For Georgia and Betty

I love handbags, tote bags, etc...I buy way too many of them, and now, I am being encouraged to make them! Score!

One of my favorite blogs, Sew Mama Sew, hosted a bag swap this month.  I figured this was a good way to get me to challenge my sewing skills.  So I decided to make a handbag that I would probably pass up otherwise, because it looked way too tricky for me to try. Ever the Capricorn, I decided that a practice round would be necessary, and since my Aunt Betty's birthday is this month, I decided to make one for her as well.

The results...

 I used a pattern I found here.  It is the Erica Bag by Artsy Craftsy Babe.  The gray bag is for my swap partner Georgia.  The large floral is for Aunt Betty.  It was astonishingly easy and fun to make.  I think I am going to try something a little harder next time, but probably not until after the holidays.  I have way too much to work on before Christmas comes around.

Georgia said she likes Anthology Fabrics, and I found this at Sew Mama Sew.  I don't remember the name, but I am pretty sure they are sold out by now anyway.  I am kind of into gray and orange now...actually gray and anything.  Kind of matches the weather we are having.

Betty is getting this really pretty Michael Miller fabric I found at my local fabric store. I will blog about it another day.  I wish I had made this sooner, it is such a pretty summer print. 

The kid got a handbag too....sort of.  This is her Trick or Treat bag, which is originally a pattern for a lunch tote that I found here.  Love finding super creative people on the net...I hope to share a little creativity myself soon!

Happy Monday!

Sew....Where Have You Been?

I know.

It's been a long time. I don't know where the time has gone...but here we are, mid-October and with what to show for it?

So around the last time I blogged, I started sewing again. It started pretty innocently. I stopped by a fabric store to find some ribbon for a cake I was making, and I was bit by the fabric bug. I am, for the most part, a self-taught seamstress. My aunt, who is also my godmother, taught me the basics when I was in high school. I became interested again after finding a couple of blogs that had some really cool projects and it pretty much snowballed since then. So here we are now, and I am thinking about Christmas...it's gonna be a handmade holiday this year!

But first, some housecleaning...

Can you say "meh".  This started out as...I really don't know what,  but I added some Velcro to the back and to the edge of my table and called it an organizer. Ugly is what it is, and it holds way too much stuff.

TaDa! SMS Pincushion Organizer by Elizabeth Hartman.

This sewing machine organizer came from a Butterick pattern that I bought at Joann's when they had one of their Super-Duper Mega Discount sales.  Well, that's what I call them.  The last one had Butterick patterns for 99 cents. Each. I know.

As you can tell by my shoes on the floor...I like gray.

Much better. I need to remove the Velcro from the table, but not until I make an organizer for my scissors.  I don't like having them on the table. I find that if they are put away, no one in the house helps themselves to my good scissors.  If they are on the table, then they are like pretzels and peanuts at the bar. You can't really be sure who has been handling them...

One last piece of advice....PIN! Don't be lazy.  Everything you make will come out SO much better!

Happy Sewing!

I've been a bad girl...

I left you hanging...all three of you.

So very sorry.

In my defense, life has posed some challenges since the early part of December. I have been busy though...I promise I will share soon. Let's just say that there have been some....developments of sorts in the family (no, not with me personally. Bite your tongue), so lots of creativity flowing around here.

Until we meet again...

20 minute Christmas Cards

I am not very good at sending Christmas Cards. I did it once, and honestly, I think they are packed away in a box somewhere, never really having been sent.

So tonight, in 20 minutes and thanks to Paperless Post, my family's Christmas cards have been sent, quickly and best of all, environmentally friendly! I promise that the same amount of love went into them...more really, since you will actually receive them!

I love the internet.

BrrrrMmmm

So we had our first "real" snowstorm of the season last night. Not a lot of snow and more wind than I ever needed to experience. Sorry for the lousy picture, but I didn't think of it until this evening. I was more interested in making something warm and yummy for dinner!
I thought I would share my recipe for Squasage Soup. I know, silly name, but that's how we roll around here.

Squasage Soup
1 to 2 pkg Mild Italian Sausage (Depends on how spicy and meaty you feel)
1 Large yellow onion, chopped
1 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 2-3 lb. butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 3/4 inch chunks
1 tsp dry thyme or 1 Tbl fresh thyme
2 15 oz cans cannellini beans
1 6 oz package prewashed baby spinach
olive oil
salt
pepper

I use a cast iron dutch oven for this soup, but any heavy bottomed pot works fine.

1. Crumble and brown sausage over medium high heat. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate and set aside. Drain fat and discard fat.
2. Heat 2 TBL olive oil in same dutch oven on medium heat and add onion. Cook until transluscent. Add tomatoes with juice, squash, browned sausage, 5 cups of water, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then set heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until squash is tender.
3. Increase heat to medium. Add beans and spinach and cook until bean are heated through and spinach is wilted.

You can make this soup without the sausage...but what would be the point?

Seriously, it would make a really good vegetarian soup, and would be really good with chicken as well. I have tried chicken stock instead of water, and honestly, I like it with water. If you use chicken, then I would definitely use chicken stock, since the chicken would not give off as much flavor as the sausage does. Its a pretty basic recipe, so switching any of the ingredients with something similar would be fine, as long as your quantities stay the same. I would do beef stew meat, black beans, beef stock, yukon gold potatoes, and a jalapeno for one variation. Chicken, garbanzo beans, carrots and curry powder would be pretty tasty as well.

I hope you all are warm tonight...Oh, here is the end result, after we dug into it!