I Love Baby Quilts!

More Dresses and a Kimono

2011-12-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hello again! I must be in holiday crafthorse mode because I can't stop making dresses! I made this little dress (above) for Gigi because she saw me making all the baby dresses and got jealous. I laid out 12 fabrics for her to pick from, and she chose Good Folks by Anna Maria Horner. Great taste!!! One of my all time favorite fabrics. You'd have to see it in person, it just GLOWS. I even remembered I had the pink and red version of the same pattern, but she stuck with her green/red choice. I think this one is the most favorite dress I've ever made.

I also made Gigi this little kimono from a free pattern by Habitual, using a print from the Sherbet Pips collection by Aneela Hoey. She loves it!

Lastly, I made one more 12 month old baby dress.

So now we have Strawberry, Lemonade and Orange Dreamsicle :)

Strawberry and Orange are Amy Butler fabrics, and again, the pattern was the free Oliver+S pattern.

Enjoy!

I'm Back! With a Trio of Dresses

2011-12-02T13:00:00.001-08:00

I've been making some little dresses lately for a friend of mine who wants them for her 1 year old. Click here for previous versions and a link to the free pattern of the dress from Oliver+S.

I made a strawberry dress....

And a lemonade dress!

Then for Gigi I made a size 4 version of the dress.

I made about every mistake on this dress that a person could ever make. I failed to realize my printer was printing the pattern at 3/4 size. Then when I realized it, I cut the back piece the right length and was going to add to the front, but in measuring them together I cut both the shorter length. Doh! Then I got them both the right length with the stripe, but sewed them together wrong side out. After taking that out and sewing them correctly, I tried to put it on her and realized it was doll sized through the chest. Because (duh) if it's too small one way, guess what? it's too short the other way. Sigh. So I took it all apart and added panels in the sides. And voila, a pretty dress. LOL.

So here you have it...strawberry lemonade dresses and a crazy mistake dress that's still pretty cute.

Lime Sherbet Baby Quilt

2011-06-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Updated 9/6/11: photo of Braelynn on the quilt!

I made this little sherbet baby quilt to take to a shower for my friend Cari. She wanted pastel yellows and greens and also forest animals. Well there are lots of forest animals, plus some other fun stuff, like cupcakes! Yum. I used my favorite piecing method: fussy cut the inside square and then add enough fabric around to make the right size. Oh, all hand piecing and quilting as usual, of course.

I happened to have the perfect backing fabric in my stash, this chandelier print by Tina Givens. It is just the right color of yellow-green. I used yellow satin for the binding and it's perfect too.

Here's a boy for scale.

And a closeup of one of my favorite blocks, some dancing frogs by Heather Ross via Kokka Japan. That's Cari, Clay and the baby in the meadow. I previously used the rabbit family from the same fabric in this modern baby quilt for another friend, Sarah.

These colors don't really match each other but I wanted to put the owls in some trees :)

And of course some old Heather Ross prints on top, because I love them, and a cute big doggie.

Enjoy!

News Flash: I Finally Used a Sewing Machine! (and I hated it)

2011-04-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

As all of you loyal followers know, I don't own a sewing machine and have never learned to use one. Every quilt on this site, for the last 13 years, has been made entirely by hand. Well, a few weeks ago I made this little purple dress for Gigi and was frustrated with the way the middle joined. The free directions were extremely vague so I improvised, but the seam kept coming apart in the middle gathers and I resewed it like five times. I was getting mad so my husband suggested that I dig out the beginner sewing machine my mom had given my oldest daughter 8 years ago that no one had ever used. I thought maybe he was right and it would hold that seam better so I agreed.

Well I took one look at the directions and my brain froze! So I made Mr. Babyquilts stop painting the kitchen to set it up for me. He'd taken home ec in highschool and claimed to remember how to thread the beast. I found a spool of machine thread I'd bought by accident long ago and we were off. I wasn't very good at it but I challenged myself to make an entire new dress with only the machine.

Here's the little dress I made, a copy of the purple one. Summary? I hated every second of using the machine and kept wanting to throw it out the window and go back to hand. It kept unthreading itself every ten seconds and I really didn't know what I was doing. Plus, to add insult to injury, I couldn't get it to sew over the gathers in the middle and ended up sewing it by hand again anyway!!!! Grrrr..... So guess what, this one comes apart in the middle every time I wash it too. I realize it's probably not the machine's fault, but I genuinely disliked the entire experience and am extremely unlikely to repeat it. You ladies can keep the machines!

At any rate, Gigi loves it and that's what matters. If I have to sew the middle a hundred more times, it will be worth it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go sew it again, it just came out of the wash. (I only wish I was saying that to be funny!)

Best New York Strip Steak Ever

2011-04-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

To commemorate the start of grilling season, today I give you the best dry rub recipe for thick cut New York Strip Steak. Try it!

Set a stainless steel grill pan (with ridges on the bottom) on medium high heat for at least 15 minutes. Let the steaks sit out at room temperature for an hour - an even meat temperature will make for more even cooking. Make the dry rub: 2T kosher salt, 1/2 c. brown sugar, 2T black pepper, 1 clove garlic, minced. When pan or grill has heated for at least the 15 minutes, rub the steaks with oil, then the dry rub, and put in the preheated pan immediately. Do not spray the pan or grill with oil, just rub on the steaks. The pan will smoke as the sugar caramelizes, so have the fan ready, or better yet grill them outside! Grill 4 minutes per side and they will be perfectly caramelized and medium rare.

Proud of Myself!

2011-04-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm very proud of myself today! I have been making the same easy little sack dress over and over for my three year old, and I decided I MUST try something new. The little dress and some newborn pants were the only clothes I've ever made so I was a little afraid to try a harder dress.

Well, it wasn't smooth sailing the whole time, but voila! I made this super cute dress! It only took me two days here in all-by-hand land. I got the pattern free from Made By Rae. If you want to make one too, you have to print out the pattern for the three year old, but the instructions for the itty bitty one. The instructions weren't overly elaborate, but I just filled in the gaps with my general sewing knowledge. I lined the bodice with lavender solid and accented the middle and bottom edge with fabric from the same line.

That line was Tula Pink's Parisville. I love it! It's soooo much prettier in person though. The lilacs and dark purples really pop. Do you see the cute mice hidden in the design? I love all the delicate details, you notice more every time you look at it.

Well ladies, it turned out super amazing, if I do say so myself! Gigi loves it. It feels more like a real dress dress than the sack-type ones I was making before.

She feels like a princess in it!

Even the cat had to come check it out. Well, enjoy looking and now go make one for your little girl!

Modern Baby Quilt Finished!

2011-03-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

It's done! Click here to see the beginnings of it and the directions on how to make the applique circles. I'm very proud of this quilt, because it's the first time I've made the quilting part of the design. I used to dislike the quilting, but I'm liking it more with every quilt. As an all-by-hand quilt maker I am usually in a hurry to finish. But not anymore!

Wolf is enjoying it for now, until it goes to my dear friend Sarah.

Here are closeups of the four quadrants of the quilt. I love how the quilting on some of them "breaks the plane" of the square it belongs to and draws the eye away from the block divisions.

I didn't mark any of the quilting. The circles naturally turned out at 1/4" intervals, I think because I'm used to "eyeing" quarter inch seams. For the straight lines I just took a plastic quilting ruler and ran it back and forth on the fabric, pressing down, so I could see the line.

Frog prince!

The owl and the pussycat!

Dandelion moon!

Hope you enjoyed seeing it as much as I enjoyed making it. Cheers!

Modern Baby Quilt Top

2011-02-02T11:23:00.001-08:00

Edited to say: click here to see the finished quilt!

The baby quilt top is done! Click photos to see them better. It was fun and easy to do. See the quilt it's based on and my applique circle notes here.

I love this Heather Ross Far Far Away II owl and pussycat circle. I only used three novelty prints, but I made sure they read as solids from far away.

Here's three bunnies dancing in the mushrooms from some Japanese fabric I had. It's Sarah, Matt and the baby, Lilly D. I like how it echoes the Japanese folklore of a rabbit in the moon.

Do you guys like it?

Modern Baby Quilt Beginning

2011-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

Edited to say: click here to see the finished quilt!

I started a new baby quilt for a dear friend Sarah who will soon be bringing home a sweet baby girl. Sarah chose this design, Sun and Moon from Squareonestudios from my inspiration file. It's all modern square blocks with appliqued circles.

I used the super circles tutorial from Anna Maria Horner's blog, and the tinfoil method worked perfectly! Give it a try.

I edited the photos to show just the blocks, so consider the white of this blog the design wall, and the blocks are thrown up here. Sarah wanted mostly solids, but I made three novelty circles and used a little patterned fabric.

Above is the enchanted frog from Heather Ross' Far Far Away double gauze collection.

Here are some solid and patterny blocks.

The blocks do look like the sun and moon, don't they?

The most fun part is how they change when you put them together in rows. The neighboring blocks give them a different look than they had on their own. I will show the whole top in a few days so you can see what I mean. Click on the below photo to see it better. Enjoy!

Starry Heather Ross Quilt Finish!

2011-01-16T08:34:00.001-08:00

I really like how this turned out! The cold, rainy weather here is not cooperating for photos, but trust me, it's gorgeous. My sister gave me her whole stash of Heather Ross to make it, and I used almost every scrap. It's a copy of this quilt I made for a baby, I just figured out different measurements. I was pretty proud of myself, considering all I had was a photo to start with!

I quilted every six inches, outlining each star and circling little motifs like I did in this Heather Ross quilt.

I included three selvages too, for fun. Here's my favorite one above.

There are even a few stars using the coveted seagull fabric, that you really can't even buy anymore. I just did a quick search and couldn't find ANY for sale on the internet.

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Here's a cute weiner dog outline. He needs a sweater here in Texas today.

