Betty Crocker Mixes

Times Supermarket had the Betty Crocker gluten free mixes on sale, so I thought get them to try them. There are four of them. The first one I tried was the cookie mix. We had a meeting to go to and had to bring some dessert. I thought I'd take the cookies for dessert, but they were a disappointment. They turned out flat and crumbled when you tried to pick them up to eat them. I ended up buying oatmeal raisin cookies from Safeway for the meeting. I took some of my crumbly cookies to eat, but not to share. : (

Next, I tried the yellow cake mix and made cupcakes for a lunch. These were delicious. I left them unfrosted because I wasn't sure if the frosting was gluten free. I took them to the lunch, but hardly anyone ate them. Was it because they were unfrosted? Oh well, more for me. YUM! They're gone now, but they were so good I'd buy this mix again.

Wattle Seed Muffins

I finally tried this gluten free muffin mix my brother sent me from Oz made with wattle seeds. I used applesauce instead of macadamia nut oil or butter. It was very moist because of the applesauce. As soon as I opened the bag, I felt sick from the smell. I did taste a little of it, but I couldn't handle eating it. My husband said it tasted like coffee. Oh well, my voice teacher loved it because of this. Thanks anyway, bro, sorry I couldn't handle eating it.

Water Bottle Carrier #2 and Seam Rippers

This is a picture of the first water bottle carrier I made for my husband. I made the mistake of using nylon for the outside and the inside. The nylon on the outside wasn't very sturdy and started ripping.

This is a picture of the new carrier I made for him. It has denim on the outside, nylon on the inside, and is much sturdier than the last one. Again, I used Carol's pattern. This time I did not embroider anything on the outside. It's just plain. My husband really likes it.

Recently, while I was reading The Quilter's Message Board, there was a thread about seam rippers. The question was asked if seam rippers can become dull. It appears that they can and it is difficult to find a way to sharpen them.

I've had my seam ripper for 20+ years...I never knew that they could become dull. They talked about using an emery board and the Samurai Shark to sharpen them. I'll try the emery board first. In the meantime, I bought myself a new one. The white one is my old one. The brown one is my new one. I'll let you know how the emery board works. If you try it first please let me know if it works.

Carolina Christmas Part 3

My machine kept jamming when I sewed these two pieces together to make step 3 of Carolina Chirstmas. After quite a few of these, I figured out that I needed to change my needle. Then things went much better and I am finally finished with step 3.

Here is a picture of my finished pieces for step 3 of Carolina Christmas. I'm not sure when I will get to step 4 because I'm working a my Japanese Buzzsaw quilt, which I blogged about here. I am finally finishing up the binding. After that I need to make a label...I need to find some white on white or beige fabric to make the label on. I'll post more about it later when I'm done with it. I'd tell you more now, but it's going to be a gift. I really don't want to say anymore until the people I give it to receive it. I want it to be a surprise. : )