A Passion for Blue and White

Six years ago when I purchased and began planning to decorate

Buttermilk Cottage,

I decided my color palette would be red, blue and yellow.

I love the combination of the colors together.

Early on I found a wonderful fabric

that became the basis of my kitchen decorations.

I fell in love with all those blue and white

flower pots.

Imagine my delight at finding this art print,

THE ARRANGEMENT by Bobbie Burgers!

It now hangs over my living room mantel.

Next, I began collecting blue and white Chinese ceramic pots 

in which to plant my violets.

Since then, my collection of blue and white

has grown...

ginger jars, candlesticks, carpet balls...

It's not just me...

TRADITIONAL HOME

often (and recently),

features blue and white motifs on their covers.

I even found a blue and white Chinese cigarette box.

I'm not so politically incorrect as to keep cigarettes in it,

but it makes a nifty holder for sweets!

What's your color passion?

Has it generated a collection for you?

At Last!!!

Finally!

It took us all season to get there,

and there were times I doubted we ever would,

but FINALLY,

Mary and Matthew,

together at last!

Ahhhhh....

Morning Muffins!

Last Wednesday I hosted my knitting group.

We've been knitting together for years.

We meet once a week and rotate around

to knit at each other's houses.

It's a totally low maintenance group.

The hostess is not expected to supply anything

except a place to meet.

However, being good Southern woman that we are,

the hostess always has coffee and tea available

and more often than not,

some sort of baked goodie to nibble on.

Since I try to only bake when people are coming,

my knitting group day is a fine time to try new recipes.

The January 2012, edition of SOUTHERN LIVING

provided me with

Applesauce Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl whisk together:

4 cups baking mix (Bisquick)

1/2 c. sugar

2 t. ground cinnamon

Make a well in center of mixture

In a small bowl, whisk together

2/3 c. chunky applesauce

1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. vegetable oil

2 large eggs

Add to sugar mixture,

stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Spoon batter into a lightly greased 12-cup muffin pan,

filling almost completely full.

(My muffin cups are a bit smaller than one cup,

so I got 18 muffins, which were plenty big enough.)

Sprinkle Cinnamon Streusel Topping over batter.

Cinnamon Streusel Topping

Whisk together until blended:

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

3 T. all-purpose baking mix

1/4 t. cinnamon

Stir 2 T. melted butter into this mixture

until well blended and crumbly.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18 - 20 minutes.

Cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes.

Remove from pan to a wire rack.

Add a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy!

Valentine's Day

Have a sweet one!

What's New in My Shop this Week?

One of the nice thing about being able to "stream" Netflix

is that it gives me lots of knitting time while I watch.

I've just finished and added this scarf and



 slouchy hat to my Etsy shop.

Both are knitted with my very own boutique yarn

FUSION in "French Vanilla" colorway.

The Geek Squad...

...was here on Wednesday.

Have you ever used them?

My experience was a good one

and I wouldn't hesitate to call upon them again.



This was a Christmas present.

I managed to connect it up to my television,

but my attempts to connect it to the Internet

for "streaming" purposes were hopeless.

(I make NO claims at being a geek.)

They had me at the front door,

when two young guys arrived

and slipped on their booties to cover their shoes.

(Who does that???)

In a matter of time everything was connected

and I was good to go.

It was funny that both of them couldn't

get over how "small" my television is.

(I didn't tell them the set they were working on,

 IS my big TV!)

Seems the "bigger the better" is the current way

to choose a new set.

They assured me when I was ready to get a new (big) one,

they'd come back and set it up.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Maybe I'll watch a movie or two...

By the way, thank you Rick and Terry for

your lovely Christmas gift!

Sew Busy!

This is my office chair with a "just finished" slip cover.

Just before I moved into Buttermilk Cottage six years ago,

I sent out my desk chair and had it reupholstered

in a pretty blue to match my new office/sewing room.

The newly done chair was delivered before

I actually moved into the house.

I then had the cable/Internet company come and

get all that stuff wired and set up.

Since my "new" chair was in place in the room

where the cable guy was working,

he planted himself on my new chair!

The one I hadn't even sit in yet!

When he left, I discovered a spot on my chair!

Can you see it?

I tried rubbing it with a clean cloth and water,

but probably made it worse.

So, I've lived with it all these years.

Over time the blue has faded

so it was time to give the chair something

new to wear.

I discovered McCall's pattern, M4404 and thought I'd

try my hand at slipcover making.

On a recent trip to Ikea I had picked up a

white cotton bedspread they call "Indira."

I  liked the texture of it and had

no plans for it, so thought I'd use it.

I wanted something  I didn't have to

worry about fading (white=perfect),

and could throw into the washer and dryer,

(100% cotton=perfect).

First step was to wash and dry the bedspread.

After cutting out the pattern,

I placed the pieces on the chair to check the fit.

My chair's back fans out and the

pattern's is straight.



So I did a little alteration to the pattern,

adding the extra width and shape with extra paper.

The chair got another fitting and it looked okay.

Next came placing the pattern piece on the fabric and cutting them.

Once I started sewing, there were many more

"fittings" as I went along.

And some basting was needed to

make sure everything fit.

It was quite a lesson in slip covering a chair

I'm fairly happy with the finished results,

although I already know I'll do it again,

and make more revisions to the pattern for

a better finished fit and look.

Wouldn't it be perfect in a white matelasse? 

I recently passed up a white matelasse bedspread

in a consignment shop ($35.00) which would

have been perfect!

Lesson learned, get things when you find them,

even if you're unsure where you'll use them!

This week I'm sharing at

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style.

Winter Interlude

My sister Nancy and I have just returned from a week long,

winter interlude which included a few days in Florida.

Last Monday we drove to Atlanta,

did some shopping,

(Pottery Barn, Ballard, Ikea--yeah!)

visited with an old friend of Nancy's,

Dodd, who graciously shared his

home with us for the night.

Dodd has just purchased a mid-century house

in Atlanta and it was fun seeing it and

hearing his all his plans for it.

The next day, we drove to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.

My dear friend Carolyn (you can read more about her here)

had rented a condo for the entire month of January

and had invited us for a visit.

Santa Rosa Beach is on the Gulf.

Although the weather was not warm enough for swimming,

it was fine for walking on the beach.

Seaside, Florida is just a few miles from Santa Rosa.

I have heard about Seaside for years and it was fun to finally see it.

The houses are all varied and charming.

This is the view from Carolyn's condo.

We spent several lovely hours sitting on her balcony

enjoying the blue sky, blue water and warm sunshine!

All good things must come to an end and

we made our way home on Friday,

staying the night in Chattanooga.

We had planned a stop in Montevallo, Alabama

which is the home of Nancy and my alma mater,

the University of Montevallo.

However, as we left the sunshine state,

the sunshine left us.

It was so rainy, gray and foggy

we opted not to stop.

Last night it was home again, home again,

jiggity jig!

I always love going,

but I always love getting home again too!

View from My Window Today

We had our first snow fall last night.

And although it wasn't a lot of snow,

it's a bitter cold, with a howling wind blowing,

kind of day.

And, they're saying on the news there's black ice.

I can attest to that.

When I took Daisy out for her first walk this morning,

it was too slippery to walk on the sidewalk.

It's a good day for staying inside and

maybe doing a little photo shoot.



Maybe, just maybe it would also be a good day to

tidy up a little.

I'll probably just spend my time knitting.

This is my current project,

a Fusion Yarn scarf in "Plum Pudding" colorway.

Yum!

Whatever you're doing today,

have a nice one!