Fabric!

In the busyness that has already ensued this season I actually managed to forget that I had ordered new fabric.  What a joyous surprise to find a package from Quilt Home (see the "I heart QuiltHome" button on the right side bar - I really do heart them :) on my door step - it even made me forget how loudly the mailman had pounded on the door when he dropped it off while both my children were napping...

 

So cute how they wrap it up and give you the thrill of untying a sweet little packet

 

Ooh, pretty.  I grabbed a bunch of Amy Butler's new line Soul Blossoms, some sale fabric from her Love line and one from Kate Spain's Fandango

Yay Fabric!

Fun with Scraps

I have been using a lot of really fun fabric lately which has left me with scraps that I just have to use for something.  So last night I sat down and did some experimenting.  I cut out bits of fabric and sewed them together in a strip of patchwork, then added some leftover elastic and some fabric rosettes (made from some larger scraps) and ended up with a pretty darn cute little headband.  I am not sure just how little yet as I added the last bits to it just now - after I put my daughter to bed - so I have not been able to try it on her, it may end up as a gift for a baby with a smaller head...

sewed the scraps together

 pressed and trimmed the seams

 fold in half (right sides of fabric together) and run a seam down the length (leaving enough room for the elastic later)

I pinned through the bottom seam then folded it in on itself and sent the safety pin up the length in order to turn it right side out, this was the most tedious part and next time I will make the tube of fabric wider (start with wider pieces of fabric so there is still room for seam allowance) in order to make this step a bit easier

 finally turned right side out

once right side out I put the safety pin in the the end of the elastic and worked it through the tube of fabric then sewed through both sides of fabric and the elastic at both ends to secure it inside.  I then treated both ends with fray check and let dry

sewed the ends together then used hot glue to cover the joint with a small piece of felt so that it wouldn't scratch when it is worn and used the hot glue to add the rosettes

finished  

My Super Fun and Funky purse

I needed a purse.  I was tired of switching my wallet, keys, phone, chapstick, etc. from the diaper bag to the black purse to the brown purse, and so on.  I wanted something I could carry with the diaper bag when I have my daughter with me and on it's own when I don't need the diaper bag.  It needed to hold my large wallet (it holds my checkbook), at a few other essentials mentioned already and it needed to be cute.  I finally found a pattern that looked like it would be just the ticket, and it was.  I learned some new skills along the way and found that the most difficult part to sew was the optional flower because it is just a bit tedious to cut out 24 individual petal pieces then sew, turn and gather them all together.  It turned out well enough for me and I really do love it.  I have found that a lot of other people love it as well and so will soon be posting some pre-made purses in my Etsy Shop so keep a look out.

Interior/Reverse Fabric

front with flower pin

back

Main Fabric and reverse handles - Amy Butler - Lotus Line/ sage lacework
Interior Fabric and outer handles - Amy Butler  - Lotus Line/ tangerine full moon polka dot
Large Flower Petals - Sandi Henderson - Farmers Market/ Citrus
Inner Petals - vintage salvaged upholstery fabric I bought in Charlotte several years ago
Fabric covered button -

Crab Cakes

I had a delicious dinner.

 the bun is flopped over not actually because I am a talented food photographer, but because I had already taken a bite - yum

only three left by the time I got a picture

Ingredients:

1 pound (16oz) crabmeat

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (I increased to 3/4 cup)

1/4 cup light mayonnaise

2 T minced chives (didn't have any so I skipped these)

1 T Dijon mustard

1 T lemon juice

1 t celery seed (didn't have any so I skipped this also)

1 t onion powder (I substituted onion flakes because I didn't have powder)

1/4 t freshly ground black pepper (forgot to add the pepper)

4 dashes hot sauce (didn't add because I am planning to serve the leftover cakes to my kids tomorrow and I knew my husband would add a ton of spicy sauce of some kind to his anyhow)

1 T extra virgin olive oil

2 t unsalted butter

Prep:

Mix all ingredients except olive oil and butter in a large bowl and form into 6 patties

Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet until the butter stops foaming.  Cook the patties until golden brown, about 4 min on each side.

As you can see by the notes on the recipe, I was a bit distracted while making these as I was also trying to get the kids fed at the same time so I made some substitutions, some omissions and I forgot the pepper; and they still turned out great!  I served them on toasted wheat rolls and added a few more squeezes of lemon juice and some baby lettuce to mine while my husband added plenty of hot chipotle bbq sauce and baby spinach to his two and we were both very happy with the results.

