Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Layer Skirts

I made a couple of cute skirts recently. They are easy, ruffled, and allow for different fabric combinations. The most complicated thing about them is they require gathering.

I used this tutorial over at Prudent Baby (a wonderful blog for crafty people) and whipped up this skirt during nap time. Instead of three prints, I used two for a sandwich look. The fabrics are from the Good Fortune collection by Kate Spain for Moda. The whole line is super cute. I had to restrain myself when I was at the quilt shop. The only thing I did differently from the tutorial was to sew the bottom hem after I sewed the sides together. I also added a little bow at the waist. I plan on giving it to a four year for her birthday.

And during a different nap time, I made this little version. The top layer is 3” x 23”. The middle layer is 2.5” x 32”. The bottom layer is 3” x 42”. I used 0.375” elastic to make a final waist of 16”. And the overall length was 5.75”. I was aiming for it to be 3-6 month size. I do hope little Miss L is able to use this summer.

They are so cute and easy, I've been thinking of making one for myself.


Monday, April 16, 2012

Best. Brownies. Ever.


I have made a lot of different brownie recipes over the years. However, in the last three or four years I have only really made one recipe. Sure, I try a new one every now and again. But, I always come back to this one recipe. It's King Arthur Flour's Deep-Dark Fudgy Brownie recipe. I originally got the recipe off the back of a double-dutch dark cocoa package I purchased from King Arthur Flour.

It's super easy. I use one bowl and mix by hand. I do think that the double-dutch dark cocoa is the one of the keys to this recipe, but if you can't get that, a regular dutch cocoa should be good. I personally always add walnuts and omit the chocolate chips. I also prefer to bake it in a 9"x 13" pan. I find it a touch too gooey in the center if I use a square pan (but then again, I'm one of those people that prefer the edge).

Anyway, I highly recommend the Deep-Dark Fudge Brownie recipe. And I highly recommend it topped with vanilla ice cream, though it is perfect with a glass of cold milk or a hot latte.


Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Quilts for Little Babies



This is our daughter, little Miss E, a happy, healthy 21 month old.


However, she was born just over five weeks early, weighing in at 4 lbs. 5 oz. She spent about 12 hours in the NICU and 8 days in the special care nursery. Here she is, a few hours old, all wired up in her incubator.


During her time in the special care nursery, seeing the other babies, I realized how fortunate we were. Miss E was essentially only kept in the hospital because she was small. She was out of an incubator within a couple of days. She was released when she was eating reliably, even though she was still under her birth weight. There were two other babies that were the same gestational age as Miss E, but were born two months earlier, and they probably didn't go home until at least a month after our girl came home. I can't imagine what that's like. I was released only a few days before Miss E, so there were just a few days of traveling back and forth to the hospital. I don't know what I would do if I had to do that for months. You just do it, I guess, and wait for that day you can have your baby (or babies) at home with you.

While hospital nurseries are not the sterile, harshly lit environments they used to be, it is always nice when there are things to make it more homey. The babies that were there for awhile had decorations and pictures brought in from home. Outfits were brought (of course, they were huge) to replace the the little white hospital shirts. And some handmade items were donated to the hospital for the babies. Miss E was given a cute little pink knit hat.

I decided I wanted to do something to help make the environment more cozy. Since I don't knit or crochet, I figured it would have to be sewn. While I was pregnant, I started quilting, so I decided on little quilts. I came to this decision about a year and a half ago. About a year ago I contacted the hospital Miss E was born at to find out about appropriate sizing for the quilts. And last week I finally finished the last of nine quilts to donate. Six are small enough to fit inside the incubators and three are larger to drape over the incubators.

One of the styles I used for several of the quilts is called a stacked coin (Here is a tutorial). Super cute and quite easy.

I even made some Bonfire Bakery labels for the quilts (Here is that tutorial).


Here are all the quilts, all stacked up and ready to go.


It's taken awhile to get them made, but I am so happy I did it. And I look forward to dropping them off at MGH's NICU tomorrow morning.