Simply Rurban

Acorn Squash Risotto Recipe – Worth The Time!

Posted on December 13, 2011 by simply0637

I love risotto! When I was looking at what was around the kitchen this week and saw the acorn squash – I knew that I wanted to make something with it and it has been awhile since I have made risotto – so figured why not! I always think that risotto is harder to make than it actually is, it is really the time and the constant stirring that is the turn off, but each time I make it I kick myself for not making it more often – since it really is not that bad.

Acorn Squash Risotto

Ingredients

1 medium size acorn squash (you could use butternut)
1 1/2 cup arborio rice
hot water
1 cup white wine (extra to drink while you are stirring)
4 cups vegetable broth (needs to stay warm)
2 Tbl olive oil
4 – 5 cloves garlic, mince
1 small onion, minced
Nutmeg and/or cinnamon to taste (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste
Toasted pine nuts (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Notes:
* If you do not drink wine you can substitute a cup of broth
* The broth needs to be mild

1. Prepare the acorn squash by cutting in half and cleaning the seeds out of the middle. You can keep the seeds and roast them later.

2. Place the squash in a baking dish and fill with about 2″ of hot water. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, you want a fork to easily penetrate the squash.

3. Cut the onion and the garlic. Measure out the wine and the arborio rice. Place 4 cups of broth into a small saucepan and set on the stove.

4. I wait to start the risotto until the squash is done, but you can start while the squash is baking. I am always afraid to do that in case the squash takes longer to cook than expected.

5. Turn the burner on low for the broth, cover and let heat.

6. Put the olive oil in a medium sized saucepan and heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for about 5 minutes.

7. Add the rice to the garlic mixture and the nutmeg and/or cinnamon if using. Stir for about 2 – 3 minutes making sure the rice is coated with oil.

8. Add the wine and stir.

9. Add 1 cup of the hot broth to the rice mixture and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down and continue to simmer, stirring frequently.

10. When most of the liquid is gone add another cup of broth – stirring frequently. You will continue this until you are out of broth. It should take about 20 minutes.

11. Start scraping the squash out the skin. Stir, scrape, stir, scrape.

12. When you are adding the last cup of broth, start adding the squash. Do not add all at once, add some, stir, add some more, stir until all the squash has been added.

13. Continue stirring until all the liquid is absorbed. Take the risotto off the heat and let sit.

14. If you are using roasted pine nuts, roast them now. Also grate the cheese now if using. I did not use either.

I didn’t think Stella would like this, since she does not like rice – and I was right. She opted for a yogurt and hard boiled egg. I will have this for dinner several times during the week and will definitely add roasted pine nuts and probably a salad.

Posted in Recipes | Tagged acorn squash risooto recipe | 3 Comments

Fun in NYC!

Posted on December 12, 2011 by simply0637

My mom flew in on Thursday and her flight was 30 minutes early – off to a good start. We had dinner Thursday night at Stella’s favorite restaurant – Isabella’s and then did a little Christmas celebration.

Friday it was off to NYC. I love the fact that we can walk to the train from my house and if we catch the express we can be in Grand Central Station in 32 minutes. It is a beautiful train ride along the Hudson River. The weather was perfect. I had a meeting in the city so mom and Stella went around the Christmas booths at Grand Central. When we walked into the main section of the station we saw all these people in red shirts lined up along one of the staircases – we thought it was a choir, but we were wrong. I had forgotten that the new Apple store was opening that morning – all the people were for the store and the one’s in red were Apple store employees, cheering the patrons as they ascended the stairs and went into the store!

The sun was shining as we made our way down 5th Avenue to Rockefeller center to see the tree. We tried to see the window display at Saks but too many people. We took our pictures of the tree and then went into the new Lego store. It was incredible the things that they made out of legos. Stella loves legos and will play with them for hours and she wanted some girl people – as we found out they are not easy to come by and legos are more geared towards boys than girls – I think they are behind the times. We searched through the people making bins for girls, with no luck – so off to FAO Schwartz. We found one building kit that had two girls – Stella was very excited. I think I will write to Lego.

Off to the Pierre for an afternoon mocktail and of course a cocktail for us adults then to Dylans candy store. Oh my, it was like walking into Wonka’s – so many different types of candy. We spent a good 45 minutes – picking out all kinds of goodies. My favorite, dark chocolate covered caramels with sea salt! We then met my cousin and went to dinner. Lucky Stella was given a piggy back ride for part of the walk to the restaurant! A great pizza joint that makes their pizzas in a brick oven – yummy. Stella especially liked the nutella dessert pizza.