Original recipe here.

I need to consolidate my creativity...

In wanting to post about what I am currently creating I took to my different craft areas around the house and started snapping photos
I found that I have far to many craft areas, I'm spread out all over the house and sometimes in the middle of one project I'll realize I need something I was using for another project that's two levels down or two levels up from where I am currently working... not always convenient.
I need to consolidate my creativity. . . 


(for more on a few of the individual projects, click the links found in the wording under some of the pictures)

Tray of crochet and embroidery floss that is actually also for crochet - sitting on the back of the couch in the living room to keep it out of reach from little hands
I am experimenting with embroidery floss to make more delicate things like earrings, we'll see how it goes

bags and basket of yarn, for crochet - sitting on the piano in the living room, again, because of little, curious hands
These are all my hat and flower supplies that I most often work on sitting in the living room (on the couch, not actually at the piano) while my kids play

Craft area in the basement with cardmaking and hairclip making remnants
this area has the shelving and storage bins, and I keep larger items like my Cricut cutter down here, but sometimes it's just plain cold in the basement, and I don't like being cold

sewing area in my room with dress to be mended and ring stacker to be completed
we have a small sitting area in our bedroom that fits my sewing machine nicely and keeps me on the same level as the kids while they nap which is usually my sewing time - the pillowcase dress I made for this past Easter has a spot or two where the bias tape is coming away from the main fabric that need to be fixed and the ring stacker was supposed to be my now 16month old daughter's 1st birthday present, though I have finished another ring since this picture and just have one left so I'm almost there

flower clips

some for purses some for fun

These are to go with the amazing purse that I will soon be listing in my Etsy shop and to use as accessories for whatever you like.  They are such a fun and bold size that the options for spicing things up are many

Bag of amazing fabric I had packed up to take for friends to make their purse choices
Though I haven't listed the purses yet, I have made one for myself and I use it all the time which has prompted several friends to commission custom purses from me - so excited to get started on them

The sweetest little seamstress there is...
really, what more can you say about this one, isn't she sweet? She loves to take the tape measure and wear it around her neck while she's "helping" me

The Last of the Tomatoes

With Fall officially here my tomatoes are pretty much spent and I should be able to find some other interesting things to post on instead, so this is one last tomato post to wrap things up...


Previous Posts:
Heirloom Tomatoes (again!)
Planting (Potting) Heirloom Tomatoes
Quick Tomato Update
Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

All in all I am pleased with the endeavor. I will be fertilizing from the start next year as well as closely monitoring water throughout the growing season and I have decided on my favorites from the five varieties I grew this year and plan to grow them all again next year except for the striped roman.

Here's the breakdown of my experience with each variety:

Pantano Romanesco
Great sandwich/burger "slicer" tomato.  Clean, mild flavor that goes well with any sandwich type of thing. This was also my most successful tomato as it did not succumb to the blossom end rot that others did and produced plenty of good sized fruits.  I had two plants this year and it produced just enough for my family of four.

Striped Roman
This did have several fruits that gave in to the blossom end rot and did not produce very well particularly considering that you really need a decent amount of these to do anything with them.  It is a paste tomato that I had read others say they ate these with their other table tomatoes, but this was not my experience.  I did not care for the flavor as it was at all.  I may have made sauce or paste from them had I had more fruits to work with.

Weeping Charlie - note, I have just discovered that the "unknown tomato" in my pot this year may have actually been the weeping charlie and the little cherry tomatoes I assumed were what I had ordered since they showed up on the vine first are actually "unknown" sneaky guys that got in with my order.  I am going to have to track down the actual variety from Horticopia because I enjoyed the little cherries, made all my post descriptions based on them and didn't end up with much from the actual weeping charlies....
Very acidic great tasting little cherry tomato (see note, weeping charlies are actually a roma type tomato).  I really like these and got plenty of them at a time to add to salads early in the season. As the season went on only one or two would ripen at a time so my son just ate those off the plant as that was a serving he was fine with.  They are also small enough that they were not affected by the blossom end rot that the others experienced. -

Depp's Pink Firefly
This is a great beefsteak tomato that ended up being delicious in salsa.  The funny thing about my experience was that I only ended up with two fruits off the one plant I had and they took almost the whole season to grow and ripen.  I tell you what though, they were huge!  I made one large batch of salsa from each tomato.

