Little Susie Homemaker

Tag: tea towels

  • Fall 2025

    November has started in the PNW in the typical dark and rainy fashion. But that just means, indoor projects and hobbies!

    I have continued to work on getting the free fruit processed. The Liberty apples are applesauce, canned and stored on a shelf in the garage.

    Garage shelf with applesauce as well as freeze dried meats and broth. And cool storage for onions & potatoes

    The cider apples are pending processing. Once I finished that box, I’m done with this batch of fruit. These will get sliced and either freeze-dried or frozen.

    The pears were diced and freeze-dried. And also turned into vanilla pear butter. I have it in the fridge and need to water bath can it so it will store well.

    The hubby & I cleared out the den closet and rearranged and added a couple of new shelves. It’s not finished yet, but so far it has drastically helped the storage ability of that closet! I look forward to filling it with more goodies.

    New shelves in den closet with a lot more room to expand! I have it sorted by fruits, vegetables and ready-to-eat meals. Broths are in the kitchen cupboards and in the garage. And meats are in the garage.

    One great thing about cleaning out that closet was getting all of the freeze-dried food organized. We have quite a bit of fruit and vegetables.

    I was able to see how many pre-made meals we have available. I’ll need to work on getting more ready for next summer’s backpacking adventures!

    If you’ve ever thought about getting a freeze-dryer yourself, Harvest Right is running their Black Friday sale *during the month of November. Check it out! All freezer-dryers are discounted this month!

    old-style Small Harvest Right freeze-dryer.

    One project I’ll be working on after finding some old seat covers from the RV is to repurpose those to make a cover for the freeze-dryer. Since I have it in the garage, we always have to remember to throw a tarp or a towel over it when my husband is doing anything in the garage that will make a lot of dust.

    The jam shelf is also filling up this fall. We don’t eat a ton of jam so I’m finding that if I make small batches every other year, that gives us plenty.

    Apple butter, quince jam, ‘raspbarb’ (raspberry/rhubarb) jam and tayberry jam

    One thing I plan on doing each spring is to turn any leftover frozen berries into jam. Once the berries start coming in, I need room in the freezer for the fresh ones so will clear out the previous seasons.

    And the final piece of news from the last few weeks, I have started listing my embroidered tea towels in an Etsy shop. (https://spfled1016.etsy.com) Go check it out.

    These are customizable and I can make them in a day or less. They make wonderful gifts (holidays, showers, weddings, house warmings, etc.)

    I hope your autumn is going well and you’re looking forward to Thanksgiving! I’m grateful that you’re reading my blog! Thanks!!

    (*this is an affiliate link which means I’ll make a % of any sales that result from you clicking through my link)

  • Tea Towels

    (This post contains affiliate links which means if you purchase something through this link, I’ll make a few cents)

    I started a new hobby this past winter and have continued as I wait for spring and all of the outdoor activities to begin – embroidery. Now that the outdoor activities have begun, I’ve set this aside for now, but am enjoying using these tea towels.

    Embroidery is a quick, easy thing to occupy my hands in the evenings while watching TV. 

    When I was younger, I did counted cross-stitch and because of having that experience, it helped make embroidery much easier to pick up.

    I picked up some embroidery books from the library for ideas, have hand drawn a couple of the patterns and use quilt patterns (something like these) to draw on the towels. 

    Here’s how I did it:
    1) Start with a laundered cotton or linen towel.

    2) Using a washable pen or pencil (I have a couple specific for quilting and used those), draw a pattern onto the towel. If you’re using a pattern from a book, you’ll have to place the pattern under the towel and then trace it thru the fabric. (If you can tape it up to a window or have a light box, that would make things a LOT easier). If you’re using a quilting pattern, set it on top of the towel and draw the pattern on the fabric. 

    3) Start stitching.

    For the books I got from the library, I took a picture of the instructions page so I could reference back to it after I’d returned the book. That also worked great in taking some embroidery on vacation and packing just needles, thread, small scissors, hoop and towel. 

    Here are a few of the towels I’ve finished: 

    Butterfly, dandelion and dragonfly
    Apples
    Fall leaves and pumpkin

    I have a few ideas for future towels, but I also need to have somewhere to use them 😉

    Happy crafting!