This one is not to be missed…the biggest challenge ever at Harry Potter Paper Piecing with an unbelievably awesome prize! Click on the above image for full details.
New Challenge at Harry Potter Paper Piecing
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Wordless Wednesday – circa 1994
vlog: TTMT – The Big Four Oh
I can hardly believe this is the 40th week of Talk To Me Tuesday!
1 Million Pillowcase Challenge
Honey Bee Quilt Store
Hot Dog Pillowcase Instructions
Green Bag Repair
Batiks On Black
hp_paperpiecing Complete Your Quilt Top Challenge
Rock Creek Quilts
The Linus Connection
Harry Potter Crafts
Leaky Crafts
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Keeping It Green
I have oodles of those 99 cent green bags that the local grocery store sells. It takes about 8 of them to carry groceries for our family of four home. Most of the bags are three or so years old, and they’ve definitely seen some wear since I avoid plastic bags whenever possible.
Since it’s the start of a new year and it’s too darn cold to do much outside, I thought now would be a good time to give them a bit of an overhaul!
This is more mending than craft, but it’s easy and helps maintain my reusable bags.
First, I checked for broken or damaged inserts that help keep the bottom firm and the bag upright. Several of them were completely trashed. After fishing around in my recycling, I came up with a couple sturdy cereal boxes.
The boxes were the perfect size, so I just trimmed them up with scissors, rounded the corners and popped them into the bag. Wallah, brand new bottom inserts!
Next, I checked for split or damaged seams. Most of them were okay because I fairly regularly check for popped stitching caused by one too many cans! There was one that had lost it’s stitching and was starting to lose the trim that holds the front and bottom together. A quick zig zag stitch using whatever thread was on my machine, and it’s good to go!
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
Batiks On Black Deadline!
This is it! The deadline for Batiks On Black is next week!
Blocks have been coming in and they are all gorgeous! For a small sampling, check out the BoB Flickr Group.
If you’re participating and haven’t yet sent your blocks in, please get them in the mail and email me the number you’re entering so your name can be included in the drawing!
Click here for more details!
Wordless Wednesday: Dreaming of Spring
vlog #39 – TTMT – A Quickie
If you make a Sew Awesome Craft or any pattern, craft or recipe from sewhooked, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the sewhooked flickr group.
2010 UFO Round Up
I’ve decided 2010 will be the year I finish some long-standing UFOs. I’ve made a list and added to the dry erase board I keep in my sewing & craft room. Here’s a more visual version to keep me inspired!
To Be Quilted:
- Grannie’s Autograph Quilt – This was my Grannie’s and was previously a tied quilt. I’d like to hand quilt it, but I’ve been reluctant to start until I finish my Electric Amish project (see below).
- Lost and Found Flour Sack Quilt – A quilt top my mom found when she inherited my Grannie’s house. It was originally much longer with holes in several of the squares. I removed a few rows across the bottom (which is not how it was pieced, so it was a pain!) and the damaged fabrics, then replaced those with some of that fabric salvaged from the bottom. The border is muslin, which is also what I’d like to put on the back.
- Yellow/Green Linus X-Quilts (from fabric donated by Laci L) – made from the Layer ‘Em Up book by Sharyn Craig. Easy peasy tops made from just 2 yards of fabric, both are baby-size. To finish by the next Linus meeting, January 16, 2009.
- Electric Amish (hand quilting project, about 1/3 complete) – modified Storm at Sea pattern. This is the first large quilt top I completed that I intended to keep for myself. I’ve been quilting on it for at least five years. To say that hand quilting is not my strong point is an understatement!
Tops to Finish:
- Brown Bear (blocks are done, need more borders and to be pieced) – from a pass around with my bee. We made the bear paws for each other. I’ve pieced the units, which still need borders.
- HP swap received (blocks are done, need layout, piecing) – from various online quilt block swaps 2007-2008. Not all of these will go in the finished quilt because a few were the wrong size. I’ll save those for something else.
- Christmas Cottage swap received (blocks are done, need layout, piecing) – blocks received from the 2009 All About Paper Piecing Christmas Cottage Swap. I’m not in a huge hurry for these since I just got them all, but they’re officially a UFO, so they’re on the list.
- Layer ‘Em Up 2 for Linus (blocks are pieced, need to be squared and top pieced) – To finish by the next Linus meeting, January 16, 2009.
- Batik Beauty (finish blocks) – this will likely be my quilt retreat project for March. I’d like to have this top done by April in order to show the NYB class I’m teaching at Honey Bee.
Sewing:
- Pillowcases to donate to Honey Bee for the 1 Million Pillowcases Challenge
- New Bag with pockets for BB & camera
Crochet
- Twilight Crafts Black & Red Swap Received (layout and finish) – knit and crochet squares. I might make a few more, or I might just border these and make them into a lapghan.
- Turn Around Granny Square ‘ghan (more rounds? and finish) – Oh geez, these have been sitting for at least a year. I’m uninspired as to what I need to do next. More rounds? Just put them together? No idea!
Do you have a list of UFOs to finish in 2010? I’d love to see!
Portabella Crust Pizza
In an effort to feel healthier and happier, I started following the South Beach Diet. It’s been about a month now, and I feel better than I have in a good long while. The only thing I really missed was pizza on Friday nights with my family. My family and I have homemade pizza every Friday, along with a movie marathon. I experimented a bit with recipes I found online and just wasn’t satisfied. This is my own personal South Beach-friendly pizza, using a portabella mushroom as the crust. You need a fork to eat it, but other than that, it really hits the “need pizza” button!
Makes 2 servings.
Portabella Crust Pizza
- 2 portabella mushroom caps cleaned with stems removed
- olive oil
- sugar-free pizza sauce (try Exquisite Pizza Sauce without the honey)
- part-skim mozzarella or veggie cheese (like Veggie Shreds)
- toppings of your choice (I like Canadian Bacon, low-fat feta is nice, too)
Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with a small amount of olive oil. Set aside.
Heat a large skillet or griddle (cast iron, if you’ve got it!) over medium-high heat. Add just enough olive oil to lubricate the surface. Place mushroom caps bottoms down on cooking surface. They’ll lose a lot of water as they cook, and that’s what you want. Leave for about five minutes and then flip the caps. When you can see moisture collecting inside the cap, flip it again, pressing with a spatula to flatten. Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes. Time can vary depending on the size of the caps, you want the caps to be about 2/3 their original size and to have released quite a bit of moisture.
Remove the caps to the prepared baking sheet, bottoms up. Add sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly toasted.
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post.
Wordless Wednesday – Man Down!
