Monday, August 12, 2013
Smart Messenger Bag... The Pattern is Released!!
So I'm super excited, I got an email today from Anna who has her own store and blog here. I tested a pattern for her a few weeks ago and I just love it! It's titled Smart Messenger Bag. It really is very simple but can hold a lot of stuff. So far I've just made the one but there's a plan to make more in the future. Take a look at my pictures. If you're feeling up to it, visit Anna's page and take a look at the other bags made by her pattern testers. Each bag has a life and personality of its own, which I love. Enjoy the pictures and happy Monday!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
This really never gets any easier...
Saying goodbye is undoubtedly one of the hardest things I've ever done. I always like to put up the front that because I lived my whole life as a Military BRAT and now that I'm Active Duty I'm used to saying goodbye, it's just part of the lifestyle and you will get used to it. That is absolute bull shit and not true in any way, shape or form. Saying goodbye to someone who has taken root in your heart and in your life is never easy. I cannot count the number of friends I've said goodbye to, or the amount of tears I've shed in sadness, but I can for sure tell you how times I have parted ways with someone who held that special place in my heart and we still keep in touch. I tell you this because today that number grew by 5 (well technically 6). I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends and her kids.
Saying goodbye in this day and age is a lot different than when I had to say goodbye as a kid. Now we have cellphones and Skype... OMG Skype is so amazing. When I was a kid it was will you write to me?? Now it's, ok we're on FaceBook, we have Email, Skype and texting.
Part of what makes this goodbye especially hard is that I have a special role in this friendship. I currently hold this role with 2 of my other friends who have kiddos. I am "Momma Rachel," and these are the first children I ever held that particular role with. I have been Momma Rachel since E was 18 months, D was still in utero. E number 2 came along almost 2 years ago and he and I were just starting to bond, the stinker wanted to hold out on me. Now that number will grow by 1 by the end of the year and I will be graduating from tech school when A is born. I wanted nothing more than to be there when A is born, to give my friend comfort and strength and be Momma Rachel while she and her DH are in the hospital, but it is the way of life for military families, we have to say goodbye at the most in-opportune times and it is never a good feeling. When you say goodbye to one of your best friends it's hard but when Momma Rachel has to say goodbye it's especially hard. As we sat in the hotel room, that sinking feeling that one of us was going to have to go home and that one was me started to hit us. I felt that semi park itself on my chest and that magic lump appeared in my throat, I knew it was time to go. Otherwise I might have just found some room in her luggage and stowed away so I could go with. The tears started to stream silently down our faces and we apologized for crying (why we do this I'll never know). It was time to hug the kiddos so that they didn't see the complete mess we were about to become but alas one of them said "But I'm going to miss you!" and broke down in tears and we followed suit. The biggest E says it perfectly, "No one we miss is ever truly gone, we carry them in our hearts with us wherever we go." Seriously, the kid is 7, where he learned this stuff I'll never know but boy was he right. Still it doesn't make the initial goodbye any easier. We knew this day would come, we hadn't necessarily planned out this day but it was inevitable that She, her husband and 3 soon to be 4 kiddos would be heading to the airport on to their next adventure. Honestly if I had a big enough vehicle and if I didn't have an appointment first thing in the morning I'd be taking them to the airport, but it's probably good that I'm not since driving 60 MPH down I-5 in morning traffic with tears in your eyes isn't the wisest choice in the world.
E was right, they are all in my heart and I will take them where ever I go. Even in this moment of true sadness I know the kids are old enough to know what's going on but still young enough to not really know how to process it, we will be in each others hearts always and that when that longing to hear a voice or see a face is so great that we cannot stand it any longer a phone call or a Skype date will happen and it will be as if we are right next to each other again.
J, we've been through so much together over these past 6 years that words cannot describe what a huge place you have in my heart. The only way I can say it is I love you.
Rachel
Saying goodbye in this day and age is a lot different than when I had to say goodbye as a kid. Now we have cellphones and Skype... OMG Skype is so amazing. When I was a kid it was will you write to me?? Now it's, ok we're on FaceBook, we have Email, Skype and texting.
Part of what makes this goodbye especially hard is that I have a special role in this friendship. I currently hold this role with 2 of my other friends who have kiddos. I am "Momma Rachel," and these are the first children I ever held that particular role with. I have been Momma Rachel since E was 18 months, D was still in utero. E number 2 came along almost 2 years ago and he and I were just starting to bond, the stinker wanted to hold out on me. Now that number will grow by 1 by the end of the year and I will be graduating from tech school when A is born. I wanted nothing more than to be there when A is born, to give my friend comfort and strength and be Momma Rachel while she and her DH are in the hospital, but it is the way of life for military families, we have to say goodbye at the most in-opportune times and it is never a good feeling. When you say goodbye to one of your best friends it's hard but when Momma Rachel has to say goodbye it's especially hard. As we sat in the hotel room, that sinking feeling that one of us was going to have to go home and that one was me started to hit us. I felt that semi park itself on my chest and that magic lump appeared in my throat, I knew it was time to go. Otherwise I might have just found some room in her luggage and stowed away so I could go with. The tears started to stream silently down our faces and we apologized for crying (why we do this I'll never know). It was time to hug the kiddos so that they didn't see the complete mess we were about to become but alas one of them said "But I'm going to miss you!" and broke down in tears and we followed suit. The biggest E says it perfectly, "No one we miss is ever truly gone, we carry them in our hearts with us wherever we go." Seriously, the kid is 7, where he learned this stuff I'll never know but boy was he right. Still it doesn't make the initial goodbye any easier. We knew this day would come, we hadn't necessarily planned out this day but it was inevitable that She, her husband and 3 soon to be 4 kiddos would be heading to the airport on to their next adventure. Honestly if I had a big enough vehicle and if I didn't have an appointment first thing in the morning I'd be taking them to the airport, but it's probably good that I'm not since driving 60 MPH down I-5 in morning traffic with tears in your eyes isn't the wisest choice in the world.
E was right, they are all in my heart and I will take them where ever I go. Even in this moment of true sadness I know the kids are old enough to know what's going on but still young enough to not really know how to process it, we will be in each others hearts always and that when that longing to hear a voice or see a face is so great that we cannot stand it any longer a phone call or a Skype date will happen and it will be as if we are right next to each other again.
J, we've been through so much together over these past 6 years that words cannot describe what a huge place you have in my heart. The only way I can say it is I love you.
Rachel
Saturday, July 20, 2013
The Price of a Homemade Quilt
Today I spent the day with one of my dearest and best friends. She said girls day and I jumped at the chance to spend some quality one-on-one time with her before she and her family picks up and moves to Hawaii. We decided to spend the day perusing a favorite quilt shop of mine, doing lunch, going to JoAnn Fabrics and we even took a stroll around one of our local malls. I hadn't been to the mall in forever, well I do go there to get my rings cleaned but it's a 5 minute trip, we actually went in and walked around, talked and had a marvelous time.
During our time together we had a conversation after seeing an item for sale that we both initially thought was slightly over priced. I've been asked before if I really thought I'd sell an item if I priced it at what I wanted for it, and I've had this conversation many times before with other people. The reason I decided to blog about it this particular time is it occurred to me that in this day and age we're so used to mass produced items that we can get at Wal-Mart for dirt cheap that we may have lost sight of what it really costs to make something that you can't get in mass quantities.
So let's break this down shall we :)
Let's say you are making a bag and this bag requires 2 yards of fabric for the lining and the outside, then you need a yard of interfacing and a yard heavy duty Pelltex lining to give said bag stability. Let's say that's all the bag calls for, no special zippers or snaps, we'll make this one really plain.
