"Mostly Void, Partially Stars"

I am finally getting around to quilting my Stars Quilt!  I am so excited!  This is my first quilt and I have learned a lot from making it!  I know, and have accepted, the fact that there are many mistakes that I have made in this quilt but I think it will add to the character and I will take them as a learning experience.  

School has started up again and this semester is going to be much harder then the last.  I wanted to try to finish all of my WIPS lying around the house before school takes over, and this quilt was one of those projects on my list!  I mainly have been quilting it at night because of school and work and it helps me relax and fall asleep.  

I use my mothers old sewing machine.  My dad bought it for my mom when they were dating and I love it!  I love using an older machine, especially one that has meaning.  I am still learning a lot of the different settings on the machine and I am constantly looking back into the manual for tips and tricks.  I started quilting this completely free hand (I am just doing straight lines) and some of my lines were closer together then others and some were a bit wavy.  While I was rummaging through the boxes of accessories to the machine I found a quilting guide which I attached to my machine and it has been so helpful!  It has an adjustable bar that acts as a guide to help with straight line quilting! Now my lines look ten times better!  

I have been really enjoying listening to some podcasts while I am sewing and quilting and even knitting.  I am loving Welcome To Night Vale.  I love the weird sense of humor and I look forward to their little proverbs at the end of each episode!  They have a Welcome To Night Vale mug for sale that is on my wish list!

Hopefully I will be done with this quilt before school gets busy and I wont have to put it on hold again!

Easy Breezy Baked Pancake

Lately I have been obsessing over baked pancakes!  Yes, BAKED pancakes!  They are easy, fast, and so fun to make!  My mom and I have been experimenting and adding a bunch of different fruit to the mix including blueberries, bananas, raspberries, and next on our list are apples and of course peaches! I have been adapting the recipe to make it more healthy as well!

This recipe is perfect for a busy family, no more spending 15 minutes flipping pancakes, stores very well in the refrigerator and it also tastes great when heated up later!

Easy Breezy Baked Pancake with Blueberries, Banana, and Walnuts

Ingredients:
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1T Ground Flax Seed (optional)
1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3T Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Whole Milk (or Almond Milk)
1 Egg
1/3 Cup Blueberries
1 Banana (sliced)
2 Walnuts (chopped small)
1 T Butter for pan
Cinnamon for sprinkling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, flax seed, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl whisk the egg and milk together.  Combine wet ingredients with dry and mix together.

Melt butter and coat pan.  Pour batter in pan.  Sprinkle blueberries, walnuts, place banana slices, and sprinkle cinnamon on top.  Can sprinkle more sugar on top if desired.

Bake in oven for about 25 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool 5 minutes before serving.  Cut pancake in "pizza" like slices.  Serve with syrup and any extra banana slices and blueberries on side.
Enjoy!

*Note: You can exchange blueberries, bananas, and walnuts for any other toppings.  Try just blueberries, or blueberries and raspberries combined!  Whole Wheat flour can also be exchanged for white flour.

*If sharing this recipe please link to this page. Thank you!

I have also been obsessed with mug-rugs!  I used this mug rug tutorial by Verykerryberry!  It was a great tutorial, super easy to follow, and I loved the result!  I used left over fabric from a bag I made a while ago and I feel super fancy when I am relaxing and using my mug rug and matching knitting bag at the same time! I have made another mug rug which I will be sending to my friend but I want it to be a surprise! The mug-rugs were a great way to practice free motion quilting without having to worry about messing up a huge quilt top!  I am thinking of making a few more before I move on and finish my Star Quilt (which I will do another blog post about when it is done).

Earth Necklace

I recently got a new camera and I am still learning how to use it!  I thought the first subject to practice on should be my Earth necklace!  I love jewelry making, it is one of my favorite handcrafts! I bought these beads and the large focal bead at a local bead show a few months ago and I just recently had the time to create. The beaded rope is one long continuous crocheted rope and I made it so that it would fit into the focal bead.  This is one of my most favorite necklaces I have made so far! 

  The theme for this necklace was Earth.  The beads have hints of blue and green in them and the larger focal bead has brown tones.  I also chose the leaf bead caps because they fit in and worked so well.   I am not sure what my next theme necklace will be but I am excited to start planning!  Maybe by then I will have learned more about my camera and my pictures will be a bit better! 

A Pot of Chili

One thing my family loves is chili!  We can eat it any time of year, for any occasion and be completely satisfied.  My mother and I have been using the same chili recipe for years and each time we make it we always try to improve it.  This week my grandpa came over for my college graduation so my mother made a big pot for all of us.  

Here is our current healthy Too Hot To Trot Chili:

(picture shown has both lean ground turkey and tofu)

Ingredients:

2lbs lean ground turkey (if making it vegetarian you can add more beans and 2 squares tofu cut into small cubes if you would like)

1 medium sized onion

1/2 large pepper, chopped (can use green or red or a mix of both)

1 small jalapeno, seeds removed, chopped small

1 celery stalk, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes

3/4 jar of low sodium tomato sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 15oz can of each dark, light kidney beans and black beans 

Splash of hot pepper sauce

Dash of chipotle chili pepper

Dash of cayenne pepper 

Dash of Red pepper flakes

Pepper

9 Tbsp chili powder

4 Tbsp cumin

Step 1: Brown ground turkey in microwave. (If making vegetarian then skip this step, add in beans or tofu later in recipe) (If using tofu press to get excess fluid out before adding)

Step 2: Sautee onion, pepper, jalapeno, celery and garlic in non stick pan with olive oil until onions are soft

Step 3: Place remaining ingredients and sauteed vegetables in large crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.  If cooking on stove cook for 2 hours in large pot making sure to stir every 10 minutes on med/low heat.  

It is a very simple recipe, basically a one pot dish and tastes great when reheated!  

*If sharing this recipe please link to this page. Thank you!

Game of Thrones Mkal

Hello everyone! I just recently got hooked on Game of Thrones!  I came in very late, however I have managed to catch up and I am obsessed!  I decided to join in on the Game of Thrones Mkal that has been going around on Ravelry.  This is a shawl knit a long and the shawl is inspired by Daenerys Targaryen, one of my favorite characters!  It is a beautiful lace pattern so far and I am having a great time knitting on it!  Each clue comes out every Sunday with the release of a new episode so you have plenty of time to work the whole clue before the next one.  

I am using Madelinetosh Pashmina in the colors Citrus and Hosta Blue.  I am loving the colors together!  These are the colors I in-vision when I see the mother of dragons!  The blue perfectly matches the blue dress she wears and the orange reminds me of fire! 

The colors in this picture more closely resemble the actual colors of the yarn.  I plan on striping the shawl and as for now I have a lifeline in just in case I do not like the stripes later on.  I do plan on getting a nice camera but for now this will have to do!

I am currently in the middle of clue 2 and the pattern asks you to work from two separate charts for each row.  I am enjoying the pattern a lot.  It is something that is a little bit out of my comfort zone but I am learning a lot!

So what do I love about this pattern so far?

• Easy to follow instructions!
• The pattern comes with both written out instructions as well as charts.
• Each clue can be finished in a reasonable amount of time.  
• It is so much fun! 

Who is your favorite Game of Thrones character?