MUG COASTER COZY

I've been battling a cold that has been hanging on for a while.

Needless to say, I don't have much energy to do anything.

So I rest on my sofa, I crocheted this cozy.

The coaster portion is worked in continuous rounds; 

do not sl st to join.  At row 7, you begin working

back and forth in rows.  The coaster cozy will

fit your standard 10-11 oz. mug.

SUPPLIES:

• worsted weight yarn, approximately 40 yards
• US H hook
• yarn needle
• button
• thread and needle for attaching button

INSTRUCTIONS:

Round 1: 6 Sc in a magic circle. (6)
Round 2: 2 Sc in each st around. (12)
Round 3: ✽ Sc in next st, 2 sc in next st ✽ repeat around. (18)
Round 4: ✽ Sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st ✽ repeat around. (24)
Round 5: ✽ Sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st ✽ repeat around. (30)
Round 6: ✽ Sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st ✽ repeat around. (36)
Row 7: Sl st in next st, ch 1, sc in same st, ✽ sk next st, 2 sc in next st ✽ 16 times; ch 1, turn. (33)
Row 8-16: Sc in first st, ✽ sk next st, 2 sc in next st ✽ repeat across; ch 1, turn. (33)
Row 17: (Sc, ch 1, sc) in first st, sc across to last st in the row, (sc, ch 1, sc) in last st; sc evenly down the edge, across the 3 base sts and up the other edge. Sl st to join in the first sc, ch 14, sl st in same st; fasten off and weave in loose end.

Finishing
Sew your button on the corner opposite the ch-14 loop you made in row 17. Fit a mug
into your cozy, slip the loop over the button, and pour yourself a nice hot cup of coffee or
tea. Enjoy!

To make the magic circle, click video for a youtube tutorial:  VIDEO

CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE

In my house, chocolate rules!

But at this time of the year, pecan joins in.

My husband loves it when I make pecan pie.

He has told lots of people that mine is the best he has had.

That makes me so very happy.

So this year I decided to combine both his favorite ingredients.

Here's the recipe:

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.) In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in sugar, and set aside to cool.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs well. Stir in salt, corn syrup and melted butter mixture. Add coffee powder mixed with 1 teaspoon water, if desired. Stir in the chopped pecans. (I didn't chop my pecans, I left them whole because that's how my husband likes it)
3. Spread chocolate chips evenly over the bottom of the pie crust. Pour pecan mixture over the crust.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until set. Cover and let stand at room temperature about 8 hours before serving. Pie will be soft. 

HOLIDAY MUG RUG TUTORIAL

It has been several months since I posted anything on my blog.

With Christmas right around the corner,

 I wanted to share a couple of gift ideas.

Since I had hand surgery a week ago,

I was limited to what I could do.

I had heard so much about mug rugs that I decided to do one.

I found the instructions for this one online and 

I'm going to share with you how this was made.

It took me less than an hour to make one.

So if you want to make one, it is quick and easy.

Assorted fabric scraps for mug rug and 9″ x 12″ piece of batting and backing
You’ll need to cut the following pieces:

• (1) 5 ” square (snowball center)
• (4) 2″ squares (snowball corners)
• (1) 2″ x 5″ rectangle (bottom of snowball unit)
• Tree pieces:  (1) 2″ x 3 1/2″ rectangle, (1) 2″ x 4″ rectangle and (1) 2″ x 5″ rectangle
• (1) 1 1/2″ x 2″ rectangle (tree trunk)
• Tree background pieces: (2) 2″ squares, (2) 2″ x 2 1/4″ rectangles, (2) 2″ x 2 3/4″ rectangles (2) 2″ x 2 1/2″ rectangles

Step 1:  Make the snowball:  Draw a diagonal line on the (4) 2″ snowball squares and pin to each corner of the 5″ square.  Stitch just to the right of the drawn line.  Press towards the outer corners and trim.

 

Step 2:  Make the tree.  Draw a diagonal line on the remaining background squares/rectangles.  For the rectangles, place the background rectangle on top of the green rectangle so that the top edges line up and you can see where the bottom edges intersect.  Draw the line from top corner to bottom intersection as shown.  Do this for both sides of the tree.  Trim making sure all the segments of the tree measure 2"x5" and the snowball block measures 5"x5".

 

  

Step 3:  Assemble the mug rug unit.  Arrange the tree rectangles in order. Stitch together the tree pieces.  Press seam of tree trunk unit up towards tree. The other tree seams can be pressed either way.

Step 4:  Stitch the two halves together, nesting the lower rectangle seams and pinning first.  Press seam to either side.