If you purchase your fabric at a quilt shop, you're probably paying between $9-$11 per yard. If you're paying $9 a yard, your bag will automatically cost $18, the interfacing runs about $5/yard and the heavy duty Pelltex runs about $9/yard. Adding that all up, your bag now costs roughly $32 in materials alone. Now what would you like to be paid per hour of work on said bag?? When you see something for sale that's made by someone not in the business of mass producing items, a lot of blood, sweat and tears may have gone into that. I say blood because we've all been pricked by that damn needle while we're trying to bury threads or whipstitch something closed, at least I hope that's not just me :) So let's say I spend 4 hours putting this bag together, minimum wage for my state is $9.19/hour, at this rate my bag that I made should be able to be sold for $68.76. In reality, I don't know many people who would sell a bag they made for that price, let alone anyone who would buy it. A lot of us who craft items sell our selves short on the price we sell things for, we just know that if our prices aren't competitive with big chain stores the chances of our items selling are slim. I however think that the quality of an item made by a home crafter is much higher than something that came off an assembly line in China.
I am in no way trying to slam the big chains, we all have to make a living some how and I have been known to frequent my local Wal-mart for groceries or things I need around the house. I feel like we as a society do those who craft a disservice by assuming that their work isn't deserving of a price tag, that someone who is unknown shouldn't be able to sell a bag for $68.76, only a brand name can do that. Honestly, if you took all the purses or bags from all the top designers and ripped them apart you'd probably find they're made of some of the same stuff and what you're really paying for is a name.
I know that in the past I used to look at home made quilts and think, dang it's so expensive. It wasn't until I started quilting myself that I learned what it took to put one together and how many hours of cutting, sewing, ironing and how much all the fabric really cost. The quilts I make cannot be purchased at your local chain store because I made it, no matter how many I make, none will ever look the same or use all the same fabrics, they are unique and I love that about quilting. I own things no one else does and that is special to me.
What are your thoughts?
Rachel
During our time together we had a conversation after seeing an item for sale that we both initially thought was slightly over priced. I've been asked before if I really thought I'd sell an item if I priced it at what I wanted for it, and I've had this conversation many times before with other people. The reason I decided to blog about it this particular time is it occurred to me that in this day and age we're so used to mass produced items that we can get at Wal-Mart for dirt cheap that we may have lost sight of what it really costs to make something that you can't get in mass quantities.
So let's break this down shall we :)
Let's say you are making a bag and this bag requires 2 yards of fabric for the lining and the outside, then you need a yard of interfacing and a yard heavy duty Pelltex lining to give said bag stability. Let's say that's all the bag calls for, no special zippers or snaps, we'll make this one really plain.
If you purchase your fabric at a quilt shop, you're probably paying between $9-$11 per yard. If you're paying $9 a yard, your bag will automatically cost $18, the interfacing runs about $5/yard and the heavy duty Pelltex runs about $9/yard. Adding that all up, your bag now costs roughly $32 in materials alone. Now what would you like to be paid per hour of work on said bag?? When you see something for sale that's made by someone not in the business of mass producing items, a lot of blood, sweat and tears may have gone into that. I say blood because we've all been pricked by that damn needle while we're trying to bury threads or whipstitch something closed, at least I hope that's not just me :) So let's say I spend 4 hours putting this bag together, minimum wage for my state is $9.19/hour, at this rate my bag that I made should be able to be sold for $68.76. In reality, I don't know many people who would sell a bag they made for that price, let alone anyone who would buy it. A lot of us who craft items sell our selves short on the price we sell things for, we just know that if our prices aren't competitive with big chain stores the chances of our items selling are slim. I however think that the quality of an item made by a home crafter is much higher than something that came off an assembly line in China.
I am in no way trying to slam the big chains, we all have to make a living some how and I have been known to frequent my local Wal-mart for groceries or things I need around the house. I feel like we as a society do those who craft a disservice by assuming that their work isn't deserving of a price tag, that someone who is unknown shouldn't be able to sell a bag for $68.76, only a brand name can do that. Honestly, if you took all the purses or bags from all the top designers and ripped them apart you'd probably find they're made of some of the same stuff and what you're really paying for is a name.
I know that in the past I used to look at home made quilts and think, dang it's so expensive. It wasn't until I started quilting myself that I learned what it took to put one together and how many hours of cutting, sewing, ironing and how much all the fabric really cost. The quilts I make cannot be purchased at your local chain store because I made it, no matter how many I make, none will ever look the same or use all the same fabrics, they are unique and I love that about quilting. I own things no one else does and that is special to me.
What are your thoughts?
Rachel
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
To Starch or Not to Starch
Good Evening sewing enthusiasts! Today I bring a question that can be very personal and can vary greatly for each individual. To starch or not to starch?? Much like the age old question, to pre-wash or not? which also can get some heated debates going (but not tonight, that'll be a later post I promise).
I'm going to be honest, my first encounter with starch had nothing to do with sewing, it had everything to do with ironing my Dad's BDUs when he was in service. I then used it in ironing my JROTC uniform when I was in high school. After that it was for ironing my own BDUs when I entered the service, but because of a change in uniforms starch is no longer allowed touch our uniforms. So you can see, never did sewing and starching ever happen in the same time period in our house hold.
It may come as no surprise then to learn that my first quilt was cut, pieced, ironed, and quilted without one drop of any starch product ever entering my home. Oh the shame when after I had admitted that to a fellow quilter, she promptly scolded me and said I must ALWAYS use starch and not just any starch, I must use Best Press. I think I had a fleeting "why?" in my head but it didn't last long as she rambled on about how amazing this stuff was and that I must purchase it. Well, my arm had been twisted and I purchased it, and from then on you'd never see me without my Best Press, I certainly didn't want to be scolded again. So, before I go on, please let me say I don't get paid by anyone and these opinions are my own, no one who works for any starch company has any influence on this review/discussion. So back to the Best Press; it comes in all sorts of different scents and sizes, from a squirt bottle all the way up to a gallon. This stuff can be pricey depending on where you buy it, if you love it you know to shop around to see where you can get the best deal. Hey, I'm all about saving money here. I used Best Press exclusively for about 2-3 years, until I found and used some regular old Fautless Premium Starch in the big spray can that I found in the house. This is the very same brand of starch that I used to use on uniforms, and I was now using on my quilt blocks.
Why, you ask?? Well, I enrolled in the Craftsy BOM for 2012 last year and then earlier this year I enrolled in another class taught by Anita Grossman Solomon called Traditional Blocks Made Simple. It was Anita's class that re-introduced me to old fashioned starch. I realized that as I was still working on my 2012 BOM, that the regular starch worked phenomenally well on my paper pieced blocks. I fell in love with regular starch but I kind of felt guilty not using my Best Press. The regular starch just gave me a crispness and stability that Best Press didn't. There are some who would say regular starch is too heavy to use on quilts but if you wash your quilt most of that stiffness from the starch should wash out and the quilted project will become softer. Nothing drives me more batty then when my fabric isn't holding when I'm paper piecing or something has bubbled because the fabric didn't have that crispness to it.
Now, the difference between Best Press and regular starch is that Best Press doesn't have that heavy crispness that regular starch offers. Many quilters love Best Press for that fact alone, I really just use it on blocks that don't require lots of cutting, bias edges and are more simple in construction. They also love it because of the different scents it comes in, that can also be a huge turn off if you have allergies but no worries, they make an unscented flavor. I've used the lavender and rose scented ones (I re-use the squirt bottle) they are fine and the smell isn't over powering but I haven't found one that really floats my boat just yet. When I use Best Press on any fabric, 99% of the time it's on fabric that is going through it's first ironing after it's come from the store. I use it to soften the fabric and get the wrinkles out, but if I know that the fabric I'm ironing will be cut and have bias edges exposed at some point I start with straight starch, I have to hit the ground running with those bias edges because I'm the one at the end of a block pulling my hair out because the block went wonky after I ironed it and I didn't use starch from the beginning. I've learned my lesson on those bias edges.
