More Crafting

Just to be clear, I don't like how Christmas starts in September these days. I used to love going to the mall right after Thanksgiving and seeing it transformed. Now they decorate by Halloween. Nevertheless, with my new sewing obsession, it is time to start planning my holiday crafts. I'm almost finished with my first gift (pics to come,) but I really want to make stockings. My husband has refused to give up his childhood stocking. It is literally falling apart. With that in mind, I want to make stockings for us that match/coordinate.

The tutorial I'll be using is from Diary of a Quilter. The instructions she has are for small, gift bag type stockings, but I will make bigger ones. I think I'll also add an interfacing to give them a little more structure. I worry that just cotton would get too saggy. I'll also have to add a loop to hang them. Thanks for letting me think through all that. :)

Anyway, fabric choices are obviously important. I don't think my husband is quite ready for a true grownup stocking, so I thought I'd make him a fun one. The outer fabric would be the one on the left and the inner fabric the one on the right.





What do you think? Green or red?

I'm planning to make two of these pairings with the hopes that, if we ever get pregnant, the monkey one could go to our child and my husband would be willing to have a grownup stocking.







So, which two?

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I feel the need to be crafty. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I don't ride any more and feel like I need a hobby. I know I can't knit, but I've always been interested in sewing. Recently I saw a link to an easy quilting tutorial on Diary of a Quilter. So, on a visit to my mother in Albuquerque, we decided to give it a try. Now, making a baby quilt wasn't of interest for us (yet I keep hoping,) so we decided to do a table runner.

The first thing we did was order two Charm Packs. Basically a Charm Pack is a set of 5x5 squares from a fabric manufacturer. The patterns on the fabrics are all from one line and coordinate. Doing our shopping that way meant that we didn't have to worry about figuring out scale etc. We decided to use the Chrysalis line because I liked the orange and blue. We purchased them from Crazy Quilt Girl.



The first step was to lay out the squares. Normally I buy runners and table clothes that are 72" long, so we decided to do a runner that was 3 squares wide and 15 squares long. We sorted the squares based on the size of the pattern (small, medium, large.)



Then we laid out the rows.



Then we left it there for 24 hours to make sure we still liked how it looked. :)

Our next step was to sew all the rows together and press those seams. Once the rows were assembled we could sew one row to the next.



We made sure to number the rows so we kept everything in order. At this point we realized that we hadn't accounted for seams (1/4" per square, per seam) so we added two more rows to each end.

Then we took the top to the fabric store to pick a fill and a backing fabric. We used a local store, Hip Stitch, in Albuquerque and got great help. We picked a Joel Dewberry fabric that I think pulls out some of the yellow accents from the Moda patterns.



We then ironed on the batting.



Then we sewed the backing to the top.



And there you have it!





I opted not to do the actual quilting stitches because I thought they would take away from the patterns. I do know how to do it though. Overall it was an awesome experience, and I am so excited to have someTHING to show for my hard work. (It's way more satisfying that cleaning out closets. HA!) So, if you want to try quilting, I would highly recommend the tutorial. It was easy to follow, and I had a great time.

Friday Funny

I found a new blog. It makes me laugh.

Food Network Humor

I like FN, but I find it entertaining. I have a NSFW comic from them that made me snort into my coffee when I saw it.



Have a happy weekend!

Politicians Suck

I try to keep politics off the blog, but today I am mad. St. Louis city collected money for nine years with the intent of building a new shelter. Last year, the city decided to scrap that idea, close their shelter, and Stray Rescue took over the majority of the city's animal control duties. Soon after that, the mayor promised that the organization would receive the money donated for the new city shelter. Today, a subcommittee of aldermen decided that Stray Rescue couldn't have that money. The ring leader of the naysayers, Dionne Flowers, said that it was because Stray Rescue didn't have a contract and she couldn't be assured that they would continue to provide services.

Here's the thing. For a year, Stray Rescue HAS been providing services! If she wants to say that in order to receive further funding there has to be a contract, fine. But as it stands now, the services have been provided with no financial support. Isn't it time for the city to pay its bills and live up to its promises?

Jilly's Review

Last week I posted about getting Jilly's cupcakes for my friend's BBQ.

I got to at least taste most of the flavors I posted about, so here are my reviews.



From left to right:

Raspberry Fizzion
CAKE: Chocolate-Raspberry
STUFFING: Raspberry Jam
TOPPING: Chocolate-Raspberry Ganache, Raspbery Buttercream, & Raspberry Fizzy Candy
REVIEW: SOOOO RICH! I ate a couple bites, but that was all I could handle. Delicious, but that was A LOT of cupcake.

Space Monkey
CAKE: Banana-Toffee
STUFFING: Toffee Dulce de Leche
TOPPING: Caramel Cream Cheese Swirl & Chocolate Astronaut Ice Cream
REVIEW: Yummy, but a little sweet. Again, I could only handle a few bites. Not as rich as the Rasberry Fizzion, but still....

Meringue-a-Tang
CAKE: Almond-Orange
STUFFING: Tang Gel
TOPPING: Tang Meringue, Tang Gel & Silver Cookie Rocket
REVIEW: Didn't love this one. It was just too tart. The meringue was lovely, but all that Tang was a lot to handle. Let's put some of that meringue on something else, and I'd be happy.



