Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The burger of my dreams

When I was making my Cinco de Mayo meals I was dreaming about this burger at night.  The rajas, pico de gallo, guacamole were dancing through my head.  This burger has been haunting me for a few weeks now and when it finally stopped raining, my dreams came true.  It was even better than I dreamed...

 Hubs does this magical thing when he cooks burgers or steaks.  He uses Chipotle Tabasco Sauce like BBQ sauce and brushes it on the meat as it cooks.  It adds a little spice and flavor but the best part is the crust it puts on the burger.  He is a genius. That magical burger with melted pepper jack cheese, guac spread, rajas and pico de gallo make this my perfect burger.  Actually the only thing that could make it better is bacon... 

The Burger of My Dreams- recipe by me makes 4 burgers
1 pound ground beef (or buffalo, we use buffalo a lot)
8 slices bacon, cooked (optional)
Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
4 buns
butter
garlic powder
salt and pepper
4 slices pepper jack cheese
2 poblano peppers made into rajas recipe here
1/2 recipe pico de gallo recipe here
guac spread recipe here

Form burgers into patties and coat with salt and pepper Chipotle Tabasco sauce before putting them on the grill.  Cook burgers to your desired doneness basting with Chipotle Tabasco sauce 2 more times (only do this once for less spicy burgers.)  Coat buns with butter and sprinkle with a little garlic powder and salt.  Grill Buns.  Melt cheese on burgers.  Now you are ready to assemble.  Spread guac spread on one or both buns.  Top burger with bacon (optional), rajas and some pico de gallo.  Enjoy!  Serve with black pepper lime fries.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Orange Patio Chairs

We got a new patio set last week.  When I saw these orange chairs at Crate and Barrel, I was so excited!  ORANGE PATIO CHAIRS!!!! I get giddy every time I go out on the patio.  The table is grey and our stamped concrete patio is grey so it is a major pop of color.  I think I need to make some matching orange pillows for our seating area. 

Also, I am now on Pinterest.  I have an orange board if you want to check it out!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Purple Apron

I made a few of these aprons for my friend at Christmas to give away as gifts.  She loved them and asked me to keep an eye out for purple in the red tag section of Joann Fabrics that would be good for an apron.  Well almost 6 months later I finally found one!! This apron is seriously easy to whip up and makes a really good gift.  I think I have just enough fabric leftover to make a gathered clutch! 

Monday, May 23, 2011

Fabric Bins Tutorial

These are the fabric bins I made my mom for Mother's Day.  I looked online for tutorials, but none that I found were exactly what I wanted.  I really wanted to have a color band at the top and for the sides to be quilted so I started from scratch.  

Let's get started! There are a lot of steps but this did sew up pretty quickly. 
Here's what you need:
 (this will make 2 large bins with some leftover)
1 yard exterior fabric 
1 yard lining fabric
1 yard fusible fleece
sewing machine, thread, needles, iron, etc.

FIrst let's make the circle.  My 2 bins were 10 inches and 8 inches.
First cut a 10 inch square (or how ever large you want your circle)

fold it in half on the diagonal and match up the corners.

fold it in half again

And then fold it in half one more time.

cut a slightly rounded curve taking the top triangle off the circle.  

Here is what it looks like cut.

Now you have a circle.

Use this circle to cut one out of the fusible fleece and lining fabric.

Now you need to know the circumference of the circle.  Here is how you figure it out.  

Circumference= 3.14 * the diameter.

my circumference-
31.4 inches =3.14 * 10 inches

I made my 10 inch circle bin 10 inches tall.  
Cut your fusible fleece 10 inches tall.
Cut the exterior fabric 1 inch shorter
cut the lining 1 inch longer

Here were my cuts:
fusible fleece: 10 inches by 31.4 inches
exterior fabric: 9 inches by 31.4 inches
lining fabric: 11 inches by 31.4 inches

Sew the exterior fabric to the lining fabric right sides together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance..

Iron the fabric and the seam to one side.

