Go Ahead, Try It

Have you tried free-motion quilting yet?  Is fear holding you back?  Go ahead and try it!  You really can’t mess it up!  As I was moving the fabric to and fro, that is what occurred to me with this last quilt.  It is not prim and proper !  It’s all over the place.  Running here and there.  Twisting, turning, changing it’s direction.  And that is pretty much exactly me.  A perfect fit!

Ah -but let’s say that you are a person who doesn’t like mess or chaos.  You want things just so.  Precise and perfect.  Yep, I know a handful of you too.  Well, I still believe you should try this technique as an exercise in character.    

 It’s not perfect. I know that. There are imperfections.  But I am not entering it into any huge quilting contests. It’s for my little boy. Who loves it a lot. And his Mama made it for him – which makes it even more special to him.  And besides, aren’t the imperfections one of the things that make handmade so much more meaningful than manufactured?

 

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You’ll see this quilt again in Taylor’s room when I finish it. 
(It’s soooo close!  I have to find time this week to get it done!)
A quilt should be worth more than one blog anyway.    
And just to re-empahsize, dear husband, free-motion quilting is NOT cheating.

Fabric: Amy Schimler’s Animal Party and Forest Fun
Pattern: FREE download from Robert Kaufman

 

By the way, I also know some of you that are stuck at making your first quilt top.  Pick out a simple design for your first quilt. (Pre-cuts really simplify things.)  Then send it off to to be quilted.  My point is try to overcome the hurdle that is blocking your way.  Figure out a way to jump over it and take off running.  Even if that hurdle has nothing to do with sewing.    

And now I must go hang shelves!  Until next time…..

My tooth

A few thoughts from a first time root canal patient.

#1.  All dentist should offer you a diet coke while waiting.  This actually seems like a good practice for any office where you might have a wait.  I think we should start some sort of petition and have congress look at making it into a bill or something.

#2.  Really cool dentists mount flat screen TV’s on the ceiling to let you watch a movie while they are drilling into your jaw.  I watched the first bit of Yes Man.  Hopefully Red Box has it so I can finish watching it.

#3.  I appreciated that the dentist covered my upper lip and chin before he began to work.   They tell you it’s to isolate the tooth and keep the area clean.  I have a feeling that it’s more likely so they won’t be distracted by women with more facial hair than should be allowed by nature.  If I would have known before hand that those areas would be hidden I would have at least waxed my eyebrows.  Those can be a bit overwhelming too when you’re so close…or when you’re far away.

#4.  Can someone tell me why I smelled anise during the procedure?  I don’t like licorice.  If they would have asked before hand, I would have chosen vanilla or jasmine.  

So clearly I survived and it wasn’t that bad.  Be back later with something serious or crafty at least!  Hope your week is off to a great start!

Magic Rolls

What in the world do you do with left over marshmallows that were not used up in smores? Not enough for Rice Krispy Treats. The miniature variety are called for in most salads. Then a llght shined down from above (it was really only the kitchen lights…but we’re going for drama here!)

Mom made these for Christmas one year while we were visiting.  My husband insisted I get the recipe.  They are super easy and yummy too!

All you need is a tube of crescent rolls, some large marshmallows, a bit of melted butter and cinnamon and sugar.  (Yes, all very technical measurements!)

(By the way, for you observant readers, you should ignore the muffin mixes in the background. Has nothing to do with this recipe – just had those out to make a bunch of muffins to put in the freezer for breakfast now that school has started)

Dip a marshmallow in the melted butter, coat it with cinnamon and sugar, and wrap it up with a crescent roll. Put into a muffin tin (sprayed with Pam first, of course!)

Sprinkle the top with a little more cinnamon and sugar and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

The marshmallow kinda melts away (aka “magic”) but leaves a yummy cinnamony (so what if that’s not a real word) filling inside the roll.  I can only eat one because my palate isn’t made for such sweet treats, but my hubby and kiddos sure do love them!

Enjoy!

Good Ol’ Hooded Towels

My mother cursed me.  She is the queen of all practical gifts….and I fear she has passed this trait onto me.  So when I have to get a gift for a little one, I just cannot buy something that I know is impractical.  The most practical of all gifts for little ones is a hooded towel.  They are the best!  

