Pippi Långstrump

Even though I didn't grow up wrapped in Swedish tradition, I did love Pippi Longstocking and spent more than one Halloween dressed up as one of my favorite "orphans." She had common-sense, amazing strength which allowed her to literally pick up anything, and lived parent-less with her horse and monkey. What else could a little girl want, right?

I think my mom did a great job getting my braids around a straightened hanger. She sewed me up a mismatched ragamuffin outfit inspired by my 8-year old vision of what an ideal Swedish orphan should look like. I even had painted freckles to enhance my own. Kids crack me up on Halloween...

M-N-M-L

My friend and soon-to-be ex-coworker, now personal chef to the luckiest of families who hire her services, asked me to help her with a sewing project a couple of weeks ago. Her mother and three aunts are coming for a visit to Chicago in November and Melissa wants to provide them with a special personalized touch during their stay. Ever the hostess, she asked me to help her put together these beauties for each of the women.

Just your basic towel and a letter-cut-out made of fabric that was fitting to each individual. I used a zig-zag stitch to secure them to the towel and am hoping they don't unravel once used! I basted the letters to the towels before sewing so that they would stay somewhat in place while I sewed...which was a feat in itself.

While I don't think I'll be opening up a towel business any time soon, it was good experience on the old machine with a new texture I haven't worked with in the past. I hope that Melissa's special guests feel pampered during their stay. With personalized towels and home cooked goodness from their host, I'm sure they'll have a wonderful vacation!

Don't Forget...

I think it is a serious privilege and honor to cast our votes this fall. I just got back from an early voting polling place in my fair city of Chicago. I hope you American readers will all do the same, helping to determine the path you feel best for your own lives, our country, and this world. I'll be waiting with baited breath to see how this whirlwind of an election season turns out... my hopes are high.

Chair Recovery

The chairs in our kitchen have been annoying me for quite some time. It's not that they aren't functioning or aren't good enough as they are. They were free, and for that I'm grateful. It's just that they needed a little face lift to look more, I don't know, updated.

I like flea markets and thrifting as much as the next crafty girl, but in my heart of hearts, I really am a sucker for Crate and Barrel. I found these dishtowels on sale there the other day and I instantly knew that they could find a happy home "reupholstering" our kitchen chairs. They were the perfect size, color, and weight for re-covering the chairs...hardly your average dishtowel.

Of course, I wouldn't mind if they were a darker stain, but beggars can't be choosers. My updated chairs make me smile every time I pass the table!

Cookie Skillet

Keeping a container of Toll House Cookie Dough in your refrigerator is a good idea. I highly recommend stocking it in the case of unexpected company, a sudden urge for the warmth of freshly baked cookies, or for the occasional pity party.

If there is one dessert I've come to trust and obey it is a cookie skillet. It's as simple as anything, and by the time your guests have finished feasting on it, they'll be so overcome by its simple goodness they won't be able to see straight! In addition to two individual cast iron skillets (6.5 inch) (two will serve 4 people), you'll need a few simple ingredients that you most likely already have in your possession. Cookie dough, vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and Reddi-whip are all you need to make your cookie skillet dreams come true.

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spoon cookie dough into skillet, covering the bottom (you won't really need to pack it in, but you can make sure it is semi-formed together).
3. Heat in oven until slightly cooked, but still a little gooey, about 10 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and let cool, about 3 minutes.
5. Top with three scoops of vanilla ice cream, Reddi-whip, and chocolate syrup.
6. Indulge, my friends.

I'd Rather Not

Quilting...actual quilting...can be such a chore. I really don't care for it. Studying a pattern, buying fabric, washing, cutting, piecing, ironing, and assembling are all fun and games, but when it comes to the real quilting part, I seem to always find something better to do with my time (i.e. start a new quilt). From day one I promised I wouldn't be one of those women who made quilt tops but never finished them.

And so, last night in my attempt to keep this bargain with yours truly, I forced myself to baste three pieces I'm working on and actually do the quilting on two of them. What a total drag it was. I'd really rather not do the actual quilting and desperately wish someone else could do this part for me (or that I could pay them to do it). I managed to successfully get through it with little to no mistakes. Both are now ready for their binding which I also prepared last night. I'm hoping I can knock them both out tonight and be done.

Fall Buzz

With some mixed emotions, TK cut his hair last night. It was a long time coming, but now he has a nice fall buzz cut and I have a clean-shaven man!

Make It Work

Tonight is the season finale of Project Runway, Season 5. Oh, you don't watch Project Runway, you say? Well, friend, you should have been watching! If you haven't been, the show is an addiction of greatest proportions to anyone who's ever picked up a pair of scissors and a tape measure. The contestants compete against each other each week to create the best garment(s), but are restricted by time, materials, and theme. Their designs are judged by a panel of "real" designers or others in the fashion industry and each week one designer is eliminated.

As far as the judges are concerned, over the past season I've come to be convinced that Heidi Klum is one of the most beautiful people ever to walk the earth, that I want Nina Garcia's hair, and that Michael Kors, while he has some hilarious one-liners, needs to lay off the self-tanner. I also can't say enough about the highest admiration I hold for Tim Gunn. I truly love the man. He is polished, put together, patient, and has an amazing vocabulary to boot! He genuinely cares about the designers, to whom he is a mentor on the show, and wants what's best for them. I'm convinced that that is his attitude about every single person he meets in life. I'm such a fan! Thank goodness his show Tim Gunn's Guide to Style continues even after Project Runway's season ends tonight.

