My First project

So since I am pregnant... I decided that my first project should be baby related. Not wanting to use any of the unique fabric from my stash... I grabbed an old baby tee that has shrunk to the point that my belly hangs out, even when I am not preggers. I grabbed a burp cloth I was given and went to town. The shirt was baby yellow so I decided that it needed an applique to spruce it up. I ended up delving into my stash anyway... pulled out an awesome yellow print. I searched through my cookie cutters to find the perfect shape for my first applique. I found a star. PERFECT! I thought to myself. I traced the star onto the back of he fabric witha Martha Stewart pen because I couldn't find my fabric marker that disappears and then applied it to the right side of my baby tee. I pinned it ever so neatly ( or so I thought) then asked my wonderful husband Mark to put my sewing machine on the table and ran down stairs to try my first applique ( of course not quite sure if I was using the right technique but hey at least I am trying it).

Hmmm... ok so the star applique is not perfect but it was a start. I quickly ran back up stairs to get the back of the baby tee I cut for the burp cloth. Pressed them with an iron... the shirt seemed a bit wrinkled and I have heard a million times to press everything. Pinned them together... ran down stairs again (ok plodded in my pregnant state) then proceeded to sew them together.

Result... not too bad. I gave it to my husband to inspect and he nodded with approval. See he was homeschooled and part of it included lots of sewing so I have to admit not only is he my tech support for my computer and my iphone. He is also my tech support for sewing...and he can also pick out my mistakes with crocheting!

With that I will see you tomorrow as I post pictures of my burp cloth! I welcome any comments on learning to sew.

So I have decided to really learn how to sew !

Ok... so I have been pregnant for 37 weeks... the house is kind of ready.... I have been on bedrest for approximately 3 and a half weeks. So I have done what any other good loyal crafter would have done. I have decided to add a new craft to my life. SEWING ! WOOOOO HOOOO ! I have dabbled in sewing here and there but thats it I am going to learn. I feel the same way now that I did when I took up crocheting approximately 6 years ago. I have always wanted to learn how to sew and I really want to be very good at it. So here I am armed with my stash of fabric (i always new I would use it someday... yes I am a craft stasher), my taylor 935 FA sewing machine, my owners manual and some great sewing books or at least they looked cool enough to buy and some guts... here I go. I kind of feel like Julie Powell who blogged about learning to cook through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking... but oh well here I go not afraid....

Earth Day - A Day Late

Belated Happy Earth Day! What a great planet we live on! I have been involved in the "GREEN" movement before it was COOL. I was a young environmentalist as I started in 6th grade being involved with an environmental science camp with Mr. Stern and Mr.Szigethy (sorry if I spelled that wrong). I did this for 2 summers and we were fortunate enough to visit ecofriendly sites all through out Long Island. My favorite trips were Caumsett State Park, canoeing the Nissequogue and traveling out east to Orient Point. I then got involved in the environmental club, hiking and then took an enlightening course called A.P. Environmental Science. As I got older I became an avid hiker and naturalist explorer. My husband and I have a national park pass that allows us to visit many national parks around us... so far we have visited Rocky Mountain National Park, Yosemite National Park, Acadia National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Muir Woods. (Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park are my favorites!) So all that background information was so that I could lead up to my EARTH DAY CHALLENGE for my readers..... I will try for 1 year (hopefully longer) to use as little plastic bags as possible. For every plastic bag I use from today till next earth day I will donate .25 cents to the National Park fund. If you would like to participate please post a comment! I will keep a tally on my website for my weekly plastic bag count. So HAPPY EARTH DAY to all ! Be green and Stay green! Remember Kermit the Frog..its not easy being green! but its worth it!

Becco

While this review is way overdue... I promised that I would. So last year ...literally a year ago. My friends and I went to go see Martha Stewart. After a very exciting show that was about bring your kids to work day we had reservations at Becco. Becco is owned by the Bastianich Family as Lidia Bastianich as the matriarch. The cuisine is authentic italian. My friends and I arrived early as we underestimated our travel time from the studio in Chelsea to the restaurant in the theater district. We were greeted warmly as the restaurant was just opening for the day. We were escorted to the bar where the bartender was friendly and introduced us to Lidia and her sons wine collection. The information was excellent and the bartender was pleasant and well informed. We were then seated and presented with the menus... and what a menu it was! All of us opted for the very affordable and very tasty prix fix pasta lunch menu. I selected a gorgeous white wine from Lidia's vineyards that was clean, crisp and very tasty. We started our meal with the antipasti offering which consisted of grilled octopus, swordfish, fresh mozzarella and many other tasty offerings. Among our bread offerings we enjoyed a great long thin bread stick that was buttery and perfectly crispy. The pasta offerings were rigatoni with a fresh pomodoro sauce, ravioli with broccoli rabe and fettucine bolognese. The best part is that I did not have to pick just one ! ( As a Korean American I love to graze and taste as opposed to eat one single flavor... We put out a large spread in even the most casual meals!) My favorite was probably the rigatoni in the fresh pomodoro sauce. The pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce was the best I have ever had. What a great meal ! I highly recommend this great restaurant as a place to go while in the city and its easy on the wallet! What a deal! My hat is off to Lidia and the whole Bastianich family !