DIY Name Pillow for Jack!

My sewing machine went to shop for its yearly checkup and it was gone for 9 days! I was suffering from serious withdrawal the first few days. It’s back!  And I’ve been sewing!

Jack, our 3-year-old grandson, was coming to visit us last weekend so my first project on my clean machine was making him a “name pillow. “ Jack is 3-years-old and loves puppies. He has two shi tzus and one is completely black named Annie.

How cute is this?

Name Pillow for Jack

 Almost as cute as Jack!

Pillow

Jack

I made this pillow just like I made Riley’s name pillow.

The pillow is envelope-style and it’s sized for a 12” x 16” pillow form that I picked up at Jo-anns–on sale, of course.  I used denim, fleece, three different colors of felt and heat ‘n bond lite for the appliques.

And here’s some directions….

Cut the denim and fleece 13” x 38”. Pin fleece to wrong side of denim and stitch together with 3/8 seam”.

Trim the fleece.

Finish short ends by pressing under ½” then turning under another ¾” and stitching.

Fold the denim in half so short edges meet. Press. This will be the center of the pillow.

Drew a line 8” from the center on both sides and drew a line with a water soluble dressmaker pencil.

I used the font Comic Sans and made the name in Illustrator. This could also be created in Word.

The graphic for the puppy is from sweetclipart.com.  I think it looks a bit like a Shi Tzu. No?

I downloaded it then printed it out to the size I wanted, adhered the felt to the heat ‘n bond lite, then cut the pieces from the puppy pattern. 

Puppy patternPuppy patternpuppyI doubled up the felt on the ears so they’d be raised a little plus outlined where the legs and face should be. 

Then adhered everything to a piece of red felt. 

Puppy

Next I machine stitched the marked outlines, outside edge of puppy, and all the other little parts.  Felt is easy to work with because it won’t unravel so I didn’t bother using a satin stitch on the edges.  Centered the puppy and name on the front of the pillow between the two marks I made earlier.  Pressed them in place then stitched around all the outside edges.

Jack Pillow

Now just finish the pillow!  Turn one side in on the mark….

One side

 Then the other side in on the mark.  And stitch 1/2″ from the top edge and the bottom edge. 

Other side

Clip the corners, turn right side out.  Poke those corners out so they’re nice and pointy.

Easy Peasy!

Jack pillow
Happy Jack!

It’s Spring! Yippee!

Sorry to all my northern friends.  It’s SPRING here in Florida.  I promise, it’s coming to you. Really.

The weather has been wonderful here, aside from 36 hours of rain on Monday and Tuesday. But Wednesday dawned beautiful and we were out in the yard.  I’m so full of energy in the Spring.  I’ve been transplanting my potted plants into bigger pots.  My little vegetable garden plots are planted and sprouted.  Such a hopeful time.

So I was back out working on my mosaic art garden border that the grandkids have been kindly helping me with by creating mosaic step stones.  Those suckers are heavy.  And the bags of paver base and sand are even heavier.  And after sitting in a rainstorm for a day and a half, almost impossible to lift.  With all that, I thought I would get it done yesterday but it’s still a work in progress. But I’m happy with what I accomplished.

mosaic art garden border
Still need more sand between the step stones and dirt around the edges.

So while I was working on the border, these guys came around to bark at me….

Otters

otters
Hey, I’m trying to get some work done here!
Otters
We’re outta here!
Maggie
Maggie came out to check on my progress.
Addison's first stepping stone.
Just a warning to anyone that wants to make mosaics for outdoors. Starfish will decay. This was our very first stepping stone. Addison created it on a visit and we had NO idea that the starfish would dissolve! But it still looks very cool.
Gator
Love the gator!

Once I get all the sand and dirt in, I’ll post again about the border.  I’ve been having a great time with all the grandkids in this creation.  And SO happy Spring is here!  Totally the best time of the year!

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, When Life gives you Strawberries….

When life gives you strawberries,… 

You can’t make ‘lemonade’, and you can’t just let them rot! Last week I posted to my Facebook a photo of a wedding cake that I’d helped my Mom deliver one gorgeous Saturday afternoon. It was a really simple cake. Very rustic buttercream icing slathered over moist white cake, but best of all, it was filled with strawberries – fresh strawberries!

Sunflower Cake

Being as wedding cakes are a one-shot deal, you have to be sure you’ve got plenty of berries to account for mishaps. Besides, this is central Florida and this time of year, those juicy, red gems are everywhere. You just can’t have too many! Well, maybe you can. After we finished dropping off the cake to the party, Mom says, “Oh, and I have some leftover berries you can have. I’m sure you’ll find something to do with them.” That’s great (besides, how many could there be). Wow – she hands me a great big bowl of cleaned and sliced berries. Too juicy to freeze for smoothies, a shame to dehydrate, and they’ll go bad fast now that they’re cut up. That means it’s a short list – a shrub, a syrup, or jam.

