Olallieberry

More Cake 'n Stuff

1) Deeeelicious bundt cake that everyone will love you for, recipe is here. 2) Comfy nightgown in softened linen that can be whipped up in no time flat, pattern and tutorial found here. xo

Basking

Thank you, thank you, thank you for gifting me with your visits and very kind comments recently; I'm so happy to meet many of you and discover more of your lovely blogs. AND, I'm so pleased that some of you have found success working through the soapmaking tutorial! Your own journeys down this path give me such pleasure, thank you for sharing your experiences. 

It' been a stunning September so far, warm and summery. Hard to remember Septembers of past years where the hard frost often set in early. As for right now, the light is glorious; everything basks in it. It is the guilded season; plush, gold, beckoning, fleeting. We push away thoughts of the grey we know is inevitable. How is it possible when surrounded by such splendour?

Ahhh, and I've been knitting, knitting, knitting. Promise to share soon! xoxoxoxoxox

In Progress

Well it's officially September which means back to structure and routine for all of us beginning Tuesday. It's a long weekend for us here; one of my very favourites as fall can be felt so strongly in the air and the light, and the very last moments of summer holidays are sweetly savoured. 

Remember when I said I was going to stash my beautiful Amy Butler jelly roll for a rainy day? So much for good intentions. I've worked on the Summer Garden Quilt fairly steadily over the past several days, intermittently mingled with other required activities, such as back-to-school preparations (whew, I did in fact get the list completed), cooking, baking, laundry, etc. I really had to think about the design of this quilt as the fabrics are so incredibly vibrant. I finally decided on the current arrangement along with the equally vibrant background fabric purchased separately at my local quilt shop. The whole project was kicked off by sewing all the jelly roll strips together in variations of four. Each of these looonngg strips was then cut into lots and lots of 2 1/2 inch, four-fabric strips. I then sewed four of these little four-fabric strips together to make each block. Simple right? Next came choosing the background fabric, which was no easy feat. With the intense colours of the blocks, I was initially planning on a pure solid, worried that anything even remotely wanting to be a print would just be too busy. And what colour on earth could possibly work with this intense mash of hues? There was only one thing to do. I packed up my finished blocks and hauled them all to the local fabric shop where I insisted on commanding everyone's attention by eliciting opinions from every staff member and customer within the vicinity. (I have no shame when there's a job to be done).

"My, those ARE bright, aren't they?"

"Maybe something a little... er... softer, would provide a nice balance?"

After narrowing down the choices, blurring my eyes, inspecting everything from several feet away, then again from close up, then from far away again, I of course chose the most vibrant of the lot. I think it compliments the intensity of the Amy Butler fabrics while still holding its own and giving the whole thing some semblance of order. I love it.

The top is now officially completed, hanging in my window patiently awaiting the attachment of borders. (Doesn't it look like stained glass with the light coming through like that?) I'm really excited to move on to actually quilting the thing-- determined to take the plunge into my very first attempt at free motion quilting. I've been researching U-Tube religiously, carefully planning out my full strategy including the use of several practice sandwich blocks to get the technique down before tacking the quilt itself.

Naturally, I'm terrified.

Oh... before I sign off I thought I'd share my recipe for scratch pie crust 'cause it's just so gosh dang yummy!

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Best Ever Pie Crust

2 cups flour (plus extra for rolling out the dough)

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup cold shortening (I use Crisco Golden)

5 tbsp ice water

1/2 tbsp lemon juice (or vinegar if you don't have any)

Stir flour and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Cut the shortening roughly into 1/2 inch cubes and drop them into the flour/salt mixture. Cut the shortening into the mixture with a fork or pastry cutter until the everything resembles coarse corn meal. Sprinkle ice water and lemon juice over the mixture and quickly stir until everything comes together into a loose ball. Split the dough in half and form into 2 firm balls, handling the dough just enough to get the job done. Wrap each ball individually in saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. I use this time to tidy up and prepare my filling if I'm making a double crust pie. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your crusts to approximately 1/8 inch thick. Place them into 9 inch pie plates, trimming around the edges neatly with a knife. You can reshape the excess dough to make decorations for the top of your pie, or you can just crimp the edges with your fingers. Makes enough for 1 double crust pie or 2 single pie shells. To blind bake as single shells, either pierce the bottom with a fork, or line with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake at 425F for 10 - 12 minutes. Otherwise, follow the baking instructions for whatever pie recipe you are using.

