A little weekly recap...

This week went by super fast as usual. At least I was really productive! First up, I needed to make a birthday gift for a little girl who was turning the big 1!!! I made a few pairs of the Boston lounge pants for her: 

(click on the tutorial tab to find all the patterns and instructions to download)

I also taught these at the Quilt Barn on Tuesday night to a group of lovely ladies. There's all turned out sooo cute!

I also managed to sew up some valentine bookmarks for the Magic Valley Modern Quilt Guild's meeting (We were having a bit of a Valentine themed meeting. I wasn't able to be there this week, but I heard it was a blast!) *this is the corner bookmark tutorial

I took xavier on a little adventure this week and we had a lovely time plus lots of french fries!

I am still trying to finish up my valentine cards for this year- just need to get the envelopes done and then addressed. I figure as long as they get there during the week of valentine's day, I am doing good ;). 

Still to finish up- some knitting, laundry, cleaning and the all important Valentine's baking:

and I finally got a better photo of Scooter (our newish- got him in December cat)

Hopefully this weekend will be just as productive as last week! xoxo

The first snow of the season...

has come and melted away (I really hate that, I love it when the snow sticks around for a little while). Now, I am in the mood for hot cocoa with marshmallows and Christmas lights. This year I am completely obsessed with having an awesome holiday season filled with decorations, food and festivities. Anyways, I am finally starting to feel better (everyone in my house was sick over the weekend and hopefully it is behind us now). This week is yet again filled with adjusting to another new schedule for the next month which always proves a little difficult. My to-do list is miles long and needs to be edited, but I haven't even found time to do that. This afternoon I spent some time finishing packing up the Halloween decorations and putting up the Thanksgiving ones. Some time was found in the kitchen...

baking up some banana bread. 

And some time spent in the studio...

working on my potholders for a swap that is tomorrow night, nothing like last minute sewing. 

I also spent a little time coming up with a few ideas for all this Christmas fabric...

How is your Wednesday going?

Today was filled with this...

and of course this...

my little valentine!

Red Velvet Cake

I baked this lovely little cake yesterday... it sure is yummy!! Tomorrow will be a day filled with baking sugar cookies, so they can be decorated on Wednesday afternoon. Yesterday, I spent a little bit of time organizing my schedule, sorting a bunch of stuff that I had unpacked, and baking. I am making a small dent in my to-do list, which is great because I keep adding to it! Off to go work off all the cake calories...

Cupcakes & Cookies

 

finished up the holiday baking

the rest of the holiday projects will be up this weekend...

Cookie Decorating *Update*

Piped and ready to be flooded (*I did learn it is better just to pipe a few at a time and then flood them)

Here are the candy canes! (this is about 1/3 of the cookies)

a close up - I think they turned out okay for my first attempt and they are pretty yummy!!

Baking Sugar Cookies

Okay, so one of my goals for my 26th year (I have a list of 26 things I want to accomplish by the time I turn 27, I will tell you whats on the list soon, but trust me there is a lot of sewing, crafting and cooking!) was to learn how to make those really awesome iced sugar cookies like these:

Martha Stewart

the other day I was checking out one of the blogs I like to read: Bakerella and she was making some iced sugars and shared this book:

Amazon

So off I went to Barnes and Noble with a coupon in hand and picked up a copy...

Today I have baked up some sugar cookies and my taste testers say they are yummy... tomorrow I will begin decorating! Here are some peaks into my baking:

*gathered up some ingredients

*the dough has come together

*rolled out and becoming candy canes

*cooling down and ready to decorate

So far so good, let's see how tomorrow rolls!

P.S. I put up a little poll at the top-left love it if you would select a few things in order to help me guide some upcoming projects for the blog!!

Wow, August You Came and Went, Way to Fast!!!

I really can't believe that today is the last day of August and fall is just right around the corner. I really do love this time of year and am excited to really enjoy the holiday season. Today, has been filled with laundry, a toddler who really doesn't want to take a nap, some gardening, and some figuring out twitter. Yep,  I am now twittering. So, check it out and follow me since I seem to be addicted to it. It is just so fun, fast, and easy. I will try to make them more interesting since my first two were sort of test tweets.

Okay, now for my monthly recap in photos:

 

Making Bread & Butter Pickles

(I made 8 pint jars with this recipe, but warning they are addictive, we ate one jar in one night! The recipe is adapted from one found in my mom's Daniel's County cookbook 1976.) 

First slice up some cucumbers. 

