Name: Beef Stir Fry
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 3/4 lb flank steak (cut into strips); 1 Tb cornstarch; 1 Tb black bean sauce ((found in the Asian section of the grocery store)); 2 carrots (sliced thin); 2 peppers (chopped (I like to use red, yellow, or orange)); 8 oz mushrooms (sliced); 1 8 oz can water chestnuts; 2 cups snow peas; 1 head of bok choy or napa cabbage (thinly sliced); 4 green onions (sliced on an angle); 5 cloves of garlic (minced); 1 Tb grated ginger; 3/4 cup water; 1 1/2 T dry sherry ((optional)); 3 T oyster sauce or soy sauce; 1/4 tsp sugar; 1 1,2 tsp sesame oil; 1 1/2 T cornstarch

free quilted table runner tutorial at moda bakeshop

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Kristin

christmas table runner

Would you like to feel like you’ve got a jump on Christmas this year? Christmas fabric is just starting to come out and I whipped up a scrappy table runner over at the Moda Bakeshop using a jelly roll from Sweetwater’s upcoming line Hometown Christmas.

Super fast and easy and a jelly roll is enough to make a few of them (one for you and a couple to give away–see, it even gives you a head start on gifts!).

(Hint: It’s also perfect for any leftover jelly roll strips you have for an any-time-of-year addition to your table.)

sunday supper by sweetwater

made for baby :: cute sewn gifts :: book tour

Posted on May 16, 2017May 15, 2017 by Kristin

Welcome to my stop on the Made for Baby, Cute Sewn Gifts blog tour! I’m so excited to show you what I made from this sweet book!

But first let me take you back in time to when I first came across Adya’s work. It was actually my friend Minki, who mentioned to me one day over tea that she had found this person on Instagram that took the most amazing photos of the most amazing projects. I pulled my phone out right then and there and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship! The word “impeccable” comes to mind every time I look at Ayda’s projects. Her taste is exquisite and her workmanship is just perfection. So much so that I was thrilled when she took part on our own Sew Illustrated blog tour. I still go back and look at those pictures!

made for baby cute sewn gifts

I was excited and not at all surprised to find out that she was writing her own book–and the result is just as sweet and charming as can be. After pouring myself a cup of tea, I spent a delicious afternoon just paging through the book. First of all, Ayda took all the photos and they are gorgeous! I think that a craft book needs beautiful, inspirational photography–don’t you?

The book is filled with absolutely adorable quick things to sew for baby. And that is often when the sewing bug bites us, isn’t it? When there is a new baby arriving to sew for? I wish I could go back in time and sew up many of these charming pillows, toys, bibs, and quilts for my own children. But, now that I think of it–maybe it’s better to enjoy my teenage children and just sew these projects for other new mamas. The best of both worlds!

So, which project did I choose? The baby quilt of course! Oh, my what a fun make this was! It’s a simple patchwork quilt–but in true Ayda-style, she added many lovely little details that make it special.

First of all–that elephant! How cute is he?! A handful of blocks with raw-edge applique (or sewing illustration, as I like to call it) are the first detail that make this quilt so darling. Each motif is large enough that sewing them was easy-peasy.

baby quilt

raw edge applique baby quilt

Another detail is this sweet little pocket that you can tuck little toys (or binkies) into. And there are a smattering of little tags here and there for added charm and most importantly–for baby to find and play with.

baby quilt

I put my own spin on this project in a few small ways. First, as much as I adore the muted palette of the quilt shown in the book–I used a layer cake of the very bright and cheerful Wistful Winds by Doohikey Designs. I purchased this stack a few months ago–just because it was so adorable, with no plan in mind. I was happy to find the project that it was meant to be! I also left the borders off the quilt, which, of course, made it a bit smaller. But I think it is a perfect size for a car seat or stroller quilt–or as a playmat. Lastly, I machine quilted it with a combination of free motion loopy meanders in the larger center blocks and what is becoming my signature wavy line quilting along the outer squares. I love they way the wavy lines criss-cross in the corners.

This little quilt was lucky enough to go on a playdate over to Minki’s house and visit the adorable bunnies she made for her stop on the tour. Don’t they look sweet together? As a matter of fact–her daughter Claire is waiting ever so patiently for my turn on the tour to finish–since I promised this little quilt to her. Though she’s not actually a baby–I know that she will make good use of it playing with her collection of handmade dolls. So, actually it’s not just for babies!

baby quilt

This quilt was such a fun and quick project–perfect when you need that last minute gift to bless a new mama. I’m so glad to have this book on my shelf. I know that I will reach for it often.

baby quilt

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! Comment over on Ayda’s blog to enter. One winner (worldwide) will be chosen at the end of the tour. It could be you!

made for baby cute sewn gifts

And make sure that you pop by each of the stops on the tour–so many talented makers have created beautiful projects to share.

