weekend sewing and a pillow tutorial

I don't know what got into my this weekend. But I lazed around in my new fleece jacket and sweats all day Saturday not really doing a whole lot.

Then I cut out 3 bags.

Then I almost completed one of them. (just one seam and some top-stitching to go.)

Then I worked on some placemat pillows.

Here's a *tutorial* for these pillows.
1. buy a placemat (for a couple bucks on clearance) - make sure it is 2 sided.
2. open up one end of the placemat. (I did these while I was on the phone.)
3. stuff with stuffing (also did while I was on the phone.)
4. topstitch close
5. display on bed, couch, chair, floor, etc.

Can you really call that a tutorial? It's so easy! I made these pillows last year from some napkins and placemats I found at Target.

The downside of this creative spurt is the insomnia. Last night and Saturday night I had a really hard time falling asleep. It was dreadful. Well, staying up late not so much, but the ensuing fatigue and malaise, not so fun. The monkey chatter in my head would not quiet down. I'm tired enough today (no nap) that hopefully it won't be a problem.


I forgot the not to moo part of that last post. I don't want to moo so I started working out again last week. The problem I find is that when I run, I am starving by 10 am and asleep by noon. I blame nursing - it really wears a person out making all that milk! But let me tell you about the revelation I had. Our laptop nestles onto the treadmill quite securely. I can watch online TV, dvds, or as I did last week, catch up on my blogging! I actually started that post while walking a brisk-ish pace. Now I don't have an excuse. Darn it.

a duvet to dream under

Well, it's finally finished! sort of. It's on my bed at least and we slept under it last night. I haven't figured out the bottom where it will eventually have some sort of closure, but I was so excited to see it on my bed that I put it on late last night, right before we hopped in.

The top is from Amy Butler's Nigella home dec collection and I just used the flat sheet to our sheets for the back. We never use it, so it was perfect for the underside, so soft for sleeping under. We like the nordic way of sleeping under a duvet - no sheets (except on the mattress) just under the comforter.

I coached my husband ahead of time that requisite Ooh-ing and Aah-ing was in order or he'd be sleeping on the couch. When he saw it he was genuinely excited. And then this morning I was admiring it from under it's warmth and he said, "yeah, this thing is Awesome! It's nice and warm."

I do love the way it turned out - but I don't plan on making another duvet cover anytime soon. It took longer than I thought for several reasons: (if you aren't interested in minutiae, you can stop reading here.)

1. It's King-sized - that's a LOT of fabric to cut and match and pin together.
   
2. I had to match the pattern in two seams (I didn't want a seam down the middle, so I made two side panels). This was probably what intimidated me the most. Fortunately, the fabric was designed and printed so that matching the designs was relatively uncomplicated. I've never really worked with decorator prints - so maybe they are all printed with this foresight. But I'm going to give the credit to Amy Butler - she's a genius!
   
3. I did have to pin each seam twice. Once with right sides together to match it up and then flipping and repinning so I could sew it.
4. It's hard to cut a straight line that long - sewing the side seams together I had to measure from the seam and draw a line for sewing and then pinning and then manuevering the other 96" of fabric as I sewed the seam. I did, however, break out the Ginghers that my mom gave me years ago - the cut like a dream! I've been using my rotary cutter for pretty much everything - I didn't know I was the owner of such a treasure!
   

I'm sure there's more, but can't think of them right now. I'm so glad I did it! I learned a lot in the process and luckily did the hardest part while my mom was here last month and could hold my hand while I figured out the logistics of it all.

It definitely makes the room seem more put together. I plan on making some pillows and things to go on the bed - some of the blue and maybe some red thrown in too. I wish I could paint the walls. . . .

So I was a day late in finishing for the challenge. I called my mom to tell her and she reported that she just needs to sew on the borders for her quilt. So I guess working out was easier to accomplish last week than our sewing projects - hmmmm. that's weird.

dairy fast, over!

