Easy Street

Two months later and they're finished! Seeing as though my mom's birthday is Wednesday, I couldn't very well let Christmas and her birthday pass without handing them over. Depending on which way you look at it, I am either two months late or a couple of days early!

They were actually quite time consuming considering their size and that there are only 4. What made my life so much easier was yesterday's purchase - a walking foot! Walking foot, where have you been all of my life? Oh my. A whole new world of possibilities just opened up with that little piece of magic.

I don't really get what's going on when it's on there, but it works and that's all that really matters! Best $51.95 I've spent in a long while. I wasn't sure my old machine would accomodate such a foot, but I'm having a hard time finding something that old lug can't do!

I see lots and lots of straight lines (sans puckering) in my very near future! This week has been a busy week in my sewing space. I have two baby quilts on the go, finished up these placemats and took a little trip to two local fabric shops. I'll share my loot later this week. I scored.

~Sara

On their merry way...

I wrote an exam yesterday morning. I can't tell you the relief it brings me when I finish one of those buggers! It means I have a week off from studying and can sew and cook and relax guilt-free. Bliss!

So what am I doing with all my time? We went to the art gallery yesterday afternoon, then out to dinner. With a full belly, I came home and had a deep 2.5hr nap (heaven). In the sewing department, my test block for the bee is finished, packages for bee members are at the post office and February block for Michelle is complete.

The block above is my test block. It's huge! I asked for 20"x20" blocks which I feel a little bit bad about, but it was really quick going together. If the blocks were any smaller, it wouldn't really make a lot of sense since larger blocks of solids will be included. This was a lot of fun to make. No pattern, no rules - just squares and rectangles. I just cut and sewed, cut more and sewed more trying not to worry about values and weights - a little of a challenge for me!

The block above is Michelle's bee block. She is making this pattern from Lecien. I think it's going to be so great with all of those saturated colors she chose.

Have a great week!

~Sara

Action Shot #2

Is there anything sweeter than a baby girl freshly home from the hospital in her brand new nursery?

I think not. I wish she wasn't 10 hours away so I could snuggle her.

Action shot #1 here. Also so very, very sweet!

~Sara

Banana Cupcakes & Butter Frosting

I thought I'd share a favorite recipe I make quite often for my loves. They were requested for a Valentine's day treat, but the only real thing truely valentine about them are the heart sprinkles. They're so good cold with a tall glass of milk. I think they taste like banana ice cream, but you be the judge!

Both of the recipes are from and old (i'm talking 1970's here!) cookbook. Anyone else have a copy of that book? It's my favorite, by far, for classic recipes. The glazed ham? To die for. Anyhoo, here are the recipes:

Banana Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in pans.
Sift together:
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cream:
1/2 cup shortning

Beat in:
1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar

Blend in, beating until light and fluffy:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Add sifted dry ingredients to creamed midture alternately with:
1 cup mashed ripe banana
3/4 cup of buttermilk

Make 3 dry and 2 liquid additions, combining lightly after each.
Turn into muffin liners. Bake in preheated oven for 28-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan. (makes 17 - every. single. time!)

Butter Frosting

Cream:
3 tbsp of soft butter

Beat in:
1/2 tsp vanilla
few grains of salt

Blend in:
2 cups of icing sugar

alternately with:
2 to 2 1/2 tbsp of warm cream or milk

Beat until smooth and of good sperading consistency. Add more sifted icing sugar or milk, if necessary. (A little note about the icing - I add a lot of icing sugar before I add the milk. If you add the milk too much at a time, it causes the frosting to seperate.)

Enjoy!
~Sara

Valentines - Check!

2011 Valentines are packed up and ready for Big E to deliver to her classmates tomorrow. This project, which I found over here, was a lot more time consuming than I had anticipated. Not sure why I didn't just go with simple store bought suckers, but something came over me and I HAD to make these chocolate lips instead. That was the reason they took so long. If you plan on making them for next year, I'd recommend forgoing the homemade and going straight for store bought!

Of course, little miss muffet had to get in on the action, too!

Happy Valentine's Day!
~Sara

Ready.

I am so very, very excited for my month in Sew Modern Bee! Donna and I began this Bee journey in May of last year so it's been quite the wait for our turns to roll around. Donna is on deck for April and I am up next in March. I've been searching high and low through the millions of quilts online for the perfect inspiration quilt (good thing we've had since last May!) and just a few weeks ago stumbled upon this beauty. The search was over. All of the fabrics are packaged up and just waiting for mailing labels. I just can't wait to see what the ladies in the Bee come up with!

~Sara

Why Do I Insist?

Here we have yet another half finished gift that I had the nerve to gift at Christmas. Now I have even more nerve to dilly dally and still not have it done a month later!

These 4 little patchwork numbers are destined to be placemats for my Mom. They're made from Sweet by Urban Chicks (i think!) which is now out of print, I believe. I plan to sash around them in white and then the binding will be that red and white beauty at the bottom there. I really should just finish them up, shouldn't I? You'll be the first to know when I do...well, right after my Mom, I suppose!

~Sara