from the north country: mine creations

January 28th, 2011

Scenes from a winter kitchen…

In the winter, we tend to hibernate a little.  Between snow days from school and work, and days when it’s just too cold to even think about leaving the house.  Days when the bite of cold air from opening the door just to let the dog in and out chill you right to the bone.  On those days, you cozy up in flannel pjs, wool slippers and sweaters and putter around the house.

I’ve found that the kitchen really is the best place to cozy up on these bitter cold winter days.  The warmth of the oven and hot tea help you forget the howling wind outside your walls.  Winter citrus (especially when they are meyer lemons personally delivered to you from a friend in Madison who brought them from her mom’s tree in California) transport you to a warmer, sunnier time.

And warm chocolate chip cookies, straight out of the oven, well, those remedy just about any ailment. Here in Minnesota, we weather these winter months by gathering around the hearth, around the food that sustains us, warms us, and nourishes us through the struggle of the cold.  And out of the warm glow of the kitchen, comes love and strength.

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:
1 cup non dairy margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbl ground flax mixed with 6 tbl water
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.  In a small bowl, mix ground flax and water, set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, cream margarine and brown sugar. Beat in vanilla and flax/water mixture. Add in flours, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if desired). Bake for 8-10 minutes on a lined baking sheet.

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minecreations is the blog of julia davidson, a transport to minneapolis from new york city and berkeley.  join julia for her adventures in crafting and living, where she babbles on about film cameras, knitting, sewing, baking, urban gardening, and the rest of the life that she shares with her adorable puppy and soon-to-be husband over at the minecreations blog.

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from the north country: Five Green Acres

January 26th, 2011

The snow fell off our windows and into the air.

I almost remember the first time I witnessed snowflakes like this, witnessed for the first time the pointy hex-sided flakes that perfectly resembled the shapes we cut from white circles in school.  Up to that very moment, I had thought the real flakes were too small to see with my own eyes, had thought that only a microscope would reveal the magnificent crystalline forms. How wonderful to find I was wrong.

Today’s snow is just a dusting, a light cleansing snow to softly cover up the stale, dirty snow beneath and give a fresh start to the winter-in-progress.  It’s a whisper, and a lovely one at that, reminding us that we’re here in Wisconsin and not, in fact, in Hawaii.  I hadn’t forgotten.

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Five Green Acres is the homestead of Mary Jo, her family, and a revolving cast of chickens, sheep, and various other riffraff.  You’ll find her there reporting live on their adventures – crafty, agricultural, or otherwise.  Stop in for a visit: FiveGreenAcres.wordpress.com

Posted in from the north country. 18 Comments »

from the north country: noodlehead

January 24th, 2011

Hi there! It’s me, Anna from noodlehead.  If you have some time to kill today, feel free to stop by and say hi or check out my tutorials and patterns.  I also want to say a huge thanks to Meg for having me over.  I’ve been a long time admirer of Elsie Marley and am super honored that Meg asked me to stop by with a fun little project!

It’s a sweet and simple project you can create in time for valentines day.  This would even be a great project for a beginner or for a child who’s fairly comfortable using a sewing machine.

I thought of these pillows one day after I saw some of my vintage hankies.  Their colors were perfect for valentines day and I thought they would add a little bit of character to an empty chair or sofa.  My mom had given me a few of the hankies and I had collected a few from local estate sales.  If you’re not sure where to get vintage hankies, I suggest looking at estate sales, etsy, or ebay.  They’re usually in pretty good condition and will be durable enough to add to a pillow  After all, they were originally intended for nose blowing!
Now I’m sure there are some enthusiasts who would never do this to a prized vintage item, but for me I’d rather have them out on display where we can enjoy them more, instead of stashed in a drawer somewhere.
Let’s get started!

Materials:

  • 1/2 yard linen or base fabric for making the pillow cover
  • 1 vintage hankie (wash, iron, starch)
  • 1/2 yard heat n bond lite (available at Joanns, even pre-packaged at walmart)
  • thread, sewing machine, pins, etc.
I’ll give measurements for both a 16″ pillow form, but of course feel free to adjust these as needed for your particular hankie/pillow form.

Cutting the pieces:

  • top: 16″ x 16″
  • for envelope back: cut one piece 16″ tall by 14″ wide, and another 16″ tall by 11″ wide
Attaching hankie:
Apply heat n bond lite to the hankie using manufacturers directions.  Fuse hankie to pillow cover top, centering hankie.
The next step can be potentially tricky, but you’ll need to sew the hankie down to the pillow cover top as close to the hankie’s edge as possible.
Depending on how your particular hankie is shaped/hemmed, you might have to take it really slow and lift the presser foot and turn as you go.  You could alternately used heat n bond ultra (which requires no sewing to ensure the quality of the bond), however it will make the pillow more stiff, so I’ll just leave that up to you!
Finishing the pillow:
Next you’ll want to hem the edges of the envelope back opening.  Take one piece of envelope back and press the long side over by 1/2″ towards the WRONG side of the fabric and again by another 1/2″.
Sew close to folded edge.  Do this for both envelope back pieces.
Then place the pillow cover top facing RIGHT side up, on top of that layer the larger back piece RIGHT side down on top, aligning raw edges.  Then place the smaller envelope back piece over that, also RIGHT side down.  Pin.  Sew around entire perimeter using a 1/2″ seam allowance.
Serge or use a zig zag stitch around edges to finish them off so they don’t fray in the wash, clip corners.  Press.  Insert pillow form and enjoy!

Posted in from the north country, valentine's day. 24 Comments »

beach bracelet

January 20th, 2011

broomstick lace crochet cuff

We are headed to the beach tomorrow: the real beach, the ocean beach, the hawaiian beach. I was planning on making this rope bracelet for the trip, but then I spotted this broomstick lace cuff on pintrest and changed my plans.  Kirsty made a nice little tutorial for this beautiful cuff. Mine is pretty sloppy (late night crocheting) and made out of string, but hers looks lovely in a warm gray yarn.

The blog will go on while I’m gone!  I’ve got some stellar guest bloggers lined up for you and I can’t wait for you to meet them all. They will be writting little bits about winter, because I do love winter and will miss it. The wisconsin winter will still be here when I get back, but it probably won’t recognize me with a tan.

Posted in crochet. 25 Comments »

stripey romper

January 18th, 2011

romper

This romper was under a huuuuge pile of fabric until last week when I finally tidied up my studio (I wasn’t joking when I told Rachel I hide failed projects in the corner). I started this for kids clothes week challenge last spring–yes it has been that long since I cleaned the studio, shut up–but after I sewed it together I realized it too huge to even finish. When I found it I felt like another person made it. I mean, a romper with snaps and ribbed cuffs made out of a very thin knit fabric, really? I wouldn’t even think about making something like this now. But maybe I should–my sewing skills seem to be regressing instead of progressing.

stripey jumper

When I made the pattern, I traced a lovely jumper Mary Jo gave me when this little one was born. He wore that thing until it was embarrassingly small.  I wanted to make a bigger one, so I just made the pattern bigger. But as I know absolutely nothing about pattern drafting I made it bigger in all directions.  While babies do grow, they do not grow in all directions at once.  So it was too big then, but now that it’s sort of the right size it’s too big in some places and weird in all the others.

romper

It’s handmade in that insulting way some people say handmade, but we are going somewhere very hot and very muddy soon, so it will at least get worn. And for next time (because I will sew some clothes again) I will just make all the patterns taller. The wider part I’ll leave for me.

Posted in sewing clothes. 28 Comments »