The Ebb and Flow of Life

We all have those seasons; the ones where life riles up and forbids you from doing what you would normally do. I am in the midst of one such season but have had a heavy heart about not sharing with all of you, my lovely bloggy friends.

First off, I would like to publicly thank each any every one of you who donated to TRAC this year. I haven't received pictures or a full report, but it sounds like the girls and boys were deeply blessed by their handmade gifts provided by all of you. You have made their lives richer with just a few small items and for that I THANK YOU on behalf of them. If I get some pictures in the future, I will be sure to pass them along.

Secondly, I have been remiss in holding back on my new blog design! I kept meaning to write a whole post dedicated soley to the wonderful work of Miss Jennie over at Clover and Violet who worked with me for far too long to make some much needed changes to my design. She is absolutely amazing and deserves all the credit for my blog's look and feel. Please let her know if you are in need of a blog "facelift". She will do a fantastic job for you.

Now on to sharing just a tidbit of how time has been elapsing for me over these past few months: I am pregnant. I am having another little girl who we have named Lily and we are planning for her to arrive sometime in early January (although, if she wants to sneak in to 2013, I won't be complaining!!! Tax deduction!) My sister is also pregnant. And my best friend. And a few other friends. ((There's something in the water out here. I suggest you all keep your distance.)) But all that being said, what I really want you to know is that I am alive and living. I go out with friends. I have a group of girls I sew with on a regular basis. I have guild meetings. We have playdates. I spend lots of time with my family and can honestly say that playing pirate princess dress-up is the highlight of my day. Clara Mae just turned two years old and is just overflowing with imagination. She has recently discovered Peter Pan and truly believes she can fly! So we fly a lot. And twirl. And when we are exhausted from our travels around the kitchen island, we sit ourselves down to color or paint or mash Little People and Legos into Play-doh. I have an amazing life, but clearly, that life hasn't included blogging much lately.

It makes me sad that I don't find the time to blog. I miss you all dearly. We have really become such great friends. I could make an effort to be present in the online community through the blog, but I don't have a computer at home, just my phone. When I do have access to a computer, it's because my husband is home from work and has brought his laptop home for me to use, should I choose to, but I rarely do. The truth is I love spending time with him and spending time as a family. We talk about our days and make dinner together. We play with Maze. We walk our dogs. Sometimes we go out for ice cream. And when Clara is down for the night and we have a few moments of privacy, he reads to me while I hand sew or embroider on the couch. Yes. Our love is THAT ridiculous and perfect.

I want you all to know, though, that I have not disappeared altogether. Instagram has made it easy for me to "microblog" throughout the day, sharing projects and activities and maybe a few meals along the way. Please PLEASE consider following me there! My username is dheyen. And I have not given up blogging. I've just decided to post less often for now. I'm still waiting to see where this season leads me.

Thank you all for your continued support and friendship. It really has meant the world to me.

Guest Post: Travel Handmade

Hello lovlies!

Today you can find me over at Clover and Violet sharing about my travel embroider case. Go check it out!

I need your help

Last summer I asked for your help in making some small, handmade items for our launch of Teen Reach Adventure Camp. Camp was a huge success and the thing the girls talked about most?? The amazing, personal, handmade pillowcases and zippered pouches they each received. These tiny items meant so much more to these kids in foster care than we ever though possible, so this year, we are going to try to share that special love with the 2013 TRAC campers.


For more information, please visit my previous posts:

Background information and tutorials for drawstring bags and zipper pouches
Pillow case request and tutorials

This year we need 20 pillowcases, 11 zipper pouches, and 10 drawstring bags for the boys camp. If you could help make one or more of these items, I would be so very grateful. I need all the items shipped to me by June 30th at the very latest to give me time to make any items that do not get donated.

Please comment on this post letting me know what you are able to make and send (I am in AZ, USA) and I will update this post to let everyone know which items still need to be claimed. If you are a no-reply blogger, please also leave your email address so I can contact you.

Thank you all so much!

Pillowcases: (for girls)

1. Edy B
2. Edy B
3. Will Cook For Shoes
4. Limbania
5. Di
6. Steph
7. Gabrielle Robles
8. Ruth D
9. Ruth D
10. Ruth D
11. Ruth D
12. Ann Bixler
13. Ann Bixler
14. Tiffany
15. Tiffany
16. Jennifer
17. Jennifer
18.
19.
20.

