Ask Jo: Flannel, Knitting, Recipes and MORE

Hello, and welcome to another edition of “Ask Jo”.  I get many comments and questions from all sorts of places, the comment section here, Youtube, email, and from our Facebook group.  Sometimes I think others of you might want to know the answers as well so I answer them here on the blog.

In a blog post, I wrote about the goodies that had come in the mail for me.  Flannel was in the mix and I wrote that I was passing the flannel as I rarely, if ever, work with flannel.  In response, Mindy asked, “Hi Jo, I’m just wondering why you don’t sew with flannel? I love to put flannel on the backs of the quilts that I make for kids.”

Well…see this girl?  My little beagle Rosie?

She is a shedder.  You can see the dog hair on my sweatshirt as I’m holding her.  Flannel catches dog hair MUCH more than regular fabric.  I don’t want the stress of trying to keep dog hair off of it so it’s easy for me to just say, NO FLANNEL for me.

Given the choice, I would take Rosie over flannel even though I think quilts with flannel backings are cozy.

Maureen asked, “Hi Jo I just love reading your blog, it is one that I look forward to every day. I was wondering if it would be possible to make your recipes in a PDF format under your recipes tab. I am bad for not saving them and then they are hard to locate. I usually get frustrated and give up. Would appreciate it very much. Take care and stay safe. A loyal blog reader”

In an ideal world, the answer is… YES.  I know my recipes are a mess.  You are completely right that they would be so much better in a nicer format.  This is on my to-do list but first I have to find a format or program to make it work.  Kayla and I are looking into this.  No promises on when it might be achieved.  I do appreciate your request as it was just what I needed to try again.

Cynthia wrote:  “Your video and comments today were great! So many areas you discussed were so true. I have also stayed home this year, and am sewing my stash, done more reading, and doing things around the house and yard. Many projects are being looked at with anticipation to get them completed. Loved your photos and wondered if it is possible if you can obtain and share the instructions for the cute stocking hat the darling little baby was wearing. This looks do-able and I have yarn to get started! Looking forward to you doing the Halloween quilts and hope you can share your projects!! Thank you for your blog you are a very uplifting person, and your sharing events, etc with us is helpful as well. Happy 2021!”

Cynthia was referring to this picture.  This is me at the hospital with baby Jasper.

Kayla made his hat…I asked her about a pattern.  It’s Kayla’s pattern.  She has it on her blog.  You can find it HERE.  She said it’s beginner friendly.

Can you believe that little guy is ONE??  Yep, today is his birthday.  What a blessing he’s been to the whole family.  Kayla was worried about how she’d go from a gal to a mom and she has done splendidly.

I tried not to chuckle when she expressed her worry as I knew it was normal but I also knew she’d do great!!  Spencer has too.  I’m really impressed with them both as parents.

In this photo, he’s eating grapefruit and loves it!!

Pat wrote:  “Jo, this is completely off subject. Have you seen the new fabric line by Windham Fabrics, called Work Zone? I think your grandsons would really like it!”

I hadn’t so I had to go check it out.  Oh my.  I love it!!  You are right, the boys likely would too.  If you have grandsons you might want to check out the line too.  Here’s a LINK.

Moda has a cute line coming out to.  I had wanted to design a quilt with it but haven’t yet.  I have too many irons in the fire right now.

My favorite print from that line is this…

I’ve had a lot of people ask about this quilt… Carol was one of them.  She asked, “Is there a pattern/instructions I can obtain for this quilt?”

Laurie asked, “Jo – can you show us the tool you used to cut the butter in? I hate trying to cut the butter in and sometimes it keeps me from making things I’d like to make!”

Laurie was talking about this tool in the photo below.  I talked about cutting the butter into the flour when I was making scones.  Find the recipe and read the post HERE.

This is the hand tool that I used.  HERE is an Amazon link for it.

I had never seen one of these until I married Kramer.  His mom used it and after seeing her use it, I quickly wanted one.

We use this to:
-work the butter into the flour
-as a biscuit cutter
-nut chopper
-chop hamburger when frying it to get the piece small
-work streusel together
-chopping eggs for potato or egg salad
-chop veggies and fruits
-chop chicken for chicken salad

I use the flat one if I want a fine chop.  I use the one below if I don’t want a fine chop.

I also have this one…You can find it HERE on Amazon.

I seriously use these both all the time.  If I’m making chili and have whole tomatoes, I chop them with this.  If I make spaghetti for the kids and the noodles are too long, I chop them with this.  I chop up a lot of kid food with them especially when babies are just getting out of baby food and into table food.  I even cut up pancakes for the kids with the top one.  It is faster than kitchen scissors…easier to clean up than a food processor.  I love mine and when the kids have moved out, I always gift one to them.

I’ve been using them for all of my married life and have assumed they are a standard kitchen tool…Now I know they are not!!

Next up, this quilt was sent to me. I sent it on to Lori.  Lori finished the quilt for Sharehouse.  You can read the full post about it HERE.

I do not know anything about the pattern.  Can anyone reading this help?  seriously about five people have asked so that lets me know more were wondering.

The story of my two pictures lives on!!  A friend of mine who does childcare in a neighboring town sent me a message.  She asked if I got my pictures at the local thrift store.  I told her I thought I did.

She laughed and said she donated some exactly like them to the same thrift store.  HA!!  We both laughed.  Small world.  I can’t say for certain that these are hers but they very well could be.  I got them about five years ago I’m guessing.  I thrift and go to auctions so I can’t guarantee these are it.  I can however thank all of the people who donated to places like Goodwill and thrift stores.  There are lots of us out there who think your discards are AWESOME!!  To read more about the pictures, you can follow this link.

Thanks so much for all of the questions and notes.  I love interacting with you all!!  If I missed something, as always, leave a question in the comment section.