Sleeve Ironing Boards and a Pincushion

 Some time ago I shared the story of my vintage sleeve ironing board. Since then Adam has witnessed just how much I use my sleeve ironing board, and was inspired to try making one. It turned out so nicely he decided to make another.

A sleeve ironing board is extremely handy when sewing baby clothes, doll clothes and for pressing hard to reach seams, such as a sleeve seams. Over the years I have learned that ironing is a very important part of sewing and has a great impact on the outcome of the finished garment.

  Both sleeve boards are available to purchase through my Etsy shop. The sleeve board pictured above is available through this listing, while the board with the unbleached muslin cover is available here.

  I had just enough of the calico left to sew a matching pincushion. When my mom and I first started our business my mom made several pincushions in this style. They were always a well loved item. The size is very convenient for a number of pins and needles.

  The pincushion is embellished with hand embroidered rose bullions and leaves.

African Violets

I have many fond memories from my youth of my grandma growing African violets. She took great pleasure in showing us her violets as they bloomed and thrived in her kitchen window. There were a few times grandma gave us violets she had propagated from her own plants, unfortunately they never lived very long in our home due to our cats. My sisters and I had 1-2 cats each!

Last winter I purchased two African violets in addition to a Christmas cactus. I was pleasantly surprised to see all three plants thrive in my kitchen window! Since then I have added two more African violets to my collection.

Throughout the cold winter months it gives me such joy to see flowers blossoming in my kitchen! Just to see some green this time of green is a blessing! : ) Some of the plants in this picture are blossoming now; they all seem to stagger a bit in their flowering cycle.

We have been surprised with an unseasonably warm weekend. All of the snow has melted and we have enjoyed spending time outside. We are brimming with excitement dreaming of spring coming just around the corner, hopefully!

" He hath made every thing beautiful in His time." Ecclesiastes 3:11a

Stuffed Pepper Soup

 Throughout the winter months I usually make a batch of soup every week. Some of my favorite recipes over the past few years have been chicken soup, cabbage soup and cheeseburger soup. This year my sister Rachel shared one of her new favorite recipes- stuffed pepper soup. Last fall I had given my sister a couple jars of my homemade spaghetti sauce. Rachel used the spaghetti sauce in her stuffed pepper soup, in fact she said that  homemade spaghetti sauce made the soup even  more delicious. Since I had several bags of frozen peppers in my freezer, and jars of spaghetti sauce and tomatoes in my pantry I thought it would be a great recipe to try!

Stuffed Pepper Soup:

• 1 cup rice (prepare with water amount recommended) 
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cups frozen chopped green peppers, thawed
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained 
• 1 can (14 ounces) beef broth

Directions:
Prepare rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook the beef, green peppers and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, broth and prepared rice; heat through. 

As you can see this is a super fast and easy recipe to prepare! You may use white, brown or long grain rice; they all taste great in this soup. I sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top of the soup before serving.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have! Do you have a favorite soup recipe you have prepared this winter?