with needle & thREAD

Hello, sewing friends!

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

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I've been reading some Urban Farming-type books this week. I'm reading as fast as I can because my husband--who does not have "the Farmer" as his screen name--is out of town and I want to have lots to make a case for turning our yard into a mini farm share with him when he gets back. But I'm going to save those until next week. Because I got a surprise in the mail yesterday and, well, it just looks so pretty with my sewing;-).

I pre-ordered Joanna Figuera's With Fabric & Thread several months ago and it arrived yesterday. I haven't read the whole book, but I do admit to sitting on the front steps and immediately inhaling the fourth chapter. That's where color theory all finally made sense to me. It was all I could do not to phone a friend who plays with paint chips as much as I do and read the whole chapter to her right then and there. 

There are some really lovely projects in this book and I know I will sew many of them. I've already got my eye on a darling apron to keep up my St. Martha's day tradition. It's a flirty retro style that will still cover my mama figure. And there's a pattern for little girls, too, so we'll be all set.

In sewing news, I thought I'd have so much to show, but I don't. I have traced the pattern for Anna Maria Horner's Painted Portrait Blouse. That whole tracing thing is so tedious and bothersome, isn't it? And I've started laying it out and cutting it. The fabric you see there (which is a Fresh Vintage palette--I learned that in Chapter 4), is some Heather Bailey that I've had since I tried to sew when Karoline was a baby. The blouse will have that fabric for the yoke and some coordinating solid green for the rest. I think. What do you think? I thought the print all over might be a bit much on me. I'm barely 5'2" and don't want to look like a stuffed chair. That striped fabric? It's my tablecloth, an Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi, but I'm not sure it's staying. It's not Fresh Vintage. And I most definitely am.

Speaking of which, I did get some needlework done this week. Mike's been gone. Karoline has been staying up way past her bedtime and stitching with me. This quilt square is part of my big anniversary quilt project. The fabric? California Girl by Joanna Figuera:-). I already have fabric to match my new book, fancy that. All most definitely Fresh Vintage.

Finally, my happiest needle news ever? This is Karoline's needlework. She's five! And she embroiders! And she loves it. It's so fun to sit and stitch with her. Aren't these the loveliest butterflies ever? She chose her current favorite books for the picture. 

What are you needling and reading this week?

All the Buzz About Bees

You saw this one coming, didn't you? 

The last couple of weeks, our storybook-a-day has evolved into a rabbit trail of honeybee books. I dug out all out bee books in anticipation of going to meet Ginny's new bees. We read them all and then Katie and Nicky have spent time drawing diagrams and dictating narrations.

The highlight of all of this research, of course, was seeing those bees! They're rather mesmerizing. I can't stop thinking about them. Ginny has much better pictures than my iPhone pictures here. And, we looked for the queen when we were there but couldn't spot her. It was pretty exciting to see these pictures of the queen sighting.

I'm doing a little reading of my own, mostly websites just now, looking to see if there's any possiblity of bees in my own backyard. In the combox on Monday, someone begged me to read Fruitless Fall. Leslie, you'll be happy to know it has been auto-delivered wirelessly to my Kindle. If I read this book and I have to move because i can't bear to be without bees, it's on you;-)

Here are the books in our Bee Basket:

The Life and Times of the Honeybee

The Honeymakers

Are You a Bee?

The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive

The Bee Tree

Honey In a Hive

For more about our Storybook Year, read here. And, there are Storybook Science books, from A-Z, linked here, scroll down on the lefthand side. 

Now, tell me all about your bees, your neighbor's bees, the bees you used to have, the bees you wish you had, bee books for all ages...

Family Recipes: Banana Pudding

I offer this recipe to you with a bit of trepidation. I haven't personally eaten it all together. I tasted parts of it, but definitely not the whole. I'm not a fan of Nilla Wafers. And bananas? I've never really liked bananas. 

One day, when I was about eight, that changed. I learned to hate bananas. I was on a Girl Scout campout and there was nothing I liked for breakfast. So I ate a banana just because I disliked cereal more than I disliked bananas. Shortly after eating the banana, my face and mouth began to swell.

I was rushed to the hospital, pumped full of epinephrine, chased by Benadryl. 

And sent home. 

No one would let me go back to camp. They never said bananas were the culprit. But I hate them to this day.

All that said, my husband is a huge fan of banana pudding. Loves, loves, loves it. And he told my friend Mindy the other day that he really wished I'd make it for him. Big, brown, pitiful puppy dog eyes.

I did some research and tinkered a bit and came up with the following recipe. Mike declared it the best banana pudding EVER. And he's taste-tested all over the country. He was still talking about it four days later. With that stamp of approval, I offer it to you, even though there's no chance I'm quality-checking it myself.

Banana Pudding

• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 5-ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
• 16 ounces heavy whipping cream
• 4 ripe banana
• 1 box of Nilla Wafers

Whip the whipping cream until you have soft peaks and set aside. You can sweeten it a little if you like, but I didn't.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese until perfectly smooth and fluffy. Beat in the condensed milk. When that is smooth, beat in the whole milk, the extract, and the pudding mix until it is all incorporated and smooth. It will thicken a little more after sitting.

Line the bottom of a 9X13 inch glass pan with a single layer of Nilla Wafers. Add a layer of sliced bananas on top.

Gently fold half the whipped cream into the pudding mixture.

Gently spread the pudding mixture on top of the bananas.

Push Nilla Wafers vertically along the side of the pan.

Top the pudding with the remainder of the whipped cream.

If your children haven't yet polished off the remainder of the Nilla Wafers, make crumbs of them and sprinkle on top.

Refrigerate until serving time.

Serves 12 nicely.

I'm told it's top-notch for breakfast the next day.

A Promise to Fear Not

Do you have a fear, something you think about way too often, something your family knows not to mention? You're not proud of it and you try to dispel it, but there it is. I'm writing about fear today at MomHeart. And yes, actually, the picture goes with the fear. Sort of.

Please stop by and talk with us there.

I'll be back here later to post about banana pudding. Right now, I'm searching desperately for bananas and wondering about my midnight snackers.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Hurry! Hurry! Now that Joy has done the amazing re-design here, we've freed up some space for additional sponsors. I meant to get this news out last week or the week before, but I dropped the ball. So, since I just realized that tomorrow's May already, I can't very well charge you for that whole month, can I? 

If you agree to sponsor this blog for the summer months--June, July, and August--May's on me! If you hurry, we can get you all set up tomorrow or the next day. That means, you get the whole month of May for free. And May is a 31 day month:-)

Sponsors here have been very happy and I'm very happy to have them. I love to share them with my readers and I'm so excited about introducing you to some new folks (or some new ventures for old friends) in the next few days.

Give me a shout at intheheartofmyhome AT gmail DOT com to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.