(the recipe calls for 1 gallon, sliced with peels and I used my mandoline for slicing)

  

 (* you stir in 1/2 cup of salt with the cucumbers, but I forgot to do this and actually like them without it, maybe I will add it next time.)

Next make your syrup: 

5 cups sugar

5 cups vinegar

2 Tablespoons Mustard Seed

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1 1/2 Teaspoons Turmeric

1 Teaspoon Celery Seed

  

Heat mixture to scalding do not boil.

Pack your cucumber slices into scalded jars.

  

*looking yummy

Finally pour syrup into jars leaving 1/2" headspace, wipe rims, seal and I processed for them for about 15 minutes in a hot water bath.

 

 Let them cool, store, eat!!!

Where is August Running Away To?

I really feel like this month is moving by so quickly and that fall is almost here. The weather is cooling down a little and the mornings are a little crisper.  I am already busy making plans for xavier's birthday, fall activities, fall decorating, halloween, etc. I really do love this time of year.

My days have been looking like this:

6:30ish- get up, get coffee, get xavier soy milk and breakfast, watch dora, check emails, start laundry if it is monday. (As soon as xavier gets on a better schedule I am going to be getting up early to work out)

7:30ish- begin watering gardens and harvesting tomatoes, baby pumpkins, potatoes, cucumbers, peas, zucchinis

9:00- put on west wing, plan out my day- what to bake, can, do, sew, make & eat breakfast with deon

10ish- begin the canning or baking for the day, do dishes, general clean up

 *some labels I made for the pickles

11:30 ish- see if x is ready for a nap, usually try to get him to take one (this use to be is regular time, but since giving up the binky, who knows when nap time is) I check some blogs and see if he naps.

12:30ish- xavier is playing around and work on things on the computer or finish up in the kitchen.

1:00ish- xavier might take a nap now (sometimes it is as late as 3 but then he is up till almost midnight, I swear this kid doesn't require to much sleep, but he can't make it all day without a nap because he is so cranky and falls asleep around 6)

sometime in the afternoon- I get in the shower (my goal is before 3) and then head upstairs turn on murder, she wrote, and start sewing.  I usually get a couple of hours time in, then when x gets up it is time to read, play and hang with him. (I really try to have a couple of hand sewing projects that I can work on with him around)

 *a fall wall hanging that I am making a tutorial for that I finished up yesterday

5:30ish watch food network and chase xavier around, help with dinner and then we watch some tv, or take a garden walk and relax for the day.

9:00ish- try and get xavier to go to bed. yes, it is a late bedtime (i try 8:30 but anymore there is no reason to even try) last night it took until 10:00 to get him down. I was to tired to even stay up to watch the housewives... :(

So that is what I have been doing which seems to be making the days go by really quickly....

now to figure out what to do with all these baby boo pumpkins that are floating around here.

Makin' salsa

and other things...

Here is a look at some of the stuff that came out of the garden on Sunday morning.

 

 
 

  

the tomatoes have all been turned into fresh salsa 7 jars to be exact. (any ideas on what to do with the rest? I was thinking of canning them for chili and sauces, love any suggestions) the cucumbers are going to become dill pickles and bread & butter pickles. Hot peppers are going to be turned into pepperoncinis. 

In other news, here is my mom's finished apron. I used the Church Ladies Apron Pattern, it is reversible and has double pockets (like four on each side) I used the Recess Collection by American Jane from Moda. 

Here is side one: 

 

Here is side 2:

I am working on the tutorials for the shorts and for the Two Trees Mini Quilt. I also started one for fall which I am hoping to get up the first week in September. I am trying to organize a sew-along for the mini-quilts. I am also going to try and get back into the swing of things with the sketch and swatch boards. Sneak peak of the fall quilt tomorrow.

off to find some chips for my salsa....

I love Saturdays...

today has been filled with Martha Stewart September issue, canning pickled beets with my mom, making fruit salad, breakfast burritos, playing with x, taking a nap with x on the couch, watching the real housewives, now watching miami social, and eating a snack. Perfect!

Tomorrow, I will have some more photos of finished projects and such.

P.S. I am planning on doing a sew along with tutorial for the Two Trees Mini Quilt. I think it will be the end of August or second week in September. I am working on a Pumpkin Mini Quilt that might have to be first. Let me know if you are interested in either. Have a good saturday evening!!!!