For the back, my sister sent a soft flannel twin size sheet that worked perfectly to bring to the front as binding. Also shown above is my second favorite selvage, including the color dots.

And here's Ty enjoying his quilt. Have a good weekend!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

2011-01-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

It's raining and freezing here today so I'm making the most comforting thing I can think of, homemade cinnamon rolls! I'm using this recipe if you get inspired to join me. The dough is really beautiful and easy to work with. I also think I'm going to drizzle with a powdered sugar glaze and I left out the nuts because I didn't have any.

Here's a process shot. Definitely not a diet dish! My two tips are: use real cinnamon, not Cassia cinnamon and use quilting thread to cut the rolls. It says to use a serrated knife, but that just squishes them. Hold one end of a piece of thread in each hand, slide it under the rolled up log, cross the pieces over one another, handing each piece to the opposite hand, then pull. The thread will cut and come out straight.

Edited to say: OMG these are the best ever!!! They taste just like Cinnabons used to taste in the 80's when they were still good. I didn't need the glaze because you just spoon the stuff on the bottom of the pan over the rolls. Sooooo good.

Galaxy - Heather Ross Quilt Continues

2011-01-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Today I wish you all happiness and love in the coming year, and a little bit of luck too :)

Enjoy the full galaxy of stars. I just threw them up on the design wall, I have yet to lay them out as they will be sewn. Coming next, top completed!

Pink and Black Quilt - Finished

2010-12-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

I still don't understand why I keep taking on king size quilt projects here in all-by-hand land, but here's another one! I made this for a friend of the family, Chris. He's a very sweet 23 year old who needed something that was just his. I gave this to him last night and he was thrilled! He loves pink and black and skulls, so when I saw the border fabric I knew it was for him. That's Mr. Babyquilts posing with the quilt, for scale.

Chris picked out the centers, but I adjusted his choices to be mostly black, white, pink and purple. I just tied it on the corners this time.

Enjoy!

Constellation - Heather Ross Quilt Continues

2010-12-27T14:06:00.001-08:00

I've been off work, and will be this whole week, so the constellation of stars is growing! Click to see them better. Check out those seagulls! The big one is 20" but it's not the biggest I've got planned. I've got a couple of 30 inchers coming.

Amazing how quickly the day goes by when I'm supposed to be cleaning the house, but instead I'm quilting. I'd make a terrible stay at home mom!

Merry Xmas and enjoy.

Conception - Heather Ross Quilt Begins

2010-12-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

A new quilt comes to life with the completion of the first block. Does anyone else ever feel like they've breathed life into a new quilt when they finish the first block? Like something has been set in motion that will take a certain amount of time to be done forming, then it will travel to its home, live out its life and someday meet its end. Or am I just weird? Probably, lol.

My sister asked me to make this Heather Ross quilt for her son (my nephew) Ty and his big boy bed. She sent me every bit of the HR stash I've been trying to separate her from for three years, including seagulls! To me, getting to play with it is just as good as having it. It's going to be the same pattern as the Starry Starry Night baby quilt I made, but in a twin size and with no solids. The challenge is to use just the fabric she sent. I'm using dots and stripes as solids.

I like how the selvage came out in the block above. I'll post more as I have it.

Giveaway Day!

2010-12-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

Update: The random number generator at random.org picked #32 - Tara from Crafting Into Sanity! Congrats to Tara, the geese will be winging their way to you tomorrow.

Tara said:
I am now a follower. I would love this giveaway. I have several friends who are pregnant so I would love to make this one for them.

Happy Giveaway Day!

Since I am the home of all things baby quilt, today I'm giving away a whole baby quilt! (some assembly required) The gaggle of geese you see above are just waiting to fly to your home to be joined into rows and backed with one of the two fabrics below - just add batting and you're there!

The 66 geese measure 4"X6.5" and are all hand pieced, since I don't own a machine.

Just line them up into rows and sew. Here, I've even drawn you a quilt map! Aren't I nice?

If you want to make it a larger quilt, feel free to add sashing between the rows, or wide borders, but then you won't get to back it with one of these beauties.

The winner just needs to tell me if they want the boy backing or the girl backing, choose one. Both are large enough to back the quilt in the quilt map. The pink is flannel, the blue is not.

Wanna win? Just subscribe to my blog. Then leave me a comment telling me so and saying who you would give the baby quilt to if you won. Only one comment per person, and make sure I can get your email address.

That's it! Happy commenting!

PS: If you don't win, you can still make your own flock of geese with this super easy Twiddletails tutorial. Just cut one rectangle and two squares and two minutes later, your goose is cooked. Try it!

Munki Munki Poolside

2010-12-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

Anyone on your Christmas list want a big chunk of discontinued Heather Ross? My sister is selling a 24X38 piece of Poolside on her etsy store. It's very rare these days, especially in this big of a piece. Check it out here!

Four Patch Baby Quilt Finish

2010-12-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

I had so much time over the Thanksgiving break that I whipped up this simple little baby quilt at Mr. Babyquilts' request for a customer/friend of his. Here in slower than molasses all-by-hand-land, you don't often hear the words "whipped up", but I really did! It only took me about four days to finish it.

I was extra proud that I made it all from stash, except the silky binding. I had just purchased those cute dogs and thought they'd be perfect for a baby boy. Yes, those are the same gray Japanese elephants I used for the baby pants I made last month. I even used some of my precious Heather Ross goldfish bags, just to be nice :) You'll also notice Heather Bailey, Joel Dewberry, Jay McCarroll and of course, Amy Butler making appearances.

The back is Amy Butler Love dots that I had in stash for just such an occasion. I embroidered the year the baby will be born, since I don't know his name yet. Click photo to see embroidery better.

Enjoy!

I Made Marshmallows for a Hot Cocoa Cake!

2010-11-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

And it was easy! A while ago I threatened to make a hot cocoa layer cake with marshmallows, all from scratch, and today I did it! I'm taking it to a friend's birthday tonight.

Yes, it took me all day and yes, every single surface in my kitchen is covered with powdered sugar (literally every surface) and yes, I had to go to the store three times and yes, I now have a sink full of dishes, but I did it!

The marshmallows were reaaalllly sticky but tasted good! They tasted exactly like marshmallow fluff from a jar. Uh....not that I know what that tastes like ;)

You have to wet the knife to cut them apart and then throw them in the powdered sugar bowl to coat their sticky edges, but then you get perfect little blocks!

I like making things from scratch that really don't need to be made from scratch. I think it goes with my "all-by-hand" quilting mentality. But it sure is labor intensive. These are the best photos I could get of the cake, since it took all day, the lighting was not so good!

The cake ended up with three layers even though the recipe only makes two layers, because while I was at the store getting a candy thermometer for the marshmallows, my two year old made an end run around dad to dig out a big hunk of cooling cake for herself :( She ruined one of the two layers I had, so when I got home I had to make another whole cake recipe to get two more layers. On the upside, my family got to eat the ruined layer and loved it! :)

Look at those adorable little cubes! Click to enlarge. Once they're rolled in the powdered sugar they are just the softest, dearest little things, like baby bunnies.

Enjoy!

Saturday Stash

2010-11-13T13:59:00.001-08:00

Got these fabrics yesterday for a requested pink and black quilt. They wanted bright batiks, but I happen to know they love skulls too, so they will be very surprised and happy when they see the finished quilt! I couldn't believe my luck when I saw the skull fabric in the right colors. It's going to be squares and frames, probably queen to king sized. Why do I keep committing to huge quilts when I'm an all-by-hander??? Glutton for punishment I guess! I am also quilting the gnome homes quilt for a Christmas gift, so I'll have that to show soon.

Toddler Dress and Newborn Pants

2010-11-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

I made a little 3 year old dress for Gigi using some gorgeous purple/blue Amy Butler Love! Haven't gotten a photo of her in it yet. I used this free tutorial again from Oliver + S. That's the same tute I used for this pink dress and this blue dress and this orange/brown one. I think I'm a little afraid to try a new pattern! It's not as easy making clothes without a sewing machine.

I also made these little newborn pants with cuffs for our new grandson Kyler. I used this free tutorial from Made by Rae.

Lookin' good, baby.

I really enjoyed making them from Japanese elephant fabric and putting on the little cuffs - no big deal, just like binding a quilt.

Enjoy!

Cabin in the Snow Mini Quilt

2010-10-18T16:42:00.001-07:00

I've always kind of wanted to make a mini quilt and so today I did! I made this Cabin in the Snow as a mug rug for a dear friend of mine. It measures 6" by 5". It's a lot cuter in person, it has more depth to the colors and you can see the little swirls in the white on white snow.

I didn't use a pattern or draw one out, I just started making tiny wonky stars by cutting 1" squares and following Sillyboodilly's great tutorial to piece them. Then I just estimated the size of everything else. The door is yellow to show that someone has a light on for you and is waiting by the fire.

On the back I used one of my oldest and most favorite fabrics. It reminds me of the bare branches in the snow of my childhood home, Milwaukee. The tiny 1/4" binding was difficult for me to sew on, witness the terrible corner on the bottom left in the photo!

I am missing fall in my homeland and wish I were soon in a cabin in the snow "up north", which in Milwaukee-speak means "anywhere in Wisconsin that is not Milwaukee".

Enjoy!

Gnome Homes Top Finished!

2010-10-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. I went through a non-crafty period, but I'm back in the saddle now! I finally finished the gnome home top for my wonderful MIL for Xmas. I fell in love with these gnome homes last year and decided to make my own copy of some of the blocks I saw on the Bee Imaginative Blog, like these and these.

Click any photo to see the detail!

Here are a few closeups for ya. Ooops, I cut off the tree top! Oh well, still like it.

This poor gnome can't even live in his own main floor - it's a jungle down there.

