Pork Souvlaki

These are the ingredients needed to make Pork Souvlaki.

Whisk together 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 large clove garlic, minced, l/2 tsp. dried oregano, l/2 teaspoon salt, and l/4 teaspoon pepper.

Trim and cut l.5 pounds pork tenderloin into 1 inch cubes.

In large bowl, marinate pork in whisked mixture for 10 minutes or cover and refrigerate for up to 6 hours.

Shred one cup of cucumber.

Mix cucumber with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, let stand for 10 minutes.

Squeeze out moisture.

Mix cucumber, 1/4 cup balkan-style plain yogurt, 2 clover garlic, minced, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (I added dried dill weed to taste), and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.  This is called Tzatziki.

Thread pork onto metal skewers, and brush with remaining marinade.  Place on greased grill over medium high heat.

Close lid and grill, turning halfway through, until juices run clear when pork is pierced and just a hint of pink remains inside, about 12 minutes.  

Remove from skewers.  Serve with 2 plum tomatoes, sliced (I used cherry tomatoes sliced in half because that is what I had on hand), sliced red onion, 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce and greek-style pocketless pitas.

This meal was quick and easy and even my husband enjoyed it!

Winner!

There is a winner for the cute "girlie" sewing kit!!!

 Nedra said

Nice tutorial Cynthia! What a fun little sewing kit. Thanks!

Thank you so much everyone for commenting and signing up to become followers!!!  It is uplifting to know that great people like you in "bloggy land" are reading what I write!
I did the drawing by random number generator but wasn't able to provide a visual.  I will learn how to do that later :)  Including everyone who LIKED my www.facebook.com/dreamquiltcreate page, left a comment on the facebook page, left a comment on the blog post and signed up to become followers on my BLOG, there were 39 entrants.  Nedra was number 15.

Pinwheel Baby Quilt

I made this quilt for my niece who had a baby girl.  I loved making this quilt, maybe because I love pinwheels :)

 The colors are vibrant, backed with the fresh white and the prairie points.

I used a charm pack of Snippets by American Jane.

I even did the quilting myself on my sewing machine :)

I backed it with soft chenille.

I also used this pattern to make a quilt for my grandaughter in a different color scheme.

I machine quilted this quilt also, the smaller baby size is manageable.  This is a Lila Tueller fabric.

The border has little pin dots which you don't notice in the large photo of the quilt.  I was able to quilt daisies all along the border.

I really like the green print on the back of the quilt.

The tutorial for this pattern can be found at Moda Bake Shop.

This quilt pattern was designed by Jodi at Pleasant Home.

Lined Travel Bags

My friend Lori posted a great tutorial on her blog.

I had been looking for some gifts to make and when I saw these Lined Travel Bags, I knew they were perfect!  I made eight of them.

They are pretty big, 10" wide and 16" tall.

  You can use them for hair products such as a bottle of hair spray, a hairbrush and a curling iron.  All of that will fit in one bag.

You can use the bag for a pair of shoes, sweaters, undergarments, exercise clothes, etc.

The lining matches the bows!

I just love these bags, they are so pretty and feminine.  

If you want to make one, the tutorial is here.

Don't forget my GIVEAWAY!!!

This trifold sewing kit.

You have four chances to win......

Post a comment here.

Sign up to be a follower on my blog and tell me that you did. 

Go to my facebook page here and LIKE the page.

Leave a comment on my facebook page, dream quilt create.

Sewing kit tutorial and giveaway!!!

This is the cute "girlie" sewing kit that I made for you, to be won in a giveaway!

As promised, I will give you a tutorial for the sewing kit.

Cut your pieces as follows:

• exterior:  15" X 6"
• cotton batting:  16" X 7"
• inside panel pieces:  cut (2)  5 l/4" X 6" and (1) 5 l/2" X 6"
• pockets:  cut (1) 5 l/4" X 4" and (1) 3 l/2" X 6"
• scissor case:  (my scissors measure 4 l/2" long and 2" wide at the widest part of the handle)  The bottom of my scissors holder is l" wide plus l/4" on each side, equaling l l/2".  Make your triangle this size plus l/4" all the way around.  (reference to my polkadot fabric for the shape to draw your scissors holder)

• binding (turquoise):  cut (2) strips 2" X WOF(width of fabric)
• closure strap and thread strap (yellow):  

       cut (1) strip  1 1/2" X WOF 

• needle book:  cut your wool felt piece 4 l/2" X 2 3/4" 
• small piece of velcro:  l/2" X 3.8"

DIRECTIONS:

Quilt your exterior piece to the cotton batting.  Quilt as desired.  I quilted mine straight lines approximately l/2" apart.  You could quilt it in diagonal lines, or use stipple quilting, swirly lines all around.  To me it was really easy just to quilt straight lines.  I didn't adjust my machine at all to quilt, just adjusted the stitch to be slightly longer than normal to compensate for stitching through the thickness.

