Just over a year ago, when I first started sewing, I came up with a list of things I wanted to make. At the very top of that list were new throw pillows, placemats and pot holders. In all that time, I’ve only managed to make one pillow.* The other items were left by the wayside as more exciting projects caught my attention in quick succession.

The home dec projects now have a new glamour for me. It’s possible the chilly weather we’re experiencing here in the mornings has reminded me of the approach of the cold, dark rainy months ahead and the need for bright and cheerful comforts.

I’d been hoarding a bunch of Joel Dewberry fabrics and thought it was high time to cut into them. They’ll be appearing in a lot of my next few projects. The pillow on the left was made by following Dacia Ray’s tutorial for a Log-Cabinish pillow. I recalculated the size of the pieces for my smaller pillow form. It was fun to make.

The pillow on the right was inspired by a project in The Impatient Patchworker. I’m hoping the free motion quilting becomes a little less stressful as I practice it more. I have a hard time keeping my loops smooth and rounded rather than sharp and pointed. I had to take a long lie-down after quilting that one. Luckily, I had some nice pillows to cushion my head.

The cooler weather is also making baking very appealing. I used up a little bit of zucchini, carrots and apples in these muffins. They’re good, but a bit like eating a thick vegetable slaw. I’m going to make something decadent and totally lacking in nutritional value next. Sometimes, you just need to indulge.

*Oops. I’ve actually made two other pillows. I forgot about the shark pillow.

Our garden and local farms have been keeping me on my feet for the past couple of days. I’ve been cooking and canning and freezing all the produce that’s been available.

One of the best ways to celebrate and enjoy all this good food is to make ratatouille. It’s a melange of the most wonderful things you can glean from the summer garden: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash, onions, carrots…whatever is fresh and good. Toss in a few fresh herbs and the flavors become more complex and deeply satisfying.

It’s hard to keep up with all the good food that’s around. I grew kind of panicky when I noticed how ripe my basket of pears was growing. There was no way I could eat all of them in the short shelf life they were facing. So, I consulted my favorite book on preserving food and made Amaretto Pears.

Plain old homemade canned pears are scrumptious, but add a little bit of amaretto and they become something really special. Pears have such a delicate flavor by themselves, so I think you have to be careful when mixing other flavors with them. The amaretto is also a subtle ingredient and it adds a slightly exotic note to the fruit. I look forward to making a tart with these!

Speaking of the garden, the most glorious things in there are the sunflowers our kids planted this spring. They’re humongous! My husband is six foot four inches tall and the plants tower over him. The kids are proud of having planted and cared for them through the season. I’ve got to read up on how to harvest and roast the seeds. That should be a real treat!

During the past few months while my blog was out of commission, I’ve been busy. I baked and decorated a Hello Kitty cake for my daughter’s fourth birthday:

It looks complicated, but it’s not. I just made a simple layer cake, frosted it with pink tinted buttercream frosting and then made a template from a Hello Kitty Coloring page. I scored the design into the chilled frosting using a toothpick, outlined it with black gel frosting and piped in little stars to color each section.

My attempt at piping shells around the edge of the cake wasn’t entirely successful, but I started to get a better feel for it towards the end. I think my next cake will be even better. I learn a lot from each one I do.

It did take a long time to decorate the cake and it was gobbled up almost instantly. Was it worth it? Yes. The cake and frosting tasted good, unlike the cakes you get at the grocery store. Kids also seem to remember their cakes years after the celebration and it makes me happy to provide them with a good memory.

I’ve also been doing a lot of regular old every day cooking, which is a big deal for me. I always enjoy whipping up a feast on special occasions, but the drudgery of everyday cooking has often defeated me in the past, so I resorted to heating up dinners from frozen food section of the grocery store. I still do that on occasion, but am better able to prepare shopping lists and find something tempting to make in the huge notebook I assembled of my favorite recipes. It’s mostly filled with articles from cooking magazines, which I was able to toss after this big organization project was done. Now, I don’t spend hours and hours looking for a vaguely-remembered recipe in a stack of magazines. I can just flip to the relevant section in my notebook and get cooking.

I’ve also started baking bread again. It’s one of those things that requires you to do it often to do it well, and when you do it well, it’s one of the most satisfying things imaginable. I’ve tried to convert Robin, my sister-in-law, and Dave, a family friend, to bread bakers.

They did a remarkable job with their first loaves!