December 11, 2011
A personal record, dear reader…THREE pies in one day! Holy deliciousness. I had a housewarming/graduation party last night with my lovely Trojan friends and dished up a Derby Pie, a Lemon Chess Pie, and a Pumpkin Pie. Superyum. The best piece may be the pumpkin I had for breakfast — pie for breakfast is divine – but all three were great. I’m gonna bust out a piece of lemon in a bit. The Derby won the pie race by a nose since there was none left.
November 20, 2011
Last night was my friends’ annual Fakesgiving — a nice, stress-free pre-holiday gathering of friends and locals. My contribution was two pies. I had never made either before and couldn’t really decide between them. I figured one of them would have to be good, right?
The one on the left is a Quebec Maple Syrup Pie, courtesy of the Pie of the Month Club (I used the second recipe on the card). The recipe was for an 8-inch pie but my pie plates are 10 inches, so the maple syrup filling was low in the shell and it looked pretty sad. My friend Jamie (who is learning to make pies, yay!) and I decided to put the whipped cream right on top to fill it in, then, in a Martha moment, made a heart stencil and sprinkled nutmeg and cinnamon on top. This one was a bit too sweet for me, but easy to make and other people liked it. I probably won’t make this again any time soon as there are so many other pies to explore.
The second pie is a Bog Berry Pie (aka Cranberry Pie). Ridiculously easy. Also courtesy of the POTMC though the recipe isn’t on the site. It was very tart and I liked this one a lot. It would have been good with ice cream or even the whipped cream which I brought and forgot to use.
With the cold weather* and holidays approaching, pie season is upon us! Looking forward to making quite a few more pies over the next few months.
*So I hear. Today it was in the 60s and I found a violet blooming in the yard! What the –? Global warming?
November 18, 2011
Hello, friends, it’s been a while…
Six weeks ago, I went into overdrive trying to finish my dissertation in time to defend and graduate this semester. Success! You may now address me as dr. kleio’s belly! (Or is it dr. kleio?…dr. belly?)
At the same time, an opportunity presented itself to move out of my old shabby apartment into some friends’ gorgeous Greek Revival house down the street. In between writing, defending, packing, and moving, I am still teaching 250 students in four classes at two colleges. Yikes! I think you can understand why blogging dropped way down on my list of things to do!
The decision to move is a long story that involves me saving money, living on a better block in a nicer space, and helping out some friends in the meantime. I couldn’t begin to list the ways that this space is better than my last, but look at the view from my front window. Sweet!
Among its many delights is that it is even more spacious than my last place, so I have already started hosting monthly crafternoons with the local ladies. Such a great way to spend some time together and find some inspiration.
My most recent project was curtains for the new kitchen but with Christmas just over a month away, it’s time to get serious! With the dissertation finished (I still can’t believe it!!) and the semester winding down, I’m hoping to get back into a crafting and blogging groove.
I am feeling so full of joy and gratitude as I enter this new chapter of my life. And so excited to see what comes next!
October 8, 2011
Another birthday crown, this one for a 2-year-old birthday friend. Burgundy corduroy with felt applique, lined with cotton. This was way too big for her head but worked quite nicely in combo with a birthday hat.
These are a snap to make and so sweet, but I need to work on the sizing. One too small, the next too big….
October 3, 2011
I confess that when I see people with funky stickers on their laptops, I feel a little pang of jealousy even though my brain tells me that tricking out your laptop is the silliest thing in the world. I couldn’t justify actually spending money on one of those cool laptop skins (which are surprisingly pricey) so I made my own with a little fabric and gel medium.
I don’t know how well this would hold up if I were putting it in and out of a bag every day, but I don’t actually travel with my laptop very often. (And there are plenty more scraps where these came from, so I can always reproduce it if it gets damaged.)
Nothing says “sewing dork” like hexies.
September 30, 2011
Just popping in to put up this sweet photo of my little nephew playing with his knight wear and the stuffed dragon my sister knit for him. This picture makes me happy every time I look at it because it reminds me of how delighted he was with his presents and the spontaneous birthday party we had for him. While he and his parents (my bro and SIL) were out at the store, the rest of the family quickly decorated the back deck with streamers and balloons. He got such a big smile on his face when he walked out and saw it. And then he opened his gifts and went crazy attacking the dragon. Such a fun day!
September 18, 2011
I have a shelf in the corner of my living room that holds my vinyl and cds and movies. I made the shelf about 10 or 15 years ago and though it is functional — it has dividers for keeping my vinyl upright — it is actually a bit of a mess. I’ve been debating painting the whole thing, which would mean sanding it, which I didn’t want to deal with right now. I decided to make curtains to cover the front and hide the mess. I couldn’t think of buying any more fabric but didn’t really have anything in my stash (huge though it is) that worked, so I decided to make my own with fabric paint and some natural cotton that I inherited several yards of.
I call my decorating style “Victorian Mod” because I combine vintage pieces from my grandmother with pop & modern art elements, so I thought I would take a Victorian element and blow it up to give it that modern edge. I decided to go with the look of rattan weave because a) it’s easy to do with painter’s tape and b) it reminds me of some funky wallpaper/linens I remember from the 70s. Plus it’s just awesome.
This was so easy to lay out, though I wish I had figured out the measurements a bit more carefully so that the sides of the octagons were equal. I cut the fabric roughly to size first, then laid it on my dining room table on a piece of tarp, then taped off the pattern.
I used my quilter’s ruler to measure the horizontal and vertical lines then eye-balled the diagonals. Once I had it all taped off, I used acrylic paint mixed with textile medium and a 99-cent roller to paint on the color.
I pulled off the tape almost immediately because I was so impatient, then hung the fabric over a laundry rack to dry.
So awesome!
Now I actually want to paint the shelf because I think the fabric would look better paired with paint instead of the wood. I’m not entirely sure what color to paint it. Just off-white? Pale blue? Taupe? I won’t get around to it for months, so I’ve got plenty of time to decide. Now I just need to make cozies for my tiny tv and stereo…
I love love love this fabric.
*Note: I realize my pictures have been completely sub-par lately. Is it me? My camera? We’ll work on improving the quality.
September 16, 2011
Like the great Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., I too have a dream. Only in my dream, along with racial harmony & human rights, everything has its own cozy. Everything.
I didn’t actually have much of a summer vacation but I did manage to sneak away for a long weekend camping trip. My camping buddies and I are pretty serious coffee drinkers, so I like to bring my French press with me. My breakable French press. What can I say — I like to live on the edge.
I whipped up this sweet padded cozy out of some leftover corduroy owl print. Very woodsy, no?
Soon everything I own will have it’s own cozy. And I’ll be living the dream.
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