Twirly Skirt Part 2

As I was preparing to head to Iowa for a fun weekend with friends, I was reminded that sweet little "D's" birthday was the Monday after our visit. Well... what this curly Sue needed for her 4th bday was a twirly skirt. Miss D is a very girly girl! Loves shoes and all things twirly and princess-like!! Thank goodness I had plenty of extra fabric on hand for a skirt that would be similar to Miss E's. That way they could be cute matchy twirly girls together on ISU campus for VEISHEA!!
Her skirt was a little simplified. I used long strips instead of the patchwork squares! A piece of cake!!



Miss D enjoys her skirt! She was playing in the dirt with her skirt all around her. I couldn't help taking a few shots!

SPRING has sprung

Spring is finally here!! Not that I can complain about the winter we had. We had it much better than my friends and family in Iowa. So...as I a think forward to summer I get hungry for fresh produce that I walk out into my back yard to harvest!

My wonderful hubby recognizes my need to "grow stuff" and let me dig some new beds in our yard, inside our fence and out of reach of the neighborhood deer.

Mr. G was very excited about helping me plant the "garden". He helped me choose seeds and is a master waterer. With his help, I planted lettuce (2 types), radishes, spinach, carrots, broccoli and cabbage.









After Sandy tromped through the garden making huge pawprints on top of the spinach, I put up a rope fence to keep her out.
Hopefully if my efforts prove to produce great results.. these beds will become "raised" beds next year.

While the kids are away.. the Mommy will play!

A good friend of mine has wanted a sewing lesson for quite some time now. Two of her three kiddos are spending time with their Grandma this week, thus we found a chunk of time for that overdue sewing lesson! She has a daughter the same age as Miss E. They are great friends. So what does she need??? A TWIRLY SKIRT!!

This was a great first project for my friend. She got A LOT of practice sewing and making gathers. I know what you are thinking ... gathers.....her first time out.. that is a little ambitious! But she did a great job and we finished it in one day!

I can't wait to see her daughter twirling away in this adorable skirt! I'm sure this is just the beginning of her sewing adventures.

Next project: embellishing a t-shirt to match the twirly skirt.

Dinner at 6: Fish Tacos

Since I started this blog, I began reading more blogs. It is amazing what is out there in cyberspace! I wonder how many blogs there are on the web. The answer would probably astound me. Oh well, I am very inspired by the ones I currently read and that is great fun!

I haven't talked about cooking yet. I really enjoy cooking for my family and anyone else who shows up at our home. A great friend of mine, whose husband is a farmer, came to visit last weekend. It seemed like we talked about food a lot while they were here. We also had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant in White Bear Lake called Manitou Station. We all had dishes that we wouldn't normally prepare at home. It was wonderful! I tried scallops in brown butter and sage. VERY GOOD! Our friend had halibut (which happened to be "in season") with a carrot coulis. I didn't know what that was (coulis), but it is basically a puree. The word sounds like "coolee". So if you see that on a menu, don't be afraid. It is great!

So here at home, I have been cooking some of our favorites lately. One of those being fish tacos. Yes.. we are Midwesterners... but we love fish tacos!!

Rachel Ray's Fish Tacos

This is a recipe that used as a reference when I began making fish tacos. I do my own variation now, as I know how the kids like them. Fish tacos are pretty basic. Here is what you need:

Tortillas
Mild white fish (halibut, cod, tilapia, etc)
Coleslaw mix (or a whole cabbage if you like to make your own slaw. The purple variety makes for a very pretty slaw!!)
Avocado
Sour cream
Lemon or lemon juice
Shredded cheese (I typically use a med. cheddar, but you can mix it up with whatever your prefer)

Heat the tortillas in the skillet OR you can wrap several in foil and warm in the oven. Smear onto the warmed tortilla the "magic green sauce" as my kids call it, (blended avocado, sour cream, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste).

Add the fish (prepared how you like: broiled, grilled, pan fried) You can season the fish to your liking. Simply with salt, pepper and lemon juice or kick it up a notch with other seasonings. Another note about fish: I struggle at times finding good fresh fish. Fresh fish should never smell... well... fishy!! I tend to have the best luck buying vacuum sealed frozen fish.

