Valentine Project

Hello everyone! I finally got some time put in with my sewing machine today. I was doing some doodling last night and came up with a pattern I just couldn't wait to start. Of course this pushes back every other whip I have started. I swore I wouldn't let those stack up, but you just can't beat the fun of a new project. :) 

Here's what I came up with:

It took forever to cut out all of the pieces. Each square on the graph paper finishes at 1.5 inches so there are a lot of pieces to this 9 block quilt. 

So far I have one block put together:

I love the way it looks! I cut up a bunch of left over white-on-whites, grays, blacks and reds to use in the block. It is a great use for scraps, especially smaller pieces. It finishes at 18 inches so the main body of the quilt will be 54"x 54". 

I am looking forward to putting the other 8 blocks together this week. There's a lot of time that goes into each block, but I just love the way it looks. It feels so good to get back to some sewing!

Christmas Recap

Yes, I'm just now getting to my Christmad recap. Things have been pretty quiet here on the crafting front as of late. We've had much too nice of weather lately (and it seems like everywhere else has had a rough winter) that I've been spending a lot of time prepping our yard and garden and not any time in the sewing room. So, since I don't have anything new to show, I'll show off the stuff that I put together for Christmas presents. 

My husband and I went back to Wisconsin for two weeks for both Christmas and New Year's celebrations and my suitcase was packed to bursting. Thankfully I flew southwest and could check two bags free. I definitely needed both! My siblings and I decided to draw names for a secret Santa gift exchange this year so that cut down on some of the presents I would normally bring, but I ended up making a lot of things for my sister. I'm so happy I drew her name, because I had so many ideas for her!

First I made her an apron out of an old sugar sack she had given me a few years back. She had used it as wrapping for a wreath she made me and told me, "you'll do something fun with it." That I did! These sacks are super absorbent too! I had all of this stuff already at home so I didn't even spend any money on this part of the gift. :)

Next I made her a makeup brush holder. I knew she wanted a set of brushes so I got her some on a huge sale at Target for $10. 

Again, I already had all of the supplies for the roll so the only money spent on this was for the brushes. I wanted the inside to be make-up smudge friendly so I used some brown, yellow and light pink fabric. The outside was an orange and yellow print that was begging to be used for this. My sister really likes the color orange along with other vibrant colors. 

I also made her a journal out of a children's copy of Little Women from Goodwill. That set me back a whopping $2. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it. 

Lastly, I made her a set of napkins and napkin rings. I had the fabric for the napkins already. For the rings. I bent forks that I bought at Target. Those were $1.68 for 4 forks, so roughly $3.00 for the whole set. I put them all into a box that I bought at Ross for about $5. So, that's how I managed to stay in our budget of $20 or less and give her so much stuff. :)

I made two other sets of these napkins and napkin rings. One went to my mother-in-law (same fabric) and the other went to her neighbor, (pictured below) the mother of one of my husband's good friends. We've stayed close and she and her husband even visited us here in Oregon. 

I also made a couple of aprons for my sister-in-law. One was a blue floral print and the other was this tiny white heart on red background print. 

For all of the aprons I made, I used one continuous strap for the waist and neck tie. So, you can put the apron on and then just tug on the waist strings to tighten it around your neck. Then you just tie it in back. It makes it so you don't have to tie the neck if it's too long, you can just adjust it each time you put it on. I love that, because the knots in apron neck ties always irritate me and my neck. 

Well, that pretty much sums up what I made for presents. I did all of that between Thanksgiving and Christmas while traveling back and forth to Wisconsin for both of those holidays. It was a busy couple of weeks! I always think that I'll start my gifts earlier, but that never happens. Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution...

Easy Peasy Enchiladas

Hi everyone! I thought I'd do a quick post on one of our favorite meals - enchiladas.

These are super easy to put together and taste fantastic. So, here's the recipe! (This makes 4 servings.)

Ingredients:

• 4 10-inch flour home style tortillas

• 1/2 pound ground beef, prepared with taco seasoning

• one bag Mexican shredded cheese

• one 8oz jar taco sauce

• one box Mexican style Rice-a-Roni

• 2 tablespoons butter

• cooking spray

Directions:

Prepare the rice according to box directions. This takes about 20-25 minutes and will use the butter. 

Spray a rectangular glass pan with the cooking spray. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Layer the rice, seasoned beef and cheese in the center of each tortilla:

Roll the tortillas and place them seam side down in the glass pan. 

Drizzle the enchiladas with taco sauce. I used roughly half of the jar. 

You don't want to flood the tortillas with sauce. Drizzling them keeps some of the tortilla exposed which will make those areas nice and crispy while the saucy parts stay moist and chewy. 

Sprinkle the tops of the enchiladas with more shredded cheese. 

Put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Then turn on the broiler and broil until the cheese starts to turn brown and some of the enchiladas start to brown as well. 

You may have to adjust your cooking time depending on your oven. I have an electric oven. I broiled for about 2-3 minutes, but you should watch them closely at this step. 

Take them out and enjoy! I like them plain, but my husband adds extra taco sauce and salsa. I've also enjoyed them with sour cream and I'm sure some guacamole would be heavenly. I've also made them with canned corn added into the middle of the enchiladas, just layer it between the beef and cheese. These come out pretty mild, but you can add more heat by adding some hot sauce to the top or adding some green chiles or chili powder inside the enchiladas. 

I love how quick these are to make and they are pretty cheap. I buy the rice for $1/box when it goes on sale. I also buy the taco sauce on the buy-one-get-one sales. I like to serve it with a salad. I cheat on that and buy the bag mix of Mexican salad. It comes with creamy ranch cilantro dressing, tortilla strips, cheese and bacon. For $2.99 per bag I can't beat that and it's so easy to make! Some corn and refried beans on the side would also be great. 

