Summer Breeze Charm Tote

After sewing my little heart out for the girls last week, I was determined to finally make something for myself!  Last year, I won a giveaway at Quilting, Losing, and Tea (Thanks, Karen!).  I thought that the Summer Breeze II charm squares would make a lovely tote bag and have been wanting to make one for myself ever since.  Well, I needed some coordinating fabric for the handles and tossed around some different ideas for how I wanted to make it.  My friend, Anita, helped me out a bit with all of that and I ended up with a mish-mash of things to get this:

 

I saw a bag that she made with side ties and LOVED it! It really helps pull the bag together, but allows for more room if you need it (and let's face it, with all of these kids, I will probably need it!)  I think it will be a great size to take along to soccer and softball games this Spring (in our school colors of blue and gold! Go Eagles!!)

Lots of pockets for necessary things (I even did my first zipper pocket! WOOHOO!) and lots of room for snacks and things to entertain the kids/me. Now, I want to make a coordinating clutch or pouch to hold my embroidery projects- they are great to work on while waiting for practices and such. (Sadly, I am using a plastic sandwich bag right now.)

The handles are super sturdy- four layers of fabric and fusible fleece! My poor sewing machine!

I tried to FMQ the bag, but I can't lower the feed dogs on my machine and even if I cover them with the darning plate, I don't have the correct presser foot to make the tension work.  So, I just fought against the feed dogs. It isn't pretty and it was quite a workout, but it gives the ripply texture I wanted.

If it hadn't been for SewLux's Charm Madness Blog Hop, I probably would not have pushed myself to get it done so quickly. So... Thank you!

They have lots of great ideas over there, so check it out! I am linking up my charm square project for a chance to win a giveaway, but really, I have already won because I can cross this one off of my to-do list!

Sneak Peek at the First Easter Dress!

I am busy sewing up a storm over here! One Easter dress is totally finished and two more are started.  The other one is still just a sketch and some random scribblings. I usually like to wait until they are all finished, but I am so excited about this one and I also wanted to audition for The Sew Off, so I only have a few hours to spare before auditions close. :)

I designed this dress for my oldest daughter from various elements of other dresses I have seen and liked.  I am still thinking of a name for it, too.  I will give the full tutorial later, but in the mean time, here are some of her modeling shots.

It has a cross-front bodice, just because I have never made one and wanted to try it.  I also fell in love with the idea of a wide band overlaid with crochet lace trim.

What little girls wouldn't love a pretty laced up back?

The challenge was getting the lacing to work with a full circle skirt.  She specifically asked for one that twirled, which meant that I had to make a dash to the store for more fabric last night.

Oh, but it twirls! I don't know how people get such cute pictures of their little girls twirling in circle skirts.  Then again, my girls are half falling over when they try to twirl so maybe it isn't all the photography.  I am going to have to make them practice twirling.

Hmmm... So if you can think of a good name for this one, I would love to hear your ideas!  UPDATE: Combining a few of the suggestions, I came up with the Twirly Lace Dress and posted the tutorial HERE. Thanks for all of your help!!

I am also linking up at GirlInspired (love her blog, for obvious reasons!) and maybe some other places on my Link Parties page.  Then, it is back to sewing! Stay tuned...

Ninja Turtle Baby Quilt

I finally finished it!  I started out with two yards of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fabric that I had bought with the intention of making a quilt for my brother's first son.  That was years ago!  They weren't even engaged yet, but I was thinking ahead. :)  A little over 10 months ago, I finally got that nephew.  Then, I had to figure out what I was going to do with that fabric!

I hunted high and low for appropriate Ninja Turtle colors to match the fabric I already had.  These are the more recent movie version colors, and not the more traditional hues, so it was tough!

Then, I had to plan a quilt design.  Of course, I didn't follow that plan anyway, but it just sort of came together.

First, I made these adorable turtle blocks, thinking that the 3D effect of the feet, heads, and tails would make good chew toys.  Hey, he is teething right now, so I am just in time!

Then, I made the "ninja star" blocks.  They look like the paper "ninja stars" that my son likes to make, but this block is also called the "friendship star."  If you have ever seen the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you will understand just how fitting this is for them. :)

I also went with a twist on these, making the stars white and the backgrounds in their eye mask colors. (P.S. Michelangelo was always my favorite!)

