Sit Upons

When I was in Girl Scouts, as a child, one of our projects was to whip-stitch together two pieces of vinyl, stuffed with news paper. The troop leader explained that this was called a "sit upon" and that we were to take it with us to summer camp, so that we wouldn't have to sit on the bare ground around the campfire.

The past few days I've been working on a slightly fancier version of the "sit upon". DH doesn't really like sitting on the ground, so I was inspired to make cushions that can be carried along on our picnics. They were very easy to make and did not require a purchased pattern.

To make a pattern, I traced the foam seat padding and added a seam allowance ( which in my case was just making it the width of my measuring tape). Then I did the same for one short side and one long side of the cushion.



To make a cushion:

1. Make the pattern

2. Cut two of the short sides and two of the long sides out of heavy cotton cloth, such as upholstery fabric. Cut one large rectangle out of the heavy cloth and a second large rectangle out of vinyl. Cut a one foot length of cotton belting.



3. Zigzag stitch around all of the cloth pieces, so that the edges don't unravel.

4. Take one of the short side pieces for the cushion and fold it in half. Crease it with your fingernails. Fold the piece of belting in half. Match the fold in the belting to the fold in the fabric to find the proper placement for the carrying handle.



5. Pin the belting in place. Fold the ends of the belting under about before sewing, so that no raw edges show. Sew both ends securely into place by sewing in a square and then stitching an X through the square.



6. Sew the side strips together, one long strip, one short strip, one long strip, one short strip. Then sew the final short strip to the beginning long strip, to form a rectangle.

7. Pin the sides strips to the vinyl base, right sides together.



8. sew together

9.Pin side strips to the cloth rectangle.

10. Sew together on three side, leaving one short side unsewn.

11. turn the cushion cover right side out and insert the cushion.

12. Sew up the opening by hand, using a blind stitch.

Being a Fangirl

This may be why I never have any money. As soon as I got paid this month, I excitedly made a silly fangirl purchase from Clockwork Couture.



The tentacle covered parasol is pretty awesome to begin with, but this one will be signed by Gail Carriger, the author of Soulless and the rest of the Parasol Protectorate series, at a tea she is attending Sunday in Pasadena.

Making Medals

The last time we went to the craft store, they had some pieces for sale in the jewelry section that would be perfect as medals. Blaze begged for this winged shield, and since it was less than $5, I bought it.

To make a medal:

1. Start with a 4-inch piece of 1 1/2-inch wide grosgrain in a solid color and a striped, 4-inch piece of ribbon about half as wide. With a small amount of tacky glue, glue the narrow ribbon lengthwise down the center of the wider ribbon.




2. Zigzag stitch both raw edges of the ribbon, so that it doesn't unravel.



3. Fold the two bottom corners of the ribbon together to form a point and straight-stitch to hold them in place.



4. Fold the top of the ribbon down until it is touching the top of the triangle and straight-stitch to hold it in place.



5. Remove the adhesive backing from the pin and slide it into place inside the top of the ribbon. Firmly press the fabric to the adhesive with your fingers. Any excess plastic from the pin, can be trimmed off with a pair of scissors.



6. Feed the point at the bottom of the ribbon up through a jump ring and hand-stitch it into place on the back side of the ribbon.



7. Depending on the loop at the top of the charm you are using, you may have to add another jump ring to the first, to make the charm hang the right direction. That was not necessary for the medal I made for Blaze. I figured that as long as I was at it, I might as well make one for myself, as well. Mine did require another jump ring.

For outstanding tea service ( The tea service medal was not an original idea. There was a shop on Etsy that was selling these and I thought it was such a cute idea that I wanted to make one for myself)

The Dragon Kite

I'm not sure how many of you have been reading my blog long enough to remember the entire bolt of silk I purchases for $4.25 at the humane society's resale shop, but we still haven't used it all. Over Spring Break we made a fabric kite using some of it.

China silk is thin enough that I was able to place a coloring page under the fabric and trace it with a permanent marker, so that Blaze could have the dragon picture he wanted. I know we used to have more colors of silk paint, but all I could find were red and yellow. Blaze didn't seem to mind, though.







We used two thin dowels for the frame work, one was left its original size and one was cut down to 28 inches. Then I used some kite string to tie them together to form the base of our diamond-shaped kite. I also added a little dot of glue to the string, just to make sure everything stayed in place.



Notches were cut in both ends of each dowel using a pocket knife ( I did this, not Blaze), to hold the string, that formed the diamond, in place.



When the paint was dry, the fabric was sewn onto the string.

A long strip of plain silk became the tail, along with strips of fabric cut from this old piece of tie-dyed silk which was cut into strips to make bows.


The kite looks really good. Now we just have to wait until we have the right weather to fly it. So far, there has not been enough wind and tomorrow it's supposed to rain.

Anise Pound Cake

1 Cup butter (2 sticks), softened

1 1/2 Cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 Cups milk

4 large eggs

3 Cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 2-ounce bottle anise extract



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs and milk slowly, while beating. Mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda together in a separate bowl and then add a little at a time to the liquid mixture. Beat after each addition. Lastly, add the anise extract and beat.

Pour the batter into a bundt pan that has been sprayed with non-stick baking spray and bake for 60 minutes. After removing the cake from the oven, let it sit for 30 minutes before removing it from the pan. Wait until it is fully cooled before cutting.

Ravine Gardens

It was a truly gorgeous day, so we were finally able to go on a picnic. We wanted to go some place we had never been before, so we chose Ravine Gardens in Palatka .



It's really a lovely place, but I think we probably missed it at the height of its beauty by about two weeks. Everywhere we looked, there were azalea bushes with just one or two sad, wilted, pink flowers still clinging to the branches. It must have been quite a sight to see when they were all in full bloom.



There were other flowers in bloom today, though, and everything was a very lush green after all of the rain earlier in the week.








We took a nice walk in the woods, which included lots of climbing up and down stone stairs, two swinging bridges, and a chance to soak our feet in a cold, spring-fed creek.







Then it was time for lunch.





Trying out the cutting board on the underside of the picnic basket lid for the first time (it worked really well):




It's not really a picnic until the ants show up. We only had two ants, that I know of, but we did have a visit from this large grasshopper.


DH and I had a little time to relax and read, while Blaze played with bubbles.



It was a wonderful way to spend the first sunny day we've had during this Spring Break, and already DH has started asking where I would like to picnic next.




P.S. A little Ravine Gardens history

The Picnic Blanket Carrying Bag

Stuck in the apartment for yet another stormy day, I made a bag with a shoulder strap for carrying the picnic blanket. There is no pattern for this one. For the round ends on this duffle-style bag, I traced around a frisbee that Blaze had left laying on his bedroom floor. The large panel of fabric, I cut to match the width of the rolled-up blanket plus two inches. The length is the measurement around the circular panel plus two inches.

At the moment, the overlapping fabric at the opening of the duffle bag is being held closed by a couple squares of stick-on velcro, but I hope to replace that, as soon as possible, with a more attractive, black frog closure.