Anyway, I made these start to finish in under an hour, so they are great when you are pressed for time. And if you have kids they can always help sprinkle the cheese and make the accompanying salad. :) Happy cooking everyone!

Finished Double Irish Chain

I know I promised this a long time ago, but I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of my finished Double Irish Chain quilt. :) We've been using it for a while now so I figure I should show it off!

Here it is all happy on our bed. :)

We love it! I backed it with a really soft cotton bed sheet. It was the easiest back I've ever used. I used a king size sheet for this queen size quilt. That gave me plenty of room for excess around the edges for quilting. And, it was only $15 at Target since it was on sale! What a steal for a quilt back. 

I love how the quilting makes it puff. You can see the stitches a lot better on the back. 

I wasn't always perfect with my lines, as you can see... I used a plate to mark the quilt on the front side. It worked well but I always have trouble following a line when I'm quilting. I do much better free-hand. 

And of course while I was taking pictures my cat Sasha had to help out. 

There she is as a lump under the quilt. Even she likes to crawl underneath!

And here she is all exposed. It's been cold here so we have several blankets on the bed. Of course we have the prettiest on top. :)

I have been doing some other sewing lately, but can't show it until after we've celebrated Christmas. I'll be back with an update after that for sure! Hope you're all enjoying the shift into winter. Happy sewing!

November Happenings

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been gone for so long! We've had a lot of visitors over the past month and I haven't had much time for sewing. I thought I'd check in before we all get swept away into Thanksgiving and show you the two small things I've completed this month. 

First up was my Color Bee Shocked bee block for October. Yes, I said October. I know, I know I became one of those people. I never meant to get behind, but it just happened and I don't know how to explain it. I felt really guilty about it so I included some extra goodies along with my block and apology note. I've made a pact with myself never to let that happen again! Anyway, here's my block:

It's called X Marks the Spot and uses a bunch of HSTs. It was actually pretty fun to put together, so I shouldn't have waited so long to do it!

My other November project I just put together today. It's a laptop sleeve for my new computer. 

I had a bunch of 2.5 inch squares left over from my double Irish chain quilt, so I decided to put some of them to good use. I just sewed them up corner to corner and cut off the excess. That way I wouldn't have to trim up all of those HST corners. 

For the layout, I wanted something more modern (I had thought about doing a simple pinwheel pattern, but it just didn't seem cool enough). So, I played around with turning the HSTs left and right and came up with this broken square design. It's more modern than I usually go, and it's growing on me. :) 

Speaking of modern, I did get to go to my first Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting this past week! It was a lot of fun and I got to put a face to an online quilting friend. Thanks for coming with me, Kathy! Hopefully we'll be able to attend their holiday meeting in a couple weeks once they nail down the date, time and location. Until then I'll try my best to get some more sewing time in!

Happy Thanksgiving and happy sewing everyone!

Wicked Wicked Wicked

Hello everyone! If you are here for the first time, welcome! If you're a follower, then welcome back! :) Do you like my picture? I couldn't resist putting up a shot of the creepy spiders that are all over my house and garden. I just wanted to set the mood for this wicked day! :)

I'd like to thank Wendy and Mdm Samm for hosting and cheering on this hop. I have the privilege of sharing my day with these lovely ladies:

Becki hosted by Why-Knot-Kwilt

Bumbleberry Stitches

Nini & The Sea

Dancing Moon

Create In The Sticks

Negligent Style

Rose Creations

Kris Loves Fabric

A Geeky Crafty Life

My Quilting Journey

The Recipe Bunny (you are here!!)

Please stop by and visit these ladies today too. We hope you enjoy the hop!

Last year I created a couple table toppers for the Wicked hop, so this year I wanted to make something to adorn my wall. My husband and I moved to Portland this year and so I have new walls to decorate this Halloween season. I decided to put this together for you all today:

It's a spooky graveyard scene on a night with a blazing full moon. I would not want to be stuck there at night!

This wall hanging was a lot more work than I had originally anticipated. Here's a look at my planning sheet:

Yikes! So many tiny pieces! Here's a close up of one of the spots with those little pieces (1" HSTs!):

I will confess it was murder trying to get all of my points to turn out, and I wasn't completely successful. But, that's just fine since this little quilt is staying with me! Here are a couple other "in progress" pictures that I took for you guys.

Top Complete

Embroidery

So, I hope you liked my little project! Please remember to stop by the other blogs today for more Wicked projects and fun! I hope you come back to see me again soon! Happy Halloween!

Upcycled Skirt

Hello everyone! I've been seeing pictures of upcycled skirts all over Pinterest lately, and I've been wanting to give it a try. Unfortunately, I'm not much of an apparel sewer. I usually just stick to quilts, hot pad holders, table runners, you know, things I don't have to wear in public! If I screw up on a quilt no one will really notice it but me. However, if my butt is hanging out of a skirt, several people are going to notice that!

So, today I faced my fears and got to it! I went to Goodwill to find a cheap men's shirt. I actually found two that I liked, but I started with this one($6!!!):

I cut just below the arm seams and then cut the bottom to be straight across. Gotta love that rotary cutter!

Then, I turned it into this:

!!! It actually worked! There were a few hiccups along the way as to be expected. (Sorry for the bathroom pics, but I don't have a full length mirror!) I'm so pleased with how it came out. I didn't take pictures of the process because I wasn't sure I would even like it, or that it would fit. I did add a tie in the back, so here are some more pictures:

I think it is quite cute. And, now I just need to get some brown tights to go with it and I'll be ready for fall! Thanks for indulging me in my new craft!! :) Happy crafting!