Lay the fusible fleece on top.  make sure it lines up with the bottom and it should cover the lining fabric by one inch.  Iron in place according to the fusible fleece instructions.  

Fold the lining down and iron the seam.

Iron the fusible fleece onto the exterior fabric circle according to the instructions.  

Open up the side fabric and quilt through the exterior fabric and fusible fleece.  I set my machine to a longer stitch and slowly sewed some swirls across the fabric.  Please do any pattern you like.  

Here you can see my quilted pattern.  One part I forgot to photograph is that I did stitch in the ditch between the lining and exterior fabric.  

Fold the fabric in half, right sides together and match the seam up.  Pin the whole side and sew with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Leave a space on the lining fabric to turn the bin right side out once the bottoms are sewn on.

Next we need to find the centers of the sides and circles.  fold the circle into quarters and mark the folds with a pin.

there will be 4 pins in the circle marking the quarters.
do the same with the big piece and the lining circle.

Match up the pins.

Once the pins are matched up, pin the whole circle together.

Also pin together the lining side. 

Sew the circles on with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  Pull it through the hole in the lining.

Sew the hole shut. 
Maybe use a matching thread.  I would like to say I did this for the picture, but I was too lazy to change the thread :)

You're done!! i ironed the whole thing when I was done.
I hope that was clear.  If you have any questions, email me :)

I linked up:


Friday, May 20, 2011

Orange Umbrella

Hubs got me an orange umbrella last year for my birthday. Not many people would be excited about an umbrella, but I was thrilled.  I have always wanted a fun orange umbrella.  This was a really rainy week so the orange umbrella made the rainy days fun :)

Also, I got 6 inches cut off my hair this week.  My ponytail is much lighter and I feel ready for the hot weather and afternoons at the pool!! Happy Weekend!!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

241 Tote

I finally made something for myself!! I made Anna from Noodlehead's 241 Tote.  It was so simple to make and she also has a version with some cute zip pockets.  I chose this fabric because I was doing some stash busting.  I just had to pick up the lining fabric and the pocket fabric.  (Be prepared to see more of this fabric, I have about 4 yards left.)  

I of course chose orange for the lining.  Maybe not the best choice because most of the things I keep in my purse are orange like my wallet.  

My favorite part is the size of the outside pockets.  PB's sippy cup fits right in there!  This bag is going to be great for the summer. I can throw my wallet and some snacks for PB and his sippy and run out the door.  I think I need to make a little matching diaper pouch to throw in there too so I don't get stuck without a diaper :)

Monday, May 16, 2011

Mother's Day Gifts

Here is a look at the gifts I made for my Mom and my MIL this year.


I made my mom some quilted fabric storage bins.  Tutorial coming next week!!

I made my MIL a make up pouch.  I followed this tutorial from Noodlehead.
I quilted the outside.

Here is a peek at the inside.

They loved their gifts and I had a blast making them!!!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Orange garden gloves

These are my new orange garden gloves. I got them yesterday.  Right after I finished planting the garden and flower.  Blerg, it figures.

Our garden is all planted.  I can't wait to be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes.

PB made me get this flower I hope I don't kill it.  I don't have the greenest thumb but i am working on it.  

I planted this near our mailbox.  This is the very first bloom I can't wait to see it when it is in full bloom.  

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Finished! My Nephew's quilt

Here it is!!! My brother and SIL's baby shower was this weekend so I can finally share the pics  of my nephew's quilt.  In case I haven't mentioned it a million times before.  I followed Care's First Quilt Ever tutorial

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My favorite part is the binding.  I don't know if is the stripes or that it takes 5 days to hand sew it that makes me love it so much. 

Here is the front.  I love that the fabric I chose is so colorful but because there is so much white on the front it isn't overwhelming.  

The back however is super colorful and I love the contrast with the front!! They love the quilt, I can't wait to see my nephew snuggling on it!!

I made a buch of things for my nephew, I'll share them all soon.  
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