No November Craft Show, but Yes December Craft Show

Well, for numerous good reasons, none of which I feel like writing about now, I am not doing the craft show in November as I had previously mentioned.

Instead, I'm doing one on December 14th!  I'm excited, but I have to get busy sewing!!  No time to waste.  With custom orders, and one very important order that is WAY overdue, I don't have much spare time.

Got to go sew!

selling at a craft show!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

I have agreed (lost my mind) to sell my wares at a craft show in November.  I've even sent the check for the spot!!

I am a bit nervous, but extremely excited at the same time.

Not sure how much stuff I'll get finished to sell (especially since I have a few custom orders to do at the moment), but we shall see!

Thankfully I still have 47 days and 17 hours according to the countdown app on my phone...

Purple Basil Pesto Pasta

Hello interwebs.  I have been, well, away from the blog world for a while.  So, I decided I'd finally write something and it includes a super yummy recipe I made the other night.  I don't have many photos, possibly only one.  So I'll have to make this again once my basil grows some more...

also, font/formatting is odd because I put this in my www.sparkrecipes.com recipe calculator to determine nutritional facts, for the most part. (this has approximately 390 calories per serving if it makes 6)

Purple Basil Pesto Rotini topped with Caramelised Red Onion

this delicious pesto pasta dish full of fresh herbs is elevated by the addition of caramelised red onion

Number of Servings: approximately 6

Ingredients

Garlic, 5 cloves (more or less to your taste)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 3 tbsp
Thyme, fresh, 1 tsp
oregano, fresh, 1 tbsp
fresh basil (purple), 0.5 cup (more or less to taste)
pinenuts, 1 tbsp
Sargento 6 blend italian cheese, 1 heaping tablespoon
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 tbsp
Tomato Paste, 1 can (6 oz)
Water 4 fl oz (up to 8 oz if you think it needs it, but start with 4)

dreamfields rotini, 13 oz

Red Onion Raw (1/4 cup, 40g or 1.4oz), 0.5 cup
Butter, unsalted, 3 tbsp

A bit of sea salt, fresh ground

Disclaimer:

All measurements are close to accurate... but I kinda gauge things by sight, pinches, and handfuls. So good luck, taste as you go to get your desired flavour

Directions

heat the butter over medium heat until melted.  add onion and stir until coated in butter.  Cook onion over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. do not cover. After about 10 minutes, add some fresh cracked sea salt, or salt! Continue to cook onions for an additional 10-20 minutes while continuing with the prep. 

Cook pasta per instructions on box. Return to pot after straining.

In the meantime, prepare your pesto as follows:

in food processor, blend garlic and 3 tbsp olive oil until well blended.
add fresh thyme, oregano, and basil. pulse until well blended.
add pinenuts and cheese. if needed, add another tablespoon of oil. pulse until well blended.
Add tomato paste and water. Blend until desired consistency is reached.


Once pasta is drained, and sauce is complete, mix the sauce into the pasta. Continue to stir until all the pasta is coated.


Put into individual bowls and top with some caramelised onion(I think about a tablespoon or so...). Enjoy!!!



Serving Size: Makes approximately 6 servings

angel sweet pouch made and shipped

A few months ago Ros from Sew Delicious hosted a fantastic Sweet Pouch Swap.  It was such fun and I loved my pouch I received(post about this to follow soon!) and the one I sent.

Unfortunately life happens and not everyone received their pouch!  Sadness!!!

So I, along with tons of other kind folks, volunteered to make an angel pouch to send.  I LOVED making this one!!!

The gal I received had an instagram account, pinterest, and a blog.  I was able to peer into her world and thought of a clever pouch!  At least, I think it's clever!!  I hope it's clever!!  She should be receiving it later today or tomorrow so I'll hopefully find out soon if she likes it!

She said she liked reds, purples, and pinks so I went with this fun purple fabric I'm currently in love with.  I picked it up from a Hobby Lobby a few months back.  

One really cool thing about my gal----she hand spins her own yarn!  How amazing!

While looking through her instagram photos I did stumble on one particular photo that inspired me.  Wicket the angora bunny.

I made her a little purple angora bunny as the centerpiece of her little patchwork pouch!

she said she enjoyed patchwork.  mine is not perfect, but I like it that way! ;-)

her own little purple angora bunny! he is very soft!

I bought this bunny fabric about 15 years ago!!

I do hope she likes it.

I included delicious chocolates from our local chocolatier, Malley's.  SO yummy!!

I forgot to take a photo, but I also made a little cat toy for her kitty!

I hope she loves it all!  Giving is so much fun!

Covert Robin excitement!

YAY!!  

Patiently waiting paid off and my Covert Robin assignment came through at 5:05 this morning!  I'm excited to make something for a complete stranger!  I love spreading joy and fun through my sewing room and can't wait to get started!