Step 5:  Layer top, batting and backing together and quilt as desired.

For the binding, I decided to wrap the backing fabric around the edges to form the binding.  I do not have the Quick Easy Mitered-Binding Tool but I used my ruler and placed it on a 45 degree angle.  You can find a tutorial for that here.

Here is the finished product.

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES DAY TWO

Jorge and I decided to go to Cades Cove Loop.

It's an 11 mile trip where we saw many

log homes from the original settlers of the area.

The drive was absolutely beautiful.

We met a couple from North Carolina that were

celebrating their 30th anniversary just like us!

We had a wonderful time talking with them.

As we drove home, Jorge wanted to stop

at Zaxby's in Sevierville for a chocolate shake.

We ended up having dinner there.

Sadly, we weren't impressed with the meal.

Jorge did like his shake.

We made our way back to our cabin

going through Pigeon Forge.  

One thing I do have to say about

this place is that it is very family oriented.

There are lots of attractions geared just for families.

 John Oliver's home.  He and his wife were the first

white settlers in the area.

 Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church established June 16, 1827.

 An old Methodist church.

 Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church established 1839.

 Elijah Oliver's home.  He was the son of John Oliver.

Before we started our trek on Cades Cove,

we spoke with one of the rangers and she told us

that bears love coolers because of the taste they have.

It's sweet to them.  Go figure.

This pitcher was destroyed by a bear.

 King Kong at Pigeon Forge.

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES

My husband and I planned to celebrate our

30th anniversary in September instead of August

because of the heat.  We remember how

hot it was when we got married 30 years ago.

We chose our destination to be Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

 The cabin that Jorge and I are staying in.

We were told that black bears are in the area.

The garbage cans are in bear proof cages.

 Our anniversary dinner.

Steaks, salad, rolls, and wine.

Brownies for dessert.  

We have to have chocolate.

 On Sunday, Jorge and I were on our way to church.

I'm so glad I had my camera ready because out came a bear cub.

I saw the second cub rolling down in front of our car.

Jorge had not seen him and I told him to stop.

They both rambled on but we didn't stop or come out

because we did not see momma bear and we didn't want to see her either.

Jorge and I went to church in Gatlinburg.  

We learned that this church was formed in the

early 1800's on Baskins Creek.  It was moved

to its present location in 1991.

 Not very often do you see signs like this.

 Jorge and I asked a local which restaurant we should go for dinner.

He told us that to go to Riverstone Restaurant.

Boy was he ever right!  The food was delicious.

The restaurant is located in Townsend, Tennessee.

 Look who Jorge and I bumped into but Santa Claus!

He was awesome!  He said he was on vacation

before Christmas came.  

 Jorge and I are Clingman's Dome, the highest point of the Smokies.

You can see why they're called the Smokies.

Sunset.

How do we end our evening?

We go to Starbucks and we have coffee.

QUILT JUST FOR ME!

The last several weeks I've been really

busy making quilts for other people.

To be perfectly honest,

I've reached quilt burnout!

When I finally understood the warning signals,

I took a break and decided to make something for myself.

I made a small quilt for myself.  

The blocks measure 3" finished.

Taking the break was exactly what I needed.

All I need to do now is just finish quilting

the borders and put on the binding

and I will be done.

This will be one of the few

quilts that I will actually keep for myself.

AFGHAN

I have a dear friend who got me started again with yarn.

I had taught myself when I was a newlywed.

Most of my work at that time was not good at all and I gave up.

With her encouragement, I started back up again about three years ago.

Lisa, my friend, is an avid yarn lover.

I was thinking what I could give her for Christmas

and I thought an afghan would be nice.

This particular afghan took me about four months to complete.

It was much easier than I had expected.

Here are the directions to making this afghan.

• Chain 171 loosely.
• Row 1:  DC in fourth chain from hook and in each chain across.  (3 skipped chains count as first dc): 169 dc
• Row 2:  (Right side):  chain 3 (counts as first dc, now and throughout), turn; dc in next dc, work popcorn, (dc in next 3 dc, work popcorn) across to last 2 dc, dc in last 2 dc:  42 popcorns.
• Row 3:  chain 3, turn; dc in next dc and in each st across: 169 dc.
• Row 4:  chain 5 (counts as first tr plus ch 1), turn; skip next dc, tr in next dc, (ch 1, skip next dc, tr in next dc) across: 85 tr.
• Row 5:  chain 3, turn; dc in each ch-1 sp and in each tr across: 169 dc
• Row 6-67:  Repeat rows 2-5, 15 times, then repeat rows 2 and 3 once more.  Finish off.