Lotta's Garden Tote

Let me end the week with one of my latest projects: a Garden Tote from Lotta Jansdotter's book Simple Sewing.

The tote went together very easily. Lotta's instructions were very clear, yet concise so I wasn't bogged down in a lot of words. I love her simple graphic style.

It was a present for my nephew and his wife who just moved into a new house with a yard filled with literally hundreds of botanical specimens of all types. For instance, the front yard contains no grass, but has instead strawberry plants for ground cover. It's an amazing yard, and I hope my little tote can help them in some small way to manage the gardens! Enjoy your weekend!

Experimental Monday: Biscuits

I've always wanted to make really good biscuits. Most of the time, I'm in a time crunch and just do the Bisquick thing, but they always turn out crumbly and they're not my family's favorite. I want to make a biscuit that people remember-- in a good way.

Hence my recent fascination with Alton Brown's book, I'm Just Here for More Food.

In that geeky, science-y way that only Alton Brown can pull off, a whole section of the book is dedicated to learning about the biscuit method. Then he gives us his favorite recipe, a recipe that is four pages long. Very detailed. Just what I need. Here's what I thought of my first try at his recipe:

Alton warns that his recipe produces a very soft gooey dough, and he's right. My dough was soft enough to run right through my fingers, and although I could cut a circle with my biscuit cutter, there was no way it was going to lift off the wax paper without a fight and several contortions. In the end, instead of trying to first cut circles, I just heaped a mound of dough on the baking sheet and smooshed it into a circle using wax paper on top so my fingers wouldn't get glued to the stuff.

Despite all the gloppiness, the biscuits turned out great! Warm, buttery, soft, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Just tiny crumbs. They were gone in a flash. It was an involved process which made me think they need to be the main course and not just a side dish, but I'm willing to try it again. They were that good. Next time, I think I might try adding just a touch more flour, and a little more adjusting for high altitude, since I live at 5000 feet. Other than that, I think I can finally get rave reviews at dinnertime. So worth it!

Mud Bath

I think the clouds over my house decided to do their spring cleaning two days ago because, well, it rained mud. Icky brown, sticky, runny mud, all over my car that was parked in the street. It rained for no more than 5 minutes this morning. My car did not look like that last night. Really. The evening news said the mud rain was caused by some dirty upper air turbulence something-or-other, but I like my story better. At least somebody is doing spring cleaning...

Inside the house it's like slogging through mud as well. Now that I'm back to work (my day job is designing and managing print publications) projects and requests are coming at me faster than I can keep track of them. I feel like I can't get done with one simple project before three emails and two phone calls have distracted me into six different directions. It's like those dreams where you're trying to run but your legs won't move and you don't go anywhere. There now, I have used two analogies in one paragraph. Stunning.

Sorry for my long absence from this blog. I was suddenly hit with some unexpected health issues that kept my body and mind focused elsewhere. They're not over yet, but I'm recovering well, and back at the sewing machine, thank you. Updates on projects soon. Promise.

Top Ten Favorites of 2009

TrueUp.net, a blog I love to follow, is asking readers to give them a list of favorite fabrics and designers of 2009. Here's my Top 10 noteworthy entries:

• Favorite Quilting Weight Cotton Collection: Amy Butler "Midwest Modern II." I think the majority of the  accessories I've sewn for myself this past year have had some of her fabric in them.

• Favorite Home Decor Weight Fabric: Jessica Jones "Modern Flora." Beautiful prints that are easy to work with.

• Favorite Juvenile Print: Michael Miller "Orange Mono Bot." I came across a small remnant of it somewhere and I want more. I don't even have kids to sew for at the moment, but never mind that...

• Favorite Color Trend: I can't believe I'm saying this, but ORANGE. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and hated orange then (along with avocado green), but these sherbet oranges I see now are adorable.

• Favorite New Fabric I Worked With in 2009: My favorite fabric is actually an ancient fiber: silk. In all these years, I had never worked with it till this past year. Now I don't know why I waited so long. It was a dream to sew and the projects turned out beautiful. I used China silk, raw silk, silk kimono fabric, it was all good. Try some, really!