Zipper pouches: (for girls)

1. Hadley
2. Julie
3. Julie
4. Bonnie
5. Bonnie
6. Linh
7. Linh
8. Gabrielle Robles
9. BAAMbi7
10. BAAMbi7
11. Sue
12. Sue
13. Angie Sue
14. Angie Sue
15. Tanya
16. Tiffany
17. Tiffany

Drawstring bags: (for boys)

1. Limbania
2. Jennifer
3. Ann Bixler
4. Ann Bixler
5. Ann Bixler
6. Beth
7. Jennifer
8. Jennifer
9. Jennifer
10.

Bijoux by Bari J. Giveaway Winner

And the winner of 10 fat quarters is...

#73: Jenelle who said "Yeah I'd make a quilt too. ;) Man this is a beautiful and lush collection! I really like the mix of warm colors and different scaled prints. Your dress is just gorgeous Danny. It looks like it came straight out of one of those high-end children's boutique collections."

Congrats Jenelle! I will be sending you an email shortly!

Bijoux by Bari J. Launch Party and {GIVEAWAY}

Giveaway closed.

Yay! Today is my stop on the Bijoux by Bari J. Launch Party!

I met Bari at the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild. She had cute hair and brought embroidery. No wonder we were quick friends! I saw a sneak peek of Bijoux on Hawthorne Threads' site a long while back and just KNEW I had to get my hands on some of it when it came out. I had no idea she would give me some to play with for my very own! So generous.

Bijoux was inspired by the desert; by gypsy caravans and lanterns, turquoise bracelets and long, flowing skirts. To read more about Bari's inspiration for this new, gorgeous line, check out this link.

Bari gave me some yardage of one of the butterfly prints I picked out AND a pattern to make a sweet little girl dress. My friend had been hinting for a while about wanting a handmade dress for her daughter, and this line felt just perfect for her!






I made this dress using Bari's Zophia Playtime Dress pattern. It is made to be quilter friendly with 1/4" seams and binding to finish raw edges.


The back of the dress has an elastic casing. No buttons or zippers!




This fabric is vibrant and rich. Exactly the colors and hues I love! Plus, Art Gallery Fabrics are silky soft making them ideal for garments.

I also made a grocery bag holder for my mom out of one of my favorite prints in the collection:


You get my fancy cell phone picture because she snatched it up before I could properly photograph it, but you get the idea. I've been thinking about buying more of this print to decoupage onto wood, making a spool holder for my craft room wall. I've been needing one and this print has just the right amount of bright, bold and freaking amazing that I've been looking for.

I've also been planning a quilt.


I knew immediately I had to make a medallion quilt with this line. I free motion embroidered an image of my interpretation of Bijoux and added some hand embroidered touches to make her come to life. She is going to be the center of my Bijoux medallion quilt, which I will share once I complete it.


So now that you've seen all the beautiful things I've made, you should take a look at what some of the other Launch Party-ers have made/are going to make:

May 8: Melanie Dramatic
May 9: Sew Much Like Mom
May 10: 100 Billion Stars
May 11: I'm Doing Stuff
(mother's day, no stop on the 12th)
May 13: Imagine Gnats
May 14: Jona G.
May 15: Mommy for Reals
May 16: Olive and Ollie
May 17: Pile O' Fabric
May 18: Sally's Angel Works
May 19: JM Maxman

Bijoux has now shipped to stores, but if you would like to join, I have a 10 fat quarter bundle to give away to one lucky commenter!


How To Enter

This giveaway is open to everyone. If you are a no-reply commenter, please include your email address in your comment. The winner will be chosen randomly and I will need to be able to notify the winner via email.

Leave a comment letting me know what you would like to make with Bijoux. That's it! This is a quicky giveaway that will close 12am Arizona time TONIGHT (15 May 2013)!!! Tell your friends and have them enter here too. You don't want to miss out on this awesome collection!!

Giveaway closed.

Also, don't forget to check out the Flickr group to see what other people are making with Bijoux.

Thoughts on Tastebook?

I have a huge collection of recipes I love that I have been collecting and archiving in a binder I keep in the pantry of my kitchen. This works well for me because it gets my computers away from the kitchen (I get lots of recipes from Pinterest!) and because I store them in clear, plastic report covers, it keeps the recipes clean of cooking spatter.