May.03	Ayda ALGIN	www.cafenohut.blogspot.com	@cafenohut
May.04	Jemima Flendt	www.blog.tiedwitharibbon.com	@tiedwitharibbon
May.05	Sarah Edgar	www.alittlehappyplace.blogspot.co.uk	@sarahedgarprettyfabrics
May.08	Lisa Cox	www.aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com	@aspoonfulsugar
May.09	Ange Hamilton	www.alittlepatchwork.wordpress.com	@alittlepatchwork
May.10	Lauren Wright	www.mollyandmama.com.au	@mollyandmama
May.11	Melissa LeRay	www.ohhowsweet.com	@ohhowsweetco
May.12	Minki Kim	www.minkikim.com	@zeriano
May.15	Faith Essenburg	www.SaranaAve.wordpress.com	@faithessenburg
May.16	Kristin Esser	www.kristinesser.com/	@kristin_esser
May.17	Lauren Guthrie	www.guthrie-ghani.co.uk/blog	@guthrieghani
May.18	Bridgette McNay	www.thefamilyhearth.com	@thefamilyhearth
May.19	Torie Jayne	www.toriejayne.com	@toriejayne
May.22	Constanca Cabral	www.constancacabral.com/blog	@constancacabral
May.23	Stacy Olson	www.stacyolsondesign.com	@stacyolsondesign
May.24	Caroline Husle	www.SewCaroline.com	@SewCaroline
May.29	Nadra Ridgeway	www.ellisandhiggs.com	@ellisandhiggs
May.30	Wynn Tan	www.zakkaArt.blogspot.com	@zakkaArt
May.31	Sedef Imer	www.downgrapevinelane.com	@downgrapevinelane
JUNE 01	Lauren Nash	www.transientart.com	@transientart
JUNE 02	Jennie Pickett	www.cloverandviolet.com	@cloverandviolet
JUNE 05	Amy Sinibaldi	www.nanaCompany.typepad.com	@amysinibaldi
JUNE 07	Kim Kruzich	www.retro-mama.blotspot.com	@retro_mama
JUNE 08	Elea Lutz	www.elealutzdesign.com	@elealutz
JUNE 09	Samantha Dorn	www.aquapaisleystudio.com/blog	@aqua_paisley
JUNE 12	Ayda ALGIN	www.cafenohut.blogspot.com	@cafenohut

machine quilting blog hop {week 3}

Posted on May 15, 2017May 15, 2017 by Kristin

Welcome to the Machine Quilting Blog Hop Week 3! Or, as I like to call it “Quilting with Friends”. It’s so good to hear from people in the comments, on Instagram, or on my Facebook page that are following along both in practice and in spirit. And I have loved reading about Jen, Vicki, and HollyAnne’s experiences along the way.

This week was fun! It started with some straight line quilting–which I was doing on a quilt anyway–so “check!” I really enjoy straight line quilting, or as I like to say, “straightish line” quilting. This design is one that I find myself cringing when I see the wobbles as I’m quilting–but when I stand back and look–those wobbles pretty much disappear. It is so easy to be critical when you are close-up, so stand back and give yourself a break. I was truly in my happy place quilting line after line, listening to the soundtrack from Les Miserable.

domestic machine quilting

Then it was on to a similar design, but using a decorative stitch. This is one that I do all the time right now: the elongated wavy stitch.

domestic machine quilting

I had never done it in a triangle shape before, so that was a bit challenging. You want to switch from the wavy stitch to a straight stitch to travel to the next starting point, so that you don’t have to keep breaking thread. I found it very inconvenient to keep switching stitches like that–especially because I need to modify the wavy stitch on my machine. I make it longer and wider than the default setting. This was a lot to mess with every time I switched back to the straight stitch to travel. So I actually dug out my sewing machine manual and looked up how to save stitches in memory. I saved the wavy stitch with the settings that I like, and I also saved the straight stitch. Then it was just a couple button clicks to move back and forth between the stitches. I felt like a genius!

domestic machine quilting

Next was irregular zig zags and then came irregular chevron shapes. The chevrons were so fun and easy to do! I love the way they came out. This is going to be a very useful design, I can already tell. I switched over to a bending thread, but I actually like the one with the high contrast thread better. The stitch length is all over the place–but I’m finding my rhythm. I could really use one of those Bernina stitch regulators–and the Bernina to go with it 🙂

domestic machine quilting

I am so glad that my new free motion foot finally come in from my dealer! (Queue angels singing!) I Iove this thing! I can see! I can finally see! Having this foot really made a difference in being able to see where I am, where I have been, and most importantly, where I am going. (I talked about my issues with my other darning foot last week. ) I practiced those darn pebbles again–and it is a lot easier–but they still need work.

open toe darning foot

Then on to small scale stippling. Stippling is the one free motion design that I feel I have the most experience with. When I was a new quilter I joined a guild that has a huge charity group. I used to take home 2-3 quilts each month just to practice stippling. But, I had never done it on such a small scale before. The stipples may not actually be micro-stipples, but they are pretty small for me.

domestic machine quilting

Lastly, was a fun triangle spiral–which I did once across the practice piece and then when back and filled in all the remaining spaces with more triangle spirals. I’m still working on keeping my stitch length consistent, but this was a fun design.

domestic machine quilting

After last week’s pebbling challenge, I felt that this week was pretty fun and easy–a good confidence booster. And it is a mix of both walking foot and free motion designs, which is a nice change up. I’m still practicing those pebbles though…

Don’t forget–The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting is on sale all month long over on the Martingale website. It’s a great time to grab a copy!