Here's what my stash looks like now in my Ikea Bergsbo cabinet. The five piles on the very top are the only remnants of the quilt store fabric I used to buy before I discovered designer fabric! I have been slowly getting rid of it, and slowly increasing my stash of Amy Butler, Heather Ross, Tina Givens, etc. etc. After the great scrap bucket giveaway from two posts ago, I am down to the three buckets you see here.

How many designers can you identify from this closeup? Click to see bigger.

Here's why I haven't been posting much, too busy enjoying the gorgeous Texas "fall" weather with Mr. Babyquilts and kiddos at McKinney Falls State Park. Gigi says I'm 2 and too tired to walk anymore!

Cheers everyone, hope to post again soon.
Wendy

Three Year Old Dress

2010-07-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

I made G another little dress, but this one is a bit bigger, that's why it looks a little funny. I made it in three year old size to last until next summer. The fabric is Arcadia. I used the same free Oliver+S tute as I used for the blue Amy Butler Belle dress and the pink Amy Butler Wallflower dress.

She refused to smile...

...until I brought out Wolf's new kitten! His name is Flash.

Anyone Want Some Scraps???

2010-07-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm finally ready to admit it. I have wayyyyyy too many scraps. I never thought it would come to this. I really didn't. I was actually buying scraps for a while on etsy, but now it's come to the point where I have too many even for me. The SEVEN, yes, seven buckets above are full to bursting with scraps and I want to give some away.

The ones I'm giving away are from these four buckets, my "regular" quilt store fabric scraps. I'm a scrapaholic, but I'm not crazy, I can't part with my all-designer scrap buckets! Three of the buckets are quilting cottons and the fourth is all flannel (the one second from the right with the suns/moons).

Here's all you have to do to get scraps: Leave a comment on this post stating your intent to send a request and I will send you my address. Next, send me the price of a flat rate box and your address and I will stuff it bursting full of scraps and send it to you. That's it. Everything must go! If you're in the U.S., a small flat rate box costs five bucks to send. If you're in Canada or Mexico, it's $11. Any other country is $13. I anticipate being able to send everyone scraps that sends me a request, but if I run out, I'll send your money back, obviously. I love being in a community where people trust each other. Ok ya'll, let the commenting begin!

Hexagon Turtle Quilt

2010-07-23T19:44:00.001-07:00

A finish! I've been very busy lately so haven't been able to post on the progress of this quilt, but here it is finished! This was a commission for my dear friend/boss Angela for a friend of hers who is due soon. Angela wanted a giant turtle but didn't know how I would achieve that. Hmmmm. Me neither! I originally thought I wanted to make the turtle shell kind of like a spider web but that meant a hex center with parallelograms and arcs surrounding, and no cutting directions. Huh? Yeah, not that. So I remembered that I'm good at hexagons, having hand pieced literally thousands of them for the feedsack GFG quilt a few years ago, so I tried that and it worked!

I printed a small hex off the internet and blew it up to get about a five inch hex and then made a cardboard pattern from it. Angela wanted ric rac around the edge of the shell and a turned head to mimic the turtles in the Wendy Slotboom fabric I used for the piecing. I made the eye and chin out of wool felt so it could be ironed if desired.

I chose the Amy Butler honeycomb for the background because it echoes the shape of turtle shells and also kind of looks like water rippling, so the turtle is swimming. I outline quilted all the hexagons and used the Slotboom turtle fabric for the backing.

I had to applique the whole thing onto the honeycomb piece, then I cut out the part under the hexes to save it for scrap. It sure would have been a lot easier to applique this thing if I'd had a machine! I kind of thought the edges of the hexes would be cool as the edges of the shell since some turtles look like that, but that wouldn't have worked with the ric rac. So as I desperately searched for something oval that was big enough to trace around, Mr. Babyquilts simply said, "Why not fold it in half like a Valentine heart and cut it even that way?" Smarty. That never even occurred to me. So I did and it worked perfectly.

I was in a super rush for time or I would have done a few extra things like successive rings of outline quilting around the hands and feet to show paddling movement, and I might have embroidered claws on the turtle too. I would have also made a separate binding out of the blue honeycomb instead of having to turn the back to the front for binding, which I consider cheating but is sooooo much easier and faster! Hope you like it. Cheers.
Wendy

A Finish - Starry Starry Night

2010-06-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yay! A finish! A big deal here in all-by-hand land. I finished this Starry Starry Night quilt for our son Corey and his soon to be born son. I found the inspiration quilt on the internet and saved it for years, then when Corey chose it I had to figure out the measurements and directions. It was easier than I'd thought!

I quilted it in an all over diagonal pattern to give it some movement.

Love the Valori Wells Urban Flannel on the back! I love that entire collection of flannels.

Enjoy!

I'm In Fabric Love!

2010-06-15T12:25:00.001-07:00

With Valori Wells' new Nest line! Absolute love. How about you?

Photo from Spool Sewing

Another Little Dress

2010-06-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

Whipped this little dress up for G last night from the same Oliver+S free tute that I used for this pink dress. The sharp-eyed among you will notice it isn't hemmed yet, but I'll do that tonight. Couldn't wait to get it on her! Used my whole half yard of precious Amy Butler Belle line flowers.

Have a great day ya'll!

Japanese Elephant Hearts

2010-06-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a new quilt commission and here it is! Japanese elephants and Alexander Henry 2D Zoo fabrics. Love it! It's a commission for my good friend Sarah.

I love the colors in the 2D Zoo! So yummy.

I've got it all pinned and ready to quilt.

Wolfie says hi!

More AH dots on the back. Do you like it?

Honor Your Husbands Today!

2010-05-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

I'd like to issue a challenge to all you quilt bloggers that love your husbands - feature him today! He supports you in your fabric obsession, he lends a designer's eye to your block arrangements, he patiently watches the kids while you quilt and he waits in the car while you fabric shop! Give that man a shout out today ladies and let him know he's appreciated. I know mine is.

Mr. Babyquilts is an amazing husband! He cooks!

He builds things!

He works very hard!

He's a great dad to his older kids...

And our little guys too.

He also looks amazing on his motorcycle.

I loved you so much on the day I married you 10 years ago that I thought I couldn't love you any more! But I did. And I do. I love you Mr. Babyquilts, thanks for putting up with me. Oh, and buying me the entire new Heather Ross FFA2 line (in advance).

Japanese Squares and Frames - Quilt Festival Entry

2010-05-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks for stopping by! It's Quilt Festival time again! Go to Amy's Creative Side (Park City Girl) and check out everyone's entries. I am an all-by-hand quilter, I've never owned a machine and don't know how to use one, so everything you see is hand sewn. Feel free to check out my finished quilt gallery down the left side of the blog.

For my entry I have Japanese squares and frames. I'm a modern quilter and my absolute favorite thing to do is to highlight tiny motifs by framing them. I love that an overlooked, unassuming little animal or plant or whatever can get its moment in the sun.

Like this apple, for example.

Or these circles. Who ever highlights circles? They are the overlooked workhorses of the quilt world. Lol.

Or how about these cute little guys peeking out of the letterbox? Or the bird in the cornerstone?

These are mostly Japanese double gauze fabrics and organic Cloud 9 fabrics, with some Mingle and others thrown in. I made it for a baby named John William, who is Amber's new nephew, on commission. Amber, a non-quilter, picked out all these fabrics to go together! Good job Amber!

And here's John William on the quilt. Super cute!

So here's the pieced back, with the double gauze and a few more squares.

Back closeups. Cute Japanese orange dot for binding.

Well, now that you've seen it, I hope you say:

Thanks for coming and please leave a comment if you've made it this far. I solemnly promise to visit your blog and leave a comment if you comment on mine. Every comment gets a comment. Cheers!

Happy Birthday Wolfgang!

2010-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

The boy who made a mother out of me turns 7 today. Sigh...that's when they turn from a baby into a real kid. My baby boy!

Well, happy birthday my little love. You are the world's best boy. You are messy....

And curious...

And sweet (such a good big brother!)...

But most of all, silly. I love you so much, you'll always be my little wolf cub.
Happy Birthday, from Mom

Starry, Starry Night

2010-05-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

So did the title of this post make you think of the famous painting or the famous song by Don McLean? If you click the link to the song, it's actually an analysis of the lyrics compared to Van Gogh's life, very interesting!

But i'm not here today for a fine art lesson, i'm here to introduce the new quilt i'm working on! I keep a bunch of photos of quilts I've found interesting over the years, just in case I want to make them someday. My younger stepson Corey is having a baby now and picked this photo out of my files. I searched the internet for hours trying to figure out who made it or where I got the photo, and no luck, even on flickr, so if you recognize the quilt, speak up and I will give credit!!!

I don't use patterns when making quilts, so it was fun trying to figure out the measurements, considering if you look closely, it's not really pieced in rows. I just used a 5" measurement per unit to get the measurements I wanted, for example I counted the corner small square at 5" and the long piece next to it at 5X10". I'm going to piece it in chunks, starting in the middle.

I'm really loving the cute little stars i'm making! I love the twinkly yellow one...

And the apple dots star...

But I want to know your honest opinion of the star above. What do you really think? Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Click to enlarge and maybe that will help you form an opinion. lol.

Best for last....my favorite. Japanese froggies dancing in a flower circle with Park Slope yellow green goodness. That's Corey, Ashley and the baby dancing. Love it! Which one do you like?

Easy Rider

2010-05-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

It's a monumental day! Here's my almost seven year old the bike rider! I came home from work today and he had taught himself. I guess he was just ready, seeing all his friends riding. Enjoy!

Quilts for Homeless Families - Can You Help?

2010-05-04T12:03:00.001-07:00

Our good bloggy friend Bumble Beans in New York just got done doing a house block gather to the tune of 501 blocks that she has pledged to turn into quilts for charity. She's now started a new gather for actual finished quilts for homeless familes in the Bronx (some above) that are getting placed into new housing. Won't you go over to her site and pledge a quilt?

