Hello! Pillow

I’ve been a bit obsessed with designing quilts lately but took some time out to make this pillow. 

Hello! Pillow

We spend a lot of time out in our screen room.  I updated all the furniture a few years ago and it’s a really comfy room to hang out in.  I wanted to add a rug and it had to be cheap.  So I ordered one that was on clearance from Kohl’s online and just hoped it would match the fabric in the room.  When it arrived I kind of stuck it in a corner in my laundry room because it was not quite what I expected.  After a few weeks I finally rolled it out.  And loved it!  Although the colors aren’t quite the same as the deck furniture, it’s close enough.  And it’s got all these other fun colors–orange, red, green, yellow, and more.

Rug

And a little more orange in the room would make it perfect!

Hence, the pillow.

Hello! PillowHello! PillowI used the same method as I did for the Riley and Jack name pillows.  I used the font Segoe Script and printed it out to the size I wanted. In case you don’t have the font on your computer, here’s a PDF file of the Hello! that will fit on a 12″ x 17″ pillow. just click on it.

hello

Easy Peasy!

Next, I’ll make a mosaic planter in all those bright rug colors! 

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Beef Shank Ragu

Beef Shank Ragu, plated

Last month I took my son on a fabulous trip to NYC, via Brooklyn thanks to some of my favorite relatives. Can I have so many ‘favorites’ ?? Why yes – I can !

While on our trip we decided to spend at least one whole day doing the Brooklyn scene. Wow – what fun. Brooklyn Bowl (the coolest bowling alley eveah!!! ), the Brooklyn Flea (more coolness) and a dinner at Fette Sau. Now, I’ll tell you all about that later, but there was another, more casual evening that we ate at yet another fantastic restaurant there called Bar Corvo. It was walking distance from their apartment….ahhhh, Brooklyn. Jes warned me that their Oxtail Ragu was something I’d have dreams about – she was right. OMG! It was so delicious, and served over a gnocchi like I’d never had – like mashed potatoes and ricotta cheese (yes, I’m drooling a bit as I write this!). Honestly, it was ‘semolina gnocchi’, and from what I understand, it’s not commonly served.

I returned from this trip vowing to attempt to duplicate the dish. I already have in my repertoire a Beef Shank Ragu recipe that I really like – and it’s very close. I made it for the family the other night and thought I’d share it with Jes…and then I thought, why not just Post it. I’m just too lazy to re-rye all of it, so, here it is.   

Beef Shank Sauce Over Polenta Recipe – Anya Fernald | Food & Wine

The difference in my recipe would be, next time, to chop the veggies very fine. And start with my Truly Tomatoes, Rustic Style. It’s my cheater bolognese sauce starter. 

Truly tomatoes

Getting oxtails here isn’t the easiest thing. You have to call ahead, they’re expensive, and there really isn’t much meat on them. I really do like the shanks, but get extra bone if you can for the marrow. It melts out and into the sauce and is one of the keys. The next ‘key’ to my Bar Corvo riff is adding a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar. 

potStill fabulous, even with the chunky carrots. The taste – so much like the restaurant! It makes me want to work on that gnocchi – but that’s another meal time. These guys have been smelling this for hours and are ravenous! Make some polenta and you’re good to go. Hmmm, you may swirl in a bit of ricotta or cream cheesiness for that restaurant effect. ( I’ll be making that semolina gnocchi later, maybe tomorrow. )

Simple Polenta:

6 cups of boiling, salted water

1-3/4 Cups Cornmeal

Sprinkle, while whisking the cornmeal into the boiling water. Continue stirring until it thickens (careful – a big dump = a big lump), and then stir occasionally to cook, about 15min. Add in some butter, or cheesiness – spoon into bowls and top with the ragu. 

plated

It’ll never be quite like theirs, but it can remind me of good times whenever I make it.

Michelle Beal

http://badzoot.com

DIY Baby Quilt

A quilt for Willow

My great niece Victoria is having a baby girl this month and I wanted to make a special quilt to welcome Willow into the world.  I thought Victoria might like a woodlands theme and my first choice was this series from Riley Blake called Enchant.  I love it.

Enchant

But then I stumbled across Victoria’s Pinterest page full of baby ideas and figured out that she is more into purple than pink so instead of the adorable little elfish girls, foxes, bunnies and birds, I went with the Michael Miller Retro Forest Life in Orchid.  Also cute as a button.  In the pic below, the two fabrics on the left are from Fabric.com.  I had carefully matched the pieces on the website’s “design wall”, but when I received them I realized not one of the shades of purple were the same on the two fabrics.  The only color that they shared was an odd shade of green.  I’m not a big fan of green but I did like the dot fabric from our little quilt shop, Tomorrow’s Treasures, and thought it would pull the other fabrics together.

Fabric

I wanted to make a patchwork quilt but the pieces had to be large enough to showcase the woodland scene and all its little creatures.  Back to Pinterest again where I discovered these clever baby quilts:

Inspiration

The only one that had a working link was the “Easy Baby Quilt” on the right.  The measurements for the quilt were 43 1/2″ by 43 1/2″ but I changed it up to measure 40″ x 46″. Here’s my version: 

Willow Quilt

I’m not going into details on how to make a quilt but I will share some quilting blogs that I found helpful. I’ve made a few small quilts plus several quilted pillow cases but this was the largest project so far.  I’ve always had trouble basting all the layers together–backing, batting, and quilt top. Inevitably something moves and then I’ve got to start ripping things out.  Having a “walking foot” on my sewing machine helps tremendously but the material still slips. I found the blog, Anyone Can Quilt that recommended using a spray baste.  She suggested 505 Spray and Fix which I couldn’t find locally so I ordered it from Amazon.  Using this spray adhesive made all the difference–no movement at all. Just wait until it’s dry before you start sewing!   And the adhesive will wash right out after you are all done with the quilting.

I also used Diary of a Quilter Beginning Quilting Series Tutorial.  The “Adding Borders 101” and “Machine Quilt Binding 101” were very easy to follow and made both of these subjects simple.  And the last blog I used was Chasing Cottons Quilt Designs where I learned that you must label your quilts and she gave several examples.  Here’s mine:

Quilt Label

This was actually very painful for me because my handwriting sucks and fabric pens are a bit different from a regular pen. Many many attempts were made at this simple little muslin label! Here’s one more look at the quilt, just so you can see how the white frames all the pretty fabric.

Willow QuiltIt was fun making this quilt and I learned a few new tricks to make it easier.  I’ve been piecing together a queen-sized quilt for Piper and have been procrastinating on the basting step but I think I’m ready now!

Willow will be here very soon and I’m looking forward to meeting her!