Placemats!

A friend of mine got married last August, and I finally got around to making a wedding gift.  Yes, I'm only 5 months late...


Anyway, I got the idea from this post.  Everyone can always use new placemats, right?  I liked the idea, having pops of color on a neutral background.


With this in mind, I set off to the fabric store and settled with a grey background, with blue details.

As I may have mentioned once or twice: I don't like following patterns.  I tend to make things up as I go.  I also detest measuring things, and cutting things over and over and over.  There was a lot of that, to make these placemats!   Oh well.

I'm sure it took longer than it should have.  Half of my time was spent working with the sewing machine-- I mostly have the tension issues worked out, but for some reason, my decorative stitches are still having problems.  I finally got the regular zig-zag stitch to work (mostly) well.  I'm stumped.  I've consulted the manual, the internet, I've played with it myself...  hmph!  The sewing machine I used growing up didn't have all these fancy stitches - or if it did, I didn't know - so it's frustrating that I can't use them, and can't figure them out!  I'll get there eventually.

A few problems, and a few things I would do differently next time (I think I might make more for Christmas gifts?):

• Press the seams differently: I realized my mistake about halfway through, but I pressed the seams both over to the same side for some things.  Next time, I'll do them flat, like a normal person.
• Either make the stripe of colors centered, or move them up/down more.  I meant to make them off-center, but they don't look off-center enough to be intentional-- so instead, it just kind of looks like it's accidentally off-center.
• Figure out those darn decorative stitches!

Since I don't like following instructions, I'm not about to provide instructions (also because I don't remember the exact dimensions I used).  So, without further ado:

Blue and grey placemats!

Ta-da!

(grr, why won't it rotate?)

At least I managed the zig zag...

So, there they are.  They came out alright, I think.  The grey fabric looks a little rough and industrial in the photos, but I think they look alright in real life.

I'm considering whipping up some quick, matching coasters.  We'll see.

Baby Blanket!

As previously mentioned, I've been working on a baby blanket for a friend.  Finished it last week, and now posting some photos!

I kinda just made it up as I went along-- didn't measure anything, etc etc.  Also got to know my new sewing machine better, when I somehow messed up the thread tension and had to try to get it right again.  Overall, ok for a first shot, but there is DEFINITE room for improvement!  I figure the kid won't mind, though, and the fabric is cute enough that maybe people will just focus on that instead of the mistakes.

One side

Other side

Close up

Close up

Of course, I had to make a card!  And since I had scraps, and the fabric is adorable, I just had to use it....

Card

Card

Like I said, lots of mistakes (which I conveniently did not take photos of).  For example, I never got to the bottom of the tension problem, because I kept getting knots in some places.  I also didn't really think about how big the blanket should be, and used fairly thick (normal) quilting batting, so on a small blanket, it makes it kind of thick and bulky (it's probably...  18" x 30" or so?).  So, it's more like a baby comforter.  But, oh well!  Fun way to kick off my new sewing addiction.

Friday Pizza

After making this dinner for Allen for the 5 billionth time, I figured I could write about it.  I even though of taking photos, but:

1) I'm not actually some fancy schmancy blogger that has exciting photos
2) It's not exactly the most incredibly beautiful food, either.

Nonetheless, here's how pizza night often goes down (if it isn't Papa Murphys..)

Folded Pizza

- 1 refrigerated tube of Pillsbury pizza crust
- 1 pre-portioned pack of Boboli pizza sauce (or any amount of any pizza sauce)
- Mozzarella cheese
- Pepperoni
- Pizza seasoning

• Preheat oven according to crust directions (I think it's 400F)
• Grease baking sheet, and unroll crust.  Pillsbury dough is conveniently in an almost-rectangle, so it's fairly easy to squash it out fully.  There's no need to be precise; you just want a general rectangle.  Alternatively, any pizza dough will work, of course.  We've found the Pillsbury is easy, and comes out with a nice texture (thin, doughy, soft) -- although it's entirely a matter of personal preference.
• Spread pizza sauce evenly over dough.
• Sprinkle mozzarealla.  With the rectangle arrange horizontally, sprinkle a thin layer on the top half, and a good base layer on the bottom half.  (the top half will get more later, don't worry!)
• Arrange pepperoni on bottom half.  I do a column of three, all the way accross.
• Sprinkle another thin layer of mozzarella on pepperoni.  If I remember, I sometimes add some grated parmesan, as well.
• Fun part!  Grab the top two corners, and fold over.  The middle will likely not fold over all the way, so stretch it over, as well.  You now have a folded pizza!
• Fold/pinch over edges.  Sometimes I try to make it nice and neat and pretty; sometimes I just squish it together and hope it stays.  As long as the dough is touching, it should bake together well.
• Sprinkle pizza seasoning (oregano, basil, etc..), and another thin sprinkling of mozzarella (or parmesan) if you wish.
• Bake ~12 minutes, or until crust is light golden brown.
• Slice into 3 squares (if you live with Allen!) and enjoy!

