T-Shirt Quilt -- A Pattern & Some Rough Cuts

In a recent closet purging session, I came to the realization that I have far too many t-shirts taking up valuable hanging space -- and yes, I'm one of those crazy people who hang t-shirts, and in color order, no less.  Anyhow, when it comes to t-shirts these days, I prefer to grab a pack of men's x-small v-neck undershirts in grey or white -- they're cheap, comfortable and not bad for working out in.  Since I just rotate through a handful of those, most of the shirts in my closet weren't being worn and were kept purely for nostalgic reasons.  So, down they came until I was left with a huge pile, mostly consisting of college / sorority shirts.

I'm not someone who holds onto every little thing, but for some reason, I was having a hard time letting these go. Since I have had a recent love affiar with quilting, I decided to stretch my skills and attempt a t-shirt quilt -- shirts would no longer be taking up closet space and they'd be saved from the dumpster!

To begin, I gathered all the shirts I wanted in the quilt and kept a couple on the side to be used just in case of a cutting fiasco or additional ones were needed to balance it out.  I sorted them into color piles to see what I had available so I could start brainstorming patterns.

Most of the shirts I had gathered had something on the front and the back, so if possible, I wanted to use both.  Because this was a lot to keep track of, I decided to 'take inventory' of the possible quilt squares I had available.

As you can see, there was nothing fancy about my list, but it allowed me to easily see what I had to work with.  Then it was off to the computer to create each of the blocks in the size and color indicated so I could decide on a layout.  I did this in PowerPoint since it was the easiest for moving all my blocks around.  The full/solid squares below are the shirt backs, the 9 block squares are made up of various shirt fronts, and I had a handful of shirts with just one line and was able to form two of the 3 rectangle squares.

Once I had a finalized layout, I felt safe taking scissors to my shirts.  For this part of the process, I used a cutting mat, clear ruler and rotary cutter along with my fabric shears.  Also, after getting a general idea of graphic size on my shirts, I decided 12" squares would be perfect so I picked up 12.5" and 4.5" square grids to help with cutting.

I didn't use the squares for this part of the process, I merely kept them handy so I could quickly see how much excess shirt I was safe to cut. 

I'd pick a shirt and lay the back face up. I placed the square grid on top and began cutting a good inch or two outside the edge, starting with the bottom then moving up the sides to remove the sleeves.   

Once the sleeves were gone, I opened it up and cut along the top shoulder part to separate the front from the back.

Then I used my 4.5" square grid to roughly cut around the front graphic on the shirt.

I repeated this process 30+ times until I had cut all the shirts I planned to use.  Then I piled them up to admire my hard work and decided to save the next step for another day.

Next up, adding a stabilizer and cutting actual quilt squares!

Recipe Review: Adirondack Red Wing Burgers

A friend of mine recently shared this burger recipe with me and I just can't get enough of them -- Thank you Betsy! 

Since the recipe makes four burgers and there are no more than two eating in my household, I like to make a batch of these and freeze the extra patties for later.  They're perfect to get out before work to defrost and cook up quickly when I get home. 

I make and serve mine exactly as Rachel Ray intended and can't think of anything I'd change about them!  I was a little skeptical of serving them on an english muffin and mixing blue cheese and cheddar, but it all just comes together perfectly to make the most yummy burger.  If you're looking for something different than the average burger, I highly recommend you try this recipe!

Fall Fever

Despite the 100+ degree temperatures still looming here in Dallas, I have already declared it Fall in my book.  With the official calendar change to September, the return of college football, and the flashing school-zone lights on my drive to work again, the past few days have undeniably felt like fall. 

I’ve been trying not to go overboard in anticipation of my favorite season of the year -- i.e. no boots or scarves just yet -- but have been adding little touches to make it feel like fall around here.

Apparently I’m not the only one who loves this time of year. Some of the girls and I at work declared last week to be ‘pumpkin treat week’ so we could bake up some of our favorite fall desserts. I went with my tried and true, always a winner, Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes via the butter lovin’ gal, Paula Deen.  

via

These bars are extremely easy to throw together, make the house smell amazing, and disappear in no time by pumpkin and non-pumpkin lovers alike!  Seriously, a non-pumpkin loving coworker of mine tried one and loved it.  I highly recommend them if you are craving something sweet or just want a taste of fall.

In addition to the baking, I’ve been sporting my burnt orange once again in support of my lovely Longhorns.  It was so exciting to cheer them on last weekend and I can't wait for the rest of the season -- Hook 'Em!

