DIY – Page 10

Quilt of Many Colors

January 8, 2015 by KTgreen

I’ve been planning to make a modern quilt since way back when I first got bit by the quilting obsession bug. But I had too much going on–sewing and otherwise.

I don’t like unfinished projects. I’m okay with two sewing projects going on at the same time. One that’s hard and will take awhile to finish–like a quilt. And an easy one–like tea towels. But before I start anything new, one of those has to be completed. So it was a while before I got to start on the modern quilt.

But I was looking for inspiration and designing it in my head way back in September.

I love the Hopewell Quilts with their simple lines, large blocks of color, and striped binding.

I found this quilt on Pinterest. Not a Hopewell Quilt but again, solid colors and straight-line quilting.

Modern Quilt — I followed the link on this quilt but it eventually took me to a website that had Asian characters so I’m guessing the website got hacked. I think the design is from a textile design school in Holland.

I decided to design my new quilt following the above style because I wanted to pull all of the colors out of my bedroom into one piece. And there are a lot of colors in there. Pinks, grays, blues, golds, browns. Plus every piece of furniture is a different wood or metal. I love it. It’s very homey and cozy and dark and full of things I love. And mine. But I’m not ready to show it to you. Maybe someday.

And here’s the finished quilt:

Since I was keeping this quilt and didn’t have to worry about screwing it up, I wanted to try some different methods. I used Mar Bella Minky Cuddle Plata from Fabric.com for the backing. I love the softness of Minky but I’ve had issues with it before–it’s very slippery. I was expecting it to be hard to work with but it was wonderful! Easy to quilt, forgiving, and made the quilt extra cuddly.

Quilt of Many Colors Most of the dark fabric on the front of the quilt is Moda Bella Broadcloth that I also bought from Fabric.com. The happier colors are from “American Made Brand” that I picked up at our local quilt shop, Tomorrows Treasures.

I wanted the quilt to be “nap size”. It’s just too difficult to make a larger quilt with my sewing machine. Maybe after I get more skilled I’ll be able to handle a bigger size. I made a rough draft and then used graph paper to get the correct dimensions. The finished size was 62 1/2″ by 50 1/2″

I really wanted black striped cut on the bias for the binding. This appears to be a very popular choice for quilters but not readily available. I eventually backordered the perfect black stripe designed by Timeless Treasures from Hawthorne Threads. It arrived in just a few weeks.

I tried a different method to attach the binding but wasn’t pleased with it so will go back to the old way.

Binding

Quilt of Many Colors

While I designed it for my bedroom…

it is so soft and comfortable, that it’s usually on the sofa.

2014 Cookie Week, Day 4

December 18, 2014 by KTgreen

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Peanut Butter Kisses Cookies

I don’t bake much because Terry seldom eats sweets. So that leaves the whole batch for me. Not a good idea! But I do make Peanut Butter Blossoms every year because both of my kids and I LOVE them. And they don’t make it to “Cookie Day”. This year the ones that got by my mouth went directly on the Polar Express to the North Dakota family.

I’ve been using this recipe since my children were wee. Probably got it from my mom or some really old cook book:

[yumprint-recipe id=’15’]

Peanut Butter Kisses Cookie — No reason for this picture, just thought it was cool. Love that mixer!

Peanut Butter Kisses Cookies — Gotta take the foil off of a lot of kisses

Peanut Butter Blossoms — Parchment paper and the scoop that makes perfect 1 teaspoon cookies are indispensable tools for cookie baking! (Michelle told me about the scoop many years ago!)

2014 Cookie Week, Day 3

December 17, 2014 by Michelle

Holiday Butter Cookies (Made Better)

Today’s Cookie Feature comes from MICHELLE @ Badzoot.com!

Cookie Day is the most Happiest Day of the year!! Well, it is here anyway. Leading up to Cookie Day, there are many cookie days at my house as my guys love cookies. I mean, they’d both rather have a cookie over most any cake – cupcake – or candy. Maybe not a doughnut though, few things beat out a doughnut… ok, maybe a doughnut in the microwave. Yep, that’s a real winner.

One of my cookie attempts was not exactly labeled as a ‘winner’. In fact this was a real ugly duckling. I’m glad I never took blog-photos. This cookie has to be the only recipe flop I’ve ever had from King Arthur Flour. Somehow, I’m sure it was user-error. My fault. Another thing I’m sure of is my inability to toss anything even remotely edible. So, this is what I did.

But first, just a little click for the recipe in question…

Holiday Butter Cookies

See? It sounds really good – right? Yeah, who can’t get behind a good old fashioned shortbread. OK, so I made the dough and refrigerated it…this is where it went all wrong. I think I let it sit for too long. Anyway, by the time I went to bake it, the dough had become a brittle poorly done pie dough consistency. It crumbled and was unrollable. I was ready to toss it and then thought..it’s no longer a cookie – it’s really a shortbread. Then, just bake it like one – why not.

I pulled out a small cookie sheet, about 14 x 9 and pressed the crumbled bits into a flat mass. I baked it for about 20 minutes at the recommended 350deg. from the original cookie recipe. After 20 plus minutes, out cake a sheet of golden crispy goodness. In the recipe it calls for an interesting extract/flavor called fiori di sicilia. This is something worth investing in. It’s that hard-to-describe flavor from numerous baked goods like Italian Panettone bread. A combination of vanilla and citrus that if, in a pinch, could be used as perfume. Delicious.

This brick of butter and sugar was still very bland. Which means one thing – it must be smothered in chocolate. So, I did. This was a very good idea. I took about a half a package of semi-sweets and a bit (maybe 1/3 cup) of the 60% Cocoa Ghiradelli chips, and melted them. After the cookie was nearly cool, I spread out the chocolate, and because it’s Christmas I sprinkled on some coconut. Perfect.

This experiment / resurrection passed the test with my cookie guys. Then what was left, I brought along to Cookie Day. Nobody turned them down. They’re good – try ‘em for your own Cookie Day.

Michelle @ Badzoot.com