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Fleece Mittens Pattern

5 Dec

Last week I discovered the the pattern I linked to for my Fleece Mittens Tutorial was no longer available online. Luckily, I have a hard copy of the two different patterns I referred to. I have turned it into a PDF file and here it is for you, incase you wish to make fleece mittens for your lovely childrens.

It isn’t the best pattern in the world. But if it snowed last night and you find yourself mittenless and your kids are begging to go outside with socks on their hands, this is infinitely better. (Because they need to play outside and socks just don’t hold off the wet cold for very long.)

PDF Pattern FOR DOWNLOAD

It was all in my head…

2 Nov

I thought through at least 4 posts this month. Then I saw my blog and realized they weren’t there. Apparently the posts never made it from my brain to the computer.

Oh I remember why…the new blogger post editor won’t load correctly on my computer and I couldn’t figure out how to change back to the old editor. Now I’ve found what settings to change and I’m using the old editor and trying not to feel like everyone else has it better. Maybe they all think the new editor sucks too.

Here are a few of the things I imagined posting in the last month:

Finished Project!!!


I have wanted to make a bag like this one forever! It is done and I love it! I used this tutorial on Craftster here. It is pretty small though. You can get a more useful size (and easier to read) pattern from Mamma Byrd Tiny Tote Pattern

Happy First Birthday Cutie Pie!

Went camping in Osage Hills State Park (Bartlesville, Oklahoma) to celebrate having the DH home at last!!!
Hip Hip Hooray! He’s been gone 12 of the last 18 months and the kids and I are SO HAPPY to have him home.

p.s. Aunt Jeanie, I know I should have told you we were going to be so close to you, but we were going in the complete opposite direction until we changed plans very last minute because of rain.– Sorry 😦



Recipe: Spinach Feta Cheese Quiche:

**This is a recipe I have modified. The original came from “Making Great Cheese at Home” by Barbara Ciletti

Crust:

3/4 c lard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water microwaved for 60 seconds so it is really hot

Mix until water is absorbed.

Add: 3 cups flour Blend until crumbly

add 1/3 cup milk and mix until smooth.
Roll out dough and line a springform pan with crust dough.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Filling:

Fry alot of bacon–like a good handful–8 strips? drain on paper towel. crumble up and put in a bowl with

5 Large Eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 cups or so chopped fresh spinach (the spinach in your fridge that you have to use today or it will be slimy kind)
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 cloves garlic, mashed
3/4 cup feta cheese (or do like me and put in the whole yummy package)
1/4 cup cream cheese cubed. (Next time I might try creaming it with a mixer first and then adding everything else to it.)
sprinkle a little black pepper over it
3 oz olive oil
1/2 cup pitted black olives

Pour the filling into the crust.
Bake 40 plus minutes until top center is slightly firm and doesn’t jiggle when you pull the pan out of the oven.

Magicked 4 Halloween Costumes together in less that 2 hours thanks to DH for driving 80 miles to get fake fur for the werewolf and then dashing off again to the dollar store for a few other things (like the whole witch’s costume–totally worth every penny of $1.25plus tax.)

Peach Pie and Pumpkin Pie ready for tricks

Pumpkin Pie, Bubba, Cherry Pie and Peach Pie

Delicious Cheddar Pear Pie—This Nearly Was Mine

20 Sep

One Dream in my heart.
One new recipe to try.
One love to be living for.
This Nearly was mine.

As I assembled the pie, I dreamed of how delicious the pie would taste.

True, my 1-year old baby, Cutie Pie, was crying her head off and hanging on to my leg, but I was almost done.

Have a pear, Baby, Just a minute, Baby!

How impressed my company would be.

Ah, the glory.

I brushed the top crust with cream and sprinkled it with sugar. Not only would this pie taste divine, it would look beautiful.

I put the pie in my amazing Jenn~Air double oven stove.

Ahh! Sweet Anticipation

10 minutes later…

BLAST! I forgot to put in the CHEESE.

How could I forget the cheese?

It is in the name of the pie.

No Cheddar Pear Pie for me. Just plain old boring pear pie.

Sigh.

Now, now I’m alone,
Still dreaming of paradise,
Still saying that paradise
Once nearly was mine

What? You want the Recipe? Too Bad.
No Cheddar Pear Pie for me.
No Cheddar Pear Pie for you.

Just Kidding. May you find the pie of dreams within your grasp.

Cheddar Pear Pie

Goodbye Sweet Lazy Days of Summer

20 Aug


Now I have to get up early to get my kids off to school.

Pumpkin Pie’s first day of Kindergarten. She is so little. Bubba and Cherry Pie are old hats at this school business.

Dang! No more sleeping in.

I have my schedule set though, and I am glad that I will be forced to get up. Flylady and I are going to be good friends this fall 🙂

Here’s a sneak peak of my latest project

Finished project!

