fabric, scissors, straight pins, flour, sugar, rolling pins…
I’ve been down with a head cold for the last few days so I will let the photos speak for themselves this week.
First up, tiny paper pieced shirts for the All Shirts Swap.
And making a tote…
…for this beauty!
I apologize for all of the iPhone | Instagram photos this week! I’ll introduce my new machine properly next week and show off my first finish of 2014 now that it is finally gifted!
One of the things that I enjoy most about quilting and sewing is learning new tricks and methods to accomplish things. I learned the Missouri Star Method to make these half square triangles out of feed sacks for another work in progress. They are three inches when trimmed. The Missouri Star Method is so much easier than the method I used to get the triangles for last weeks work in progress!
A few years ago my mom gifted me a set of dishes, the dessert plate you can see above. They were the very first set of dishes that my Grandmother and my Great Aunt had in their first apartment! It is a cherry branch pattern on a field of white with a delicate red ring along the edge. I have dinner plates and dessert plates along with cups and saucers. They do not get used very often, but they fit me and our kitchen perfectly. I am quite impressed with my Grandmother’s taste. I no longer have our first set of dishes, but from what I can remember, they were a hodgepodge and nothing to write home about!
On to chocolate things! I love a simple bundt cake. They come out of the pan pretty and they require no stacking, crumb coating, fancy frosting and the like. I have made a few versions of a chocolate stout cake in layer cake form and cupcakes before settling on this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. She uses the simple bundt pan for a clean presentation.
After making the cake a few times with a few different beers, I have had the best results and flavors using Founders Breakfast Stout, the chocolate and coffee notes lends itself perfectly to the richness of the cake. For the ganache, I substitute the instant coffee granules for a tablespoon of orange liquor, such as Cointreau. I dislike the taste of coffee and I prefer the flavor combination of chocolate and orange.
If you are looking for a yummy cake, I urge you to try the recipe linked above. It is my go to cake recipe for events and parties.
andpins 