New Items Online

My friend, Connie, and I worked on Monday on our SeWhat business. I have downloaded a lot of new items, including barrettes (large and small) and hair pins. If you get an opportunity, stop by and give it a look.

Here is a sneak peek at a few items.

Large snap-clip barrette with 7/8" covered button. This size is great for anyone older than a toddler up through adult.
Infant - toddler snap-slip barrette with a 7/8" covered button.

I love how these turned out.

They are an all day no-slip grip hair pin with a 7/8" covered button.

http://sewhatinc.artfire.com/

Tuesday Tutorial

Buttercup Bag

The Buttercup Bag is a free tutorial by Rae at Made by Rae. She has designed this great bag and has graciously shared the pattern. Click on the following link to get the free tutorial. Isn't this the cutest bag?
http://madebyrae.blogspot.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html

*permission was given by Rae to post this tutorial and use her pictures.

Recipe Monday

Red Velvet Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients needed:

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cup Wesson oil

4 eggs

1 ounce red food coloring

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vinegar

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour everything in a large mixing bowl. Beat on High Speed for 5 minutes.

For cake: grease and flour three cake pans and pour batter evenly into each pan.

Bake for 15-17 minutes.

For cupcakes: grease and flour muffin pans or use paper liners.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until top springs back and a tooth pick comes out clean.

Frosting

1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 stick of butter softened, to room temperature

1 box powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add vanilla. Slowly add sugar while continuing to mix. Spread frosting between layers of cakes and the sides and top or on to the top of the cupcakes.

Makes 24-30 cupcakes depending on the size of muffin tins.

Now get a large cup of hot coffee or tea and enjoy!

A Day In The Life...

This is one of my favorite current pictures of my two kids, Cody and Hanna. It was taken last July.

Happy weekend! I have had a busy day but no sewing. First I went to a bridal shower. I love being able to attend bridal showers. There is such hope and joy in the moment and it is such a sweet occasion. Upon returning home, my son, who graduates from college May 7, and I went shopping. Now normally this is not a fun experience. Usually we disagree on what is needed (I always want to buy more for him than he does. Go figure.) and on what style of items are needed. But going with a particular purpose, I had a great time. Cody is always fun to be with and is always making me laugh. He has the driest sense of humor and can strip hide with his sarcasm but dang it, he's funny. :) Well, in 2 1/2 hours we purchased a suit, a new dress shirt, two ties and two pairs of shoes, one dressy and a pair of Vans! Now that is pretty good work and we bought everything in different stores. You see, my son is tall and lanky. 6 foot and 155 pounds and he has 35" length sleeve but only a 15 1/2" neck. So shopping for dress clothes can be a challenge but we won today! Yay! Now, if I can only get a picture when he is wearing all the new duds. Oh by the way, Cody lives in jeans and tee shirts and really hates dress clothes but some new ones were needed for interviews (hopefully) and graduation. He will look so terribly handsome.

I will not be at the sewing machine tomorrow either. We have church, a lunch afterward and then we help some of our sweet young friends move in to their first home! I am so thrilled for them.

I hope your Sunday is a blessed one.

Beautiful Spring

Apple Tree

This morning, as the sun was rising, I looked out my back door. My apple tree is in bloom and seems to be glowing from the sun's rays. I just had to take a picture and share. I love Spring. The green is so intense and there is newness everywhere. Our weather is sunny and warm here in SC. Highs are to be close to 80 degrees! Woohoo, I LOVE SPRING!

I haven't had much time this week to sew. Yesterday I worked with my friend and business partner on our jewelry. We have had several orders for Mother's Day. We received our first order on ArtFire yesterday! It was so exciting.

Tutorial Tuesday

Cloth Baby Shoe

Today's tutorial is a cloth baby shoe, size 0-6 months. The tutorial is found at www.stardustshoes.blogspot.com. I have been wanting to try this out for a while and yes, one shoe is photographed because I haven't completed the second shoe. I have had many interruptions this afternoon and I was losing light to photograph and decided a picture of one shoe was better than no picture.

