Author Archives: mlwilkie

About mlwilkie

Software Developer, Mother, Wife with keen interest in art, design and crafts of all kinds.

Lovely Year of Finishes – September goal

Oh my gosh!!! I hate to do this, but have you started thinking about Christmas? The thought came to me this week when I got an order for two twin quilts. We started to discuss dates and then finally decided that the best timing for having the quilts done would be for Christmas gifts.

I don’t have too much to do directly for Christmas, 3 twin quilts and 3 stockings but I would like to partake in my company’s Christmas Craft fair. So right now I am thinking about stock I will need…

Christmas stockings (none in stock – would like 10-15)
Cushion/Pillow covers (only two in stock so far – thinking I need 10)
Chair bags/pockets (have 7 in stock but would like 14)
Gift card holders (none in stock – would like 10)
Pencil cases, Pencil rolls (none in stock but would like 10)

This means a lot of work between now and Christmas. This leads to this month’s “Lovely Year of Finishes” goal – I would like one of the twin quilts finished.

I am deciding between one of the three following quilts to do this month (these are the 3 that need to be done by Christmas):

This quilt by Knotty Gnome http://blog.knottygnome.com/2013/07/sparkling-diamonds.html

This quilt by Just Quilts

Or Candy Coated from Sunday Morning Quilts (the one on the cover):

Off to the drawing/design board and to see what others are up to this month.

Menu Plan {02.09.2013} + Triple Berry Trifle

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I am definitely enjoying the long weekend (Labor Day here in the US) and did not realize how truly and desperately I needed the day off :-). I have had a pretty productive weekend and will have some posts to show for the upcoming week, but I must say I am most happy with getting back in the kitchen and cooking/baking. It had been a while, and I decided to prep some of the items in our weekly meal plan.

DAY	BREAKFAST	DINNER
Saturday	Gulguph (favorite German bakery)	Grilled Chicken + Beef tips + Corn cobs+ Salad Dessert: Triple Berry Trifle (see recipe below)
Sunday	Left overs	Slow Cooked Beef Bourguignon + Egg Noodles
Monday	Breakfast Egg + Coffee	Meatball Pasta Bake (with gluten-free pasta)
Tuesday	Berry + Banana+ Spirulina Smoothie	Vegetable Frittata
Wednesday	Bircher Muesli	Taco’s
Thursday	Bircher Muesli	Vegetable Stir Fry + Brown Rice
Friday	Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie	Salad + Zucchini Corn Fritters

The dessert on Saturday night was due to us have friends over for a BBQ/grill. The two desserts I remember growing up, that represented summer in New Zealand, were a trifle and a pavlova. For the BBQ, I decided on the trifle but with some upgrades to it. I must say it was a splurge and a keeper!!!

Ingredients

1-2 Sponge cakes ( I used about 1 & 1/2)
1/2 frozen berries
1/2 cup blackberry jam
1/3 cup marsala wine (madeira wine or sherry could be substituted)
8-10 fresh strawberries (sliced)
4 oz fresh raspberries
3-4 oz fresh blueberries
2 1/4 cups custard
1 cup heavy cream (whipped)

Take sponges out of the oven and let cool (if you would like my recipe for the sponges then let me know). You can also use store-bought.

While the sponges are cooling, make the berry compote. In a small – medium pot place put in the blackberry jam, marsala wine, frozen berries, slow heat until the jam is incorporated into the sauce and the berries have softened. Take off the heat and place on the side.

At this time I would also make the custard, which you can do two ways – with custard powder or by making an egg custard from scratch (let me know if you want this recipe, I know custard powder is not always easy to find in all grocery stores). I was a little lazy this time and used 2 1/4 cups of milk, 3 Tbsp of custard powder, 3 Tbsp sugar. Follow the directions for the custard powder and slowly heat until thick. Take it off the heat put cling wrap (glad wrap) directly on top of the custard to stop the custard creating a skin, as it cools.

Back to the sponges….cut the sponges in 1 to 1/2 inch cubes. Use ~ 1/2 the sponges and place randomly at the bottom of a glass dish, make sure you cover as much of the bottom, as possible, in a single layer.

