August 2011 Archives

Monday's Little Bags

By Marcella on August 22, 2011 2:14 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks
After quilting away on that top for so long, I was ready for a quick project.  Something that would take no time at all to finish.

Quite a while ago I had bookmarked this cute drawstring bag pattern.  I decided now was the time to pull out some scraps and give them a try.

They are really fun to make and sew up in no time.  I think they'll make really cute gift bags that can then be used for all sorts of things.  Before I knew it I had half a dozen of these bags hanging out in my sewing room.
littlebags.jpg

Of course, I had to change things up a bit.

Instead of cutting two strips of fabric to make the drawstrings, I simply used 20" lengths of ribbon.  I also didn't like all the raw seams inside so I added a lining.

To line the bag, simply cut a rectangle of fabric 10 1/2" x 15".  
Fold in half to match the outside of the bag and sew a seam along the 10 1/2" side.  
Press seam open.  Now, adjust the lining so that the seam runs down what would be the center back of the bag and press so that you have creases along the sides.
Sew the bottom of the bag leaving an opening for turning.

Lay out the bag front with the right side out.
Place the drawstring casings along the front and back as directed in the original pattern.
Slide the lining, wrong side out, over the bag and casings. 
Align all those raw edges along the top of the bag and pin.
Sew a seam around the top of the bag.
Turn the lining right side out through the hole left in the bag bottom.
Push the lining into the bag and press well.
Thread the ribbon through the drawstring casings as directed, tie the ends and trim at an angle.

My next trick is to add some embroidery on the pocket.
pocket.jpg

I used a bit of an embroidery pattern from Vignette in stitches magazine on white Kona cotton.  I think it will make a cute pocket paired up with a 30's print.

Try a bag - they're addictive!

See what the other quilter's are working on over at Patchwork times.

- - marcella

Summer Strawberries

By Marcella on August 17, 2011 10:42 AM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks
We like to go to the farmer's market on Saturday mornings.  It's always fun to wander the booths and see what is fresh and beautiful that week.  During the summer I have a hard time walking past the strawberry booth.  Even if you are on the other side of the aisle you can smell the sweet berries.

This past week I bought more berries than I could eat for breakfast and needed to do something with the rest before they became mushy.  One thing we hadn't made yet this cool summer was ice cream.  

Then what should arrive in the mail but the new issue of Saveur magazine complete with ice cream recipes.  Strawberry was not on the list, but I took the ice cream base recipe and adjusted it a bit and came up with a winner.
strawberrycone.jpg
This recipe uses a cooked base which I prefer.  If I'm not having an ice cream emergency I prefer to chill the base overnight and make the ice cream the following day.  This base doesn't contain eggs, but uses corn starch to thicken it rather like some gelato recipes.  It also contains a little bit of corn syrup which helps keep the ice cream from getting too icy.

Check out the magazine for options like corn and black raspberry or beet with poppy seeds.  For now, I'm quite happy with this strawberry.

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, Saveur Aug/Sept 2011



2 C milk, divided

4 t cornstarch

1 1/4 C heavy cream

2/3 C sugar

2 T light corn syrup

1/4 t kosher salt

3 t sour cream

fresh strawberries, pureed to make 1/2 C puree


In a small bowl combine 1/4 C milk and the cornstarch.  Stir until smooth and set aside.


In a sauce pan stir together the remaining 1 3/4 C milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup and salt.   Bring the mixture to a boil and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and stir in the milk and corn starch mixture.  Return pan to the heat and return to a boil.  Cook mixture, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes until thickened.


Spoon sour cream into a bowl and slowly whisk in the hot milk mixture until smooth. Chill mixture until cold.


Stir in strawberry puree and pour into an ice cream maker.  Freeze until set.


printable recipe - strawberryicecream.pdf


- - marcella


Just Enough

By Marcella on August 15, 2011 8:58 AM | 4 Comments | No TrackBacks
I finally finished that quilt I was quilting for a friend of my parents.  She had been given a top and had asked me to quilt it for her.

I tell myself I won't do custom work for people, but frankly I get sucked in to it all too often.  This project has been a hard one for me to do.  It's not my style of quilt or fabrics, which made it hard to muster up some quilting enthusiasm.  Some of the blocks have really large photo transfers on them and I was told to not quilt over them.  The top was a bit, well, not flat and square so making it end up that way while leaving those photo transfers un-quilted was a bit of a challenge.

I procrastinated on this one!

However, I finally decided I had to buckle down and just make myself quilt on it every single day for a week and get it done.  I divided up the areas to be quilted and set a daily goal.  I did really well with that until the day I ran out of blue thread and then I called it a day until the next when I could go out thread shopping.  As I got to the end it nearly happened again, but luckily I had just enough of the perfect yellow thread to finish up the quilting on the pieced blocks.
yellowthread.jpg
Here's a view of the back showing one of the blocks with a photo transfer in the center.
bookquiltback.jpg
And a peek at the front of the finished quilt.
bookquiltfront.jpg
The quilt gets delivered to its home on Thursday.

Now back to my own projects.  There's a new baby that needs a receiving blanket and a new bag pattern to play with and a few other things wanting to be worked on.

See what the rest of the design wall Monday group is sewing here.

- - marcella
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