Indoor Activities for Kids....AKA...go away winter...NOW

If winter's icy grip has your kids bored to tears...you might just have to get a little bit creative...if you don't want to hear this...Mommmmm, I'm borrred.    Or...Mommmmm what can I play?  And if you're anything like me, what the tube has to offer isn't what you're looking for.  I don't mind my kids watching a bit of TV...but I want them to run and play and be creative.  So, if your life is anything like mine is and there's a pile of nasty snow outside and the kids are getting antsy for summer, then take heart...there is something for them to do and it's right in your pantry.

Grab all the paper and plastic cups you can find...and let them go at it.

It's amazing where they go when they play with a bunch of cups.  Their imagination takes flight.

My Youngest took it upon herself to build the Eiffel Tower...I love how she is like me and is a bit ambidextrous.  Go right hand and left hand!

Oh the agony when it comes tumbling down!

Oh wait...a new and ingenious idea on how to get her cups to stack better...stand on the step stool...

Nope...

When your cups won't stack, you can always practise your dance moves!

And then cut the cups into beautiful bracelets!

We are now approaching hour number two with zero complaints...I am down a few dozen cups...but it is worth it.

Good luck making it until spring and thanks for reading.

Heather

mitered baby blanket...AKA super cute

I have made my sister three mitered baby blankets now.  One for each of her children.  She has taken them to the hospital with her each time and each time she has gotten raves about them.  Where did you get that adorable blanket?  My Sister made it.  I must have one...where can I buy that?  You can't.  You have to make it.

So, you get the idea.  This little blanket is a big hit!  It is a bit complex though, so I would say if you are a beginning sewer, go for it...but be prepared to have to pay a lot of attention to the pattern...or you can do what I did, and take a class.  I am very happy with this blanket and best of all, there is a free tutorial where you can get all the details on how to make it.  Click here for the free pattern.

I will say this about the measurements...the bigger you make it, the longer you can swaddle your baby in it.  So, if you take a normal piece of fabric, the biggest square you can cut out of it without sewing anything is about a 40" X 40" square.  If you feel like making it a bit bigger, you can, you will just have to sew a panel on to make it bigger.  45" X 45" would be a nice size, because then you would only need 1 yard of your inner fabric.  Saving money on fabric is always a good thing.  Ummmm...I would like to point out, in case you might not have noticed in the upper left hand corner of this picture...is a nude Ken doll.  Dolls in this house never seem to wear clothes for very long...righty then.

Also, it is very important, you need to become aware of grain of fabric.  There's a Crosswise grain and a lengthwise grain.  Lengthwise grain doesn't stretch if you tug gently.  Crosswise grain does stretch.  So, if you are going to make it larger, make sure you sew lengthwise to lengthwise or crosswise to crosswise so that the stretch is the same across the entire piece.

I don't know what I was trying to tell you in this picture.  We'll just go with...PEACE!

I was probably trying to say that you have to line up two sides of the blanket to make that flap in the corner because you are going to sew a 45 degree angle on that flap then cut off the rest.  It's quite adventurous to chop a flap of fabric...it's thrilling really...because what if you cut wrong?!?!  OHHHHH the horror!

See, you draw on your line, then pin the fabric together so you don't get shifting and then...

That's right.  CHOP!  Better pray you had your angle correct!  Cause that piece of fabric ain't coming back.

Here it is in all it's glory.  You can see that you have the two fabrics with the larger of the two coming around from the back and making a cute border for the front.  My Youngest helped me choose the kitty cat fabric.  Choose something VERY VERY soft.

The two individual pieces of fabric can come apart in the wash, so I sew lines through the middle.  This one I went from corner to corner, across the middle and down the middle in the shape of a giant asterisk.  I think it turned out good.

My cute back fabric.


Thanks for reading!

Shared here:
Feather's Flights

Heather

Cook a bunch...Save it for later!

Remember this soup...I call it OMG Beef and Vegetable Soup and it really is amazing. It uses a bunch of veggies and heart healthy grains and beans and lentils and my entire family actually eats it...even My Youngest who isn't a very good eater.  The only problem, is that it is time consuming.  It's not hard, but you do have to chop a bunch of vegetables and you have to let it simmer for a couple of hours so...you are making a bit of a commitment when you make it.

So, the next time I made it...I made a big a big improvement on my method...I made a double batch.  One to eat that night and the other to freeze and eat at a later date.  I did have to wash two giant pots and had to chop twice the amount of veggies...but once you're going it really doesn't take very much more time than doing a single batch.

