Posts Tagged ‘make it do’

Whenever a new season rolls around, I love to give my kitchen a lift by hanging up a new dishtowel.  It’s a small thing, but it’s always a welcome change.

When I spotted the Farmdale fabrics from Alexander Henry at a local quilt shop it spoke autumn to me.

I just had to bring a few pieces home with me.  I’ve yet to make my oven mitt, from the chicken and eggs fabric… hopefully it will happen this week.

Here’s how I created my “Rise and Shine” Dishtowel:

You can start with a pre-made dishtowel or you can make your own:

I used a home-weight cotton fabric from Denyse Schmidt.  I love this yellow fabric… I want to track down more of it to cover my ironing board, since my current cover in falling to pieces.

But this small piece is my new dishtowel, I cut my fabric 18″ x  26″.

In each corner of the fabric, mark a 2″ square, using a disappearing fabric marking pen.

Fold the corner of the square to make a triangle and press.  Press a 1/4″ and then a 1/2″ hem, as shown.  Repeat all the way around, so that each corner comes together to create a mitered corner.

Clip the corners that stick out from the hem.

It should look like this.

Stitch all the way around, except the bottom, leave that so that you can add your trim.

I pinned my trim into place, carefully tucking and pinning either end under the hem on the back.  Stitch into place.  Depending on your trim, you may want to match the tread… especially if you are using rick rack.

Don’t you just love this trim?  It’s the color of driftwood… quite lovely.Next I traced my rooster onto Heat ‘n Bond.  You can also use Wonder Under.  If you like the rooster I used, here is my simple pencil drawn template.  Remember that whichever direction you trace your template it will be reversed on your towel.Press the template to the BACK side of your fabric.  Just a friendly reminder, since more than once I’ve pressed Heat ‘n Bond to the front of something.  Ick, my fabric looks pink from the back.  Good thing it’s not.

Carefully cut out your rooster.

I used a bowl to trace the 8 inch circle for my gray medallion.  I also used the Heat ‘n Bond.

Remove the backing from the rooster, center it on the gray medallion and press into place.  I had planned on stopping right here with my design, but it was pretty bland.

So I added a second orange circle with the fabric I had left over, also using Heat ‘n Bond.  I centered the medallions 2- 1/4″ up from the trim.  Press into place.  Using matching thread, I machine blanket stitched around the rooster and medallions.

But it still didn’t feel quite zippy enough.  So I embellished around the medallion using gray embroidery thread in a running stitch.

Bingo.  That was just what it needed.

And it looks so lovely in my kitchen.  I love projects that are so quick and easy.

OK, not really an “Ode”…  because I vaguely remember an Ode having things like a strophe…  or something like that…  (sincerest apologies to my beloved Humanities teacher Miss Lees)

Tasty Kitchen!

I’ve been wanting to write a little tribute for a while now.

Do you use it and love it?  Have you ever heard of it?

If you haven’t heard of it, Tasty Kitchen is Pioneer Woman‘s amazing recipe resource.

I have been using since it launched last year. It came along when I was searching for a good way to provide printable recipes for my blog.  (After several readers told me how they had used up all their ink trying to print one of my recipes and it printed my whole blog!)  When Pioneer Woman announced the launch of Tasty Kitchen, I knew I had found the perfect solution.  Over the past year, I loved having a recipe box online.  At this writing, I have nearly 50 recipes saved in my recipe box.  Anytime I need to share a recipe with a friend, it’s easy to send them a link.

But even better, Tasty Kitchen has quickly become my favorite source for new recipes.  I love the user reviews and I love when Tasty Kitchen highlights fabulous cooks and recipes…

Here’s a few of my favorite recipes from Tasty Kitchen:

Thanks to the Princess and the Frog movie, my kids had been begging me to make Beignets.  But not being from New Orleans, I had never even tried a Beignet.  When I saw the recipe Beignets- Cafe du Monde – Eat Your Heart Out, I knew I had to try it.  And it didn’t disappoint.  We’ve made it more than once for our Sunday treat and loved it every time.

This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman herself… and it is one of my favorites.  This recipe for Crash Hot Potatoes is fast and easy easy enough for a mid-week dinner, but nice enough for Sunday.  I been making them with fresh chives out of garden and oh my, they are delicious.

Here’s one that I love.  It’s Two Peas and Their Pod’s recipe for Raspberry Lemon Bars.  They are creamy, lemony, easy to make, and wonderful.  Since the fall raspberries are in season here… what a perfect treat to make this week.

The recipe for Butter Chicken (image shown above) is on my menu this week.  After reading the reviews, I can’t wait to try it.

I love finding great new recipes… and I love that you can see reviews and get a sense of whether a recipe is good or not.

The awesome women at Tasty Kitchen read every recipe that’s submitted… and they won’t post it if they see something confusing or wrong with the recipe.  Anyone can use Tasty Kitchen to create recipe box, you don’t need to be a blogger.  It’s a great way to share your recipes with family and friends.

Tasty Kitchen now feels like an extension of my kitchen, like a favorite recipe book that I couldn’t do without.  It you haven’t already be sure to check it out.