Finishing

Santa was good to me this year.  He brought me a bunch of new sewing books (including the newest One Yard Wonders.  Oh my, I want to make everything in it...).  I also received several stacks of glorious fabric:


This is a pack of 5" precuts of Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms.  It was purchased here.



 



These above two pictures are of my new layer cake (10" squares) of Sophie by Chez Moi.  Check it out here (photos courtesy of this website as well).

And finally:


This one is called Winter Palace by Maywood Studio.  You can check them out here.

Needless to say, I'm very excited about all the projects I can make.  I have a bad habit of starting projects then getting distracted halfway thru by something new and never finishing.  My fabric bin is full of half-completed things--not because I didn't like what I was making but because I have the attention span of a hummingbird.

I made a rule that I have to finish three projects before I can start anything else.  I decided to finish up a blanket I started last Christmas that has been taking up prime real estate in my bin because it contains about 4,873 blocks of fleece.  Thankfully it's a fast project to finish because all the squares were already cut.  Since it's fleece, I don't have to worry about any backing, batting, or binding--the 3 B's of quiltmaking that take a lot of time. 

This blanket pattern comes from Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book 8 and is a simple patchwork blanket that is big enough for two.  Or for one small dog to roll himself up in several times.  The pattern calls for 120 blocks, 6" each, of four different colors of fleece--a total of 3 1/2 yards (or 7/8 yards of each color). 



The pattern is incredibly simple:  pin together and sew 10 rows of 12 blocks each.  Sew the rows together.  Cut the seams to make "fringe".  The End. 







Fleece is very easy to work with, other than some bulking issues I had at the seams.  Other than that this blanket is low maintenance both to make and use.  It was something I knew I could finish in very little time, would clear a lot of space, and would bring me one step closer to playing with my new fabric :)

Tomorrow's project:  finishing a purse.  This might count as cheating because all I have to do is add handles...but I say it counts. 

~Stacy

First Christmas

Christmas was wonderful.  Chad said it, and I agree, that this year was the best Christmas we've ever had.  We cleaned, we cooked, we baked, we shopped, we cleaned some more.  Hosting Christmas turned out to be a very good decision.  Everyone had a wonderful time and Charlotte was able to nap in her own bed, which translated to a happy baby all day long.

Let's back up a second to Christmas Eve.  I asked Chad what I should make and he suggested mac & cheese.  I didn't want to just make any old mac & cheese, especially since his mom was arriving that morning from Maine and his brother was in town on leave from the military.  I found a recipe for Baked Macaroni and Cheese which is possibly the best mac & cheese recipe ever.  I used extra sharp cheddar (yum) and bought pre-cooked bacon as a time saver.  This recipe is incredible, easy, and makes a TON so you can easily feed a large crowd or have plenty to freeze for later.  Right now I have 6 individual servings in my freezer to pull out when I don't feel like cooking.  Or making breakfast.  I had mac & cheese for breakfast.








Delicious.

Later on, Chad and I let Charlotte open her gifts from us (Santa will bring the presents next year).  She mostly enjoyed the paper and bows but I was delighted to see how much she loved the blocks I made!



I made a bag for them with fabric yo-yos and a big letter "C" on the front.  I didn't get a good shot of it, so you'll just have to imagine :)





A sock in one hand and a block in the other.  Life is good.

Chad and I exchanged gifts in the evening.  He gave me so many great things, many of which I'll be blogging about in the near future.  I have about a thousand project ideas.  In the meantime, here's the fabric stash bin he picked out:


He found it at this great Etsy shop

Christmas day was busy--my house looked like Santa's workshop exploded.  Charlotte opened (tons) more presents and we ate, ate, and ate some more.  It was an exhaustingly wonderful day.



Merry Christmas--I hope yours was fabulous.


