Spring Fever

one.  two.  three.  four.  five.
I've been doing a lot of (browser) window shopping for spring lately.  I'm so excited about pinks and florals and can almost feel the breeze blowing through my window, billowing the curtains in the sewing room.  The snow did melt again, and it is March 1st, so I'm not too far off...

What are you coveting this season?

Purse Pattern!

I finished up my purse pattern! I just wanted to share that it is available in the Etsy shop for anyone interested. It is a pdf download so it will be emailed to you after payment. I get so many compliments on this clutch wherever I go...I think a lot of it has to do with the fabric choice ;) I wish I had a lot more of this drawing room fabric left! 

 

Fabric Flower Round Pillow Tutorial

The first moment I saw this Art Gallery Poetica line I fell in love.  I mean, have you seen this bright pink?!  When I pulled the bolt off of the shelf, I knew that it had to become this round fabric flower pillow.

The concept is fairly straight forward.  I used a 12" round pillow form I already had. You are going to make a basic envelope back for the pillow.  To the top of the pillow, I used three different size petal templates, layering the petals, to create one large flower.

The amount of each petal you will need depends on the size of your pillow form and how much you will overlap your petals.  To create a petal, fold your fabric wrong sides together.  Draw a petal shape and pin it.  Use your sewing machine and sew around the perimeter of the petal ON the line you drew, leaving the bottom edge open.  Trim around the petal and turn it right side out.  Press the petal well.  You can use the template provided to create all of your petals.

 

Turn the pillow right side out.  Put your form in and you're finished!  Create a garden of them for your home this spring.

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Oliver and S Hopscotch Dress

I worked with knits!  This pattern comes from Oliver and S, Hopscotch Dress

I don't work with them often and all I've read was to be afraid...be very afraid.  So I was...

Turns out, they're not so bad.  The bottom hem stretched a bit, and I'm guessing I needed to adjust the tension accounting for the thicker fabric.  

Overall, the pattern was beautiful, no surprise there though.  It went together very quickly as there were only five pattern pieces and no closures.  It was the perfect pattern for someone new to knits.


The only bad part was my poor judgement in putting sandals on a 3 yr old in February.  She was so excited thinking we were going to get to go to the beach.   Sorry, babe.  So she just gave me attitude after that.  The older she's getting, the less she's willing to play along for me.  I guess I'll just start sewing dresses for her brother...he's always willing to ham it up!

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake Recipe

Here's the recipe for the Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Cake I talked about yesterday!

I skipped the fresh berries on this edition.  I can't wait until it warms up and we can get some fresh berries around here!  I'm ready for skirts and farmer's markets...too bad it snowed eight inches last night!

Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake (and a huge lemon curd tangent...)

I mentioned last week how my new favorite food is Meyer lemons.  They're wonderful.  Let me tell you.  I want a lemon tree...I always have.  And from what I've read, I'll never be able to get one to grow here in Wisconsin.

After the lemon meringue pie and lemon drop martini, we went for this buttermilk meyer lemon pudding cake.  I was going to make some fruit to go with it since I had frozen berries on hand, and not fresh, but just made the whipped cream and called it a day.  Actually, after making the cake it took me another day to make the whipped cream.  Then it was so good that I had to eat it for lunch.  Not the whipped cream, jeez people, but the cake with the whipped cream.  And what a delicious lunch it was!  Do you have any favorite meyer lemon recipes?  Oooh! I want to try lemon curd next!  What do you do with lemon curd though, besides make pie? 

Source: honeyandjam.com via Emily on Pinterest

oooooh!  I just pinterested it.  Is that a verb?  Like googled but more beautiful results, yes?  Here's what you can do with lemon curd...

Source: bakebikeblog.com via Krisy on Pinterest

Source: yourhomebasedmom.com via Cathy on Pinterest

Source: thenourishinggourmet.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Danielle on Pinterest

Source: foodess.com via Catherine on Pinterest

Source: fromwhencethesweetbirdsang.blogspot.com via Rafeena on Pinterest

The Rules of Linearity...

Source: oatmealandcinnamon.blogspot.com via Monique on Pinterest

Recently, I read The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith.  I felt mixed in writing my review for this book because I desperately wanted to love the girl in the book.  She suffered the loss of both of her parents at an early age, leaving her to find her way through life alone.  This should be heart-wrenching.  I felt that there were times in which I should be crying.  I could make the reasoning of how the author was intending to move my emotions, but I just never became connected with Claire.

I started off the novel with a relation to the young narrator.  Then the story would jump in time, and I would have to reinvest in the a new character, someone 15 years older/younger than the narrator I had just met.  After a while, my connection with Claire began to just dissolve and I really lost all interest in her.  I can understand the logic of the origination, the clever play on linearity, but it affected my connection with the narrator every time.

I understand that sometimes when an event happens in our lives, we don't even understand the meaning or what effect it will have on us until years later.  I just wish that Smith  would have focused a bit more on timeline or not moved through so many chapters in Claire's life...

So...that about sums up my thoughts on the book.  Now, I really have a difficult time with new authors. I feel so bad for saying that I don't like their work...but hey, it's art...it's all subjective.   So, what do I know?

I started Then Again by Diane Keaton prior to this book and put it on the back burner...I'm excited to be able to pull it out again.

Actually...on a bit of a tangent...

Using the phrase, "pull it out..." It's funny...because I downloaded the book and read it on my ipad.  I was against digital books for the longest time because I like the romance of books.  The feel of the pages, and smell of older books, and the collection of them all on the bookshelf.  But the ease of a digital book...it's hard to pass up.  Especially when you have kids and eight bags of things already.

What do you think about digital books? Yay or nay?

And do you have any other book recommendations?

I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.