Add the cheese and slaw. DONE!! I also serve Spanish rice with this dish, because the hubby and I like it!

I'm sure Rachel's recipe is fancier than mine with more veggies, seasonings etc. When looking for recipes, you will find that some fish is breaded and fried. Also some are called "Baja fish tacos". This is a recipe that you can truly make your own way and should have a great result.

I tried taking some of my own photos when preparing my tacos, but my photography skills are a little lacking at this point. Ah well... I will learn as I go.

Twirly Skirt

I bought a pattern last fall for a patchwork twirly skirt. It is really a cute pattern by Pink Fig. I collected some cute fabrics from JoAnn fabrics and the great quilt shop downtown here in Hudson called St. Croix County Dry Goods. They have really FUN fabrics.

After making Miss E's Easter dress I decided I was ready to tackle this skirt.
Actually, it is pretty simple. It just takes more time because you have to "finish" all the seams with a serger-like or zigzag stitch, which takes a bit longer.





In this photo, I have the top waist piece and the 1st row of patchwork.
This project does require gathers. My Mom and Mother-in-Law have helped me with gathering projects before and have given me great tips. The manual for my sewing machine also has information on gathering.

This skirt does not contain any type of "pattern" pieces. Is is written more like a quilt pattern, telling you the size of pieces to cut and not making you use a pattern or a template.

I must say as I read the pattern I was thinking.... "Golly this little skirt has ALOT of fabric in it!" The bottom striped piece is 3, 39" x 6" strips sewn together. But it makes for quite a twirly skirt and Miss E LOVES it. I'm sure I'll be making many more. She enjoyed choosing and laying out the blocks in an order that she liked.

Easter Dress

As I was shopping for Miss E's Easter dress, I was disappointed with the selection. I am not one to buy a foofy Easter dress that is impractical and rarely worn again. Of course the thought popped into my head..."hmmmm.. I guess I could make her dress." Which lead me straight to JoAnn fabrics to see if I could find a pattern that, A) I thought would look cute on her and B) that I could complete without pulling my hair out.

This is the pattern I found.



During this project, I relearned many things about following a pattern that I had forgotten.

1) Read the pattern CAREFULLY!! Closely examine how you should lay the fabrics and pattern pieces on the fabric BEFORE cutting. I didn't do this... but thankfully remembered before I got too far down the road. If you don't lay out fabrics correctly and pattern pieces right side down or right side up, you will be short of fabric OR your pieces will NOT FIT!!



2) Making clothing is an exercise in PATIENCE!! Read directions very carefully and be willing to laugh at yourself while tearing out seams! I kept trying to rush through it and at one point sewing the lining instead of the bodice etc. etc. I ended up with the zipper in backwards. HA HA!! At least I can laugh about it now.

3) When a pattern says to use a 5/8" seam, DO IT!! Or else your garment will not fit correctly. Sewing seams when making clothing is so much different than making quilts. With some practice I am getting the hang of it. I also use the serger stitch on my sewing machine quite a bit.

Making the Dress:

I sewed the bodice first. I have done this before, so it wasn't too bad.



As it was time to make the skirt of the dress,I learned a new term, stay.. This is what you sew tiers to... a stay. I was confused at first, but it made sense after I read the directions more carefully.



This dress has 3 tiers and really is a cute pattern. You can see the stay underneath the tiers.




And finally after battling with the zipper way more than necessary!! (God really thought I needed to work on my patience with this project.) The dress is finished.



Miss E really loves it and is excited to wear it for Easter and more.

Domestic Engineer

Since I am a stay at home Mom (Domestic Engineer) I get recruited by my children to complete a variety of projects. Well, Mr. G's project for me a week or so ago was a Chinook Helicopter made from K'nex. Of course it is the final and most difficult project in the book. I thought, "I am a Mommy, I can do this!!" And thus the task began.



Mr. G helped me quite a bit, finding parts and encouraging me to finish. He was having fun creating space ships of his own. By the time we were done.. there were not many pieces left in the box!



This project even has a motor in it so that the blades can move. Pretty cool!!



Mr. G's Star Wars lego dude, even decided to go for a ride. It was a fun project and I am glad to say that Mommies can build cool stuff too!