My family has a collective Tastebook.com account. Basically, it's an online database that allows you to store, sort and share your recipes online. I absolutely love having all the family recipes in one place and it has made it easy to just pop into the account to copy/paste a recipe into an email for a friend.

I use far more recipes than can be housed on this little blog. Every so often I try to share one with you all, but the truth is, I could have this blog just be a food blog and probably have a new recipe every couple of days without duplicates. I really love to cook (and eat!) but I can't just bombard you all with food posts everyday for the next year just so I can get them all on my blog, so here's my thought: I could create a personal Tastebook.com account and post my library of recipes there.

The only problem with Tastebook.com is you must also have a Tastebook.com account in order to see my recipes. We become friends, a la Facebook, and then we can share our recipes with each other. So my question is this:

Would you do that?

Oatmeal Molasses Bread

It's been a lifetime since I've posted any recipes on the blog! The truth is, I have terrible lighting in my kitchen and I don't know how to take nice pictures without natural light. Winter means it's dark by the time dinner is ready to be photographed, therefore, no recipes in the winter. Now that the sun is staying out a bit later, I can finally start sharing with you some of the yummy things I whip up for my family.

Today, I am starting with one of my favorite breads, Oatmeal Molasses. I make my breads by hand, so I will share with you the hand kneading directions.


Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups (19 fl oz/580 ml) water
1 cup (3 oz/90 g) old-fashioned rolled oats, plus some extra for topping the loaves
1/2 cup (4 oz/125 g) unsalted butter
1/3 cup (3 1/2 oz/105 g) unsulfured molasses
2 packages (5 teaspoons) active dry yeast (You can also use Bread Machine Yeast)
5-6 cups (25-30 oz/780-940 g) all-purpose (plain) flour, plus extra for kneading
2 teaspoons sea salt

Recipe:

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Put the oats into a heatproof bowl, and pour the water over the oats. Add the butter and molasses, and let the mixture cool to warm (105-115F/40-46C).

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm oat mixture and let stand for 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in 3 cups (15 oz/470 g) of the flour and the salt, mixing well. Add the remaining 2-3 cups (10-15 oz/315-470 g) flour as needed to make a soft dough. Using a plastic pastry scraper, scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface. Knead until it is smooth and elastic, dusting flour to keep the dough from sticking, 5-7 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, about 1 hour. (I place mine on top of my fridge.)

Butter two 9-by-5-inch (23-by-13-cm) loaf pans. Punch down the dough and, using the pastry scraper, scrape it out onto a clean work surface. Cut it in half with a sharp knife or a bench scraper.

For each half, evenly flatten the dough with the heel of your hand. Roll the top third down onto itself and seal it by pushing it gently with the heel of your hand. Continue rolling and sealing the dough until you have an oval log. Place the loaf, seam side down, in the prepared loaf pans. Press on them to flatten them evenly into the pans. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let them rise in a warm, draft-free spot until they double in size, 45-60 minutes.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 375F (190C). Mist the tops of the loaves with water. Sprinkle the tops with a generous handful of oats. (I have gotten to the point where I skip this step because it's just messy and doesn't add to the flavor of the bread.) Bake until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on top, 40-45 minutes. Carefully remove the loaves from the pans and let cool completely on wire racks before slicing.

I got this recipe from a book I borrowed from a friend. It is absolutely amazing and I want to buy it for myself. Not only are the recipes tasty, the pictures are delicious in themselves!

Essentials of Baking: Recipes and Techniques for Successful Home Baking. Williams Sonoma.
ISBN: 0-8487-2779-7
Here is a link to purchase the book on Amazon.




Making bread is relaxing for me. I relish in the fact that I cannot do anything else with my time while I'm kneading a new dough. I am a busy person, constantly multitasking and filling every moment with as much as I possibly can. Making bread for my family gives me time to slow down and just... be, if only for a few minutes. Knowing our bread is made with healthy ingredients is just an added bonus. This recipe makes two loaves, which we go through in about two to three weeks. Sometimes I find myself giving away loaves just so I can make more! It's healthy to have stress relievers, and this is mine.

If you have a yummy bread recipe you would like to share, I would love to try it! I have been trying to branch out a bit but I'm having a rough time finding recipes that a) can be made without a bread machine or standing mixer, or b) actually have a review to let me know whether they are good or not!