put a bird on it

I noticed that my old shower curtain has been slowly shrinking every time I washed it.  I ignored it to the point that it finally shrunk up past the lip of our shower.  This makes for a very ineffective shower curtain. I found this Prospect Park line and couldn't resist this print with two shades of grey and pale pastels.  Lulu approved, mostly because she loves the birds and butterflies.

I also made button holes for the first time since Pearl arrived.  Once I figured it out, I felt a little like standing on my sewing chair, arms raised, while I shouted "I'm king of the world".

sewingmybricoleshower curtain
ages 10 and up

last week was birthdays week at the cottage this guy

 

now looks more like this

He still asks for the same chocolate cake that he had on his very first birthday, but this year it was an R2D2 version.

Besides droids, he also loves owls.  I made this little one for him, which he named Eglantine after the little owl in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole.

I celebrated my birthday with some antique time.

Here's my cake

It was a cream cheese frosting over a vanilla cake that I dyed purple.

We ended the week with some bowling.

lulu and I took a moment to admire our cool shoes.

 

baking, stray posts, take that autismmybricolebirthday, cake, desserts, owl
dishes also done by hand

Here's the thing... I've never had much luck with dishwashers.  They etch my glasses, they permanently bond any left over food  on to my plates, they are rough on my vintage dishes, and they are noisy.  I'm told that new ones are better about all of those things but when I have enough extra money lying around to buy one, I'm going to use that money to buy something fun like fabric or a new water heater.  I also adore my galley kitchen.  Everything is right there where I need it, when I need it, but baking can be a bit pan intensive.  I was keeping all my baking pans on a shelf in the basement.

but then, the dishwasher was removed -

shelves were made and rigorously tested -

once the paint cured, I loaded them with serving pieces -

I was able to hide all my cake and bread pans in the cupboard where the serving pieces used to sit.  My favorite part though is the muffin papers in the jar (that part was lulu's job).

baking, stray postsmybricolecupcakes, kitchen, shelves
practical geometry

I took some squares from a charm pack along with some extra yardage from a previous project and put together some more pot holders. For the first one, I cut four charms into smaller squares.

For the second one, I cut the charms into triangles.

For the third pot holder, I cut them in half.

I pieced the backs together with the extra yardage.

Then I wrapped them up and gave them to a friend for her birthday.

quilting, sewingmybricolemug rug, pot holder
gifted

I just finished this hat.  It's a birthday gift for a friend.

It's the same pattern as this one, just done in a different color.

I used a remote to take the photos.

It was giving me fits and didn't want to work for some reason.

After I downloaded the photos I think I found the shot that may have scared the remote straight.

I was not amused.

(p.s. yes that is a blatant Doctor Who reference)

 

knittingmybricoleevil eye, hat
before hooked on phonics

I picked these up at last year's antiques extravaganza.  They came in a box labeled, A Basal Set of Phonetic Word Drill Cards, for use with any system of reading.  They've been resting in the basement for a while now.  Monday, I spied them on the shelf as I was carrying up a load of laundry and realized I had the perfect place to show them off.

The next morning I walked into the living room to find the spouse and the kids rearranging a bit.

decorating meets education

stray postsmybricoleflash cards
snow day

So here we are, trapped with colds and coughs in the cold and snow.

My plan is to hide in the house and eat big pieces of this cinnamon streusel pound cake

I did manage to get a few things done before the storm hit.  Cj has started his recorder unit for school so I made a new case for my old recorder.  I used some of the leftover echino from the quilt I'm working on.

I also finished up some patchwork pot holders for a friend's birthday.

baking, sewing, stray postsmybricolebundt, front door, pot holder, pound cake, snow
add onions to skillet and caramelize in rendered bacon fat

I trust any recipe that has that in it's instructions.

I saw this bacon, onion, and cream pizza over at smitten kitchen and couldn't help but give it a try.   To be honest it was the first time I had ever used fromage blanc or creme fraiche so I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

It was great.  The spouse and I loved the combination of bacon and caramelized onions with the blended cheeses.  The locally made fromage blanc I found at my co-op had some garlic blended into it, but no worries, the hint of garlic was perfect.

I served it along side our new favorite pasta dish.

creamy parmesan orzo with peas

2 Tablespoons butter

1 1/4 cup orzo pasta

1 1/4 cup chicken broth

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan

1 cup cooked peas

salt and pepper

Melt butter in medium saucepan.  Add orzo and cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.

Stir in broth and water.  Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer until liquid is absorbed.  Stirring occasionally.  (around 15 - 20 minutes)

Remove from heat.  Stir in cheese and peas.  Season with salt and pepper.

 

cookingmybricolebacon, cheese, orzo, pasta, peas, pizza
snowy tuesday

cj was to start a new OT program today, but the weather got in the way.

I was up and ready for the day so I sent the kids off to school and caught up on some things in the kitchen.

The spouse drank his way through another batch of cocoa mix, so I stirred up yet another batch.  Our milk was getting a little close to the edge so I made some rice pudding.

I have had a box of chocolate chex on the shelf since Christmas and finally mixed up some puppy chow.  I also bit the bullet yesterday and started cutting up the echino helicopters for cj's quilt.  I have been stitching on those today too.

When cj saw the first few block he announced they were "perfect!"

 

cooking, quilting, sewingmybricolepudding, quilt, wreath
the quilt is in the mail

It seems my brother hasn't picked up his mail in a while.  Either that, or he did pick up his mail and doesn't like his Christmas present.  Of course, the third possibility is the postman decided he was getting a bit chilled with all the snow and decided to cozy up with it himself.  However having known my brother all my life, I'm going with the first option.

The front has Civil War battle scenes along with portraits of Lee and Grant and confederate and union money.  I based the pattern loosely (very loosely) on the idea of a flag, blue and white on the left red and white stripes on the right.

The border is a repeat of the Gettysburg address in Lincoln's handwriting.

The back has a bit of piecing with the battle scene panels in bands of blue and ivory stars and stripes.  It's channel quilted every inch or so and bound with a burgundy and khaki floral.

If it turns out it was the postman, I'm hoping the postman is as much of a history buff as my brother.

quilting, sewingmybricolecivil war, patchwork, quilt
birthday hat

I think it was one of Erica Lea's tweets that lead me to this post on Knitting Glasses.  I pictured it in a pale alpaca yarn, stitched to be extra slouchy and super soft, a bit more beret than stocking hat.  The whole time thinking of my friend who has a birthday shortly after Christmas. I put off starting until after Christmas because the band looked complicated.  I followed the link in the pattern to the tutorial video and realized it was actually pretty easy.  The hat came together quickly, especially once I was past the smocking.

The pattern called for switching needle sizes, but I used 3.25 needles for the entire project.  That kept the bottom band from getting too tight.

Then came the always so anxious moment of giving the gift.  No need to worry, she loves it.

knittingmybricolealpaca, hat
lulu's ladder

Lulu is in first grade and it seems they do a lot of fun work with different patterns.  She was playing around with blocks at home and came up with this.

We thought it would be a great pattern for a quilt.

I decided to go with Hunky Dory by Chez Moi for Moda.  Along with some solid ivory squares from a charm pack.

 

I love the way it turned out.

I did outline quilting to accentuate the blocks.

 

I'm especially pleased with the back.  I love those deep blues and bright pinks together.

It will be posted in shop by the end of the day.

quilting, sewingmybricolehunky dory, moda, quilt