Now, why on earth would you bother to make your own jam. I mean really, what a pain, right? Jam is cheap too. It’s fruit and sugar – period. BORING ! This is when you make something that you can’t buy at the store – any store! So, go and get some fresh berries, get your gourmet hat on and don’t be a sissy ! (LOL) 

Bad Berry Bliss Jam 

Step 1: 

Bad Berry Bliss Jam

Get those lovelies cleaned up and sliced – or cut into quarters. It’s always nice to have some larger chunks of fruity goodness in the jam. 

Preheat the oven to 250deg. Put a couple of spoons in the freezer. 

Step 2:  

Bad Berry Bliss Jam Step 2

At some point you have to decide where you’re going with all this. Maybe you don’t like Grand Marnier, so you might use a vanilla rum or something. But Grand Marnier is so luxurious and just enough orange (I’m drooling, I know). I keep it here for recipes way beyond margaritas. Maybe you have Cointeau or even a nice Brandy left over from the holidays. You can be creative here, but just think about the way it will marry to the fruit. The alcohol will cook off for the most part, so don’t waste your good vodka. 

Shopping list: 

Strawberries (about 3-4 pints cleaned and cut) 

1/2 Cup Blueberries (fresh is best, but I had some frozen to use up) 

1 Lemon, to zest and then juice 

1 Cup Apple Juice (check your labels for USA products or go organic) 

2 – 1/2 Cups Whey Low (or your choice of sweetener*) 

3 Tbl GrandMarnier 

4 Tbl Ball RealFruit Sugar-Free Pectin * (1-box =3 Tbl) 

*Your choice of sweetener may vary. I like Whey-Low, it makes great jams and baked goods. But anything other than real sugar will require a pectin made special for lo-sugar jams. If you opt for regular sugar, use a solid 3 cups of sugar and regular set pectin. Regular jams are almost 1-1 sugar to fruit ratio. Yeah, that ’s why I make the lo-sugar varieties. 

Speaking of pectin, there’s about 3 Tbl in a pre-measured box. I found I needed more due to the lack of pectin in strawberries, and the addition of alcohol. Yours may set fine with just 1 box. 

Step 3: 

Bad Berry Bliss Jam Step 3

Get the fruit into a med/large pan (this is a 4qt). Meanwhile, get your jars and lids sterilized. Set on a cookie sheet for 30min in the oven (@250). Also, get a pot of water boiling on the stove to sterilize your scoop and funnel for the jarring process. Now, if you intend to keep this in the fridge, then don’t bother. Just put it in clean jars…it may not last long anyway!

Step 4:

Bad Berry Bliss Jam Zest

Zest the lemon. You did wash it in warm water first, didn’t you? Eww, you don’t know where that zest has been! OK, now juice it.

Get it all in the pot. Careful adding the booze – turn off the flame, if you’re on gas, while you add. We’re not going for a flambé’ here folks!

Bad Berry Bliss Jam Step 4Wow – Looks like a fruit salad. I would drizzle this with the booze and serve at a picnic! (a mermaid picnic, wink-wink) 

Step 5:

Bad Berry Bliss Jam Step 5

Cook it up. Careful it doesn’t cook too long. The blueberries have lots of pectin on their own and they help with the color. Strawberries can turn an unappetizing color without a ton of sugar to preserve it. The lemon zest gives a brightness that lasts beyond the canning process.

Step 6:

 Bad Berry Bliss Jam Step 6

Remember those spoons? OK, go and get one drop a tiny bit of the sauce on it and you’ll see if it gels. If it doesn’t run off the spoon you’re good to turn off the heat. If not, keep cooking a bit. And check it again. 

Step 7:

Bad Berry Bliss Jam Step 7Get that yumminess into their jars. 

Step 8:

 Bad Berry Bliss Jam Step 8

Finger tighten the lids. Set them in the oven for 30 min at 250deg. To ‘process’. When they come out the lids will pop as they cool and you know they’re safe. 

Now, taste it. Ooooo, so bad! But in a good way…you can taste everything in it! The lemon zest, the orange tinged liquor (minus the alcohol) and the freshest berries. This is why you took the whopping hour and a half of monkeying around in the kitchen to do this. There’s 6 – 8oz jars to last me until the next fruit comes into season and I’ll be lacing my pancakes with yet another healthy, creative concoction that I’ll never see on the store shelves ! 

Bad berry Bliss Jam

Bad Berry Bliss Jam

Michelle Beal

http://badzoot.com

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