About 7 months ago I had to cut dairy out of my diet to help my little guy's problem spitting up. Apparently the lactation consultants were wrong when they told me I could eat whatever I wanted and it wouldn't affect my milk. There was a direct correlation to the amount of dairy I ate and how much he spit up. I read that the protein from cow's milk can be found in human breastmilk and it's very hard for a lot babies to digest. They usually grow out of it by about 8 months - so I've slowly been adding dairy back in this last month and he's doing quite well and is even eating yogurt all on his own!

Well, maybe that's all a little too much back story just to lead up to a recipe I want to share with you. I knew one of the things I wanted to indulge in once I could, was a little cheesecake! I've decided that I don't really LOVE cheesecake, unless it's this recipe for Lime-Almond Cheesecake. I love the tartness of the lime with that hint of almond in the sour cream glaze. I'm always looking for a gathering to take this to - because if it were at my house I'm afraid I would eat all of it. By. my. self. (as a side note, I wish I were a food photographer. Then I would have all the equipment for taking gorgeous pictures at night in my poorly lit kitchen, oh well.)

This was a hit evidenced by the measley 5 slices that were left. One of which I ate on the way home.

I think the secret is to make it 3 days in advance and let it sit in the fridge. And resist the urge to eat it early. I found great instructions for slicing it too - I love google. This recipe is courtesy of my friend Lisa that I knew back when I just graduated from college. I've tweaked the crust part a little bit to solve some of the baking issues I had. And this time I lined the bottom with parchment paper which made removing it from the pan a breeze. Parchment paper holds a special place for the part of me that hates messy clean-up.

Lime Almond Cheesecake
Crust
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 C vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
Melt butter. Combine with crumbs and press into a 12" springform pan.

Filling
4 - 8oz. blocks cream cheese (I used the Neufchatel - 1/3 less fat - but still tasty!)
1 1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Lime juice (I used fresh squeezed)
pinch salt
4 large eggs
Whip cream cheese for 5 minutes (seriously, I set the timer, turn on my Kitchen Aid and juice the lime or empty the dishwasher or something while I wait).
Add sugar and whip 2 more minutes. Add lime juice and salt - blend thoroughly.
Add eggs one at a time on lowest speed of mixer just until eggs are incorporated into the batter. Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Take out of oven and let rest 10 minutes while you prepare the glaze.

Sour Cream Glaze
2 C sour cream
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp pure almond extract

Mix together. Spread glaze over cheesecake - spreading to the edges (I used one of those offset handle spreading spatulas). Return cake to oven for 10 more minutes. Remove cake, cover and put it directly into the fridge.

Hints for making your cheesecake taste the best:

1. Prepare cheesecake 3 days in advance.
2. Remove cake from fridge one hour before serving.
3. Let the cake sit out for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

This would be a great holiday dessert offering for a large group. Oh yeah, I just remembered - if you have a hankering you can make a smaller batch. I halved the recipe once and made mini cheesecakes in my muffin pan. I just put a nilla wafer at the bottom of the muffin cup and then topped it with the filling. If I remember correctly I halved the baking time too. I can't remember if that made a dozen or a two..... They were just as delicious - plus they were smaller portions and finger food friendly.

Bon Apetit!!

Challenge update: My mom and I both got our workouts in today. Go us!!! Now let's go have some cheesecake!

mom vs. daughter challenge!

This picture has nothing to do with the post - but the leaves were being lit up the other afternoon. I tried to capture it. . . .

I was talking to my mom tonight about things we both procrastinate. I was bugging her about going to her water aerobics class and she said she would go tomorrow if I got on the treadmill. . . . TOUCHE. Nice play mom. Since I had my appendix out late summer, I haven't been as diligent in getting on and now I'm finding it's already NOVEMBER?! But challenging me to workout is like telling me I won't like that cheese if I eat it. Oh yeah!?! I'll show you!

So I told her that a better challenge would be for her to go to the pool and me to get my duvet cover done. I started it while she was here and have been stymied by not knowing exactly how I want to close it; buttons, zipper, velcro? (Any ideas certainly welcome.) But she made the point that the first challenge was about excercise. Good point. We are still on for the working out tomorrow.

The sewing challenge:
I challenged her to finish her New York Beauty quilt,

and I'll get my duvet cover done,

We have until Saturday midnight.

What are you procrastinating? Let's get it done this week and post all about it!