Saturday morning we had tickets to see the Rockettes at 9am – so we decided we would get up and head to the windows and tree before the crowds. We were all almost ready when I looked at the clock and it was 5:51am! We were an hour ahead of schedule. We headed out the door and made our way back to Rockefeller center, hardly any people. We could walk right up the windows and to the rink. We still had some time before the show so we headed into St. Patricks – love that church. The Rockettes were fabulous, as always. We went to Dock’s for lunch and then mom caught a cab to the airport.

Stella and I headed to Bryant park and went to all the Christmas shop booths. Bryant park is located behind the NY Public library, since Stella loves to read we went inside to the kids section and hung out there for awhile. We took the subway to Union Square and walked around the booths there and the farmer’s market. We spent about 2 hours in the Barnes and Noble’s located there – 4 floors and a pretty decent bathroom.

I want to take Stella to a tapas restaurant in the area – so we went there for an early dinner, but they were still serving brunch – so left there and went into ABC Carpet and Home. Back to the tapas restaurant where now they told us they were booked for the evening, but we could eat at the communal table, which we did. Met a nice man and his sister, we thought, offering to share our dishes. Stella loved the sauteed spinach with fig, but the other dishes she passed on – but loved the chocolate dessert. Back to the hotel to put our feet up and relax.

Sunday we were going to try and go ice skating at Rockefeller, but Stella slept until 9am. She was not feeling well so we hung out for a couple of hours, pack our bags and were going to head to the Museum of Natural History and to meet a friend for lunch, but Stella really was not feeling well and so we opted to come home. Last year Stella had strep 5 times, so when she said her throat was really sore all that ran through my head was, please don’t turn into strep. We came home and I taught her how to felt soap and she made a felted soap for her teacher for Christmas.

It was a really fun weekend and we did SO much. It is always fun being a tourist in your own backyard!

Posted in Life | 4 Comments

The Ups and Downs Of The Week

Posted on December 9, 2011 by simply0637

This week has been filled with things that have never happened to me before, one of them that you have seen on TV, but would never think it would happen to you. You never know what each day will bring. Over the course of my life I have become a true believer that there is always something good in everything that happens, sometimes the good is just harder to see.

UP: The big exciting news of the week was that I was accepted to be a contributing writer for another web site. I am very happy about this – I love to share my knowledge and have the ability to learn new things and write about them. Very exciting.

UP:I was laid off from my job in May of this year and Stella, I think, was more upset about it than me, but during dinner this week Stella told me she was glad that I did not work there anymore. I asked her why and she said because now we get to eat dinner each night together and not be interrupted by phone calls, where I would say I have to deal with this and would be tied up for most of the rest of the evening. It has not been easy, not having a job, but I have never been happier and more focused on what is truly important to me.

UP: My mom flew in last night for the weekend. We are going to have so much fun. Spending the weekend in the city, going to the Rockettes, having dinner with relatives and doing all the Christmas sight seeing NYC has to offer. So much fun!

DOWN: My sister and her daughter were not able to come to NYC for the weekend, bummer.

DOWN: I was sitting on the couch knitting and all of a sudden the Christmas tree toppled over. I am not sure if the dog did it or it just fell – but it had been up for 3 days! I quick ran over grabbed the tree, pulled it up right and was stuck there. I yelled for Stella, but she was already in bed. I could reach the phone and called a neighbor, but she could not come over to help, so she called another neighbor and between the two of us we re-positioned the tree in the stand, re-hung the ornaments and cleaned up all the broken ornaments. That was disheartening, of course it had to be the ornaments that were very sentimental – Stella’s first Christmas ornament, some ornaments that were my grandmothers and several glass ones that were hand painted. I will be able to mend some, but Stella’s first Christmas ornament I cannot find all the pieces – we searched and searched – it will probably show up next summer!

