Happy Easter!

Yesterday we spent the day searching for Easter Eggs, coloring Easter eggs, and doing all sorts of Easter preparations. The kids thoroughly enjoyed their Easter activities and celebrations, we enjoyed spending time with friends and each other, and we especially loved the reminder of our Savior and Redeemer of all mankind, Jesus Christ.


To help us all remember our Savior this Easter, our church produced this video about the Atonement of Christ.  I hope you enjoy it this special Easter Day.

And, what would Easter be without some amazing food to share with our beloved families? 


 To help, here is one of our new favorites (courtesy of allrecipes.com)...

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions

1. Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough/Knead and First Rise Cycle; press Start.
2. When cycle finishes, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden.

Happy Easter from our Home to YOURS!

What is Quilting?

Someone asked me the other day about Quilting....like what is it? So, I will give you all the terms of quilting, so you can seem like a quilting genious... 

To answer...the picture above is a quilt. It has a front and a back, and in the middle is batting (the batting can be cotton, poly, wool, bamboo, etc......), and it is finished off by the binding (around the edges).

Below is a picture of the actual....QUILTING...these are the stitches.  You can quilt in whatever pattern you can draw.  Scrolls, butterflies, spaceships, planets, flowers, lines, etc....  You can do anything.  But, it is better if you can pick a pattern where the lines are continuous.

Now....if you want more info...keep reading.  If you are satisfied...STOP!    

Some people think that if you have a machine that quilts, that the machine just quilts for you.  THIS IS NOT TRUE!  I do all my own quilting, it is a challenge for me.  As much as I love quilting, this is the part where I stress out a little.  So, no...I don't push a button, and then out comes a quilt.  

AS IF....I WISH! 

 I have to roll this baby up, make it fit in the machine, and then I have to move it all around to achieve the desired result (and sometimes the result is not as I imagined).

Hopefully, you feel like you know a quilt a little better.....