|
Archive for March, 2011
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
I seem to have oranges on my mind these days! It all started with a pregnancy craving for Orange Julius. I craved them with Little Mister, and after finally tracking one down, was a little disappointed it didn’t taste the same as it did when I was a young teen. After letting that craving pass, I decided I needed Starbucks hot chocolate with Valencia orange syrup. Wouldn’t you know it, they no longer have that syrup! Then it was nutella and orange crepes, orange marmalade muffins, and it all somehow trickled down to orange fabric. Fueling my fire was Lily’s Quilt Along, a Dresden circle project. I think the orange fabrics work sooo well in Dresden form! I’m naming my quilt the “Orange Creamsicle”!
The next orange project I worked on was the Blockwork Orange swap, where each member makes a set number of crazy nine patch block based on Oh Fransson’s design. I made 18, and now wish I had made a few more! It was my first time making this block, and I enjoyed it a lot! I spent way, way too long trying to match up my seams though. I took out a few stitches, tried again, and finally just made it look the best I could. I’m not sure some of the seams CAN match, at least that is what I am telling myself!
On a funny note, when I was typing up this post, auto correct changed Orange Overload to Orange Overlord! I almost went with that!
I, Mme. Parfait, pledge to do my very best to have integrity and honesty in my swap commitments. To be on time, to participate in discussions, and to communicate if I am going to be late or unable to complete my obligations to my swap partner.
Posted in Quilting Blocks | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
Can you guess what this quilt block is?! It’s a coffee cup! I was holding off on posting this until I had my little tutorial up, but I’m a wee bit behind on that! This block came about while drinking my beloved salted caramel hot chocolate from a coffee shop that just so happens to use a mermaid on their logo. It was free pieced, no paper or template to go off of (which again is where the Husband comes in!), and it required me to cut into my Mendocino by Heather Ross. It is by far my favorite fabric, and from what I have collected I can’t seem to cut, at all. Years ago when it first debuted and I was a new quilter, I bought a fat quarter bundle to make a modern quilt pattern I had on hand. Thinking if I needed more I could just buy it at any time, I started to cut away! Fast forward a few weeks later, needing more fabric, and not being able to find it anywhere! So now I horde it like a wacky person! Anywho, I will have a tutorial up in the upcoming weeks on how this block is constructed, and how to turn it into something useful!
Posted in Quilting Blocks | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 18th, 2011
I’ve been a busy little bee these past two days! I’m usually not this productive, at all. I figured since I already had all the little fabric pieces cut out and displayed on my cutting table, I might as well take a jab at sewing them! Honestly, it was having to cut something out on said cutting table, not having the room to do so, and too afraid to move all those little pieces motivated. They came together rather quickly, but again it took me about 4 hours. I started to set up a nice working flow, the cut pieces on one side of my sewing machine for the RQ I was working on, and mini ironing board on the other. That way I could grab what I needed, sew, press and then start over. I have two more arcs to finish for RQ4! I really can’t believe it; I never, ever thought I would attempt this pattern. Thanks to the quilt along and flickr group I got up the nerve to give it a try. One thing I am nervous about though is that some of my arcs in the same ring quarter are longer than others. I’m really happy with my color choices, but still undecided about the background fabric. Originally I wanted it green, now I’m playing with light pink, yellow, or white.
Posted in Quilts – In Progress | 5 Comments »
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
When I joined the Single Girl Quilt Along, I had envisioned keeping up week to week, quilting along. Well, things didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned! My first batch of fabrics didn’t arrive until late in the 2nd week, and then I needed to purchase a few more fabrics to complete my rings. Then I ran out of template plastic, lost some templates (you would think I would just re-trace them, but no, I spent forever trying to find those little suckers. And then I re-traced them.), changed my mind on my colors a dozen times, and couldn’t find the time to hand cut the ring parts out. Better late than never!
I finally traced out all my templates, and set aside some time to get to work! It took about 3 hours (thank you abnormally long nap) to cut my strips and trace the templates on. And I’m only making a baby quilt! I admire all you hard workers out there making the bigger sizes! After Little Mister went to sleep I started to cut out each ring piece, which took…4 hours. Thank you American Idol, Top Chef, and Being Human (now if only BBC UK would let me watch season 3, I could finish a queen size! Hah!). I’m only using 16 fabrics so after P I had to get a little creative and try and play around with the fabrics to make sure nothing was going to be out of place….which took another hour. Man, I am slow. I wanted to make another baby quilt for soon to arrive Little Mademoiselle, since I figure once she arrives my quilting and sewing time is going to be nonexistent for a bit! But I can’t wait! I chose Riley Blake’s’ Quite Contrary and Summer Song for the rings, and I’m still waiting to see what Kona green I should use for the background. Spring? Sour Apple?