DOWN: This was truly an unbelievable thing – I had just come down from the attic and was packing a box to be mailed when all of a sudden a heard a loud crash and the house shook. I ran to the window and there was a car in my back yard! I could hear my neighbor shouting my name, she was in the basement – we both ran out to the yard. My neighbor went to the woman in the car and talked to her to keep her calm and I was frantically trying to get the pieces of my fence out of the road. I could not believe that the cars were just flying by, driving over the fence pieces and the pieces were flying everywhere. Dodging traffic, I was running into the road picking up pieces and throwing them on the sidewalk. The police arrived and closed the road. I finally was able to speak to my neighbor who told me she thought I was out in the yard – thankfully I was not and thankfully there was no one walking on the sidewalk. Then I thought about the cat, who loves to hang out in the yard, she was in her hideout in the basement, phew. It was a freak accident. The woman was taken away by ambulance, but had been consciousness the whole time. I got to meet the new police officer in town, who by the way is very cute, and we got into a conversation about lavender – he was asking what the smell was and he decided he was going to plant some in his yard. The conversation continued in regards to his yard and what else could he plant. My yard is destroyed, along with 2 garden beds, my compost container, my lavender plants and many other plants. The woman’s husband stopped by later in the day to tell me he was going over to his insurance company – I asked about his wife and she was just waiting for the doctor to look at the CAT Scan and xrays. It could have been so much worse. People are stopping and staring as they are walking and driving by, trying to figure out what happened. But here is where there was some good – I was able to meet the cute police officer and now I will have new beds to plant come spring time and the woman was not seriously hurt, they were even able to start her car and back it out onto the flatbed.

Posted in Life | Tagged ups and downs | 5 Comments

Eyelet Ribbed Fingerless Knitted Gloves

Posted on December 8, 2011 by simply0637

I wanted to try another pair of fingerless gloves, ones that had a thumb gusset. I found this pattern on ravelry.com, but it linked back to Crystal Palace Yarns. This was another one that the directions were not well written and I had to rip out the knitting for the thumb gusset twice, before deciding to do it my own way. I finished the right one and started the left one and then realized that I was knitting another right one – so two pairs will be made, but that is ok because I had wanted to knit another pair of different fingerless gloves for a gift, but they will get the other pair of these. Now, to explain why I ended up knitting 2 right handed ones – you start the left one the same as the right one and I just kept on going and did not go back to the left hand directions, duh!

Eyelet Ribbed Fingerless Gloves

Items Needed

Size 7 or 8 straight needles – the directions say 7 for teen gloves and 8 for adult gloves
Yarn – I used medium weight and knitted on 7 needles for an adult

Gauge: 30 stitches = 6 eyelet ribs = 4″ on larger needles, unstretched

Abbreviations:

K – knit
P – purl
K2tog – knit two stitches together
Kfb – knit in front and back loop – this increases by one stitch
Ws – wrong side
Rs – right side
Yo – yarn over
Sl – slip as if to purl
Psso – pass the slipped stitch over

Right Glove

1. Cast on 43 stitches

Row 1 (WS): P3, *K2, P3* to end of row
Row 2 (RS): K3, *P2, K3* to end of row
Rows 3 – 5: Repeat rows 1 and 2, then Row 1 again

Pattern:

Row 6 (RS): K3, *P2, sl 1, K2, psso* repeat to end of row
Row 7: *P1, yo, P1, K2* repeat to last 3 stitches, P3
Row 8: K3, *P2, K3* to end of row
Row 9: P3, *K2, P3* to end of row

Repeat rows 6 – 9 until piece measures 4″ from cast on edge. End by working Row 7

Right Thumb Gusset

Row 1: (RS): Continue pattern as established for 23 stitches, place marker (this is where I am changing the pattern and I hope you understand how to do it) for the next stitch work as you would when knitting on – increasing by one stitch – P that stitch and the next 2, for the next stitch, again, work as knitting on, increasing another stitch, purl that stitch, place marker, continue working the pattern until the end of the row. (you may find another way to do it, but this is the one that worked best for me – the directions called for yo and then the next row knit in the back to close hole, but no matter how I did it I could not close the hole on the next row )
Row 2: Work in pattern to first marker, sl marker, knit all stitches to next marker, sl marker, continue working the pattern until the end of the row

Repeat rows 1 & 2 until there are 16 stitches between the markers, end by working a WS row (row 2) and purling the stitches of the thumb gusset instead of knitting
Next row: Work in pattern to one stitch before bound off thumb gusset, KFB, sl one stitch just made back onto the left needle, K2tog, work in pattern to end of row.

Continue working the pattern for another 3/4″ (teen) or 1″ (adult)
Work 4 rows of ribbing without eyelet pattern.

Bind off loosely in pattern, leaving a long tail.