It's an oldie, so try not to laugh too hard at my cheesy-ness :)

Last, but not least, even my toes got a little bit of fall fever.  When I went in for a pedicure this weekend, I could not resist picking out a darker shade of purple to carry me into October!

Stay tuned for more fall changes around here -- I promise not to post anymore pics of my toes.  Here's hoping the weather catches fall fever soon! 

Happy -- almost -- fall, ya’ll!

Recipe Review: S'more Cookies

I love to cook -- well bake is probably a bit more accurate -- but I'm not super adventurous or original in the kitchen. I typically find a recipe that sounds delicious and follow it to a tee.  If I love the result, the recipe is a keeper. If not, I usually never try it again -- I'm not daring enough to try tweaking it myself.  There are so many amazing food blogs out there, so I thought every now and then it'd be fun to just share the ones I stumble across and the recipes I've tried and loved.  It should be no surprise at all that I decided to start with something sweet :)

The other night I was craving s'mores. They -- along with anything caramel related -- are among my most favorite things.  Since I am without a fireplace and it's 90+ degrees this week, I decided making actual s'mores was out of the question so I began searching for s'more related baked goods.  I started looking at cookies and it didn't take long for me to find the recipe I wanted to try from Ice Cream Before Dinner.  

I quickly ran to the store to grab marshmallows and got started right away. They were extremely easy to make and only require a minimal amount of babysitting while baking so you can push the Hershey bars in half way through.  When they were done, it took some serious self control to let them cool completely, but they were worth the wait!

This was the only photo I managed to snap before digging in!  Needless to say, these hit the spot and I'll be making them again when the s'more craving strikes -- maybe next time with a few extra marshmallows :)

Happy baking and eating!

Patchwork Throw

I can already feel the slower pace of summer having an effect on me -- not that I get summers off or have kids out of school to entertain during the next three months -- but I am feeling work finally slow down and my energy to create coming back! 

With three days off this past weekend, I made it my personal goal to finish at least one of my "in process" projects and get started on a couple I have already gathered materials for. With boyfriend away for a guys weekend at the lake, I had a little extra "me" time and accomplished even more than I expected.  The one I am most excited about finally finishing is this patchwork throw that I started over a year ago!

I found the tutorial for this project in Amy Butler's book, "In Stitches" and thought it would be so great to have as a blanket to cuddle with on the couch.

Looking back, I realize that at the time I started this project, it was a bit above my skill level. I ran into several challenges that discouraged me from finishing and I just kept putting it off.

  

The quilt top was my first challenge. The individual pieces weren't actual sewn to one another, instead they were pieced together on top of muslin. This caused several of mine to have some 'slack' in them by the time I was finished. The next challenge came with the actual quilting. I had no experience with this when I started and I did not do a great job of pinning my layers together. Then, to make matters worse, I started quilting random pieces based on what was easiest to get through my sewing machine.  This combined with poor pinning caused a lot of the back to get bunched when quilted sections came together. This was extremely discouraging at times and I would simply fold it up and vow to finish it later.  

This past weekend was my 'later' and despite the many problems it already had, I knew finishing would be good practice and regardless of the mistakes, would still make a great throw for the couch or a cute blanket for picnics in the park.

After many hours and hundreds of 1" quilting lines later, I was ready and super excited to bind!  I decided to do a patchwork binding to go along with the patchwork throw. I think it adds just enough charm to to distract from all the rookie quilting mistakes :)

The second I finished binding, I threw it in the wash and got myself a glass of wine!  When it was washed and dried, I curled up on the couch, just as I had envisioned, and settled in to watch "The Bachelorette." 

 

 

Despite it's many flaws, I am thrilled it's finished and I get excited in a very nerdy sewing way when I get to use it at night. I am happy to say it now has a home next to my couch instead of hiding among the other projects in the "in process" sewing pile.

Happy Sewing!

Sewing Nook Makeover -- Updates

I'm still working away little by little on the sewing nook makeover.  Most updates are pretty minimal at times, but this weekend I was able to make a few changes that are starting to make it look complete!

The last we saw of this space, the furniture had been put back into place and a lot of storage had been purchased and put to good use.

At this point, it was functional once again, just not quite finished. There were many additional touches I had on the list but some of the major items left included the doors of the china hutch which still needed to be installed and a much needed place to sit -- I'd had enough of the wobbly stool I'd been trying to use. 

