Orange Crush

Although I am excited about the start of the NFL season and my favorite team, this post is not about this: 

It's about this:

I found this recipe via Pinterest, from Teresa @ Blooming on Bainbridge, and it's every bit as delicious as she promises.  I made it for our company BBQ over the weekend and it was a hit.  The recipe makes 3 quarts and evidently my ice cream freezer is a bit smaller because I had some of the mix left over.  I mixed up another half-recipe which, combined with the leftover bit, was just short of the fill line.  I made up the difference by adding a pint of heavy whipping cream.  Needless to say, the second batch was even better. 

ORANGE CRUSH ICE CREAM

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 c. sugar

6 cans Orange Crush or other orange-flavored soda (Substitute 1 pint of cream for 1 can of soda for a creamier ice cream.)

Pour condensed milk into large bowl, add sugar and whisk together.  Slowly pour in Orange Crush, whisking thoroughly after each can.  Freeze according to instructions for your ice cream freezer of choice.

Enjoy on a hot summer evening with good friends.

This post is linked with Inspiration on Monday, hosted by Trish at Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity.

The Return of the Bag Lady

I think I may be a bagaholic.  But since there are no twelve-step programs for that - yet - I'll just keep sewing.  This time I got hooked on the Tulip Purse.  I purchased the pattern at a local quilt shop, but I have seen it available on-line as well.  The pattern comes with four sizes and is moderately easy to make. 

My first Tulip purse was a size small, but it's plenty big enough for what I usually carry.  I really like this bag because it is sturdy (thanks to iron on fleece) and opens wide to avoid digging for things.  The only change I would make would be the length of the closure flap.  I used a magnetic closure - the button is just for decoration - and I should have shortened the flap and put the magnet closer to the top of the purse.   I like to keep my cell phone in the outside pocket, and the way that the flap overlaps the top of the pocket makes it inconvenient. 

 My second bag was from the petite size pattern.  I used a loop and button closure on this one but I much prefer the magnet.  The pink trim along the top of the pocket was my own addition.  I just thought the "Zentangle" fabric needed a splash of color.  The pattern also comes in large and jumbo - but I haven't tried them yet.

In my first Bag Lady post, I mentioned making the Updated Classic Duffle for Amanda, but I forgot to take a picture of the finished bag before she went home.  I remembered it while I was visiting her recently, so here's her duffle bag.  This is a super easy way to install a zipper in a fully lined bag.   For details, refer back to the original post.

My niece, Kate, spent a weekend with us and she wanted to sew.  This was rather spur of the moment, so I didn't have anything planned, but we found enough coordinating fabric to make pillowcases.  Kate did a wonderful job!  This is only her second time sewing.  

Kate made the medallion print and I used a retro Christmas print.

And I saved the best for last - doll blankets to be distributed (along with a doll) to abused and neglected children.  I had several packages of pre-cut 2 1/2" squares, so when I heard about this opportunity to donate doll blankets, I decided they would be quick and pretty. I sorted the squares according to color and added borders from scraps I had in my stash.  I ended up making 7 quilt-tops.  The seventh one, made from all the leftover pieces, isn't pictured.  I'm using a quick method to finish them - cutting the back slightly larger than the top and folding the extra over to make the binding, then tying the quilt rather than quilting.  I already have ideas for some more simple blankets to make when these are done.

This post is linked to Needlework Tuesday, hosted by Heather @ Books and Quilts; and Inspiration Monday, hosted by Trish at Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity.

Just Do It!

I did it!  I left my job and we are now officially self-employed.  There are a lot of implications to that move, but the most fun is the extra time for creativity.  Here's what I've been up to since "retiring".

My front porch got a mini-makeover for summer.  First, this worn and rusted garage-sale find:

got new life with just a fresh coat of paint and a pot of flowers.

 Some patriotic fat quarters became a banner for the porch rail:

 And the front door got a much needed face-lift with a coat of "Ranch Red" paint.

Speaking of painting, I did some of the canvas and easel type also.   Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of an internet image like the one at the right.  (I apologize to the artist that I did not make a not of where I saw his/her beautiful artwork.)  

Here is my version:  

In the sewing room, I used Pink Sand Beach Designs' pattern to create this "Sonoma Swing Bag".  This was the first time in thirty years that I've sewn anything with a zipper, so that required a little "refresher", but I'm pleased with the results.  Since I no longer spend 10 hours of my day away from home, there is no need to carry a large purse.  This size is perfect for a run to the grocery store and I can tuck it into a larger bag when I need to.

Drawstring lunch bags were my next project:

I found this pattern on Pinterest   It goes together much easier than it looks.  Read all the instructions before beginning, and give some thought to which direction the fabric pattern will run before you cut - otherwise your shoes will be sideways.