Now the hard part!  Deciding what to make.  I'm going to hop over to my mystery partner's blog and maybe check and see if she is on pinterest!  Such a great resource for snooping around to find out what my partner likes!  

happy creating everyone!

cheers!

catching up

So many sewing projects to do.  So many ideas flooding through my mind.  It's terrible because I seem to be so easily distracted and am not getting many done!!

I need to finish my February Riley Blake Designs mystery block of the month.

I need to make duvet cover and shams for my cousin-in-law that she ordered a LONG time ago...fabric and supplies are all ready to go, I'm just nervous about cutting into the pricey fabric.

I need to get some good photos of some items, mainly receiving/swaddling blankets, to go in my shop.  And actually post them!!

I need to sew more stuff for my sweet boy!  Especially since it's Celebrate the Boy week(s)!

I want to make a Showoff bag for myself and a bag for my best friend, matching of course!  (we are a bit ridiculous and I wouldn't want it any other way)

I'm excited for two swaps I'm going to participate in.  The Covert Robin and a Little Pin Cushion Swap!

I'm still waiting for my Sweet Pouch to arrive.  Hope it comes soon!  Also hope my partner received hers.  Should have arrived within the past week or so.  Unfortunately, my tracking information from the USPS stops after the package leaves Canadian customs.  Maybe I'll email her soon to check...

I did make one item for my boy for Celebrate the Boy...

A giant stuffed Nautiloid!  He drew a wonderful little picture and asked if I could make it into a stuffed animal.  So I did.  I don't have any photos handy to post, but he loves it!

Better get motivated here!

riley blake mystery block quilt-a-long, part 1

It turns out, having some kind of external force motivate me is good for my sewing.  I felt so good about making a pouch for the sweet pouch swap I decided I wanted to continue to be motivated!  Through Quilting Mumma, I learned about the Riley Blake Designs mystery block of the month quilt-a-long going on right now!  Yep, diving straight into this one!  I was already leaning towards, yes, I'd like to do this...but then I saw the first video!

Chevron!

Yes please!

I got straight to work...which meant sitting in my comfy IKEA sewing chair, swiveling around looking at all the fabric in my sewing room, and debating what I should use to 'try' this technique before actually committing to a fabric.  I saw peeking out from under a pile of baby fabrics some fantastic bubbles of blues/teals/greens and instantly said 'yep, that's the one!'  I know chevron seems to be done in solids...but I like the idea of mixing it up with a patterned fabric!  I found perfect reclaimed fabric(a pillowcase/sham set that was given to me a few years ago to be used as fabric) to coordinate.  Creamy white with a pale aqua paisley design.  PERFECT!

cutting.  gosh, I love having a rotary cutter and self-healing mat...

 I cut my squares.  I then set out on the difficult task of making myself follow directions and NOT cut corners.  My biggest fear when it comes to quilting is the accuracy and detail that is involved!  I don't want to trim each of these squares into perfect 2.5" squares.  I want to leave them slightly askew at 2.6" or 2. 3"...but I forced myself to be good.  To take the time.  To focus.

squares marked and ready for stitching

 And it was worth it!  I felt good.  (well, my back hurt a wee bit after all that ironing and cutting...)

detail of the 'light' fabric...before ironing the right way(towards the dark fabric)

Now my block is sitting on my cutting mat, waiting to be sewn together!  I love the way it looks so far and hope that I can have the patience to make sure I don't lose any of my points and it doesn't look too wonky in the end!

I really like it!!  (and please ignore that bottom right square...need to replace that one...)

A few days later I finished my block!  I replaced the bottom square, realised I needed more and got straight to work.

I'm very pleased with the results for my first time actually trying something like this...

Not all of my seams match perfectly, but I love it so much!!!  I love it so much in fact, I purchased a 2.5" template so I can do this better when I make more!

Can't wait for the 2nd block to be revealed!

sweet pouch swap, part 2 and a dalek surgery

I finished my pouch for the Sweet Pouch Swap!  Well, if I'm being honest, I finished my second pouch for the swap...  The first one is in my bag as a receipt/gift card pouch. After it was deemed unfit to be sent to anyone else, I trimmed off the bottom and sew it back up.  I cut new pieces out of my two fabrics and got to work sewing a new one.

This is the pouch that will be heading out of Ohio and making it's way up to Canada.

All I have left to do is to get a wee bit more candy to stuff it with and box it up!  I hope my partner enjoys it!

In addition to completing my pouch, I also had to perform some surgery on a Dalek.  

he lost his 'exterminator'

E-6000 glue is awesome!

starting to feel better?

he's looking at something...

YOU!  

 

sweet pouch swap, part 1

I'm very excited to be taking part in this fantastic swap put together by Ros at Sew Delicious in Australia!  I have never participated in a swap before but decided this was a perfect one to get my feet wet with!  Candy and sewing!  Awesome!