And I know they are the best because I get requests all the time to make them. Friends I have gifted hooded towels come back to me asking to make more. Previous customers email to see if I would make another one. Family members request them too.  They last for years, they actually cover the baby up, the absorb way better than the typical baby towel…and well I’m not trying to sell you one, so I shouldn’t go on and on….but I’d say if you don’t have a GOOD hooded towel for your children, find one!  So today, I am making hooded towels galore       Here are a few with the every popular 2D Zoo (now back in stock).    

PS.  My friend has a pattern for sale if you would like to make one yourself.  And her pattern comes with a cute bag too!  You know I love bags     Visit her store here.

Cinco de Mayo Weekend

Honestly, I don’t understand why people in the United States celebrate Cinco de Mayo. (We actually are going to a celebration on Tuesday night.) In college, we had a lot of students from Puebla – so it kinda made more sense then.  Oh well, any excuse to celebrate, right?

Anyway, I decided that this weekend we would eat chips and salsa in honor of the Battle of Puebla.  (Any excuse to eat chips and salsa, right?)  Most of the time a nice cold Diet Coke will fit the bill, but I thought this called for a little something extra!  So I bought these glasses for a couple of bucks – for some reason it seems more fun to drink out of a margarita glass than a regular ol’ cup.    That’s kinda weird too, huh?

Here is how I made the drinks:
6 lemons – juiced
1 pound strawberries
1/2 cup splenda (or sugar)
Bunch of ice

Add all ingredients to blender and blend away. Perfectly refreshing on a lovely May afternoon! Hope you had a great weekend too!

Learning about Bokeh

Bokeh: A photography term, derived from Japanese, that refers to the out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject.

In English: When the backgrounds of a photograph are all blurry but the subject is in focus. 

Examples:  Visit here.   Yep, that Bakerella has bokeh down.  There are tons of examples out there, her stuff was just fresh on my mind because I’m experimenting with her cake pops (but that story is for another day!)

Bakerella Cupcake Photograph

This week in my photography class we are experimenting with  depth of field.  Well, I’ve learned a few things.  I have a point & shoot camera but it has a manual setting. (I can adjust the f-stop and aperture.)  So I thought getting a shallow depth of field would be manageable.  After a gazillion photographs, not one with a blurry background, I  went to the web for help.  (I had already read my manual and it was no help.)

This is what I learned from Sam.  “…If you WANT to defocus the background, you are going to have to work pretty hard at it. You would have to zoom to the longer end of the lens and set the aperture open as wide as it will go… and get pretty close to your main subject while having the background a fair distance away.”

So I set up my tripod, picked a subject matter (pincushion on fabric stack), put it far away from the background matter (bolts of fabric), zoomed in and managed to get a little bokeh. (Other issues of this photograph I won’t address here!)

Yep, honey.  I’m gonna need a digital SLR sometime.

PS That little contest is still comin’ up.  I’ve just been obsessed with cinnamon rolls and bokeh lately.  I’ll get on that post soon!

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

I said I would share with you.

I have tested, tasted and tried recipe after recipe.
The things I go through for you!
Adjusting this and changing that.
This is my best recipe to date.
(I did not say healthiest.)

Dough:

1 c. Boiling Water
1 c. Butter (yep, I use the real stuff)
2/3 c. Sugar
2 tsp. Salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. Yeast
1 c. Warm Water
2 Eggs
6 c. Flour

In a large mixing bowl, pour boiling water over butter, sugar and salt.  Cool until lukewarm.  In a small bowl, mix yeast in warm water.  Add eggs and beat.  Add yeast/egg mixture to butter mixture.  Add flour and stir.  Refrigerate overnight. (It’s sticky dough…that’s okay!)

Cinnamon Filling:

3/4 c. Brown Sugar (packed)
1/4 c. Flour
1 Tbsp. Cinnamon (I put a heaping tablespoon)
1/3 c. Butter

(Additional 1/4 c. Butter melted for later)

Stir together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Cut in the butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.

Assembly of Rolls:

Divide dough in half.  On a well floured surface, roll into a large rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick (approximately 12inches x 8 inches).  Brush dough with melted butter, then spread 1/2 of the cinnamon filling evenly over dough. Sprinkle with optional items such as raisins and/or nuts if desired.  Roll into a jelly roll.  (It’s easiest to start at the back of the rectangle and roll forward.) Seal seams by pinching dough together.  Slice jelly roll into 1 inch pieces.  Place into a greased baking dish or onto a baking sheet.  Brush with melted butter.  (Repeat process for second half of dough.)

Place in a warm location until doubled in size.  Bake at 425° for about 15 minutes or until brown.  Glaze while warm.

