Quilt for School

 My cloffice (closet/office) is directly across from one set of doors used for arrival and dismissal. Once outdoor temperatures dropped below 20 degrees Fahrenheit along with strong winds, my space's temperature also dropped. Aside from wearing a winter jacket indoors, I thought about other options. Ultimately I decided to look for small blankets and quilts. In one closet I found many forgotten blankets and quilts, many I had made before my third baby was born. They were all on the smaller side and perfect for a lap quilt. Before I had looked around my house, I did a quick search for interesting fabric. While the mini quilts I brought into school did serve their purpose, I kept remembering the cute fabrics I had found and wondered if I might be up for a sewing project. It has been years since I quilted anything. Finally after looking at the new fabric one more time, I found a panel that seemed like a quick and easy way to get back to some quilting without a bigger commitment of a pieced quilt. 

Because I teach English as a New Language, I was looking for fabric with the world on it. The winner ended up being a Michael Miller panel called "Wonderful World." Thinking back to my early days of learning to quilt, I considered different methods for putting this panel together. Instead of spending a lot of time planning or buying many materials, I bought the panel and later some matching fabric for the binding and was able to locate some fleece from my stash for the backing. One option was to just sew right sides together and flip it, but once I found the fleece, I decided to go ahead and pin it for quilting. After pinning the panel and fleece, it sat for a couple weeks. Fortunately, I had a school break coming up and that ended up being the perfect time to start quilting. 

I wasn't sure how I wanted to quilt it. Being out of practice and knowing I didn't want to baby my sit down quilting machine, I wondered if I could just sew lines on my regular machine. Remembering the specialty sewing machine feet I have made it easier. I started with the even feed walking sewing machine foot. Instead of just making straight lines along the world's oceans, I made wavy lines. It worked pretty well and I added more as needed. Then I needed to tackle the nine blocks around the world. Initially I sewed straight lines around each block. Remembering back to rules about how many inches apart quilting should be, but also taking into account that I wasn't using batting, I decided I did need more stitching. 

Another specialty sewing machine foot I have in my little box is for free motion quilting. I

remember really enjoying "doodling" with that foot and because this project is smaller, it wasn't difficult using my regular sewing machine. It was really neat to start right in on a white block and squiggle along without a real plan aside from getting from one side to the other and not sewing through any faces. After a short time I had filled up all nine squares. Checking the back of the quilt is a great way to see the stitching and check for any large unstitched areas. Some of the printed blocks have such large images or words, it seemed important to add a bit more stitching. When I was considering how to quilt this project, I was drawn to the words and wondered about stitching on them. Once I started squiggling, I didn't think I would revisit the words, but it was fun to highlight them after all.

I'm glad that I decided to buy new fabric and get back to quilting. Choosing a panel made it easier, but still allowed me to have fun free motion quilting. I used matching blue fabric from the collection for the binding and followed Heather Bailey's tutorial for continuous quilt binding. A 1/4 yard was more than plenty for the binding and two small loops for hanging.

This little quilt will keep me warm in the winter, but I already have plans to hang it from a shelf in the warmer months. Even if the world doesn't always feel welcoming or wonderful, I will continue to maintain a welcoming and wonderful environment for my students.

Morning Glory Muffins

 

I had discovered Morning Glory Muffins when I was looking for carrot cake recipes. It intrigued me because I had never heard of them before. The combination of fruits and veggies sounded delicious. I perused some recipes and made some modifications. This is what I ended up with.

Can be made in a bowl by hand.

Combine 

1/3 cup mashed banana (1 small banana mashed on a plate with a fork and then measured)

2 TBSP of olive oil

1/2 cup applesauce (1 snack cup of unsweetened applesauce)

1/3 cup of pineapple juice (from 8 oz of crushed pineapple)

1 egg

1/4 cup of brown sugar

2 TBSP of honey

1 tsp of vanilla

Mix well then add

1 cup of wheat flour

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/3 or less of ground flax-seed and chia seed mix (last batch I used 1/4 cup of flax only and like it)

2 tsp of baking soda

2  tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of ginger

1/2 tsp of all spice

1/2 tsp of salt

Mix just until combined, then fold in 

1 cup of grated carrots (some recipes have 2 cups, 1 is fine)

1 cup of grated apple (can substitute applesauce)

1/2 cup of raisins

1/2 cup of crushed pineapple

Spray muffin pan and fill most of the way with a full ice cream scoop.

Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes and then reduce the oven to 350 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes or so.

Last time I baked at 375 for about 15 minutes.

These muffins are moist and have a great flavor. I do detect a hint of banana, but it doesn't take away from the other flavors.

One time I was out of apples and wondered about using chopped, fresh cranberries. I was hesitant and decided to use applesauce, but also just add cranberries to two muffins (1 TB each). The cranberry flavor was muted, but a nice addition.