I used green thread to hand quilt the sashing between each block and around the inside of the turtles. For the rest of the quilt, I used white cotton hand quilting thread, which is significantly thicker.  I quilted inside and around the stars and in the middle of the white borders.

On the wider borders with the Ninja Turtle fabric, I quilted in some of their catchphrases: "Cowabunga, Awesome, and Turtle Power."  On the remaining side, I quilted in my nephew's name.

Now, only one more nephew to go and I am caught up!

Hello Kitty Ears

I am back-tracking a little bit here, since I finally got all of my Christmas pictures off of the camera card. :) Right before Christmas, we celebrated Isabelle's 7th birthday and she wanted Hello Kitty again.  Just for fun, I made a dozen or so of these Hello Kitty ear headbands.

They were super easy and cute! I got the idea on Pinterest and you can see more Hello Kitty party cuteness HERE. I got 6-packs of headbands at the Dollar Tree and used a coupon on the felt at Michael's, so they were cheap, too.

Isabelle even made the adults wear them. Doesn't Aunt Loni look cute?

To make things a little different, I went with cookies and cupcakes instead of the Hello Kitty cake like I made a few years ago (seen HERE).  I bent a metal cookie cutter in the shape of Hello Kitty's head and made cut-out sugar cookies.  I made lots of them for her to take into school, so these are the not-as-cute leftovers. If I had had more time, I would have made them all glazed over in white icing first, but the rest of the decorating is icing and melted chocolate for the eyes. It made them in the last-minute-right-before-Christmas-good-enough stage.

It made for a Happy Birthday for Isabelle, so that is what matters! :)

A Big Batch of Filling- Freezer Cooking

Now I am going to show you what to do with those leftover crusts from the uncrustables sandwiches... 

I save them to make filling!  I get a lot of compliments on my filling and it is so moist!  It is really simple to make, too.  Here is what you need:

6-7 loaves of white bread
3-4 medium onions
3-4 stalks celery
8 sticks margerine

I know!  That is a lot, right?  I like to make my filling in my electric roaster in a HUGE batch so that I have some to freeze for later. When I have some stocked in my freezer, it makes a quick side dish that is way cheaper and so much tastier than that boxed stuff (not to mention I can pronounce all of the ingredients!) So, I go to our local discount bread store and grab a lot of bread.  

I get to work (and put the kids to work) cutting the bread into cubes - it does not always fit in the roaster.  I let it sit out for awhile so that the cubes are not so soft.  If I am making a large noon meal, I will cut it in the evening and let it sit out overnight with the lid cracked a bit to let some air into the roaster.  You can cut up those leftover crusts, too!

Then I cry my eyes out and peel the onions.  I cut the onions and celery into big chunks...

...and my trusty, old food processor chops it all up for me!

This is probably how a normal person would chop them.

I don't like onions.  Or celery.  So I practically puree it to disguise them.

In my big skillet, I melt 8 sticks of margarine 

I mix in my veggies and let them simmer for a few minutes.

I also dump some parsley in there to give it some color.

Then I pour it all over the bread cubes.

I give it a good stir.  It doesn't seem like it coats every bread cube, but it works out just fine.  I cook it at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Do NOT crank that temperature up.  Trust me.  It burns.

It cooks down quite a bit, so you should be able to add any extra bread that didn't fit in no time.  All of the bread in that first picture cooked down to this:

Oh, it is so yummy and delicious!  You can eat it right away...

...or freeze it for later.  It is a quick side dish- just pull it out of the freezer and warm it up!  I like to use the microwave to get it thawed and then I pop it in the oven in a baking dish at 350 for 10-15 minutes just to make the edges a little crispy (but if you leave it in the oven too long it will dry out and you'll need lots of gravy).  I have also squished it into filling balls to freeze.  This would be great to pull out just a few at a time for smaller households.

I am hoping that my little cooking tips can help someone save a little $ while feeding their family healthier foods!  I would love to know if anyone makes this, so just leave a comment to let me know if you do!