• Favorite Handprinted Fabric: Lotta Jansdotter. When I grow up, I want to be her. I love her aesthetic.

• Favorite Solid/Nonprinted: What else- Kona Cotton. I discovered Robert Kaufman makes a Color Card for their Kona Cotton line, so I invested in one. I love being able to match up prints I've picked up here and there with solid colors on the card, then ordering the solids online, since I can't find many of them locally.

• Favorite Overall Designer: Denyse Schmidt. I'm not much of a quilter, but if I were, I'd want to be like Denyse. I'd love to "get in her head" and experience her creative process while working out a project. Amazing.

• Favorite Local Fabric Store: Denver Fabrics. No, this has no relation to the DenverFabrics.com online store. This is local only, no website. I like Denver Fabrics because I'm never sure what I'm going to find there. About half of their fabrics are ordered from manufacturers, but the other half come from various sources- end bolts from the garment district, left over fabric from design houses, imports, you never know. On my last trip there I discovered some rolls of silk kimono fabric, a bolt of cashmere wool that was as fluffy and soft as a cloud (think snuggly cardigan), and a tiny houndstooth check wool in soft pink and grey that came from a New York design house. I love the thrill.

• Wildcard Category: I love it when I find product packaging that I can sew with. This past year, Purina started making its dog food bags out of a plastic coated mesh material that's very easy to sew. It would be great if others followed suit, like the big bags of flour and sugar at Costco. Then there's the big bags of rice packaged in burlap. Those are great too. Here's to more reusable packaging in 2010.

To see all the Favorite Lists on True Up, click here. To read about the Favorite Fabrics event, and even participate by January 15, click here.

Santa Trauma

Christmas 1995

As I'm busy finishing up Christmas presents (I'm down to the wire, I know), I thought I'd let you know about a contest. Paula Prass, designer extraordinaire, is hosting a giveaway on her blog open to anyone who sends her a funny photo of kids NOT having fun while getting their picture taken with Santa. Check it out, the photos are sure to make you laugh, and while you're there, vote for your favorite. Here's my submission:


I can remember things from when I was really young. Like going to see Santa. He lived in an A-frame shack that was put up in the town square next to the fountain. With my dad carrying me, we opened the door, stepped in, got within three feet of the big jolly guy, and I started screaming and climbing up and over my dad's shoulders and on top of his head. I know I was really young because he still had hair then. Come to think of it, I could be the reason he went bald... Anyway, I was apparently headed for the rafters and was going to swing my way outta there like a monkey. There are no pictures of me with Santa. Go figure. What does it mean that I'm now 50 years old and still traumatized by the event? Worse, what does it mean that I endangered my own children's mental health by putting them on Santa's lap for a photo shoot? Therapy? Yea, I'm thinking about it.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dear Blog,

Really, I haven't forgotten you. I know I owe you a huge post filled with pretty pics of all I've been up to lately, but right now I'm in the rush of Christmas presents to finish making. There's linen to stitch up, yarn to crochet, packages to wrap, cookies to bake, it's all so busy. But it makes me happy! Here's a photo of the view I enjoyed during my recent quilt retreat with my friends. Maybe it'll help you ponder great thoughts on your own while I finish up my to-do list. I promise to get back to you. Promise.
Love, Amy

Tiny Goodness

I had a hankerin' to try my hand at making a bag with a metal purse frame. Above is my first effort. I dug around online and found some tiny frames on the cheap at eBay. They're so tiny that a credit card won't fit in one, but I made the bag long enough to accommodate a tube of chapstick and some rolled up dollar bills. It now resides on my keychain. To create a pattern, I used the instructions I found on the U-Handbag blog here. The glue I used to attach the fabric to the frame was Craft by Goop (I bought mine in the craft dept. of Walmart). It did the job, the fabric stuck tight, but it was a little stiff and hard to distribute evenly in the metal frame channel. U-Handbag suggests using Gutermann fabric glue, but I can't seem to find any. If anyone knows of a source, share your info!