My partner didn't give me many details to go off of, actually none, so I'm making something I would enjoy in hopes that she will too!  I hope my easy going nature matches with her easy going nature and she'll enjoy what I'm making.  I did some internet stalking to try and find anything out about her tastes but to no avail.  I hope she likes what I picked!

After toying back and forth with numerous options I finally decided on this beautiful fabric from my stash.  It is Robert Kaufman, 2007, Little Darlings, 1930s reproduction print in a light mango colour.  I love it.  I only have a 1/4 of a yard of this fabric and am happy to be sharing it with an international neighbor!

I chose a natural coloured zipper and this coral coloured bias tape as an accent.  The bias tape is at least 30 years old.  My grandmother-in-law (101 years old) gave me a few boxes of bias tape and some of them are from the 30/40s all the way through the 80/90s!  I've decided the lining will be this cream and pale blue checker material that has a similar tone to it.

As for the 'sweet' part of this swap, I've procured some 100% allergen free chocolate bars for my partner(nut allergies).  I'm thinking some candies from the largest candy store in the US, b.a. Sweetie, will also be in order.

I'm very excited to start sewing this pouch so I better get too it, eh!?

Cheers!

reaping the benefits

Back in May of 2012 I entered a little quilting contest at Sew Happy Geek that you can read about here.  I happily dove straight in to creating my first quilt and absolutely loved it.  I was very proud and shared my little work of art with all my friends and family and low and behold I won the most popular vote!  I was shocked!!  And extremely grateful!!

Now, 8 months later, I am enjoying reaping the benefits of that win finally!  I received, quite promptly might I add, my prize in the beginning of June.  A $35 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop!  Oh my goodness, I am in heaven!  So many amazing fabrics to choose from!  Over the past 8 months I have definitely spent hours pouring through page after page of awesomeness.  It was so hard to finally commit!  But I did!  And I can't wait for my order to arrive!

I'm most excited for this one:

who doesn't love a zipper pouch?

Hello there!  It's been about a month since my last post and MAN, what a month it has been.  I swear, I have never had a busier two weeks than this holiday season!  Started with our Alpha Christmas with our friends and their children on December 22nd.

Followed by a mini-Harry Potter Party for my cousin's children and my son on the 23rd.

Then, Christmas Eve with my family at my Aunt's house.

Christmas day was spent at home, then my grandmother-in-law's, then finished the night off with a taste of the Doctor back at my Aunt's house.  (Really enjoyed the Christmas Special of Doctor Who this year...)  The 26th is my grandmother-in-law's birthday, and we intended on going out to dinner at a fantastic restaurant near our airport here in Cleveland called The 100th Bomb Group, BUT a blizzard changed our minds.  So birthday breakfast the next morning for my 101 year old grandmother-in-law.  Yes, she is 101!  It's crazy.  She still cleans her bathtub and washes all the dishes.  She's pretty amazing.  Anyhow, I finally had a breathing moment but then we had a wedding to go to on the 29th that I was making a gift for.  Of course it got pushed until after the holiday because I had so much sewing going on before then.  Matching jammy pants for cousins, Hogwarts robes for first years, fabric wand for our youngest witch, and the list goes on.

{{{WOW, this gets pretty wordy here, but I don't have any photos to add in so I apologize in advance!}}}

After all of that busyness, I happily rested in the beginning of January.  Actually, I bought a cheap "charm pack" (it only had 24 squares and cost $3) while taking my mom shopping at Big Lots and decided I would hand sew all the squares together to make a little lightweight stroller quilt for my best friend's baby.  I truly loved the feel of hand sewing them...I think it in a strange way it feels very organic.  I'm almost finished with that(just waiting to iron all the seams and find a suitable backing piece or pieces...) and I also made myself a little felt needle pouch. Now when I want to sit with my family while watching a movie and do some hand sewing I don't need to take my pin cushion with me, as my cats see it as a new toy and I'm inevitably on hands and knees searching for pins in the carpet...

On to this week.  I stumbled upon this fantastic swap going on:  Sweet Pouch Swap!!   It's being organised by Ros of Sew Delicious and I'm so excited to be taking part!!!  This is my first swap and I can't stop telling my family how excited I am.  So to spare them from further babbling, I decided I'd type up this little post.  I received my partner's info and am a little unsure how I want to proceed.  I can't decide if I want to make a funky scrappy pouch, or a quilted pouch with 'traditional' fabrics, or a brightly coloured pouch, or an owl pouch(oh wait, that one might be for me...).  The pinterest board is filling up with fabulous ideas and inspiration and I can't wait to get started.

And then the hunt for what sweets to include!  The fun part about this swap is that so many people are participating from all over the world!  From Australia to Norway!!  So you may get candy from New Zealand that you've never heard of!

On to sit in my sewing room and stare at fabric and zippers!

Have a great day everyone!