After some online / on foot shopping and a few hours of sweat and handy work, my sewing nook is looking like this these days...

Some of the more obvious updates include the new chair...

...ahhh, finally a place to sit!  And yes, those are the puppies behind the chair -- it's nearly impossible to photograph anything without getting some part of them in the picture.  But back to the chair, it's long, lean legs are not resting on just anything...

... they have a super soft place to land on a new rug!  It's definitely less of a necessity, but I'm so so so happy with it and I think it does an amazing job of defining the whole space and tying it all together.  I love the pattern, the color, the feel, the size, EVERYTHING about it is perfect! 

Maybe I'm most excited about it because the rug hunt has not been an easy one -- I first ordered this one from Overstock.com (which now appears to be sold out).

Online, I loved the color and pattern and it's hard to beat $2.95 shipping. But when it arrived and I got it into place, it was all wrong. The color looked more muted and almost dirty, it wouldn't lay completely flat, and it was not at all soft underfoot.  I lost $15 sending it back, but I knew I would not be happy keeping it. And so the rug search continued...

I found the one I ordered at HomeDecorators.com and loved it immediately, but wasn't super happy about the price.  I had really wanted a 5x8 rug since it's pretty much the exact size of the nook, but was willing to order the 4x6 to cut down on cost. I continued to do some looking around, but never found anything I liked as much.  After going back to stare at the picture once again, I lucked out and stumbled upon a 20% off rug sale!  For a craft room, it still wasn't cheap, but it was something.  I decided to do some measuring and contemplating about which size to order, so I waited a few days before making the final decision. When I'd made up my mind and went back to the site, chairs were also 20% off AND there was free shipping for a limited time.  I looked through the seating options, and found the teal beauty you can now find me sitting at every night.  It wasn't what I had originally planned on purchasing, but at 20% off the chair and rug AND free shipping, it made my decision an easy one. With all the savings, I justified the 5x8 rug purchase and patiently waited for my goodies to arrive.

The chair arrived first and has already gotten a ton of use.  Then the rug showed up and as much as I wanted to roll it out immediately, there was one more thing I wanted to do which I feared might make a bit of a mess -- install some new lighting!

What girly crafting area would be complete without a new chandy hanging above?!  This one I found at IKEA and bought immediately because of the great price.  Despite my 10 foot ceiling and very limited knowledge of electrical work, I managed to take down the old, boring light and install this one myself. And even more shocking, it turns on and has not caused a fire -- not yet at least :)  The one thing I still need to do is shorten the cord. This light had a lot of extra length to it. Removing the extra chain lengths was no easy task, but I didn't fear shoty electrical work doing it. Shortening the actual cord, scares me a little more, so I haven't jumped right into that. For now, I just try to ignore all that extra white cord wrapped around and just enjoy the new look and extra light it provides.

The last and slightly less obvious update in the sewing nook are the doors which have been added to the china hutch.

Other than helping me out by cutting back on dust accumulation, it was a pretty minor change but was a long time coming. I dreaded doing it because I needed to remove the paint I got on the glass during the painting phase, redo the hinges/hardware that would show, and hopefully reinstall them so they hung level. 

The paint removal turned out to be pretty easy and just required some scrapping with a box cutter.  The hinge makeover took a little more time, but was also pretty easy and worked better than I thought it would. I started out with some very worn, brass hinges which I wanted to be nickel to match my hardware.  After a fruitless search for something to replace them with, I decided to just try my hand at painting them. I first put all of them in bowls, then let them soak in soapy water, gave them a good scrubbing and let them dry.

I then followed the directions on the Rub 'n Buff package and started to transform each piece.

They are by no means perfect, but since so little of them shows, I think they turned out just fine.  Once they got into place, they blended in perfectly with the new hardware.  Hanging to doors level turned out to be quite a challenge -- one that I'm still working on actually. The middle door is so uneven, it doesn't quite shut. If I have some "ah-ha!" moment where I figure this out, I'll be sure to share. For now, I'm living with the imperfection :)

That's the last of the updates in here for now! Still on the list is to add some color to those plain white boxes, the lamp shade and the cork board. It should be easier to make a decision on those things now that the rug and chair are in place.  Until then, this is where I'll be whenever I have free time...

Happy Monday to everyone! Hope your weekend was equally as productive :)

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I am a Texas girl, born and raised, and like most, I love my country music.  Among my favorites are Garth Brooks, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum, just to name a few. 