So, by this time you've guessed it, I'm a starch girl through and through. Well both starch and Best Press will always be in my sewing room because I will always have a need for both. I would love to hear what you use for starch if you use any at all. Thanks for stopping by, catch you all later.
Rachel
I'm going to be honest, my first encounter with starch had nothing to do with sewing, it had everything to do with ironing my Dad's BDUs when he was in service. I then used it in ironing my JROTC uniform when I was in high school. After that it was for ironing my own BDUs when I entered the service, but because of a change in uniforms starch is no longer allowed touch our uniforms. So you can see, never did sewing and starching ever happen in the same time period in our house hold.
It may come as no surprise then to learn that my first quilt was cut, pieced, ironed, and quilted without one drop of any starch product ever entering my home. Oh the shame when after I had admitted that to a fellow quilter, she promptly scolded me and said I must ALWAYS use starch and not just any starch, I must use Best Press. I think I had a fleeting "why?" in my head but it didn't last long as she rambled on about how amazing this stuff was and that I must purchase it. Well, my arm had been twisted and I purchased it, and from then on you'd never see me without my Best Press, I certainly didn't want to be scolded again. So, before I go on, please let me say I don't get paid by anyone and these opinions are my own, no one who works for any starch company has any influence on this review/discussion. So back to the Best Press; it comes in all sorts of different scents and sizes, from a squirt bottle all the way up to a gallon. This stuff can be pricey depending on where you buy it, if you love it you know to shop around to see where you can get the best deal. Hey, I'm all about saving money here. I used Best Press exclusively for about 2-3 years, until I found and used some regular old Fautless Premium Starch in the big spray can that I found in the house. This is the very same brand of starch that I used to use on uniforms, and I was now using on my quilt blocks.
Why, you ask?? Well, I enrolled in the Craftsy BOM for 2012 last year and then earlier this year I enrolled in another class taught by Anita Grossman Solomon called Traditional Blocks Made Simple. It was Anita's class that re-introduced me to old fashioned starch. I realized that as I was still working on my 2012 BOM, that the regular starch worked phenomenally well on my paper pieced blocks. I fell in love with regular starch but I kind of felt guilty not using my Best Press. The regular starch just gave me a crispness and stability that Best Press didn't. There are some who would say regular starch is too heavy to use on quilts but if you wash your quilt most of that stiffness from the starch should wash out and the quilted project will become softer. Nothing drives me more batty then when my fabric isn't holding when I'm paper piecing or something has bubbled because the fabric didn't have that crispness to it.
Now, the difference between Best Press and regular starch is that Best Press doesn't have that heavy crispness that regular starch offers. Many quilters love Best Press for that fact alone, I really just use it on blocks that don't require lots of cutting, bias edges and are more simple in construction. They also love it because of the different scents it comes in, that can also be a huge turn off if you have allergies but no worries, they make an unscented flavor. I've used the lavender and rose scented ones (I re-use the squirt bottle) they are fine and the smell isn't over powering but I haven't found one that really floats my boat just yet. When I use Best Press on any fabric, 99% of the time it's on fabric that is going through it's first ironing after it's come from the store. I use it to soften the fabric and get the wrinkles out, but if I know that the fabric I'm ironing will be cut and have bias edges exposed at some point I start with straight starch, I have to hit the ground running with those bias edges because I'm the one at the end of a block pulling my hair out because the block went wonky after I ironed it and I didn't use starch from the beginning. I've learned my lesson on those bias edges.So, by this time you've guessed it, I'm a starch girl through and through. Well both starch and Best Press will always be in my sewing room because I will always have a need for both. I would love to hear what you use for starch if you use any at all. Thanks for stopping by, catch you all later.
Rachel
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Woot! I'm on Facebook!!
Woohoo! Seamingly Beautiful Quilts is live on FaceBook. Bet you thought I was talking about a personal profile huh?? Just kidding, I've had a personal FaceBook for years, it may not be the same one I started with but I've been linked up with social media since the MySpace days. I decided that it was high time this blog get some better visibility and hopefully get my name out there. I'm not the most magnificent quilter in the world but if I want to make this passion of mine a real job, I have to start now. As I'm still relatively new to the whole website and blogger layout thing, my blog still isn't where I want it to look, hopefully I'll be able to fix that minor detail but for now I'm putting myself out into the world and hoping someone will take notice.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I know we did, we threw a BBQ at our house and celebrated a birthday in conjunction. I had way to much to drink and came out of the night with a dislocated toe... yea I have no idea how that happened but it's a story for our future kids (when they happen, and no that was not an announcement). This weekend has flown by entirely too quickly and neither one of us is ready to go to work tomorrow.
Now that it's cooled down a bit, I've finally busted out the fabric my sister sent me and I started starching, ironing and cutting the base squares for her chevron quilt. With some of the tips and tricks I picked up from my Craftsy classes, I will have this quilt put together in no time flat. Hopefully most of the top will be done by the time I get to San Antonio next month... EEK, next month, I can't believe that my trip is almost here. I have so much to do still, but at least I'll be able to work on projects while I'm gone to school.
I hope your weekend was fun and productive.
Rachel
Find me on FB here
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Yaay for Air Conditioning!
Whew, it's been a HOT few days, and when I say hot I mean hot in every sense of the word. One of the downsides to living in WA is that almost no one has A/C, except for businesses. It makes life a little challenging when it's hotter in the house than out and I just don't know how people did it before A/C was invented. Call me spoiled but boy do I need and thoroughly enjoy somewhere cool to rest my body after a hard days work. I know, I know, I should be grateful for being home and not deployed in the heat and that I need to remember there are brothers and sisters in arms holding down the fort in some pretty nasty and horribly hot places. Believe you, me, I do know and I think of them often.
So we acquired this portable A/C unit last night since every store is sold out of affordable A/C units. When I got home with the A/C unit last night it was nearly 90ยบ inside the house! I couldn't believe it, we were suffocating inside the house and our dogs were none to comfortable anywhere. We were unable to cool the house before it became cooler outside than in so we opted to open the doors again and suck the cool air in with our floor fans and wait until early morning when my dear hubby went to work, he would then close up the house and turn the A/C unit on full blast and keep it going all day. I came home to an amazingly comfortable home today, except for the fact that this A/C unit creates condensation in a catch pan somewhere in the unit that isn't removable!! I got home and my hubby had gone through 4 towels trying to soak up the water that had been drained onto the carpet in our living room. I don't care so much about the water, that's totally fixable and we can get a small carpet cleaner to suck the water out of the carpet but I was just flabbergasted at how much water had been soaked into the carpet. Needless to say we moved the A/C unit to the hardwood dining room to continue to pump in cold air to keep us comfortable and thank goodness we did. Not 15 minutes into dinner do I hear this gushing water sound, and I panic and when I get to the A/C unit I see it just shooting all this water out the back of it onto the floor. I couldn't believe what I saw, it was just crazy! Well the A/C unit is off for the night and we've decided that we won't run it tomorrow while we're at work because it's a short day. Nick will go and get some tubing so the water can be pumped outside and we won't have to worry about a flood in the house anytime soon.
The last few days, even though it's been terribly hot I was able to get some sewing done. I stopped by the Wild Rose quilt shop the other day and I purchased Carol Doaks 300 Paper Piece Pattern book and it came with a CD. It's so awesome to have the CD because I can take blocks in the program and re size them to work for a particular project. I was able to get 3 of my cornerstones done out of 12 I need for my Craftsy BOM quilt. I'll post pictures soon but I don't have any as of yet. I really enjoy paper piecing, it's fun and there's no reason to be precise when cutting fabric. It's a good way to let loose with your design and have it flow from your project.