* * *

P.S. - Some of you have asked where I found the Amy Butler jelly roll. I bought mine online from http://www.fabricsquareshop.com

Have a wonderful week!

xox

 

The List

Back-to-School Preparation List

- Clean out front garden bed:  Check.

- Back-to-school clothes shopping:  Check.

- Back-to-school haircuts:  Check.

- Back-to-school bus passes:  uhmmm...

- Back-to-school supplies: cough...

- Back-to-school grocery shopping for standard pantry lunch items and easy meal preparation:  ahem...

- Frantically and obsessively work on Summer Garden quilt before it's officially not summer anymore:  Double check.

How About this Heat

Whew it's been hot again--finally some relief in the form of crackling nighttime thunder showers--or should I say thundering nighttime hail storms. Although some areas have experienced major flash flooding, we've been pretty fortunate having experienced only benefits in the form of a minor cool down.

Poor Mr Mylo has really been suffering. He has transformed into a gooey mass of fur-covered glop, seeking out the coldest, hardest surfaces he can manage. No energy even to playfully run away from the eager grabbing hands of the kids; he just puts up with the well-intentioned mauling and flops back down again... until nighttime.

The rest of us have been suffering too. Hiding in the house, running around frantically adjusting the windows and blinds to keep the sun out as it moves its way 'round, forcing its way in through every little crack and cranny, and torturing us by trying to cook us to death. It's made holiday preparation torturous too. The trouble is the windows have had to stay closed during the relatively cool nights because of the storms.

This mixture of rain and heat sure has been good for the garden though. Except for my onions, which I swear are still exactly the same size they were when I told you about them here. They are still about an inch high, and I planted them in mid May! I am not exaggerating. And its not just the onions, the carrots are in about the same sordid state. Do you have any words of wisdom?? Any advice would be much welcomed.

The swallows have fledged; the yard is strangely quiet and as a result surprisingly lonely. Of course there are many other birds who make their presence known, but when you have a whole family of tree swallows "livin' loud" right outside the back door for several weeks and then a moment later they're gone, believe me it gets quiet. The Mr gets a little concerned when I mention this; he is worried I am considering filling the void with further companionship in the form of a new pet. Of course I need some sort of entertainment during this incessant hot spell, so I'm holding off on the reassurances just for a teensy little while! ;^D

Thank you for all your lovely birthday wishes! I'm wishing you all the most wonderful week imaginable. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox

Happy Yellow Sunny Days

Oh I have been on a roll lately; I am completely in love with my kitchen and all the good things about being in it. I think it has something to do with the long hours of daylight streaming through the house, cool breezes delicately caressing curtains through open windows, and a lazy kitty who takes it all in by sprawling around as he pleases, as though he is unquestioningly deserving of it all. Summer has arrived in all her glory.

The new strawberries are producing fruit, although not enough to do anything with other than enjoy a little taste fresh off the plant. The vegetable garden is another story. I'm just not sure what's happened, but it has been a disappointing start. I moved the location this year and perhaps the soil contains too much clay, requiring more compost. I will definitely be rectifying this situation for next year.

For now, there remains only one thing to do... focus back on the kitchen of course! I've thrown together a cute but very practical apron inspired from here and here. It is a bit if a mish mash of patterns and I'm really happy with the result. It's just perfect for soapmaking and keeps me inspired to work on the tutorial which I think is coming along nicely! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm on this, I am enjoying the process of putting it together and hoping to have it completed soon!

Curiosity

I had a sudden urge to sketch the other day, so I began rummaging through drawers and boxes looking for my art pencils. I just managed to set myself up with paper, eraser, and a few little odds and ends when my dearest little companion suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Sketching," I answered.

"Facinating (yawn). I'm sure I can find a much better use for those; here, let me show you... No, really, I insist! Look!"