There are legos on this blog…

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I said that there would never be legos on this blog.

I patiently explained that, while legos are awesome toys and quite rightly deserve to be the center of our nine-year-old’s existence, this is a blog for sewing enthusiasts and the interests of sewing enthusiasts and lego fans don’t often overlap.

There are now legos on this blog. 

There are legos on this blog because it is my husband’s and my anniversary and our kids made us this amazing three-dimensional lego sign.  We feel like we are visiting Hollywood.

Note the lego carriage that sits in front.  Having never been in a real carriage we are thrilled to have the opportunity to ride in a lego carriage!

And the surprises didn’t end there.  The kids decorated our daughter’s room as a surprise as well.  Why our daughter’s room?  Silly question.  Because the bed is close enough to the fan that you can do this…

(We have been assured that these are tissue paper strips that they found with the wrapping paper rather than the alternative.) 

Dig this groovy Greg-Brady-attic-apartment tissue style entrance… and note the use of painters’ tape so as not to marr the walls.

Because of our anniversary, there is also banana cream pie on this blog.  Like legos, tissue paper, and painters’ tape, it never goes out of style.

One doesn’t need a special occassion to make banana cream pie, though.
Here is the recipe:

Banana Cream Pie
1 baked pie crust
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
dash salt
1/2 cup half-and-half
2 cups 2% milk
4 egg yolks, beaten
2 teaspoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 ripe bananas, sliced
1 cup whipping cream
Whisk cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan.
Gradually whisk in half-and-half.
Whisk in milk.
Whisk in egg yolks.
Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.  (This will take about 6 minutes.)
Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
Layer 1/3 of the custard mixture into the pie shell.  Top with 1/2 of the bananas.  Spread 1/3 more of the custard mixture on top.  Top with the rest of the bananas.  Cover with remaining custard.  Refrigerate until cold.
Whip whipping cream, adding a tablespoon of sugar if desired.  Spread over pie and serve.

Bon appetit!

Ambrosia Eggs

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We had a lovely trip to the beach this past week. While I wasn’t able to bring my sewing machine, I did finish binding my Ambrosia quilt for the complimentary pattern that I am producing for quilt shops in conjunction with Robert Kaufman. (More on that soon…) I also “dyed” some Ambrosia eggs in scraps. Yes, I know I am very late for Easter but I will just be amazingly prepared for next year!

I had brought 16 eggs but one piece of fabric flew off the porch with a sudden gust of wind. So now we have 15 Ambrosia eggs. Save your scraps for spring and “dye” some eggs using this free pattern!

Hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer!

Amanda

Ambrosia Yo-Yo Pillows

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I just finished sewing two version of my Yo-Yo Pillow in Ambrosia. Here is the Summer version:

And here is the Spring version:

Adding some decorative buttons can make your pillow’s back just a pretty as its front! Here are some detailed shots:

You can download the pattern here. Ask your local quilt shop to order Ambrosia by Robert Kaufman (it is shipping October 1st) or use scraps from your stash.

Special thanks goes to my model/assistant/daughter made all the yo-yos and kept me sane when I couldn’t find the phone in the chaos!

Special thanks also goes to my other assistant/son who made these Ambrosia paper-airplanes for me.

I would like to point out that it is not every fabric designer who gets personalized paper airplanes made for their collections.  I am a lucky lady.