I actually did more than just cook a double batch of  soup, I also browned up a couple of pounds of ground beef with onion and salt and pepper to freeze as well.  The nice thing about having some already browned ground beef ready to go...is you can turn it into so many things on the quick.  Tacos.  Chili.  Spaghetti Sauce.  Loose Meat Sandwiches.  It is a great thing to have on hand.

Here's what I did.  To start, I bought a 4 lb. package of ground beef.  I got out my two giant pots, you see above, put a splash of oil in each, heated them up over medium high heat and placed two lbs of ground beef in each.  I let them brown up nicely, then added a diced onion to each pot and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Once the meat was browned, I took the meat from one of the pots, let it cool then placed it in a zip top bag and popped it in the freezer.  The other pot I split the cooked ground beef evenly between the two pans and then commenced making a double batch of soup.

So, in one evening I had dinner.  Soup for another time and two lbs of ground beef to use at a later time.  This is something I encourage everyone to do.  If you are cooking something that is easy to make multiples of...do it.  It will save you time another day and make you a happier homemaker.

Oh by the way...
Mrs. Hines is back at the Cafe to show us how to tackle those big home organizing projects. You don't want to miss this if your desk and crafting area look anything like mine!!!

Head on over to the Cafe...

This project shared Here:
Coastal Charm
Adventures of a DIY MOM
Nap-Time Creations
My Uncommon slice of suburbia
Sugar Bee Crafts
Crafty Confessions
Lady bug Blessings

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Blaming it on the head cold

It's not my fault.  I said so in the title.  I am blaming this on the head cold.  If you aren't a quilter...you might not know what I'm talking about...but this is a big fat mistake.  All...or at least mostly all of the triangle points up there should meet neatly in each corner.  If you look closely, you will see that my points aren't matching up.  Any of them.  This is bad...very, very bad.

&*%$#@

The real tragedy is...I didn't make the connection until after I'd cut a goodly amount of fabric and had mis-sewn a grundle of squares made up of half square triangles...right then.

That pile up there...all bad!  I was supposed to cut my half square triangle fabrics into 2.5" x 2.5" squares.  Did I do that?  NO!  I cut them into 2.25" x 2.25" squares.  In an alternate universe somewhere...I may have just said...ehh....what's the big deal with 1/4" anyway and would have kept sewing.

Uhhhh...it is a big deal.  My 18 year old self wouldn't have worried about it, but as I am a much more conscientious quilter now...my 34 year old self knows this is no good.  Clearly my points are nowhere near matching up.  As I was sewing the last two rows I kept thinking, huh, I must not be cutting very accurately because my seams sure aren't matching up very well.  

 But it didn't compute.  I went about my business, kept on sewing then cut up some more fabric pieces...and then I started matching up some of the fabric I'd cut....wrong...with the previous fabric I'd cut...correctly and I thought....huh, man, I see what I did...I cut all this fabric 1/4" too big!!  

And went about "fixing" some of the pieces that were too big...then after I'd cut a considerable amount of perfectly good squares into perfectly unusable smaller squares...realization hit...big time.   Ohhhhhhh man!  I was supposed to cut the half square triangles 2.5" not 2.25"  dangblastitall!

Yeah....that up there is what is known as myself having a conversation with myself...and it's not going very well for...myself. 

So, as it would be terribly difficult for me to find all the patchworks pieces that I cut incorrectly in the above piece, I have made a few measurements and decided what I will do is toss the last two rows.  Those seem to be mostly sewn with the wrong size half square triangles.  There may be some in the previous rows...but it's not as obvious.

Sigh.  It is very disheartening to make a mistake like that and realize all your time and all that fabric are now for naught.

I now have several 2.25" x 2.25" squares made of seriously pink half square triangles.  I will save them, of course, and hopefully find a use for them at some later time.  In the meantime...I will find my seam ripper and weep into my Valentine's quilt as I tear away yesterday's work.

Fear not dear friends, I will not be defeated...I will just pay better attention next time.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Get your mending on

My brother-in-law told me recently that even though I have girls, they play like boys.  It's true.  My daughters are the rough-housing, chase the dog around the house, wrestle things to the ground and crawl around like whatever animal they are playing today, kind of girls.  Quite often this involves shimmying around on their hands and knees...and wearing out the knees in their pants.  I am not completely opposed to my kids wearing holey jeans...I'm frugal...but it isn't my favorite either to have them running around like a bunch of ragamuffins.  So....patch time.  But not just any patches...oh no...we're giving their jeans an all new style.