Well, I better head off to bed. I can feel my eyelids growing heavy. I'm excited to be working out at Stadium HS tomorrow morning for PT with some really great people, I'll need my rest cause I have a feeling tomorrow might be slightly exhausting. In the coming weeks look for a Facebook page from me, I have to get all my ducks in a row for the page but I haven't had time to really sit down and play with what I want.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to chat soon!
Rachel
So we acquired this portable A/C unit last night since every store is sold out of affordable A/C units. When I got home with the A/C unit last night it was nearly 90ยบ inside the house! I couldn't believe it, we were suffocating inside the house and our dogs were none to comfortable anywhere. We were unable to cool the house before it became cooler outside than in so we opted to open the doors again and suck the cool air in with our floor fans and wait until early morning when my dear hubby went to work, he would then close up the house and turn the A/C unit on full blast and keep it going all day. I came home to an amazingly comfortable home today, except for the fact that this A/C unit creates condensation in a catch pan somewhere in the unit that isn't removable!! I got home and my hubby had gone through 4 towels trying to soak up the water that had been drained onto the carpet in our living room. I don't care so much about the water, that's totally fixable and we can get a small carpet cleaner to suck the water out of the carpet but I was just flabbergasted at how much water had been soaked into the carpet. Needless to say we moved the A/C unit to the hardwood dining room to continue to pump in cold air to keep us comfortable and thank goodness we did. Not 15 minutes into dinner do I hear this gushing water sound, and I panic and when I get to the A/C unit I see it just shooting all this water out the back of it onto the floor. I couldn't believe what I saw, it was just crazy! Well the A/C unit is off for the night and we've decided that we won't run it tomorrow while we're at work because it's a short day. Nick will go and get some tubing so the water can be pumped outside and we won't have to worry about a flood in the house anytime soon.
The last few days, even though it's been terribly hot I was able to get some sewing done. I stopped by the Wild Rose quilt shop the other day and I purchased Carol Doaks 300 Paper Piece Pattern book and it came with a CD. It's so awesome to have the CD because I can take blocks in the program and re size them to work for a particular project. I was able to get 3 of my cornerstones done out of 12 I need for my Craftsy BOM quilt. I'll post pictures soon but I don't have any as of yet. I really enjoy paper piecing, it's fun and there's no reason to be precise when cutting fabric. It's a good way to let loose with your design and have it flow from your project.
Well, I better head off to bed. I can feel my eyelids growing heavy. I'm excited to be working out at Stadium HS tomorrow morning for PT with some really great people, I'll need my rest cause I have a feeling tomorrow might be slightly exhausting. In the coming weeks look for a Facebook page from me, I have to get all my ducks in a row for the page but I haven't had time to really sit down and play with what I want.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to chat soon!
Rachel
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Oh Boy this Heat!
Well, I haven't been hiding under a rock but between the rain and now the heat I just haven't gotten much done. It seemed like monsoon season was in full swing here in good old Washington state the last few weeks and during that time I was able to crank out a QAYG tinker tote. The tote is courtesy of the Quilt As You Go class through Craftsy. It was tedious and so much fun. It turned out great but the only thing I dislike about it is the binding. It was awkward and instead of machine finishing the binding next time, I'll go old school and hand finish it. Any who, here's the pictures of the bag, you can also follow the project and any others that I do here.
So on to this heat issue. Most homes on the western side of WA don't come with AC, more specifically older homes and almost all apartments are void of this perk. It traditionally only gets hot here for a few weeks or so and then it's back down to bearable levels but this Texas girl still thinks that AC is a necessity. All the stores that sell portable AC units are sold out now and we don't want to put one in the window of our rental. Nick and I stocked up on floor fans and have been sweating out the heat with our dogs. Well they don't sweat so much as lay on the floor, panting heavily because the only place they can really go with AC is PetCo or PetSmart.
I really wanted to sew this weekend, Betty (my 1958 Singer 404) just came back from being serviced and I wanted to really get some projects going on her. I'm waiting for a FMQ foot I ordered just for Betty, none of Veronica's (my Brother S400) feet fit Betty. Ok, ok, yes I do in fact name my sewing machines, for goodness sake I named my car Snowball and call her Snow for short, but back to my sewing dilemma. So I wanted to sew this weekend but with it being 80+ in the house I just can't focus enough to work any type of project. All the chores have gone neglected, I tried to clean some today but it just gets too hot to move. Even as I type this my eye lids are heavy, indicating it's nap time even though it's only 4pm. I love Washington summers though, even through the heat and lack of AC, the summers are amazing. It's a wonderful break from the dreary rain and a nice opportunity to get outside and do things before the weather gets nasty again. I hope your summers are in full swing too and you are keeping cool where ever you are!
Thanks for stopping by :)
So on to this heat issue. Most homes on the western side of WA don't come with AC, more specifically older homes and almost all apartments are void of this perk. It traditionally only gets hot here for a few weeks or so and then it's back down to bearable levels but this Texas girl still thinks that AC is a necessity. All the stores that sell portable AC units are sold out now and we don't want to put one in the window of our rental. Nick and I stocked up on floor fans and have been sweating out the heat with our dogs. Well they don't sweat so much as lay on the floor, panting heavily because the only place they can really go with AC is PetCo or PetSmart.
I really wanted to sew this weekend, Betty (my 1958 Singer 404) just came back from being serviced and I wanted to really get some projects going on her. I'm waiting for a FMQ foot I ordered just for Betty, none of Veronica's (my Brother S400) feet fit Betty. Ok, ok, yes I do in fact name my sewing machines, for goodness sake I named my car Snowball and call her Snow for short, but back to my sewing dilemma. So I wanted to sew this weekend but with it being 80+ in the house I just can't focus enough to work any type of project. All the chores have gone neglected, I tried to clean some today but it just gets too hot to move. Even as I type this my eye lids are heavy, indicating it's nap time even though it's only 4pm. I love Washington summers though, even through the heat and lack of AC, the summers are amazing. It's a wonderful break from the dreary rain and a nice opportunity to get outside and do things before the weather gets nasty again. I hope your summers are in full swing too and you are keeping cool where ever you are!
Thanks for stopping by :)
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Bias Binding... A Tutorial
Did you ever see a pattern for something that had rounded or scalloped edges and wanted to try it but because it called for a bias binding, shied away?? Yea, me too. I've never had the courage to try a bias binding or attempted anything calling for bias binding. I guess it was a fear of the unknown vs. an unwillingness to try. I took a binding class once and we spend about 30 seconds covering bias binding, I still shook in my boots anytime I heard something needed bias binding. Until today.
I enrolled in this awesome class through the Craftsy website called Quilt-As-You-Go Patchwork Bags taught by Tara Rebman, and the first lesson is a (QAYG) potholder with none other than curved edges!! Well, I told myself I needed to put my big girl panties on and give bias binding a shot. None of the classes I'm enrolled in cover bias binding so I set my wonderful search engine to the task of finding me instructions on how to make bias binding. What I found was this video put out by Connecting Threads on how to make bias binding, but they don't take you much farther than cutting the strips, after that you just have to figure it out. I'm linking the video for you but I'll write the instructions and post pictures as well so you know what I'm talking about. Today I have successfully created and finished two potholders with BIAS BINDING! I'm so proud of myself. It's ok to be fearful of bias bindings, I don't know any quilter who just loves sewing on the bias. For newer quilters sewing on the bias is one of the biggest challenges if not the worst thing to give a new quilter as his/her first project. I use some pretty colorful language when I have to make half-square triangles from a bias edge and then see my square come out something other than square. So, here's my instructions on bias binding. I hope you have the courage to try it, it works and I know you'll be successful.