Left Glove

1. Cast on 43 stitches

Row 1 (WS): P3, *K2, P3* to end of row
Row 2 (RS): K3, *P2, K3* to end of row
Rows 3 – 5: Repeat rows 1 and 2, then Row 1 again

Pattern

Row 6: *Sl 1, K2, psso, P2* work until last 3 stitches, K3
Row 7: P3, *K2, P1, yo, p1* until end of row
Row 8: k3, *P2, K3* until end of row
Row 9: P3, *K2, P3* until end of row

Repeat rows 6 – 9 until piece measures 4″ form cast on edge. End by working Row 7

Left Thumb Gusset

Row 1: (RS): Continue pattern as established for 18 stitches, place marker (this is where I am changing the pattern and I hope you understand how to do it) for the next stitch work as you would when knitting on – increasing by one stitch – P that stitch and the next 2, for the next stitch, again, work as knitting on, increasing another stitch, purl that stitch, place marker, continue working the pattern until the end of the row.
Row 2: Work in pattern to first marker, sl marker, knit all stitches to next marker, sl marker, continue working the pattern until the end of the row

Repeat rows 1 & 2 until there are 16 stitches between the markers, end by working a WS row (row 2) and purling the stitched of the thumb gusset
Next row: Work in pattern to one stitch before bound off thumb gusset, KFB, sl one stitch just made back onto the left needle, K2tog, work in pattern to end of row.

Continue working the pattern for another 3/4″ (teen) or 1″ (adult)
Work 4 rows of ribbing without eyelet pattern.

Bind off loosely in pattern, leaving a long tail.

Finishing:

Fold each glove in half and sew the seam. Weave in all ends.

Posted in Crafts | Tagged Fingerless Knitted Gloves | 2 Comments

Making a Wreath Out of Recyclable Trash

Posted on December 7, 2011 by simply0637

Some toilet paper manufacturers have finally gotten smart and taken the cardboard tube out, unfortunately I have not found that at my store with the brands that have post consumer paper. What to do with the cardboard tubes. When Stella was in preschool they made projects out of them and then I have a friend that runs a preschool and I will give them to her, but now we mostly recycle them. About a year ago I came across a blog that was craft oriented and while perusing the older posts I came across a wreath made of toilet paper tubes – I thought I need to do that – so I started saving our tubes. So now the holidays are upon us and I wanted to make the wreath, but I could not find the blog. I know some of you are saying why didn’t you bookmark it – well I did, but my motherboard went on my computer and I had to get a new one about 6 months ago – so many things were lost. I went a-searching on the world wide web, and still could not find the wreath, but I found some other ones that were really interesting – one using the tubes to make a flower wreath – love it! Check it out – http://www.sisteroo.com/2011/07/diy-toilet-paper-roll-summer-wreath.html . Taking ideas from a couple different wreaths I did find – here is what I came up with.

Toilet Paper Tube Christmas Wreath

Items Needed

Cardboard toilet/paper towel rolls (at least 10)
Paint (I used green)
Paint brush
Glue gun or glue and paper clips
Ribbon
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Newspaper or drop cloth

I know hard to see the lines, for some reason could not get a good photo of the lines

1. Taking a cardboard tube and ruler draw your cutting lines. I made my cuts every 1 1/4″ – giving me three rings to use on the wreath and a small ring – that I saved for later.

2. Press/flatten the tube and cut, keep doing this until all tubes are cut.

3. If you are going to paint any part of the tubes, this would be when. I decided to paint the inside of my tubes green. I wanted to leave part of the cardboard showing. I just used some of Stella’s poster paint and then let them dry over night.

4. If you are going to be doing this with a child, I would suggest using regular glue and paperclips, but since Stella was working on another craft item and did not want to help – I used the glue gun. Place a plate (face down) in the center of your work area. The size of the plate will determine the size of your wreath – I used a dessert size plate. Lay out your first ring of tubes in a design of your choosing. Glue this ring together.

5. Keep adding rings until either you are out of cardboard rings or the wreath is the size that you want.

6. With the small cardboard rings that you have you can be creative and design some fun things – one being a flower. I have not decided what I am going to use the flowers for – maybe on some gifts.

7. Place a bow on your wreath and hang on your door!

Posted in Crafts | Tagged making a toilet paper roll wreath | 4 Comments

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Posted on December 6, 2011 by simply0637

The holiday season is upon us – even though the stores would like it to start in September, for us it is December. Stella was in a holiday concert last Friday night – the kids were great! Stella is in an after school program that incorporates choir practice into each day – she already does a theater class – so this was just perfect – she is always singing and making up new songs! On Friday I was also able to get some Christmas presents in the mail, beating the rush and also able to send ground – love it!