I'm not sure how well they would actually work as lunch bags. They are not insulated - although I think you could insert a layer of Insul-bright batting in place of the interfacing - and they are rather small if you take more than a sandwich and an apple for lunch.  

I'm not sure how I will use them.  They would work great for carrying small craft projects, like hexies, or to pack with snacks, crayons, etc as a child's  "goody bag" for car trips or during church.  For now, they are sitting in the closet waiting for inspiration to strike . . .  Maybe in time for the next "Inspiration on Monday".

IOM is a bi-weekly meme hosted by Trish @ Love, Laugher and a Touch of Insanity.  I am also linking this post to Needlework Tuesday, hosted by Heather at Books and Quilts.

Inspiration: The Chicken and the Egg

While visiting our son, Mitch, over the weekend, I visited one of my favorite quilt shops.  I was barely two steps in the door before I was "ooohing" and "aaaahing" over some retro prints.  Whitney, Mitch's girlfriend, who was patiently indulging me on this stop, innocently asked "What are you making?"  Making?  You mean from this specific fabric? - or any of the 17 other fabrics I purchased?"  .  .  . I have no idea!  I wasn't, technically, shopping for fabric.  Well, I mean, I was shopping for fabric but, on a grander scale, I was shopping for inspiration - slowly ambling the aisles, taking in all the beautiful colors and patterns until something grabbed me.  

The old question about the chicken and the egg applies well to my sewing. Which comes first?  The fabric or the project idea?   A basket of fat quarters sits on the corner of my work table in my sewing room. These are the fabrics from past shopping trips that "grabbed" me; that I just had to have - even if I didn't know why.  Some fabrics only remain in the basket for a few days, others may stay months.  Sometimes the fabric plainly says "I am a ________."  And sometimes the project idea comes first, and suddenly it's obvious that a fat quarter I bought 8 months ago is the perfect fabric.

Here is the inspiration that came home with me this weekend:

Christmas prints in red and lime green;
Pink(ish) newspaper print and two coordinates;
Mid-Century geometric prints

Christmas prints in black and aqua;
Fashion fabric and coordinate
Coral and aqua patterns
Awesome retro fabric!

Which comes first in your sewing or crafts?  The project idea or the perfect supply?

Inspiration on Monday is hosted by Trish and Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity and occurs the first and third Mondays of each month.  Link up your post about something you've created or things you are doing to help inspire others. Posts about projects in progress, finished projects, tutorials, and how-tos are all welcome. Feel free to share recipes, crafts, lifestyle, organizing, and DIY tips, and any other idea that can spark inspiration.


Needlework Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Heather @ Books and Quilts.  Show others what projects you've been working on and see what they are working on.

Inspiration on Monday: Painting

Trish at Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity is hosting a new creative "link up" called Inspiration on Monday -

a forum to share things that we’ve created and things that we are doing to help inspire others. Posts about projects in progress, finished projects, tutorials, and how-tos are all welcome. Feel free to share recipes, crafts, lifestyle, organizing, and DIY tips, and any other idea that can spark inspiration.

In search of an idea for a topic to post, I began to ponder what inspires me, and the answer was obvious - not what , so much as who inspires me - my daughter, Amanda.  

I have completed one week of a four week art class taught be a local high school art instructor.  During her opening lesson, she discussed how many people label themselves as "not artsy" so they never try; but most of her students, when given the supplies, the guidance, and the freedom to experiment, find that they can create art.  

I was one of those people for many years.  I loved needlework, but I followed a pattern and detailed instructions.  I wasn't creative.  I didn't try many other crafts, and certainly never anything that required "artistic talent". When Amanda tried painting a few years ago, I was amazed at her talent.  Watching and encouraging her painting and other crafts inspired me!  She taught me that being "artistic" isn't always something you're born with - it can be learned and nurtured.  Most artistic people are simply those who have given themselves the freedom to create - without pretending or apologizing.  

Last August, she took me to a "Cork and Canvas" guided painting party, and I was hooked.

Since then I have branched into watercolors, and am even trying sketching in the art class I mentioned.  There is nothing more relaxing in this world than creating something just for myself.  It doesn't have to meet anyone else's approval or conform to anyone's idea of "art".  It just has to please me.   In fact, sometimes even I don't find the finished product all that pleasing, but the process always is.

To inspire you to stop labeling yourself and loose your inner artist, here are a few of my favorite creations:

For every painting that I like, there are a handful that go in the trash or get painted over, and a few more that are put in the "passable" file.  But regardless of the outcome, the process makes me smile.