Bias Binding Video
First, measure each edge of the piece you want to bind. Mine was 10 inches on each side. Once you have your measurements, add them all together and then add an additional 10 inches. Once you have that, multiply by 2, then take the square root of the sum. So here's what my math looked like...
10+10+10+10+10=50x2=100 and the Square root of 100 is 10... that was too easy.
So whatever your end number is that's the amount of fabric you need in inches square. So for my 10x10 potholder I needed to cut a 10x10 square from my binding fabric.
Once you have your square cut, fold one corner down so that you have a 45 degree angle, the video shows this really well because on a 10x10 square, you just fold one corner to the opposite corner. Once you fold your corner down, put one of your rulers on the folded edge, you're going to trim the folded edge off, just a sliver of fabric not a huge chunk. You have now exposed the bias... yaay! So gently separate your two triangles and you'll place them so the bias edges are facing away from you when they are right side up, sitting next to each other. You'll want to flip one over top of the other and sew the edge together and what you'll end up with is a trapezoid. Pretty cool huh?
Once you've sewn your trapezoid together you'll then line your ruler up so that you will cut 2 inches off the bias edge. Continue until you've cut all the 2in strips that you need. Once you have all your strips cut out, take 2 of them and put them right sides together at a 90 degree angle and sew a 1/4 inch in from the cut angle. When placing the right sides together, make sure the points come off either side by a 1/4 inch. This will ensure your strips end up even. Once you've sewn all your strips together press the seams open, take care not to tug or wiggle your iron on the fabric, it's on the bias edge now so it super stretchy and will warp easily. After you've pressed your seams open, fold your binding in half to make a 1 inch folded binding. Again, take care not to tug on the fabric, you'll be able to feel the give in the fabric when you're folding it over. After that, take it to your project and start sewing on the binding with raw edges facing away from the project. When you get to those rounded corners, just take it slow and manipulate the binding around the edge. It may look like you're getting puckers in the seam but I promise you aren't. Once you finish machining the binding, fold it over to the other side and stitch down; either by hand or machine.
There you have it, two biased potholders :)
May your bobbin never empty and may your tension always be perfect
Rachel
I enrolled in this awesome class through the Craftsy website called Quilt-As-You-Go Patchwork Bags taught by Tara Rebman, and the first lesson is a (QAYG) potholder with none other than curved edges!! Well, I told myself I needed to put my big girl panties on and give bias binding a shot. None of the classes I'm enrolled in cover bias binding so I set my wonderful search engine to the task of finding me instructions on how to make bias binding. What I found was this video put out by Connecting Threads on how to make bias binding, but they don't take you much farther than cutting the strips, after that you just have to figure it out. I'm linking the video for you but I'll write the instructions and post pictures as well so you know what I'm talking about. Today I have successfully created and finished two potholders with BIAS BINDING! I'm so proud of myself. It's ok to be fearful of bias bindings, I don't know any quilter who just loves sewing on the bias. For newer quilters sewing on the bias is one of the biggest challenges if not the worst thing to give a new quilter as his/her first project. I use some pretty colorful language when I have to make half-square triangles from a bias edge and then see my square come out something other than square. So, here's my instructions on bias binding. I hope you have the courage to try it, it works and I know you'll be successful.
Bias Binding Video
First, measure each edge of the piece you want to bind. Mine was 10 inches on each side. Once you have your measurements, add them all together and then add an additional 10 inches. Once you have that, multiply by 2, then take the square root of the sum. So here's what my math looked like...
10+10+10+10+10=50x2=100 and the Square root of 100 is 10... that was too easy.
So whatever your end number is that's the amount of fabric you need in inches square. So for my 10x10 potholder I needed to cut a 10x10 square from my binding fabric.
Once you have your square cut, fold one corner down so that you have a 45 degree angle, the video shows this really well because on a 10x10 square, you just fold one corner to the opposite corner. Once you fold your corner down, put one of your rulers on the folded edge, you're going to trim the folded edge off, just a sliver of fabric not a huge chunk. You have now exposed the bias... yaay! So gently separate your two triangles and you'll place them so the bias edges are facing away from you when they are right side up, sitting next to each other. You'll want to flip one over top of the other and sew the edge together and what you'll end up with is a trapezoid. Pretty cool huh?
Once you've sewn your trapezoid together you'll then line your ruler up so that you will cut 2 inches off the bias edge. Continue until you've cut all the 2in strips that you need. Once you have all your strips cut out, take 2 of them and put them right sides together at a 90 degree angle and sew a 1/4 inch in from the cut angle. When placing the right sides together, make sure the points come off either side by a 1/4 inch. This will ensure your strips end up even. Once you've sewn all your strips together press the seams open, take care not to tug or wiggle your iron on the fabric, it's on the bias edge now so it super stretchy and will warp easily. After you've pressed your seams open, fold your binding in half to make a 1 inch folded binding. Again, take care not to tug on the fabric, you'll be able to feel the give in the fabric when you're folding it over. After that, take it to your project and start sewing on the binding with raw edges facing away from the project. When you get to those rounded corners, just take it slow and manipulate the binding around the edge. It may look like you're getting puckers in the seam but I promise you aren't. Once you finish machining the binding, fold it over to the other side and stitch down; either by hand or machine. 
There you have it, two biased potholders :)
May your bobbin never empty and may your tension always be perfect
Rachel
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
It's all about the Hexis!!
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| Craftsy 2012 BOM |
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| Craftsy 2012 BOM |
Right now I'm working on a project pouch from the book Tiny Obsessions by Vicki Bellino. I purchased this book from www.connectingthreads.com.I have in my stash, 1 1/4 hexis and a bunch of batiks that I used on a log cabin quilt. I went through my fabric stash and just pulled out all the batiks I had on hand and started cutting them into 3 inch squares. I find that 3 inch squares give me the most fabric to fold over with minimum bulk on a 1 1/4 hexi and cutting a square is just easier than trying to cut out circles from your fabric. I'm all about efficiency and time saving since I don't have a lot of time to work on projects. I'm not sure how many hexis I will need since I blew up the pattern to more than 250% of what the book tells me to and I'm using larger hexis (don't worry, once I know how many I need I'll put that info in here). I made it bigger because I was using bigger hexis and I wanted a larger pouch that I could stash all my sewing machine feet in. I'm not done with it yet, and I haven't actually pieced any of the hexis together, I'm still in the basting stage for all my hexis. I'm trying to get a good variety of colors in so I can mix and match.
If you like EPP, I highly recommend purchasing Tiny Obsessions, it's chalk full of fun, little projects that you can do quickly and would be easy to make them larger by using larger hexis.
If you don't have any hexis on hand, you can always look for a free picture online and then print your own on cardstock or something heavier than regular printer paper and then cut them out. Hexis are measured for their length on one side. So the ones that I have are 1 1/4 hexis, which means they measure on one of the sides at 1 1/4 inches. Hexis come in a variety of sizes and you can get almost any shape for EPP. If you don't want to print and cut you can go to your local quilt store (I recommend a local shop and not a big retail store because big retail stores don't always have what you need, and you're supporting small business). I bought mine from a local quilt store in Yelm, I love going there because they have so much fabric to look at, I lose track of all time when I'm there, plus they usually have everything I went there to get and much, much more. If you're new to the hexis you also might want to consider fabric stick glue (it looks just like a glue stick) or some extra pins to hold the fabric in place. The fabric glue will come off when washed and is just there as a light adhesive to make your job easier. I used pins to baste the fabric to my hexis for the blocks pictured above, for only a few of the current ones I used the glue stick. I've found as I get more comfortable basting hexis, I don't need anything extra to hold the fabric in place, just my hands. Once you've got all your hexis basted you can start whip stitching them together, it's fairly easy to do and if you cut a long enough thread, you can whip stitch a bunch of hexis together without having to tie off every time you move to another hexi. As always, whip stich them right sides together so you can hide the tail of the beginning thread under the back.
