Baby Blanket for he? or she?

I made this baby blanket earlier this week for a precious baby that will be making his or her debut very soon. I have done a few gender neutral blankets but I was most pleased with how this one turned out. It makes me happy:)

January: the month of the pillow

January has been the month of the pillow.  Perhaps Pillowuary? Yeah, doesn't sound that great.  But still, love the pillow. 

I made the euro sized pillow last week and this weekend I started the bird pillow. This bird fabric was one of the very first fabrics I bought 7 or 8 years ago that began my wonderfully fabulous fabric stash. And now I have finally used some of it! I need to buy more...

The back is a red Moroccan print I already had made into a pillow and I just cut it up and reworked it. The blue edge is an aqua velvet that I adore. This fabric never gets old. 

And here are all the yummy fabrics together. 

Lucky for you guys, I have a few more pillow ideas up my sleeve... 

Plant City Strawberries: vintagely sweet

It's a Florida tradition. Do whatever you want with ripe strawberries but make sure you eat them. Delicious!

There is something good and right about ripe strawberries. And something vintagely sweet. I like that term- 

"vintagely sweet." 

I have made this about twice or maybe 3 times since the strawberries have been ripe. It is so, so, so good. I did it once with ice cream and once with homemade whipped cream. Ok, so I have made it twice apparently. 

You can use a mix of berries but I have stuck with my native strawberries. It tastes like warm homemade strawberry jelly with crunchy yummies on top and its super easy to make it. Really. 

I got the idea/recipe from Food Network's Jaime Deen. Enjoy!

 Berry Crumble

Recipe courtesy Jamie Deen
Total Time:
1 hr 15 min
Prep:
15 min
Inactive:
30 min
Cook:
30 min

Yield:6
Level:Easy
Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
Filling:
2 pounds fresh mixed berries (such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. Hull and slice into quarters if using strawberries.)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped shelled roasted and salted pistachios
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
Good vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 1 1/2-quart square baking dish (8- by 8-inch) with nonstick spray.

For the filling: Combine the berries, granulated sugar, flour, lemon juice and vanilla into a bowl and mix well. Add to the prepared baking dish.

For the topping: Add the oats, brown sugar, pistachios, flour and butter in a medium bowl and mix all together with your hands. Sprinkle the mixture evenly all over the berries and pop in the oven and bake until the berries are soft, the filling is bubbling and the crisp topping is lightly golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes so the filling can thicken up. Serve with a big ol' scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on top.

You can also view it here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/berry-crumble.print.html#

Delightful!

More pillows for you : A Pseudo Living Room Tour

I just finished this set of pillows for my sofa. As you might have seen from other posts, I love pillows! I am trying to simplify, though. And perhaps add some symmetry. I think the more patterns one has in their living room, the more need for symmetry. 

I think. 

So, for today, I only have 2 matching pillows on my couch. I give it a week. 

I love this watercolory diamond fabric. I finished the edge in a pale green that actually matches my artichoke hearts ( dining room paint color ) and ties into the green in the pillow fabric.   

And after the top picture, I am already thinking of what pictures and art to move where. Its always on going:)

Happy pillows

I made these window seat pillows for my sister for Christmas. It may seem like I have done a lot of sewing lately, but I haven't. I am enjoying the slow January. Ok, not that slow because I still have little people around here but I get the purpose in January now. Always seemed boring. Even the magazines are thinner and have less content. But hooray for January. 

Back to this post...

I paired these 3 fabrics together and I love how happy they are. They sit in her window seat. Certainly makes the gray days of January less gray. 

Happy pillows for you today, too. Try to enjoy the slow of January!

Ties and Fan Pulls: a gift giving guide

Every year, I have high hopes to sew, create, make everyones Christmas present. 

And then, that doesn't happen and there is something nice about being a consumer and buying a gift.

However, this present combined the two! I bought button down shirts for my nephews along with a Starbucks gift card. I sewed a tie for each (aren't they cute?), and wrapped it all together. 

I thought the presentation was so good that I could be deemed a "great gift giver." Now, I can't believe I am saying this, but my husband might be a better gift giver to moi than I am to him. Hurts a little, but I have gotten some very thoughtful, sweet and nice presents from my main man. My thinking outside of the box can really come in handy but when 20 years later your sister is still talking about the sunflower fan pull you gave her, not in a good way, maybe its time to rethink. She liked sunflowers. And its been 20 years?!?!? Whenever I see a themed fan pull, I still think of her. 

DIY ottoman of non perfection

I have been working on these puppies for awhile. In my head I have been. They were 2 ottomans I got from Target and they weren't anything special. Actually, they didn't match. With an on sale fabric, Viola! ( Yes, I know its voila.) Sewed a bit, stapled a bit and now my babies' babies have a home. These house our baby dolls. 

I see now how they aren't perfect, but I am not perfect, either. We go well together!

Christmas Clean Up with the Berenstain Bears

It was a delightfully simple Christmas this year and for that, I am very thankful. I am now starting the clean up. Yuck. But my daughter and I are already talking about what we are going to make/do/decorate for Valentine's Day.

Anyways, here is/was my mantle. It makes me happy. I used colorful felt garlands I made for my daughters rainbow birthday a few years ago.  In the clean up process, I am now going to make a fabric decorations box. I have several fabric garlands in random cubby holes in my house and its now time to give them their own labeled box. Reminds me a little bit of the Berenstain Bears Messy Room. Ahh. Love it. 

Back to my decor... white tree from Target with small ornaments along with the 3 wooden trees from a local shop.The nativity I created last year. The oil pastel cat is my daughters work and the color wheel collage is my work. And a random photo of some darling family:)

And our tree. We had to decorate from a certain point up because my little one loved the ornaments. Who doesn't love shiny, colorful things?

Stay warm out there friends!