That would be the pile of pants needing mending in my house...

So, you start with a rip.  Turn the article of clothing inside out.

Cut out a piece of fabric that extends past the rip a good inch on all sides.  Pin it in place.  It is probably a good choice to use a piece of fabric that has been pre-washed.  I know this is difficult as I rarely pre-wash my fabric before using it and so therefore rarely have scraps that have been pre-washed.  This is a piece of old sheeting that I am using to make my Valentine's quilt.  So, I actually did use pre-washed in this case.  I wouldn't say it was a complete necessity, but fabric does shrink a bit...so be forewarned.

Turn pants right-side-out now.  First step is to make a blanket stitch around the rip. I used 4 strands of regular embroidery thread. You can either use a contrasting color of thread or try and match it to the pants.  You can also choose to trim away the raggedy ends or as I did here, tack them down with some simple running stitches.

Using a running stitch, circle around and around the patch to help reinforce the weakened fabric..plus it looks cute.  When you are finished with your stitches, turn the garment inside out again and trim away the excess fabric.  I would say leave approximately 1/4" of fabric around your stitching.

Here's a sort of up close so you could see the stitches in the middle.  Obviously pale yellow thread doesn't really show up that great.  Oh well.

Here is an example of a patch that I decided I didn't like.  So I unpicked the red running stitches.  If you're not loving something...change it.

I mended leggings.  Gave these ones some cute little embroidered flowers using the daisy stitch.

Remember the one above that I didn't like...this is what I changed it too.  I used a lighter shade of embroidery floss for the running stitches than the blanket stitch around the rip and gave this one some flowers as well.  So cute!

Here's an example of matching my thread to the color of pants.  So, you don't see my stitches much, but the pattern on the patch fabric comes through.  Both my girls are thrilled with their "new" pants...and I'm thrilled that I am not buying new pants half-way through the school year.

Thanks for reading!!

Love if you'd follow the Hearth on Facebook!

Heather

Getting my Valentine's butt in gear!

I am not known for decorating my house on holidays except for the big two....Halloween and Christmas.  So, a few days ago I was talking to the lovely Danni from Silo Hill Farm and she told me to get my ever loving tuckus in gear and make something using datgum red, white and pink...it sort of sounded like that...at least it did in my mind.  See, here's the thing, I made a reference to Coal Miner's Daughter in this post and Danni is the only one who caught it...or at least made comment on it.  So, she then recommended me to read a book called...

...I just realized you can hardly read the title on the book up there.  It's called Prayers for Sale, by Sandra Dallas and it's about a woman who has lived in the high mountains of Colorado in a mining community for her entire adult life.  It's early 1900's now and she's an old woman and her daughter wants her to leave her home in the mountains and move in with her. So, she's tidying up her affairs and helping a young wife who has just moved there with her husband, acclimate to mountain life.  It's all about quilting and women passing on wisdom...and so far I am loving it.  Last night The Mister asked me what I was reading and I told him it was about quilting and mining and....he said... No, no...it's too late to talk about quilting and mining.

You see, he used a technique of my own when he wants to talk math and science.  I have a rule that I can only discuss such matters after 8 am and prior to 9 pm.  Apparently he has the same threshold for quilting/mining talk that I do about math/science talk.

Alright, back to matters at hand.  Because of Danni...and all that up there, I have started making a Valentine's wall-hanging.  Now, if you want to see some seriously cute Valentine's decorations, check out her blog that I linked to above.  She's got some talent!!!

I am using a strip technique where you map out your pattern and then sew in downward strips and then sew all the strips together.  Hopefully...when all is said and done, this will be a heart.

The three strips on the right have been sewing together.  I just match up seams and sew.  The two on the left are waiting to be stitched.  It's a bit of an experiment so I'll just see how it turns out.  I am using all half square triangles to fill in the middle bit and I am pointing all the triangles along the outer edge the same directions with a dark color.  Hopefully this ends up looking liking a heart and not something freakish.  We'll see, won't we.

My homemade pattern.  See, anybody can design a quilt.  This particular type of quilt is nothing new.  Just google "heart quilt" and you'll see a dozen similar quilts.  The strip method I am using makes what looks like a daunting task, much simpler.  As I complete a strip, I just draw a line through it and move on to the next.  I count how many white squares on top and bottom I need and how many half square triangles I need in the middle and sew them together in.

Once I had my pattern figured out, I grabbed a pile of red and pink fabric and then set about cutting them into squares.

