October 2009 Archives

How to ripen green tomatoes

| No Comments | No TrackBacks
how-to-ripen-green-tomatoes.jpg
Have leftover green tomatoes from your summer garden?

Remove leaves and stems. Wash and pat dry.

Store loosely in a brown bag or flat basket covered in a plastic bag.

Add a banana or apple. The ethylene gas from the fruit will speed up ripening.

Check daily. Use tomatoes as they ripen. They'll be a little softer than vine ripening but still more delicious than tomatoes found in grocery stores.
 
And there's nothing quite like getting a little bag of fresh, ripe tomatos when it starts to get cold outside. These make great garden gifts and housewarming gifts!
 
Charlotte
Making life simpler.
 
charlotte wiggins fall purple.jpgCustom Quilts and Gifts on Facebook Fan Page
 
Bluebirds Gardens Etsy Shop
 
Chirp!
chocolate-mice-eating-pumpkin.jpg
We love making chocolate mice for all sorts of occasions.

Chocolate mice are cute, easy to make and people love them, even if they are eating their way through a Halloween pumpkin!

To make an easy Halloween table decoration, start with a small baking pumpkin; cut out a top, then several openings large enough for mice to peek through.

Make a batch of chocolate mice. One small jar of stemmed maraschino cherries will yield about 2 dozen. Makes a great housewarming gift and holiday gift idea, too.

EEK, did someone say they saw a mouse????
 
Charlotte
Making life simpler.
charlotte wiggins fall purple.jpg 
Custom Quilts and Gifts on Facebook Fan Page
 
Bluebirds Gardens Etsy Shop
 
Chirp!
Love your quilts! I'm looking for an inexpensive but fun, thoughtful gift for my kids teachers and babysitter. Any ideas?

Hi Annie,

If you want to make something, do you have a favorite cookie recipe you and your kids can make?

Take photos of the kids making the cookies, then use the photo as a gift tag which includes the cookie recipe and everyone's hand-signed names.

Package the cookies in a basked lined with a nice cotton napkin you can make by binding the edges of a square piece of cotton.

Repurposed tins, lined with wax paper, also make nice cookie containers, especially if you want to make cookies ahead of time and keep them fresh. I sometimes put the cookies in a plastic bag inside the tins.

One dozen cookies per person is a nice amount; most recipes will make between 3-4 dozen cookies.

If you don't have time to make something, our glass blown ladybug ornaments (photo) have ladybug-Xmas-ornaments.jpgbeen popular, inexpensive gifts.

 One of our friends, who is a devoted gardener, gives these every year and uses hers as the tree topper!

Charlotte





What is the best way to protect a quilted wall hanging?


Hi Shelley,

There are several things you can do to protect a quilted wall hanging.
Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for charlotte wiggins fall purple.jpg
First, make sure you hang the quilt away from direct light, away from heating sources like a floor vent and away from fumes from smoking, cooking, candles and other odor-producing items.  

Cottons will quickly absorb odors, and fumes will speed up cotton degradation.

Secondly, make sure your wall hanging is not putting pressure on the quilting, especially if it's hand quilting. A properly mounted wall hanging will evenly distribute the quilt weight to minimize wear on the cotton and quilting.

Finally for best protection, have your quilted wall hanging mounted on acid free backing and use a non-glare glass or plexiglass (much lighter to hang) Mount in a protected area away from direct sun.

Charlotte
japanese umbrella stand.jpg
A Bluebird Gardens visitor is looking for information about this Japanese umbrella stand he purchased in New York.

The new owner is interested in any background information, including possible market value.

Do you know anything about this Japanese umbrella stand?
Hi, I love your quilts but I can't afford a custom one. Is there a way I can get something with my Mom and Dad's photo? 

personalized quilt photo and embroidery.jpgHi Amy,

We sometimes take ready made quilts like Country Double Wedding Ring Quilts, Lap Quilts and throws and add photos and embroidery (see photo)

We can also add embroidery and photos to clothing and pillows.

What did you have in mind?

Charlotte

You have such cute ideas, anything easy for Halloween?

Hi Leslie,

One of our favorite things to make to decorate for Halloween were black garden spiders.
Not only are they easy and fun to make, but one of my brothers uses them for gardening!

You'll also find an easy recipe for spider web cookies on the same page as how to make the garden spiders.

Charlotte








When my grandmother passed away I was given an old quilt she made.  It has several holes in it and would be considered a cutter quilt.  My question is, I have 5 married children that I would like to make something out of this quilt. Any suggestions?

cutter bear with heart buttons 1.jpg


Hi Micki,

The easiest thing to do would be to make pillows out of your grandmother's
quilt.

You could cut 10 pieces for 5 pillows, or if you don't have enough quilt put a different but complimentary cotton backing on the pillows, using the quilt for the front.

Some people turn cutter quilts into heart-shaped pillows, cats, teddy bears (photo)...it all depends on how experienced you are sewing.

I would also recommend doing some embroidery on the pillow with your grandmother's name; something on the back side would work nicely.

Good luck!

Charlotte

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for charlotte wiggins fall purple.jpgBluebird Gardens

http://www.bluebirdgardens.com

Making life easier.

 

Chirp!

http://www.twitter.com/bluebirdgardens



 


bobcat-on-chair.jpg
Cute website. Love the cats, and the garden. Are you really a cat lover? Do you like to garden or is this all for show....

Hi Alice,

I've always loved animals, cats in particular.

And yes, I'm also a proverbial gardener, or as the local newspaper put it in a recent article, I "garden to distraction."

There's something very grounding about being in tune with the seasons; understanding little seedlings will soon produce tomatoes for salads, herbs for soups. And there's nothing like a bouquet of fresh flowers out of the garden to brighten any day.

Cats also help keep me grounded. Regardless of what I think my purpose in life may be, they remind me, as Bobcat is doing sitting on my lap in the photo, I'm their favorite furniture!

Charlotte
Making life simpler.
 
Custom Quilts and Gifts on Facebook Fan Page
 
Bluebirds Gardens Etsy Shop
 
Chirp!

"Am interested in having either 4 or 6  photos printed onto white or off-white fabric to use in a quilt I want to make. Can the photo size on the cloth be 8x10?"

Hi Jessica,

Yes, we can print 8x10 photos onto Color Plus Fabric blocks, each of the blocks is standard paper size 8.5x11.

If you have any other questions please let me know.

Best regards,

Charlotte

charlotte wiggins fall purple.jpgBluebird Gardens

http://www.bluebirdgardens.com

Making life simpler.

 

Custom Quilts and Gifts at Bluebird Gardens on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/bluebirdgardens

 

Bluebird Gardens Etsy Shop

http://www.etsy.com/shops/bluebirdgardens

 

Chirp!

http://www.twitter.com/bluebirdgardens

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for charlotte wiggins fall purple.jpg
Hi Rita,

Oh, my, no, we've not heard of this company.

We also don't use any pre-treated polishing
cloths on our furniture, we treat everything
with Howard Feed N Wax and Howard Orange Oil.

Has anyone else heard of this product
and company?

Charlotte



About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from October 2009 listed from newest to oldest.

September 2009 is the previous archive.

November 2009 is the next archive.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Powered by Movable Type 4.261