Tonight's episode will feature the collections from the remaining three designers who were able to bring their wears to Bryant Park Fashion Week in New York City. And so, I have some parting words for the remaining three.

Kenley Collins: Girl, you've got to lose that 'tude. Seriously who in their right mind thinks that they can talk smack to Heidi Klum or to sweet Tim Gunn?! You've just plain got bad manners and you worry me. Jerell was right when he said you know how to make one heck of a 50s dress, but that's about it. You could be so much more, and I hope that you will be, but the eye-rolling has got to stop!



Leanne Marshall: You are the sweetest thing in the world. You seem a little tired lately, but who wouldn't be after all the hard and meticulous work you put into every one of your garments. I think you could have won nearly all of the challenges. I hope that you win tonight, but Kenley's collection did look pretty good when we saw some of it last week, so I'm counting on you and the judges putting her in her place!


Korto Momolu: I like your style. You really bring your true self to this competition but you aren't obnoxious about it like Ms. Collins. You roll with the punches and have gracefully dealt with everything that has come your way on the show. I'd really like to spend a day with you. I don't think you'll win, but if you do, I won't be disappointed.



Alright, girls. Let's make it work and not bore the judges...

October 2008 Martha | Prepare Your Car for Winter

If you didn't know that Halloween was Martha Stewart's favorite holiday after reading through October's issue, you would have come to realize it quickly. I'm more of a Thanksgiving and Christmas kind of girl myself, but whatever floats your boat! As could be expected, pages upon pages were dedicated to ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, and ghoulish business. Fair enough... November will most likely bring my favorite issue of the year.

Not caring too much for Halloween one way or the other, this month I took heed of one of Martha's "Gentle Reminders," on page 2 and prepared my car for winter. I cleaned the exterior and vacuumed, windexed, and wiped down the interior, something I've been meaning to do for about...oh...a year and a half. In the past I've sworn to myself that I wouldn't become one of those types who had to move extra stuff out of the front seat so that a passanger could fit in my car. C'est la vie mon ami.

All the junk that's been piling up in the trunk and back seat (which got there by making room for passangers) has now been thrown away or put in its proper place in the house. The no-freeze windshield-washer fluid is filled and ready to perform. My snow brush/ice scraper is in the car and ready for anything Old Man Winter blows my way. Ladies (and gentlemen), when it comes to ice scrapers, don't go cheap. I'm telling you, get the best you can afford because it will do wonders. I used to buy those $2 pieces of weak plastic masquerading as scrapers. Don't be fooled. They will break early-on or they will require ten times the amount of scraping. I recommend the Hopkins 52" Super Extender Snowbroom or something like it. It's seriously worth every dime.

I'm not ready for winter yet, but my car is. Thanks, Martha, for the "gentle reminder." You're too kind!

Don't Scare Me Like That!

October can be a scary month filled with jack-o-lanterns, ghosts and goblins. These fools are nothing compared to the fear and dread of your sewing machine (for the first time in your life) not working. Last week, I lowered my feed dogs to work on something and when I went to raise them, they would not come back up. I read my manual and did as it said. I lifted the presser foot, flipped the feed dog lever to its raised position, and turned the handwheel until I was supposed to hear the feed dogs snap into place. The lever didn't engage. The feed dogs didn't snap into place. Nothing was working.

When TK heard my moans of desperation, he came and asked what the problem was. Through my anger and frustration I tried to explain what was going on and that I needed the feed dogs to be in their raised position so that my fabric would be pulled through the machine properly. He proceeded to commandeer the machine's screwdriver and rip apart my baby.

I warned him repeatedly to not mess with the bobbin and that if my thread's tension was off or destroyed at the end of this, we would have serious issues. I have every confidence in my husband's ability with tools and his ability to discover the inner workings and mechanics of most things. I do. But there is a whole industry in sewing machine repair and I didn't want to take any risks, especially with several projects lined up in my sewing queue.

He persisted. And persisted. And persisted. In the end, I had a machine that was working, feed dogs raised, bobbin/tension intact, and a very proud and accomplished husband. Evidently it was a more complicated issue than just what I had thought, but my hero worked it out. Ye of little faith! I breathed a huge sigh of relief and immediately got to work sewing to make up for lost time.

Whalehouse

It's getting colder outside. The change in weather is bringing with it an obvious change to our backyard. The grass is slowly fading, the leaves are beginning to lose some of their luster, and the air just has a certain colder feel to it. After the summer and fall, Chicago can be a dreary place that lives in anticipation of Spring's majestic return.

I'm no Saint Francis, but I always feel a little bad for animals that live in the city, especially in the winter. I think that they must feel an innate sense of being misplaced...like they should be out in the forest, far from the traffic and concrete. Instead of looking for food in the wild, their alternatives are dumpsters and litter. Instead of a home in a tree or burrow, most seem to live in alleys and window sills. Not very romantic or natural. For all I know, maybe they couldn't care less.

In an attempt to keep some birds safe and warm this winter, we've erected a birdhouse in our backyard. Evidently late summer/early fall is the best time to establish with the bird community that your yard is a welcome place for their moving in. We bought this interesting birdhouse last spring and it cracks me up every time I look at it! Some lucky sparrows are about to have the coolest whalehouse on the block.