Are you seeing progress with your own stitches? We’d love to see! Don’t forget to share on Instagram: #machinequiltingbloghop

Check out what the others are doing:

Jen at Quiltin’Jenny

Vicki at My Creative Corner3

HollyAnne at String and Story

Or just click the image below to get all the links.

a new story on quilt fiction + a giveaway

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Kristin

Frances posted another quilt fiction story on her website Quiltfiction.com! If you haven’t read the last one, it’s called The Off-Kilter Quilt–I encourage you to pop over to read that one as well. This new story is called A Quilt for Dr. Wallace and I loved it from the first sentence. It’s a quick read and after you are done, leave a comment on her blog post to be entered in a sweet giveaway for this fabric bundle:

What are you waiting for? 🙂

machine quilting blog hop {week 2}

Posted on May 8, 2017May 8, 2017 by Kristin

Here we are again for Week 2 of the Machine Quilting Blog Hop. To recap–a few blogging friends and I are quilting our way through The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting in an effort to improve our machine quilting skills. It’s been a lot of fun so far and I’m already seeing progress! Click here to start at the beginning.

I made about a million more quilt sandwiches to practice on this week.. No piece of ugly fabric is safe from me anymore! I’m actually regretting donating a bunch of fabric that I didn’t love to charity last fall. I could really use it now.

This week the focus was on two new designs–pebbles and a wood grain motif. Now, I know a lot of people do pebbles, and they act like it’s no big deal–but (ahem) I beg to differ. Pebbles are hard! I’ve been training for this for months, doodling pebbles while in boring meetings. But still . The struggle is real.

the ultimate guide to machine quilting

The first night, I filled up a full fat quarter with pebbles. And I have to say–I actually saw progress from the beginning of the night to the end. The part that I find the hardest is traveling back over the original line to start the next pebble. I’m often all over the place and it just looks…sloppy. I learned pretty quickly that I just need to Slow. Down. This is the story of my life–trying to do things too fast. Going slower gives you more control–when will I learn this? I also started making the pebbles a little bigger, which helped. I found this interesting, because last week I found that making spirals smaller made it easier for me. Go figure.

So, after practicing them for a while, I decided to try them on a practice piece with more of a blending thread–which is a lot more forgiving. Not forgiving enough, I’m afraid. They still need work, but that’s what this challenge is all about! In fact, I plan to continue practicing each motif each week–and I’m excited to see what my pebbles look like at Week 10.

pebble quilting

Next, onto the wood grain motif. I’ll admit–I was intimidated by this one. So much so, that I also watched Christa’s Craftsy class, where she demonstrates this motif (actually most of the motifs in the book are covered in her class–it is a treasured resource for me!). The first thing I did was practice on paper to start to figure the design out and start to establish the muscle memory. Here’s what that looked like:

domestic machine quilting

Then I hit the machine. I found this motif so much fun! I actually tried quilting the design horizontally at first, but eventually found that it was much easier for me to quilt it vertically. So much of machine quilting is finding what works for you–so I was pleased to figure that out. I can totally picture myself using this motif in the future! It looks much harder than it is and creates such a cool look.

the ultimate guide to machine quilting

Here is the other thing that that I found out this week–I want to try an open toe free-motion foot. I feel that the foot I have makes it hard to see what is happening (pictured below). Leah Day has a video on how to modify a foot like this for better visibility. But I was a bit hesitate to do that in case I actually broke the whole foot. Instead, I have a metal, open-toe free motion foot on order at my local sewing machine dealer. I suspect I will like that one better, and I will then try the modification that Leah suggests on my existing foot. I will let you know what I think of the new foot once I have a chance to play with it.

darning foot

Some good news if you would like to follow along–The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting is on sale all month long over on the Martingale website. It’s a great time to grab a copy!

So, how did you do this week? Did pebbles kick your butt too? Let me know and don’t for get to share your work in Instagram #machinequiltingbloghop.

Don’t forget to visit the other bloggers who are quilting along!

Vicki at My Creative Corner3

Jen at Quiltin’Jenny

HollyAnne at String and Story

machine quilting blog hop {week 1}

Posted on May 1, 2017May 1, 2017 by Kristin

I’m so excited to get this Machine Quilting Blog Hop started! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this. I’ll wait 🙂

The first thing I did was to assemble the basics: The book The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting, a Supreme Slider (optional, but oh so helpful), Machingers quilting gloves (sorry they are so dirty!), the darning foot for my machine, and my favorite thread–Aurifil 2311.