Even Cowboys Need Market Bags

A birthday gift for a special family member.  

I've made several of these market bags from the Charlie pattern on Burda's pattern website.  The bags are roomy and easy to sew.

I lined this one with cherries on a black background. 

There's a tutorial on Burda's website on how to line the bag.

Of course we needed some goodies for the bag and some birthday treats:  Two loaves of banana bread from The Joy of Cooking; chocolate-covered strawberries; carrot cake (missing a piece); and some homemade granola bars, which totally fell apart and so couldn't make it to the party.

Chocolate-dipped Strawberries

Melt 12 ounces chocolate chips in a double-boiler,

along with two Tablespoons vegetable shortening. 

Make SURE that the water in your double-boiler doesn't touch the top pan.

Put strawberries on a toothpick and dip half-way, unless you are cocky and can hold onto the stem.  Eat all mistakes immediately.

The birthday celebration was super-fun.  

We spent the afternoon at an ice-skating rink with lots of spills and giggles.  The new skaters in our group were off on their own two skates by the end of the session.

At the end of the day, the little ones fell sound asleep as soon as we were in the car, and when they woke up they immediately asked, "When can we do that again?"

Oh Luscious-ness!!!

If you're lucky enough to live in Oregon, you know how good the strawberries are right now.  You just can't get these little jewels in any supermarket!

We picked 30 pounds of berries at Sleight's Berry Farm.  They were lovingly carried home and washed.  Each stem was carefully removed so not a trace of leaf was left on one. 

We spent the day mashing berries together and making jam.  

It doesn't get much better than this...

That is, until we carried the finished containers to the freezer!  

My big guy so wanted to help, that while I carefully carried three containers, he tried to carry six!  

Here he is, thinking that he is going to be in BIG trouble, because I shouted, "Wait right there - don't move!"  so that I could grab the camera to capture the moment.

No worries.  We got a good laugh out of this one.  We headed back out to the field this morning, blue skies overhead and a view of Mt. Hood in the distance.   This time, Daddy and Uncle came too.

Good times....

BEST Strawberry Smoothie

1 pint of fresh strawberries

2 cups crushed ice

1/8 cup of whipping creme

2 Tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Blend until smooth and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.  You can add a little milk if it's too thick.

A Beginner's Strip Quilt

I received a package in the mail the other day from Evelyn at Use The Loot.  She'd lovingly collected this cute collection from thrifted linens, and was generous to share with me in a give-away on her blog.  I just love how these fabrics go together - kind of like summer picnic. 

Inspired by Evelyn's beautiful quilts, I decided to try a little strip quilt.   I found an old IKEA sheet in the cupboard in the perfect shade of blue, and some left over red Kona Cotton for binding.  I followed the direction in Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing book.  Now, I love this book, and Amy's Angry Chicken blog is just great.  But honestly, the directions in the book are very loosey goosey, and what should have been a simple project, ended up with a lot of "what-the-HECK's??!"

The little quilt did turn out to be quite cute, if a bit lumpy.  The fabrics are all very soft and so pretty together.  And it was just right for a summer picnic for the stuffies.

Crocheted Flapper Hat

The Portland area had an ice storm this winter, and I made skads of crocheted hats when everything shut down for a few weeks.  I just love this one (I have one to match hers) and made several in different yarns types.  This one is made of wool, but because of the holes it's not too hot.  Makes me feel smug to see darling hats at the Hanna Andersson store selling for 10 times what it costs to make one.  This winter is the first time I crocheted since I was a little girl, when grandma taught me how to make granny squares when I was about 10.  Sorry, I can't find the link to the pattern.

A Boy's Gotta Have Jammies

It's great when they appreciate things sewn for them.  When he saw his new jammies, he let out a gleeful cheer because there's a "T" on the shirt.  Convenient for me because I only had enough Looney Toons fabric for the pants.  This is the first time I've done an applique - it was super easy.  Funny how easy things can be when you read the directions first!

Swiss Chard Frittata

The Swiss Chard in my garden is the only thing growing faster than the crab grass.  I've been experimenting with a lot of recipes, and this one was a winner.  Even my five-year old ate it, although the seven year old clutched his throat and doubled over when I made him taste it.  Sigh...you can't make everyone happy.  

Saute in olive oil:

4 cups of chopped chard

1/4 of an onion, finely diced

1 clove of garlic, finely diced

Saute until the chard is just tender, add sea salt and red pepper to taste. 

Spread in a pie plate that has been oiled with olive oil.  Top with a mixture of four large eggs.  Top with finely grated Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 until the eggs are set.

If you want to add a spicy kick, drizzle with Cilantro Chile Sauce.   This sauce is seriously spicy, but fabulous on eggs of all kinds.

The Mermaid Dress and The Fishy Top

I love Heather Ross' Mendocino line so much that I bought a bunch of it. I made my daughter this dress. I wish that you could see the little sea horses in the brown fabric - they're so charming! It's kind of hard to see, but there's some sweet pleats at the top front and back. Of course I added pockets - there must always be pockets for the rocks and such!
At first I was going to make myself a mermaid top to match her dress, but made a measuring error (darn kids!) and ended up making her a mermaid skirt with a ruffle. 


I made myself a fishy top from the same pattern. The fit is a little wonky and I didn't get the straps right, but at some point you have to stop messing with it and call it good enough. The pattern is so versatile, and can be sized for any body. I'll make this again, but instead of attaching the straps with top-stitching, I'll set them in the seam.





The pattern and tutorial is here.

HEY! Yes You... Notice Me!!

I've decided that my philosophy regarding the creation of a new bag is that it should garner as much attention as possible. How will this one work for attention-hogging? It's a Birdie Sling from Amy Butler. I love her patterns - this is the third one I've made. Sadly, my sewing machine is too wimpy to handle several layers of decorator weight fabric plus interfacing plus fusible fleece. The bobbin kept tangling and breaking, and she readily groaned at every opportunity. Recently, I heard a sewing teacher advise new seamstresses to avoid the new, inexpensive Singers at all costs. Sheesh, you could've told me earlier. But when I first bought the machine a year ago, I thought that I would stick to quilting weight cottons. My advice to other new seamstresses, pay the money and buy more machine than you need! The fabric is Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room.

Mod Podge Lovin'

My mom gave me an old desk that she has had for years. I wish I had a before picture of it but it was typical 1970's ugly: Dark wood and fancy old brass drawer pulls...way too serious!  So here it is in ORANGE!!!

An hour or two of sanding; then filling in the holes and nicks with wood fill; some tinted primer; and about four coats of enamel paint.  I found some darling vintage repro drawer pulls on eBay for cheap.  The fabric is Mod-Podged.  If you take this project on, buy the hard-coat Mod Podge (it's just for furniture).  I think I used four or five bottles of it.  This is a great project, but it took me several weeks because you have to do lots of coats of slow drying primer and paint.

The tutorial is at here.  Be aware that one thing she doesn't say is that you need to be surgically careful when cutting the fabric, and cut it about 2 millimeters shorter than you need.  Test the stretch because you can stretch it in one direction but not in another.  If you have loose threads, just tuck them - don't even try to cut them or you'll make a mess of things.

The inside of the desk and the drawers has a this green, diamond pattern that I found in my stash.  I love this piece of furniture.  When my mom kids say, "Mom, where's the tape?"  I just say, "Orange desk."  No confusing what I'm talking about.