Of course there's a bit of trial and error when it comes to getting things just right.  See, if you want a square that's 2.25" X 2.25" but you want to make it with a half square triangle...there's a bit of geometry involved and tragically I was a failure at geometry.  So, I had to re-cut all my squares to get everything just right.

One of my favorite things about this quilt is...I'm using old sheets to make up the bulk of it.  The fabric above was an old sheet and I am using it in all my half square triangles.  One half of the square is this and the other half is pink or red.  It is so soft and pretty.

The white fabric on the outside of the heart is also an old sheet.  The Mister thinks I'm a bit of a hoarder because I keep old sheets to use later...but see, I'm not a hoarder because I am actually using them.  Hurray for not being a hoarder!

Well, I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Most Beloved Picture Books

We are a reading house here at the Beating Hearth.  Both my children love to read.  Most nights they get a story read to them, a song sung and a big old snuggle before they go to sleep.  Trust me, when I say the harshest way to punish My Youngest is to tell her she doesn't get her bedtime story or song because she was naughty.  I think it's her favorite part of the day.

The Mister is an avid reader...usually nerd stuff like String Theory or Stephen Hawking or WWII books or the Golden Ratio.  Imagine the nerdy dudes from Big Bang Theory...that's basically who I am married to.

I LOOOOOOVVVE to read as well.  I don't know how I managed before the kindle...oh wait, yes I do...I bought a heck of a lot of books.  I have an entire closet filled with shelves...filled with books.  So today I am talking about my favorite children's books.  Let's get going.  If you click on the book itself, it'll take you to the link on Amazon.

I am starting with my favorite picture book. King Bidgood's in the Bathtub is fun and exquisitely illustrated. I have never loved looking at a book quite so much as this one. The King doesn't want to get out of his bathtub and so the members of his court try to devise ways to get him out. They all think they know the king best, but...well, they end up in the tub with him with hilarious results. I especially love watching the dripping wet people take the walk of shame in their period clothes....Classic.  You will be amazed at the gorgeous colors and the details put into each illustration. Fun for kids and adults!  It's also a Caldecott Honor Book.

Cinder Edna is a fun remake of Cinderella.  It's about a girl who is in Cinderella's same situation, evil step family...has to clean for them etc etc etc, but instead of relying on a Fairy Godmother to get her to the ball, she figures things out for herself like...what's the last pick up time at the bus stop.  She doesn't just give up her dreams to marry some guy, she makes sure she actually likes him.  Which, as a mother of daughters, I really appreciate.  I can't tell you how many times I tell the girls that thinking your husband is handsome is important, but even more important is that you actually like him...a lot!  She isn't the fairest of the land, but she still gets a pretty cool guy...Prince Charming's nerdy younger brother who has a sweet red Pompadour.

This book is interesting for kids and the grown-ups reading it.  It teaches about the interesting body parts that different animals have and why they have them.  For example, it explains how the horned lizard can actually leak blood from it's eyes!!!  Or that the archer fish shoots insects out of the air with a jet of water.  Love a fun and educational book!!

This is another visually stunning book...the illustrator uses a technique where they use a  die cut and cut out a shape. On the first page the cut out looks like one thing and then when you turn it over it looks like something else.  So clever.  So creative.  A great book for the younger set...I still like it and have been reading it to My Youngest...for a good 3 1/2 years.  She really likes chickens, so this is the perfect book for her.   It's also a Caldecott Honor book and a Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor Book.

So, if you have a child who is in need of some good books, please consider one of these, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

New things are a coming!!

Sorry for the month off.  We decided to have the most hectic December our family has ever known.  The Mister had finals.  We decided to re-paint and re-carpet the ENTIRE house.  Christmas.  It was a bit much.  Now my house is all done...except for...

And...

So...if you're wondering why else I haven't been blogging, then this is the reason.  My sewing room has been decommissioned.  Everything in boxes.  My sewing table taken up with storing all kinds of...miscellaneous things while the office got it's new carpet.  My sewing machine...dunno....somewhere in the heap.

So, as of last night I took it upon myself to get things going again.  Sewing table...cleared off.  Sewing Machine...found!   Boxes...well, let's just say it looks like a fabric tornado blew through here.  But, at least everything is out of boxes and sort of where it goes.

And...

These are new.  Merry Christmas to me!!  You can believe there will be a Heather's Test Kitchen and it will involve these three cookbooks.  In fact, Smitten Kitchen was the main reason behind the success of my New Year's party this year.  Oh yes...there were delights to be had.

Thanks for reading and let's make 2013 amazing!!

Heather