27 Jul

I forgot to post Mama Bird and her chicky! I actually finished her near Easter. (I won’t lie and say before Easter, though that was the goal.)

You can find a tutorial from Molly Chicken here.


Her arms are too short to do everything.

I know how she feels.

Paper Piecing Tutorial

15 Jul

Introducing Miss Kitty and her sister. I drew this kitty quilt block and my very talented friend Vea turned it into a paper pieced pattern for me.

I am going to attempt a tutorial on my favorite way to paper piece. I’m sorry about the bad pictures. I really need to read my cousin’s blog more. In this tutorial, the picture will come first, and then a description of what is happening will come second.

Some of you may be familiar with traditional paper piecing, in which you sew through your paper pattern. I don’t like that way.

(insert picture of Ramona the Pest in the flesh)

I like my way. Here’s why:

1. You won’t sew through the paper, thus you won’t have to make more than one copy of the pattern (saves paper)
And, You won’t have to tear the paper off the fabric when you are done. (I think the tearing distorts the blocks.)

2. You don’t have to think in reverse the entire time.
3. You will always be able to tell if you are sewing your fabric piece on at the correct angle, saving endless seam ripper time.
4. You can be exact about the size you need (less wasted fabric)

Without further ado, Let us begin

(“I haven’t tested it yet, but it should be perfectly safe. Just a bit of harmless brain alteration, that’s all.”)

Supplies:
Pins- flat head pins are best
Tracing wheel or seam ripper
Ruler- a smaller one, like a 6” square is more manageable.
If you have a ruler with a ¼” lip on it, bring it!!
Cutting wheel and mat
Iron & ironing board
Scraps
Sewing machine and Pencil

As you can see, my Miss Kitty is yellow with an orange background. Your pattern has numbers on each piece. You must go in order of number or disaster beyond your imagination will occur.


We are starting with Miss Kitty’s head.

1. Take your Paper Piecing Pattern and Ruler and score all the lines with a tracing wheel or the blunt edge of your seam ripper. This is because you will be folding back the paper instead of sewing through it.

2. Measure each piece of the paper pattern. Find the longest horizontal and vertical measurement for piece #1 . Cut 1 orange piece of fabric 1 inch to 1 ½ inches larger than the pattern. As you get practiced up, you can use the smaller measurement.

*******


3. Place piece #1 face down (right side down) on the table.


4. Place the pattern face down (print side down) on top of piece #1. Make sure they are lined up and pin the fabric to the pattern. Make sure as you pin that the pin is not extending over into piece #2 (because that is where you are sewing next)


5. Fold back the corner of the pattern that has piece #2. You are folding exactly on the line between piece #1 and piece #2. (The scoring you did in step 1 makes this accurate and easy.)


6. Measure ¼” away from the fold and trim off the excess fabric. (The ¼” is seam allowance.) Pretend this picture was taken at this step and not several pieces later.


7. Place fabric piece #2 face up ( right side up) under the fabric #1. You have now created a “sandwich” with the paper on top (right side down) Piece #1 next (right side down), and Piece #2 (Right side up).


8. Line up Piece #2 with the seam allowance or Piece #1 and sew along the fold line of the pattern, but not on the paper.


9. Flip the whole thing over and press open with an iron, or finger press. Pin as necessary. (again, you have to pretend I remembered to take a picture at the actual pressing of piece 1 and 2 and not after the pressing of the entire head section.)


10. When you are done, trim the edges REMEMBERING SEAM ALLOWANCE.

11. Repeat steps 2-9 for piece #3. Sometimes you may have to move pins- it depends on how small the pieces of the block are.

Now, I want to tell you about a special circumstance:

!!!!! If you fold the pattern and the next piece is cock-eyed or at an odd angle, line up the fabric piece under the corresponding folded over portion of the pattern. When you are done sewing and unfold, it will line up perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


More Explanation: (We are doing Miss Kitty’s tail now…yes I skipped the body…it is just like the head, but bigger)


Here you see the background piece cut 1 inch bigger than the paper pattern.


Then I realized that I left the seam allowance on my pattern, so I trimmed the background to fit exactly.


Now I am creating that sandwich with piece #2 of Miss Kitty’s tail face up on the bottom of the stack.


I fold along the line between piece #1 and piece #2. Woa! Is this going to come out right? Remember the rule:

Line up the fabric piece #2 under the corresponding folded over portion of the pattern. When you are done sewing and unfold, it will be right.

You may not be able to see it in the picture, but in real life, I could see the fold lines showing the outlines of piece #2 on the paper. There was yellow fabric under the outline and extending at least a quarter inch past the fold lines on all sides, so I knew I was safe.


You Doubt me?


Ta Da! Happy Day 🙂 Now, trim it to quarter inch seam allowance and go on to piece #3.