This tutorial was easy to read with printable pattern pieces. It calls for fleece or suede bottom but I used two cottons with a fusible fleece between them. The bottom is thicker and appears to have worked just fine. There is no need for leather or any thing heavier because this pattern is for an infant too young to walk.

I have several pairs of these to make for friends with new babies. I hope you enjoy this free tutorial.

Recipe Monday

Impossible Quiche

1/2 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled (the Real Bacon in a bag that is pre-cooked works fine for a quick fix)
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups milk
1/2 cup Bisquick baking mix
4 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 or 10 inch pie plate. Sprinkle bacon, cheese, and onion evenly over bottom of pie plate. Place remaining ingredients in blender. Cover and blend on high speed for 1 minute. Pour into pie plate over other ingredients. Bake until golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting. Serves 6.

It is not true that real men do not eat quiche. Both my husband and son enjoy a good quiche, even for a light dinner. Add fruit and a salad and you have an easy dinner or serve with fruit and muffin for a delicious breakfast/brunch.

Not Your Usual Tea Party

Our son, Cody, is on the left and his friend and roommate, Kevin, is on the right.

My 22 year old son, Cody, is a senior and will graduate from college May 7. He has a major in Journalism and is very politically minded and involved. Cody has a weekly opinion article that runs every week in the school paper and is one of the editors. He also leans heavily to the right. In fact, he went to a local "Tea Party/Protest" this week and made signs for himself and two friends. Our 20 year old daughter, Hanna, was home this weekend from school also. She tagged along and took photos. The estimate for this rally was 10,000 people in attendance. Our governor, Governor Mark Sanford spoke and so did Senator Jim DeMint.

Cody posts his articles on Facebook and receives lots of feedback, both positive and negative. He also has a blog for those who want to read his articles but do not have facebook. His link is - http://screamingatawallsc.blogspot.com/. Whether you agree with him or not, he will get you thinking. And yes...I am a proud momma.

Fabric Shopping and a Friend

Yesterday I was treated to a day of fabric shopping and lunch at a tea room in Asheville, NC. We ended the day at a great coffee house in Hendersonville, NC before heading back home. We had a wonderful time and I was able to make a few purchases and got a few really good deals and then spent full price on a few items too. I love fabric! I think I may have said that before. :)

Following is a showing of my fabric and pattern purchases.

I have been seeing on other sewing blogs accenting with osnaburg linen. I have never used it but I always love the look of it. I found this end of the roll piece on a clearance table for 2.99 a yard and it is almost 2 yards. Of course, I had to get it when it was such a great deal. I am excited about integrating it into some of my sewing projects.

I have no idea what I will use this for but it has a lot of my favorite colors and it was on the clearance table for 3.99 yard! I couldn't resist.

I had purchased the dragonfly fabric and have been hunting a coordinating fabric. Isn't the circle fabric perfect for it? I also already had the Birdie Sling Amy Butler pattern. I plan to use the dragonfly on the main body of the bag and the circle fabric for the band and handles.

A little fat quarter to make a requested bird for my friend, LouCinda.

This orange and green fabric is Sandy Henderson's Farmers Market line. And yes, I paid full price! But don't you agree that it is really a terrific choice? I also bought the Amy Butler Madison Bag pattern to use it with. My 20 year old daughter gets this.

Tutorial Tuesday

Fat Quarter Handbag from SewMamaSew

I wish I could take credit for this lovely bag, but I cannot. Instead, it is on SewMamaSew's blog along with several other versions and clear directions to make it. I have every intention of making one of these bags. In fact, I have already bought two sets of handles but it is one of those projects that keep getting pushed to the side. Following is the link to the free tutorial and some wonderful pictures.

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=737

If you are not familiar with the term Fat Quarter, you may be thinking, "What in the world?" It is a term most commonly used in quilt shops. It is a quarter of a yard of fabric but cut differently than the traditional 1/4 yard. The cut measurement is fat instead of a long skinny cut. The measurement is 18" x 22". Once you start buying fat quarters, you can easily become addicted. There are so many projects that work great with this small cut of fabric and it is relatively inexpensive. In fact, the day this bag was posted, several other free projects for Fat Quarters were also given on SewMamaSew's blog. When I get my version made, I will be posting pictures.