Here's some text from her site:
"700 families are on the the list for housing. Approximately 20 families a month are moved out of shelters, and back into homes with whatever then have managed to carry with them. They depend upon donations to get the barest of necessities... A mattress, a table, a few utensils, medical care, get the children back in school, school supplies, clothes, food, job searches and training...A smile, support, and knowing that people care. Our goal is to make 700 quilts, one for each family."

I'm going to try to make a quilt, but as an all-by-hand person, even a simple quilt is a major investment for me. I will try though! How about you? This would be a good place to send all of your UFOs, just bind them up and send.

I Made a Dress!

2010-04-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

Emboldened by the success of the pattern-free skirt I made from that lovely free Oliver+S tutorial, I decided to make the leap into clothing patterns, something i've been scared of for a year now. Success again! I graduated to the slightly harder, but still free, Oliver+S tute for the Popover Sundress.

Gigi is still extremely grumpy (note presence of paci outside the crib) so believe it or not, this is the BEST photo I could get of her in it, out of about 20 photos.

I really like it! My favorite Amy Butler Wallflower in pink, and a little flapper fringe from Joann's. I went in to get rick-rack, but all the rick-rack was gigantic for some reason, and I would have only gotten about three ricks across the front. So I went with fringe. Like it!

Enjoy!

A Gorgeous Pile of Designer Fabric

2010-04-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Got your attention? Good! Here's a pile of designer fabric I won from Jona during Stop Staring and Start Sewing's giveaway! She generously gave away this 3 1/2 yard pile of fat quarters from her store, Fabritopia. She's a super sweet crafter and clothes maker who just made her first quilt! Check it out and leave her some comment love to encourage her to get further into our shared addiction.

And now for the fabric porn:

First up we have four fat quarters from Heather Ross, Mendocino! Love it! I didn't have any of the orange/brown colorway. Hmmm....that's a colorway I need to do something with.

Next up are some prints from Anna Maria Horner's new Garden Party collection and one yellow one from Anna Griffin's Fiona collection. Ohhhhh I loved the two on the right so much I had to go and buy a yard of each. Thanks a lot, Jona! I can totally see a dress for G out of those, or even a tablecloth.

Next up, some Momo in the middle and two unidentified fabrics. Is the bottom one Anna Griffin too?

Lastly, more favorites! A half yard of Patty Young Mezzanine (blue) and some more Garden Party. Love how they go together!
Enjoy!

I Made a Skirt!

2010-04-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

I'm VERY proud of myself for finally branching out into clothes!!! Yes, it was just a 2 year old's skirt, and yes it was from a free Oliver+S tutorial that did not involve a pattern, but I did it! I love it, and especially love how the yellow ribbon "glows" at the bottom. Double click photos to see better.

Before I started I got out the beginner's sewing machine that my mom gave me years ago and I actually opened the box and tried to get it sewing. Yeah. Didn't work. I have no idea how you people do that, it's very confusing, lots of threads everywhere and dials and such. So I just sewed it by hand. I'm going to try their other free pattern, the Popover Sundress next, and this one does have a pattern, so we'll see how it goes.

By the way, Gigi is sick this week, so above you see the rare paci-during-the day and the grumpy face that only happens when she's sick.

Yes, SHE is very grumpy.

Wolf wanted me to show you the "pillbug amusement park" that he and his friends made for their pet pillbugs. He was very proud also. I love how "boy" he is, always dirty and grass stained and sweaty-haired, running the neighborhood with his friends.

Forgot to show you, check out the sweet swag my sister sent me! These are vintage cutter quilt blocks made into pillows, and a gorgeous wallet using Nicey Jane fabrics. Thanks Heidi! Gigi's dolls are enjoying the pillows.

And lastly, I have some bread to show off! I'm trying out the new book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. The whole concept is that you make up a batch of bread and keep the dough in the fridge. Then when you want a pizza crust or a cinnamon roll or a loaf of bread for dinner, you just lop off a chunk and rise it, then bake. Voila, fresh bread every day. It's pretty good, not life changing, but I bake almost every day anyway, so it would be more life changing for someone who rarely bakes.

What are you up to lately?

Fun Event for Central Texas Peeps - April 24th

2010-04-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Another Peek at My Day Job:

Hey guys, if you live in the Austin/San Antonio area, be sure to come to an event I'm organizing at Guadalupe River State Park on April 24th! It's a family science event with lots of presenters and swimming in the very clean, shallow river. Click on the map to see the activities, all free with park admission. Go ahead and forward the link to local family and friends!

Amazing Quilt History Website

2010-04-15T10:52:00.001-07:00

Wow, check out this great website! It's the International Quilt Study Center and Museum.

Click here to go to the quilting timeline exhibit. Click on "explore the timeline" then grab the blue box at the bottom and drag it all the way to the left to start. Then slowly drag it to the right to travel through time. If you want to know more about something, double click the photo. I was really interested in the "silk premiums" from 1890, I'd never heard of them!

When you're done, click over to the Quilt Collection to browse some amazing stuff!

Enjoy.

A Little Bit of Everything Crafty

2010-04-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Since I finished the ginormous squares and frames quilt I've been kind of between quilts. I've been sewing some on my red and aqua gnome homes, just to have something to do. Here are my two latest.

My daughter is newly in love with owls, so she begged for an owl softie. She wanted it to be bigger than the ninja bat I made her last year, so here it is! I used the same tutorial from Juicy Bits that I used to make the owl ornaments last Christmas. I just cut out each piece in Photoshop and blew it up to 250%, then printed it out on its own paper. This pattern is so cute no matter what you do with it! Thank you Juicy Bits!

I've also been slowly adding to my stash of designer fabric, now that i'm a designer fabric snob in the most unflattering and haughty way. Here are the stacks of pink, red, green, blue, purple and neutral/white/multi in my Bergsbo fabric cabinet from IKEA.

And here are the stacks of yellow, orange, brown, black and grey, plus a stack of flannel backings. The solids are not good ones, just stuff I picked up a million years ago. My stash is super lacking in good kona/bella/butler solids, as in, I have none. Oh, except for that dark blue on top, that's Bella.

See anything you like?

Watch This: Science, Food and Health

2010-04-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

This video is really cool. As a science educator and a mother interested in food and health, it gave me goosebumps! Yes, it's 16 minutes long, but whether you agree or disagree, it's very thought provoking and worth the 16 minutes.

The danger of science denial: Michael Specter on TED.com
Vaccine-autism claims, "Frankenfood" bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public's growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.

Grandmother's Flower Garden

2010-04-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

Look what my mom made me! There's a big story behind this quilt. She started cutting and piecing all of the flowers in 1975 after my sister and I started Montessori. Over the intervening 35 years she slowly made more flowers out of our baby clothes and 1970's era fabrics and put them together into a top, then little by little she quilted it, finishing this year!

I love those bunnies/carrots!

And these flannel kitties!

And she even signed it. Awwww, thanks mom.

A Finish! King Size Squares and Frames

2010-04-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

Finally! I finished the king size quilt for my bed. I love it! I tried to fix the lighting in photoshop, but it just made the colors all weird, so I hope you can see these. Click on them to make them bigger if you want to see them better.

Here it is on the bed, with the blue and green rows on my husband's side and the pink and red rows on my side (plus the snuggle row in the middle of blue/green plus red/pink in each block).

The snuggle row is vertical with mermaids/green in this photo.

And here's the back. It took forever to quilt this thing, but I plodded through, with a goal of a couple of blocks per day, and it only took a month (!). The whole quilt has taken months, in between working on lots of other stuff, and has fought me at times, but I finally get to keep a quilt! Yay!

It's My Birthday!

2010-03-30T07:34:00.001-07:00

I am 39. That is all.

Check out last year's photo here. I think I look better this year!

My coworker/friend Erin baked me the cake up there and my other friend/coworker Sarah drew me the card and special birthday coupons! We're going to lunch at Woodland and then to Stitch Lab for fabric. Tonight is the family party. Fun!

...and a Little Bit of That

2010-03-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today I'm showing off the birthday crown I made for our grandbaby who turned one last week! His name is Axel and that's our 22 year old son, Tim. I made it from this tutorial from Juicybits. It's the third one i've made with that tutorial. The theme of the party was Texas Tech football, since his dad claims he's a budding fan. So the crown was black and red and that's an A for Axel in the front.

A 1 on one side, of course, which I can change to a 2 next year. And here you can just barely see the Texas Tech fabric I used in the back for the scrunchy band.

And the Texas Tech symbol on the other side! It was really hard to carve those Ts freehand out of felt, but it was worth it. That's the scratch coconut cake I made him in the background.

Not much else going on here, it's gorgeous weather in Austin, 70s and 80s every day. Lots of sidewalk chalking and ball bouncing...

And playing in the new tent in the backyard. Ah, sibling love.

And painting on the deck with friends. So neat and orderly. So totally in control.

Uh, guys? Totally in control? Remember? What the heck is happening here!?

Yeah....it also turns out "child safe washable paint" does NOT, in fact, come out of clothes. Yes, I realize I am a 38 year old mother of two but I honestly did not know that before this day. Washable refers only to skin, as it turns out, not clothes. Ruined her cute dress she'd only worn once (thrifted, so not so bad) and ruined the neighbor boy's shirt. I'm pretty sure his mom is still mad even though I bought her a new one. Well at least they had fun!

So what are you doing this spring?

Truckers Taking Up Quilting!

2010-03-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

A Little Bit of This...

2010-03-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged much lately because I've been trying to quilt my ginormous wonky square quilt! It's slow going since there are 81 blocks, but steady. I'm outlining the two squares, plus one detail in the center square, like the pear, above and the bird, below.

