The Scooter Bag

This soft, floppy bag is the perfect size for the reading mat along with some books, toys, or any other items you want to pack for the trip. The velcro closure is easy for little hands to open and close, and the long padded strap allows for comfortable crossbody wear.

Materials
(2) 22 x 13” fabric for main exterior panel
(2) 22 x 4.5” coordinating fabric for strip along bottom of exterior
(2) 22 x 17” fabric for the interior
(2) 22 x 17” batting for the sides of the bag
(1) 2.5 x 40” fabric strip for binding the top of the bag
(2) 44 x 2.75” fabric for the strap
(1) 44 x 2.75” fusible batting for strap
(2) 6.5 x 12.5” fabric for interior pocket
(1) 6.5 x 12.5” batting for interior pocket
(2) 8 x 12” fabric for flap
(1) 8 x 12” fusible batting for flap
(1) 1 x 10” strip of sew-in velcro
fabric glue stick
coordinating thread

1. Sew exterior pieces together with narrower strip on the bottom of each resulting rectangle.

2. Sew the interior pocket pieces together in this order from bottom to top: batting, fabric piece (right side up), fabric piece (right side down) — be sure to leave one long end open. Turn the piece inside out so the batting is in the middle with both fabric pieces facing right side out.

Tuck in the edges of the open side and sew ¼” from both long edges.

Quilt vertical lines one inch apart across the entire pocket. Center it on one interior panel, five inches from the top and both sides. Sew ¼” around the sides and bottom, backstitching at both ends.

3. Make the “quilt sandwich” for each side of the bag in this order from bottom to top: interior panel (right side down), batting, and exterior panel (right side up).

Quilt as desired. Stack the two sides of the bag with the interior panels together.

Sew ½” around the sides and bottom of the bag, backstitching at both ends and trimming the corners and edges as much as possible.

Turn the bag inside out and sew ¾” around the sides and bottom of the bag, again backstitching at both ends.

Turn the bag right side out and press.

Fold the 2.5 x 40” strip of fabric in half lengthwise and press. Line the raw edge of the binding up with the top raw edge of the bag along the outside.

Use the strip to bind the top unfinished edge of the bag as you would a quilt (see the Links page on my blog if you need more information on how to make and apply binding).

4. Make the handle. Fuse the batting to one strip. Fold each strip in half lengthwise, press, then unfold and fold the long edges so they meet in the middle and press them again.

Stack the strips with the folded in sides together.

Sew ¼” from the edge along each long side of the strap. Fold each short end in about ½-1” and stitch ½” from the folded end.

Place the end of the strap next to one of the side seams on the inside of the bag about two inches from the top. Stitch a square with an inner cross to securely fasten the strap to the bag. Repeat with the other end of the strap on the other side of the bag.

5. Make the flap. Fuse the batting to the wrong side of one piece of fabric for the flap. Place both pieces of fabric for the flap right sides together. Stitch ¼” from the edge along three sides, leaving one long side open. Clip the corners and turn the flap right side out.

Press the flap and tuck in the edges of the open side. Stitch 1/2” all around the edge of the flap and then sew ½” lines down the flap.

Center one side of the velcro strip along a long edge of the flap, about an inch from the edge, attach it with the fabric glue stick, and then sew all around the edge of the velcro. Now place the side of the flap without velcro, velcro end down, against the outside of the bag (the side with the interior pocket) even with the top edge. Sew ½” from where the top of the flap and the top edge of the bag meet, backstitching at both ends. Place the other half of the velcro on the outside of the other side of the bag, centering it an inch or two from the top — check how it fits with the flap before sewing it down as you did the other half.

Check back next week for the Love Bird Pillow tutorial!

My name is Heidi Staples, and I blog at Fabric Mutt (fabricmutt.blogspot.com). I’m thrilled to be sharing a few tutorials using Jennifer’s beautiful Havana collection. I have three little girls who love nothing more than to get to spend a few hours out and about with their grandparents or their aunt. Having a little bag ready to go with a pillow, quilt, and a few books or toys makes it easy to send them off at a moment’s notice.

This long quilt makes a great spot where a little one can stretch out and read, play, or take a nap. The simple design lets you feature lots of prints, and it’s a snap to assemble.