Purple Russian
My Favorite.  Great little oblong 6 ouncers that I most enjoyed eating fresh off the plant.  It has a great sweetness to it that I thoroughly enjoyed and ended up making a great caprese salad (was delicious on a regular ol' salad as well).

So here's some pictures of what I did with them and the one last issue I had that truly ended the season for me.

What I thought were Weeping Charlie tomatoes, on a salad

(Top) Pantano Romanesco ready for sandwiches

(bottom) Purple Russian ready for most anything

Caprese with pesto

I didn't get a picture of the salsa or the fully ripe Depp's but here's the recipe I used, modified from a friend:

Salsa

4 tomatoes
1 white onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro (more or less to your taste)
1 can tomato sauce (I used crushed tomatoes [14.5oz] and you could always just dice fresh tomatoes and put them in the food processor)
1Tbs cumin
1Tbs sugar
3 Tbs white vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Jalapeño peppers, minced

salt to taste

Chop, mix and enjoy!
(I usually put the jalapenos, onion, and garlic in my food processor to make it faster)

When I made it I halved the original recipe to yield about 2 cups which was just enough for game night at our house with 6 adults

And, sadly, I finally gave into the end of the season when the last fruits ended up with Cloudy Spot.  We have been overrun with stink bugs this year and I never knew they were a problem for tomatoes, but they apparently pierce the skin suck out the juices and inject something that kills the flesh at the bite site and leaves you with  cloudy white spots in the flesh just under the skin

Purple Russians with cloudy spot and cracking from inconsistent moisture

oh, and one last issue that I almost forgot to include

The tomato hornworm

Freaky looking thing that ate a ton of the leaves off my plants, didn't seem to cause much issue, but they did leave droppings all over my deck around the tomato pots.  Every one I could find found a nice new home in the woods behind my house, away from my tomatoes. 

I did find that I should have left the ones that looked like this:

Because the little cocoons are not actually more hornworms, but a wasp larvae that have been laid on the worm and when they hatch are predators of the worm.  I was afraid these were tons more worms that were going to overtake my tomatoes when they would have actually served as a natural control for the worms.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

Previous Tomato Posts:

Heirloom Tomatoes (Again!)
Planting (Potting) Heirloom Tomatoes
Quick Tomato Update


It has been far to long since I updated you all on the heirloom tomatoes.  They have really taken off!  Here's a quick review:

When I left you last my little plants looked like this

June 14th 2010

Then we went to the beach and when we returned they had survived well without us and they looked like this

June 30th 2010

Now...they don't all fit in one picture!

They're 5-6 ft tall each and full of ripening fruit

Purple Russian on the vine and in my hand to give some scale.

Depp's Pink Firefly

Weeping Charlie

If you'll notice in top near center of the bottom Weeping Charlie photo there is a mystery tomato.  When I got the seedlings the Weeping Charlie had two main stems growing out of it's little cell and at the time I assumed they were both Weeping Charlie, as the fruits have started to set, however, this is clearly not the case.  Not sure what they'll turn out to be, but it does add to the great variety.

Striped Roman

Pantano Romanesco

The vines really took of and caught me off guard, I ended up having to add in new, taller stakes and really dig in through the leaves and vines to tie them up well.  I used Vlecro brand plant ties and am very happy with them.  They are gentle on the vines, but hold them securely.  The other thing that I did to try and control them a bit was to prune off most of the suckers. Yes, they are really called suckers, the new little growths that shoot out between a main stem and an existing branch.  If you catch them early you can just pinch them off with your fingers and if you leave them they will become their own new main stem.  I left two to three main stems near the bottom and enough through the middle of the plant to allow for a decent crop, but to keep the plant able to concentrate more energy on those fruits. In other words, I wanted enough to have several fruits, but not so many that as they plant divided it's energy, the fruits would become smaller.

A few of the fruits did also succumb to blossom end rot. dark soft spots at the blossom end of the fruit.  This can happen when there is not enough calcium in the soil or when the plant is not able to get enough calcium from the soil because of lack of or inconsistent water.  I think in my case it was possibly a combination of both these issues.  I added a tomato fertilizer and have been more diligent with consistent watering and these steps seem to have headed off further issues.

I have so far harvested only Weeping Charlie tomatoes (and have since discovered that they are not Weeping Charlies - see here) as they are the only ones that have ripened fully and I have found they make a great salad tomato and my husband agrees.

delicious!