It is a weird angle too, but again, see how to line up the fabric under the folded over paper #3


Three sections of Miss Kitty, now ready to be put together.

p.s. to get Miss Kitty’s sister, flip the pattern over and work from the back.

Fusible Web Applique Blues

15 Jul

After searching for HOURS, yet unsuccessfully, for my trusty dusty roll of Heat-N-Bond,

I unearthed an old sheet of WonderUnder.

I guess this will work…

I know.

What was I thinking?

It was every bit as bad as you are imagining.

One ruined hand towel,
one sticky iron,
and one half-hour later

I am ready to iron my own face off in remorse.

Where are you, Heat-N-Bond? Come back to me. I’ll fix you presents and treats.

Tea Party Aprons

9 Apr

I entered another of my aunt’s Sassy Apron Swaps. Diva #1 has been pretty excited whenever I get an apron and goodies in the mail and she kept asking me if she could get goodies in the mail like that. So, I asked my Auntie if I could enter Diva #1 instead of myself in her Tea Party Sassy Apron Swap. Well apparently, several other little girls wanted to play too, because she created a Junior category for us all.

This time, we were paired up with a partner and they knew who we were. (usually it’s a secret.) It was really fun. Diva’s tea party friend sent her this fabulous cup cake apron and lots of other treats like cup cake lipgloss and cup cake socks. (Oh how thankful I am for those socks. Diva #1 hates socks–specifically the seam in the toe bugs her. It is a fight every morning before school. But she will wear the cupcake socks VOLUNTARILY!!!) Diva’s partner’s mom is one amazing woman!

This is the apron we made for Diva’s partner. Tutorial comming soon! We also sent her a heart-shaped tea cup that matched it and a few other goodies.

This was definitely fun!

Grandma & Grandpa Dolls

14 Jan

I made these for my parents as a gag gift for Christmas. I got the idea from Angry Chicken.

1. I used the inkjet iron transfer paper, and printed my parents’ faces.
2. Then I drew a gingerbread man type doll body on white muslin. I made the head almost exactly the same size and the pictures I printed. In retrospect, I should have made the head 1/4-1/2 inch bigger than the picture. Then the faces wouldn’t have been so distorted by the stuffing. I DID NOT CUT OUT THE DOLLS YET
3. I colored the clothes directly on the muslin with crayons. Then Put the muslin between paper towels and ironed it to melt the wax out. As you can see, the color stayed. It is easier to color the dolls if you have a page of fine sand paper under the fabric to sort of hold it in place as you color.
4. Repeat step three to get bold colors.
5. I ironed the faces onto the dolls, following the directions for the transfer paper.
6. I layered a plain piece of muslin over the doll drawings, right sides together and sewed all around on the line I had drawn, leaving 1 1/2″ open on one side for turning & stuffing.
7. THen I cut out the dolls, leaving a 1/4 seam allowance all around.
8. I turned the dolls right side out and stuffed them tightly. As you can see from the lumpy dolls, I do not know the finer rules of stuffing. **note to self: Research finer rules of stuffing on one of those fabulous softie making websites I have bookmarked.
9. I whipstitched the opening shut.

Judging by Diva#3’s reaction to the dolls, I need to make her a set so she can play with Grandma every day. She picked up the dolls and laughed with glee and pressed them to her, shouting, “They’re hugging me, they’re hugging me.”

P.S. Grandma and Grandpa got a good laugh Christmas morning, and Grandma says she can use it for a voodoo doll when Grandpa is in the dog house.

Happy New Year!

3 Jan

We had a wonderful Christmas, thanks to our wonderful family and many friends.

Here is a picture of one of the felt princess crowns I made for the divas.

I like the things I make. even when I am copying someone else’s idea, like I did here. This is the doll quilt I made for our swap in the Newtonia Battlefield Quilters December meeting.

Now it is January Second and I need to solidify my New Year’s Resolutions.

What is really important to me??? I can’t do everything, but I want to !

Goals should always be stated positively, with what you will do/gain, not what you will not do/loose. So:

For myself, I will
1. read my scriptures every day
2. each week I will write 5 pages of that book (I have wanted to write for the last 6 years).
3. exercise 5 days a week and replace sugary snacks and chocolate with veggies and fruit.
4. Do something for my Mary Kay business every day (mon-fri)

5. I am determined to keep the house clean and orderly. I feel that my best plan to accomplish this is to go back to the FLYLADY

6. I will consistently plan good Family Home Evening lessons and teach them on Monday Nights. I have always been more successful at this when I had an overall plan. So my plan is to use the conference Ensign. Each week I will choose a talk given by one of the apostles or the first presidency (I will go in order of seniority) that I feel is relevant to our family and base the lesson on that. That is 15 weeks of lessons and the children will know all of the apostles by the end.

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