It is apple season! So thrilled to have so many apples but they come with a lot of work as we harvest them. Too bad I did not record how many bushels we have already picked but a conservative guess would be at least 20 bushels. And there are so many more on the trees yet.
Our Cortland and Liberty apples make great pies, applesauce, and (my favorite) jelly! But washing, sorting, and chopping is a lot of work! And I'd hate to see them go to waste.
Here they are ready to put in the stock pot to cook down and strain, once cooled, for apple jelly juice. Because there is so much pectin in apples, you really do not need to add sure-gel, but I have not mastered the skill of knowing exactly when it reaches the jell stage.
A reliable candy thermometer would be helpful. My mother was an awesome jelly maker. Her jellies were perfect. They were jelled, but yet so soft. And melted once it was spooned on toast. Mmmm.
Fall is coming upon us quickly and there is much more to do: putting the gardens to bed, and preparing for cold weather. I'll be happy when it is finished and I can get back in the sewing room guilt free! Yay!
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I have had this quilt finished for a couple of weeks now but have been unable to get a post up to report it. The pattern is called Wee Wonderland and is a super easy pattern to use up a layer cake with.
Basically you just cut a layer cake and a 10" square of a background fabric into a nine patch. Use varying widths each time and you get - not wonky - but irregular shaped 9-patches. Can you spot the "negative" matches? By rotating the blocks you can mix it up even more.
I loved how it turned out and will keep this technique in mind for a future quick project using up my layer cakes I have stored in the pre-cut drawer.
The fabric line was Moda's Bee My Honey and I got lucky to find a yard remnant on ebay for the borders.
It measures 76" x 76" and I used up 13 yards of stash. This makes my 6th finish this year and a grand total of 67 yards busted out of my stash.
I still have a binding pile upstairs to attack. And my Strip in Earth is all cut and ready to sew together. Isn't it fun knowing you have something cut and ready by the machine so you can sit down and make some serious progress? My motivation is to get it to a flimsy so I can begin Christmas sewing and a challenge project from my quilt guild. But those apples...
Happy stitching!
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Did you know?
Did you know that for every weed you pull in the fall - you have killed 7 weeds in the spring? How is that for incentive? It helps when you have chickens with fluffy butts that love scratching and picking through a bucket of pulled weeds that are tossed into their yard. They just purr and cluck in contentment.
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