Top Row:

The Reese's

CAKE: Vanilla cake baked with Reese's Pieces
STUFFING: Peanut butter and ganache
TOPPING: Chocolate & peanut butter buttercream swirl with Reese's pieces
REVIEW: I didn't get to try this one. It looked good though, and I assume it was pretty straight forward. I also suspect it is similar to a dessert they served at brunch when I went there. If so, then it is wonderfully peanut buttery and therefore perfect. :)

Bee Sting
CAKE: Vanilla
STUFFING: Honey lemon curd
TOPPING: Lemon cream cheese, toasted almonds and a lemon candy dust
REVIEW: Oh. My. God. Seriously, this is the best cupcake I've ever had. The lemon was perfect. Not too sweet, not too tart. The whole balance was JUST RIGHT. This will be my go-to cupcake unless they add something new to the menu that I want to try.

Island in the Sun
CAKE: Pineapple
STUFFING: Oven-Roasted Pineapple Compote
TOPPING: Freeze-Dried Mango Pieces & White Chocolate Sunray
REVIEW: Good. A loved all the pineappley goodness. Not being a huge pineapple fan, I liked it, but it didn't hold a candle to the Bee Sting for me.

Bottom Row:

24 Karat(Carrot Cake)
CAKE: Carrot
STUFFING: Whipped cream
TOPPING: Vanilla cream cheese, toasted coconut & white chocolate shavings
REVIEW: Didn't taste it and someone else took it home, so I have no idea what they thought either. It was beautiful to look at though.

Twisted Pink Velvet
CAKE: Pink velvet
STUFFING: Caramel
TOPPING: Cream cheese, caramel butter cream and pecan praline
REVIEW: I also didn't try this one, and another person too it home. I don't know how I feel about caramel and red velvet though. I'm kind of a purist when it comes to my cream cheese frosting. I would have been interested to see how the pink velvet tasted as compared to red.

So there you have it. Yummy all around. Now I want to go for lunch again and get another Bee Sting. Any takers?

An Important Weekend

This past weekend marked two important events (three if you count that national holiday.)

First, July 4 was Henry's second birthday! Happy birthday little man!



Now, seeing as last year was his FIRST birthday, we had to get him a big present. And so we come to the second big event! Henry's birthday present!



Last 4th of July weekend I tricked Andy into "dog sitting" for Joline and, well, we just never gave her back. :) Ginger joined our family, and we've all been happier for it.

So Happy Birthday Henry and Happy Gotcha Day Ginger!

(I made the bandannas for a Stray Rescue event, but they looked festive, so those are the pics I chose.)

Jilly's

Cupcake Wars. Do you watch it? I did for a while, and then I stopped. In fact, about two weeks ago I deleted all the recorded episodes on my DVR and took off the scheduled recording. The bakers were just too annoying. Then, seriously, like three days later I heard that the head pastry chef from Jilly's was going to be on an episode! So, I scheduled the DVR to record that one show. Great call on my part.

The show was fun to watch (the theme was space,) and I enjoyed it again after taking a break. The formal is very strict, so it does get old after a while. The first round is always a challenge to use crazy ingredients that have to do with the theme, the second round is 50/50 taste and decoration, and the third round is always making 1000 cupcakes and a show piece. Formulaic.

Well, the chef form Jilly's was fun and after she show, I was dying to try the cupcakes they had made. So when my friend Andrea came in early from Chicago we decided to do lunch. She is also an amazing baker, so she was eager to try the sweets.



The place was packed! But, Chef Casey was there! (Chef Dana was cooking in the back, and let me tell you, his French Onion soup is to DIE for!) I geeked out and took a picture with him.



(I'm wearing the Hawaiian shirt for the last day of school.)

I took a dozen cupcakes to go to Andrea's BBQ tomorrow. They should be amazing.



From left to right:

Raspberry Fizzion
CAKE: Chocolate-Raspberry
STUFFING: Raspberry Jam
TOPPING: Chocolate-Raspberry Ganache, Raspbery Buttercream, & Raspberry Fizzy Candy

Space Monkey
CAKE: Banana-Toffee
STUFFING: Toffee Dulce de Leche
TOPPING: Caramel Cream Cheese Swirl & Chocolate Astronaut Ice Cream

Meringue-a-Tang
CAKE: Almond-Orange
STUFFING: Tang Gel
TOPPING: Tang Meringue, Tang Gel & Silver Cookie Rocket



Top Row:

The Reese's

CAKE: Vanilla cake baked with Reese's Pieces
STUFFING: Peanut butter and ganache
TOPPING: Chocolate & peanut butter buttercream swirl with Reese's pieces

Bee Sting
CAKE: Vanilla
STUFFING: Honey lemon curd
TOPPING: Lemon cream cheese, toasted almonds and a lemon candy dust

Island in the Sun
CAKE: Pineapple
STUFFING: Oven-Roasted Pineapple Compote
TOPPING: Freeze-Dried Mango Pieces & White Chocolate Sunray

Bottom Row:

24 Karat(Carrot Cake)
CAKE: Carrot
STUFFING: Whipped cream
TOPPING: Vanilla cream cheese, toasted coconut & white chocolate shavings

Twisted Pink Velvet
CAKE: Pink velvet
STUFFING: Caramel
TOPPING: Cream cheese, caramel buttercream and pecan praline

Then another Island in the Sun.

Reviews to come.