Podcast 005 - Giving Thanks

YAY! My podcast is early this time! Total length of podcast: 38:27

CLICK HERE to listen to Podcast 005. Right click on the link and save it to your hard drive, or better yet, so you don't miss future podcasts, subscribe using one of the links to the right.

You can download the MP3 audio file (which can be played in iTunes or other multimedia players) and skip to whatever segment interests you -- check the minute marker for each segment.

INTRODUCTION

Today's bumper music is a guitar instrumental of the 19th-century hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful." The lyrics were written by 19th-century Irish poet Cecil Frances Alexander. Here is the poem:

All Things Bright and Beautiful

by 19th-Century Irish Poet Cecil Frances Alexander

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,

Each little bird that sings,

He made their glowing colors,

He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountain,

The river running by,

The sunset, and the morning,

That brightens up the sky;

The cold wind in the winter,

The pleasant summer sun,

The ripe fruits in the garden,

He made them every one.

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell,

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all things well.

This is the mesh scarf I made, and a close-up of the Irish roses. It's really quite pretty!

The ear warmers I designed myself using a simple cable stitch. YES, I learned to knit! HOORAY!

• CLICK HERE to read about my Baltimore Album Quilt journey.
• CLICK HERE to read about my Dear Jane quilt journey.
• CLICK HERE to go to the Dear Jane Web site.

CLICK HERE for the free Alice in Wonderland downloadable redwork pattern The Mad Hatter.

THE FIBER ARTS SEGMENT [Podcast minute marker: 11:27]

Titus Andronicus contemplates the Merci Bouquet - Basket of Blessings appliqued quilt pillow

Today's project is an appliqued quilt block that features ruched flowers and gathered leaves. I used the technique of back-basted applique to attach the basket and handle.

• CLICK HERE for the Merci Bouquet - Basket of Blessings applique project sheet.
• CLICK HERE for the back-basting applique tutorial.
• CLICK HERE for the ruching and gathered leaves tutorial.
• CLICK HERE for the pillow project sheet.

THE PAPER ARTS SEGMENT [Podcast minute marker: 19:30]

Today's project is an elegant thank-you card made using your own hand-carved stamps.

 

Supplies and tools for Soft-Block Carving 201

Using the pencil-on-paper transfer method

The shadow pear carved

The outline pear carved (sorry the photo is bad!)

Practicing on scrap paper

• CLICK HERE for the Soft-Block Carving 201 tutorial
• CLICK HERE for an in-depth soft-block carving resource sheet.
• CLICK HERE for the thank-you card project sheet.
• CLICK HERE to go to my soft-block carving Web site -- check out the gallery!

THE RECIPE SEGMENT [Podcast minute marker: 28:00]

Today's recipe is Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Spiced Sugar and Whipped Butter.

Here is a photo of real yams, which are grown in Asia and Africa. They are not what we traditionally eat in the United States. Here when you see a can of "candied yams" in the supermarket, you're really eating sweet potatoes. Yams and sweet potatoes are not even related!

Yams, which can grow to 7 feet in length!

Sweet potatoes with salt and oil

Ingredients to make the topping (whipped butter is at the right)

Out of the oven, and the top has been scored and squashed

CLICK HERE to download the recipe for Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Spiced Sugar and Whipped Butter.

THE GRAB BAG [Podcast minute marker: 34:02]

This is the cookbook I compiled 15 years ago. In addition to wonderful family recipes (including some really funny ones), it includes little stories about my family and our love of food. If there's interest, in a future podcast I'll share how I created the cookbook, and give you advice on how you can create your own, without resorting to one of the companies that publishes cookbooks for you. It was great fun, and a real learning experience!

 And remember...

Creativity isn't a race...

it's an adventure!