Recipe Monday

Veg-All Casserole

2 cans Veg-All, drained

1 can Water Chestnuts, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 cup mayonnaise

1 stick butter (there is a new 1/2 butter and 1/2 olive oil stick and this works fine and helps reduce fat but the whole butter is, of course, delicious!)

1 roll Ritz crackers, crumbled (we use the whole grain to help cut the fat)

Mix Veg-All, water chestunuts, onion, cheese and mayonnaise. Pour into a sprayed 9 x 13" casserole dish. Melt butter and mix with crumbled cracker crumbs. Sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

This is one of my kids favorite veggie casseroles. It goes great with any meat. It is also very filling for a vegetarian, which my daughter is. She can eat this with a side of fruit and has a good meal. Enjoy.

Have a Blessed Easter

Stan, my husband (and the greatest in the world) on the left, and Lionel, my brother-in-love. :) I do love him like a brother. I am so thankful for him and the husband and daddy he is to Angie and Jordan. These are two of the good guys.

Jordan hunting her Easter bunnies!
Yes, she calls the eggs Easter bunnies. Precious!

Jordan and Uncle Stan at church this morning! Aren't they both beautiful?

Today we worshipped our risen Savior! After worship we were off to lunch and then to an Easter egg hunt to play with Jordan. I really miss those days of our children, who are now in their 20's but also relish this time with our niece. She is really teaching us how to be good grandparents, when the time comes. :)

Luke 24:1-8
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"

Spring Swap Arrival!

I was so excited as I unwrapped and discovered each item of my Spring Swap parcel! I have a green hand beaded and embroidered hand towel, a hand embroidered and embelished with crochet flower quilty, a crocheted and beaded necklace, crochet ribbon and Amy Butler fabric! I love every item. When signing up for the swap, you put likes and dislikes. I am not a huge fan of pastels and for my partner, that had to be difficult with a Spring theme but she outdid herself. The Spring quilty has flowers and is definitely Springy but in my favorite colors of golds, browns, greens, etc. What a treat! I feel as if it is my birthday again. :)

New shop is open!

Flip Flop Buttons

found in our store!

My friend Connie and I have our new shop open on ArtFire. I have downloaded just a few items and have many, many more to work on tomorrow. If you get a chance, click on over and tell me what you think. Our link is: http://sewhatinc.artfire.com/.

Fabric Bird Lovey

After posting this morning, I decided to head back to the machine and play around with adding the folded ribbon to make a baby lovey stuffie. I think he turned out really sweet. I also embroidered the eyes instead of using buttons. I am really pleased with how little bird turned out. In fact, I think the ribbons kind of look like legs and a wing!

Tutorial Tuesday

FABRIC BIRD

Spring is officially here but we have had a temperature set-back! Brrrrrrr! It is barely above freezing this morning and my body just can't accept it! Even with the cold, I awoke to birds singing in the Crepe Myrtle tree right outside my bedroom window. I love to watch and listen to birds. With my longing for Spring weather, I decided to sew up a cute little birdy last night. The pattern is a freebie from Living Creatively out of Australia. The link follows.

My little bird is currently residing on my desk as I type but I may move him to my kitchen window so that I can enjoy him while cooking and doing dishes. Isn't he cute? I took these pictures while he was resting on my bed this morning.

I think a mobile of birds would just be lovely or even to hang one of these in your window with clear line would be great. I was also thinking today that you could embroider the eyes instead of buttons, to prevent a choking hazard, and add a few pieces of folded ribbon along the seams and make a bird ribbon lovey to include in a baby gift. I need to get back to my sewing machine to try out some of these ideas!

http://www.livingcreatively.com.au/projects/create_now_project.php?v=11

Big Race in Charleston

Our Weekend

Some of our best friends ran in the big race in Charleston Saturday. My husband and I were priveleged to get to deliver them to the starting line and wait on them at the finish line. It was a 10k run and they have been training for about 3 months but up until then they have not been runners. They made great time and finished at just over an hour! I was so proud of them. This picture is them after the run. I couldn't believe how refreshed they still look and both said they could have kept going. The first to come in to the finish line was a group of Kenyans who are fast as lightening. I have never seen anyone run that fast. As you can see by his finish time, he ran over 12 miles an hour to finish the race in under 30 minutes. One of the most moving sites in the race was prior to the runners there was a wheelchair race and to see those amputees rolling those wheelchairs in at such a fast clip was incredible. I was so moved.