After your hexis are all stitched together in the pattern they need to be in, you can remove the basting threads and templates from the insides of the hexis. You do this afterwards so the hexis hold their shape while you are stitching them together. Paper pieces can be re-used, I use mine until there are too many holes in the paper or the template is starting to fall apart, it is paper after all and it will end up losing some of it's toughness after it's had numerous holed punched into it and ironed a bunch of times.
If you've never given hexis a shot, try a small project to see what you think. It might become a love you never thought you'd have.
If you'd like to see a hexi tutorial, please let me know and I can get one out.
Enjoy those hexis
Rachel
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
9-Patch Mug Rugs and FMQ Practice
I've been inspired lately to practice my free motion quilting (FMQ) but I didn't have many small things to practice on. Instead of finding two pieces of fabric and making a quilt sandwich I wanted to practice on something that had practical use. Knowing that these small items will probably look rough and not be my best work, because let's just be honest, I don't FMQ all the time and I really need the practice. So where did my inspiration come from you ask? Well I'm a Craftsy.com member and while browsing through projects others have done, I stumbled across a person who practices her FMQ all the time and she has some beautiful work and is fairly new to it. I want my feathers to look like hers and I want my stitching to look like I'm comfortable with FMQ.
So here's my free 9-patch mug rug with directions and pictures. I hope you enjoy.
Materials
I cut enough fabric to make 5 mug rugs but you can certainly tailor this down for just 1.
-Rotary Cutter
-Cutting Mat
-3.5 inch square ruler
-25 x 6 inch ruler
-3M Spray/pins for basting
-Best Press or Starch
-Coordinating thread
-1 regular machine foot, 1 walking foot, and 1 darning/open toe FMQ foot
-4 different but coordinating fabrics
-Batting (I think about 1 yard should do it, I used scraps that I had laying around)
-Cut one 2.5 inch strip (selvage to selvage) from each of the 4 fabrics
-From those strips cut twelve 2.5 inch squares
-Cut one 6.5 inch square from each of the 4 fabrics (I know we're making 5 right.. so you can either pick a 5th fabric or cut two from one fabric, I cut two from one fabric)
-Cut five 15.5 x 9.5 inch rectangles for the back (I used the same 4 fabrics that I used in the 9-patch)
-Cut five 15.5 x 9.5 inch rectangles from the batting
I laid out all of my squares into five 9-patch blocks (not all five are pictured). I like variety so I made them all different. If you like you can make them all the same. Once I laid them out into an order I liked I started sewing. You can sew them any way that is easiest for you but I'm a really big fan of assembly piecing. To assembly piece a 9-patch I take the first two squares (right sides together, always) in each row and sew them together (I chain piece here, so that means I don't cut the thread between sewn squares, I just keep moving along). Once I've sewn the first two in the last row together I cut the first two rows off the chain and pick up the 3rd square and sew it to the appropriate square on the appropriate row. Once I finish all three rows in a block I move to the next block in the same manner, don't cut the first block off the chain just yet. Once You've sewn the two squares on the first row of the second block go ahead and cut the 1st block off the chain. I don't cut all three rows apart until I'm ready to iron (this way I keep my place). I did this for all five 9-patch blocks. It seems like a lot but this is how I feel I sew the most efficiently.
Once you have all the rows done for all your blocks, it's time to iron. Iron them with alternating seams so you can nest the blocks when it comes time to sew the rows together. Once you have all 5 blocks sewn together, match a 6.5 inch square to each block. Personally I waited to cut my 6.5 inch squares until all my blocks were pieced so I could choose which fabric went best with which block. Sew the 6.5 inch block to the 9-patch. Iron it out and then match your top with a back and batting. I used 3M Basting Spray to baste my quilt. If you choose to pin that's up to you but these projects are small enough to use spray. Make sure you spray your fabric in a well ventilated area, I went to my front porch to spray the backs of my backing and tops.
Use your walking foot to put stabilizing stiches in the mug rug, I stitched in the ditches of the 9-patch. Once you finish stabilizing you can either draw your pattern on to the 6.5 inch square or just put your FMQ/Darning foot on your machine and go at it.
I used the self binding tutorial from Made By Rae I just top stitched the binding down using my walking foot. I hope that you love your mug rugs as much as I love mine. They're so cute and small that you could use them for yourself or give them to a friend.
Happy Quilting!
Rachel
So here's my free 9-patch mug rug with directions and pictures. I hope you enjoy.
Materials
I cut enough fabric to make 5 mug rugs but you can certainly tailor this down for just 1.
-Rotary Cutter
-Cutting Mat
-3.5 inch square ruler
-25 x 6 inch ruler
-3M Spray/pins for basting
-Best Press or Starch
-Coordinating thread
-1 regular machine foot, 1 walking foot, and 1 darning/open toe FMQ foot
-4 different but coordinating fabrics
-Batting (I think about 1 yard should do it, I used scraps that I had laying around)
-Cut one 2.5 inch strip (selvage to selvage) from each of the 4 fabrics-From those strips cut twelve 2.5 inch squares
-Cut one 6.5 inch square from each of the 4 fabrics (I know we're making 5 right.. so you can either pick a 5th fabric or cut two from one fabric, I cut two from one fabric)
-Cut five 15.5 x 9.5 inch rectangles for the back (I used the same 4 fabrics that I used in the 9-patch)
-Cut five 15.5 x 9.5 inch rectangles from the batting
I laid out all of my squares into five 9-patch blocks (not all five are pictured). I like variety so I made them all different. If you like you can make them all the same. Once I laid them out into an order I liked I started sewing. You can sew them any way that is easiest for you but I'm a really big fan of assembly piecing. To assembly piece a 9-patch I take the first two squares (right sides together, always) in each row and sew them together (I chain piece here, so that means I don't cut the thread between sewn squares, I just keep moving along). Once I've sewn the first two in the last row together I cut the first two rows off the chain and pick up the 3rd square and sew it to the appropriate square on the appropriate row. Once I finish all three rows in a block I move to the next block in the same manner, don't cut the first block off the chain just yet. Once You've sewn the two squares on the first row of the second block go ahead and cut the 1st block off the chain. I don't cut all three rows apart until I'm ready to iron (this way I keep my place). I did this for all five 9-patch blocks. It seems like a lot but this is how I feel I sew the most efficiently.
Once you have all the rows done for all your blocks, it's time to iron. Iron them with alternating seams so you can nest the blocks when it comes time to sew the rows together. Once you have all 5 blocks sewn together, match a 6.5 inch square to each block. Personally I waited to cut my 6.5 inch squares until all my blocks were pieced so I could choose which fabric went best with which block. Sew the 6.5 inch block to the 9-patch. Iron it out and then match your top with a back and batting. I used 3M Basting Spray to baste my quilt. If you choose to pin that's up to you but these projects are small enough to use spray. Make sure you spray your fabric in a well ventilated area, I went to my front porch to spray the backs of my backing and tops.
I used the self binding tutorial from Made By Rae I just top stitched the binding down using my walking foot. I hope that you love your mug rugs as much as I love mine. They're so cute and small that you could use them for yourself or give them to a friend.
Rachel
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Memorial Day, Not Just for BBQs
Memorial Day, what does it mean? No really, take a second and think about it. What does it mean to you?