Materials:

(12) 32 x 5” strips

(1) 5” charm square

(1) 58 x 8” strip of fabric (sew smaller pieces together to create this strip)

(1) 17 x 58” strip of fabric (sew smaller pieces together to create this strip)

(1) 30 x 60” piece of quilt batting

coordinating thread

1. Sew all of the 32 x 5” strips together along their long sides and press all seams.

2. Fold the resulting rectangle in half twice (short end to short end) and cut a 5” wide strip off of one end. Sew the charm square to the bottom or top of the 5” strip and press.

3. Sew the 5” strip between the 58 x 8” strip and the 17 x 58” strip to create the quilt backing (Note that it is slightly larger than the quilt top to account for shifting during quilting.) Press the seams toward the larger outer strips.

4. Make your quilt sandwich in this order from bottom to top: quilt backing (right side down), quilt batting, quilt top (right side up), baste, and quilt as desired. Trim any excess fabric and batting around the edge and bind the outside. (See the Links page on my website if you need to find tutorials for any of these basic quilting steps.)

It’s been a busy week here in the Miguelucci Moore/Monaluna household. On Saturday we brought home 6 new family members – baby chicks! I’ve been waiting a loooong time for chickens – I started nagging Dave about getting them almost 8 years ago when we first moved into our apartment in Oakland. The apartment was ruled too small for chickens (I had to agree on that – we only had a little front porch and a bitty little piece of garden), but once we moved into our house it seemed like the perfect time. But then we were landscaping the yard, and busy with quilt markets, and somehow the coop we were planning to build just never got started.

Then, on New Year’s day, we happened to see a darling chicken coop kit which matched our house perfectly, and also happened to be on sale. Although I was all excited about the idea of building our own coop, the convenience of the kit won out. And then of course once we had the coop straightened out, we could get the chickens! Picking them out took the better part of Saturday afternoon, but we finally landed on the assortment above. I knew I wanted a couple of Araucanas, because I’m in love with the blue-green color of their eggs, and I’ve had a thing for Silkies ever since seeing the resident Silkie chicken at Wild Rumpus Bookstore in Minneapolis. Emma’s a few days older than the others (just about 5 days old in these photos!), and Anabelle calls her “big sister”. We’ve spent many hours over the last week just sitting and watching them scurry about in their temporary home (a big clear plastic storage box with a heat lamp), pecking and fluffing and nodding off while standing up. They’ll be in the house for about a month before they can move into the coop, and I’ve really been enjoying the chorus of peeping while I work. I have a feeling they’ll be making their way into some new textile designs soon!

In other news, I’m excited to announce that I will have a guest blogger visiting next week! The talented Heidi Staples from Fabric Mutt will be sharing tutorials for 3 projects – a reading mat, a scooter bag and a love bird pillow, all using the Havana collection. Look for her first post on Tuesday!

Before I moved to the bay area, I wasn’t really aware of orange seasons. Oranges were always available at the grocery store when I wanted them, and I didn’t think too much more about it. Now that I have an orange tree in my yard (along with two tangerines, a teeny grapefruit, two lemons and several little limes) I think about the season a lot. I watch with anticipation as the blossoms give way to little green nubs, which eventually grow and turn orange. I sample numerous super sour and not-quite-ripe oranges to see if they’re ready, and finally, after what seems like an eternity, they turn sweet. Our oranges have been in season for about 6 weeks now, and I’ve made a little ritual of going out and picking them off the tree for dessert. There’s nothing quite like a cold, sweet orange picked fresh by moonlight.

Anyway, as is the case with all of the ridiculously productive little fruit trees in our yard, our orange tree has given us way more fruit than we, our neighbors, and all of the teachers at Anabelle’s school can eat. I’ve put them in salads, I’ve squeezed them for juice, and I’ve made 2 batches of  some of the best marmalade I’ve had in recent memory. We’re going to harvest the rest of the tree this weekend and do a run to the local food bank, but I think I’m going to have to make one more batch of marmalade, just to get me through til next year. Since even if you live in snow-laden MN (sorry, I heard about the storm this week, and don’t mean to rub it in…) you can always find oranges at the grocery store, I though I’d share the recipe here.

