Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Thanksgiving with family and friends. 

Charm Scarves

In my research across the vast web waves, I discovered a really fun and practical thing to do with charm packs.

With the selection of charms shown here I created a scarf and an infinity version of a scarf using flannel as the backing.

These are warm enough for mild winter days and not so warm that they cannot be worn indoors as an accent piece.

I will be making more of these, hopefully with more pictures of finished ones in the future.

Italian - All Together Now

All the components of the Italian kitchen set are finished and ready for gifting. I think that mom is still working on some towels to go with this as well.

It was a very fun project to pull together and I hope it adds a splash of color to the new home in Italy.

Italian Kitchen Accessory - Coasters

The coasters I made are an easy construction and used leftovers from the napkins and apron. I made this set from the 4 1/2 inch square ruler.

I discovered that they make nice wine charms/coasters, however for future ones that can be used this way I will use the 5-inch square ruler to cut out the pieces. That gives it just a bit more wiggle room to get the wine glass base in the coaster.

More on this design idea in a future post.

Italian Kitchen Accessory - Napkins

For the Napkins I bought fat quarters in a fabric that went with the collection used for the apron and used the plain gray that was used in the placemats for the reverse side fabric.

These are just sewn together with right sides facing, leaving a three-inch gap in one edge and then clipping and turning it right side out. I pressed it and topstitched the edges to finish.

These turned out very cute.

Italian Kitchen Accessory - Placemats

From the leftovers from the apron, I created a pair of placemats. The important lesson I learned was to cut the backing fabric slightly larger than the finished top to ensure that when it is quilted that it still lines up to set the binding correctly.

Eye-Popping Italian Apron

The title is pronounced with a long I (eye) in Italian for effect, I think it says it all about this apron. I used the Four Corners Apron pattern my Vanilla House Designs. The working side uses all four fabric choices to make it really stand out.

The serving side is the black and white spirograph with the red polka pocket and trim.

I ended up buying some plain black broadcloth to do the ties because I could not decide which of the other fabrics worked. I think it looks even more sophisticated with that touch.

Designing for Italy

My mother brought me the fabrics pictured to the left. She wanted an apron to send to my sister's new home in Italy. All I could say was "Eye-Popping".

I chose the Four Corner Apron pattern from Vanilla House Designs. Then I went to work choosing what fabrics went together for the serving side and then for the work side of the apron.

Over the next few posts I will show how the Italian Kitchen accessory project was completed.

In Anticipation of Thanksgiving

I found the best dessert recipe that I had to share with all of you. It is a pumpkin version of bread pudding. We tried it this past weekend for our monthly potluck we do in the community. It got rave reviews and it is easy to fix.

Here is the recipe:

3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 (15-ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/2 pound French or Italian bread , torn into large chunks

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the bread and whipped cream, whisk until smooth. Add bread and stir until all chunks are evenly moistened. Cover and let soak for 4 hours minimum or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Coat a 9xs13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.

Spoon the mixture into the baking dish and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until set.

Let cool slightly, spoon into serving dishes and top with whipped cream and serve.

Note: this recipe comes from Donatella Cooks: Simple Food Made Glamorous.

Halloween Aftermath

In respect for those that had the scariest Halloween ever - my heartfelt thoughts go out to all those impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

I attended my first "trunk or treat" and here are some pictures to enjoy. Happy November! on to a new month...