This photo is courtesy of my friend Sara


~Stacy

Distracted

It's 3 days before Christmas and I think I'm ready.  The house is still clean(ish), the tables and chairs are set up, and the menu is planned.  I'm not responsible for much in the way of cooking, which is a nice bonus to hosting--I can have everyone else bring food!  It's a good thing everything is coming together because I've been finding myself waaay to distracted with this:



My Grandma gave this to me for Christmas at our get together last weekend.  Let me back up by saying I have never read a single Harry Potter book or watched any of the movies.  I think this means I should be an exhibit in a museum somewhere as the only person in the world who has never experienced anything Harry Potter.  I knew the basic idea, but honestly I never thought I'd be able to get in to the books.  I'm not typically a fan of anything even remotely sci-fi, magical, or wizard-y.  My sister-in-law finally convinced me to try it out.  She and I have similar taste in books and movies (we both shun The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and anything Hobbit-centric) so I trust her judgment if she inists I will like something.  Turns out I did not need to worry about having a hard time getting into the story because I love it so far!  I'm almost done with the first book and find myself sneaking in chapters in between Charlotte's naps.  So, if my house ends up a mess before Sunday and my laundry is taking over the second floor, blame Harry.

I've been keeping the cooking simple this week.  So far we've eaten this twice:





YUM.

Howard is keeping an eye on the neighborhood.



He's been especially busy patrolling the porch and sidewalks this week, with all the UPS and FedEx deliveries.  Speaking of UPS, I received a package today from my brother-in-law, who will be visiting this weekend.  I may or may not have peeked inside, and if I did, I may have seen what appeared to be a big stack of 5" precuts of Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms fabric.  Maybe.  I won't know for sure until we formally exchange gifts this weekend.  In the meantime, my sewing machine cries quietly in the corner.

This may be it before Christmas, unless I remember to blog the recipe and pictures for the Baked Mac & Cheese with Bacon that I'm making Saturday.  It might be devoured before this happens.  Either way, Merry Christmas to all!

~Stacy

Almost Time

The snow is melting but everything inside is feeling very Christmasy. 

Today was spent cleaning the entire house, top to bottom, in preparation for company tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday (!). 

Do you find yourself going overboard when you have to get your house ready for gatherings?  Or is that just me?  For example, today I was cleaning everything: baseboards, windows, behind furniture, you name it.  But I found myself doing extra bizarre things like reorganizing all the magnets and pictures on my refrigerator.  I knew it was weird and completely unnecessary as I was doing it but couldn't stop.  Note to anyone reading this who is coming to my house this weekend:  linger at the magnet display.  There was some effort in that, all for you. 

I did find a little time to do something fun.  I've seen the idea in numerous magazines and home decorating books where you take embroidery hoops and hang them on the wall in groups of different sizes with cute fabric framed inside.  It seemed easy enough and it totally was.  I used leftover scraps of Bliss and Ruby (by Bonnie & Camille for Moda) and bought 7 hoops.  I spent just under $5.00 total on all the hoops, so this was a super cheap project.  All I had to do was press the fabric, clip it into the hoops, and trim--done!  I spent about half an hour on the entire project (not including hanging).

These are great if you change around your decor a lot (like me) because all you have to do is snap in some different fabrics and you're done. This will probably be it for the week for sewing.  My "studio" does double duty as my dining room, which needs to stay clean for the next few days.  The rest of my week will be full of cooking, baking, entertaining a baby, and re-vacuuming everything I just vacuumed today.  Good thing I bought a pound of hazelnut coffee today; I'm going to need it :)

Hoping for a white Christmas...

...and looking forward to her first.

