Got a couple of errands to run early this morning, including taking my DS to the eye doctor for a new set of glasses, and delivering a couple of candy bouquets, but other than that I'm home alone YAY! LOL... SO, I plan on some crock pot soups and making some other TV Dinners, trying to finish the decorating, and who knows what else! I did 7 loads of laundry yesterday. but I should really do some more! I hate laundry YUCK! LOL... plus I still have to finish the inlaws last 2 presents before Sunday. FUN... NOT! LOL anyways, ok so yea, what craft idea to share today? Well... I posted on one of my yahoo groups about some of the gifts I have made and people wanted to know about it, so I think I will share it with you...
(**This is a picture I found on google... as I realized I don't HAVE one of the ones I made and I already wrapped them up! UGH! Next one I make I will make sure to take a picture and replace it here!**)
Craft Idea of the Day: Quillows
What is a quillow you ask? Well a quillow is just a quilt and a pillow in one. The basic idea is that you fold the quilt into a pocket you sew on and when it's all folded up it looks like a pillow. Some people sew a strap to carry it onto their quillow. It is a great thing to have if you do alot of traveling. They are very easy to make actually. Here are some instructions courtesy of essortment.com:
Materials needed for a quillow:
2 Fabric Panels Pre-Washed
Yarn for Quilt Tying
Pins
Needle
Thread
Sewing Machine
Quilt Batting
1. Start by making the Quillows pocket. You will need 2 pieces of approximately 18x18" fabric squares. These pieces of fabric will be getting a lot of wear and use and will need to be extra sturdy.
2. You can purchase commercial pillow panels that are pre-printed on material in a variety of styles. You can find panels with sports teams insignia, tractor and racecar panels, outdoor fishing or hunting motifs, southwest pillow panels and dainty flowered panels. Fabric stores have a wide variety of options available for decorating your quillows.
3. If you are not using a very strong material, reinforce it with heavy duty fusible webbing sandwiched between your two pocket panels. After choosing your pillow top panel, layout the 2 pillow panels right sides together. Sew them together leaving a few inches open at one end to turn the pillow inside out. Before turning the pillow panel, use a pencil point to bring your corners to a nice point and clip off the corners at an angle. Turn the pillow right sides out and using a hand needle and thread, blind stitch the turning hole closed. Press the pillow for a crisp look.
4. Position the finished pillow front on the top middle of one of the quilt fabric panels. Match up the panel on the unfinished outside edge of the quilt panel. Machine stitch the pillow panel to your quilt panel leaving the side of the pillow that faces the vertical quilt open to form a pocket. Be sure to double stitch the top ending seams of your pocket for durability.
5. Next, laying out both top and bottom quilt fabrics with the "right" sides of the fabric together, the pocket facing in. Separate your quilt batting in two as the general commercial batting tends to be to thick and makes it difficult to fold your bulky quilt into the finished pillow pocket. You will find it quite easy to pull the batting apart once you start separating a corner and working it apart.
6. Lay the batting on top of the two pieces of fabric and pin all three pieces together along the edge of the fabric. Turn the pinned pieces over with the fabric side up and trim the batting to fit the fabric panels.
7. Next, machine sew all the way around your pre-pinned quilt leaving a 12 inch hole to turn your quilt inside out. After turning your quilt using a hand needle and thread, blind stitch the turning hole closed as you did with the pocket.
8. The last step is to hand tie your quilt with coordinating yarn and wide eyed quilting needle. If your fabric has a pattern you may want to tie off the yarn along the design. Yarn ties should be made about every foot of the quilt to keep the batting in place.
FOLDING A QUILLOW
After you have folded your quillow into a pocket a few times it will be easy to do. To start, lay out the quilt with the pocket side down and fold the outer vertical edges of the quilt towards each other overlapping first one side, than the other edge. Flip your quilt over so the edges are folded in and the pillow pocket is at the top of your quilt. Start at the bottom of the quilt and fold it into approximately 2 foot sections until you get to the pocket and slide the quilt into it's self made pillow.
OK now for some yummy food! I'm making creamy tortellini soup, homemade yeast rolls, beef stew, and cornbread, and a pecan pie for dessert. I'll also be making more TV dinners for freezing, and I will begin mixing up some fresh dry mixes for storage (oh you're gonna trip out when you see what I am talking about later on down the road LOL!) So I am gonna share my soup and pie recipes with you today... you can use the pie for holiday cooking as well! YAY! Holiday baking is just around the corner! I start bright and early on Monday!! YAY!
Creamy Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
1 1.8-ounce envelope white sauce mix
4 cups water
1 14-ounce can vegetable broth
1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 7- to 8-ounce package dried cheese tortellini (about 2 cups)
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
6 cups fresh baby spinach leaves or torn spinach
Ground black pepper (optional)
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)
Directions
1. Place dry white sauce mix in a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker. Gradually add the water to the white sauce mix, stirring until smooth. Stir in broth, mushrooms, onion, garlic, basil, salt, oregano, and cayenne pepper.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2-1/2 to 3 hours.
3. Stir in dried tortellini. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 1 hour more or high-heat setting for 45 minutes more.
4. Stir in evaporated milk and fresh spinach. If desired, sprinkle individual servings with black pepper and Parmesan cheese. Makes 4 servings.
Incredibly Nutty Pecan Pie
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup butter, chilled
4 tablespoons ice water
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup pecans, finely crushed
1 cup pecans, quartered
1 cup pecan halves
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. To Make Crust: In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and white sugar. Cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually sprinkle the water over the dry mixture, stirring until dough comes together enough to form a ball. On a floured surface flatten dough ball with rolling pin. Roll out into a circle that is one inch larger than pie dish. Place pie shell into dish and refrigerate until pie filling is complete.
3. To Make Pie Filling: In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, light and dark corn syrups, brown sugar, butter, salt and finely crushed pecans. Spread quartered pecans over bottom of refrigerated pie crust. Pour syrup mixture over top of pecans, then arrange pecan halves on top of pie.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for one hour or until firm; let cool for one hour before serving.
Well this concludes todays info-blog LOL! Be aware that starting on Monday, I've decided that along with my dinner recipes, I will also be sharing one sweets (cookie, pies, cakes, etc) recipe with you per day so you can have fun with some holiday baking as well! I imagine to see swarms of my extendeds when the oven fires up for some sweet yummy goodness next week! LOL I can't keep their grubby hands away! But I love them all and wouldn't have it any other way! Until tomorrow my darlings... HUGS!
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