Dresden Mini Quilt

I finished my Dresden Mini Quilt today. It is a tiny one... it only measures 10X10 inches. But I have never done a Dresden before, so I wanted to start small. The Dresden is hand applique to the background fabric and I used Perle cotton thread for the hand quilting. I really like the way it turned out. It makes me think of a sunny summer day every time I look at it. I am going to hang it in my sewing room to add some cheer to my wall. 

I hope you are having a great week!

Martha 

Work in Progress

Some of the things I started to work on this weekend: a dresden mini-quilt and a scarf. I had not done any knitting for a while and last Friday I visited my local Jo-Ann store and I couldn't resit this yarn. It feels so soft and cozy I immediately thought it will make a great scarf to keep me warm this winter. I just hope I can finish it in time!

Martha

Sunday: Out and About

Today was a good day. My husband and I went to IKEA; that is always fun. I bought some fun fabric there. I still don't know what I'm going to do with with... maybe some pillows or a skirt for my cutting table. On our way back we took a different route home and drove through a neighborhood near the mountains and this is what we saw. Deer hanging out in people's yards. This little guy was strolling around with such ease and was not bother at all by me taking a picture.

I hope you had a good weekend, too.

Martha. 

Banana Bread

This weekend felt like it went by so fast. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen... I like, when possible, cook a few meals ahead, so during the week when we come home from work I can have dinner on the table in no time. I got this new cooking book. It has amazing recipes it was hard to decide which one to make first. I decided on the banana bread. I had some very ripe bananas, which make the best banana bread, and I wanted to used them before they went bad. It is so good. It was hard waiting for it to cool down so I could have a slice. 

Super Banana Bread
Slightly adapted from Williams-Sonoma Home Baked Comfort

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 ripe bananas, smashed with a fork
2 eggs
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Greek style yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 teaspoons butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Line a 9X5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper or butter generously.

2. In a bowl sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg) and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the bananas, eggs, sugar, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

3. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan.

Enjoy!

Martha

New In My Sewing Room

I want to introduce you to the new addition in my sewing room. A coworker was giving it away, his wife is not much into sewing and they both insisted I should have it (a free sewing machine I will take it!). It is a Kenmore 12 Ultra Stitch; I took it for a test run and all the stitches work and it sews beautifully on heavy fabrics and bulky seams. I don't know how old it is, but what it is for sure is that its previous owners took really good care or it: it even came with its original box of presser feet and attachments. I'm a lucky girl! I think it will make a good companion to my Janome.

Martha.
 

September Around The Garden

This weekend was kind of a lazy weekend. I did finish the quilt top of my Jacob's ladder quilt, but that was about it. My main focus this weekend was taking care of my baby. Mona (one of my dogs) got sick. I took her to the vet and she prescribed Mona some medications. So right now we are just waiting for the medications to work. 

This afternoon we took the girls (that is how we call our dogs) out to the garden to play and I took some pictures of how the garden is looking right now. The planting beds are starting to look bare and many of the plants are starting to die out. We picked some peppers and tomatillos (I might make some salsa tomorrow). Though, the lemon trees look beautiful; full of blossoms and promising a good crop for this year. The first sings of fall are beginning to show in the garden; some leaves are turning and my fountain grasses are giving a great display of fall colors already.

Martha.

A Picture... A Moment

Good bye summer... mornings have been cool, the air feels crisp and it even smells like fall. Summer is slowly slipping away and fall will be here soon.

Martha.

Dessert In A Jar

I love using mason jars. I they are so versatile and anything you put in them looks so pretty. On this occasion I used my mason jars to bake and serve dessert in them. The perfect combination: a warm, gooey, decadent brownie topped with vanilla bean ice cream. Oh perfection! an the beauty of this dessert is that it can be made up to a day ahead or serve it right out of the oven.

Brownie Sundaes

*I was given a box of this Ghirardelli Brownie Mix as a gift and that is what I used. I usually don't use mixes when baking, but this one surprised me. Ghirardelli is one of my favorite chocolate brands and their mixes are made with the same quality chocolate they are known for. Let me tell you, after the first bite I became addicted to this mixes. So yummy!

Ingredients:

Makes 8-10

Your favorite brownie recipe*

Vanilla ice cream

Wide mouth mason jars

Fill about 1/3 of the jars with brownie mix. Bake according to recipe directions (most recipes for brownies indicate to bake them in a pan so the baking time might be shorter so keep and eye on your brownies). Let brownies cool and while they are still warm top them with a scoop of ice cream and serve.
If you decide to make them ahead; warm up brownies in the oven or the microwave when you are ready to serve them.

Enjoy!

Martha

Work In Progress

It was really great  having and extra day off from work. I had been really looking forward to this holiday (Labor Day) for a few weeks already.  I was able to catch up on household work and  made a lot of progress on my Jacob's Ladder quilt. I got all of the cutting and most of the piecing done. I would had been able to finished the quilt top, but I had I minor set back... on a few of the patchwork blocks  I sew the stripped fabric in the wrong direction. Oops!. It can be easily fixed, and I was able to catch it before  I sew those blocks to the quilt. But it takes time to undo the seams and sew them back again in the right direction. I'm almost done fixing the blocks and I will be back on track. I hope to finish the quilt next weekend hoping I have no more set backs.

I hope you had a good weekend as well.

Update: I'm linking to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced
 

Martha.

August in the Sewing Room... A Recap

August sewing was great. Though, I didn't accomplished a massive amount of projects (as I had wished for) I'm very happy. I managed to finish the Alphabet Quilt for my goddaughter just in time for her birthday. Then, after much planning I finally moved my sewing room to a sunnier location in the house, covered some tin cans with fabric to use as storage and tried English paper piecing for the first time. 

I hosted my first giveaway and started a new quilt, which I hope to finish very soon. 

I'm looking forward to September and hope to get a lot of sewing done.

I'm linking to Fresh Sewing Day @ Lily's Quilts and Slow Bloggers @ Knotted Cotton

Martha.