 

~Stacy

Let It Snow

We've had a lazy start to our Saturday, which is just fine with me.  Little Miss slept in and took an early nap.  We have a family Christmas party in a few hours, so she must know she needs to sleep off any residual crabbiness so she can dazzle everyone later.  When I finally wandered downstairs and looked out the window, I saw this:





This isn't the first snow of the season but it's the first that's stuck--and it's still snowing!  I always love seeing snow in December.  I take tons of pictures and can spend a lot of time just admiring its beauty.  Then March comes and I think unspeakable thoughts about the snow.  But until then, let's enjoy :)

He certainly is:



Howard + frisbee = true love.  I truly believe this little dog would play until he died.  We have to end the game when we see his tongue dangling from the side of his mouth because he will not quit on his own.  He has an ultimate frisbee that can withstand his use and abuse.  Never mind that it's almost as big as he is--he has to hold his head as high as he can to keep from tripping over it when he runs.  This is what happens when your legs are 3" long.







Confession:  I ate a mini cupcake for breakfast.  My mother-in-law lives in Maine and sent our Christmas gifts early with instructions to open them ASAP.  I was happy to oblige.  One of my gifts was a mini cupcake pan, which I've wanted for awhile but just wasn't one of those things I could justify buying for myself.  I used it yesterday and loved it--these yummy little guys satisfy my sweet tooth without being too much.







The snow is coming down harder now--fat, sparkly flakes that are piling up on all the tree branches.  So pretty.  I hear someone "ah-gooing" upstairs; time to get ready for the party!



~Stacy

Making Candles

Yesterday my sister-in-law, Sondra, and I made candles.  This was a first for both of us, and, despite the fact that there were probably 398,574 other things we each should have been doing, making candles won.  This turned out to be a very simple, fast and relatively inexpensive project that we plan to do again soon.

Candles can be made in a huge variety of containers, but since Sondra had about a dozen leftover 8 oz. glass jars we used those.  We bought a 4 lb. bag of microwaveable soy wax, a set of pre-waxed wicks with clips (make sure you buy soy-specific wicks if you're using soy wax; we used Helix Wick), and two 1 oz. bottles of fragrance oils.  This is the only place where we fell short--a 1 oz. bottle of oil will make 2-3 oz. candles (we made 2, which I'd recommend if you want a stronger scent).  Here's a list of everything you'll need:

Glass jars (or any candle-appropriate container)

Microwaveable wax, preferably soy

Fragrance oils

Wicks (with clips attached, to make things easier)

Microwave safe container suitable for pouring melted wax

Measuring bowl

Pencils (1 for each candle, to attach to wicks)





Start by measuring 24 oz. of wax shavings in a large measuring bowl (this will make two 8 oz. candles).  Once measured, pour into a microwave-safe container that will be easy enough to pour into jars without making a holy mess of your countertops and all surrounding areas.





The box instructs you to microwave for 30-60 seconds, then once it has all melted check with a thermometer to ensure it is 180 degrees.  We didn't have a thermometer on hand, so we just made sure the wax was fully melted and didn't cook longer than necessary and the candles turned out fine.  We microwaved ours for 30 seconds, stirred, then 1 more minute, stirred, then 1 more minute.  After that there were a few chunks of wax that we just stirred until they melted completely.



Before pouring any wax into jars, you'll have to anchor the wicks and clips to the bottom using hot glue.  Just put a small dab of glue on the center of the anchor and glue to the center (or in my case, way off center) of the bottom inside of the jar.  Wait to trim the wicks until the wax has been poured and cooled.  Hold the wicks upright and pour until slightly below the lid line of the jar.





To keep the wicks straight while the wax cools wrap the ends around a pencil and balance the pencil on top of the jar.





Once the wax is completely cool (we left ours out for about 4 hours), trim the wick to about 1/4" from the wax.



Light and enjoy!  Many of our jars were missing lids, so we took charm squares (as you may recall, I have plenty in stock) and placed them on top of the jar and tied a ribbon around it.



This one was the Gingerbread Orange scent, which smelled delicious.

Side note, and totally unrelated topic, I reread this post about half a dozen times because I was worried I randomly typed "good boy!" in here somewhere.  Chad was training Howard (not an elderly man, just our 2 year old Corgi with rampant social phobias) and kept repeating "Good boy!" while I was typing.



It's tiring to be such a good boy.



~Stacy