Yielded 12 muffins and 1 small ramekin.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

Yield 24 mini cheesecakes and two 4” round cakes

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Crust:

14 Gluten Free Oreos - use potato masher or blender to crush

2 TB melted butter 

Divide into foil muffin liners (foil only) and bake 5 mins

Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees

Cheesecake:

Mix together for 2 mins

2 8 oz Philadelphia ⅓ less fat cream cheese

⅔ cup sugar

Add and mix together

⅔ cup plain Greek Yogurt

1.5 tsp vanilla

Add one at a time and mix

2 eggs

For chocolate cheesecake:

Melt chocolate according to instructions, then allow to cool and mix in

7 oz Ghirardelli 60% Cacao bittersweet chocolate bars melted

½ TB Ghirardelli cacao *May contain tree nuts, whet, soy, milk and egg

Add batter to muffin liners with a cookie scoop. Batter appears thick.

Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 mins.

Cheesecakes are not very sweet, but a nice combination.

Could add more sugar or use semi-sweet chocolate for people who like it sweeter.

Two 4" springform pans baked about 30 minutes

For a full sized chocolate cheesecake increase the ingredients by 1/3.

Crust:

20 Gluten Free Oreos - use potato masher or blender to crush

3 TB melted butter 

Cheesecake:

3 - 8 oz Philadelphia ⅓ less fat cream cheese

1 cup sugar

Add

1 cup plain Greek Yogurt

2 tsp vanilla

Add one at a time and mix

2 eggs

2 eggs whites

For chocolate cheesecake:

Melt chocolate according to instructions, then allow to cool and mix in

10 oz Ghirardelli 60% Cacao bittersweet chocolate bars melted (or semi sweet)

3/4 TB Ghirardelli cacao

General cheesecake recipe with images

Chocolate and cinnamon/cardamon twists (buns)

Every Christmas morning growing up we would have cinnamon buns. As I started my own family, my mom or more often my dad would deliver my mom's cinnamon buns. Her recipe is actually called cinnamon twists. I enjoy experimenting with recipes and not everyone at my house likes raisins. I came across a King's Cake recipe that reminded me a lot of the cinnamon twists. The shape is made differently by rolling and braiding additionally the filling adds flour to the butter, cinnamon, and sugar mixture. I made the King's Cake a couple times as the recipe is written. I wanted to try chocolate filling and found a recipe for Chocolate Sweet buns  and tried twisting them after I rolled the swirl and that wasn't quite right. But they were tasty.

This time I decided to make the King's Cake recipe, make half the filling cinnamon with cardamon and the other half chocolate. I also wanted to twist the dough and followed the old twist recipe by adding filling to the center third of the 10 x 16" rectangle, then folding over the top third. Then the other half of the filling is added on top of the folded part which finally is enclosed by the last third.

Like other cinnamon bun recipes, the dough is divided into twelve pieces, in this case strips, which are twisted and then the ends are pinched together. 

When I made the Chocolate Sweet Buns recipe above, it stated that chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate could be used interchangeably. In the King's Cake brioche with chocolate filling, I used 4 oz of semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate and found that the chunks of Ghirardelli chocolate melted completely while the chocolate chips from the previous attempt did not melt well at all.

Sweet brioche dough recipe adapted from the King's Cake recipe.

1 cup milk

¼ cup butter

Heat milk and butter in the microwave until warm or allow to cool until warm.

Add

1 ½ teaspoon salt

⅔ cup warm water

½ cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon bread machine dry yeast

1 teaspoon of cardamon

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Add one cup of bread flour at a time until 5 - 5 ½ cups have been added.

Knead until smooth. Dough will be a bit sticky. Allow to rest for 1-2 hours until doubled. Once doubled, punch down and knead briefly. Divide the dough into two. 

Stretch the first ball of dough and then roll it to a 10" x 16" rectangle. 

Add one-half of one of the fillings to the middle third, fold one third over, add the other half. 

Cut into 12 strips, twist and arrange on a lined cookie sheet. 

Repeat with the second dough ball.

Cinnamon filling (adapted from King's Cake recipe):

2 Tablespoons of butter melted

1/3 cup of brown sugar

half of a 1/3 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of flour

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of cardamon

Chocolate Filling (adapted from Sweet Chocolate bun recipe):

4 Tablespoons butter melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

2 Tablespoons baking cocoa

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate bar, chopped

Once twists are formed, allow to rise again covered for 30 minutes.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes. Tent with aluminum foil after 15 minutes.

While icing was included in both above recipes, we did not see a need for more sweetness. The sugar could probably be cut down a bit and still have a great flavor.