Saturday we went and picked out our Christmas tree – I do miss the cutting down of our own tree. When we were living in Colorado – we could go out onto our property and cut a tree down, then we knew it was fresh – I might have to find a place to do that next year. We brought the tree home – I took it off the top of the car, carried to the yard, cut the trunk, put it in the stand and then asked the neighbor to help me carry it inside the house. The tree sat for about a day before we started decorating it – even though Stella kept asking when are you getting to get down the ornaments, when are we going to decorate. This coming from miss busy – I asked her to spend the weekend with me – so that we could decorate and work on craft projects – she said yes, but that only lasted for about 3 hours Saturday morning and then she was gone – but Sunday she did spend with me.

Sunday morning, up to the attic I went, pulling out the box of ornaments, the stockings and decorations. Bringing everything downstairs for the decorating to begin. Stella picked out and put on the Christmas music – first CD we had to listen to was an assortment of songs and singers, but there were the Chipmunks singing – thank goodness it was not more than one song!

Listening to Christmas music, singing along and then smell of pine in the air – the decorating began! This year Stella was able to help with the stringing of the lights – fabulous. Then it was the hanging of the ornaments. Unwrapping each ornament brings back memories, of trips taken, who gave, what they were for or from – there are even some on the tree that were from my grandmother and then some that my mother painted – Stella loved that when I told her who painted them. Stella looking at her ornaments and the one’s that were dated, asking me how old was I – after the first time that question was asked I told her she knew how to subtract and she could figure it out – so then I heard I was only 1 when I got this one, I was three when I made this one, etc. The tree was decorated, we stood back and admired. We took a walk in town and then the rest of the afternoon was spent doing craft and cooking.

Posted in Life | Tagged christmas tree | 9 Comments

Quinoa, Carrot and Zucchini Casserole

Posted on December 5, 2011 by simply0637

As I was looking for our new weekly recipe that would use carrots I remembered a talk I had attended a couple of years ago about food and meals. The talk was given by a wonderful farmer, Annie, who I have become friends with since. It really is a small world I had been asked to be on a committee and sitting across from me was Annie. But that is another story for another time. During this talk Annie spoke about eating the foods that are in season and that she eats the same meal over and over and over again. She read from an old farmer’s journal and she read one weeks worth of meals – lunch was a salad with tomatoes, greens and beans from the garden – it was the same for the whole week. For dinner was chicken, zucchini, beans and tomatoes and that was the same for the entire week. That talk started me thinking about when did we go to having a different item for each meal of the day, was it part of the consumerism mentally pushed on individuals during the last century, was it when the vast majority of people stopped farming and went to the farm stand or store for their supplies? For awhile I was eating the same thing for lunch and dinner and slowly went back to buying an assortment of produce and preparing different meals for each evening, since the garden is not producing, and usually having one or two leftover nights per week.

I started to pull out the ingredients for last nights meal and realized that I would probably eat this casserole for 2 or 3 meals, but that I could probably cook another 5 meals with the produce that had been delivered on Thursday and there are not that many nights in the week and would some of this food go to waste? It made me realize that I really do not need to have this much produce delivered to me, but it is the smallest box – so I think I will stop the delivery and go back to looking at my in-season produce card and buying only those items and probably eating the same 2 or 3 meals per week. Another way to cut back and simplifiy!

Quinoa, Carrot and Zucchini Casserole (thanks to http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/quinoa-carrot-zucchini-casserole.php) – serves 4

Ingredients (I changed up the recipe some, mainly because I did not have all the ingredients)

1 cup quinoa
1/4 cup dried raisins
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
2 Tbls coconut oil
3/4 cup celery, chopped small
1/4 cup onion, chopped small
2 medium carrots
2 small zucchini
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 3/4 cup boiling water or soup stock

1. Soak the quinoa in water for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. Stir the quinoa so that it is immersed in the water, cover.