I have managed to make my squares for Cancer is Sew Done, i'll be sending those off tomorrow. As I expected, they were a nightmare for a hand sewer, as I had to cut off all my knots and re-knot them after cutting out the circles, and now I can't zig zag them raw-edge to the backgrounds, so I'm asking the moderators to do that.

I got paid for the Japanese wonky square commission quilt I finished lately, so I made a trip to Austin's coolest, hippest fabric store, Stitch Lab and picked up these beauties. I "needed" them so I can make some more of the red and aqua gnome homes. Stitch Lab is the coolest because they have Japanese Kei dots (pink and blue below) which are like the Amy Butler full moon dots, but smaller, and because they have Echino in person! I've never seen them in person before, only online. I didn't buy any though, they are too expensive and the repeat is too large for me. I am a scrapper, I'd have to have a project in mind to buy a huge piece.

Oh! And they had this weird fabric, Edgie Veggies by Michael Miller. It's totally not my usual style, but I just couldn't walk out without some! I really like the eggplant and the kale (?) he's talking to. Two questions: why are there apples on a veggie print? And what the heck is in the pear's mouth? ;)

Bye!

Anyone Want to Swap?

2010-03-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

Hello All, I'm looking for someone who would like to swap Heather Ross fabrics with me. I have up to a yard of the above matroyshka dolls in cork to swap for some Far Far Away scraps. I am mostly looking for scraps of the three below fabrics:

I don't need to have big pieces, just scraps of FFA including the three above are fine. Please leave a comment if interested!

Foolproof Homemade Pizza

2010-03-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share this recipe with you today. Making your own pizza is super fast, easy and way healthier than takeout, and dealing with yeast is really not scary at all. The directions seem long but I wrote them for a total baking newbie so I explain every step. I challenge all of my followers to make this one night this week, especially if you think you can't. New year, new you! Give it a go and think of me.

Homemade Pizza the Fast and Easy Wendy Way (allow 1 hour to get dinner on table)

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast or 2 ¾ teaspoons from a yeast jar
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

can of organic tomato paste

mozzarella

garlic powder

dried Italian seasoning

two pizza toppings of your choice
pizza stone or pan

parchment paper (next to wax paper in supermarket)

Preheat oven and pizza stone to 400 for at least 20 minutes. No higher than 400 or your parchment paper will burn. If you don’t have a pizza stone, put a round pizza pan in to preheat.

In your Kitchenaid mixer bowl, throw in yeast, water, oil, sugar and salt; no need to wait for yeast to proof, just throw everybody in. Then mix in 1 cup of the flour for 30 seconds until smooth. Then gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, coating your hands with flour as they get sticky. Now spray the Kitchenaid bowl with a little Pam and put the dough in, flipping it over to coat. Cover bowl with a towel and let rise for 40 minutes. While you're waiting for the dough, shred the mozzarella and prepare the other toppings.

When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 2 equal parts. Be careful not to knead it at all, just pinch it in half and leave half in the bowl. Hold a ball by the edges, rotating it, until gravity stretches it out into a circle. The dough will be very soft and easy to stretch, just don't try to roll it out or scrunch it back up into a ball once you start working it, just keep it rotating. If you like thin crust pizza, make the circle “large”, like 12 inches. If you like a thicker crust, make more of a medium size. As the circle gets larger, drape it over your fists to stretch it/hold it.

Put a piece of parchment paper on a rimless cookie sheet. Plop the dough circle onto the parchment. Take a rubber spatula and spread tomato paste straight out of the can onto the dough. You’ll use half the can for one pizza and half the can for the other. The reason you use paste and not sauce is so the crust doesn't get too "wet". Next, add a coating of parmesan, a sprinkling of Italian spices and a sprinkling of garlic powder. A medium amount of mozzarella comes next, then up to two toppings, no more. You don't want to overload the toppings or cheese or the crust won't hold up. If you like heavy amounts or types of toppings, then just make a medium or small pizza, not a large. Add a thin drizzle of olive oil at the end. Open the oven and slide the parchment paper with the pizza on it, onto the preheated stone or pan. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until crust is medium brown.

While it’s baking, gently pick up the other dough ball, being sure not to knead it or mangle it in any way, then start rotating it into a circle to put on another piece of parchment paper. You can stretch this one a little less and make a thicker, smaller crust for garlic bread if you want to, in which case, don’t use sauce and use more cheese, garlic powder and olive oil on top. When first pizza is done, open the oven and slide the parchment paper with the cooked pizza on it onto the baking sheet again. Slide it onto the counter and slice. Eat it right away before it gets cold. Quickly slide the paper with the uncooked pizza or garlic bread onto the cookie sheet, then onto the stone and set the timer, then sit down to eat while you wait!

Heather Ross News Updates

2010-02-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

Heather Ross has announced a new collaboration with Spoonflower to reproduce some of her fabrics in different colors and they are on sale now!!! I looked at them and the colors seem way off to what she was showing on her website (above photo). I'll still probably get some. How about you?

In other HR news, it turns out, the new Far Far Away fabrics are NOT double gauze as I had previously reported when I showed the initial snippets. They are "a lovely linen cotton blend, a bit on the heavier side" which is fine with me, I'm going to use them as feature fabrics anyway, to highlight small things, so the majority of the quilt will be regular weight and no one will notice. I can't wait to make some Heather Ross wonky squares again!

You HAVE to click the photo above to see the fabrics larger!

I am sooooo in love with these fabrics, the photo above shows different pieces than I showed before. All I'm sayin' is do you SEE the owl and the pussycat??? Do you SEE those roses in the upper left??? OMG. How could any collection of fabrics be more perfect for a little girl?

Last Homes for Now

2010-02-18T18:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, these are the last copies of the Bee Imaginative blocks for now! The one on the left below was made by Ashley from Film in the Fridge and the one on the right was made by me! Looks pretty good, but her photography is way better.

The tiny colony on the left below was made by Rita from Red Pepper Quilts, and the one on the right was made by me. Hmmm...I chopped off a few roof points, didn't I? And I really need to get some of that American Jane Peas and Carrots that Rita used in the window. All in all, not too shabby!

Oh, and I thought you might like to see what they look like all together on the design wall! Here they are.

That's all for now, I'm going to quilt on the giant quilt for my bed for a while. Have a good one!

More Flattery - Gnome Homes

2010-02-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

More copies of the blocks from Bee Imaginative. Today's blocks are by one of my favorite bloggers in the whole blogosphere, Elizabeth at Oh Fransson. Love them! They are bigger houses than the others.

And here are my attempts at copying them with no directions! I actually think they turned out great! The colors are right.

Here's another Bee Imaginative block from my other favorite blogger in the world, Alissa from Handmade by Alissa. She reports that the gnome is bringing mushrooms back to the deer and bird.

And here's my copy below. I like how it looks like the gnome put a flower on top for a chimney!

More gnome homes tomorrow!

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

2010-02-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

Ever since I saw the red and aqua gnome houses coming out of the Bee Imaginative bee, I've been dying to make some! I just decided, since this is my year of trying things that scare me, that I would just go ahead and try to make them with no patterns or measurements. I'm not imaginative enough to think up my own designs right off the bat, so I just copied the ones the bee members were producing as best I could.

Here's the first one I made. The one on the left below was made by John at QuiltDad and the one on the right was made by me. Hmmm...it appears that not all whites read as white! Oh well, let's try another block.

The block on the left this time is by Jacquie of Tallgrassprairie Studio and the block on the right is by me. Not bad! But my overhang leaves a little to be desired. This block also taught me that to make a red and aqua quilt you have to use the exact right fabrics. They have to be bright saturated reds and super bright aquas. If you vary from those, it just doesn't have the right look. See how hers is very crisp and mine is little less crisp?

I'll post a few more tomorrow, tune in then!

Food for Thought

2010-02-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

"The morning kicked off with Daniel Kahneman, Nobelist in behavioural economics, who argued that we need to give up the word "happiness". It's too vague to be useful, he said, and fails to make a fundamental distinction between being happy in your life and being happy with your life. The experiencing self - the you that lives in the moment - is a very different entity than your remembering self - the storyteller who lives to make memories. We are living under the "tyranny of the remembering self", Kahneman said. "We don't choose experiences, we choose memories." I guiltily put down my note-taking pen and tried to experience the moment."

I totally do that! I'm usually so busy trying to capture the moment on film or video that the capturing of it becomes more important than actually experiencing it. Do you do that too? I think that's part of why I hand piece, I'm trying to slow down and enjoy the moment.

There is an amazing group of intellectuals called TED which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. These really smart and thoughtful people present cutting edge ideas and experiments from all areas of science, giving us regular people a lot of food for thought! The quote above is from the TED conference and the video is the author of Eat Pray Love speaking on creativity.

I double dog dare you to click on this link to see the list of TED Talks and NOT find something that interests you! Leave a comment here telling me which video sounded the most interesting to you.

Thoughts?

Insight into Heather Ross' Creative Process

2010-02-12T08:49:00.000-08:00

Featuring the Owl and the Pussycat now coming out in her new line!

She posted it last year but I just found it. Read the whole post and see her original sketches here.

This Thing is Enormous! Questions I'm Pondering

2010-02-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

Why, one asks oneself rhetorically, would an all-by-hand quilter keep making such freaking huge quilts??? It just doesn't make good sense.

This is the half and half quilt I am making for my and my husband's bed that I started back in November. It was on hold waiting for backing while I made the Japanese wonky squares quilt. Here is my 25 year old daughter for scale. It's 10 feet by 11 feet! What the heck was I thinking? I must have just gotten carried away.

I planned to use a king size sheet for the backing (yeah, I know you're not supposed to use sheets but I like 'em). The one I had was too small so I measured the quilt carefully and bought a different king size sheet set that the measurements said would fit. Well, if you'll look carefully at the photo above, you'll see the corner of the sheet taped to the floor. What do you notice?

