Hushabye Baby Quilt

My second quilt!

This one I made for practice. I wanted to learn how to do a hand sewn binding, so I made something small. I used a Moda Hushabye charm pack, a bunch of precut squares that I sliced diagonally to make the pinwheel design.

The fabric I wanted to use for the back was an irregular shape that wouldn't cover the front, so I just hacked it up and sewed it back together until it was big enough.

It's little and soft and cute and I love it!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Original? No. Delicious? Yes.

Sometimes you need a baked little goodie waiting for you on the kitchen counter. Sometimes you need an excuse to have chocolate for breakfast. Sometimes you need to blithely enjoy a few slices of something conveniently called bread that's actually more like cake.

Whenever these needs arise (yes, needs), whip up a batch of this simple chocolate chip banana bread. It's the best day or two after you bake it, and it'll stay fresh for a long time if you keep it covered on the counter. It probably won't be around for long, though...

(P.S. The pan in the picture is a vintage Fire King glass pan...great Maumee Antique Mall find!)

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (based on recipe from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook)

2 c AP flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

3 large or 4 medium bananas, mashed (1 1/2 c total)

1 c sugar

1/2 c canola oil

1/2 package mini chocolate chips (6 oz total)

1 tbsp AP flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

2. In large bowl, whisk together 2 c flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

3. In medium bowl, lightly beat eggs with fork. Add bananas, sugar and oil. Mix well.

4. Pour banana mixture into flour mixture. Stir until almost combined.

5. Combine chocolate chips and 1 tbsp flour in bowl. Stir well. (This prevents the chips from sinking in the batter.)

6. Add chips to batter and stir until just combined. Don't over stir, it will make the bread tough.

7. Pour into greased pan and bake for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

8. Cool in pan. Remove loaf from pan after 15 minutes, if desired. When completely cool, wrap in plastic wrap. Slice and enjoy the next day.

Hamburger Earrings

Mmmm.

I don't know why, but I love miniature food. I can't explain it. It can be in any form: erasers, jewelry, pointless Japanese miniatures. I just love it. 

So while making a sample for the Needle Felted Jewelry class I'm teaching tomorrow at the UCC, I decided to felt some miniature hamburger earrings. Just a nice juicy little patty with tomato and lettuce between two golden sesame buns. I'm so happy with how they turned out.

Sadly, while they were sitting on the counter at work, a customer spotted them and shouted to his companion, "Hey! Look at these lint hamburger earrings!" They are not made of lint, thank you very much. The burger is made from wool roving and the sesame seeds are made from little white seed beads.

I guess it does look a little bit like lint though...

Roll-Up Tea Towel Beach Quilt

It's been a while since I've posted. After a quick trip to Ohio and a busy week and a half here, I was having trouble finding time to take pictures of my latest project - my tea towel beach quilt. Alas, stop weeping, I have finally documented it.

As I mentioned in my last W.I.P. post, I have been working on my first quilt for a while...for over a year, in a way. When I was in Australia last February I bought an armload of tea towels from a store across the street from the hotel. They were all piled in a huge bin, priced at just a buck or two each, and I loved their nautical stripes and sun-bleached look. I'll also admit that digging them out of a waist high bin was part of their allure, kind of like a ball pit for a fabric-hoarding adult.

I knew when I got them I wanted to make them into something else, but I wasn't sure what or how. So they sat in my closet for a year until I got my current job at the craft center. While watching a quilting class I was inspired to try my hand at it. I decided that I would make a beach quilt after several lunch trips to the very close beach ended in sitting on plastic bags so that I didn't get sand down my pants. And what better project for my sun bleached nautical tea towels? 

After a lot of cutting, pinning, and sewing, I'm finally done. I added an orange sea fan print backing and a spring green and blue polka dot binding. The front and back of the quilt have very different looks, but I think somehow it all works together. I hand sewed a red kangaroo on one of the patches to commemorate the fabric's origin.

 I also added ties on the bottom so that you can roll it up and carry it with you to the beach, park, wherever.

I'm very happy with how it turned out, especially how it looks rolled up. And I'm already finishing up my next quilt...I might be addicted!