Heart twists

After cutting 12 strips, cut each again, twist and then rejoin into hearts. 

Pet sleeping bags

 

We have made a bunch of these little cozy bags for our pets over the years, but somehow they never made it to the blog.

Because we have dwarf hamsters at our house, we make very small little bags. But over the years, I have made bags for guinea pigs and also a hedgehog.

I wanted to make another set for guinea pigs, but I didn't remember the dimensions. So here we are.

Guinea Pig Print - The first one I cut at 12" x 12" and used a generous 5/8" seam allowance and ended up trimming a side...which yielded an average sized guinea pig cozy at 10" x 10.5".

Planets Print - The next one I cut at 12" x 14" and used a 3/8" seam allowance which yielded an 11" x 13" cozy.

Desert Sun Print - I created a wider one cut at 13" x 14" and used a 3/8" seam allowance which yielded a 11.5" x 13" cozy.

Step 1 - Cut 2 layers of flannel and cut 2 layers of fleece at the desired measurements.

Place right sides together and pin on the sides and bottom in preparation to sew. If you print  goes in one direction, you can plan which side will be the top.

Step 2 - Mark a 3-4" section on one side of the fleece to leave open. This is used to flip from wrong side to right side.

Step 3 - Sew on three sides on the fleece (leave one small section open) and sew three sides on the flannel

Step 4 - Trim off the bottom two corners careful to not cut the seam

Flannel sewn on three sides with bottom corners clipped

Fleece sewn on three sides with small opening shown at scissors with bottom corners clipped

Step 5 - Turn the flannel bag right side out 

Step 6 - Slip the flannel bag into the fleece, now the two fabrics are right sides together

Step 7 - Sew along the top edge with right sides together. 

Step 8 - Pull the inside bag out through the opening in the fleece







Step 9 - Sew the small opening closed.

Step 10 - Finishing the bag and putting the inside back inside

Step 11 - You have a bag for your pet! Optionally, you can top stitch along the top opening for a more finished look.

Here is the finished cozy with the top folded over. The topstitching on the top edge of the fleece is visible.

Sewing Cast Covers

 My gymnast, who has never sustained an injury, broke her fibula at the ankle height.  Our first week after the fracture involved 2 splints and 3 casts.  When she received her first cast, she chose blue and had her friends all sign it.  The second cast could only be black and she used silver to decorate it with stars and new signatures.  The third cast could also only be black and at this point she decided to just leave it black.  The many reasons for different splints/casts were swelling, numbness relief, first cast, better cast placement, then needed to replace a cast due to shower cover (garbage bag/elastic) fail.

Once we stopped running to the doctor's every other day, I was able to look at more cast options.  We had ordered a shower cast cover to help keep the cast dry and I saw some cute covers.  The fun covers seemed to fulfill a few purposes:  give the cast personality, keep it cleaner, and give the cast a softer outside.

When I first brought up the idea of a cast cover, my daughter was not interested.  But as she put together all the events that she planned to attend along with a cast, she started to think a cast cover might be fun to have too.  Having a softer layer was an added bonus too.

We visited JoAnn's and checked out all their knits.  Many have great stretch and would fit really well over her cast.

Making a Pattern

I first traced around her cast on the side, but then decided to think of it as a sock.  I had made polar fleece socks a long time ago and knew the pattern for the sock might be a better fit.  I found some instructions online which included how to measure for the sock.  This instructable had great tips for a pattern.  I took papers and measured for the front - top to the tip of her cast, back- top to the heel, and foot - heel to where the cast ends near her toes.

My first attempt was not with her silky, stretchy new prints.  I first used an old ribbed knit I had which is stretchy, but has more bulk to it.  We got a working pattern down.  It all needed to be longer, curving in at the ankle fit better, and I decided not to finish the edges, but just tuck them over against the cast.  The silk, stretchy print hugged her cast even better and didn't bunch where the foot meets the leg.  

This fabric is temperamental as stretch knits often are.  I had the best luck using my serger first and then going over the seam with a tiny zig zag stitch.  I still left the edges unfinished and she has a 3/4"-2" extra to tuck.  I could see adding a band, but it looks better this way and it shouldn't go anywhere.  The fabric works well against her cast shoe which is a nice bonus.

Showers are going better over here too.  We start out with Glad Press and Seal over the cast, then add a fleece cuff at the top of her cast and finally slide on the commercial cast cover.  The press and seal gives the cast an easier surface for sliding on the cover and added insurance.  

Cast Cover Tutorial & Instructions

1/2 yard of fabric worked well for 2-3 covers.  My cover's greatest length is just under 18".  The actual cast length from top to toe is 14.25".  I wanted the greatest stretch along the width of the cover.

A stretch needle works well for stretch fabric.