I just decided to take a row of blocks off the bottom and have it be 9 blocks by 9 blocks. I felt like the quilt was telling me that if it was 8 inches bigger than a king sized sheet (that gets tucked in!) then it just plain did not NEED to be that big. King sized beds are kind of square anyway. Another question: If one king size sheet did not fit my quilt, why did I think a new one would???

A final question: who wants nine 12-inch blocks? As an extra bonus, they are already sashed together! If you'd like to see which ones they are, click on the above photos to enlarge, they are the bottom row across. I will send them to the person with the best use for them in the comments by tomorrow lunch. Ok, Go!

A Tiny Baby Quilt

2010-02-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

After I finished Amber's commission quilt I wanted to make a small present for the baby using up some scraps. To make this tiny quilt I took a cue from my sister who makes these for babies to use while strapped into baby seats, like this baby below.

They are just the right size to fit over their laps and keep them warm while providing a satin edge and minkee backing to feel. Then when they are older, they can use them to put dollies night-nights like my daughter does.

I found the perfect green minkee for the back to match the green in the fabrics. I'm not usually fond of animal prints but the green matched perfectly! I got the minkee at the most FABULOUS quilt store in all of Central Texas. It's called the Quilt Haus in New Braunfels and they have probably 500 bolts or more of exclusively designer fabric! When I walked in and saw the ENTIRE collection of Nicey Jane in every single colorway and print I just froze. My brain said 'turn around and walk out before you spend the rent!' Anyway, I digress.

Here's the back, I just quilted it very simply.

And here it is next to the one my sister gave me that I patterned it after. I LOVE the Heather Ross one, you should click the photo to see it bigger!

Enjoy!

A Finish! Wonky Japanese Squares

2010-02-02T07:35:00.001-08:00

It's finally done! The commission quilt for Amber which is a copy of this one where I used Heather Ross fabrics. On this one Amber chose a bunch of Japanese and organic fabrics. I like how it turned out! It's unisex, as her sister doesn't know the sex of the baby yet. Do you likee? Click any photo to see it large!

I just quilted around all the squares inside and outside.

And put little surprise faces in the cornerstones.

Oh! Here's the back!

Edited April 2010: Here is a photo of the recipient, John William, with his new quilt!
Enjoy!

Two New Foofs

2010-02-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to my sister Heidi at Your Lovey Handmade Gifts! She sent our family a huge minkee couch snuggle quilt for Xmas! You can't see the colors well in the photo, but it's a chocolate brown with light blue dots and white on the other side. The minkee is sooooo soft, we all fight over it. Here is Wolfie modeling it.

Well as soon as we got it, Gigi stole it for her own. I was trying to snatch it from her one day and she was trying to get me to accept a piece of fabric with owls on it as a blanket instead. Her word for blanket is "foof". It comes from me telling her I'm going to "fluff" her pillow, which then came to mean pillow and later, by association, blanket. Anyway, we're struggling over this owl fabric and minkee blanket and she said her first five word sentence ever! She said "My foof! Go foof owl!" We were all stunned because she hadn't been talking much. Now we all go around saying "go foof owl!" when we want something someone else wants. Try it out loud, it's fun!

So my lovely sister decided to make Gigi her OWN foof! Here it is, with model, complete with tiny feet sticking out, like the wicked witch under Dorothy's house.

Sure, she's in a good mood above, but this is what I'm usually treated to.

I call this work of art "Fussbasket of the Universe with feedsack: a study in two year oldness." Click on it to enlarge, if you dare. Don't you just feel like that some days?

So long and thanks for all the foofs! But while you're here, why not check out the gorgeous Amy Butler Trailing Cherries with minkee baby foof my sister has for sale. It has the most gorgeous satin ruffles to feel! Or take a look at her super soft minkee dog beds. Check her out and support handmade!

Breaking News! Heather Ross Announces New Line

2010-01-28T12:56:00.001-08:00

I'm beside myself! I never did get any of the Far Far Away double gauze that I wanted, but to tell the truth, I like the new line better! The new line is also double gauze and also Far Far Away but with a different cast of characters. Heather just announced it this morning!

This plum colorway below is lovely.

But I also like this meadow colorway.

But the blue colorway above is my favorite!
I love the sleeping princesses and roses! Oh, and moons!

Do you like this one or the original FFA better?

Amazing Fabric Sale Today!

2010-01-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

Great deals on Park Slope and Bijou today in the Twiddletails Store! Here's what I bought.

I got half yards for $2.78 each! Come on!

Some More Blocks

2010-01-27T10:44:00.001-08:00

Here are my blogless mom's blocks for Cancer is Sew Done. Click on the second one to see the embroidery in the center. I'm pretty sure that's salvaged embroidery from a commercial piece, as she tells me the white is salvaged butcher's apron from the 40's!

Cancer is Sew Done Blocks

2010-01-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

Click on the photo to see what they really look like. The photography is terrible as I have to do these things after my kids are in bed and the lighting is not so great!

These are the blocks for cancerissewdone. Won't you join me in that group?

This one is my favorite! Alexander Henry sprites.

Geeking Out

2010-01-22T08:38:00.001-08:00

OMGosh I just found a place online to play Atari games! There are three pages of games for you to remember and play. I literally cried when I played Adventure and Defender again for the first time in 25 years. Like no kidding. I. cried. My sense memory even remembered the way through the maze in Adventure!

Burger Time is not the same online as the hot dogs and salt and pepper shakers are very pixellated and its not the same experience. But the other two are perfect, complete with the right sounds for everything so turn on your speakers!

Anyone else geeking out like me?

I'm In Love!

2010-01-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

With these little red and aqua houses!!! I lurrrve them. The next quilt I make for myself will be these little guys. The whole point is that the houses are tiny and surrounded by lots of white, so when you see the whole quilt, it has tiny spots of color, like this.

These blocks were made for a tiny village for gnomes and fairies.

Check out all of them on the Bee Imaginative blog!

The houses and tree above were made by John at Quilt Dad.

And this one was made by Rita at redpepperquilts. Love the flower garden in the front yard!

Check them out!

Scrap Love and a Pay It Forward

2010-01-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

I'm sure all of you know the modern quilting blog Handmade by Alissa? She is not only in the top five of my favorite blogs (out of the hundred or so that I browse), she also cast the new season of Project Runway that debuted last week! She always has the best projects and the best fabrics. When she gave away some scraps recently, I asked if I could buy some and she just sent me some for free! Don't be jealous yet, you'll be more jealous in a minute...

When I show you the Flea Market Fancy!

Oh, and did I mention the Lush? A fat quarter of the paint dots!

And a quarter of this awesome retro! Check out the funny dog on Saturn! Wow, Alissa was just wayyyy too generous. For free, people!

I also wanted to tell you, I joined Cancer is Sew Done.

Visit Cancer is Sew Done

Basically, you join for a year and make 1-4 blocks each month in the pattern they choose, then you send them in and they make them into quilts to comfort people with cancer. I chose this group because my 30 year old friend, Sarah, is going through chemo this week for the second time in five years. I got crafty Sarah herself to join the pink lemonade group in there, as well as my mom and my sister. So the effort over here is going strong. Won't you join us in pink lemonade? Check it out, it's easy and they even send you some of the fabric you need for your blocks!

Today I am Loving...

2010-01-11T07:31:00.000-08:00

Some new fabrics! Have you seen these yet?

Bye Bye Blackbird by Kokka Japan.

Retro Mod by Michael Miller. I would totally use these two together!

These two are not so new but I still want them! Andalucia and Nicey Jane.

New from Etsuko Furuya

Jessica Levitt from the Timber collection. Love this one.

All 27 Blocks Done!

2010-01-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

Here are all the blocks done! Twenty four on the front and three for the pieced back (last photo). What do you think? Click to see any photo larger.

Upper left quadrant closeup

Upper right quadrant closeup

Lower left quadrant closeup

Lower right quadrant closeup

Three blocks for back.

Amber, you can choose up to five blocks that you dislike and give suggestions for colors/styles to replace them. Also, you can switch placement of blocks around if something is bothering you about how they look. Otherwise, this is how I will sew the quilt together!

My Neice and My Mom Playing the Violin

2010-01-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Enjoy!

A Little Known Fact About Me

2010-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Here's something only a few people know about me - I enjoy making foods from scratch that don't really need to be made from scratch. It amuses me. And shows me how easy scratch really is. I also like the challenge of doing something i'm terrified of.

It started with frosting, cakes and artisanal breads and worked its way up through bagels, pasta sauce, and now, as of last night, it has arrived at lasagna noodles and creme brulee using an actual vanilla bean! My first vanilla bean - cost $4 by the way, and yes, it does make a difference.

As I made the noodles, I was scared but I channelled all the strength of my Italian foresisters as I cracked the eggs into the well of flour and started rotating them with my fingers to incorporate only the barest amount of flour. My first well broke and water and egg ran all over the table! I had to throw the whole mess away. The second try I made a wider well. As I kneaded the dough for 25 minutes, my two year old Giacinta (Gigi) jumped up to knead too! I knew her great great great grandmother Giacinta was smiling down on her. She had a great time pushing the dough around.

It's funny how sometimes women get really defensive when they hear that I make things from scratch - I don't do it to be "better than you", I do it for a hobby. You all know what I mean, i'm sure you get the same thing sometimes when women hear that you quilt. Like an "I could never do that" vibe. Well you know that they CAN do that, they just never have or they aren't interested in trying. To tell the truth, i'm really not that great at cooking - sometimes the recipes come out, sometimes they don't. In fact, those aren't my lasagna noodles at the top of the page, mine were full of holes and looked terrible. And I don't always cook from scratch, just sometimes. I've got a full time job, two kids and a quilting/fabric addiction to tend to!