2. Wash and chop all the vegetables.

3. Drain the quinoa, rinse with cold water and set to drain until later.

4. In a saute pan, heat the coconut oil on medium heat. Add the celery and onion and saute until translucent.

5. Add the carrots and saute for about 5 minutes.

6. Add the zucchini and saute for about 5 minutes.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

8. Add all the spices, except the bay leaves and cinnamon stick, lower the heat and saute until they start to brown.

8. Bring 1 3/4 cup broth to a boil.

10. In a 3 – 4 quart oven proof casserole with lid (I could not find mine, wonder where it is – so I used a casserole dish and covered with tin foil) add the quinoa, sauteed vegetables, broth, raisins, bay leaves and cinnamon stick.

11. Bake for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.

12. Before serving take the bay leaves and cinnamon stick out.

I loved this and was really surprised that Stella did not, since she likes all the ingredients. So I guess I will be having this for lunch and dinner for several days. When I make this again I will probably double the veggies.

Posted in Recipes | 6 Comments

Start A New Holiday Tradition

Posted on December 2, 2011 by simply0637

For Stella’s second birthday she received an easel. Once we set the easel up and had the paints out Stella never stopped painting. I had paintings hanging everywhere in the house and was out of space for the many more that were coming. I did not want to throw them away so I needed to figure out what to do with them all. Christmas was around the corner – so I decided I would use her art creations as my wrapping paper. With some raffia and home made gift tags the presents looked wonderful and it was another gift around a gift. That Christmas I received calls from some of the gift recipients asking me where I got my wrapping paper so I told them, others figured it out and had Stella’s artwork hanging in their home. A tradition was started. Now every year Stella’s uses her artist creativity and makes our wrapping paper. The really nice thing is that the easel painting space is about the size needed for one shirt box.

This year Stella spent the last weekend creating and painting, but decided she wanted the floor to do her work and not the easel. I love watching here create and seeing the outcome – no 2 sheets are ever the same – they may have the same theme, but they never look the same.

When wrapping the presents I try never to cut into the artwork itself, which at times makes the corners, etc a little more difficult, but it is worth it. Instead of ribbon I use either natural raffia or red raffia and sometimes both. For our gift tags, I invested in some scissors that cut with a design edge and using either construction paper or brown butcher paper cut the tags, using a hole punch I punch a hole in the corner and it is ready for the raffia. We have both the traditional hole puncher and one that punches hearts.

I have some siblings that are many years younger than me and during one Christmas celebration my sister said by the time that she was ready for her own Christmas tree she would not have ornaments to decorate with- so another tradition was started the following year, that still continues. For each of the children that we do gifts for an ornament is part of the packaging. It is great fun picking out the ornament that is just right for the receiver of the gift. I try to only get ornaments that are handmade, fair trade or support a cause. I start giving the ornaments their very first Christmas – so by the time they are 18 they have at least 18 ornaments for their own tree or for decorating their home.

Stella is now old enough to start making her own gifts or make with my help, but the wrapping paper was and is a great way to have her involved in the holiday and start the tradition with her of handmade gift giving – she loves to do it and when the holiday gets close she asks if I need any wrapping paper and when can she start painting. Sometimes we even paint together, which is always fun. For the smaller gifts I use old atlas pages to wrap those, along with boxes from gifts given to us – it is a rare thing for me to buy any wrapping essentials for the holiday.

Posted in Crafts | Tagged handmade wrapping paper | 5 Comments

The Quilt Is Not Done Yet, But Getting Closer….

Posted on December 1, 2011 by simply0637

I make a quilt for most babies joining our family, that or a knitted blanket – but a blanket they get! Stella has watched me make many a quilt and she has let me know on more than one occasion that I have not made her a quilt and when will I?!

This summer I spent about 2 weeks going through quilt book after quilt book and searching the internet to finally find the pattern I wanted to make for her. I then spent many a day cutting the fabric for the quilt. I had saved a lot of her baby clothes for this exact purpose (see August 10, A Quilt Begins).

So, yes I started this quilt in August and have hardly progressed since then. First, let me say that it is hard to work on a quilt as a present for your daughter when she is always around – getting a substantial block of time is not easy. I started the sewing process in September, following the directions in the book – but no matter what I did I could not get the center of the star to work. I put it aside. Came back to it in October – I figured I was going to have to hand sew it – after, I cannot tell you how many attempts, I again could not get the center of the star to work – it was put away again!

This past week I have been thinking and thinking about how to put the star together and have the center work and not pucker – it came to me, praise the quilt goddess for showing me the way! The directions on how to put the star together are wrong as I am finding out are all the directions for the star blocks – so I am having to improvise.

It is not sew one piece to another piece until you have 8 pieces to make the star – on indeedy it is not. This is how it is done.