We had a great time this weekend sharing with our friends such an accomplishment, visiting with our daughter and then getting to worship with her and her two friends. We then treated Hanna, Cory and Kevin to Jim and Nick's before heading home. It was a sweet time and I can't wait until we go back. Of course, that is only three weeks!

Recipe Monday

Please pardon the pictures of empty or half-used containers. I forgot to take the picture until I was almost done making the lasagna! The top photo is the lasagna just seconds before going into the oven.

Pam's Favorite Lasagne

(spelled this way because of this particular noodle)

This is my adaption of the Barilla recipe.

Ingredients:

1 box (9 oz.) Barilla Lasagne noodles, uncooked (and you do not cook before using! My favorite noodle for taste and ease.)

2 eggs

1 container (15 oz.) Ricotta cheese

4 cups (16 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese (divided)

1/2 cup (2 oz.) grated Parmesan cheese

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage or ground beef cooked and drained

1 large jar of Prego chunky garden sauce

1 bag of baby portabello mushrooms or a carton and wash and slice

Parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Remember: DO NOT BOIL THE NOODLES.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Stir in ricotta, the Parmesan cheese and 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, add a teaspoon of dried parsley or 1 tbsp. of fresh parsley.

Combine the drained meat and the jar of sauce.

To assemble:

When layering lasagne, slightly overlap sheets. Lasagne will expand to the edges during cooking. Spread filling to edges to seal in and cook the lasagne during baking. Layer as follows:

Spread 1 cup of sauce on bottom of casserole dish.

Layer four uncooked sheets, 1/3 of ricotta mixture, 1/3 of meat mixture, layer slices of mushrooms on the top of the sauce. Repeat twice. On last layer, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake, covered with foil until bubbly, 50-60 minutes. Uncover and cook until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Let stand at least 15 minutes before cutting.

Serves 12. If I am not having guest, I will halve this recipe.

With using the chunky garden sauce and mushrooms, you can easily omit the meat and have a vegetarian dinner. I am always looking for alternatives, as my daughter is a vegetarian.

Details, Details, Details

It is the perfect day to head to the post office to mail my Spring Swap items. The sun is shining brightly and it is a beautiful warm day in South Carolina. In fact, is warm enough to have the air conditioner on low.

The photo with handbag, fabric flower brooch, stuffed bunny pin (for swap partners four year old daughter), bracelet and Wonder Wallet is what I am sending my partner. I know it is a Spring Swap but instead of doing something Spring related or Easter related I chose a fabric that shouts Spring and it has all my partner's favorite colors! I really hope she likes it. I have included example photos of how the fabric brooch can be used. I like it on the handbag but my favorite is the denim jacket. Doesn't it just pop?

I loved making this handbag. It was my first time to use this pattern and it went together beautifully and was a lot of fun to sew. In fact, I think I need one for the summer. :)

After going to the post office, Stan and I are headed to Isle of Palm, SC. I think it is one of the most beautiful beaches and I love being there. I can't wait to soak up some sun and hear the waves roar as they crest . We also get to spend some time with our daughter, who is a student in Charleston and it would be a perfect weekend, if only our son could be with us. Instead he will be working all weekend.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Spring Swap

Spring Swap Mailing Day - Let Me Share :)

Bend the Rules Swap! I just got mine.

I was out with a friend today running errands. Well...I should say going to fabric stores and having lunch. :) Upon returning home, I had a package waiting for me. It was my Bend the Rules Swap Charming Bag and I LOVE IT! The fabric is just like something I would choose for myself. Along with the bag, I received a bar of handmade soap, with a precious butterfly design, and some really great ribbon in all my favorite colors. She also included a handcrafted card that I wish you could see better. I am so happy with everything I received and wanted to share with you what a great swap gift I was given. My partner is http://sweetsews.blogspot.com/.