A Non-Crafty Post about Clothing

I posted this on Facebook and got a slightly different response than I was expecting. Not entirely, but sort of.

“I just have to get this out there. Clothes are not a covering of shame. They are a covering of immaturity. But we're teaching our daughters all wrong. CLOTHING IS A GLORY. A scantily clad girl is a high maintenance one, like a toddler who likes to lift her shirt and show you her belly button. Adam and Eve wore clothes after they ate the fruit because it was then that they suddenly grew up and realized they weren't dressed to be the king and queen of the world. It was after they grew up that they finally were joined and had children. Anyhow, all this to say, we're teaching our girls totally backwards when we teach them to just cover all the important parts. No wonder our daughters get caught up in the dos and don'ts and try to judge each other's motives for dressing. Am I crazy in thinking this? Really, I'm trying to have a soft heart here, so I'll try not to overreact if somebody cares to comment and disagree...”

So to answer some questions, I wrote it all out here.

First,

Clarification on the Speedy Christmas Tree Skirt Tutorial for Moda!

A while back I posted a tutorial for the Moda Bake Shop for a Christmas Tree Skirt.

I've had two or three folks having trouble with making their trees at 45 degree angles. There were comments on the Moda site and on my own blog post about it. This is SUPER important since the shape of the entire quilt depends on this. I am SO SORRY that folks are having trouble with this. I was intentionally a little vague in the original post because I knew that every cutting mat will be a little different and I thought I would save confusion by letting you figure it out on your own mat for yourself. CLEARLY, that was the wrong decision on my part. :) Please forgive me for the trouble this may have caused you. Hopefully this post will clear things up considerably.

Unfortunately, I no longer have the original quilt. My mother has it. 2000 miles away from here. So pretend that this crazy rainbow fabric looks like a Christmas tree. If you have toddlers like I do, it's not so hard to imagine after all. ;-)

Let's begin.

Your 5 strips (2 1/2" wide) sewn together should measure 10 1/2" top to bottom now. For demonstration purposes, I cut myself a 10 1/2" wide strip of fabric.

Below is a picture of my cutting mat. The first time I made a tree skirt like this, my trees were not 10 1/2" tall; instead they were 12" tall. So the black ink you see on my cutting mat was originally for a 12" tree. 

Do you see this right angle here below? That's 90 degrees. 

A closer look for you: 

Half of 90 is 45, so this

Speedy Christmas Tree Skirt Tutorial

Head on over to the Moda Bakeshop to see my newest tutorial!

To clear up some confusion (my bad!) about cutting the trees at 45 degrees, please see this clarification post. 

Recipe Overload

Working on updating my recipe section of the old home binder. I generally find recipes on allrecipes.com and on pinterest. I tried to link these up to where they came from when I could remember it. But I thought I'd share, since I have them all typed up anyhow. These are all recipes I have actually tried out myself and Hubby has given the stamp of approval. Hope you enjoy!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Beer Cheese (link)
Leftover pulled pork

2 T. unsalted butter
2 T. flour
2/3 c. beer
1/3 c. milk
6 oz. freshly grated white cheddar cheese
8 slices whole grain bread
softened butter for spreading

To make the beer cheese sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium heat and add butter. Once sizzling, whisk in flour and stir for 1-2 minutes until golden and fragrant and bubbly. Add in beer and milk, whisking well to combine, then reduce heat to low and add cheese, stirring until totally melted and smooth. Keep over low heat and stir every few minutes while assembling sandwiches.

Heat an electric skillet or griddle over medium heat. Butter the outside sides of each slice of bread. Place 4 slices butter-side down on the skillet, then top with a few handfuls of pulled pork. Cover in cheese sauce, then top with the other slices of bread, butter-side up. I cooked these grilled cheeses a lot quicker than the others I usually make since the cheese is already melted. As long as the pork and cheese sauce is warm, cook these until each side is deeply golden and crispy, about 2-3 minutes.

Serves 4

Grilled Cheese Sandwich...

Knit Baby Hat

Some day when I get around to it, maybe I'll post a tutorial on how to make a little knitted baby ski hat. Yup. Some day. For now, here are pictures of the most recent one. The griffins just make me happy.

Christmas in July in the works

Recently got my fabric for a new post for the Moda Bake Shop as part of their Christmas in July plans. So excited! This one will be for my mom. (Remember that runner I made for her? My great grandmother loved it so much that my mom let her have it, haha. So *this* had better really end up being for my mom!) :)

Diaper Elastic

Most of my cloth diapers are 2 years old now and just as everyone on the interweb claimed would happen, my elastic needs replacing. I bought a bunch of elastic from Joann's (it wasn't expensive at all, I think $6 worth finished up 11 diapers). 

I used three pieces of elastic for each diaper (a piece for each leg and a piece across the back). All three pieces measured 5 1/4" but if I was to do it again, I'd do more like 4 3/4". This is still allowing for room to make your seam and cut off the excess. 

I cut into the fleece at each end of where the old elastic was. Fleece doesn't fray, so I never even bothered to sew it back together. I did this a few weeks ago, the diapers have been through the wash quite a few times now, and they work exactly the same as they did before, but better because the elastic is tighter, of course. So don't be afraid to cut that fleece!

Cowboy Quilt

I am very excited about this quilt. I concocted the pattern myself and am very pleased with how it turned out! My fabrics are far too busy, which is unfortunate, but now I know and I won't do it again. :) Hoping to come up with a pattern some time soon. Ish. Ahem. 

I skipped the batting and used a super soft fuzzy backing and I really love how that turned out. I just folded it over to the front as my binding as well and I think it turned out great that way. Definitely want to do this more often. Especially since we're in Texas and batting is hardly necessary down here. 

Mom's Runner

On a table runner kick, can you tell? But this one's for my mom. :)

Inspired by this tutorial over at the Moda Bakeshop. 

Not quite sure if the modern pattern works with the traditional fabrics. I mean, it works but I don't know that I'd do it again. 

Animal Runner

Made an easy peasy table runner for an upcoming shower. I used 3 greys, 2 yellows, and 3 teals. 

Cut out 6 rectangles measuring 4 3/4" x 9".

Cut out (6) 4 3/4" squares.

Cut out (3) 5" squares, then cut diagonally to come up with 5 triangles. 

Lay 'em out and sew 'em up!

Hair Bows for Valentines

Whipped out some little fabric bows for some Valentines this year. Super fast and easy! 

Basically like this. 

The Love Knot Block

Check out my tutorial over at the Moda Bake Shop!