Seriously, it's the easiest, quickest dinner ever.  If I didn't use all the pre-packaged stuff, it'd probably be even cheaper, but it's totally worth it for the convenience.  It's also helpful that all these ingredients keep for a fairly long time, so I just make sure I always have everything on hand.  You never know when you need some quick pseudo-pizza!

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In other news, I am currently working on a baby blanket.  NO, NOT FOR MY (non-existant) KID.  Allen's best friend is having a kid, so I need to get it done and mailed off before the baby is born!

However, I'm finding I really don't like patterns.  They're boring to read, annoying to use (geez, who wants to measure things a million times and be all nicely organized?), and I feel like I'm not being very creative if I'm just copying something.  So, as always, I'm making it up as I go along.  I made both sides with some super-cute flannel (and a made up "quilt" pattern, which is basically just some sewn-together squares and rectangles), and was about to sew them together when I realized I should put that quilting stuff int he middle.  The kid is going to live in Alaska-- I think he wants to be warm!  So, I need to get that from the store before finishing.  I'm looking forward to taking nice photos of the finished product!  Stay tuned!

Break Recap!

Well, I fail miserably at regular updates-- unless, of course, it's regular monthly updates, in which case I'm doing awesome!

Anyway, here's a quick recap of our absolutely wonderful Christmas break!

KRISTIN!

Probably the highlight of break (heck, highlight of my LIFE) was Kristin visiting!  This is photographic evidence that Kristin still exists.  Good times.

So sleepy!

Xyla loved having Allen and I around so much!  There were countless catnaps on the couch, with her snuggling up with us.  What a sweet girl.

Allen got me a sewing machine for Christmas, and it's AMAZING!  Since moving away from home, I have been grieving my loss of access to a sewing machine.  I started this apron some time last year (2010..), and basically finished the bottom (ruffled) part.  However, I'm also the messiest baker ever, so I really needed to add a top portion!  I quickly stuck something on, added some ribbon, and... all done!  I think I'll actually add something to the top-- it's pretty plain and ugly.  But, at least it's officially "done"!

Next, I made Xyla a little fuzzy blanket.  Our cat has this strange obsession with fuzzy blankets, like fleece.  We recently changed the blankets on our bed, and there's no longer a softy fuzzy fleece for her to curl up on!  She has made her displeasure known by refusing to sleep on the bed at night.  So, I whipped this up for her!  Not very even, and some of the seams on the back are pretty terrible... but considering I didn't measure anything and sort of made it up as I went, I think it'll be fine for the cat!  Next time, I'll suck it up and use bias tape, instead of being stubborn about wanting to do everything on my own.  ;)

In other, happy news, I have a lead-free measuring tape on order!  I accidentally found out that many sewing measuring tapes are made with PVC, which usually use lead as a stabilizer.  I think that's dumb.  And since I have an irrational fear of lead, I couldn't possibly use my olde measuring tape!  But I found one that I think is fine, so in a few days it'll be here.......... I'm so weird.

Anyway, I have a feeling many more sewing-related projects to come!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

As previously stated: I love Christmas.

My cards are done (just need to mail them...), and now that it's after Thanksgiving and socially acceptable to have public displays of Christmas-ness, it's time to decorate!

Last year I made a....flock?...of snowmen.  What is the appropriate term for a large number of snowmen, anyway?  In any case, here they are in all their glory:

Snowman attack!  They're about 2" tall, I'd guess.

Close-up of a few.  Some have presents, scarves, hats, signs, etc...

A few new additions this year include some greenery.  I bought each individual piece separate, and pieced them together to make a few small arrangements:

There's a couple small, silver presents and a toy drum in the center.  This is now under the TV.

Xyla posing with a bunch of pine cones, berries and branches.

I have about a million other decorations (mostly penguins...) and wall-hangings, so it's nice to see Christmas finally starting to come together!  Tree will come next weekend, likely.

As a side note, who knew that Christmas lights contain lead?  On the wires?  Apparently they do, and at pretty high levels.  Needless to say, I'm terrified of about half of my decorations (things that touch the lights, the lights themselves, etc).  Thank goodness for a wonderful husband that tries to reason with me and assure me that it'll all be ok.  I'm still kinda freaked out and can't deal with that yet, but we'll see.