Sweet Citrus Marmalade

8 small-medium oranges

3-4 tangerines if desired

3 lemons

11 cups sugar

2 packages sure jell pectin

1/8 tsp baking soda

3 cups water or orange juice

3-4 Tbsp. whiskey (optional)

12 1/2 pint jam jars

Jar tongs and funnel, optional

1. Make sure jars are clean and sterile. An easy way to do this is to wash jars and lids in your dishwasher. Wash the fruit.

2. Using a paring knife or a vegetable peeler, remove the outer rind (orange part only) from the fruit. Chop the rinds into chunks or strips and set aside

3. Remove the remaining white rind from the fruit and discard. Chop the fruit into chunks, removing any seeds or tough parts. Put fruit and any liquid into a bowl.

4. Measure out the sugar and put into a bowl. Take 1/4 cup of the sugar, mix this together with the pectin powder, and combine this mixture with the chopped fruit.

5. Place the chopped peels in a large saucepan with 2 cups water or juice and 1/8 tsp. baking soda. Bring to a boil, turn down and simmer for 20 minutes. If you want a marmalade that is less bitter, you can use less of the peel, or omit it completely.

6. Meanwhile, fill a large, high-sided  pot 1/2 way with water and place on the stove to boil. This will be used to process the jars once filled.

7. Once the peels have softened, add the chopped fruit and the additional cup of water or juice and simmer for 10 minutes.

8. Add the sugar, stir, and bring the mixture to a full boil. Boil hard for 1 minute

9. Remove marmalade from heat and add the whiskey, if desired.

10. Carefully fill the jars within 1/4″ of top, wipe off any drips and secure lids.  I use a jam funnel and a ladle for this step.

10. Once all the jars are filled, you will want to process them in boiling water for 20 minutes. To do this, place as many jars as will fit in the pot described in step 6. The jars should be covered by 1″ of water. Return water to boil and boil jars for 20 minutes, in batches if necessary. Jar tongs are really helpful for this step.

11. You’re done! Once the jars cool, they can be stored for about a year. It may take up to 2 weeks for marmalade to set completely.

I started last week with what turned out to be a pretty ambitious organizing project. I had been carefully ignoring the towering, disorganized scrap pile in my closet for months, and had finally had enough of it. At the same time, Anabelle’s school put out a call for extra blankets and quilts, and I decided it was time to make something from those extra odd pieces. The piecing for three little quilts only took Saturday afternoon, and I hardly had to cut – I just arranged the pieces I had in blocks, and trimmed them to fit where necessary. The backing, binding and quilting took a bit more time, but it felt really good to see them coming together, and I even hand quilted (very quickly and sloppily) 2 of the 3, the first time I’ve done that in years! It was so easy and fun that I decided to organize and bundle all the remaining scraps and make them available on the website. It turned out to be a bit of an undertaking, but in the 5 days since I put them up there they’ve been VERY popular, and the first batch are almost gone! Now that I have the hang of it I’ll be able to add them more frequently, though, and keep my scrap piles at more manageable levels.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a pie or tart pan. Make sure goat cheese is at room temp.

Shortbread Crust

1/2 c + 2 Tbsp butter

1/4 c powdered sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/4 c. flour

Cream the butter and powdered sugar together using a hand mixer until fluffy. Then add in the salt and flour and mix until it just holds together. Press into the bottom and sides of a greased pie or tart pan. Bake the crust at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees. While the crust is cooling, warm the honey glaze, prepare the filling and then slice the pears.

goat cheese filling

1 1/2 packages (12 oz) mild goat cheese at room temp (I used the 365 goat cheese from Whole Foods)

21/2 Tbsp sugar

Mix the cheese and sugar together until soft and pliable

honey glaze

1/4 c. honey

dash of vanilla

few shakes of cinnamon

couple of drops water if necessary

Warm ingredients together in a saucepan.

3-4 ripe pears, sliced thin

With a spatula, press the goat cheese filling into the cooled crust. Cut the pears in half and slice very thin, then arrange the pears on the filling.

When pears are arranged, brush liberally with the honey glaze.

Bake the tart at 375 for about 30 minutes or until pears are soft and crust is slightly browned. Check regularly. Remove from the oven, and brush again with the honey glaze. Enjoy!