This year, 2010 is going to be all about doing things I've filed away in my brain but haven't tried because they scare me. I'm going to face my fears and just DO IT this year. I'm almost 39 for Pete's sake!

Where is this penchant for making things from scratch that don't really need to be made from scratch going now, you may ask? Straight into the gooey, sticky arms of marshmallows. Yeah, you heard me right, marshmallows. Because I want to make this - Hot Chocolate Layer Cake with scratch marshmallows.

Aw, yeah baby. Bring it on.

Super Geeky Atari Quilt Love

2010-01-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

Ohmygosh have you seen this amazing Space Invaders Quilt over at CarolinaPatchworks? Wowzers! As a member of the Atari generation, I salute you Emily for your tribute to our shared former passion (using our shared current passion!).

When I saw it I was like, "Of course! Pixels! Pixels just lend themselves to quilting, don't they!?" Duh, why didn't I think of that? I am sooooo going to try to make one someday.

If Space Invaders wasn't your bag, you might like this DonkeyKong quilt instead! Or how about this super amazing Galaga quilt. Great colors in that one. Or, if you're a little younger than me you might like this Legend of Zelda quilt or this Super Mario quilt.

Check out all the video game quilts she's made, yes there's more! I thought her husband's nickname for her was really funny too. She really did lay these quilts down one line at a time, just like a dot matrix printer. When I make mine I'm going to make each alien, etc. its own block. I don't think I want to spend the time with graph paper to figure out whole lines!

Edited to say: Want to make your own Super Mario quilt block? Marie at DIY-namite gives instructions right here!

More Sneaks and a Resolution

2010-01-03T08:06:00.001-08:00

Hi again! Happy new year! A few more wonky square sneaks for you of my commission quilt. Which one do you like the best?

I like to be very traditional around Christmas and New Years, so I will make the same resolution I've made every year since highschool. I'm sure you all know the mantra - eat better, exercise more, blah blah blah. Same story every year! Hasn't happened yet (and i'm 38), but ya never know! This could be the year! Hope springs eternal in the human breast, so off I go, into the arms of Jillian Michaels. I'll let you know if i've lost anything on February 1st.

Happy New Year and New Quilt Sneak Peek!

2009-12-31T11:46:00.001-08:00

Hi All! Happy New Year! I'm hard at work on my new quilt commission. These wonky squares blocks are soooo addictive, I can't stop making them! Lots of Japanese fabrics, with a few organic cottons thrown in.

I can only show you a sneak peek though, I don't want to ruin the surprise for Amber! Enjoy.

One thing's for sure, when you see it, you'll say:

I hope! Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas Giveaway!

2009-12-24T07:46:00.000-08:00

Over at DesigningHappy! Check it out!

Hoooot!

2009-12-23T09:30:00.000-08:00

Hi All,
Such a busy Christmas season this year! I've been a real crafting workhorse (a crafthorse?) lately. Hmmm...I think I like that - crafthorse. I'm going to call myself that from now on. But that's not why I'm writing today. Check out the freakin' cute owl ornaments I made with another tutorial from juicybits!!!

I made this little guy first. Cute!

I made him a little guy friend next and then my 25 year old daughter got caught up in the frenzy and made a girl owl! See how the boys are both looking over at the girl and she's peeking back?

Whooooo do you think she'll choose?

My daughter gave the girl owl and the purple boy owl to her new boyfriend's parents for Xmas, so I guess owl girl chose purple!

It should have stopped there, but me being a crafthorse and all, I had to keep going! I made a boy and girl owl to represent my husband and I.

And hung them right up on the tree. Awwwww! It's love.

Edited to say: I later made an owl softie with the same pattern! Worked great.

In other news, on Gigi's party day Sunday we took the kids out to the Nature and Science Center. Absolutely gorgeous weather here in Austin, 68 degrees and sunny. Hot in the sun, cold in the shade. Gigi loves leaves.

I call this photo "the essence of boyhood". Playing so hard he stepped in the water and got his socks and shoes wet. Took them off and found special rocks to line up and sort through. Very busy. Very boy.

And Gigi loved her party! Rare to catch her smiling, notice it wasn't when she could see me taking the photo.

Hope your holidays are filled with joy and love and crafthorsiness. (Look, I just made up another word! You can use it - go ahead!)

Crown for a Prince

2009-12-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

I just can't stop! I enjoyed making a princess crown for Gigi, and then my sister wanted one for my nephew Ty so 24 hours later, here it is! I used the same tutorial from juicybits.

I like it! That's supposed to be a snowflake so his crown is seasonal. Not such a great snowflake, I'm afraid. I tried three different times, but this is the best I got! I bought new crystal beads for ice and a robot (?) for the middle.

He'll be four in January. Happy almost birthday Ty!

Advent Calendar Gets a New Ornament

2009-12-21T14:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas (almost) everyone! My sewing room
has been turned into the Christmas room, but that's okay, I'm only in there once in a while anyway, being a hand sewer. The stockings are hung on my design wall with care! (No, really, they are!)

Today I'd like to share our ancestral Advent calendar. I'm pretty sure it was made by my Aunt, Sister Mary Alice in the 70's.

It just says home to me. Everytime I see it I'm transported back to my childhood. The little ornaments live in the pockets (see that fish in #22?) and every day a child gets to hang one on the tree. The angel goes second last at the top of the tree and the nativity scene goes last.

Well I've been missing one of the precious ornaments for years now and every year I think I'm going to make another one and I never do. So this year I finally did it! Here's a cute snowman I made out of 100% wool felt with no stabilizer.

Funny story about that snowman. I put it on the tree to take the photo and left it there. Apparently I put it right at two year old height. When I came back five minutes later, she had grabbed the wool snowman and stretched it downward with all her might. Having no stabilizers, it stretched like crazy and looked, well, crazy. Sigh. I had such a cute ornament for five minutes. I managed to recompose it a bit so it looks more normal. Don't have a photo of that, didn't want to show you!

Here is my favorite ornament, the nativity scene:

Feliz navidad, ya'll!

Look What I Made!

2009-12-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

Hmmm...what could it be? Sparkly, felty, flowery....

Elastic-y....

Starts with a G?

Someone's turning two today!

And of course she needed a birthday crown! I've never made a crown before so I was very proud of how it turned out! I even used fusible interfacing for the first time. It said in the tutorial from juicybits that the colors and decorations should be seasonal to her birthday, so the crown is red, white and green and has chunks of ice with snow. I love it! Even if I ironed the fusible to the wrong piece and had to go back to Joanne's twice. I'm going to keep it and every year take the number off and make a new one to go on it. It fit my six year old so I'm good for a while. Oh! And a birthday tutu and shirt combo from etsy finishes the look.

Happy Birthday my little angel!

I'm in Fabric Heaven!

2009-12-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

I'm in fabric heaven! I went to the mailbox last night and retrieved 10 small squishy packages. Ten! It was Christmas in Ju..well ok, Christmas right before Christmas! First I unwrapped that small bag I won in the SMS giveaways from adelaidelemonade. Don't forget to hop on over to her site to get the tutorial for the bag so you can make one too! The bag was sooooo much cuter in person. And even more gorgeous when I stuffed it with fabric.

See that pink and red yard of Folksy flannel from Anna Maria Horner sticking up out of the bag above? You should get some, the pattern is so subtle and the colors are wonderful. I want to get a ton of it and make this baby quilt, from Anna Maria's website - soooo soft and pretty.

Next I opened a bunch of fabric from a quilt I'm being commissioned to make. What's not to love about a quilt commission??? You get a bunch of gorgeous fabric sent to you for free, you get to play with it until you're sick of it, you get to keep the scraps, and then you give it away. Sounds like normal to me. Except you get free fabric to play with, free scraps and money to boot! What's not to love? And all I have to do is put in about 100 hours of hand sewing labor. Big deal, i'd be doing that anyway. And having said that, let me also say I love all the trust there is in the quilting world. She trusts me to send me the fabric, then I trust her to pay at the end. I love our quilting community, don't you?

Lovely Amber sent these fabrics to coordinate into a copy of Finn's quilt. She chose some Kokka Japan as her focus fabric:

Then she pulled all the colors out of the focus fabric with these:

So cute! The organic cloud fabric she sent even came with two tiny swatches to intice you to buy the whole collection, and guess what, it worked. Now I want the mushrooms and orange dots too.

Enjoy!

A Cat Finish

2009-12-14T07:27:00.000-08:00

A kitty cat finish! This is the comissioned cat quilt for a friend to use as a gift. It features the actual five cats of the intended recipient, complete with nametags and correct coloring. You can see the cats more closely here and here and here and here.

I really enjoyed making it, it was lots of fun!

I chose a gorgeous soft flannel for the backing that perfectly matched the green/blue batik. It has blue stars around the edges and green stars in the middles.

Like this, see? Merry Xmas everyone!

Sashay Shantay

2009-12-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Here is my grumpy little dress model showing off her winnings! Thanks again to brownpaperpackages for the gorgeous dress! She saw me open it and demanded to put it on right away. After which, she immediately got grumpy. Almost two year olds are always frustrated about one thing or another!

Maybe petting a kitty will cheer her up! Nah, probably not.

I also got fabric in the mail! Yay! My first batch of Red Letter Day, plus birds. Annie got it for me as a thank you for fixing her resume. I do that on the side if you need me to look at yours too.

Have a great day!

Another Giveaway

2009-12-09T08:13:00.001-08:00

Here's another chance for you to become a winner, winner chicken dinner like me! Hop on over to grosgrainfabulous and enter for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Firststepphoto!

They have the coolest vinyl wall art, you just put it up and when you want to change it, it just comes right off. I've been eyeing some for the wall above our couch for a while now!

Fish in a win!

What Did You Win?

