Misc. food, Leaf garland tutorial

It's my favorite time of year in the kitchen.  For one thing, it doesn't get unbearably hot in front of the stove like it does in the summertime.
 
I become a more adventurous cook as well. 

Summer is all about quick prep times, fresh produce, throwing things on the grill and then sitting back to relax.  But in the fall, I indulge myself with unique ingredients and decadent dishes..

Butternut squash, onion, pancetta, thyme, basil
This smelled SO good while sauteing

Butternut squash, bleu cheese, and pancetta pizza

Portabello stuffed mushrooms

 

 

 

 

I came across a packet of basil seeds while rifling through a drawer the other day.  I remembered getting the seed packet free with a magazine years ago.  I had clipped most of my basil plant's leaves off, and I figured it couldn't hurt to toss the seeds in my old basil plant's soil.  I didn't bury them, just sort of sprinkled them right on top of the soil and watered.

 

To my delight, they sprouted!  I'm so bad at keeping plants alive, (I don't even have one house plant, and I've been know to kill even the hardiest of cactus) but I'm going to try my best to grow these little buddies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little fall leaf garland was easy to do, and took me less than an afternoon!

 

Fall leaf garland

 

 

Leaf garland instructions:

Material:
-Approx a fat eighth or so of fall colored fabric or a novelty print
- quilter's cotton solid for backing
- iron-on interfacing
-package of rick rack
- length of twill tape 1 1/2 yds approx

1. Lay your fabric, right sides together on a square of iron-on interfacing.  Iron to set.

Note: I had some novelty print leaf fabric on hand, but several smaller squares of any fabric will work!

2. Lay the quilter's cotton wrong sides together with the main fabric and sparsely pin in place

3. Cutting through all the layers (main fabric, interfacing, and cotton backing), cut the fabric out in various leaf shapes.  If you prefer, you can draw the shapes out with a fabric pen before cutting out.

4. With main fabric and backing edges even, sew around close to the outside edge of each leaf with a zig zag stitch.

5. Lay leaves out in desired order on work table

6. Working without pins, lay rick rack on top of twill tape and begin to sew down the middle of the rick rack.  After an few inches, tuck a leaf in between rick rack and twill tape and then continue sewing up the center of the rick rack, being sure to catch the tip of the leaf.  Continue in the this manner until all the leaves are sewn, varying the space between leaves and angling some leaves to the left or right for visual interest.

Hang and enjoy!

Leaf garland, detail

Granny Sampler Afghan Stitch Along/ Weaving in crochet ends

So I made this cute pillow last week for my Stitch-Love-Project blog.  I always visit the blog/website of the designer of my latest project, and have found some wonderful blogs this way.  WiseCraft is no exception!

-and I'm just in time to join an afghan sampler stitch along!  I can't wait to finish it!

Above are the first three blocks done- ends woven in and all!  When doing grannies, it's good practice to weave in the ends after each block is finished, otherwise it gets really overwhelming at the end of the project.








My tips for weaving in ends: 
1. When you've finished off a round, leave a tail of about 5-6 inches long.
 
2. On the next round, crochet over the knot and the tail of the round before.  **Don't carry the tail along the space between the stitches, as it will be seen.  Just stitch over the tail with about 3-4 stitches.  This hides the knot.

3. When the square is completed, thread a tail with a yarn needle, and weave it into the stitches nearby of the same color as the tail

4. Weave carefully thru the yarn ply, in a zigzag pattern, thoroughly (this will help hold the tail secure) ending in the middle of a cluster of stitches (so tail won't show thru a space if it loosens)

5. After all the tails are woven, gently pull the square both ways to loosen the tails.

**As the afghan is used and folded and washed, it will stretch.  This step of gently pulling the block before cutting the tails ensures that they have enough slack to limit their coming unwoven later on as the afghan stretches

6. Clip the tails, leaving about 1/2 inch

After all the blocks are stitched together, tails can be clipped all the way.