  

I am not a huge concert attender.  You know, there's those people that always know who is in town when and where they're playing, when tickets go on sale and the best seats to buy for that venue -- ya, that's not me. The last one I remember wanting  to go to and not just tagging along was Keith Urban way back in 2006. So when I heard Lady A would be in Dallas, me wanting tickets was unusual. 

Sometime before Thanksgiving, I asked boyfriend if we could go and he of course said yes -- probably thinking it was in February and there was a good chance I'd forget by then. I suggested we buy tickets when they went on sale and he assured me we could find better/cheaper ones if we waited and scoured Craigslist, eBay, etc.  Being the good and trusting girlfriend that I am, I said OK and waited. 

While patiently waiting, I decided it wouldn't hurt to add the tickets to my Christmas list just in case anyone was feeling generous. Sadly, this did not have the intended effect and by New Years, I was still ticket-less.  I continued to bring up the concert whenever it felt appropriate, you know, as a subtle reminder, but day after day no tickets showed.

About a week before the concert -- and coincidentally just before Valentine's Day -- we talked about going once more and by this point, I think boyfriend realized I could not be talked out of it.  On Valentines, he gave me their newest CD -- which I'm shocked I did not already own -- and mentioned he had been searching for tickets and had hoped to give them to me then but was having no luck.   He searched online ticket sellers -- sold out -- and checked Craigslist and eBay but could not find anything short of a $300 price tag for the two of us, and those weren't even decent seats.  After an unsuccessful ticket search, we decided we'd just go to an early dinner and head to AAC with cash in hand hoping for some scalpers. 

So in the midst of Saturday errands and rain, -- just what you want when trying to scalp tickets -- we went to the ATM and withdrew cash to carry out our plan.  As we talked about dinner, I realized I wasn't even positive what time the concert started so I hopped on the Internet and looked up the event. I saw the 7:30 start time and nearly shut the laptop, when the "Purchase Tickets" button caught my eye. I figured, what the heck and clicked on it, chose 2 tickets and searched for best available. I could hardly believe it when I got results back!  Two tickets had magically appeared -- they were more than half-off the price tag we were finding anywhere else, AND they were floor seats!  At this point, I was convinced anything available just 2 hours before the show started must be terrible so I immediately called boyfriend and asked about them. He was as shocked as I was when he heard they were floor seats and said "Get 'em"!  I made my online purchase and we went ahead with our dinner plans, feeling much more relaxed and at ease knowing we had tickets.  When we left for AAC and it was STILL raining, we felt even more grateful we happened across them. I'm certain trying to scalp in the rain would have been cold, wet, frustrating, and worthless.

Once we picked up our tickets and made our way to the seats, we were even more amazed by how awesome they where. We started talking to the people around us and one couple mentioned how excited they were that it was finally here since they bought tickets months ago. Another girl mentioned she was able to get her seats because she was in the Darius Rucker fan club and got to purchase them early -- little did we know he was one of the performers that night. No one could believe we'd bought ours just 2 hours before the event, including us.  We didn't dare mention what a bargain they were!

We had such a wonderful time and enjoyed all the bands.  The opening group was called Thompson Square, which I didn't think I had heard of. I'm queen of knowing every word to a song, but having no clue who sings it! I was surprised when I recognized a couple of their songs and thought they were really great.

p.s. all these photos were taken from our seats with very little zooming involved :)

Next, Darius Rucker came out. Again, I wasn't sure if I knew a lot of his songs until each one started and I looked at boyfriend and screamed, "I love this song!!!!" I have so few pictures from this part of the night because I was too busy singing along. We both really enjoyed his performance -- he has a great voice and was really entertaining. He even gave us a little flash back to his earlier singing career and busted out some Hootie and the Blowfish before ending with Purple Rain.

Last, but certainly not least, came Lady Antebellum.  They were equally as wonderful and I was so happy to see them! They played all their singles and a bunch from their new album. I managed to snap a few good pictures before singing the rest of the night away. You should know, I don't normally sing in public and only those closest to me have ever heard me try, but it was just way too much fun not to. So, I apologize to anyone around us who had to listen to my tone-deaf singing yelling :)

At one point during the show, all the groups came back out and performed together!

Boyfriend was such a great sport considering he had no clue who the opening performers would be and knew only one Lady A song -- his love of country music does not run as deep as mine :) 

All in all, it was an amazing night and I could never have imagined something working out like this.  For two overly planned people, this was one time waiting seriously paid off! Still not sure I could do it again, but luck was definitely on our side Saturday night!