This week has just gone by to quickly,

I thought it was Wednesday, even though it was Thursday all day and totally forgot to go to the movies. It was a movie I wanted to see to. Instead, I worked on changing up the studio. I made space for 2 more sewing machines and have now had to reorganize most of my sewing stuff, (in reality I think I just made a big mess, but it is getting  somewhere). I also have been doing some sewing and finished all the projects for the tutorials- now I just need to find time to get them typed up and ready to go (and photograph the finished projects), I am hoping to get a new tutorial up next week.

Now, I am waiting for the real housewives of atlanta to come on and playing games on facebook. Oh, here are the pickles I canned the other day.

 

these are some kosher dill pickles, we haven't tried them yet.... it was my first attempt at canning. Overall, I think it was was easy and fun. On Saturday, my mom and I are going to be making pickled beets. 

Here is a peak at the pair of shorts I made for the one of the tutorials- they are for xavier.

  

and here is the finished mini quilt/not sure what to call it-  so far all I can come up with is Two Holiday Trees. I think I might make a tutorial for this one or maybe a mini quilt along- anyone interested?

 

well, off to try and stay awake until the housewives come, I really hate that it isn on until 11 pm it is so hard for me to stay up....

p.s. I made a flickr group where you can show off your bookmarks: Fabric Bookmarks   I would love to see what you have created.

More fall for you...

I went out to the garden this morning to water and pick some goodies, I ended up with another 8 of these:

 

Plus, tomatoes, hot peppers, zucchinis, cucumbers, cowpeas, and peas. I made some salsa and pesto this morning using a bunch of stuff from the garden. In sad garden news, all of my sweet corn has been eaten and enjoyed by raccoons. I am already developing a new plan for next year.  

I thought I would pass along this recipe for the zucchini bread- (schbvonne is the one you want or are you talking about the pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting from our papersource knitting, oh so long ago)

Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini- 

(*I used a yellow variety and just grated it up, it wasn't very finely grated, 

I also used a little more than 1 cup)

1 egg

1/4 cup cooking oil (*I used vegetable)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts  

(*I like nuts, but also make it without them, I reserved about 1 tablespoon of the flour and 

mixed it with the nuts to coat them evenly. This keeps them from sinking in the batter.)  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder; set aside. In a mixing bowl (*I used my kitchenaid mixer for this part) beat together sugar, shredded zucchini, and egg. Add oil and vanilla; mix well. (*this part should start smelling really good) Stir flour mixture into zucchinin mixture. (*I slowly added it while the mixer was on low.) Gently fold in the chopped nuts. (*I used a spatula to fold them in.) Turn batter into a greased 8x4x2-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes (*mine was done at 57 min) or till a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool thoroughly on rack. Wrap and store loaf overnight before slicing. (* I couldn't wait and tested it the day I made it, but it tasted better the next morning, so waiting is probably a good idea.) Makes 1 loaf. 

In other notes, my mom thought it was a little dry, I thought it was just right  with a smear of butter on top. I might adjust the liquid content a little. We will see, I am going to make another loaf tomorrow morning.  

Now for some sneak peaks of what I have been up to in the studio:

First here a peak at the short/pant tutorial that is coming soon! This is a version for a girl.

 and here is my first attempt at free motion quilting (sorry it is a little difficult to see, but you can enlargeit by clicking on it). I might make this into a little tutorial. 

 

a little christmas coming at ya.  

 Off to work on some more projects and getting ready to do some canning tomorrow-

It felt like fall this morning...

even though it was over 90 some degrees here today. Here is why I felt that fall had arrived-

 

Here is the first pumpkin from my garden and homemade zucchinni bread for breakfast. 

Today was filled with progress if all goes well I will have a couple of free tutorials up in the next week or two. Hoping to get up to the studio tonight and finish some stuff up.

Have a goodnight!

The posts just keep coming...

I know I have been on a posting binge. I really am getting in the habit of trying to get something up here as much as possible. Anyways, here is a look at the Easy Empire-Waist Top from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little One's book. I really loved how it turned out and I only had to make a few adjustments to the pattern and finishing details.

 

Detail shots:

  

  

and here is a shot of the jam I made yesterday morning:

  

It is peach & apricot jam. Xavier loves it, so glad that he does since I have 5 jars. I usually put it on his toast and waffles or pancakes. This is a low-sugar kind but really tastes awesome. 

Stayed tuned because next week I will be doing a crafty giveaways. Check out the link in the sidebar. 

P.S. tomorrow a garden update is coming your way just for fun!!!