Using a ladle, spoon 1/2 the berry compote evenly over the sponge.

Place 1/2 of the sliced strawberries, raspberries and blueberries over the compote layer.

The last of the first layer is the custard. Using a clean ladle, place 1/2 of the custard (about 1 cup) evenly over the berries. In the picture below my custard is still warm, as it needs to still be spreadable/able to be poured.

Repeat all 4 layers again. Top with the whipped cream and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours. You will have plenty of left overs, serves at least 12. Refrigerate the left overs as they will be great up to 4-5 days.

Let me know if you try it. Is there a favorite summer recipe you enjoy from your childhood?

Lessons Learned in Paper-Piecing

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One of my favorite activities, that I have learned over the last year, is paper-piecing. I have thoroughly enjoyed this craft and thought this was the best time to pass on some of my tips.

1. Finished Kiwi Cushion – Front, 2. Royal-X-Plus Block, 3. Kea paper pieced block, 4. YellowEyedPenguin_FullBlock, 5. Kiwi – Paper Piecing, 6. Blooming Hot Paper Pieced Block

Tools

My number one tool, unfortunately, is my small quick ‘n’ pick (seam ripper).
For paper, I just use printer paper, I don’t use freezer paper…its just easier to get straight to the piecing.
Sunlight or light is extremely important so you can place/alignment at the right place. I usually lift the piece and the adding fabric to the light and see through the paper and fabrics.
My iron for pressing all those seams, essential.
A ruler and rotary cutter for trimming 1/4 inch edges.

Tips
My main tips are mostly what I have learned to help avoid those silly mistakes:

If you are making too many mistakes, take a break and come back to it. It really helps.
After all the trimming etc., it can get a little messy. So, to help organize and clean as you go, I use two bins; a small scrap bin to put small reusable scraps into, and a bowl for rubbish/trash.
I use a reduced stitch size (1.2 on my brother sewing machine) so that it is easy to tear the paper away at the end.
Make sure your fabric is big enough and aligned correctly, to take into the consideration the angle of the seam (quick ‘n’ pick reason #1).
Make sure your fabric is right side to right side (you won’t believe the number of times I go to check and its the wrong side up, quick ‘n’ pick reason #2).
Make sure your fabric does not fold over when you sew, otherwise you will need to unstitch (hence the quick ‘n’ pick reason #3).
Position needle and align the foot, sew seams from the inside to outside.
Always trim seams with 1/4 inch.
Always press each seam.

I thought I would now step through a tutorial for how I create a piece and join those pieces. I am using a block that was designed by Esther @ I patch and quilt – Blooming Hot (available on Craftsy).

If the first piece is large, I usually pin it to hold it in place.
Place and align the next piece of fabric so right sides are facing. Line up the needle point with the tip of the line you are sewing, sew from inner points to the outer points.
Sew through a 1/4 inch seam markings to the edge of the paper. Here is an example of two seams (pieces 1 and 2).
After each seam, before pressing, measure and trim 1/4 inch from the seam to remove excess fabric. This keeps the piecing neat but also stops any dark fabrics from showing through.
Turn piece over and press the fabric pieces back, all right sides are facing up.
Continue until all seams/pieces are sewed and pressed. Now, it is time to trim the piece.
Use a ruler and measure a 1/4 inch seam from where the joining line/piecing line will be. You can’t always just use the print out as you may have decreased or increased scale. You need this to take into account the need for a 1/4 inch seam.
Continue until all edges are trimmed.
For joining pieces, I think this varies depending on the designer and the pattern. Sometimes I can just line up the two ends and sew 1/4 inch in and the pieces line up well.For this particular block, I wanted to ensure the green pieces are aligned correctly. I measured a 1/4 inch from the edge and marked with chalk.
I repeated this step with the second piece as well. I then matched up the white lines and pinned/held them in place, as I aligned the top and bottom of the edge as well. Sew a 1/4 inch seam and press. I tend to press seams apart when paper piecing to reduce the bulk.