Glaze:

1 1/4 c. Powdered Sugar
1 tsp. Light Corn Syrup
1/2 tsp Vanilla
Enough milk or cream, half & half (whatever you have on hand) to reach drizzling consistency.  (1 to 2 Tbsp)

Mix all ingredients together. Drizzle over cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Towels

After making the kitchen set for the school auction, I thought to myself

“Wo – man, you need some new kitchen stuff too.”

And so I made myself some new kitchen towels!

Target supplied the organic kitchen towels, I just added the cute fabric along one side.

Super Fast!

Super Fun!

Super Fabulous!

The fabrics are (from front to back):

Aqua Playful Paisley from Farmer’s Market by Sandi Henderson
Navy Deco Rose from Daisy Chain by Amy Butler
Cookies and Cream by Timeless Treasures
Pink Medallion Bloom from Farmer’s Market by Sandi Henderson
Spring Pomegranate Seeds from Farmer’s Market by Sandi Henderson

One may say, if they were speculating such things, that I like Sandi Henderson’s fabric.

I do.  It’s true.

You see the Cookies and Cream fabric?

It’s adorable, don’t you think?

Start thinking of projects to use this Cookies and Cream fabric

Don’t share your ideas quite yet…

Check back soon though for a sweet little contest!

Cinnamon Rolls

I have been craving them.

Not the kind from the tube.

Honest to goodness cinnamon rolls.

Mmm…honestly good.

Menu Planner Tutorial

Each Sunday afternoon the menu for the following week is decided.  I find that if I don’t do this, we end up eating very poorly.  If I have a plan, however, it’s easy for me to stick to it!  SO – I created a menu planning page.  I’d say it’s prettier than a yellow piece of notebook paper laying on the counter top!

Since our goal is to eat dinner together each night, that is the meal I focused on.  Breakfast and lunch are more casual (read less planned) so I decided I didn’t need to make a row for each of those meals – but I left a little space for each at the bottom of the page.  Then I thought ‘Why stop there?’  And I made a notebook of nothing but meal planning pages….because making notebooks is what I do these days 

I thought you might like to make yourself one too – and you’re in luck!  The page is available for download here (or by clicking on that cute little widget over on the side of my blog!)  You could just use the pdf but if you want to make a journal – here is how I did it.

Materials Needed:

• 1 sheet of 8.5 x 11 inch card stock
• fusible webbing (Heat-n-Bond LITE, stitchery witchery, etc.  Just make sure you can sew through it)
• fabric – sized at least 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches or you can use scraps to make a patchwork cover – and if you like the look with a spine you’ll need a strip of black fabric – about 1.5 inches x 8.5 inches
• Weekly Meal Plan pdf
• paper for inside of journal – I recommend using 24 or 28 pound copy paper

1. Cut a piece of 8.5×11 card stock in half.

2.  Attach fabric to card stock.  I used the same method as the CraftApple patchwork cards.  Be sure you use Heat-n-Bond LITE, stitchery witchery, or other sewing friendly fusible web (not heavy duty no sew) because you’ll need to be able to sew through it.  You could use one fabric or piece scraps of fabric together.  That would be so cute.  Stitch as desired.

3.  Using Heat-n-Bond (regular or lite), attach the second half of the card stock to the back of your first piece (sewn with fabric).  This will cover up the stitching.

4.  Print the weekly meal plan pdf many many times (really 20 or so…26 would give you a full year)  I recommend using 24 or 28 pound copy paper for this.  (The traditional 20lb copy paper is just too flimsy and you don’t want something as heavy as card stock.)

5.  Take to office supply/copy center.  At the copy center, they will cut your menu plan papers in half and bind the whole thing for you!  (I get mine done at Office Max.  Right now it only costs $2.99 – and they include a plastic cover if you want and a linen back cover.  I upgraded to a vinyl back for $1 more because I thought it would be better in the kitchen.)

Other ideas:
Sketch Book or Sticker Book for kids (pair with some stickers, markers, etc for a cute gift)
Journal or Recipe Keeper (I’ve already made several as gifts, for the preschool auction, etc. I like to print lines on these pages.)

PS.  The pictures above are really from the book I made for my daughter…but I forgot to take pictures while making my own meal planner…and the process was the same!

I’ve become obsessed with these little books. I can’t stop making them!  These are the few I’ve made just for our family – and I’ve already given several as gifts.    So much fun!!!