1. Sew 2 triangles together, press the seam and trim the fabric.

2. Sew 2 triangles to 2 triangles – press the seams.

3. Sew 4 triangles to 4 triangles – press the seam and there you have your star! Now I just have to complete 41 more of these.

The next part is to complete the square by sewing 4 triangles and 4 squares to the star.

Again, I cannot get this to work by machine or hand. I went to the fabric store and asked the quilter there to give me some hints, suggestions, anything – I don’t think she was having such a good day because she was not helpful and told me that I could wait for another quilting class and then she would help me – at $65 an hour I think I will pass. I thought and thought on this one and could not come up with anything – so a friend who used to be a seamstress came over yesterday afternoon to assist me. She showed me how to do it, but it would probably take me about 45 minutes per square to do and I am not sure how well I would do it. My solution… I am going to look through my fabric stash and cut squares the size that they need to be for the quilt and then zig zag stitch the stars onto the fabric. If anyone has any tips or suggestions – PLEASE (with a cherry on top) – pass them on. The lesson learned – directions are not always correct and sometime you just need to use good ol’ common sense. My goal now is to have the front of the quilt done by Christmas, since this is Stella’s present from me – and if I can’t do that – at least have a big section of it done – need to go get back to work on it now, since she is out of the house!

Posted in Crafts | Tagged making a quilt | 2 Comments

Have an Old Pair of Jeans? Does This Bring You Back?

Posted on November 30, 2011 by simply0637

If you have been following me, you may remember when I was making the sandwich bags that I mentioned I was saving part of the jeans for a future purse – well here it is. I have to say it turned out better than I thought it would and it was easier than I remembered. I used part of an old pair of jeans of Stella’s and I found a great shirt at goodwill to use for the lining.

Making A Jean Purse

Items Needed

An old pair of jeans (I used a child’s pair since this purse was for a child, but any size will do)
Fabric, old shirt, old sheet, etc. for lining
Iron on flowers or other accessories
Sewing machine
Matching thread
Ruler
Fabric pencil

1. Cut the legs off an old pair of jeans – I cut it so it was completely open on the bottom, but you could cut it a little longer, depending on the size you want.

2. Taking the leg of the jeans, cut the strap. Since I had used part of the jeans for another project – I had to cut three pieces of jean and sew them together to get the length I wanted.

3. Sew the jean pieces together – I used 1/4″ seam. I did not worry about trimming the pieces until after I had sewed together. Press the seams open and then trim the ends and the sides for straight edges and same width for the entire strap.

4. Taking the fabric you have for the lining, lay the jean strap on the fabric and cut the fabric the same size. Because I was using a shirt – I had to cut 2 pieces of the lining fabric and sew together. Press seam.

5. Place right sides together sew the jean strap and lining together. You only need to sew the long sides, not the ends. Trim the seams, turn right side out and press.

6. If you are using any iron on flowers or decorations – this would be the time to put them on the body of the purse. Follow the directions on the package.

7. Sew the purse strap to the inside of the purse. Determine where you want the straps to be – I wanted mine to be in the center of each side. Place the end of the strap inside the purse and sew on, repeat for the other side making sure not to twist the strap.

8. I was not very precise on the measuring of the purse lining. I placed the jean purse on top of the lining fabric and cut around. I figured the lining was going to be loose inside the purse – so accuracy was not necessarily needed. I placed the jean purse on the shirt, which I had folded so that I would only have to sew up the sides and not the bottom. If you are using fabric – line the bottom of the jean purse on the fold of the fabric and cut along the sides of the jean purse and then cut across the top about 1″ taller than the purse.

9. With right sides together, sew the sides of the lining fabric and turn right side out.

10. Take the jean purse, turn inside out. Pin the seams at the crotch together. Then pulling tight on each side so that the fabric lays flat – pin the legs together. Sew together, trim the seam and turn right side out.

11. Place the lining inside the purse. Turn the top part of the lining over and pin to the inside top of the purse. I first pinned each side and then around the purse. Sew the lining to the purse, sewing about a 1/8″ to 1/4″ from the top – you want to avoid the snap on the jeans when sewing.

12. Your purse is done. What little girl or big girl would not like one of these – a one of a kind creation just for her!

Posted in Crafts | Tagged how to make a jean purse, jean purse | 2 Comments

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Have an Old Pair of Jeans? Does This Bring You Back?

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