Figure out the pattern and do a trial cover.  I made many adjustments along the way such as making the whole thing longer at both ends for folding over, narrowing the ankle area, and taking in the heel to make it fit better.  There are three pieces.  The front, the back, and the bottom.  The toe area was left with a straight edge because it is going to the edge of the cast, not creating a sock.

Determine where the bottom piece will connect and mark. 

Sew the front to the back to the marked point.

Pin or clip the bottom piece to the top and back.

Sew around the bottom making sure to close up the section where the front and back connect.  Leave toe area open.

One cover finished and inside out.

I used a serger and then reinforced the edges with a small zig zag.

The raw edges at the top and toe I decided to leave unfinished.  They tuck in and stay well because I left extra length for that purpose.  She can't really feel any of the cover, except at the top because the fabric is primarily on the cast and even the raw edges are tucked along the cast.

GF Chocolate swirl lower fat cheesecake

In order to repeat recipes, I often blog about them.  Everything is in one place and searchable.  I made this cheesecake last August for my parents' anniversary and didn't blog about it.  Fortunately, I had written myself some notes and was able to repeat what I had done.

I'm always looking for ways to make healthier desserts.  I did not change the sugar content for this recipe, but I did try to reduce some of the fat content.  This goes against most cheesecake recipes.  The recipes often specify using full fat cream cheese and sour cream.  I have had success making mini cheesecakes with the neufchatel before and knew it would work out.

I found recipes by Sally's Baking Addiction which were similar to what I wanted to try and I just made a few changes along the way.  Additionally, I needed to make the cheesecake gluten free for some of our family members.

*All ingredients must be room temperature*

Recipe

for the crust

20 gluten free Oreos crushed

3 TB butter

After combining the oreos and the butter, press mixture into a greased 9" spring form pan which is also wrapped in 18" wide heavy duty aluminum foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

Cheesecake recipe

3 - 8oz blocks of neufchatel cream cheese 

1 cup of sugar

Mix the cream cheese and sugar on medium for 3 minutes

Add 

1 cup of plain fat free Greek yogurt

2 tsp of vanilla

Mix until just combined.

Add eggs one at a time and mix on low.

2 eggs

2 egg whites

Separate out 1-1.5 cups of batter and add 2-3 squares of melted Ghirardelli baking squares.  I used 60% semi sweet Ghirardelli baking chocolate and followed the microwave melting chocolate.  The chocolate batter is a light chocolate color.  Today I used 1.25 cups of batter and 3 squares of chocolate.

In order to get the swirled pattern, I added blobs of both kinds of batter and swirled them with a knife.  My pattern today was different from last time.  There may be a better method to creating swirls.

I did follow the baking instructions with the water bath and used a 10" x 14" glass baking dish.  The pan rocked a bit inside the baking dish,  I simply created a small wedge out of extra foil to place under one edge.  The extra wide foil is very important in order to cover the sides of the spring form pan.  The cheesecake baked 60 minutes in a 350 degree oven and then I turned off the oven and opened the door slightly for another 60 minutes.  When the baking is done, the center still has a 2"-3" wobble.

To be served along with the cheesecake, I provide a cherry sauce using 2 cans of unsweetened canned cherries.  I followed the recipe from Oregon Fruit for cherry pie filling.  Whipped cream in a can was also available.

The next week I made some minis and swirls the chocolate itself in the batter.  Different effect and slightly different taste.  I think adding chocolate to a smaller amount of batter might be worth trying.

Mini spring form pans, set of 3 - baked 30 mins, then added some time and lowered temp

Mini 12 cavity cheesecake bites - baked 17 minutes

Baked them together at 350 degrees.  The mini pans were wrapped in foil and in a water bath.  The bottom of the mini pan was wrapped in foil (may be unnecessary) and probably benefited from the water bath next to it.  The recipe from above was the right amount for 3 mini pans and the 12 cavity pan.

Center mini cake wrapped in plastic wrap on a small cardboard circle.  Minis from the pan placed in regular sized cupcake liners for presentation only.

4/8/2023 - Made graham cracker crust and strawberry swirl cheesecake

I used one 7.5 oz box of Pamela's gluten free graham style crackers processed in a food processor with metal blades adding 5 TB of melted butter at the end. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

For the strawberry swirl, I used about 

4 cups of frozen organic strawberries

4 tsp of cornstarch

2 tsp lemon juice

2 TB of water

Cooked on the stove until soft and mashed with a potato masher.

After baking the graham cracker crust for 10 mins, I added half the cheesecake batter and some dollops of mashed strawberries and swirled them. Then I added the other half of the batter. The second half did not cover the swirls. I then added more swirls on top. The large glass pan and water bath worked well again.

There is more than a cup of mashed strawberries leftover to add as topping or to eat with yogurt.