Fat Tuesday and WIP / Ash Wednesday

Can you tell what I've been working on today?!  I love biology, but when I was in school if the biology teacher told us to take out our colored pencils, I was ecstatic! I'm going back to school with my Valentine's cards this year!  So much FUN!  I'm also inking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced WIP Wed...

Today is also Ash Wednesday, which means that yesterday was Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras.  I was so busy making King Cake, a traditional Mardi Gras treat that I didn't have time to blog yesterday.

I have a few Louisiana cookbooks, but only one had a King Cake recipe, and I didn't feel that it was "traditional" enough.  I found this John Besh recipe on-line that totally takes me back to my childhood!  King Cake is actually a yeast bread, with a brioche dough.  It traditionally has a plastic baby that is tucked into the cake from underneath after it's baked.  Whoever gets the baby has to bring the next King Cake.  They are served on a very regular basis during the season of epiphany (12th day after Christmas) until Lent. I had to once again go "old school" and used a walnut half instead.  My oldest son was delighted to find it. 

The original custom, way back when, was that whoever got the walnut, or bean would be the "king" of the ball or event which this was served at, and then hold the next party.  I'm linking up with Debbie at A Quilter's Table!

I also finished my 3rd Triple zip in Mardi Gras colors.  All day long I was listening to my dozens of New Orleans music CD's... The Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Professor Longhair, and many many others!  As the song goes, I "know what it means to miss New Orleans", but carrying on these traditions here in Oregon makes me miss it a bit less.

Do you have any traditions that makes you miss yous birthplace or past home less?

Double Triple Zip Along, and 2 Color Zipper Tutorial

With my Wildlife Quilt all done and being used every night, I was able to get not 1, but 2 of these triple zip pouches finished for Debbie's of "A Quilter's Table" Triple Zip Along!

As much fun as I had sewing these up, I had even more fun playing around with my zippers (I mentioned that I love zippers, right?).  I haven't seen a "tutorial" about what I did, so here it is. 

You can really change up the look of your zippers by first taking them apart. It's important to HAVE THE SAME BRAND OF ZIPPERS before you do this.  One of my thrift store zippers was packed in a different brand of zipper packaging, and when I tried it they curled up and wouldn't lie flat.

You also need to start with zippers that are bigger than you want in the end, as they may not quite match up lenghth-wise in the end.

First, you cut the ends off of the zippers.

Unzip them entirely.  Mix and match how you want them.  You can use 2 different colors (this would be great for sports or school colors). You can put on a different colored pull.

Put the zipper slide or pull first on one side of the tape.  I added safety pins to give me a "handle" to grab onto.  You could also use pieces of masking tape on the sides, or just try with nothing... sometimes they go together smoothly.

Then thread the other side of the tape onto the pull, as you would a jacket, and pull.  This is a bit tricky, as they won't fit together at first.  If it's really stubborn, you can cut off a few of the bottom teeth on one side first.

From here, you can proceed to sew with them as you would any other zipper.  If you won't be using them right away, you may want to sew across the bottom to prevent the zipper from separating.