Some people might say oh it's a 3 or 4 day weekend where my family and I take a trip, or it's one of the times where we throw a big BBQ for all our friends. My response is, it is a time to remember and reflect those individuals who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we so enjoy every day.
Almost 9 1/2 years ago I raised my right and repeated these words...
"I, (state your name), do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
Every person who has enlisted has said these words at least once, every person who has come before me and that will come after me. It's pretty powerful stuff. When I attend a re-enlistment of someone who has decided to continue to wear the uniform, I get chills. The good kind of chills where I feel the love of country and the pride and honor in my service to my country. Many of us feel the same way, we don't think of it as a sacrifice it's our calling. Some people feel called to preach or teach or be lawyers (just a few examples), I was and still am called to be in the military. We don't ask anyone to thank us, for many like me we feel it's just what we do, it's our job. I'm not extraordinary because I'm in the military, I do it because I love it. I would deploy again in a heartbeat if my country asked me to, and I'd do it with pleasure.
Today, well really this weekend, I don't ask that you approach someone you know who is in the military and thank them for their service (unless you want to), but I do think that we all should recognize and reflect on what those who came before us gave in order to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States" so that we may live free today.
Yes, I had permission to take this picture during our squadron picture day.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Meandering My Way Around a Twister
Two weeks ago, I learned how to free motion (FM) quilt from a wonderful teacher and quilt maker, Norma Jean at Parkland Parish Quilt Co. If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, FM quilting is done on your home machine and not on a long arm machine and if you don't know what a long arm machine is, you must google a picture of one. They are amazing and can be very very expensive. For those of us who are broke or just thrifty and can't bear to spend $25k+ on a long arm machine, we use our regular sewing machines to do it. I've used a long arm a couple of times and they are nice but as I can't afford one I ventured to learn on my machine.
I purchased an open toe FM quilting foot for my machine (I got it from allbrands.com- I don't get paid to advertise, just wanted to let you know)after my class and was excited when it came in the mail last week. I had a darning foot, which is what we used in class to learn how to FM, but it's all plastic at the bottom and is really a terrible foot if you want to see what you are doing, where you are going and where your last stitch was. I had a twister quilt that I designed and pieced together that I had just found the perfect backing for and decided that I would free motion quilt for the first time the quilt pictured by myself on my machine. FM quilting is tedious work and not for the faint at heart, it starts with clamping down your backing to some sort of table, the backing has to be very taught because if it isn't, it will ripple, gather and bunch under the stitching. After you've clamped it down, you later the batting and then your quilt top on the backing and then pin it down. My quilt probably could have stood to be pinned more but I didn't and that's something I'll remember for next time. Once I got it pinned up, I used a scrap quilt sandwich (fabric, batting, fabric) to practice my pattern on, just to warm up. That was a trick I was taught to do in my class. Once I felt I had it down I put the quilt in my machine and away I went. The top picture is just the quilt top, I took it minutes after I finished sewing the top together and the bottom one was minutes after I finished FM quilting it.
I learned about 6 different styles in my FM class but the one I'm most comfortable with is meandering or stippling. I love to meander, there's no rhyme or reason to it, and there's no set pattern, you just move your quilt around in squiggly lines and usually turns out looking like puzzle pieces. Mine normally look like coral, or at least that's what it reminds me of. I spent about 4 hours on Sunday quilting my twister quilt and I think it turned out beautifully, the only thing left to do is bind it and it will be ready for sale. One of these days I'll get around to binding the 4 quilted quilts that I have, and I will also get around to quilting the 5 tops that are ready to go, of course those have to wait until I find the perfect backing.
One of my goals in life is to own my own quilt store and make my own items to sell. I'd love to teach people how to sew and quilt, I think that not many people do it anymore and would love for the younger generations to keep up what our grandmothers used to do. Quilts may be expensive to some but I know that I have a greater appreciation for the price of a quilt after making and quilting my own. Lots of time and money go into the fabric and machines and if properly taken care of, can last a lifetime or more. Each quilt has it's own story to tell and I think that's amazing.
May you find something new in your fabric stash each time you look at it.
Rachel
Saturday, February 16, 2013
These are the days...
The weekends are the days that I love, not because I'm not at work but because I'm home with my hubby and we get to plan and do things together. Even if it's just watching TV together or doing things in our offices separately. It means that at just about anytime I can walk to him and give him a hug or a kiss if I feel like it. Sometimes when we work so hard at our jobs we get so wrapped up in our days that we forget to connect when we take our uniforms off. Even though there are some weekends where we have separate things going on it's nice to be able to relax while doing something you love and coming home to tell your spouse about it. We try to ask each other how our days went at work every day when we come home but until this past week, it's not been very busy for at least me so it's hard to really connect when I'm not busy at work at all.
This past week has been amazing, many months ago I applied and was accepted for re-training (for all you non-military types out there that means I'm getting a new job and the Air Force is going to send me to school to do it). I will be leaving for San Antonio in August to attend Pharmacy Technician school at Ft. Sam Houston. I'm so excited, but since I have to wait so long for class I was granted an opportunity which I sought out do. I now intern over at our local pharmacy on base 4 days out of the week. Some days I'm not there all day but I have had exciting news to come home and share every day this week with my husband and it's so wonderful that now our conversations don't go.. "How was your day?" "Oh, fine you know, same stuff, sat on Facebook and CNN all day long waiting for something to do." That last part is me, I very much dislike being idle and not have a job to do when I'm at work. When I'm at the pharmacy I am busy from the moment I walk through that door to the moment I leave to go home in the afternoon. It's a wonderful feeling. This has solidified my hunch that I will be extremely happy in the pharmacy field and who knows, maybe down the road I go to school to complete my Doctorite in Pharmacology. My pharmacy endeavors will be another blog for another time, this is what I get for not blogging for 2 years, I have so much to say and I have a hard time keeping my blog focused on the original idea.
I just realized that I hyjacked my own blog from talking about connecting with your spouse on the weekend to my new endeavors into a new job with the Air Force but hey, it's my blog right?
As I get ready to head off to free motion quilt class, I will kiss my hubby, tell him I love him and have an awesome few hours learning more about perfecting my quilting craft here at home and then I'll be able to come home to my hubby and tell him all about my day. I guess the one thing I want to leave everyone with is, don't just wait for Valentine's Day to show your significant other how much they mean to you, every day should be Valentine's Day. I'm not saying expect flowers everyday but I'm glad to know that at least one time a day Nick and I will tell each other "I love you." That's more important to me than some silly holiday.
Enjoy the weekend my friends.
This past week has been amazing, many months ago I applied and was accepted for re-training (for all you non-military types out there that means I'm getting a new job and the Air Force is going to send me to school to do it). I will be leaving for San Antonio in August to attend Pharmacy Technician school at Ft. Sam Houston. I'm so excited, but since I have to wait so long for class I was granted an opportunity which I sought out do. I now intern over at our local pharmacy on base 4 days out of the week. Some days I'm not there all day but I have had exciting news to come home and share every day this week with my husband and it's so wonderful that now our conversations don't go.. "How was your day?" "Oh, fine you know, same stuff, sat on Facebook and CNN all day long waiting for something to do." That last part is me, I very much dislike being idle and not have a job to do when I'm at work. When I'm at the pharmacy I am busy from the moment I walk through that door to the moment I leave to go home in the afternoon. It's a wonderful feeling. This has solidified my hunch that I will be extremely happy in the pharmacy field and who knows, maybe down the road I go to school to complete my Doctorite in Pharmacology. My pharmacy endeavors will be another blog for another time, this is what I get for not blogging for 2 years, I have so much to say and I have a hard time keeping my blog focused on the original idea.