These orange fabrics are for both Lily’s Quilt Along and A Blockwork Orange. I completely messed up cutting out the 9 ½” blocks needed for Blockwork Orange, and I still can’t find where I went wrong. Selvedge to selvedge, trim the sides, and cut 9 ½”. Turn, and cut again….but now it is 8 or 8 ½” on one side! Sooooo I had to order more fabric, but that’s fine by me since I have more fabric to play with! I have always wanted to try the crazy nine patch, and I’m super excited to assemble a quilt using other quilter’s blocks! I’m going to try for 18 blocks on this one. The fabrics are a combination of Kate Spain Central Park, Heather Ross Mendocino, Jenean Morrison Picnic Parade, and Chrysalis by Sanae for Moda.
Posted in Quilts – In Progress | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Ah, late sleepy mornings! Little Mister has been surprising me by waking up a little later than usual, and by doing so I can bake up some yummy treats for breakfast! Yesterday was banana chocolate muffins (didn’t go over as well as I had hoped) and this morning was sweet potato pancakes! These are so fluffy and taste like a dessert in the sunrise! I *love* pancakes, and these are a nice change from our usual plain flapjacks!
(Sweet and Fluffy) Sweet Potato Pancakes
12 oz sweet potato, cooked and mashed (about 2 medium)
1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon AP flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
(Optional – two teaspoons pumpkin pie spice {which is nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice, and ginger)
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs – beaten
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup melted butter
Garnish: Toasted chopped pecans and warm maple syrup
The night before you want to make these, bake the sweet potatoes until soft. Let them cool then peel off the skins and mash. Store in the fridge overnight. In the morning, remove them and place in a large bowl. Add the butter, milk, sugar, and eggs. In a second bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and spice if you are using it. Fold the dry mixture into the sweet potato mixture, and let sit for 15 mins while you heat up your skillet. Using a ¼ cup scoop, drop dollops of the batter onto the skillet. They should fluff up and have some bubble holes in the top. Flip them over and cook the other side. They take a little bit to cook, and you have to watch them so they don’t burn. Transfer to a serving platter. Using a ¼ scoop I was able to get about 16 pancakes. Freeze any leftovers. Or eat them!
Posted in Patisserie | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
My Little Mister is so funny. He will lay in his crib on his back, feet against the wall, and puuuush his crib over to his mini wall bookcase. I couldn’t figure out how he would have books in his crib in the morning, until I heard something strange on the baby monitor and went to investigate. He is going to have calves of steel!
I suppose soon I am going to have to stop referring to his room as “his”, given that shortly his little sister will share it as well! Since we are going to rearrange furniture to make room for a second crib, I wanted to make him a little floor cushion so he could sit and look at his books or play with toys. I found the perfect fabric, Alexander Henrys’ It’s a Hoot in Home Decorator weight, on Etsy one night. Then I found the perfect tutorial, Living with Punks’ Land of Nod Inspired Floor Cushion. And then in sat in my sewing bin for about 6 months. Maybe longer. While moving fabric around I discovered it again and got to work! Or I should say my Husband got to work. I asked him to draw me the 17 inch circle, went downstairs to fix Little Misters train set, and when I came back up he was sewing on the piping! I should probably tell you now that my Husband is fantastic at sewing. He can draft patterns, sew, and construct like it’s nobody’s business. He is also a handy carpenter, computer whiz, graphics guru, and takes care of pancake Saturday (and sometimes Sunday, too). So it was no surprise that while I stepped away he took over completed this project!
Posted in Crafts – Sewing | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Not a lot of sewing going on here in Parfait land, it seems that sewing in my third trimester is not as much fun as I had hoped! But on the plus side my sewing room is finally completed, tons of new projects have been cut out, and binders are full of baby projects! The dress above is one that was finished right before I found out about Little Mademoiselle, so it didn’t get too much wear last year. It falls right at the knee, has bodice front seams, and is sleeveless.
My Spring Palette Challenge might have to wait till my Little Mademoiselle make her appearance, with just a few (okay, maybe more than a few) weeks left I just can’t come up with the energy to sew an entire maternity wardrobe! And, every design I want to make I want to have for after my pregnancy, so I think I am going to hold off for just a bit, since I have no idea what sizing will be like!
Pattern: Butterick 4443
Fabric: Robert Kaufman (Pear) Fruit Basket
Cardigan: Tulle Cozy Cardigan in Clover
Posted in Clothes for Madame, Crafts – Sewing | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
What better way to celebrate a birthday than with a quilt! Today is Dr. Seuss’s 107th Birthday! We all enjoy his books so much, I’m glad this quilt represents that a bit! I think Little Mister might enjoy the website more, though! This is the finished Dr. Seuss quilt top for Little Mister, following along the Wonky Circle of Stars Quilt Along! I’m in love with this quilt and might snatch it for myself! The double borders still need to be added, maybe blue and red?
Posted in Quilts – Finished | 5 Comments »
|
|
|
