still have too much to learn at my age to boast. I still desire to sit at the feet of women older than I. Do you?
If at anytime the Lord does use me, I'd prefer not to know. He'll tell me one day what I've done, I can trust Him well with that.


Moving to another good reminder from A.W. Tozer in "Divisions Are Not Bad" from "God Tells the Man Who Cares."

"The first divider was God, He divided light and darkness, they are incompatible. All holds true for such things as moral and religious dealings as well as political and science. But is it all bad when division must happen?"

He continues: "In a world of men there are at present scarcely any sharp outlines. The race is fallen. Sin has brought confusion. The wheat grows with the tares, the sheep coexist and the mission is next door to the saloon.

But things will not always be so. The hour is coming when the sheep will be divided from the goats and the tares separated from the wheat....For that time we with patience wait.

Power lies in the union of things similar, and the division of things dissimilar. Maybe what we need in religious circles today isn't more union, but some wise and courageous division."

He is one of my favorite reads. His book was given to me a man that worked with my mother when I worked at the Dept. of Energy. He had found out I was all of a sudden "converted." This was back in 1992. I always knew him to be the nicest and smartest man, but really he was wise man under God. Well, I remember trying to read Tozer's work as a new believer and it was too deep. I didn't get it! When I read it now, it's like music. Isn't God wonderful to take us from milk to food?

Blessings, Theresa

Monday, February 2, 2009

Mini Pizzas

For many years, Friday night has been the night we make pizza. We have hardly tarried from this tradition for as long as I can remember. However, sometimes we just feel like having pizza twice for the week. I made these last week for lunch. Yummy! Very easy.. you shouldn't need directions once you get past the sauce.. :)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In the Bosch mixer combine:

3 cups warm water
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. Real Salt (sea salt)
2 cups freshly ground hard wheat flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. SAF yeast (instant yeast)
Begin mixing. Add unbleached white flour, one cup at a time until the sides of the bowl are clean. Knead for 5 minutes. Allow to rest for 15 minutes. As a side note, this recipe also makes 3 regular size pizzas.


Our pizza sauce recipe ~In a blender combine the following and blend well:

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 -1/2 tsp. Real Salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. basil
dash pepper
Pull off small balls of dough (how much depends on how thick you want the crust), flatten them out on greased baking pans, until they resemble small pizzas! I made mine about 5 inches in diameter. The rest of the recipe is layered as follows: sauce, cheese and toppings :)
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Or, as we sometimes say around here, "before the smoke alarm goes off"


Blessings, ~*~Jessica~*~

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