I just realized that I hyjacked my own blog from talking about connecting with your spouse on the weekend to my new endeavors into a new job with the Air Force but hey, it's my blog right?
As I get ready to head off to free motion quilt class, I will kiss my hubby, tell him I love him and have an awesome few hours learning more about perfecting my quilting craft here at home and then I'll be able to come home to my hubby and tell him all about my day. I guess the one thing I want to leave everyone with is, don't just wait for Valentine's Day to show your significant other how much they mean to you, every day should be Valentine's Day. I'm not saying expect flowers everyday but I'm glad to know that at least one time a day Nick and I will tell each other "I love you." That's more important to me than some silly holiday.
Enjoy the weekend my friends.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Back at it with Gluten Free Brownies
So, it's been about 2 years since I blogged last and I figured it's about time to start up again. I've decided to take this blog in a different direction than it was initially intended and here's what I'll be doing. In addition to keeping things updated about Nick and I, I will also be focusing this blog on gluten-free and dairy free recipes along with my quilting escapades. With the first blog in 2013 I'd like to kick it off with the recipe for gluten free brownies I have perfected (in my eyes and my husbands, since he is my guinnea pig for taste quality, oh and my best friend Jamie who has celiac).
So my dive into gluten free brownies really started with knowing one of my husbands airman wanted brownies for his birthday and since this is one thing my friend Jamie and I hadn't tried to perfect, I ventured on my own to create what I think is one of the best gluten free brownies I have ever tasted. Now I will preface this by saying, I am only gluten free, not grain free. So this recipe may not work for you and you might have to play around with it. There are 3 different variations I've tried and they've all worked out just fine. The three variations are plain, mocha, and mocha chip.
I used a basic recipe from a Hershey's cookbook my mother in law gave me as a present. Well Hershey doesn't have just a basic brownie recipe, they all have some twist to them so I took the most basic looking one and made it work for me. So here we go...
The basic gluten/dairy free brownie --Preheat oven to 350
3/4 c baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum or equivalent (I use xanthan gum, using something different may yield different results... yes you need this for gluten free baking)
1 c melted coconut oil divided*
1/2 c boiling water
2 c sugar
1 tbs honey or blue agave syrup** (I use honey)
2 eggs
1 1/3 c gluten free all purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
Mix together the cocoa, soda and xanthan gum in a large bowl (I use a kitchen aid but anything will do), stir in 1/2 the melted coconut oil, add the boiling water. Now at this step, if you so choose to make these mocha brownies I suggest you add 3 instant coffee packets to the boiling water before adding to the dry mix (this is tried and true, 3 packets give just enough mocha flavor, you may add more if you like the flavor to be stronger). Stir until mixture thickens. Mix in sugar, eggs and remaining melted coconut oil and stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla and salt. To this end you are done, if you would like to add chocolate chips or peanut butter chips this is the place to do it. The mixture will be very thick and will really be kind of tough to spread and get out of the bowl, that's ok it's normal. It happens both when you use regular butter and coconut oil so I think it might be the gluten free flour that does this but I promise these babies will be awesome. Pour patter into a greased (I grease with dairy free butter or coconut oil) 13x9 baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of brownies. I made these last night in the form of brownie bites and they were difficult to get out of the mini muffin pan, I will most definitely work on that. I piped vanilla frosting colored with food dye to make it pink on top and placed a raspberry on top of them. They were marvelous. I'm attaching a picture of the brownie bites, it's not the best picture because it was taken with my phone but you get the idea :) Enjoy and happy baking.
*I used coconut oil for this recipe but any butter will do. If you use regular butter (not dairy free) or vegan butter change the amount to 2/3 c and divided 1/3 in each of the two steps. I only had coconut oil on hand because the store was out of Earth Balance butter :( (Update: I used Earth Balance butter in my latest recipe and I could taste the bean flour after they were baked. You'll probably have to either up the honey/blue agave or default to regular or coconut oil for this step)
**Honey and blue agave both help mask the flavor of the bean flours used in gluten free all purpose flour. The first batch of brownies I made did not have any honey added and you could definitely taste the bean flour, it wasn't terrible but it wasn't great either. Once I added the honey to the mix the brownies came out perfect.
A word to the wise, never, ever, ever lick the spoon that has raw gluten free batter on it. I mean you could I suppose, but make sure you have someone take a picture of your face once you've tasted the batter, like my friend Jamie says, "It's like licking the inside of a bean!" The batter is disgusting but have at it if you like, I just know from experience that it doesn't taste good raw.
Rachel
So my dive into gluten free brownies really started with knowing one of my husbands airman wanted brownies for his birthday and since this is one thing my friend Jamie and I hadn't tried to perfect, I ventured on my own to create what I think is one of the best gluten free brownies I have ever tasted. Now I will preface this by saying, I am only gluten free, not grain free. So this recipe may not work for you and you might have to play around with it. There are 3 different variations I've tried and they've all worked out just fine. The three variations are plain, mocha, and mocha chip.
I used a basic recipe from a Hershey's cookbook my mother in law gave me as a present. Well Hershey doesn't have just a basic brownie recipe, they all have some twist to them so I took the most basic looking one and made it work for me. So here we go...
The basic gluten/dairy free brownie --Preheat oven to 350
3/4 c baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum or equivalent (I use xanthan gum, using something different may yield different results... yes you need this for gluten free baking)
1 c melted coconut oil divided*
1/2 c boiling water
2 c sugar
1 tbs honey or blue agave syrup** (I use honey)
2 eggs
1 1/3 c gluten free all purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
Mix together the cocoa, soda and xanthan gum in a large bowl (I use a kitchen aid but anything will do), stir in 1/2 the melted coconut oil, add the boiling water. Now at this step, if you so choose to make these mocha brownies I suggest you add 3 instant coffee packets to the boiling water before adding to the dry mix (this is tried and true, 3 packets give just enough mocha flavor, you may add more if you like the flavor to be stronger). Stir until mixture thickens. Mix in sugar, eggs and remaining melted coconut oil and stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla and salt. To this end you are done, if you would like to add chocolate chips or peanut butter chips this is the place to do it. The mixture will be very thick and will really be kind of tough to spread and get out of the bowl, that's ok it's normal. It happens both when you use regular butter and coconut oil so I think it might be the gluten free flour that does this but I promise these babies will be awesome. Pour patter into a greased (I grease with dairy free butter or coconut oil) 13x9 baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of brownies. I made these last night in the form of brownie bites and they were difficult to get out of the mini muffin pan, I will most definitely work on that. I piped vanilla frosting colored with food dye to make it pink on top and placed a raspberry on top of them. They were marvelous. I'm attaching a picture of the brownie bites, it's not the best picture because it was taken with my phone but you get the idea :) Enjoy and happy baking.
*I used coconut oil for this recipe but any butter will do. If you use regular butter (not dairy free) or vegan butter change the amount to 2/3 c and divided 1/3 in each of the two steps. I only had coconut oil on hand because the store was out of Earth Balance butter :( (Update: I used Earth Balance butter in my latest recipe and I could taste the bean flour after they were baked. You'll probably have to either up the honey/blue agave or default to regular or coconut oil for this step)
**Honey and blue agave both help mask the flavor of the bean flours used in gluten free all purpose flour. The first batch of brownies I made did not have any honey added and you could definitely taste the bean flour, it wasn't terrible but it wasn't great either. Once I added the honey to the mix the brownies came out perfect.
A word to the wise, never, ever, ever lick the spoon that has raw gluten free batter on it. I mean you could I suppose, but make sure you have someone take a picture of your face once you've tasted the batter, like my friend Jamie says, "It's like licking the inside of a bean!" The batter is disgusting but have at it if you like, I just know from experience that it doesn't taste good raw.
Rachel
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