Clothes for Coraline

This post is long overdue.  I made this dress about 4 months ago and am just now blogging about it!  My friend, Jan, sent me a tutorial on how to make a very easy and adorable dress. 

I'm very nervous with clothes construction (can't read a pattern to save my life); I think I do better with visuals.  So, this tutorial was made for me- easy to follow and I was able to make this dress in one evening.

I did find that this dress runs small.  It won't fit my daughter even as a shirt (the armholes and neck are to small), but all I need to do is add an inch to the bodice and I think I'll be fine.  Also, I needed to increase the slit in the back of the dress so it fit over her head (found that out the hard way).

This is definitely a 0-6 month size.

My favorite part of the dress are the pleats.

My second favorite part are the covered buttons. 

Unfortunately, this does not fit her anymore, so no pictures of her in it.  I did make another one with piping, but it needs a little tweaking.  Once it's ready, I'll blog about that one.

Baby Bieber

 Baby, baby, baby ohhh

Like baby, baby, baby noo

I don't know anything more about Justin Bieber except for his hair and those lines in that one song.   Really.

Homemade Butter . . . really.

My friend, Krystal, posted the neatest link on how to make your own butter.  I've always wanted to try it, but never got around to it.  After seeing how easy it is, I decided to give it a go.  I happened to have heavy whipping cream in the fridge (doesn't everyone keep that as a staple?!), so I poured about a 1/3 of a quart into my chilled mixing bowl. 

After about 7 minutes on high, I realized that my mixing bowl wasn't scraping the edges properly to form butter, so I switched it to a mini food processor (just like in the video). 

It took about 30 seconds for the butter to separate and form.

Then I put it through two cold water rinses (see the video link).  I added a touch of salt and mixed it some more.  Then I transferred to a small dish and squeezed the excess water out with a spoon.

It was so easy and it really does taste so much better than store bought butter- much creamier.  I don't know what the cost analysis is yet, but it may be worth it in the end.  In any event, it tastes divine.

This is one super easy and super tasty treat that is sure to impress people at your next dinner!

Quilt part 3

It's a quilt making month around here.  And I promise you- I only quilt when the baby is sleeping at night!

So this one is a first for me- I used a walking foot to quilt this together.  I do like the pattern I created.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be though.  After some thought, I think I still like free hand quilting better.  I did, however, use a really neat trick to quilt this- 2 inch wide painter's tape.  Here is a link on how to do that.  I love this trick- it seems foolproof to me.

Most of the fabric is from the "All Star" collection by Riley Blake.

  Pinwheel top.

I like the back of this quilt.

Can you see the pattern I created with the walking foot?

It's on my Etsy site if anyone is interested.  I'm also linking up to Tea Rose Home Link Party!

Black and White

My Favorite Quilt so Far

I love this quilt!  I love the colors.  I love the pattern.  I love the print.  I LOVE IT!  I used It's a Hoot fabric by MoMo for Moda. 

This is not an original pattern, but it's one I discovered on my own by cutting the squares diagonally and arranging them in a way that looked good to me.  I love how the arrangement makes the fabric brighter.

I usually back my quilts with flannel, but this fabric line is so fantastic that I wanted to use as much of it as I could.  This particular fabric was so big and bold that it just screamed to be on the back of this quilt. 

This quilt was a lot of fun to make.  I'm sure it's a pattern you'll see me use again.  It's on Etsy if anyone is interested! 

Also linking it up to Tea Rose Home Link Party!  Check it out to see other handmade goodies!

Cason

And here is the finished quilt with Mr. Cason's name appliqued on it!  It's on its way to its new owner!

Stars and Stripes Quilt

Every time I sell a quilt on Etsy, I have a major itch to sew another one.  So here is my "other one."  This quilt top took me a long time to finish, not because of complications, but because I forgot about it and then had a baby, and then forgot about it again.  So, it is finally done.  I love the fabric.  It's called All Star by Riley Blake.  It's definitely boy inspired!

Here is the back of the quilt.  I love how the charms pop against the white.  However, I have learned my lesson- I can't have a dark quilt top and white backing, because it's too hard to make the thread work with both (I don't like using two different color threads because if the tension is off on my machine you can see it in the back.)  Lesson learned.

Aren't the colors great!

And this just in-- My cousin is going to buy this quilt for her little boy Cason!  I'm going to applique his name on the bottom- will have to get a picture of it when it is done.

So, since this one just sold I will get another one up soon!  I'm working on the top part right now!

Linking it up to Tea Rose Home Link Party- check it out- lots of homemade goodies!

Love

How I spend (some) of my days--

Umm . . . Yes, Please.

Cupcake Wars.  Enough said.  The show, despite the annoying, sarcastic, want-to-seriously-slap-him host, makes me want to don a frilly apron and get to work.  Oh my, I could eat cupcakes all day long.  I went in search of a caramel cupcake and stumbled upon this recipe.  You've got to check out her site-everything looks delicious!

This is a triple salted caramel cupcake.  It is a brown sugar, buttermilk cake with homemade caramel in the center of the cupcake.  Look at that folks- caramel in the cupcake!

And a delicious caramel buttercream frosting with caramel drizzle on top.  OH. MY. WORD!

It's worth it folks.  It is definitely worth it.