Christmas Cards

I finally broke free of my sewing-related projects (sewing-related meaning: cross-stitch, felt and regular hand-sewing) and started some serious work on our Christmas cards!

(First off: in case it hasn't been made painfully clear already, I love Christmas.  Best time of the year!  Maybe I'll have to write about it sometime-- but I love everything about it.  I mean, it's a holiday where people are happy.  What's not to love?!)

Now, I've actually been working on ideas for a design since, oh, June or July probably.  And I finalized the general design around August.  But, now I finally got to the real nitty gritty and started really getting into "production" mode.  Bought supplies, colored it in and worked out all the scanning and printing settings I need.  All-in-all, a very "paper" project.  It's nice to be using a different medium!  Can't wait to fully assemble them.

Here's a preview!

I'm back!

Well, gee!  I've certainly been MIA for a while.  But, I've still been trying to broaden my horizons!

I've taken up, well, weight-lifting.  Allen may scoff at my workouts (he doesn't really, but I feel pretty inadequate, compared to his P90X and big muscles!), but I've been following The New Rules of Lifting for Women.  I've been an avid cardio freak for the past 7+ years, and it's taken over a year to convince myself to do weights + minimal cardio on weights days (although I still have one full cardio day a week full of the stairmaster, elliptical AND stationary bike-- and love every sweaty, miserable second on it).  On the other hand, my extremely flabby arms have, gasp, muscles!  They're just starting to show, but they're really there!  As someone who went from overweight to underweight, and now in the middle of the "healthy" range, my poor arms are a extra flabby-on-flabby.  So, this is exciting!  On the other hand, I've also gained a few pounds (and my pants are noticeably tighter, so don't go starting that "you're gaining muscle!" business), but I'm pushing through.  New experiences!  Branching out!  Time to re-shape my workout and my body!

Allen and I have both been playing around with our new DSLR camera.  Xyla has been our main focus for experimenting, but the view from our apartment also makes for some fantastic photos!  Here's a couple:

Happy Halloween!

Love her face!

DOUBLE RAINBOW!  It actually was the entire arch, too.  Beautiful!

Love the contrasting colors.  On a side note, that kid that went missing from the car in Bellevue?  That apartment is where the mom lives.  It's just down the street from us!

Taking a walk on the trail

Ohhhh, I miss riding my bike!  (The trail is on the right)  Way too cold, though.  I'm not that hardcore.

I also had a Halloween party with entirely too much food!  Which is always a good thing.  Also, awesome costumes by all!  The menu included (all homemade, I might add!):

• Mini pumpkin pies (made in little 1" tart molds)
• Chex mix (featuring as much orange as possible-- cheez its, cheetos, doritos...etc)
• Baby mummies (ie: 'lil smokies, wrappen in pillsbury dough, with a slit cut in it to show two little mustard eyes peeking out!)
• Chocolate cupcakes (mini and regular-sized) with orange buttercream frosting
• Pretzels (lessons learned: read through the recipe thoroughly, and multiple times, so that you aren't surprised when you realize you do not, in fact, own a dutch oven.  Still turned out wonderfully, though!)
• Pumpkin chocolate bars
• Rosemary flatbread and spinach artichoke dip

Whew!  Needless to say, my kitchen was a MESS!  But, well worth it.  Also, one more concoction:

Let it be known that jello added to any fizzy drink is pretty awesome.  Not only does it look cool, but it makes your drink kind of...squishy!  Just a fun way to change things up.

Let's see, what else?  Saving up and planning to (FINGERS CROSSED!) buy a house sometime next summer/fall.  So, we've been researching.

I have my Christmas cards all planned out.  I just need to make the final cards!  That's my goal this weekend-- have them done (or at least have all the supplies together and set up so I can start, and finish during the week next week)!  Then I can focus on everything else I want to do.

Sorry guys, but that's one thing I won't be branching away from.  I love, love, love Christmas!  And that's not going to change.  Sadly, there's only so much our small apartment can handle, so I'll have to pick and choose when it comes to Christmas crafts-- but now is the time to get them all started!  I'm so excited to have my own place for the whole season.  I moved into the apartment last December, so I was jointly unpacking and decorating for Christmas!  This year, the focus is 100% Christmas.  WOOHOO!  It's not called "the most wonderful time of the year" for no reason!

Anyway, there's that update.  I'll be better in the future, I promise!