2009-12-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

Did you win anything in the Sew Mama Sew giveaways??? I won three things! I'm so happy. I entered almost every single one they had, like 200 giveaways!

The first is this gorgeous dress for Gigi from brownpaperpackages! I love the pieced star detail at the waist. I'm going to put it in the drawer and she will love it next year!

The second is this super cute rag softie named "Flakie" (as in snowflake) from Eerika at ragpets! Check out the sweet description of him on her blog. She describes how he can't wait for Christmas and then shows him tucked in bed and says, "Since going to bed early makes Santa come quicker, Flakey has donned his PJs and is going to sleep now in order to make the presents come faster." So cute!!! And now he's all mine - well, my two year old's anyway. He's flying in all the way from Finland to Texas. I should buy him a cowboy hat!

The third thing I won is this sweet little lunch bag from adelaidelemonade! I love that Farmer's Market flower and of course the Mendocino kelp stripe and seahorses. It's about 7"X8" so the perfect size to take my lunch in every day. If you want to make one for yourself, she has a tutorial here. You can make one too and we can be twins!

Edited to say: Wow, I was calling it an "easy" tutorial before but I just really looked at it and I can't believe the amount of work that went into this bag! I take it back, it wasn't easy! I appreciate it more now.

Thank you all and thank you too Sew Mama Sew!

And if you'd like to win some stuff, you still have a chance! Hop on over to Sew-Fantastic! She's only on the seventh day of Christmas, and besides, you can enter the first six right now if you want. Check it out!

I Finally Understand Embroidery Stitches!

2009-12-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the blanket stitch tutorial and the whip stitch tutorial offered by the amazing Alice at her futuregirl blog! As a self-taught quilter, i've never quite understood how to make the embroidery stitches. My friend Sarah tried to teach me the split stitch and I just kind of use that all the time. The futuregirl tutorials are very clear, you should check them out!

Futuregirl also offers these free downloads with detailed pdfs instructions on how to make felt sea creatures including octopi, seahorses and starfish using those stitches.

As if that weren't enough, she also offers this tutorial describing how to make a hilarious clean/dirty dish indicator for the dishwasher. Love it! That would be a fun Xmas present for a friend with a good sense of humor!

Star in the Cabin

2009-11-30T12:01:00.000-08:00

My mother in law has a lot of great quilts, but this one was my favorite from our visit. What a great pattern! The whole quilt reminds me of Christmas. Not the colors, but the qualities. The star in the log cabin pattern reminds me of the star of Bethlehem and the manger.

It's super heavy and made of all heavy corduroy. Reminds me of cold weather and snuggling around the Christmas fireplace. Must have been hard to piece! By machine, I'm sure. I wouldn't want to try it by hand!

Even the backing is all corduroy! This thing weighs a ton but is very soft and snuggly. Do you like it?

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2009-11-30T11:39:00.001-08:00

Well I had a heck of a time figuring out how to get this random number generator to show up (thanks Sarah!) but here it is. Congrats to Lucky number 12: freeindeed! She wins the straight quarter of American Jane. Thanks all for playing, i'm going to have more of these in the future.

Do You Love American Jane?

2009-11-30T11:07:00.000-08:00

While we were up visiting my MIL for Thanksgiving, we stopped in the local quilt store in Paris, Texas. Here's what I got! Love American Jane.

I also got these guys - love the soft colors in the big dots and the gradations of pink in the small.

And guess what? I picked up a straight quarter for you! Above is Peas and Carrots American Jane and it's all for you. All you have to do is subscribe to my feed and leave a comment. If you already are a follower, just leave a comment saying that. That's all! I'll pick a winner on Monday at around 2:00. Good luck!

Purrrrrrrfect

2009-11-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

Almost done! I just need to get to the quilt store to add some green to the top and bottom to make it a bit bigger and more rectangular. Like it?

This heart's for you. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Sweets!

2009-11-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yum! I love baking from scratch and I had lots of fun making all these with my older daughter last night! Here's what we made, with recipes, so you can make them too!

* We made the strawberry cake in the front for her friend's birthday today.
* The chocolate truffle cake on the left is soooooo thick and rich. More like a brownie. You really need vanilla ice cream with it.
* That's a tiramisu in the back. I should have taken the springform off so you could see all the little soldiers standing up in a row. I used the new instant coffee Via from Starbucks to soak the ladyfingers. It was really good! It's the new thing for when you need coffee flavor in baking.
*And finally, that's a sugar and spice pumpkin pie on the right. I had never made it before so I can't tell you if it's good yet. It had a ton of spices in it, including black pepper!

Enjoy your day!

Edited to say: What is it about pumpkin pie? It always tastes the same, no matter what you put in it. The pie was very good, but no better than any other pumpkin pie from the store or homemade! I did think, however, that it needed a 1/4" layer of bitter chocolate over the top - that would have made a flavor splash!

The Orange Baskets of Doom

2009-11-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll! Hope you're enjoying the day with love and family.

Today for your viewing pleasure I have the famous, dreaded orange baskets of doooooom!!! My mother has made these every year for what, like 25 years now? She fashions the baskets from a whole orange, puts sweet potatoes and marshmallows in and bakes them. We've teased her about them our whole lives, mercilessly ragging on how awful and horrifying they are, and how much we dread seeing their little faces appear on the Thanksgiving table, but she continues to visit them upon us as a form of torture for making fun of them. Oh, the humanity!

(Actually, I kind of like them, despite an aversion to orange peel. Shhh, don't tell her.)

She sent me this photo to fill me with dread as a preview of dinner. I have no clue what's going on in that third basket, maybe she'll comment and tell us. It might be blackberries, but knowing her penchant for torture, it's probably stewed prunes. Yeah. Definitely the prunes.

Bella

2009-11-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

And last but not least, we have Bella. She's the same pattern as Gabby, but I built her facing the opposite direction. Bella was described as a brown and grey stripey tabby with green and gold eyes and a brown collar. You know, as a former Milwaukeean, I can't stop thinking that her eyes are exactly Green Bay Packer colors!

Meow! Which was your favorite cat of the five?

Mei-Mei

2009-11-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Meet Mei-Mei! I like this cat, #4 of 5, the best. She was described to me as a "tortiseshell" with gold eyes and a red collar. Not being a cat person, I had to look up tortiseshell on the internet and it showed cats that were combinations of orange, black and white. I was super happy when I saw this Joel Dewberry fabric in my stash with basically just those colors, and also kind of Asian looking to fit her name!

I love how it looks like she's hiding in the tree, camoflauged so well that she's transparent, waiting to pounce on that bird. See the look of concentration on her face? Her tag is crooked because she's leaning forward gathering her legs under her.

Lily

2009-11-20T07:55:00.001-08:00

Lily, #3 cat of 5 I will show, was described to me as a Siamese cat with big blue eyes. I assumed there must only be one color of Siamese, as they didn't specify. Sure enough, a google search turned up that all modern Siamese are white with grey faces, ears and feet. Well ok, here ya go!

They also said she has a black collar with studs - doesn't that fabric look like it has studs? So cute! And of course, the Lily nametag embroidered. Click on the photo to see the swirls in the white fur.

Turkey Cupcakes!

2009-11-19T08:28:00.000-08:00

No, not cupcakes made FROM turkey, cupcakes made to look like A turkey! Silly! If my sister in law makes it to Thanksgiving with her kids, I will totally make these with them. I promise! Except I will steal an idea from another internet site and make the tail not with cut outs from fruit roll ups, but with a row of point-down candy corns.

Hop on over to cakespy.com and check out the tutorial in the guest post from Meringue Bake Shop.

Gabby

2009-11-19T06:29:00.001-08:00

Today's cat, #2 of 5, is Gabby! Gabby was described to me as solid black with gold eyes and a brown collar. Isn't she just sweet?

Trip

2009-11-18T07:17:00.001-08:00

This is the first in a series of five cat blocks coming your way this week! All five are based on actual cats I was asked to replicate. The description of this guy, Trip, said "swirly grey and black fur, brown collar, and orange eyes." Ok, that's what ya got! Plus an embroidered name tag.

The green will be the back ground of all the cats, and they are going to alternate with heart blocks for a cat lover.

Got Cats?

2009-11-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

Help! I need two new cat block patterns to finish a new quilt comission. Got cats you can spare?

I'm making the quilt as a Christmas present for my friend to give her friend. It needs to include five cats, all based on the recipients actual five cats. I'd like to use a different pattern for each cat to make them unique, but I only have three patterns.

Here are the restrictions for the block patterns I need:

* must feature a whole cat, not just the face (like the ones i'm showing here)

* representational of a real cat, not cartoonish

* must be pieced, not appliqued or paper pieced

* must include cutting directions for a 12" block - or at least a 10", I can add a border if needed

Can anyone help???

Half Done!

2009-11-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

It's half done! The ginormous quilt I'm making for myself and Mr. Babyquilts is halfway there. It's ten 12-inch blocks by nine 12-inch blocks, not counting sashing!

This is "his" half, the blue and green half, all sashed and ready to go. It also includes the 'snuggling' row on the right which are blue/green combined with red/pink. Now all that's left to do is four more rows of red/pink to attach to the right hand side.

Here's a six year old child and a koala for scale. It's huge! Click a photo to see the square themes better.

You know, it looks all innocent and fine and dandy now, but boy was I mad last night. I carefully pinned and sewed one whole sashing the long way, all the way down. Then when I opened it out, guess what, it was sewed onto the wrong side of the block strip, so the seam was on top! I was hopping mad! I had to then hand rip the whole seam, re-pin and re-sew. It took me several hours to get back to where I should have been. Oh well. Days like that really make me want to buy a machine, especially with all of these straight seams. I like piecing the blocks by hand, but sashing and borders by hand are straight up boring!

Wolfie says hi. "Hi!"