Virtual Cookie Exchange

(pictures missing from Blogger)

Susanne Myers, The Hillbilly Housewife, has organized a Cookie Exchange. I'm not sure if I sent her my recipe in time or not, so I'll but it here too.

I never liked sugar cookies until I tasted these made by my aunt, and I immediately asked for the recipe.

Sugar Cookies

Mix together   1c powdered sugar

                       1c white sugar

                       1c margarine

                       1c oil

Add     2 eggs

Add                1 tsp vanilla [I usually use almond extract]

                       1 tsp salt

                       1 tsp baking soda

                       1 tsp cream of tartar

Add                4 ¼ c flour

Chill overnight. Roll in walnut size balls. Place on cookie sheet. Dip a glass in sugar and press lightly.

Bake at 375º for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly brown.

This also works in a Spritz gun. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes.

Living in ‘dairy country’, I felt I should be using butter instead of the margarine. The cookies are very different using butter instead of margarine. The butter makes them more chewy. Using margarine, they are drier and just melt in your mouth---yum!! So we just stick to margarine. These are the cookies I made to make the Turkey Cookies with the grandkids.

I haven't done much sewing lately. I kinda hit a lull, and it feels really weird. I have so many things I want to do for myself, but I feel lost, I don't know where to start.

My Husqvarna Sapphire 850 is almost 2 years old, so I took it in Monday for its final free checkup and cleaning. The tension has been off ever since I had it in last summer. I get loops of needle thread on the bottom, and no matter how much I adjusted the tension I couldn't get it really good. That was when I was piecing, quilting was no problem, the backside looked fine. 

I finally finished a pillow cover I started in November of 2005.

Front is Rail Fence blocks on point with corner triangles. This has probably poly high-loft batting under the top.  

The back pieces have only thin cotton batting.

I sewed the front and backs right sides together and turned right side out, and then attempted to topstitch around the edge, sewing to miss the seam allowances. So I was sewing through the top, batting, lining, back, batting, lining and it did not want to cooperate with me. I had lots of skipped stitches. With the black fabric on the front, it doesn't show too much. And it's DONE!    And of course, when I sewed on scrap fabric to take along and show them how it's doing, I could get the tension decent. So what else is new?! But when I tried to get it to sew that way on scrap fabric to take along and show them, it looked okay!

Here is a small wallhanging or tabletopper I made over the weekend. I'm not sure if the pattern has a name or not, someone else pieced it, and the fabric is some older stuff.

Yesterday I started a flannel shirt for Mike for Christmas. The flannel is the really heavy flannel that I bought at Wal-mart over 6 years ago [the receipt was in the bag]. I bought some quilted nylon when I dropped of my machine on Monday. I found my men's shirt pattern, but not the instruction sheet, so I sure hope I remember the correct sequence.

Now I better get to work!