Sewing for a Super Hero

I never dreamed that one day I might be designing capes for a super hero. But then the question came.

“Auntie J, can you make me a super hero cape?”
“Oh, yeah! What is your favorite color?”
“I like orange and blue and I want an A on it.”

So I guess technically the super hero designed it; I’m just the seamstress. This is a job I’ll happily accept each and every time the little super hero makes a handmade request of her Auntie J. Next up, a teddy bear.

Sunday Dinner Prep

One of the many things I love about this time of the year is how easy it is to make a fabulous meal. Just peel, chop, mix, and slide it all in a hot oven.

Lemon-Rosemary Roast Chicken with Potatoes

Roast Butternut Squash

Apple Crisp

Hope your weekend has an equally delicious ending!

My eyes!

There I was, innocently browsing the internet in an attempt to find some new tights for fall/winter skirt wearing and I stumbled upon these and these amidst an entire page of these. Noooo!!!! People, footless leggings are for working out only. Period, end of discussion.

I was a little nervous when skinny jeans came back, but this makes it official, 80's fashion is here again. It was fun, once, but I am way too old to go there again. Plus, there is no way that I can endure the inevitable mid-life crisis album from Madonnna now that she is single again.

Baby waiting gifts

Yesterday I put a little package in the mail for a friend who is expecting her first baby in the next few weeks. She lives on the other side of the continent so I wasn't able to attend her green baby shower in person. Apparently everyone 40 and under understood that it was an eco-friendly themed event and brought gifts that were either used or made using sustainable resources but she did get a few green-colored items from the older generation - too funny.

My green contribution was a pair of locally printed organic cotton onsies that I picked up at Ferdinand in Portland and another pair of stay-on baby booties that I knit using washable wool. I had intended to use hand-spun wool in the appropriately named (for a late October baby) All Hallows Brew colorway from Hands and Notions, but the gauge was way off and I couldn't make them work. My friend is a dedicated journal keep, so I included this lovely Nikki McClure mother's journal. And, of course, the Boston version of the Good Night Our World series so the kid knows were I live.

Oh, and if you are having a baby soon and I know you, expect a pair of hand knit booties from me. They are the only good thing to come out of the endless TV coverage of the recent election shenanigans, in our house at least.

Soup season

This is by far my favorite time of the year, especially here in New England. I love how the intensity and heat of summer gradually morph into the intense colors and crisp air of autumn which then slowly fades into winter. And there is that day every year, usually in late September, when I realize with great joy that soup season is upon us once again. Along with soup season comes the cozy goodness of sweaters, long pants, wearing shoes with socks and putting the flannel sheets and feather duvet back on the bed.

Since opening day this year I've managed to produce the following soups: two varieties featuring beans (one with salt pork and one with dried beef), curried split pea, turkey curry meatball, a hearty beef stew and several batches of my standby favorite, chicken vegetable. I'm convinced that what makes this vegetable soup special is that it stars crunchy celery. For most of my life I refused to eat celery; I didn't like the strong taste and stringiness of it raw or the limp flavor and sogginess of it cooked. One day I was reading a recipe and realized that I could put chopped celery directly into the soup stock (as opposed to sauteing them first) and they would stay crisp but mellow in flavor. I'm sure everyone in the world knew this fact except me, but trust me that it rocked my world in a very good way.

Easy Vegetable Soup

3 carrots, peeled & diced
2 large potatoes, peeled & diced
3-4 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled & bruised (smack them with the side of a knife)
1/4 cup powdered chicken broth (I use Vegeta)
1 chicken breast

In a large stock pot, add the vegetables and fill with water until they are submerged ~2 inches. Bring to a boil on high heat, add the chicken breast, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Once chicken breast is cooked through, remove and cut into bite-size cubes and return to pot. Continue to simmer with the cover on until vegetables are tender. Season with salt & pepper to taste and enjoy with some fresh corn bread.

I hope you like it.

Kindred spirits

When I was at Squam I had the pleasure of meeting Liz Lamoreux of A Little Room at the vendor fair on Saturday evening. The first thing I saw when I arrived in the morning was someone wearing one of her Natasha aprons and knew I Had To Have One. I spent the entire day trying to spot more of these funky and delightful creations without knowing who had made them. There were aprons, awesome sling bags (I don't see them in her Etsy shop at the moment) and patchwork scarves which sealed the deal, because you know how I love a patchwork scarf. By the time I finally met Liz at her vendor table I felt like I knew her.

My feelings were confirmed when she noticed my bag and commented on the Heather Bailey fabric I had used. To meet someone out of the blue who shares my taste in fabrics and color thrilled me to no end (one can feel so alone in this world of calico and printed fleece). So when she looked me up and down and said "I know what to make for you" I pulled out my checkbook and gave her a deposit for a custom apron using fabrics of her choice. And last week, this arrived in the mail and I am sooo in love with it I can't even tell you. Thank you Liz, for bringing such joy and beauty to your work and for really seeing me that Saturday evening in New Hampshire.

Solid!

Finding a good selection of quilting weight solids is hard. It's about to get more difficult as my local source, Fabric Place, prepares to close its doors after more than 60 years in business. (This is particularly sad for Funky & Delightful since it was here that we got our first stash of fabric three years ago.)

Because the local Joann store is less than reliable when it comes to selection I knew I had to find another source for Kona cotton solids. A Google search revealed lots of on-line retailers who sell Kona solids but as I looked from site to site the same color looked vastly different. Hmm, no good when you're looking to make a match to, say, one of the dozens of prints already in your stash.

I started Googling Kona swatches and came up empty; this is one of the rare times Google let me down. I shot off an email to Fabric Shack, one of the on-line retailers with the greatest selection, describing the paint chip like swatch card I was looking for. Amanda responded quickly knowing exactly what I meant.

For only $5 + $1 shipping one was on its way to me. And its even better than a paint chip. Each little swatch is an actual piece of fabric. I think it's safe now to place an order; I'd better get shopping.