I’ve been toying with the idea of making homemade laundry detergent lately, and I know lots of people have blogged about that. One other thing I’d like to mention about laundry is that I truly love Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day lavender laundry detergent. It has the most realistic lavender scent I’ve ever smelled, and it truly is aromatherapeutic. When I use it, I feel relaxed and have a smile on my face.

However, Mrs. Meyer’s detergent costs $11 for 64 oz., which is good for 32 loads. Ouch! So what I’ve done to make it last as long as possible, is to use it only for loads with shirts. That way, when we’re wearing them, we can smell it and feel happy! I don’t use it for whites or darks, because I’m probably not going to notice how they smell. I use the cheap dollar store detergent for them.

If I truly didn’t have the money, I wouldn’t buy it at all, but this technique helps me get the most “bang for the buck” and helps brighten my day.

The final price on my little quilt was $200–can you imagine?  I was pleased to be able to donate that much to the guild.  They do have other fundraisers, such as raffle tickets, that I don’t participate in.  The mini quilt auction is my way of giving back what I’ve received.

 I must admit–it looked very nice hanging on the wall

 

Well sure enough, the little quilt pictured below had a big blue ribbon next to it when I went to the quilt show yesterday! I felt very honored. The quilt ladies said they had calculated that it has over 600 pieces–I’m glad I didn’t know that before I started, or I might have been discouraged. It was part of a silent auction, and the highest bid at that time was $130, but the show continued today, so I don’t know the final amount. This is my way of raising money for the quilt guild. I saw lots of pretty quilts at the show–in the next day or so I’ll put them on my picasa web album for all to see (just click on “My Quilt Photos” in the right sidebar.)

The Quilter Mom has been neglecting the household in order to finish the latest magnum opus. (I know, you’re only supposed to have one greatest work in your lifetime.) Anyhow, this miniature quilt is for our quilt guild’s auction a week from tomorrow. It is the storm at sea pattern, and measures about 13″ by 15″.

I was really pleased with how it turned out. Things like this just take patience. That’s the answer I give to people who say, “How can you work with such tiny pieces?” My quilting friends were impressed as well, so I felt like my labor was not in vain.

I’ll try to post an update next week so that you’ll know how much it sold for!

Today at breakfast, while we were eating our pancakes, I told the kids that when we first married, I was using Bisquick to make pancakes. I characterized them as big, fat, and ugly. One Saturday we were hosting a pancake breakfast at the house for a small group, and I ran out of Bisquick. Betty Crocker, what do I do? I got out the trusty red cookbook, and set to work making pancakes from scratch. I probably didn’t have any buttermilk in the house, but I might have used sour milk (made with vinegar).

Needless to say, I had saved the best for last, and we never looked back…at the Bisquick box. I transformed myself into a buttermilk cook like my mother, and now we have made from scratch, whole wheat pancakes on a regular basis. Very easy, and oh, so tasty!

Here’s a recipe in case Betty Crocker doesn’t live at your house. I like my pancakes pretty thin, so if you like fat ones, use the same amount of flour and buttermilk.

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
2 T. oil —beat these ingredients with a whisk, then add:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, pastry or regular
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
Mix with whisk until smooth.
Bake on preheated griddle (325 degrees on my electric skillet) until bubbles form, then flip carefully. Makes 12-14 4″ pancakes.

I invited Mother and my sister down for hamburgers Friday night. When we eat together, it’s much more likely that we do so at Mother’s, but I thought it would be good for them to get out. Mother walked in the door, and was amazed at all the books, just like all the other visitors who have never been at my house. She said, “I don’t think I remember being in your house before!”

Mother has been to my house many times…just one of the pieces of memory that have fluttered away like a butterfly in the wind…

However, we had a great time, and it really didn’t matter if she thought she’d ever been here before! I got out some single quilt blocks I’d made, and we admired them. She said quilting skipped a generation with her, but I reminded her that she’s always loved quilts, just never got around to making very many of them. That love of geometric patchwork definitely passed on to me.

Recently, I had plenty of laundry to do, and I remembered how I was really needing a new clothespin bag. I’d already worn out one from Goodwill, another from Wal-mart, and now the plastic bag the clothespins came it was in shreds. I really didn’t feel like a long involved sewing project, so I just grabbed a pair of jeans my son had outgrown, whacked off the legs, and sewed across where I had just cut with a zigzag stitch. Voila–a clothespin bag! I used ribbon to tie it onto my laundry basket, through the belt loops. I was finished in 15 minutes, and ready to launder the world. My son thought it was cool–”Was that my jeans?”

This has been the summer of baby quilts. Four babies born, four quilts to make! Here’s a close-up picture of one. I think these smiley suns are just the cutest thing–and I made this one from scraps! Of course, now I have almost no yellow scraps, but plenty of blues left. The other boy quilt was a farm theme, with black and red gingham, and applique blocks featuring Overall Sam and some quirky black-headed sheep. The girl quilts were scrappy nine patches set on point, one with sea green background, and the other with graduated shades of pink. They turned out nice, considering I didn’t go to the store and buy a bunch of expensive coordinating fabrics!

Headmistress at the Common Room has introduced us all to DailyLit, a tiny piece of a novel conveniently (and insistently) delivered to your email box each day. I took a look at the selections, and chose A Tale of Two Cities. I was assigned to read this in high school, and did so, but can’t remember a thing about it except that it’s about the French revolution. So…since we’ll be doing House of Education year 9 next year, I thought this would be a good choice. Maybe this time around I’ll get a better grasp of the deep meanings…(I know they’re in there somewhere I read the first portion today, and felt like there were a lot of insinuations that I didn’t understand, because I’m a 21st century American, but I will press on.

I was listening to Dave Ramsey the other day, and he had a guest on named John Miller. He has written a book called QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, and was talking about it. You may think that’s a weird title, but it’s actually a very interesting concept. Basically, when problems arise, instead of asking the usual questions, such as “Why is this happening to me?” or “When is so-and-so going to fix this?”, the question behind the question is, “What can I personally do to make this situation better?”

Mr. Miller, of course, speaks to business people about his concepts, but I can see where this would work in just about any area of life. My husband and I have been working for churches all our married life, and seen numerous situations arise where this would be helpful, and would have eliminated a lot of finger-pointing and blaming others. The results of asking this question and following through with it leads to personal accountability, and better productivity for your team members, whether they be your family, your church or your business associates.