This is what my quilting looked like when I was finished.

Sew the binding to the two pockets, raw edges together.  Sew on the long edges and use a l/4" seam.

Fold the binding up and press so that you have a nice edge and can see clearly where the pocket and binding are joined.

   Fold the binding toward the back of the pocket, making sure that you fold the edge past the stitching line that you made when you sewed on the binding.  Pin well and sew "in the ditch" on the front.
Pictured is the binding and the stitching from the back.  Notice that the seam is caught in the stitching.

Place your bound pockets on the two side panel pieces lining up the bottom edges.  Make sure that you have the two panels that measure 5 l/4" X 6" (the middle panel is slightly larger, make sure you don't sew a pocket on to this panel).  Pin and baste the pockets onto the panels.

Now we will join the three panels together.  Sew them right sides together using a l/4" seam allowance and then press the seams open.  It should now look like this.

I divided the right pocket into two sections by marking the middle (top and bottom) and sewing down the middle from the top of the binding to the raw edge.  You can barely see the line that I stitched, but it's there!

To make the scissors case, iron the wide edge over l/4".  Then do the same to each side and then the bottom.  Finally, fold the top over l/4" again.  Topstitch the top edge of the scissors case where you folded over twice.

Fold your piece of wool felt in half and press so that you have a clear crease for a stitch line.  Now you are going to pin both the needle book (wool felt) and the scissors case onto the center panel. The scissors case needs to be l/2" from the top and l/8" from the left seam.  Place the folded edge of the needle book l/4" from the left seam and l/2" from the bottom edge.  
Sew down the crease line of the needle book and very close to the edge of the three sides of the scissors holder.  

 Press each end in l/4" and then refold the whole strip back up.
 DO NOT sew it yet.  
Cut 6 l/4" off this strip to make the thread strap(goes in the middle).
Only one short end needs to be folded in on the short strap but you need to fold in both short edges of the long piece so that all of the  edges will be encased.
Sew down each of the long sides and the ends to close up the straps.

Now sew down each of the long sides and the ends to close up the straps.

I'm sorry that this photo is so blurry.....
Pull apart your tiny piece of velcro and sew  the fuzzy piece onto the finished end of the short strap.  This is your thread holder.

Place the loopy piece of the velcro and place it along the left seam of the interior piece.  It needs to be 3/8" from the bottom edge.....( I accidentally sewed mine on the top edge.  When I realized my mistake, my kit was already sewn together.  I don't think it makes a huge difference, so I left it!

Sew the strap to the bottom (or top!) edge, keeping enough slack to hold two spools of skinny Gutterman spools of thread.  

Trim the exterior piece, by placing your ruler on top of the fabric and trimming off the excess cotton batting, flush to the edges.

Now it's time to attach the exterior and the interior along the seam lines on the interior.  Place your exterior piece face down on your table and then place your interior piece face up. 

Align the edges so that your corners and edges are all matched.
First, stitch down the two long seam lines, attaching the exterior and interior pieces together.  

Attach the binding on the outside, all the way around.  

Handsew the binding on the inside, just as you would a quilt.

Almost finished!!!

All you have left to sew is the tie.  Take your piece and mark 12" from one finished end.  Take your sewing kit and place it face up on your table.  Find the stitch line on the exterior that corresponds to the left seam line on the inside.  

Stitch your tie to the exterior but you want the stitches to be disguised by the seam on the inside.  

Find that seam on the exterior and mark the middle.  It will be 3" from the top and bottom and approximately 5" from the right edge when the piece is laying exterior side up on the table.  Match the two marks, the one on your tie and the one on your strap.  

Pin in place and sew on the inside to make sure the stitches are masked by the seam.

Now you are finished!!!

I promised a giveaway.....
To win this cute "girlie" sewing kit, all you have to do is "join this site" and become a Follower.  The place to join is located on the right side of this blog, underneath my button.  Then, leave me a comment.  I love comments ♥  If you have already a follower, then just tell me in your comment.
I will use the "random number generator" to choose a winner.
The comments close this Thursday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m. Pacific time.  I will announce the winner on Friday!

I sure hope you win!!!!